NOUN VC, Prof. Uduma Says Relational Thinking is Rooted in African Philosophy

The Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria, Prof. Uduma Oji Uduma, has stated that relational thinking is not new to African philosophy, but one of its enduring inheritances.

Speaking at NOUN’s 3rd Philosophy Lecture Series on Thursday, July 9, 2026 in Abuja, he noted that while Western epistemology since Descartes focused on the autonomous individual, African thought has always placed the individual within community, history, and culture.

The lecture, themed “Relational Thinking: On the Challenges of Relational Epistemologies,” featured guest lecturer Prof. Anke Graness of the University of Hildesheim, Germany.