Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era. Biography of Julius Kambarage Nyerere (1922-1999) President of Tanzania [Paperback]

Godfrey Mwakikagile (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2002

This work looks at the legacy of the late President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, one of the world's most influential leaders and Africa's most revered statesman besides Nelson Mandela. One of the first books written after his death but probably the most comprehensive to date, it is also a critical study of some of Nyerere's major policy initiatives in a Pan-African context, including events in which he played the most prominent role influencing the course of African history. As Professor Ali Mazrui described Nyerere: "In global terms, he was one of the giants of the 20th century....He did bestride this narrow world like an African colossus."

Editorial Reviews

Review

For a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the interior narrative of Mwalimu Nyerere, one needs not look elsewhere. -- Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala, staff writer, Daily News, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

I saw the legend in 1966, and the memory still lives with me. -- M.O. Ene, PhD, Chairman, Enyimba Pan-Igbo Think Tank

In-depth knowledge of a Pan-African philosopher-king. -- Amadou Taal, Consultant and Chairman of Worldview, Gambia

Mwakikagile...demonstrates how Nyerere struggled painstakingly to show the true African personality....Writing about him is a giant enterprise. -- Kofi Akosah-Sarpong, contributing editor, West Africa magazine

Timely. I will certainly talk about it. -- Professor George Shire, Open University, UK/Zimbabwe, BBC commentator and Zimbabwe war veteran.

From the Publisher

A comprehensive study and standard work for years to come.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 472 pages
• Publisher: Protea Publishing Company (November 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931768749
• ISBN-13: 978-1931768740
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,916,456 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nyerere - Africa's best president, February 22, 2003

By 

Randall Williams (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era. Biography of Julius Kambarage Nyerere (1922-1999) President of Tanzania (Paperback)

Few leaders have earned the respect President Julius Nyerere did. Even fewer have continued to inspire admiration after they left office.

Dr. Henry Kissinger, an arrogant intellectual, acknowledged Nyerere's brilliance and was even outwitted by him during the Rhodesian crisis, as documented by the author (see Appendix IV). He also got a potent "dose of African nationalism," as David Ottaway wrote in "The Washington Post," when he met President Nyerere in Tanzania in 1976 to discuss the Rhodesian crisis. They differed on how to resolve it, prompting reporters to ask Nyerere if he thought Kissinger's mission to Africa was a failure. As David Ottaway who covered the event wrote in "The Washington Post": "Nyerere responded professorially by saying 'A mission of clarity is not a mission of failure.'" Kissinger, a former professor at Harvard, got a good lecture on African nationalism and the Rhodesian crisis from Nyerere, a man of immense intellect Africa will always be proud of. He was indeed an African colossus who did bestride this narrow world, as Kenyan Professor Ali Mazrui put it in his moving tribute to one of the giants of this century.

Nyerere spoke for Africa, and the world listened. He also represented the entire Third World in negotiations with the industrialized nations when he served as chairman of the South Commission after he retired as president of Tanzania. And he died a leader, one of the best the world, not just Africa, has ever produced. He was, simply put, Africa's best president. And Godfrey Mwakikagile, an African intellectual himself, has done justice to him by writing this book, immensely rich in detail, probably the best ever written about Nyerere.

The best way to honor Nyerere is to emulate his devotion, humility and simplicity. As "Newsweek" said when he died: "The world has lost a man of principle."

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mwalimu, the African 'Teacher', October 9, 2003

By 

Geoffrey Ijumba (Dar Es Salaam, TANZANIA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era. Biography of Julius Kambarage Nyerere (1922-1999) President of Tanzania (Paperback)

Though JK never got to write his own biography this book surprisingly manages to capture that real person behind the mesmerising persona that mwalimu had.

Reading this book you get to know why exactly mwalimu identified himself with the marginalised poor, why mwalimu never had a bank account in Geneva! Why mwalimu supported the liberation movement, why mwalimu had to kick Iddi Amin out of Uganda!

It is due to mwalimu that Tanzania was regarded as a diplomatic heavy weight just thik of it---against which GDP?against which millitary might?'They even accused mwalimu of 'punching above the weight'!.Still the towering figure of mwalimu gracefully remained intact!

Mwalimu was the architect of people centred development a fact which got him into a war footing against the World Bank the IMF(they owe him an apology albeit a posthumous one!. The beauty of it all is that he won the intellectual agrument!

Mwalimu was a rare breed of an African leader, righteous, ethical and principled. This book is not only the story of his life but also a treatise on the science of leadership.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nyerere: world leader, February 12, 2003

By 

Edward Wright, educator and former expatriate (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era. Biography of Julius Kambarage Nyerere (1922-1999) President of Tanzania (Paperback)

Dr. Julius Nyerere is gone, but he is still with us in terms of inspiration and the ideals he taught. A world leader of unparallelled commitment, especially of the Third World, he will be missed by millions round the globe.

He was also an inspiring orator with a razor-sharp intellect who was given a standing ovation for his incisive analysis and oratorical skills when he addressed the British Parliament in the seventies. A staunch Pan-Africanist, and a selfless statesman par excellence, he stood tall on the same level with Dr. Kwame Nkrumah but exercised far greater influence than Nkrumah after Nkrumah was overthrown in 1966. On the intellectual plane, only Leopold Sedar Senghor, president of Senegal, came a distant second to him among African leaders.

It has been said that intellectuals have a weakness for fellow intellectuals, as Kenyan Professor Ali Mazrui once wrote. Nyerere was one such intellectual. He enjoyed immense respect and profound admiration among Western intelectuals. Having attended school in Britain at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, he was even described as a Western intellectual. He was also taught in the Western intellectual tradition by the British in colonial Tanganyika.

Yet, he was more than a "Western" intellectual, if one at all. He was a world intellectual who was highly admired and respected by millions of people around the world, not only for his superb intellect but his exemplary leadership.

Befitting his title Mwalimu, he was also described as the greatest teacher of our time, as former Biafran leader Odumegwu Ojukwu said, quoted by the BBC, following Nyerere's death. But that was probably an understatement, although that's not what Ojukwu meant. Mwalimu Nyerere was one of the greatest teachers of all times, embraced by people of all races and nationalities. And he taught by example.

He was indeed a legend in his own time, and will remain one for generations. Godfrey Mwakikagile has written a book which puts this legend in proper perspective. It is also a book that has earned the author a place among his readers as a respected authority on Nyerere. And his work is not compromised by bias despite his strong admiration for Mwalimu Nyerere as a leader and as an intellectual. He has written a book which will be of great interest to many people including scholars, especially those interested in Tanzania's foreign policy under Nyerere.

Dr. Nyerere did, indeed, deserve the title, "The Conscience of Africa," if not of the world.