…warns against wasting landmark cultural scholarship
By Adeola Badru
Renowned Nigerian historian, Professor Toyin Falola, has challenged the Kalabari intellectual community and cultural stakeholders to establish a sustainable intellectual movement to preserve, advance and transmit the community’s history, language and philosophical heritage to future generations.
Falola gave the charge yesterday during the virtual presentation of a trilogy on Kalabari culture authored by Professor Nimi Wariboko, a renowned scholar of social ethics.
He warned that the intellectual value of the three books could be diminished if their publication was not followed by deliberate efforts to institutionalise, popularise and sustain the ideas they contained.
According to him, producing important academic works alone cannot guarantee the survival of indigenous knowledge systems, stressing the need for a coordinated intellectual movement to stimulate debates, encourage further research and ensure that the ideas reach generations beyond the immediate academic community.
The virtual presentation, organised by Paperworth Books Limited, brought together leading scholars, intellectuals, cultural advocates, students, policymakers and members of the public to examine Wariboko’s contribution to African scholarship and the documentation of Kalabari identity.
The trilogy comprises The Soul of Kalabari Culture: Essays on Language and Reality; The Wisdom of Kalabari: Essays on Relationships Between Language and Body; and Kalabari Dignity: The Historic Style of Cultural Distinction.
Commending Wariboko for his intellectual depth and versatility, Falola described the publications as substantial contributions to knowledge, notwithstanding their relatively modest sizes.
He said the books offered an interconnected exploration of language, the human body and ideas, providing insights into the character, values, dignity, identity and worldview of the Kalabari people of Rivers State.
The historian also applauded the author’s treatment of women and his evident affection for the community whose experiences, cultural practices and intellectual traditions formed the foundation of the trilogy.
However, Falola maintained that the publication of the three volumes should mark the beginning of a more ambitious intellectual undertaking rather than an accomplishment in itself.
He challenged the publisher and other stakeholders to move beyond the ceremonial celebration of the books and establish a platform through which their central arguments could be interrogated, expanded and developed into a lasting body of scholarship.
“What is next? Where you do not create a movement, all these books are written in vain. They ultimately become useless,” he said.
According to him, the survival of intellectual contributions depends largely on organised communities capable of continually engaging with, challenging and developing the ideas contained in them.
Falola further stressed that the proposed movement should not be restricted by political affiliations, arguing that intellectual development required the participation of people with different ideological persuasions and backgrounds.
“They can be APC, PDP, that is none of our business,” he said.
He acknowledged that disagreements and competing perspectives would inevitably emerge in building an intellectual community but maintained that such differences should be regarded as necessary ingredients for growth rather than obstacles to collective progress.
“You cannot create a movement without conflict. It’s not possible,” he said.
To illustrate the importance of starting small and remaining committed to a vision, Falola cited Christianity as an example of how an influential movement could emerge from a relatively modest beginning.
He argued that the initial size of a movement should not discourage those seeking to establish one, noting that what mattered was the ability to develop ideas, attract committed participants and sustain intellectual engagement over time.
“As big as the Yoruba people are, they give their numbers as 40 million. I doubt that figure. They’ve not been able to create a major academic movement. But I will use Jesus Christ as an example. He is the product of a movement that began with 12 people,” he said.
The historian said the ultimate objective should be to establish an intellectual tradition that would outlive its founders and ensure that the knowledge generated by the trilogy continued to influence African thought and cultural consciousness.
“And as we create this movement, this scholarship will continue. The ideas will penetrate the next generation,” he added.
The three publications collectively examine the relationship between language, identity, history, philosophy and social existence among the Kalabari people, offering an intellectual account of how the community interprets its world, organises its relationships and expresses its cultural values.
Trilogy offers new philosophical framework
In his review of the trilogy, the Head of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Ibadan, Professor Adeshina Afolayan, described the books as an original philosophical intervention in African scholarship, capable of expanding the boundaries of contemporary philosophical inquiry on the continent.
Afolayan said Wariboko had developed an intellectual framework through which Kalabari thought could articulate and explain itself, rather than being interpreted exclusively through external philosophical categories.
He said the achievement was particularly significant because it provided a foundation for comparative intellectual engagements among African philosophers and opened new possibilities for examining the philosophical traditions of different communities.
“Wariboko, with these three monographs, provides an original philosophical architecture where none existed before,” he said.
He maintained that the significance of the trilogy extended beyond the Kalabari community, describing it as an important addition to the wider African philosophical enterprise and the continuing search for indigenous frameworks of knowledge production.
Also speaking, the Founder and Publisher of Paperworth Books Limited, Ibiso Graham-Douglas, described the publication as a deeply personal and culturally significant achievement, particularly for minority communities whose histories and intellectual contributions often receive inadequate attention.
Graham-Douglas, who identified with the Kalabari community, said the books represented more than an academic accomplishment, explaining that they affirmed the importance of documenting and preserving the experiences, knowledge systems and cultural identities of minority groups.
She noted that publications of this nature were essential to ensuring that younger generations understood their heritage and recognised the intellectual value of their communities.
“For me, Professor Wariboko’s books represent a triumph and a propelling force, affirming that our histories, our stories and our experiences are valid and vital, not just for us today, but for our children tomorrow,” she said.
The presentation was convened by Paperworth Books as part of its commitment to promoting important intellectual works and advancing conversations around African history, culture and knowledge systems.
Wariboko, an internationally respected scholar whose intellectual interests cut across African philosophy, social ethics, economics, religion and cultural studies, used the trilogy to examine the historical experiences, worldview, language and social imagination of his Kalabari community.
The publications also contribute to wider discussions about the place of indigenous knowledge in contemporary scholarship, particularly the need for African communities to document, interpret and preserve their own intellectual traditions.
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