A SENIOR lecturer in the Northwest University, Mafikeng, South Africa, Prof. Dejo Olowu, has advocated for the protection of indigenous knowledge system.
He spoke while delivering the 2015 maiden distinguished lecture of the Centre for Black Culture and Understanding, titled: “Indigenous Knowledge Systems and the African Agenda for Development in the Age of Globalisation”, in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.
The Professor of Law said the preservation of indigenous knowledge was under threat.
Prof. Olowu said research had identified many factors as responsible for the threat to indigenous knowledge.
He said: “A report submitted by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies to the secretariat of the United Nations (UN) Convention on Biological Diversity identified the following threats to indigenous knowledge system: political pressure, cultural integrity, social and economic pressure, assimilation, poverty, marginalisation of women, loss of language, territorial pressure, forced displacement and migration and exploitation of traditional knowledge.”
The don added that lack of protection at the national level has intensified the threat.
Prof. Olowu said there has been support for the idea that the indigenous knowledge system must be protected. He noted that what was lacking was how to effectively guarantee such protection against “the onslaught of economic globalisation.”