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Politically-decisive institutions can be divided into two broad categories. One is the category of primary political institutions. These are institutions whose basic reason for existence is itself political; in other words, political parties, the legislature, and the executive institutions of government. The second category is that of precipitatory institutions. These are not directly political in their immediate purposes, but could have an impact on politics far greater than that exerted by some of the primary political institutions. The university in Africa is a precipitatory institution of a different but still decisive kind. While the pure sciences augment the riches of scholarship, and the applied sciences promote technological improvements and socioeconomic welfare, the humanities have to grapple with problems of values and identity and are therefore the most directly connected with the process of political development. The two most serious political crises facing Africa are the crisis of national integration and the crisis of political legitimacy. In the process of national integration a university may help to forge a shared sense of historical identity. The university's role in resolving the crisis of legitimacy should limit itself to the task of creating a climate of political and intellectual sophistication. (Author/KE)