A REVIEW OF IGWEBUIKE AS A HERMENEUTIC OF PERSONAL AUTONOMY IN IGBO-AFRICAN ONTOLOGY

Abstract

The paper is a quest to establish African Individual autonomy, which according
to the author the African is denied autonomy as a result of three factors: his
relationships in the community, the African concept of destiny, and the
interactive nature of the African universe. The author progressed by first
establishing the true meaning of human autonomy. Thereafter, the three fronts of
denial of autonomy were systematically x-rayed by the author from the works of
many African Scholars.
Having examined the three arguments that have argued that the African has no
autonomy, the author hermeneutically located the concept of African autonomy
in the Igbo concept of Onwe – self. He opined that the original root of the word
onwe can be traced back to nwe that means ‘to own’. Thus through this he
established the self-identity behind Onwe in the Igbo Ontology. The author
further asserts the universality of autonomy as beyond the frontiers of culture,
time, race and colour.
Concluding the paper, the author employed phenomenological method to
establish that Africans are real human beings that enjoy the natural human
freedom, have will which give them the space to choose and be responsible for
their actions. Hence the author collapsed the three arguments by establishing
convincingly the autonomy of the individual person in African ontology.