Institution
Ifa Heritage Institute
The only higher-education institution in the world devoted to Yoruba indigenous culture and Ifa
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About
The Ifa Heritage Institute in Oyo Town, Oyo State, Nigeria is the only higher education institution in the world that specializes in the study of all aspects of Yoruba indigenous culture, with the Ifa divination tradition at its center. Founded by Prof. Wande Abimbola, the scholar and babalawo who led Ifa's recognition worldwide, the institute is sponsored in part by UNESCO and endorsed by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Its founding context is UNESCO's November 2005 proclamation of Ifa as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, with the charge that nations support these traditions so they would not perish. The institute answers that charge directly: its objective is the preservation and propagation of Ifa as an indigenous African body of knowledge within a modern educational system.
Its curriculum teaches Ifa and other aspects of Yoruba culture to formal student cohorts, with graduates now carrying the training, and its faculty and staff teach in the traditional line. For Ifa, the Ifa Heritage Institute is the tradition's formal school: post-secondary, UNESCO-linked, and rooted in Oyo, a historical center of Yoruba religion. The institution's stated mission: The preservation and propagation of Ifa as an indigenous African body of knowledge.
Mission
The preservation and propagation of Ifa as an indigenous African body of knowledge.
History
The Ifa Heritage Institute was founded by Prof. Wande Abimbola in Oyo, Nigeria after UNESCO's 2005 proclamation of Ifa as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity; it teaches Ifa and Yoruba culture in formal post-secondary cohorts.