Abraham Waigi

Dr Waigi is Honourary Research Fellow at the Andrew Wallis Centre, Liverpool Hope University  and research Fellow at the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture, Ghana.

Whilst Virtual Fellow at the University of Leeds, Dr Waigi will be developing his project; 'Wole Soyinka and the Challenge of Religious Plurality.' He will be working closely with Professor Adriaan Van Klinken (School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science) and Brendon Nicholls (School of English)

About the Project

Wole Soyinka’s life and extensive work constitute a great resource for a research project on the challenge of religious pluralism. Being a towering figure in the creative and cultural world, and his works being representative of African-centered perspectives, this project would be well-positioned to serve as “a starting point for interrogating existing and developing knowledges relating to major societal challenges”. The global reception of his writings would also facilitate partnerships with like-minded scholars and institutions. Likewise, the outcome of such a research would be welcome to a wide variety of audiences.

The interplay between religion and life is a matrix of his most recent books and a backdrop to his five memoirs. His ideas and sensibility are also an imbibition, indeed a cross-fertilization, of Yoruba, African, Greek, Oriental, Judeo-Christian and Arab-Islamic thought. The playwright and poet exhibits his preoccupation with political, religious and social-cultural matters, beginning in Africa yet always retaining a global outlook. He does the same in his non-fiction writings. He consistently derives inspiration from Yoruba religion, within which he finds “the uniting principle” and “arbitrating voice” in a world rife with contending religious claims, the latter being a major challenge for our times.