Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) has expressed fears that Nigeria might witness a strong shake in its root, with the increase acrimony, hatred, suspicion and attack on sensibility of different ethnic groups.
It advocated linguistic and conceptual decolonisation, religious tolerance and cultural equity to salvage the situation.
The suggestions was contained in a maiden public lecture with the topic “Religion, language, culture and national integration: through the lens of a philosopher” delivered by Prof. Oladele Balogun, of the Department of Philosophy of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ogun State, at NOUN headquarters in Abuja.
Oladele highlighted the nexus between religious tolerance, language decolonisation and cultural equity, and stressed that some of the problems confronting Africa are to some extent, religious, cultural and linguistic barrier.
He called for a systematic, critical, reflective and robust interdisciplinary research in order to proffer superior solutions that would enable human flourishing through national integration in sub-saharan Africa and beyond.
The Vice Chancellor of NOUN, Prof. Abdallah Uba Adamu, admitted in remarks that, Nigeria’s peace and unity is being deeply threatened by the drum of war and separation, which could be linked to language barrier and intolerance.
He appreciated the rich content of the lecture document, commended the lecturer and advised him to extend the advocacy to other platforms that would help cement the peace and unity of Nigeria.
The Dean, Faculty of Arts, Prof. Doris Obieje, said the rich content of lecture was an indication that NOUN was committed to the cause of national unity and integration.
She said the greatness of Nigeria is a collective responsibility of Nigerians. She stressed the need to prevent disunity and disintegration of Nigeria, amidst differences among the various ethnic groups in Nigeria.