Ten Most Notable Quotes From Julius "Mwalimu" Nyerere

A fearless, fierce and visionary politician and activist, Julius 'Mwalimu' Nyerere was the first leader of Tanzania from 1960 when it was still called Tanganyika up to 1985 when it was now Tanzania. 

Julius Nyerere is famous for his stance on African nationalism and African socialism, with an unwavering spirit that led him to promote a political philosophy called Ujamaa.

With a respectable title of "Mwalimu" - which means Teacher in Swahili - he was one of the founding fathers of the Organisation for African Unity. 

Below are some of his most notable quotes worth remembering:

1. Democracy is not a bottle of Coca-Cola which you can import. Democracy should develop according to that particular country. I never went to a country, saw many parties and assumed that it is democratic. You cannot define democracy purely in terms of multi-partist parties. (June 1991 in Brazil when asked about single and multi-party democracy).

2. Freedom to many means immediate betterment, as if by magic … Unless I can meet at least some of these aspirations, my support will wane and my head will roll just as surely as the tickbird follows the rhino. (When he became prime minister of Tanganyika, 1960).

3. African nationalism is meaningless, dangerous, anachronistic, if it is not, at the same time, pan-Africanism. (As quoted in Rupert Emerson’s Pan-Africanism, 2009).

4. No nation has the right to make decisions for another nation; no people for another people. (From ‘A Peaceful New Year’ speech,Tanzania, January 1968).

5. Unity will not make us rich, but it can make it difficult for Africa and the African peoples to be disregarded and humiliated. (Speech given in Accra, Ghana, 6 March 1997).

6. Education is not a way of escaping poverty, it is a way of fighting it.

7. Capitalism means that the masses will work, and a few people – who may not labor at all – will benefit from that work. The few will sit down to a banquet, and the masses will eat whatever is left over. (From a speech written and delivered on 2 January 1973 in Khartoum).

8. Those who receive this privilege therefore, have a duty to repay the sacrifice which others have made. They are like the man who has been given all the food available in a starving village in order that he might have strength to bring supplies back from a distant place. If he takes this food and does not bring help to his brothers, he is a traitor. Similarly, if any of the young men and women who are given an education by the people of this republic adopt attitudes of superiority, or fail to use their knowledge to help the development of this country, then they are betraying our union. (On higher education, 1960s. UDSM Alumni Newsletter, volume 7. No. 2, November 2007, ISSN 0856 - 8805)

9. If real development is to take place, the people have to be involved.  (Julius Kambarage Nyerere (1974). “Man and Development: Binadamu Na Maendeleó”).

10. Without unity, there is no future for Africa.