Abstract
The Yoruba, predominantly of southwest Nigeria, comes with a long history of deep cultural consciousness and identity defined by the omoluabi essence – a sense of, commitment to, and pride in pristine and honorable conduct, individually and corporately. This paper interrogates the different, yet intricately linked perspectives articulated in Encyclopedia of the Yoruba on the cosmology, culture, and sociology of the Yoruba; the impact of modernity on its being; and the basis of the resilience of much of its wider cultural forms in different spatial and temporal contexts. It notes that the basic outline of the Yoruba culture predates its contact with the West, and is indeed comparable to the best of the latter in significant respects. A more autochthonous existence for the Yoruba, predicated upon this uniquely profound and composite cultural essence, within the Nigerian federation, has limitless possibilities for social cohesion and advancement of the development agenda.
The fight over the global development agenda: How the west tries to marginalise UNCTAD