Paper short abstract:

The study foreground is that Africa in general and the Yoruba people of the southwest of Nigeria have a means of knowing (Research Process) called “Ifa”. The Knowledge system is based on mathematical (Binary) and textual corpus rendered using a poetic line.

Paper long abstract:

The adoption of a Western periscope for interrogating Africa’s problem has been influenced by colonial legacy and the lack of an auto-centric nature of formal curriculum in Africa.. These imply that digging deep to understand, explain, interrogate, or deconstruct phenomena or societal problems has continued to majorly align with the Western ontological, epistemological, and methodological routes. The study foreground is that Africa in general and the Yoruba people of the southwest of Nigeria have a means of knowing (Research Process) called “Ifa”. The Knowledge system is based on mathematical (Binary) and textual corpus rendered using a poetic line. The research processes of Ifa traces the spiritual genealogy of events and being in relations to its physical space. Yet, this knowledge system is scientific, employing the use of different methodological strands and research instruments such as opon-ifa, and Agere ifa amongst others. The validity and reliability of Ifa as a knowledge system have gained traction that the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization sees as intangible knowledge system. This study argues the knowledge system intersect between the tangible and intangible. Relying on the Conversationalist Theoretical lens, the study concludes that knowledge of Ifa can co-exist in congruence with other means of knowing around the continents. Hence, the paper tentatively recommends Ifa as a knowledge system should be understood from its epistemological and methodological relevance to the society and the epistemic community.