Nyok|11 April 2019
The 2nd edition of the International Conference of the Faculties of Arts/Humanities Scholars' Association of Nigeria, FAHSANU has just concluded in the Ijagun campus of the Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu Ode in Ogun State NEGROIDHAVEN can say authoritatively.
The Rehumanising Humanity-themed academic conference which took place between 8th and 12th April featured capacity building workshops, academic paper presentations and an Annual General Meeting, AGM (of FAHSANU). This auspicious conference witnessed Prof. Yakubu Aboki Ochefu a career academic at the Benue State University who presented a keynote paper, Prof. Oluyemisi O. Obilade the pioneer Vice Chancellor of the host university was the Lead Speaker, while Prof Barclays Ayakoroma also featured as Lead Presenter as well as Associate Prof. Osakue S. Omoera as Workshop Facilitator.
In her inaugural address, the pioneer president of FAHSANU, Prof. Dorothy Oluwagbemi-Jacob of the Department of Philosophy, University of Calabar who asserted that humanity can be lost insisted that humanity can be regained as well. She queried why cruelty has been inflicted on humans by fellow humans. She narrated the incident in South Africa during the era of the country's Truth and Reconciliation Committee where a bereaved mother expressed optimism at rehumanisstion of the human person(s).
In her statement she said, 'During the inglorious regime in South Africa the son of one Mrs. Ngewu, called Christopher Piet was killed by a black perpetrator working for the South African police. The details of what happened came out during the second week of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee's (TRC) human rights hearings, when the killer of Christopher Piet sought forgiveness from the late young man's mother. In her response, Mrs. Ngewu was said to have responded thus: 'this thing called reconciliation… If I am understanding it correctly… If it means this perpetrator, this man who has killed Christopher Piet, if it means he becomes human again, so that I, so that all of us, get our humanity back, then I agree, then I support it all.
'Evidently, from Mrs Ngewu's statement, humanity can be lost. At the same time, humanity can also be regained…
'Anything that brings dignity, respect, contentment, prosperity, joy to human beings is humanising. In his autobiography, the English mathematician and philosopher, Bertrand Russell, looking back on a long life, despite the ferocity from 20th century wars and the cruelty stemming from 20th century dictators, had this to say, 'to care for what is noble for what is beautiful, for what is gentle… To see in my imagination, on the society that is to be created, where individuals grow freely, and where hate and greed and envy die because there is nothing to nourish them.
'I believe Russell's vision is achievable given the right education and socio-economic environment. In this conference we should ask the right questions, as well as look at the contradictions that have transformed the social human to homo hostilis'.
For Prof. Olu-Jacob, the disciplines in the Humanities including philosophy, theatre artists, mass communicators, linguists, musicologists, religious/cultural experts fine artists, etc hold the fundamental solution to this human problem(s) and this through education. She anticipated a situation where the conference would proffer ideas that would allow for the rehumanising of the dehumanised human, reason for the theme —'Rehumanising Humanity'.
FAHSANU International Conference is motivated by the concern that the Arts/Humanities have been experiencing in the past till the present, the questioning of their contributions to national development in a world where emphasis is on technological innovations to drive the economy. In this regard, the Arts/Humanities are considered peripheral in the spheres of economic, scientific, management and technological developments of nations. With the exceptional emphasis on science and technology over arts/humanities, it is important to note that while the world advances in those directions, there are questions that the computer cannot answer. Therefore, society must not limit its efforts to science and technology alone but also equally give full value and support to the Arts/Humanities in order to achieve a critical appraisal of the past, a constructive engagement of the present in order to articulate aspirations for the future.
Efio-Ita Nyok is the blogger-in-chief, editor-in-chief and publisher of NEGROIDHAVEN
