Joseph Agbakoba
Joseph Chukwuemeka (Chemeka) Achike Anthony Agbakoba, born 8 February 1961, is a professor of practical philosophy at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is best known for his work around development philosophy and ethics for Africa, and his association with reasonabilism, Afro-constructivism, transcolonial theory, and Africanity as creative self-manifestive identity, among other concepts in contemporary African thought.[1][2][3]
Early Life and Education
Joseph Chukwuemeka (Chemeka) Achike Anthony Agbakoba was born on February 8, 1961, in Owerri, Nigeria as the fourth child and first son to Engr. Vincent Agbakoba and Mrs. Josephine Agbakoba, a school teacher who later became a dressmaker.
He attended Santa Maria Primary School Enugu between 1965 to 1972 and then proceeded to Christ the King College (CKC) Onitsha in 1973 for his secondary education. In 1973, he got admitted into the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife) where he studied history and philosophy for his Bachelor of Arts degree, and subsequently, a Masters degree in Philosophy. Thereafter, he pursued his writing interests by venturing into journalism, becoming a newspaper Features Editor before joining the staff of the Philosophy Department at the University of Nigeria in 1992, as a junior academic. In the following years, he studied for his PhD, receiving it in 1998 from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.[1]
Academic Career
Agbakoba rose through the academic ladder to become senior lecturer in 2000 and professor in 2005. He was head of the Department of Philosophy from 2007 to 2010, Dean, of the School of General Studies, from 2012 to 2013, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Madonna University, from 2013 to 2017.[4]
In the 2006/2007 academic year, he lived in Ghana as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cape Coast.
From 2010 to 2012, he was resident in Germany as a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at Goethe University, Frankfurt, and again resident in Germany (2023-2024), as a Humboldt Foundation awardee at the University of Bayreuth.
He has also received many short scholarships, visiting professorships, and fellowships, including the Bayreuth Academy Fellowship in the 2019/2020 academic session.
He is a Research Associate at the Ali Mazrui Centre for Higher Education, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Award
In 2022, Agbakoba received the Georg Forster Research Award.[4][5][6][2]
Positions Held
- Chairman of the departmental Board, overseeing the William Amo and Ifeanyi Menkiti Centre for Philosophy and Public Affairs, University of Nigeria Nsukka.
- Team leader in a Volkswagen Foundation research grant (2005-2009).
- Philosophy theme leader in a MacArthur Foundation research grant (2022-2023).
- Former president of the Nigerian Philosophical Association (2008-2016).[1][6]
- Member of the Committee of Directors, International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP) (2008-2024).[1]
- Regional Coordinator (Africa), Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (CRVP), Washington DC.[1]
- Vice President for Africa of Conférence Mondiale des Institutions Universitaires Catholiques de Philosophie (COMIUCAP).[1][2]
Philosophical Ideas
Agbakoba’s philosophical approach is intercultural and cognitively progressivist, based on colligational synthesis and hybridity, especially heterosis (the form of hybrid that is more vigorous than its parent stocks)
His writings and ideas offer a home-grown systematic and comprehensive transcolonial theory of development, which also includes perspectives on epistemic orientations and epistemic concerns, freedom, social causation and agency, responsibility, productive justice, distributive justice, positive and negative practical justice.
References
- ^ a b c d e f "UNN's Professor, Agbakoba Wins Prestigious Georg Forster Research Award". ThisDay. 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c Ogwo, Charles (2022-10-04). "UNN's Agbakoba wins prestigious Georg Forster research award". Business Day. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Awards for researchers from developing and transition countries". Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. 2022-11-02. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Wissler, Christian (2023-08-22). "Nigerian philosopher researches with prestigious award of the Humboldt Foundation at the University of Bayreuth". University of Bayreuth. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Wissler, Christian (2023-08-21). "Epistemic creativity as a key to positive development in Africa". ubtaktuell. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Anazonwu, Victor (2022-10-07). "Prof Agbakoba wins Prestigious Georg Forster (International) Research Award By Victor Anazonwu". The Renaissance. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
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