The Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) was the principal political party in the struggle for sovereignty in the East African state of Tanganyika (now Tanzania). The party was formed from the Tanganyika African Association by Julius Nyerere in July 1954 when he was teaching at St. Francis' College (which is now known as Pugu High School).[1] From 1964 the party was called Tanzania African National Union. In January 1977 the TANU merged with the ruling party in Zanzibar, the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) to form the current Revolutionary State Party or Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). The policy of TANU was to build and maintain a socialist state aiming towards economic self-sufficiency and to eradicate corruption and exploitation, with the major means of production and exchange under the control of the peasants and workers (Ujamaa-Essays on Socialism; "The Arusha Declaration").
Julius Nyerere is a former first president of Tanzania in the 1950s to the 1980s after he started the TANU. In 1962, the TANU and current president Julius Nyerere created the Ministry of National Culture and Youth. Nyerere felt the creation of the ministry was necessary in order to deal with some of the challenges and contradictions of building a nation-state and a national culture after 70 years of colonialism.[2] The government of Tanzania sought to create an innovative public space where Tanzanian popular culture could develop and flourish. By incorporating the varied traditions and customs of all peoples of Tanzania, Nyerere hoped to promote a sense of pride, thus creating a national culture.[3] He was a Pan-Africanist. He helped Tanzania become a country and maintained peace before retiring. After retiring he went back to his village, and spent the mornings working in the fields where he grew corn and millet.