A reverend minister has declared that true sovereignty cannot be bargained away, insisting that African nations must defend their cultural values even at a significant cost, as he addressed the 4th Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.
“True sovereignty is expensive, but it is non-negotiable,” the minister said, acknowledging that such a position could attract criticism, particularly around the perceived isolation of Africa from global human rights standards and modern diplomatic partnerships.
He pushed back firmly against that concern, arguing that genuine diplomacy is rooted in mutual respect rather than ideological coercion and that true independence comes at a cost.
Indigenous knowledge sidelined
At the heart of his address was a call to reclaim the intellectual weight embedded in African cultural values, specifically through the continent’s indigenous knowledge systems. He lamented that early Western anthropologists and missionaries had described African cultures using derogatory terms such as “heathen,” “barbaric,” “superstitious,” “animistic,” and fetish, language that discouraged the integration of indigenous knowledge into later educational programs and policies.
“The intellectual resources in African indigenous knowledge systems must be revisited to enrich African educational systems at all levels,” he urged.
A curriculum rooted in culture
The reverend minister called on ministries of education across the continent to deliberately weave indigenous knowledge, modesty, civic honor, and relational ethics into educational curricula. “We don’t fear the digital landscape. We want our young people to master it without losing their identity,” he said.
He described individual choices as fragile, warning that when they leave people isolated, the consequences are severe. His concern, he said, was protecting African youth from becoming what he called “alien Africans on African soil,” disconnected from the community structures that preserve human dignity.
Character over career
The minister urged africans to challenge educational systems across the continent, insisting they must go beyond career preparation. “Our educational systems must build values and character and not just careers,” he said.
