Academic Freedom in Africa: a Human Rights Perspective

This book is an attempt to close the gap that exists in Africa as regards the state of literature addressing itself to the issue of academic freedom, as a human right, from an African perspective. The right to academic freedom is relevant in terms of its protection and guarantee in Africa, in that, being a poor continent, the only hope that Africa has for its regeneration is mainly through educating its population. This can only be achieved in an environment which secures for academic professionals, who are teachers of the African population, the most necessary of freedoms in pursuit of their academic work. Thus an elaboration on the right to academic freedom and its content, as well as the extent of its protection as a human right in Africa is undertaken in this book. The book ultimately makes out a case for the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to adopt an interpretation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights that includes protection of the right to academic freedom.