With a just-concluded symposium held in Lagos, the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies, University of Lagos (IADS,UNILAG) has, once again, cemented its place as the fastest growing intellectual hub on the continent for discourses about Africa and its diasporas.
Recall and Reconnect; Reground and Relaunch. Those four words encapsulate the spirit of the two-day event, which held at the Arthur Mbanefo Digital Research Center (AMDRC), University of Lagos from Tuesday, June 25 to Wednesday, June 26, 2024.
The event, which attracted global academics, artists, and advocates, marked a significant moment in re-imagining Africa’s place in the world.
It was convened by the Institute of African and Disapora Studies (IADS), University of Lagos (UNILAG) in collaboration with the Insitute of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, United Kingdom.
With the theme: Seen from Lagos: African Re-groundings, participants at the symposium deployed a psycho-spatial-spiritual concept to call attention to Africa’s place in the dynamics of global history and to ways by which her fortunes could best be enhanced by looking-inward in recognition of its own physical and spiritual endowments.
“With my Toe in the Soil…”
Prof. Ruth Simbao set the tone for the symposium with her incisive Keynote Address titled: With my Toes in the Soil: From a Plateau to a Spiritual Atlantica.
The renowned scholar of Geopolitics and the Arts of Africa, from Rhodes University in South Africa, submitted that “there is an African perspective from which Africa must see the world and from which the world must begin to see things”.
Using a framework of seven conceptual viewpoints, Prof. Simbao made a strong case for a re-alignment of the psycho, spatial, and spiritual dimensions of the African being. She noted that this would ensure that African knowledge systems would not only take their place in the global epistemological space, but that Africans may begin to contribute to globalisation discourses from an original and grounded African orientation.
She highlighted the significance of Lagos as a place that is central to that renewal project, describing it as “the centre”.
Her words: “When we are looking from Lagos with our symposium title: Seen from Lagos: Africa Regroundings, those of you who live here at the centre, you offer the weight, the grounding, as we radiate outwards. You anchor us as we situate this symposium, the first of a series, within the broader collaborative platform, Atlantica.”
She rounded off her address by calling on African scholars, policy makers, and leaders generally to pause and look more within.
“In our works and ways of creating knowledge, we can all block out the harsh light – the noise of the dominant ways of creating knowledge – and we can look differently, use our own vocabularies, draw from our stories, poetries, and ancestors, in order to re-ground. And it is from here that we radiate outwards.”
Knowledge Fest
On the back of Prof. Simbao’s ground-breaking address, paper and performance presentations were some of the mediums with which participants at the symposium called attention to and demonstrated the reality of Africa’s agency. They highlighted how Africa’s inherent psycho-spiritual resources are abundant enough to jump-start her renaissance.
From far and wide, they came – budding scholars, established academics, and artists from within Africa and beyond.
A total of 23 academic papers, 7 artistic performances, 4 screenings and conversations, and 1 panel defined the character of proceedings at the Atlantica symposium.
Some doctoral students of the IADS, UNILAG lit up the symposium with their insightful paper and performance presentations. They are: Bolatito Kolawole with “Indigenous Language and the Question of Return”, Olalekan Hamed with “When the “Gown” is not in “Town: An Epistemologocal Discourse of Odun Ifa, Odun Egun and Esu”, Isaiah Olayode with ”Cultural Sensitivity: Redefining Methods of Data Collection in African Studies”, and Abiodun Adejumo with “Ethnic Associations and Traditional Institutions in Democratic Nigeria: A Methodological Perspective”. Amenaghawon Idawu presented a performance poetry titled, “The Poverty of Revolutionary Leaders and the October 20,2020 Experience”.
Bukola Amodu, a doctoral student from the Creative Arts Department of the University of Lagos, presented a paper on “Si panpala. Iyawo t’owo osi b’obe”. A Masters student of Philosophy from the University of Ibadan, Bolanle Adetula, presented a paper on “Subconscious trails of African Study: Re-imaging Contemporary African Studies”; and so did a young, independent scholar from Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Abideen Amodu who delivered a paper on “Queerness in Lagos: Space, Place, and Community Attunments”.
“Happy to make history…”
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services), Prof. Lucian Chukwu, represented the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, FAS at the event.
In his remarks before formally declaring the symposium open, Prof. Chukwu commended the collaboration of both institutes and their respective parent universities which birthed the event, the first of a series of platforms which aim to re-examine the multiple histories of the Atlantic and to challenge the supposedly ‘universal’ knowledge system that has inherently privileged a Eurocentric world.
His words, “As a university, we are happy to make history with the hosting of this first Atlantica platform. This symposium embodies our university’s commitment to innovative research, intellectual exchange, and pan-African solidarity”.
A Working Quartet
The quartet of Prof. Muyiwa Falaiye and Prof. Peju Layiwola (University of Lagos, Nigeria), and Prof. William Gallois and Prof. Tom Trevor (University of Exeter, UK) worked harmoniously to deliver on the very sucessful event. Prof. Falaiye, who is Director of IADS, UNILAG, emphasised the commitment of the Institute and UNILAG to collaboarations which advance the cause of knowledge for tangible develoment for the African continent and its diasporas.
Prof. Tom Trevor could not “believe this is happening!”
In his closing remarks, he described the event as “simply a dream come true, as it was just a year ago that we began having conversations about this”. He spoke highly of the “amazing things you have put together here at the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies, UNILAG”, and affirmed the determination of the Working Quartet to keep it going.
He ended on a loving and grateful note when he said, “My parents met here in Lagos and got married in Maiduguri. So, I say, ‘A dupe!’, ‘Nagode’!”.
“A dupe” and “Nagode” are the Yoruba and Hausa words for “Thank you” respectively.
Gratitude
The Lead Coordinator of the symposium and Head of Research at the IADS, UNILAG, Prof. Ayo Yusuff gave the Vote of Thanks. He appreciated all stakeholders who made the event possible, from the leadership of both collaborating universities across the Atlantic to the participants, media, and staff of the IADS-UNILAG.
As the symposium concluded, it was clear that the seeds of reconnection and re-grounding had been firmly planted. With IADS-UNILAG at the forefront, this landmark event has set the stage for a new era of African scholarship and global engagement, promising to reshape perspectives on the continent’s past, present, and future.
REPORT: Isaiah Kumuyi
PHOTOGRAPHY: Boluwatife Adeniran & Isaiah Kumuyi
