In his native Uganda, Nabudere was admired as an academic activist, a former cabinet minister and a democratic educator with socialist leanings. To the global academic community weaned on his African-centred scholarship, he was a fountainhead of wide learning.
The full extent of his significance to academia and society is still to be appraised. However, what is undeniable is that Africa has lost an intellectual elder whose collected works span virtually the entire range of post-colonial independence social discourse.