File: Chief Peter Fatomilola
Veteran dramatist and academic, Prof Peter Fatomilola, turned the centenary celebration of the Yoruba Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos, into a cultural lesson on destiny, identity and the preservation of indigenous knowledge, drawing extensively from Yoruba Ifa philosophy to challenge members to remain connected to the values that shaped the institution.
Fatomilola delivered the lecture, titled “Ayanmo (Destiny),” on Tuesday at the club’s Greetings Hall during its Centenary Cultural Week, using verses, analogies and philosophical traditions from the Yoruba Ifa corpus to explore the relationship between destiny, individual responsibility, choices and communal life.
Rather than treating destiny as a predetermined path absolving individuals of responsibility, Fatomilola’s presentation engaged the audience with Yoruba philosophical ideas about human conduct, character and the consequences of choices.
His lecture formed part of a wider cultural colloquium held under the anniversary theme, “100 Years of Brotherhood, Culture and Continuity,” which brought scholars and cultural figures together to examine the history and values behind an institution that has survived for a century.
