Remembering an African literary icon Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o —10 quotes: Part 1

One of Africa and Kenya’s most celebrated author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o who died aged 87 leaves a remarkable legacy and repository of rich knowledge. The highly regarded writer published his first novel – Weep Not Child – in 1964. He began writing in English, later switching to write primarily in Gikuyu. His work includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children’s literature.

Here’s our selection of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s quotes from some of his writings. 

1. “The condition of women in a nation is the real measure of its progress.” ― Wizard of the Crow
2. “It’s like the enslaved being happy that theirs is a local version of enslavement. English is not an African language. French is not. Spanish is not. Kenyan or Nigerian English is nonsense. That’s an example of normalised abnormality. The colonised trying to claim the coloniser’s language is a sign of the success of enslavement.” — When asked in 2023 whether Kenyan English or Nigerian English were now local languages.
3. “Why does needy Africa continue to let its wealth meet the needs of those outside its borders and then follow behind with hands outstretched for a loan of the very wealth it let go? How did we arrive at this, that the best leader is the one that knows how to beg for a share of what he has already given away at the price of a broken tool? Where is the future of Africa?” ― Wizard of the Crow
4. “Our fathers fought bravely. But do you know the biggest weapon unleashed by the enemy against them? It was not the Maxim gun. It was division among them. Why? Because a people united in faith are stronger than the bomb” ― A Grain of Wheat
5. “Language, any language, has a dual character: it is both a means of communication and a carrier of culture”
6. “He carried the Bible; the soldier carried the gun; the administrator and the settler carried the coin. Christianity, Commerce, Civilization: the Bible, the Coin, the Gun: Holy Trinity.” ―  Petals of Blood
7. “I believe that black has been oppressed by white; female by male; peasant by landlord; and worker by lord of capital. It follows from this that the black female worker and peasant is the most oppressed. She is oppressed on account of her color like all black people in the world; she is oppressed on account of her gender like all women in the world; and she is exploited and oppressed on account of her class like all workers and peasants in the world. Three burdens she has to carry.” ― Wizard of the Crow
8. “Prescription of the correct cure is dependent on a rigorous analysis of the reality.”  ― Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature
9. “The present predicaments of Africa are often not a matter of personal choice: they arise from a historical situation. Their solutions are not so much a matter of personal decision as that of a fundamental social transformation of the structures of our societies starting with a real break with imperialism and its internal ruling allies. Imperialism and its comprador alliances in Africa can never develop the continent.” ― Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature
10. “If we want to turn Africa into a new Europe … then let us leave the destiny of our countries to Europeans. They will know how to do it better than the most gifted among us.’25” ― In the Name of the Mother: Reflections on Writers and Empire

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