African Academic and Heritage Fair 2022, by the AAU TV

All African higher education stakeholders are being invited to join the AAU TV and its mother organisation, the Association of African Universities (AAU)  as we host the maiden edition of the African Academic and Heritage Fair 2022, scheduled for 25th May, 2022.

Acknowledging the role of Africa’s cultural renaissance in the achievement of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 (The Africa We Want), and as AAU’s audiovisual mouthpiece in supporting the implementation of the Agenda, the AAU TV is rolling out the African Academic Heritage Fair with the objectives of:

1. Mobilizing expert knowledge and thoughts on African education and cultural heritage through carefully selected topics in tandem with the themes of the African Union Day; and
2. Promoting African heritage through storytelling, culture, arts, music, songs, food, and other forms of engagement that tell the continent’s narrative through the past and present to secure and shape the future.
3. Celebrating African heroes and heroines, both living and the dead to revive the spirit of Pan-Africanism as espoused by the earlier generation of ancestors.

The broad theme of this year’s AUD is Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent, and the AAU TV is empaneling a team of experts to deliberate on the topic, The Role of Higher Education in Strengthening Agro-Food Systems, Health and Social Protection Systems towards Socio-Economic Development.

The celebration will also be marked by cultural displays, poetry recital, exhibitions and a competition, “Know Your Continent Quiz” which will reward excellence in knowledge of African history and the AU’s Agenda 2063.  The ultimate winner of the quiz will be branded “The AAU TV African Heritage Ambassador, 2022”.

The Genesis & Current State – African Academic Heritage Fair

The AAU TV had, prior to the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, celebrated two previous Africa Days with studio discussions, presentations and portrayal of African history and thought.  This year, the TV Unit is formalizing the celebrations under an exciting and new initiative dubbed the African Academic Heritage Fair. This will be an annual event on the calendar of the AAU TV that will be dedicated to promoting both the chosen theme of the year’s AUD as well as promoting the renaissance of African literature, debate, exhibition, music, and other art forms through the intervention of the educational sector.

 Education and culture are intertwined and their symbiotic relationship makes them the bedrock of socio-economic development in any society. African universities, by their role as knowledge generators and disseminators, have a role to play in preserving the continent’s cultural heritage and societal norms against invading foreign cultures. The continent’s current academic curricula are overtly Westernized and hit by the neglect of the use of local indigenous systems as case studies. The medium of instruction from the basic to the tertiary levels of education has not been indigenized enough to preserve the purity of the African language as a legacy for generations. Restoring Africa’s heritage cannot be dictated by external sources. It must be generated from within through concerted efforts in which academia plays a vital role as convener.