Prof Chingdu's lecture offered a nuanced account of colonisation not merely as a historical or political phenomenon but as something that inescapably affects a person’s heart and mind, and a person’s sense of identity and home. Interweaving his family’s story with the history of Africa’s anti-colonial struggles from the 1950s to the present in a piece of literary nonfiction, Prof Chigudu reflected on how these histories shaped his engagement with development as a field, opening up new ways of thinking about what the ethos of decolonizing development could be.
The lecture was well-attended and followed by a reception. We were particularly pleased to see alumni returning to the university to hear the lecture together with current students, staff and members of the public.