Osiri: A university born for our times

Imagine an Africa determined to develop her people such that Botswana, Namibia, and Sierra Leone are not just known for their diamonds but the best diamond miners and engineers in the world; Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Libya and Egypt are not only known for petroleum but for the best oil rig builders who are highly sought-after by other countries, and Congo, Niger, South Africa, Gabon, Madagascar, and Namibia are not just destinations for extracting uranium but are countries where the world’s best nuclear scientists reside. This is the vision of Osiri University, which is not a traditional university but a platform where people can gain practical knowledge. While Osiri offers courses that lead to certifications, the university is challenging the status quo and presenting a new community-based education system that is not hinged on awarding degrees but on the mastery of content.

Osiri University is the solutions-driven institution where learners are transformed into leaders! Osiri is committed to training leaders with the highest ethical standards in all spheres of life, with a primary focus on developing a learner's talents including her or his critical thinking skills and emotional intelligence rather than on granting degrees. Learners concentrate on developing their core values and mastering the knowledge they need to make a difference. At Osiri University, emphasis is placed on values and practical education. Therefore, tests and quizzes are strictly used as diagnostic tools to uncover where learners need to improve upon. What’s more is that the courses are four weeks long and available online, providing enormous flexibility for students and working adults who want to advance their careers.

Osiri instructors (a.k.a. malamai) are academics and practitioners with unparalleled passion to serve learners. Instructors model servant leadership and creativity, which are African values that Osiri University is determined to revitalize through two courses: Personal and Professional Development and Indigenous Knowledge and Innovation Systems. These courses are offered at no cost if students enroll in a different course. Osiri University is cutting-edge and responsive to our times. For instance, in response to the Black Lives Matter (#BLM) and #EndSARS movements, Osiri University created a brand new course, Collective Action and Organizing for Change and Afrikan Liberation, designed for participants to learn from previous Pan African movements so they can apply lessons from the past to be effective in today’s struggle for justice and equality.

What makes Osiri University uniquely different from other platforms and institutions is that it is founded on the basic premise that to adequately cater to the needs of her people whether on the continent or in diaspora, the effective education for Africans should be ones that originate from the people itself, their ancestral knowledge base, and systems free from any colonial influence since the current curricula are hermeneutically flawed.

Using ideas obtained from intellectual movements stretching from the Pan African movement to Claude Ake’s famous argument that “sustainable development is never going to occur unless we build on the indigenous,” Osiri University aims to create an education whose hermeneutic base is authentically African and one that espouses the values of Maat and Ubuntu – “I AM BECAUSE WE ARE.”