As Homi Bhabha (1984) has pointed out, exporting European ideas to the colony was never intended to be complete. In the area of language, this incomplete transfer is partly responsible for the system of diglossia that remains prevalent in Africa today. In the words of Kaschula and Nkomo (2019), the colonial enterprise led to the de-intellectualization of African Languages.

Therefore, it is necessary to examine ways of dealing with language that are common else where but that have been denied Africans. Why can Japanese function as an avenue to knowledge production, whereas Hausa or Swahili are denied similar status? This anomaly has been pointed out by Prah (2012) long ago but deserves further exploration.

A key element is the analysis of the ideology and class structure of tertiary education in Africa and of the ways in which these are set to change. Decolonial education, as per SDG 4, will need to provide ‘inclusive and equitable quality education (…) for all.’ This foretells a massive expansion in tertiary education. I argue that dismantling toxic ideas will make a transition to using African Languages more in all formal domains practically thinkable. It will also become inevitable.