The Institute of Falola Studies: Towards Comprehensive Scholarship on the Work, Life and Impact of the Scholar, Writer and Intellectual Organizer Toyin Falola

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

                                                                                 The Institute of Falola Studies

 Towards Comprehensive Scholarship on the Work, Life and Impact of the Scholar, Writer and Intellectual Organizer Toyin Falola

                                                                                    Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

''O elephant, huge as a hill, even in a crouching posture.

O elephant, whom one sees and points towards with all one's fingers.'' 

From ''Salute to the Elephant'', translated from Yoruba by Adeboye Babalola in The Content and Form of Yoruba Ijala (Yoruba poetry of hunters)

'' Àjànàkú kọjá mo rí nkan fìrí, báa rí erin ká wí. 

        When an elephant passes, it is not enough to say 'I saw something pass in a flash'. You must declare 'I have seen the tamer of the                     forest'.''

        Yoruba proverb translated by Wole Soyinka in Death and the King's Horseman.

I mentioned to my sister yesterday that the annual Toyin Falola Conference is currently taking place in Jos, Nigeria. Conducted both in-person and virtually.

''Are you attending?'' she asked, given my commitment to Falola scholarship and admiration of the scholar, writer and intellectual organizer Toyin Falola, which had led me to attend the immediate past Falola conference at Osun State University, Osogbo, last year, with very fulfilling results.

I smiled, recalling that a Falola conference is an intellectual and social jamboree, an immersion in cognitive and interpersonal networks and effusions, a social encounter beyond my current need for contemplative and socially minimalist living, study and writing. 

I wonder how Falola himself, who attends each Falola conference,  combines, all year round, engagement with a cycle of intellectual/social events in different parts of the world, amidst steadily publishing a number of new books each year and new essays almost every week. 

A mysterious rhythm of contemplative action and social action.

''Falola scholarship is a full time job'' I replied. 

The sheer scope requires that an individual carefully curate the mode of their engagement with the dynamic monument that is Falola Studies.

Comprehensive engagement with Falola scholarship, sustained permanently, might require a team dedicated to that purpose.

Hence one could envisage an Institute of Falola Studies.

One person or more would focus attention on Falola related events-from conferences, in Africa, elsewhere and online, to public talks, seminars, interviews,  and more.

Another would focus on essays by and about Falola.

Another would be dedicated to the study of books by Falola. This can be further broken down into various book categories, from those on Yoruba civilization to those on a variety of other subjects.

Another would address books about Falola.

Another would investigate the spatial and human frameworks of Falola's life, from his early years in Ode Aje, to the then University of Ife to his current location in Texas as he moves between the US and other parts of the world.

What is the value of such an effort?

A huge knowledge harvest, relevant within and beyond African Studies, covering every aspect of African life and resonating beyond them.