The Olabisi Falola Philosophy Scholarship jury is proud to announce the winner of the 2020 competition.
The scholarship scheme was instituted to benefit young people graduating from university who seek to pursue philosophy as an academic discipline and advance the discipline. The award has attached a prize money of N100, 000 given in one installment. For the 2019-2020 competition, only final year philosophy students from the University of Ibadan were considered. Ms. Anna Lee Carothers was the point of contact and the recipient of the applications.
The scholarship is awarded to a student who demonstrates high academic achievement and promise in the discipline of philosophy. Two criteria are considered each year:
- Transcript of current GPA, no less than at the level of Second Class Upper division
- A five-page essay addressing the following question: Is there a future for philosophy as a discipline in Nigeria?
The winner is Mr. Jesse Abayomi Okewunmi!
According to the jurors, Dr. Bola Dauda, Dr. Sunday Dada, and Dr. Chika Mba:
Unlike all the other candidates, Abayomi Okewunmi consistently performed best in all the criteria. This confirmed the attestation of his Head of Department that he has been the best student from the 100 Level to the 300 Level. His essay was well-written. He makes a lucid argument in defense of the perennial value of philosophy for development in Nigeria. In the short space allowed them, this candidate was able to abstract coherent ideas from research materials he consulted, all complete with a list of references.