Dr. Gbadegesin's Lecture- Sara Tosi @02647875

Dr. Gbadegesin’s lecture was very interactive and interesting. Dr. Gbadegesin began by teaching us about the Egyptian Goddess Ma’at and how she predates Aristotle, Jesus, and Moses. He taught us the importance of the values of Ma’at, such as truth, justice, and harmony, with particular emphasis on personal character. To demonstrate this he told us a story about Iwa (character), granddaughter of the god of patience. Iwa was married to Orunmila (wisdom), on the condition that he did not stress her, else she would leave. Orunmila became very prosperous but took Iwa for granted and she left, and when she did Orunmila was no longer as successful. Dr. Gbadegesin says this is because a man who has no character has nothing. Dr. Gbadegesin did a dramatization of the story for us complete with a drum and taught us a poem about the importance of Iwa which when translated means, “Honor may vanish from your house, Cosmetic beauty may fade, Iwa is what endures even into the grave, Take care of your Iwa”. He also said that Omo Olu Iwa Bi is a child begotten of the source of Iwa, with character and discipline who serves the community and makes personal sacrifices for the community and that we should all strive for this because it is our responsibility to serve the community through our education. He said that good character is beauty and it is the essence of religion, and that if you do not have Iwa your children will belong to someone else. Dr. Gbadegesin finished with a quote from Mordecai Johnson about the importance of education and told us that we need to educate ourselves so we can serve our community. I really enjoyed Dr. Gbadegesin’s story about Iwa and thought his lecture was fun and engaging.