Dr. Gnaka Lagoke on Ubuntu
In conversation with eNCA’s Nkepile Mabuse in Dakar, Dr. Lagoke traces his search for an African philosophical foundation for unity and public policy.
- Place
- Dakar, Senegal
- Interview
- Following the Mandela Day Conference, July 19, 2026
- Watch time
- 4 min 58 sec
Asked what Ubuntu means, Dr. Lagoke begins with a personal question: what African value system could guide the future of the continent?
A path to Ubuntu
He remembers hearing young people identify with political traditions from Europe and Asia while searching for a philosophical framework rooted in Africa. During his doctoral studies, a conversation about Pan-African public policy led him to consider how policy should grow from the values of the people it serves. He says that encounter introduced him to Ubuntu in 2002.
Values for living together
For Dr. Lagoke, Ubuntu speaks to African identity, Pan-African consciousness and the way people imagine a shared future. In the interview, he names consensus, love, sharing, integrity and dignity among its guiding values. He describes using this framework to think about regional economic integration and African unity.
A conversation across Africa
Dr. Lagoke also recalls learning of related ideas through conversations with people from other African countries. His account presents Ubuntu as a living subject of exchange, with traditions and expressions that reach beyond one country or language.