Veteran Nigerian highlife musician Bright Chimezie has implored young Africans to invest in the development of their own countries rather than seeking greener pastures abroad.
Speaking recently on The Honest Bunch Podcast, he criticised what he described as Africa’s “misplaced dependence on the West,” saying many of the continent’s youth still hold the belief that genuine success is found outside Africa.
“We Africans must find a way. Our problem is here. We are helping those people over there,” Chimezie stated during the episode.
Chimezie challenged the widespread perception that foreign lands afford superior opportunities. He urged people to reconsider the cost of emigration, both materially and psychologically.
“We always feel that the grass is greener outside. The grass is not greener there. I don’t travel small — in fact, you walk. No more opportunities there,” he said.
“This is one Africa where you can come, develop this, develop there. If you go there, you will get a salary. And you have to start from washing toilets.”
Chimezie also attributed Africa’s economic and psychological subservience to colonial influence, which, he believes, distorted the way Africans view themselves and their potential.
“I blame the white man for it, I’m sorry to say it. Because of the pattern they used to package Africa. When the white people came, the kind of asset affected our psyche, seriously,” he remarked.
He added that this colonial conditioning continues to shape African attitudes toward success and education.
In his view, Africans devote immense energy to religious studies, but if the same fervour were applied to science, innovation, mathematics, and biology, the continent would make much greater progress.
“The way we read the Bible here, if we read biology books and mathematics like that, Africa for don move,” he said.
Bright Chimezie, also known as Ziggima Sound King, remains one of Nigeria’s most influential highlife artists. Over many decades, he has used his music to promote cultural pride, discipline, and self-reliance among Africans.
Chimezie has in past interviews emphasised authenticity, cultural roots, and the danger of blindly mimicking foreign cultures.
For example, in a 2005 interview, he said: “You don’t appreciate what you have … Where you’re from, the language you speak, the kind of food you eat, the people you associate with matter a lot.”
He also noted how African styles, dress, and language have earned admiration abroad, reinforcing his belief in projecting one’s origins rather than dismissing them.
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