Yoruba philosophy

As Yoruba people, I believe that if we truly want to move forward, we must return to our original philosophy.

Western governance was never designed for our worldview. It cannot fully serve a people whose identity, values and spirituality are different.

Western governance is not our spiritual fabric.
It was sewn from a worldview that does not understand us.

In pre-colonial Yorubaland, every town had a system of leadership rooted in its culture. Oyo, Ijebu, Egba, Ibadan, Ibarapa, Ekiti. Each one worked because it reflected who the people were, each system came from the people’s spirit.

Our ancestors built governance on Iwa (character), consensus, accountability, and communal wisdom.

Today, we copied a system that prioritizes competition, individualism, and power for power’s sake and we are confused. Why won’t we be? 

A society cannot thrive when it abandons the philosophy that shaped it. A people lose their direction when they forget the worldview that once guided them.

To move forward, we must go back, not backward in time, but back to ourselves.

I believe that Yoruba progress will come from Yoruba principles.

Our future is rooted in our identity, not in imitation.

Titilola Damilola 

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