 Congolese university students—who had up until independence held little respect for Lumumba—embraced "Lumumbisme" after his death.According to political scientist Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, Lumumba's "greatest legacy...for the Congo is the ideal of national unity".Nzongola-Ntalaja further posited that, as a result of Lumumba's high praise of the independence movement and his work to end the Katangese secession, "the people of the Congo are likely to remain steadfast in their defense of national unity and territorial integrity, come hell or high water."