While many of the students at JNU had an impressively extensive knowledge of their own colonial, independence and post-independence cultural, political, social and religious, and regional histories, as well as knowledge of western theory and philosophy, and were committed to an idea of Left politics that took ideas like South-South solidarity seriously, their knowledge of African social, political and cultural histories as well as present realities was limited. 
Wakati wanafunzi wengi chuoni kwangu wanaonekana kuwa na uelewa mkubwa wa historia yao ya ukoloni, uhuru, utamaduni wa baada ya uhuru, siasa, masuala ya kijamii na kidini, pamoja na uelewa wa nadharia na falsafa za kimagharibi, na wengi huwa na mitazamo ya siasa za mrengo wa kushoto kama zile zinazothamini sana umoja wa Kusini-Kusini, lakini uelewa wao wa historia ya Afrika kijamii, kisiasa na kiutamaduni pamoja na hali halisi ya sasa ulikuwa mdogo.