The Western Academic Abroad: An African Response

Abstract

The setting was comfortable, and the social atmosphere relaxed. By all measures, he was a distinguished colleague. He had received a good degree from a Western university; he was respected in his own country (Nigeria); he belonged to those citizens who are often referred to as "our leaders of thought"; he had published widely; and he had been asked to speak at many professional meetings in both the Western and non-Western world. By local standards he was well paid, and his home and his family revealed all the features of his "elite" status. As a visiting researcher I had gone to see him to exchange views, to learn about the state of affairs in the country. He was polite, he was helpful; we joked about this and that, exchanged memories of events which had taken place at this or that conference. Academic chit-chat blended with that kind of casual conversation which makes life pleasant. My intent was not to ask him for help in my own research. Rather I was concerned with trying to understand his feelings towards visiting scholars-the 'Tourist Professors," as they are sometimes called. For years we have talked about the importance of "good scholarly relations" with colleagues in the so-called "Third World." But the guidelines we knew we had to follow were often not enough. Whatever our conduct, above all we wanted to be trusted, we were anxious to make lasting friendships. Many achieved both. But as our African colleagues gathered in numbers, and as the composition of African universities and research centers passed into African hands, visitors were often charged with "academic colonialism." I had come to ask my colleague to define this situation-if he could. My questions were blunt, as were his responses. I now place these on record.1 What I learned was direct, if not always new. It was honest rather than disguised, generalized rather than specific; but interesting all the same. I had known him for many years, but it was clear that his views had changed. We had worked together cooperatively; although our views had always been rather different, our interests had been rather similar. Racialism was not part of his sentiments. He rather considered himself cosmopolitan like all of us. He had always thought it an honour that people asked him for help, that he received many reprints of articles written by "my very good friends which I have everywhere." But, he said, "I have been thinking and you must forgive me if I now see situations very differently from the days when I was a graduate student abroad. In particular I have changed my views, and my feelings, since I returned to Nigeria."