A South African scholar and professor of philosophy from the University of South Africa, Professor Mogobe Benjamin Ramose, has won the $5000 Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Prize for the best Philosophy book by an African Philosopher at the Nigerian Philosophical Association’s 2 day International Conference which commenced on the 16th of October 2014, at the University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.
The conference, with the theme: “Nigeria: 100 years After Amalgamation: Philosophical Issues and Perspectives,” had scholars, researchers and academics from Cameroun, Ghana, Ethiopia and South Africa in attendance
The President of the Nigerian Philosophical Association (NPA), Professor Joseph Agbakoba announced that Professor Mogobe Benjamin Ramose won the prize for his work titled: “African Philosophy Through Ubuntu,”
The prize-giving ceremony was witnessed by the Dean of Art, University of Lagos, Professor Babajide Alo and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic and Research) of the University of Lagos, and other leading professors and teachers of philosophy from various universities Nigeria and across Africa.
The prize, which has its inaugural edition at the 2014 NPA conference, is a biennial endowed prize. The prize honours Anyiam-Osigwe in his esteem as the first winner of the Odera Oruka Award acknowledging him as an authentic African philosopher sage.
It was an elated Benjamin who accepted the prize. Following his acceptance of the award, Professor Mogobe Ramose gave a very incisive and thought provoking Lecture in which he interrogated Anyiam-Osigwe’s postulation on the Promotion of Peace in the Community, Society and the World with the Family as the Basic Building Block. It was a well-articulated interrogation of the thoughts and submissions of the late sage philosopher in whose honour the prize is instituted.
Mogobe opined also that Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe’s philosophical works should be given wider decimation and will forever remain a reference point as original philosophical postulations of primary resource. He informed the audience that Anyiam-Osigwe’s postulations bother on ideas that are relevant to solving some of the developmental challenges facing Africa and the world as a whole.
“I am happy for this prize and I am sure it will inspire me and my other colleagues to continue with our philosophical enquiries,’’ he said.