LAGOS – Prof. Joseph Agbakoba, President, Nigerian Philosophical Association, on Thursday called for introduction of philosophy into primary and secondary school curricula in Nigeria.
Agbakoba, who is also the Head of Philosophy Department, University of Lagos, made the call at the opening of the 2014 Biennial Meeting and International Conference of the association, in Lagos.
The conference had the theme: “Nigeria, Hundred Years After: Issues and Perspectives in Philosophical Discourse’’.
The don said that the curricula should include subjects such as Ethics, Logic and Critical and Creative Thinking.
He noted that UNESCO recommended that schools must incorporate these in their curricula at those levels at which children would be in their formative years.
“If this is done, the critical reflective attitude grows up with the child, and subsequently shapes his or her thinking that will ultimately lead to producing better leaders and a better nation.
“We need ethics in order to form character, and I can tell you that this campaign will be taken seriously and will see us knocking on the doors of all stakeholders,” he said.
Agbakoba said that there was an urgent need for African leaders to reflect on their mode of governance with a view to correcting past mistakes.
“A lot of things were done wrongly in the past; henceforth, steps must be taken to urgently correct them.
“African leaders must seek to know what happened to our African brothers in the Diaspora and must begin to ask strong question and create moral basis to fix the situation.
“Most of them really want to come back home and trace their origins.
“As we speak, not less than 2,000 African are currently in the U.S. jails. This is not a good story to tell,” he said.
The institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rahaman Bello, said that philosophy was the live wire of civilisation. [eap_ad_1]
Bello, who was represented by his Deputy (Academics), Prof. Babajide Alo, added that philosophy had been the vehicle of the ideas that shaped human history.
The vice-chancellor hoped that, at the end of the conference, scholars of philosophy should be able to develop and foster ideas that would become raw materials for home-grown policy formulation.
The Chairman, Local Organising Committee of the conference, Prof. Muyiwa Falaiye, said that the conference would showcase the role and importance of philosophers in national building as well as national transformation.
NAN reports that more than 100 scholars of Philosophy in Nigerian universities are participating at the conference along with others interested in philosophy.
The conference will end on Saturday. (NAN) [eap_ad_4]
