Africa is set to achieve an intellectual milestone as Professor Emeritus Peter Okebukola, one of the continent’s most respected higher education reformers, unveils the African Scholarly Referencing Style (ASRS) — the first citation and referencing framework conceived, developed, and fully owned by Africa.
For decades, global scholarship has relied exclusively on Western-origin referencing systems.
Despite Africa’s centuries-old intellectual heritage and thousands of universities, none of the world’s 29 globally recognised referencing styles originated from the continent.
Instead, systems such as APA, MLA, Chicago, Vancouver, Harvard and IEEE all reflect Western academic traditions.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja at the weekend, Okebukola said ASRS has finally broken this long-standing pattern.
He noted that while Africa has produced volumes of scholarship across generations, global academic practice has failed to recognise the continent in citation frameworks.
For Okebukola, ASRS is not merely a technical tool — it is an ideological statement.
“It is a declaration of Africa’s intellectual independence,” he emphasised, adding: “It shows that Africa can not only generate knowledge but can also define the frameworks through which knowledge is organised, validated and transmitted. It strengthens the visibility of African scholarship and enhances the discoverability of African sources.”
Beyond the referencing style, Okebukola is pushing a wave of Africa-inspired scholarly innovations.
He is currently testing new research designs and data analysis models tailored to African contexts, expected for release in early 2026.
His earlier contributions — such as the Culturo-Techno-Contextual Approach (CTCA), the CTCA Artificial Intelligence pedagogy (CTCAI) and the Model-and-Surpass Pedagogy (MSP) — have earned global recognition for their cultural and technological relevance.
Observers noted that Okebukola’s credibility has galvanised a rare continent-wide consensus behind ASRS.
His distinguished career includes serving as Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, winning the UNESCO Kalinga Prize, chairing multiple university governing councils and leading the Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi-Africa).
Describing the initiative as visionary, AAU Secretary-General, Professor Olusola Oyewole, said: “The proposal by Professor Okebukola represents a groundbreaking contribution to Africa’s intellectual sovereignty. It responds to concerns around epistemic colonialism, the marginalisation of African epistemologies and the under-recognition of African scholarly traditions.”
