As the bodily vessel of the immortal soul of Sophie Oluwole, distinguished Professor of African Philosophy, is being laid to rest today, we are reminded of what matters in a well-lived life, which she exemplified. Simply put, it is a matter of the choices made.
Professor Oluwole made the most fundamental choiceof originality and excellence in whatever she did. Throughout her memorable life, she repeatedly demonstrated this quality. And while she may not have consciously nursed the ambition of never dying, her choice has secured her immortality.
In well-deserved tributes over the past four months since her passing, commentators have called attention to Sophie’s uniqueness as a philosopher of African tradition. In what follows, I discuss this and two others, including her contributions as an administrator and as Board member, relying on my experience with her in these roles.
As a philosopher, Sophie’s choice of African philosophy as an area of specialization did not come easy in view of the historical trajectory of the discipline. Professional philosophy had its roots in the West and Socrates is considered its patron saint. This was the training we received in African classrooms. It was the training our African and expatriate professorsreceived beforea few of them branche.
The first to branch out was Late Professor Olubi Sodipo, the first Nigerian Professor of Philosophy, first Vice Chancellor of Olabisi Onabanjo University, and first President of Nigerian Philosophical Association. Even with his profile, Sodipo’s stance wasn’t popular with his professorial colleagues who insisted on professional philosophy as practiced in the West. They described his brand of philosophy as ethnophilosophy in contrast to professional analytic philosophy.
I mention Sodipo here to underscore the chance that Oluwole took when she decided to pursue a doctoral degree in African philosophy, one of two Nigerians to opt for this unique specialization, the other being Anthony Oseghare my colleague at Ife who received his Ph.D. from University of Kenya, Nairobi under the late Odera Oruka, the exponent of Sage Philosophy.
Sophie’s choice of specialization paid off handsomely not only for her professional development but also for the uniqueness of the contributions she made to professional philosophy. For many soon followed her, and now, there is hardly a department of philosophy in Africa without a program in African philosophy. Furthermore, when several of us relocated in the late 80s and early 90s, we took African philosophy with us to the centers of learning in Europe and America. And the tiny twig has become a giant Iroko tree.
Sophie’s role in this evolution cannot be taken for granted. For the uniqueness of choice won’t matter much if it was not matched by the excellence of her analysis, the evidence of which is all over her writings.
A major outing of Professor Oluwole was in a special edition of Second Order: An African Journal of Philosophy, founded and edited by Professor Sodipo from the mid-70s to the early 80s when he became Vice Chancellor, and the late Moses Makinde and I took over as editors. That 1978 special edition was on “Witchcraft and Magic”withcontributions by Albert Mosley, Sophie Oluwole, P. O. Bodunrin, D. Gjertsen, A.O. Sanda, and P. Rogers. As far as I know, Oluwole was the only contributor who had yet to receive the Ph.D. at the time. And she held her own.
Oluwole’s objective in that article is to spell out “the justifications and consequences of the claim that witchcraft is real” while her professor, Professor Bodunrin’s argument is that there can be no justification for the belief in the existence of witches or witchcraft. While Sophie makes the case that science does not have the final say on this matter, Bodunrin takes science as the arbiter in the truth of the matter. As he puts it, since scientists are the skeptics in this issue, to convince them, “you have to speak their language.”
Sophie suggests three methods, any of which she argues must satisfy the skeptical scientist because each fits the methodology of science. First, a believer in witchcraft must explain the modus operandi of witchcraft power. Second, “he must be prepared to demonstrate a causal relationship” between witchcraft power and the event he cites. Third, he can prove his knowledge of the reality of witchcraft power by “practically manipulating it.” For her, any of these speaks the language of science.
It is this insistence on a level playing field between traditional African philosophy and Western philosophy that marks the debate over African philosophy in the beginning, as recent as 40 years ago. To her credit, Oluwole has been in the trenches of the struggle all along until she breathed her last. And it must be counted as righteousness for her.
Sophie’s post-doctoral exploits in the field, including her books and numerous articles, are glaring testimonials to her scholarship and dogged fight for the elevation of African philosophy in its traditional mode. It is here that her most famous book, Socrates and Orunmila makes the perfect pitch. As she repeatedly argues, she expects her findings on the similarities in thought between Socrates and Orunmila to elicit a favorable reaction to the idea that Orunmila is no less a philosopher than Socrates. She makes her case with raw evidence provided her readers are open-minded.
There is even a simpler case to be made. Philosophy is reflection on our human experiences. Unless you doubt that some humans have no experiences that warrant reflection, then it would be hard for you to doubt the capacity for reflection on those experiences by any humans. And as every Odu Ifa demonstrates, reflection on experience is key to Orunmila’s prowess.
Professor Oluwole served as President of the Nigerian Philosophical Association from 1987 to 1991. From 1987 to 1989, I served with her as the General Secretary before I relocated in 1989. I observed her up close in those years as a team player and an excellent administrator with a penchant for details. Taking over from Professor Bodunrin who had then been appointed as Vice Chancellor of Ondo State University, Oluwole was determined to prove her worth. And for the two years that I served with her, she did. She made sure that almost every week-end on her way to Ondo, she stopped by at Ife to discuss issues, including the organization of workshops and conferences.
Our path crossed again in 2008 when we were both appointed as members of the Obafemi Awolowo Institute of Government and Public Policy by the Lagos State Government under Governor Babatunde Fasola. With Chief Bisi Akande as Chairman, members include Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Mrs.Francisca Emanuel, Late Ms. Bisi Silva, Distinguished Poet Odia Ofeimu, Professor Adebayo Williams, Professor Wale Adebanwi, and Mr. Ibukun Fakeye.
Itis a distinguished group and Board meetings are marked by constant interplay of seriousness and fun. Though, in view of my location. I am not always available for meetings, anytime I am present, there is not a dull moment, thanks to the comic talents of Bayo Williams and Sophie Oluwole, with Bayo often at the receiving end, frequently eliciting the plea, Iya yi fi mi sile o. Oh, how we miss her already!
In Sixteen Great Poems of Ifa, Professor Wande Abimbola tells us how Ifa divination began. One of Orunmila’s sons had disrespected him. Outraged by the insult, Orunmila relocated to Orun pitching his tent “at the foot of the much-climbed palm tree…with sixteen hut-like heads.” Chaos ensued on earth. His children went looking for him to return. They found him. But he refused their plea. Instead, he gave them sixteen scared palm nuts to consult with whenever they needed something from him.
Sophie left us with an immense amount of “sacred palm nuts” in the form of her encyclopedic contributions to African philosophy.Scholars will be nurtured for ages ruminating over her works.This is what defines immortality. As the Odu Ifa proclaims:
Mo dogbogbo orose
Emi o ku mo
Mo digba Oke
Mo le gboin.
I have become the timeless Ose
I will not die
I am two hundred hills rolled into one
I am immovable.
Sophie’simmortal soul is already resting in peace.