By Sunmola Olowookere
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When the grim reaper comes calling, he plunders as he wills unhindered. He does not take into his consideration the usefulness or importance of his harvest to his or her immediate society, he simply took.
On December 24, 2018, death made another harvest and the erudite and grand Professor, Sophie Bosede Oluwole died.
Before her death, she had admitted to her close associates to have been sick for some months and was receiving medical treatments while she stayed in the laps of her children.
It was during this period that I had my first and the last encounter with her. I wanted to book an appointment with her for an interview.
I can’t help shaking off the niggling idea that about that time; four months ago, she knew that the end was near. And it was the last time i heard her voice on phone around september, 2018.
Her voice which was still clear despite her advancement in age sounded withdrawn as she said “i will not be able to grant an interview now. I am at the hospital. However if i am to escape from this sickness, we will discuss the interview. Just pray for my recovery”.
Alas! Mamalawo, as she is fondly called by close friends and associates never escaped from the clutches of the sickness as she bowed to the inevitable a day to Christmas at the ripe age of 83 years.
Sophie Bosede Oluwole, born in 1936 and hailed from Igbara oke was an African philosopher who dedicated her whole life to the development of the Yoruba culture. Even till her sickness and death, her center, under her tutelage was still deep into research work in the African culture, with a view to projecting it to the outside world.
During her lifetime, Oluwole was the first female doctorate degree holder in philosophy in Nigeria.
Oluwole once admitted in an interview she had with newsmen in 2017 that she never dreamt of being a philosopher when she gained admission into the university but chose philosophy instead of geography because of her dread of mathematics which was a requirement for studying geography.
Due to her dilligence and persistent quest for knowledge especially about the unsung African philosophy, Oluwole became the first female doctorate degree holder in philosophy in Nigeria.
She was a practitioner of Yoruba philosophy, a way of thinking which stems from the ethnic group based in Nigeria. She was vocal about the role of women in philosophy, and the disproportionate representation of African thinkers in education.
Simultaneously, she studied History, Geography and Philosophy at the UNILAG in Lagos, and eventually settled on philosophy.
Following her first degree, she was employed in UNILAG for a time as an assistant lecturer in 1972, and went on to complete her PhD in philosophy at the University of Ibadan.
Later, as a qualified professor, Oluwole taught African Philosophy at UNILAG for six years between 2002 and 2008.
Oluwole’s teachings and works are generally attributed to the Yoruba school of philosophical thought, which was ingrained in the cultural and religious beliefs(Ifá) of the various regions of Yorubaland. According to Oluwole, this branch of philosophy predates the Western tradition, as the ancient African philosopher Orunmila predates Socrates by her estimate. These two thinkers, representing the values of the African and Western traditions, are two of Oluwole’s biggest influences and she made allusions to this at presentations, interviews and lectures. She was so much in love with the Yoruba culture.
She is the author of the book; Socrates and Orunmila: Two Patron Saint of Classical Philosophy among other works.
Being proudly Yoruba, I was spurred to do a critic of the work in which she did a comparative analysis of Orunmila, an African philosopher and Socrates, a western philosopher.
She maintained that Orunmila is to the Africans what Socrates is to the westerners in philosophical submissions.
In this work, she addressed issues which surround the debate whether there was indeed the existence of African philosophy.
It would be recalled that in the earlier part of this piece that Oluwole ventured into the study of philosophy at a time few people believed in Africa philosophy and research work about it were practically nonexistent.
While we slumbered, the western philosophy carved a niche for itself in the world of philosophy, that is an indisputable fact.
Oluwole however firmly believed and expounded that the African philosophy too should be taken cognizance of and accorded its rightful place in the world of philosophy.
Among her published works, Oluwole here showed an endearing boldness in her work about Socrates and Orunmila as she trod where even angels feared to tread by juxtaposing Orunmila, the Yoruba god of divinity with the western world much revered father of philosophy, Socrates.
One can easily visualize the white men’s scoffing and disbelieving expressions on hearing the author’s submission. They would be like “Orunmila and Socrates? There is a world of difference between the two!”
People and institutions have begun to send in words of consolation and solace to the family of the late professor.
The authority of University of Lagos issued a statement to the media to mourn her passing.
“It’s a big loss to the country and the university community. She was a founding member of the African philosophy community, where she spent the largest part of her life training students,” said the school’s Dean of Arts, Muyiwa Falaiye.
Professor Oluwole was known as a proponent of African philosophy, particularly Yoruba philosophy. She received her PhD in philosophy at the University of Ibadan and began teaching at Unilag in 2002.
After her retirement, she established an outfit called Centre for African Culture and Development.
President Muhammadu Buhari has also condoled with the family of the late professor.
The president joined members of the family,the academia and other close associates in mourning the passing of the female plilosopher.
He noted that the deceased had through her teachings and works celebrated the Yoruba culture, history and worldview and reminded the world that within pristine traditions are values that promote the ideals of democracy, fairness, equity and justice.
The deceased would be honoured and remembered for her commitment in promoting African tradition, culture, knowledge and languages.
In mourning Prof Oluwole, Nigerians particularly the Yorubas must honour her memory by carrying on from where she left in her zeal to promote indigenous knowlege, skills and discipline that could help to redefine people and a nation.
During her lifetime, she held the unshakable belief that our lifestyle has been eroded by our total embracing of the western culture to the detriment of our own.
In her published works, she showed indications that Africa especially Nigeria have proponents of several areas of specialization such as maths, science, engineering and even medicine in our forebears that have laid foundations upon which we could have been built on if we wanted to.
In one of books, she showed the picture of a local medical theatre where some medicine men and women successfully carried out a caesarian operation on a pregnant woman in Ghana before the advent of western medical practice.
She has done tremendous work in developing African philosophy and the question arose, with her passing, who will step into her shoes?
She made conscientious efforts in bringing the African philosophy to the limelight. The torch must not be extinguish and must allowed to burn.