Actress Kate Henshaw has strongly criticized the concept of “African time,” denouncing tardiness as disrespectful.
In a recent post on X, she voiced her disapproval of the common excuse used to justify lateness in African societies.
She wrote: “There is nothing like ‘African time.’ You are disrespectful and rude!! If it comes to money matters, you will be very early or you have an embassy appointment! Miss me with that attitude. I detest tardiness.”
Henshaw’s post sparked a wave of agreement among her followers, who shared their own experiences and condemned the concept of “African time.”
They pointed out that the idea is not rooted in African culture and only serves as a convenient excuse for mediocrity.
The comments highlighted the importance of punctuality and respect for other people’s time.
A comment read: “That’s true. The nonsensical phrase ‘African time’ isn’t even true about our African culture. Our forefathers, who relied on the rooster’s crow, didn’t seem like people who took other people’s time for granted. Some people just find a convenient theory to justify their mediocrity.”
“No one misses an embassy appointment unless something is after him or her,” another follower remarked.
Another X user wrote: “There is literally no reason to justify the idea of ‘African time’ because it has over time promoted late coming, and portrays Africa as a continent with a bad sense of time. The concept of time is one and ought to be the same in every continent.”
“I said this to someone recently, Baba told me ‘Komot dia, u wey don get European mentality.’ The fact is we go earlier to places that have to do with money but claim African Time for other stuff,” another user wrote.
