https://thenationonlineng.net/isaac-delano-the-memory-of-a-great-legacy/
Isaac Delano: The memory of a great legacy
Toyin Falola
IN public conversations globally, names such as those of Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato, among many others, evoke a general feeling of admiration for the intellectual engagements of these characters who have made strenuous efforts to change their world and leave behind an indelible mark of intelligence that outlives centuries. Sometimes it becomes a source of wonder that the intellectual deification of these figures is reflective of privileging certain individuals because the propagators of modern education structures are Eurocentric and have minimal, if any, regard for the knowledge economy and academic productions of civilizations other than theirs. This provincial sentiment is not inherently bad in itself. For one thing, it shows that humans, given the power to determine the nature of things, are disposed to projecting their bias, making their perspective the sole basis for giving, enhancing and engaging ideas. However, what is important therefore is that Africans, or any other race for that matter, should combat any urge restraining them from telling their own stories, in their own forms. It is in the documentation of their own stories that important personalities of their own world are equally shown to the global society, telling about the near impossible tasks that certain individuals have accomplished in their own world.
In the African world, especially in the wake of European domination of the globe in every sphere, certain individuals showed an uncommon courage to challenge the superstructure through their proficient intellectual engagements that sought to parallel the achievements of those great Westerners mentioned above. Without a doubt, Chief Isaac Delano falls within this category and through the almost interminable list of his works, one begins to wonder if Delano, like Socrates and others, is just a mere mortal like everyone. He broke the Eurocentric metanarrative to enthrone the ideas of his own people: the Yoruba.
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Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
104 Inner Campus Drive
Austin, TX 78712-0220, USA
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