In this episode of Born Before Borders, we explore how colonial education rewired African thinking.

From language and logic to ambition and self-worth, colonial schooling reshaped what many Africans admire, aspire to, and measure as “success.” Why do systems that don’t serve African realities still feel like the benchmark of civilisation? Why is leaving often celebrated more than staying to build?

Drawing on history, psychology, and the work of thinkers like Frantz Fanon and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, this episode unpacks how misdirected admiration, imported logic, and learned self-doubt continue to shape African institutions and identities today.