EPISTEMICIDE AND THE CHALLENGES OF DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: RETHINKING KNOWLEDGE FOR PROGRESS

Abstract

The problem of underdevelopment is like a ghost haunting Africa. In fact, in the social sciences, many developmental frameworks have been adduced as cure-all prescriptions to solve the problem of underdevelopment in developing countries—especially in Africa—but to no avail. However, what is not contestable is the fact that, knowledge has a great implication in the development of any nation. This is predicated on the belief that knowledge serves as a basis for understanding reality. Hence, there is no gain saying that, if reality is erroneously judged and conceived, developmental projects would wrongly be interpreted and approached. The truth about many African nations is that their knowledge banks are suffering from colonialisis, which is a manifestation of effects of epistemicide. It is on this note that, this work employs the methods of hermeneutics and analysis to investigate how a given people’s corpus of knowledge determines the level of their development. Consequently, the work discovers among other things that the level of a people’s knowledge which informs their actions is the decider of which people are developed and which is undeveloped. Again, what a people hold to be true and real goes a long way into determining the path of development they will follow. Thus, the study recommended that for holistic development to be achieved in the developing world/countries there is the need to transform their worldview and liberate their thinking from the clutches of narrow mindedness and influences of Eurocentric ideologies orchestrated by epistemicide. As such, government policies must urgently prioritize the reclamation and revitalization of indigenous African knowledge systems to foster genuine and sustainable development.