By Chesa Chesa
Africa must move beyond colonialism as the dominant explanation for its present-day development challenges and take greater responsibility for building institutions capable of producing knowledge, innovation and prosperity, Professor Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò has said.
Táíwò stated this during a ‘Nextier Development Discourse with Patrick Okigbo III’, during which he examined Africa’s historical encounter with modernity, the impact of colonial rule and what the continent must do to achieve sustainable development.
The discourse provided a platform for examining some of the historical and institutional factors shaping Africa’s development trajectory, against the backdrop of renewed debates over decolonisation, knowledge production, education and the continent’s capacity to build self-sustaining economies.
Táíwò, a professor at Cornell University and author of How Colonialism Preempted Modernity in Africa, argued that although colonialism disrupted important strands of Africa’s political and institutional development, it should not become an excuse for contemporary failures.
He maintained that modernity was already emerging in parts of Africa before colonial rule became firmly established, with Africans experimenting with new forms of education, administration, commerce and constitutional government.
He cited the return of liberated Africans educated in Sierra Leone, particularly the Saro, to Lagos and Abeokuta from the late 1830s as an important channel through which modern ideas were introduced and adapted locally.
According to him, these Africans embraced printing, missionary education and constitutional government while establishing institutions that reflected their own circumstances.
Táíwò argued that while colonialism profoundly disrupted African societies, it should not remain the dominant explanation for the continent’s present failures.
He pointed to examples of Africans who, before and during the colonial period, built institutions, schools, businesses and political organisations, arguing that such evidence showed that Africans had the capacity to create modern institutions rather than simply receive them from Europe.
He also challenged what he described as a tendency to treat “decolonisation” as an end in itself, rather than asking what Africa must build to improve the lives of its people.
According to him, the real challenge is to develop productive capacity, strengthen institutions and create systems capable of generating knowledge, technology and wealth.
Using the export of raw cashew nuts as an example, Táíwò questioned why African countries should continue exporting agricultural commodities only to import processed products at higher costs.
He said countries such as South Korea and Japan demonstrated that sustained development requires deliberate investment in knowledge, industry and productive capacity.
Táíwò therefore urged Africans to focus less on explaining historical disadvantages and more on building the institutions and capabilities needed to overcome them.
“Either we agree that racists are right, Africans are permanent children, or we are adults who just continue to make stupid mistakes,” he said.
He argued that Africans should not automatically regard ideas originating outside the continent as colonial, stressing that Africans have the capacity to assess, adapt or reject ideas on their own terms.
Africa, he stressed, needs stronger schools, technical colleges, trade centres and industries capable of converting knowledge and raw materials into productive output.
