Professor of Philosophy and Pioneer Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Temisan Ebijuwa on Thursday said that many people in Africa are disconnected from the state because the distribution of scarce resources that are not done evenly.
He maintained that there is wide gap between the rich and the poor, putting many into the state of anomie with consequences such as kidnapping, banditry, herdsmen and farmers clashes and ethnic conflicts, poverty and diseases.
Ebijuwa while delivering the first faculty lecture of his faculty entitled “Sartrean Existentialism And Yoruba Philosophy: Interrogating Diverse Paths To Freedom And Human Destiny” noted that while the debilitating conditions orchestrated by the misrule of “our political elites can generate some sorts of despair…this is not sufficient for people to result to fatalistic attitude”
According to him, there is hope in re-writing individual destiny based on the choices made, because “one right choice can affect the future of man and his neighbor”.
He noted that the only way to make meaningful living possible is for Africans in general and Nigerians in particular to create the type of life they desire for themselves because “Freedom and choice are essential to the pursuit of self-discovery and the determination of life`s meaning and social fulfillments.”
He lamented the “near collapse of the spirit of intellectual inquiry in our universities” which he said has “shifted the conversation into what some of us have called the growing need for stomach infrastructure occasioned by the despair and frustration our political leaders have brought to bear on our collective realities”.
The University don stated that there is confusion and frustration in the country as people only think about surviving “in a country flowing with milk and honey” due to inability to make ends meet.
In his remarks, the acting Vice Chancellor, R. O. Rom Kalilu, a professor represented by Ogunleye Olaosebikan, a professor stated that the faculty is breaking significant records in the institution and setting the ball rolling for more academic excellence.