Geoffrey I. Nwaka

Department of History

Abia State University, Uturu, 

Nigeria

The economic crisis of the 1980s and ‘90s, and the policy failures associated with the formal government system have discredited the African state, and exposed flaws in the Western ‘external agency’ model of development imposed from the top. Because of growing concern about widespread poverty, inequality and environmental deterioration, there is renewed interest in a new approach to development that emphasizes the cultural dimension of development, and the often overlooked potential of indigenous knowledge as “the single largest knowledge resource not yet mobilized in the development enterprise”. This paper considers how indigenous knowledge and practice can be put to good use in support of local governance and development in Nigeria; how development policies and programmes can be made to reflect local priorities, and build upon and strengthen local knowledge, capacity and organization, especially in the vital areas of agriculture and health care, education and natural resource management, law review, conflict resolution, and poverty alleviation. Indigenous knowledge goes beyond the mere indigenization of the personnel that operate the modern institutions of governance, industry and education inherited from the colonial period. The more fundamental philosophical and epistemological dimensions of indigenization that would explore, strengthen, modify and apply local knowledge have not received the attention they deserve. The World Bank has recently published an impressive collection of essays aptly titled Indigenous Knowledge: Local Pathways to Global Development. It is in that sense that this paper sees indigenous knowledge as a model for rethinking and redirecting the development process, and as a way to involve, enable and empower local actors to take part in their own development. The paper concludes with some general reflections on the indigenous knowledge movement as an appropriate local response to globalization and Western knowledge dominance, and as a way to promote inter-cultural dialogue on African development. To be inclusive and really helpful globalization should provide a new context and opportunity for inter-cultural dialogue based on the recognition that cultural diversity and the diversity of knowledge systems can be both creative and enriching.

About Geoffrey I. Nwaka