In 1968 a group of young writers took to the universities of Kenya with an agenda that would set in motion the event now referred to as the Great Nairobi Literature Debate. At the helm of this debate was Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o himself, accompanied by a few others. Their premise was simple – to propose a counter narrative that would stand against the dominance of British literature in the curriculums. The young writers proposed a bold change by insisting that the English Department be renamed to the Department of Literature. And the newly renamed department would have as its main focus on African literature. Five years into independence Kenya found itself still held under the yoke of its past colonial system. The education department was inundated with British customs of learning. This meant that the English language maintained its operational center of education in the country. Ngũgĩ and his fellows felt that the approach was flawed and that it marginalized African voices and perspectives. So they saw it as their mission to raise it as an issue that needed to be addressed. And their main point of entry would be an inclusion of African languages into the curriculum itself. Ngũgĩ, having been well versed in the English language, and having written many of his stories in it too, grew aware of its power as a carrier of cultural and political sentiments tied to Britain’s history. And if the decolonial approach that had captured the continent was to be of any lasting value, then the reinstatement of African languages was going to be its most crucial investment. Language for Ngũgĩ was not just a universal form of writing, like the way numbers functioned, rather language was culture itself in transit.
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