IGALA WORLDVIEW AS A VERITABLE BASIS FOR IGALA PHILOSOPHY

Posted by Rev. Fr. Fidelis Ele-Ojo Egbunu  at December 11th, 2014

IGALA WORLDVIEW AS A VERITABLE BASIS FOR IGALA PHILOSOPHY
EGBUNU, FIDELIS ELEOJO (PhD)
GSM: 08068515750/ 08059215672
E-mail: frfidele@yahoo.com
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies,
Kogi State University, Anyigba,
Kogi State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The essay engages the debate in African Philosophy from the modernist perspective and posits that the ontological status of a worldview leaves it as a mere launch pad, raw data or basis for academic philosophy. A panoramic look at the traditional worldview of the Igala people of Kogi State in Nigeria is presented via the historical, descriptive and phenomenological methods as a case study. The physical cum spiritual, visible and invisible, natural and supernatural, sacred and profane natures of the Igala worldview are given some reasonable explication. The hierarchy of being shows the Supreme Being at its apex, followed closely by the divinities, ancestral spirits and other spirits. The human person finds himself/herself at the center. Animate and inanimate objects are placed at the base of the entire hierarchy of being. On the whole, the web-like and interconnected nature of Igala worldview like those of other Africans is profoundly laid bare. The various stages of life and the rituals or ceremonies associated with them (birth, naming, puberty, marriage, death and funeral, festivals and other social institutions) are considered as avenues for attaining ultimate happiness. It is thus submitted here that the people’s worldview remains incontestably the inalienable foundation for any solid academic or rigorous professional philosophy.