UI Don, Olutayo, advocates promotion of indigenous knowledge

Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan

Professor Olanrewaju Olutayo of the Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan, UI, on Thursday said there is no way Nigeria could develop if she continue to copy development goals of the developed societies.

Olutayo, an expert in Development Sociology, stated this in Ibadan while delivering the Institution’s 429th inaugural lecture titled “Sabiticate is Equal to What?”

He lamenting that Nigeria had been preoccupied with the colonial mentality of copying other countries rather than developing her own development needs, using indigenous resources and knowledge systems to drive it.

Olutayo, former Dean, UI Faculty of the Social Sciences described as balderdash the placement of Nigeria as 152 out of 158 countries in the human development index saying that development is never about comparing a nation with another based on the yardstick set from outside.

He, however, challenged Nigerian academics to produce knowledge relevant to the transformation of Nigeria pointing out that the usefulness of earning a certificate is not to hold the paper but to use the knowledge acquired while pursuing the certificate to impact the society.

The don maintained that if Nigeria wants to develop, the federal and state governments as well as local governments must set its own goals and develop means through which it plans to achieve such adding, “In our self-reappraisal, as is often mistaken to be true, it is important to establish that development is never about comparing one nation with another. As such, the human development index placing Nigeria in the 152nd position out of 158 (UNDP 2016) is balderdash. Each nation, wanting to develop, should set its own goals and develop means through which it plans to achieve such. Consequently, contextual analyses come to the fore rather than the generalisations for development”.

Endorsing the Nigerian chewing sticks for their medicinal potency in the treatment of dental diseases, liver diseases, sickle cell anemia and blood pressure and better than toothpaste, Olutayo condemned Nigerians for demonising indigenous things.

Lamenting that Nigerians patronize Asians’ herbal products at the detriment of the indigenous herbal products that are more effective in the treatment of health challenges, he maintained that there is no universal way to develop rather, countries develop their own develop goals and pursue them.

He stated that the colonial mentality contributed to the high unemployment rate in Nigeria, stressing, “The recommendation since the colonial period till date has been to learn how to develop from those who had ‘developed’, as if they are no longer developing. We are being brainwashed to see ourselves in the garb of others without taking cognizance of our historico-sociological experiences. As the Yoruba saying goes: ‘eniti o ba mo b’egbe e se nla, a sare ku’, meaning the person who does not know how her/his colleagues are prospering would run till s/he dies.”