Nigeria, Oct. 25 -- At the weekend, I attended a fireside chat by my friend, Dr. Dotun Reju, around his book, Before the West Worked. I had eaten its pages; now the conversation was chewing through assumptions I had carried for years. By the time we finished, my verdict was affectionate and unmistakably Dr. Dot as my kids call him-no well.

He was asking dangerous questions. Who told us that Africa arrived late at the doorstep of thought? Who decided that our ancestors possessed customs while others possessed philosophy? When another person narrates your existence, even your achievements can become footnotes in their generosity. Eventually, you begin seeking permission to remember yourself.

Africa did not wait for a European ship to beg...