The researchers fo­cused on studying the anti-dia­betic properties of the leaves of Vernonia amygdalina. Extracts from the leaves of bitterleaf were administered on diabetic rats for a period of 14 days, and it was established that there are anti-di­abetic components in V. amyg­dalina, thereby establishing its age-old use in African traditional medicine.

Europe as a continent with strong Christian roots has historically subscribed to the principle of reparation. This law guided decisions reached in 1919, just after the first World War ended, when The Treaty of Versailles was signed, mandating Germany to pay reparations.

It is my utmost pleasure to present this keynote speech during this year’s Africa Knows conference. It is an honor to share this esteemed platform with other great scholars of Africa. I wish to extend my warmest regards to the organizers of the Africa Knows! Conference for their unwavering support for the study and understanding of the continent of Africa.

Indigenous sign languages hold the key to generations of knowledge for both deaf and hearing communities. Indigenous sign languages hold stories, songs, dances, customs, conventions, family histories and connections of their host communities.

Westernization convinced Africans to turn their backs on the chewing stick and adopt the imported toothpaste and toothbrush, such that the African chewing stick is now consigned to the much older populations found in rural areas.

It becomes essential, therefore, to demand that Africa’s stolen artifacts must not be returned orphaned of the economic benefits that accumulated to the countries that held them for decades. Reparations must go hand-in-hand with the return of the stolen artifacts.

If the battle against Africa’s languages was initiated by the colonial authorities and upheld by different African governments after colonialism, it is now being willingly and happily spearheaded by families and communities in many parts of the continent. Across many major cities in Africa, it is no longer uncommon for babies as young as 3 months to spend a minimum of 9 hours a day at daycare centres.

Several scientific studies have established the potency of African bitterleaf (Vernonia amydalina) in reducing blood pressure with little or no side effects. The bitterleaf plant is indigenous to Africa and has been commonly used as traditional medicine for centuries. The herb is popularly known as bitterleaf due to its bitter taste. Water extracts of the leaves of Vernonia amygdalina have been used to treat a variety of ailments across Africa, including fever, malaria, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis, symptoms of flu, body pain, headache, skin infections, stomach upset, constipation, and to induce fertility.

Again, an African became a person of refuge for Jesus Christ and for the eternal plans and purposes of God for humanity. Just before Jesus could breathe his last under the heaviness of the cross, Simon of Cyrene, a country in today’s Libya, stepped up and heaved the heavy load off Christ’s shoulders. Simon the African would faithfully, lovingly and willingly carry Jesus’ cross until the place of crucifixion, allowing the Son of Man to save his last breath, which he willingly yielded upon the cross in exchange for man’s freedom from the sinful nature. What would have become of Jesus’ destiny on earth can only be imagined or speculated had Simon the African not carried the cross of Christ.

About 3,500 years ago, at a time it was unheard of for women to dream of owning landed property in the nation of Israel, some women dared to ask to be allowed to inherit their late father’s land. In response, God commanded that the requests of the women be granted in their entirety. It was a strange command given to a people long used to the subservience of women and their exclusion from matters of enduring and transgenerational economic importance.

Therefore, in relating with other ethnicities and people groups, Christians should emulate Nathanael, who left his comfort zone under the shade of a fig tree and took the bold step of going to see and interact with Christ. He walked away from the shade, which was representative of the covering and comfort of his long-held beliefs about people from Nazareth, and stepped out to encounter Christ personally. Christians must be bold to step out into the unknown ‘other’ world and territory of other ethnicities and get to know them more deeply without judgement or criticism.

Years ago, Africans cooked with pans made from earth, the same substance in which the food they cooked was cultivated. The cooking utensils and the food formed a harmonious relationship with the human body that is made from clay according to Science and Scripture. With this harmony came a balance in health and wholeness; sickness, in the magnitude and variety that Africans experience today, was unheard of even as recent as 70 years ago.