This piece is just a re-enactment of the concordant echoes from the ongoing Toyin Falola @65 Conference here in UI, Ibadan, Nigeria. In this conference, over 300 scholars are presenting papers. The academic cloud here is tick with the array of academic giants such as Gloria Emeagwali, Akin Alao, Femi Osofisan, Femi Mimiko, Ademola Ajayi, CBN Ogbugbo, etc.
Characteristically, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Adeyemi III inspired the audience with Yoruba's knowledge systems and spiritism. Iku baba Yeye, Omo iku, omo arun, omo adanu. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola the governor of the State of Osun took his time to elucidate the meaning of the praise song (Oriki) of the imperial majesty. Since Alaafin is the son of Iku (death), Aisan (disease), hence, death and and disease can not kill their son. This dos not mean the King will not go the way of his ancestors. Alaafin posited that we were made from the earth and that all we eat and use come from the earth, hence, one will surely return to Mother Earth. No doubt, this is a pointer to the deep philosophy of the Yoruba even before contacts with western philosophy. There's reference to #Sanmo #Meje in Yoruba's cosmogony indicating the planetary system of the universe even before the era of Aristostles and Socrates.How did they get this? Our ancestors had expertise in astrology and environmentalism.
Our ancestors have the knowledge of geography and their environment. They were not fools and idiots. Let's embrace and cherish African indigenous knowledges. Premised on experimental analysis of material cultures of the Yorubas, our ancestors had proven to have expertise in iron and glass technology btw 1000 and 1800 AD. According to Eluyemi, our ancestors are material scientists.
My paper "Recasting Historical Epistemology and Scientific Discourse in Africa' advocates for new alternative knowledge systems centre on African IK. Scientific discourse in Africa must be freed from the western paradigms. Calculatedly, we must demolish cultural-cum-educational imperialist archetypes which are currently shaping how scientific knowledge is produced and taught in order to reinvent Africa.
I join others to celebrate this African best... Toyin Falola.... Happy birthday sir. The Bobapitan of Ibadanland
No comments:
Post a Comment