Social critic and poet, Agbeye Oburumu, has emphasised the need for Africa to be free from its current state marked by widespread poverty, violent conflicts, human rights violations, and inadequate governance.

In a statement issued by an agency, Integrity Watch, Oburumu, who spoke at a forum on Thursday, noted that it was time for an African Renaissance, which he described as a re-evaluation for the continent to realize its full potential.

“The Renaissance calls for a re-evaluation of Africa in the greater scheme of things; besides these historical pains is the present abundant potential that has to be occupied and that requires radical arrangements of the broken pieces that construct the mosaic into form,” he said.

Oburumu, a fellow of the International Organisation for Academic and Scientific Development, urged people to tap into the continent’s limitless opportunities and move on from the colonial past.

“The African Renaissance is not about forgiving colonial histories but rather about waltzing with colonial ghosts. Such shadows have to be placed in the mosaic, but not as a way to exalt the past but rather to reconcile with it and move on. The Renaissance is a cultural re-engineering that turns these shadows into hope and determination. It is about picking all the pieces—the history, the culture, the hopes of people—and creating oneness,” he added.

The poet who has won numerous prizes including the 2024 KEEP Prize for performance poetry, stressed that to achieve good governance and ‘utopia’, leaders in Africa have huge work to do.

“But let us not be deluded, as if one could simply wave a stick and ‘poof’ centuries of colonialism and cultural imperialism evaporated and a utopia ushered in! It is a herculean task, but it is here where the heart and spirit of the Renaissance reside amid this daring resolve,”