DAR ES SALAAM: AS Tanzania commemorates the death of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere today, scholars and young people are being urged to draw lessons from his philosophy of self-reliance, equality and people-centred development to address contemporary social, economic and environmental challenges.
The call was made during a symposium titled The Youth Question and Sustainable Development: Embracing the Rigors of Nyerere, convened by the Mwalimu Nyerere Professorial Chair in Pan-African Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), in partnership with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation East Africa.
The symposium brought together academics, policy thinkers, international partners and young scholars to examine how Nyerere’s ideas could inform Tanzania’s development priorities, including Dira 2050.
Chair of the Mwalimu Nyerere Professorial Chair and Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at UDSM, Professor Alexander Makulilo said young people were central to discussions about Africa’s future.
“Young people constitute a significant proportion of the population in Tanzania, across Africa and globally. Their demographic significance makes the youth question central to any serious discussion of the continent’s future,” he said.
With people under the age of 35 accounting for approximately 77 per cent of Tanzania’s population, participants argued that young people must be central to national planning, decision-making and economic transformation.
Principal of the UDSM College of Social Sciences, Professor Christine Noe, said the challenge went beyond demographic statistics to the opportunities available to young people and their participation in public affairs.
“The youth question is more about how space is provided in economic and public life and whether youth experiences are taken seriously when decisions affecting society are made,” she said.
Drawing on Nyerere’s 1973 work, Freedom and Development, Prof Noe recalled his principle that “People cannot be developed; they can only develop themselves.”
She said the philosophy challenged approaches that treated young people as passive recipients of development assistance rather than individuals capable of shaping their own futures.
“Young people cannot be treated simply as recipients of development. They need access to knowledge and opportunities, as well as the freedom to make choices about their own lives and contribute meaningfully to their communities,” she said.
Prof Makulilo added that honouring Nyerere’s legacy required critical engagement with his ideas rather than merely celebrating his name.
“The continued relevance of Nyerere’s legacy depends not merely on the frequency with which we invoke his name, but on our willingness to examine his ideas critically, learn from his experiences, and apply relevant lessons to the challenges of our contemporary society,” he said.
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In his keynote address, Dr Abunuwasi Mwami of Teofilo Kisanji University in Mbeya criticised socioeconomic structures that concentrate wealth while leaving communities struggling to access basic necessities.
Drawing on critical social theory and Paulo Freire’s analysis of oppression, Dr Mwami argued that production should prioritise people’s needs rather than primarily serve the accumulation of capital and profit.
He noted that Tanzania’s natural wealth did not automatically translate into improved living conditions for everyone, particularly as rural communities continued to face challenges such as inadequate access to clean water and food insecurity.
Dr Mwami also questioned approaches to Pan-African integration that relied primarily on political elites, arguing that working people and critical thinkers should play a leading role in advancing continental unity.
“The working people in Africa are the only class which can organise and realise this particular continental African unity,” he said, urging young people to engage critically with ideas and question existing power structures.
Environmental governance was another major theme, with Dr Richard Leo Singo examining the implications of forest-based carbon trading and carbon offset markets for African communities.
Questioning whether such arrangements represented genuine environmental cooperation or another form of exploitation, Dr Singo asked: “Is it a trade or is it a new form of colonialism?”
He warned that carbon trading risked reproducing historical patterns of land appropriation and community displacement if local people were excluded from decisions affecting their land and natural resources.
“Formal colonialism was about land taking people out of their land and this has not changed I see carbon trading repeating the same patterns of conservation and of colonialism in general,” he said.
Dr Singo urged African governments and young people to demand climate justice, historical accountability and the right to pursue development without compromising community interests.
He added that climate policies should address the underlying causes of environmental destruction rather than rely solely on market-based solutions.
Dr Roderick Henry highlighted the growing role of social media in communication, economic activity and civic engagement, noting that digital platforms offered opportunities for marketing, informal commerce and job searches.
“Social media are no longer just a communication tool, they have become part of us; they are part of our environment,” he said.
However, he cautioned that corporate algorithms influenced the content users encountered, shaping their interests, aspirations and judgements.
He warned that misinformation, artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes and the pressure to share information quickly made critical thinking increasingly important.
Drawing on Nyerere’s philosophy of Education for Self-Reliance, Dr Henry said young people needed to use technology without becoming passive consumers of digital content.
“Self-reliance in this context should be understood as the capacity to use global technologies but without becoming merely passive consumers of them,” he said.
He added that knowing when not to share information was an important skill in navigating social media responsibly.
Gender equality also featured prominently, with Dr Ambilia Sia Mosha examining persistent inequalities affecting women and girls despite progress in education and political representation.
She described feminism as a commitment to challenging gender-based inequalities and transforming conditions that prevented women from enjoying equal rights and opportunities.
Dr Mosha advocated an African approach to feminism that considered local realities while promoting equality, education and self-reliance.
“African feminism will emphasise having equality in the society that takes into consideration the Africanness,” she said, stressing the importance of education in enabling girls and women to become economically independent.
She urged young people to challenge patriarchal practices while strengthening community solidarity and promoting shared family responsibilities.
The symposium’s youth roundtable focused on Tanzania Development Vision 2050, which seeks to transform the country into a diversified, competitive, resilient and upper-middle-income economy.
Student participants raised concerns about limited public awareness of the vision, particularly among young people in rural communities.
They also questioned whether its objectives were sufficiently understood by those expected to contribute to its implementation.
They called for greater awareness of the vision through education, decentralised civic dialogues and improved access to capital, technology and decision-making structures.
The discussions emphasised that young people should move beyond being viewed as future beneficiaries and instead become active contributors to national development.
UDSM Vice-Chancellor Professor William Anangisye underscored the responsibility of universities to link education with societal transformation.
Referring to Nyerere’s 1967 paper, Education for Self-Reliance, he recalled the principle that “education should prepare people to take an active and responsible part in society.”
“For us at the University of Dar es Salaam, those words still carry a clear message,” he said.
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