Waja

Postcolonial Ordeal and the Emancipatory Potentials of Archaeology/Anthropology Education in Nigeria
Akinwumi Ogundiran University of North Carolina, Charlotte Email: [email protected]
In response to the theme of this anniversary conference, “Archaeology, Anthropology, and National Development,” I make two arguments. First, that development of any kind will remain a mirage until we emancipate ourselves from the postcolonial ordeal weighing us down. Second, I explain that development is not synonymous with material or infrastructure, the same way that we cannot define a civilization by its monuments. We need a human-centered conception of development that includes the following attributes: Respect for human dignity and belief in the equality of all humankind irrespective of gender, ethnicity, race, or class, circumstances of birth, rank, or position; Consciousness of one’s history, heritage, and culture, and unapologetic desire to use it as an epistemological foundation for seeking solutions to contemporary problems and for anticipating the future ones; Belief in the possibility of a better tomorrow and commitment to work towards it; Security of life and property for everyone, not for the powerful only; Justice for all, not only for the rich and powerful. Any society that lives by these five principles will have good roads, a good education system, and good governance. It will drastically reduce, if not eliminate, poverty. Such a society will create jobs and have a social safety net for the homeless and the hungry. Today, we cannot claim to have any of these. Why not?