Africa should stop imitating the Westit needs to become itself

Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong’o spoke about the way colonialism survived through education, language, and mental framing. [File, Standard]

There is a question that haunts me often—one that echoes louder every time I see another policy copied from the West, another imported curriculum, another leader parroting foreign ideologies while ignoring their people.

The question is this: When will our continent be what it can be? Too often, Africa is painted as a place of lack—low development, low opportunity, low worth. We are told we have no leadership, no innovation, no talent. These narratives have been fed to us so consistently that we risk internalising them. But I refuse to. Yes, the challenges are real. Corruption exists. Fragile systems persist. I live the daily realities of broken infrastructure, underfunded schools, and education systems that feel disconnected from who we are. But I also see the other side: The brilliance of African youth, the wealth of our land, the resilience in our communities, the power in our languages and traditions.