LIVING TOGETHER IN AFRICAN COSMOLOGY: A CASE STUDY OF IGBO LAND

Abstract

This study examines the Igbo concept of communal living which remains homo-eccentric and human centered ethical model with a holistic approach to both economic and social security engrafted in social structures. This social ethics is a revolutionary concept which the blind can see, the deaf can hear, and which the lame can identify, and appropriate. This human centered body politics which inspires and empowers Ndigbo to draw on moral osmosis to engage in social transformation, nation-building, and sustainable development is constitutive in the religious dimension of community in the traditional Igbo background. This study was prompted by the general decline in public morality which does not only remove interdependence, reciprocity, and equality, but also depreciate, degenerate, and degrade human dignity. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to investigate and unearth the primordial affirmation of the truth about our moral heritage with a new appreciation of its worth and role in the traditional Igbo society. This study using descriptive and sociological methods, betook itself to explore this concept that gives rise to the idea of collective responsibility, inter-dependence, and human living which among others promotes discipline, reduces crime, and humanizes relations. The findings reveals that the concept also inspires Ndigbo to look up to the future with hope and expectation for a good reward here and hereafter. The study emphasizes the effects of erosion of cultural values particularly in the bonds of inter-personal and inter-group relationships resulting in ungodly philosophies such as extreme individualism, materialism, secularism, consumerism, and the prioritization of wealth over persons which became its hallmark. Therefore, the study recommends the incorporation of Igbo spirituality and consciousness of human dignity to remove alienation, deprivation, and oppression now prevalent in contemporary society.