Abstract
This article examines Nnamdi Azikiwe’s idea of mental
emancipation as the intellectual foundation for his political philosophy.
Mental emancipation involves re-educating Africans to adopt scientific,
critical, analytic, and logical modes of thinking. Azikiwe argues that
development must involve changing Africans’ intellectual attitudes and
educational system. He argues that Western education, through perpetuating
negative stereotypes and engendering ‘colonial mentality’,
has neither fostered critical and scientific thinking, nor enabled Africans
to apply their knowledge for development. Mental emancipation would
enable Africans to develop self-confidence, and the critical examination
of superstitious beliefs that have hindered Africa’s development. I show
that Azikiwe’s ideas have been recaptured by African philosophers like
Bodunrin and Wiredu, regarding their critique of aspects of African
tradition and prescription for how African philosophy can contribute to
development.