Olajide Abiodun Obi

Reincarnation, in general, refers to the belief in the continued existence of a human soul following the death of the physical body. This ongoing existence can manifest in another human body, typically that of a newborn, which is commonly referred to as rebirth. Alternatively, the soul may inhabit a non-human form, a process known as transmigration. The Yoruba people of southwest Nigeria subscribe to these two forms of reincarnation, similar to beliefs held by communities in India, China, and various European countries. However, research has identified a unique form of reincarnation specific to Yoruba beliefs, known as "Akudaya," or the Living Wraith. This paper will focus on 'Akudaya' as a distinct type of reincarnation prevalent among the Yoruba ethnic group in southwest Nigeria. What sets 'Akudaya' apart is that the individual believed to be dead continues to exist in a location separate from their original place of residence, without taking on a different body from that which they possessed before death. This study seeks to conduct a metaphysical investigation into the 'Akudaya' form of reincarnation to explore the possibility of existence beyond death.

The emergence of orthodox medicine, which came through Africa's contact with Western civilisation, diverted the attention of Africans from the use of African medicine to the use of orthodox medicine. The European colonizers for their economic gains, condemned African medicine and referred to it as fetish, evil, inaccurate, ineffective, and superstitious. This paper seeks to make a case for a return to the homoeopathic form of treatment with the use of African medicine as against allopathic (orthodox medicine) introduced to the continent. Though African medicine is characterised by some inadequacies, it is still better than orthodox medicine with an allopathic form of treatment and side effects. The paper argued that a more intensive effort, if applied to African medicine, will make it capable of being a better alternative form of treatment for health issues in Africa. To this end, the paper suggests measures needed to strengthen Afro-medical practices and articulates the possible benefits of such an approach. The paper concludes that properly harnessed, African medicine has prospective end results as a form of alternative medicine in Africa.

The advent of the internet has brought with it a lot of good and evil, part of the evil the internet brought is fake news. News and information travel these days on social media faster than the conventional media and online news consumers are prone to more fake news than before because many of the sources or agents are hiding. It has become very difficult to know which news is fake and which is real, irrespective of where it emanates from. The issue of fake news has become a new trend in political discourse as a means to mudsling opponents. Fake news has resulted in depression, war, manipulation of due process and the like. It is for this reasonthat this work attempts to expose its epistemological import. The question raised in this work is, what does it mean for a piece of news to be fake? How can it be curbed? In addressing these questions, we identified two factors in determining authentic information: the perceptual traits of the media house and the character traits of its agent. The aim is to use indices of virtue epistemology to determine which news we are supposed to believe as the real news and which one we are not supposed to believe. We argue that motivation, interest and intention of media agents and houses should be taken into consideration as parameters for measuring the genuineness of information. This work concludes that inculcating character traits and perceptual traits, as suggested in virtue epistemology to media practices can help to reduce the spread of fake news and its menace

The environment is under a serious threat, caused by human actions and inactions. One of such things that posed a threat is the human population which is estimated to be about 7.9 billion and it is increasing on a daily basis and the way humans deal with nature. However, the need for sustainability makes it necessary for every occupant of the earth to play a role in protecting the environment. There have been several campaigns and sensitisation by scientists to make people understand the threat they are posing to the environment and the need to stop, then make sure they protect their environment from more damage. Despite all campaigns, seminars and conferences organised to sensitise the people on why they need to treat nature well for their own sake and that of other creatures, the issue keeps getting worse, and people are causing more damage to the environment. Since scientific sensitization seems not to be working, this paper suggests a religious approach to solving an environmental problem and specifically looks at how to tackle the issue from an Islamic point of view. The world Muslim is with an estimated population of about 1.907 billion. If these people follow the teachings of the holy Qur’an to protect nature, then the environmental crisis the world is currently facing will be reduced drastically. The hermeneutic approach is used to reiterate the Qur’an and the Hadith of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him), a prescription on the way the environment should be treated.

Kwasi Wiredu, a prominent Ghanaian philosopher, having realised the damage the Western-style democracy has done to Africa, proposed an alternative form of democracy to salvage Africans from political depression. The alternative suggested by Wiredu to replace the majoritarian democracy adopted by Africa since its colonial era is Consensual Democracy. Since Wiredu suggested this form of democracy in his 1995 paper, titled “Democracy and Consensus: A Plea to Non-Party Polity,” there have been several arguments condemning the system as not compatible with contemporary African societies. This paper explores Wiredu's critique of Western-style democracy and builds on that to say that, despite its inadequacies, consensual democracy is more African than majoritarian democracy and should be worked on rather than discarded. In doing this, the paper explains Wiredu's vision for Africa and examines the implications of his ideas for the political landscape of the continent. By delving into Wiredu's philosophical contributions, this work seeks to contribute to the ongoing discourse on democracy and governance in Africa.

Neo-consensual democracy is a political theory that stands in place of consensual democracy, suggested by Kwasi Wiredu to replace majoritarian democracy. This theory seeks to balance in a complex contemporary African society the competing interests of different groups through a process of consensus-building. African societies with multi-ethnic groups practised consensual democracy in the pre-colonial era, which was replaced with Majoritarian democracy by the colonialists. Since the adoption of majoritarian democracy, Africa has faced different political issues ranging from political instability to ethnic and tribal clashes. These two major challenges are the result of the majority-minority dichotomy and the individualistic tendency created by majoritarian democracy. These challenges created division and poverty among Africans. Critics, however, argued that consensual democracy, as practised in pre-colonial Africa, cannot fit contemporary Africa due to its complex nature. The majority of Africans no longer live in their villages as they used to in pre-colonial settings; rather, more people now live in urban cities. The ideas of lineage heads, village councils, and village heads are no longer obtainable in most contemporary societies. This paper provides the theory and practice of neo-consensual democracy, which is a modification of consensual democracy. This paper also examines its strengths, weaknesses, and applicability to contemporary political contexts. However, this idea is prone to further development in terms of practical applications.

When the first attempts at conceptualizing African ontology emerged in the last century, they were riddled with confusions and distortions. When one is reminded that some of these confusions and distortions were not even meant for the African audience in the first place, it becomes worrisome, the extent to which African ontology has been misrepresented and then misunderstood. This misrepresentation is connected to the failure to properly capture the true nature of Being among Africans, as noticeable in the works of Placide Tempels and Emmanuel Edeh. Where Tempels is imposing his Thomistic substance-based outlook on the Bantou, Edeh is using an “unfamiliar” linguistic framework for the Igbo. This chapter reflects that the distortion noticeable in the works of these scholars is connected to their inability to capture the process-relational underpinning of the African reality. Through the method of critical analysis, we establish that African ontology has a process-relational foundation. As a way of demonstrating this finding, the theorizations on African ontology by Ada Agada and Mogobe Ramose are employed as process versions of African ontology even as both of them have not made such open avowal to this metaphysical orientation.

Following the removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria on 29th of May 2023, residents of Lagos State have witnessed a significant spike in cost of living. Incidentally, this has also turned into a serious challenge in the educational sector as this has affected the continued sustenance of the traditional mode of learning where students and lecturers meet on campus on a daily basis. Hence, the present research offers distance computer-assisted learning via Open and Distance Learning (ODL) as a complement to traditional or conventional learning in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Distance computer-assisted learning boasts mainly of synchronous, asynchronous or blended means of learning all of which have been used in the past to complement face-to-face interactions between lecturers and students of Lagos State University. It is on the basis of the economic inconveniences of fuel subsidy removal with the declaration of the three-day work week by the Lagos State University that this research proposes distance computer-assisted learning to mediate the gap created between lecturers and students of Lagos State University. However, the present research concerns with students’ readiness and awareness of this mode of learning. The methodology adopted for this research is quantitative analysis which involves the use of questionnaires offered to 380 students of Lagos State University in February 2024. The result shows that whereas students are willing to adopt distance computer-assisted learning, the challenges of power and telecommunications appear as serious challenges. It is the submission of this study that when the recommendations offered in this research are explored, ODL may serve as a complement to conventional learning.