By Joseph Erunke, Abuja

Scholars, diplomats and academics gathered at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) on Thursday to honour Emeritus Professor Godwin Sogolo with the presentation of a landmark book titled:” Philosophy, Human Values and Development in Africa.”

The event was more than an 80th birthday celebration. It was a stirring intellectual reckoning.

But beyond the ceremonial tributes, the event became a powerful platform for urgent conversations on African philosophy, university decay, academic welfare and the disruptive rise of artificial intelligence.

Leading the charge was media scholar and former Vice-Chancellor of National Open University of Nigeria ( NOUN), Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu, who used the occasion to reflect on the Federal Government’s recent implementation of aspects of its renegotiated agreement with university lecturers.

Prof. Adamu disclosed that he was initially “worried” when he examined his January salary, only to discover it reflected new benefits from the welfare agreement between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government.

“I saw something I was not expecting. And I was told this is it- the benefit of the renegotiated welfare. So I think I’m happy because they have started implementing it, “he said.

Yet, he stressed that the implementation must be accelerated and completed.

“We wish they would speed up the implementation of other requests by us ,not demands, but requests,” he said, carefully drawing a distinction between agitation and entitlement.

For Adamu, however, the struggle of university lecturers transcends salary increments.

“Most people tend to look at it as a welfare issue. It is more than that,” he declared.

The retired professor, who spent 46 years in the university system, warned that artificial intelligence now poses a serious challenge to teaching and learning.

“When you give an assignment to a student, they simply go to GPT or Gemini, collect whatever AI gives them and dump it on you,” he lamented.

According to him, universities must urgently develop new strategies to safeguard academic integrity and enhance delivery systems ,a responsibility he believes the government must support as part of ongoing reforms.

In a striking admission, Adamu said he would prefer infrastructural rehabilitation over personal welfare improvements.

“I personally would even prefer that universities be fixed physically, in terms of infrastructure, than our welfare,” he said.

He painted a grim picture of decaying facilities, citing dysfunctional toilets and lack of water as symbols of institutional neglect.

Responding to critics who accuse ASUU of being overbearing, Adamu issued a blunt challenge: “Let them visit the universities. Don’t rely on social media hype. Go and see the dilapidation for yourself.”

He recalled periods when lecturers went without salaries for nearly a year, describing the union’s struggle as one born of sacrifice rather than excess.

At the centre of the celebration, Emeritus Prof. Godwin Sogolo offered a calm but resolute defence of African philosophy.

The renowned Professor of Philosophy from the National Open University of Nigeria, said: “Every ethnic group, every nation has its own philosophy. Africa is not different. “

According to him, philosophy is rooted in a people’s beliefs, customs and way of life.

The challenge for Africa, he noted, has been the dominance of oral traditions, which made it difficult to sustain and transmit ideas across generations.

“In Europe, ideas were sustained because they were written down. In Africa, many ideas filtered away because they were not documented,” he explained.

But that is changing, he added, as modern African scholars document indigenous thought systems and construct an authentic intellectual tradition.

Sogolo, a renowned Nigerian philosopher, academic, and author, who described himself as belonging to the first or second generation of African philosophers, said the continent initially borrowed from European traditions, not out of inferiority, but necessity.

“Intellectual borrowing is common. Nations borrow from one another. There is no shame in that. But now we are developing our own system, “he said.

He emphasized that African philosophy is not monolithic but composed of Yoruba, Igbo, Fulani, Isoko and other indigenous philosophical traditions , together forming a broader African intellectual identity.

Prof. Adamu reinforced this theme, arguing that African societies must break free from what he described as the “post-colonial enslavement of the African mind.”

He challenged the automatic elevation of Greek and European thinkers above African wisdom traditions.

“Socrates, Aristotle, Archimedes , they were human beings. We also have thinkers here,” he said.

Using Hausa proverbs as examples of philosophical reflection, Adamu argued that African communities have long grappled with universal truths , from inheritance patterns to gravity , even if they did not formalise them in textbooks.

“Not giving them a name does not make them unphilosophical,” he insisted.

Delivering a detailed review of the 316-page volume, Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, described Sogolo as a “watershed” figure in the development of African philosophy.

The 21-chapter book, he said, moves African philosophy from the traditional to the modern, from the local to the global, while advocating intellectual plurality.

“What is African is not necessarily inferior to what is non-African,” Osaghae noted, describing Sogolo as a pioneering decolonising scholar who insists that African philosophy be studied on its own terms and through its own methodologies.

He highlighted contributions in the book that explore ethics in governance, moral education as a foundation for leadership, and culturally grounded understandings of health and well-being.

“We must not seek validation only through lenses that are not entirely ours,” Osaghae said.

Addressing critics who question whether the “search” for African philosophy contradicts claims of its existence, he offered a metaphor: the philosophy is already there , it does not require external validation to exist.

As tributes poured in for Sogolo, references were made to pioneering Nigerian philosophers who helped establish African thought within global discourse.

The celebration ultimately underscored a deeper message: Africa’s intellectual future depends on reclaiming its philosophical voice while reforming its institutions.

At 80, Sogolo’s life and scholarship have become both symbol and substance of that struggle , a reminder that philosophy is not abstract speculation but a reflection of lived realities, moral choices and developmental aspirations.

In the words echoed throughout the hall: African philosophy is not searching for legitimacy. It is asserting its place.