Baba Wande Abimbola

Professor Wande Abimbola, Awise Agbaye, is the Spokesperson for Ifa in the world, founder of Ifa Heritage Institute in Nigeria, former Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, and former Special Adviser to the President of Nigeria on Cultural Affairs and Traditional Matters who is known worldwide for his knowledge of Indigenous Yoruba religion and Ifa sacred literature. Wande Abimbola received his first degree in History from the University College, Ibadan in 1963, when that was a college of London University.

He received his Master’s Degree in Linguistics from Northwestern University, Illinois, USA in 1966, and his Ph.D. in Yoruba Literature in 1970 from the University of Lagos. He became a full Professor of African Languages and Literatures at the University of Ife in 1976. The Awise’s academic background is very much rooted in oral tradition. He was an apprentice in Ifa chanting and rituals before he began formal schooling at the age of 12.