Sophie Oluwole

"It would be ridiculous to raise the question as to whether or not Ọ̀rúnmìlà was religious. He was the leader of a religious cult which established a school structured like Plato's Academy, in which various themes and subjects, including religion, science, morality, mathematics, the social sciences, etc., were taught."

"In Africa, you share what you have. Our sense of hospitality is communal. It will be improper for me to have such an important visitor without letting her also have a sense of the environment."

"Look at Christianity and Islam. They have the Bible and the Koran. The books have ensured the continuity and spread of the religions – but, perhaps more important, the culture and tradition of the nations where the faiths originated from. Now, where is our own book on Orunmila? It is a question that should worry all rational Yoruba and African people, indeed."

"They said Africans could not think,” Oluwole told the Punch newspaper, “that we were not thinkers, that we were primitive. I felt challenged and said I was going to find out if truly we could not think. I wanted to prove them wrong"

"They disrupted our culture"

"Reality contains matter and non-matter"

"There is nothing that is absolutely material. There is nothing that is absolutely non-material. And in all phenomenons in the world, the two are there together"

"Africa is the only continent that uses foreign language as a medium of expression in institutions of learning despite the reports of many studies confirming the fact that the mother tongue is the best medium of instruction that facilitates better understanding of knowledge"

"I am particularly interested in what made her compare Orunmila with Socrates in her book."

"Prof. Sophie Oluwole loved and celebrated Yoruba tradition and philosophy so much that she was nicknamed Mamalawo (female herbalist). Nigeria, the Yoruba race and all those who admire pristine traditions will sorely miss her."

"Prof. Sophie Oluwole believed in and advanced the contribution of Africa to global discourse and civilisation. She confronted issues head on and made frequent appearances on television to advance the cause that she believed in."

"She was also, to the best of my knowledge, the first and only female Dean of Student Affairs at the University of Lagos, an assignment she took on even in perilous times."

"Prof Oluwole had great respect for African traditions, in terms of fixing them into the broad spectrum of philosophical thinking across the world and showing how we could make use of them for a more advanced African civilisation."

"Prof Oluwole was a teacher with a difference, a distinguished scholar with an unusual approach to teaching. She was indeed a woman of honour and distinction."

"She was a particularly interesting woman in the sense that she liked to do what was unusual. No matter how people talked about modernisation, she did it in her own way and not by following convention."

"She was also fairly unusual in her approach to philosophy. She did not just treat African myths and ideas as belonging to the past. She tried to make them part of the world movement of philosophies from ancient Europe to the present day."

"She shall be remembered as a distinguished scholar who touched many lives and as a dogged fighter and a Yoruba nationalist who never joked with the things that concerned her people. Hers was a life well spent in the service of mankind."

"When it came to defending women’s rights, she worked it out herself without being a follower of any specific modern trend. She was a feminist with a difference. In any case, she was particularly good at stating her position without making her being a woman to disturb whatever she thought about anything."

"We should pray that her work as an African philosopher should not be in vain. We should also pray that people will remember what she stood for all her life and all she taught about the importance of African languages and culture. She was an expert in Ifa literature and Yoruba culture."

"She was a trail blazing academic for whom I would continue to have huge affection for, especially in her candour and quest for distinction."

"Nigeria has indeed lost a great academic at a time when our educational system is facing a serious challenge."

"Nigeria’s first female doctorate degree holder in philosophy, she truly earned her stripes. She believed in and practiced what she taught and preached."

"It’s a big loss to the country and the university community. She was a founding member of the African philosophy community, where she spent the largest part of her life training students."

"She was a very good woman, quite outspoken and one of the foremost African philosophers."

"She contributed immensely to scholarship in African philosophy and culture and was well known for her publications and lectures."

"Oluwole’s agility was something that was phenomenal. For somebody of that age, it was as if she got better with her energy, her intellectual energy grew with age and for us, it was very remarkable."

"Oluwole infused a couple of philosophy courses in the curriculum, thus exposing Mass Communication students to philosophical tools to enhance academic and professional competence."

"She lived and fought for gender equality not women empowerment."