ANTHOLOGY OF AUTHENTIC AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY: A RECONSTRUCTIONIST VIEW

Chapter 1 BUILDING AFRICA’S NOBLE FUTURE ON AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY Marie Pauline Eboh Abstract A system flourishes when founded on sound philosophy. Therefore, Africa’s noble future ought to be built on well thought out African concepts of life, and proceedings. This chapter highlights some overarching Igbo fundamental principles as fundaments for a genial African polity. If adhered to, these values can restore peaceful co-existence, which has hitherto eluded many African countries. Africa’s future socio-political order may require unearthing indigenous languages, values and principles to which Africans have proclivity. Introduction A renowned Nigerian professor, an erstwhile NUC (National Universities Commission) boss reported that after presenting a brilliant paper abroad he was asked: “Do your people not have authorities?” This didactic query expresses disappointment that Africans hardly acknowledge the epistemic authority of their own intelligentsias as well as African fundamental principles which act as authority, precedents or ratio decidendi. “When ancient Greek thinkers referred to wisdom, they usually meant the knowledge of fundamental principles and laws. … philosophy traditionally looks for principles underlying the whole of art, morality, religion or the physical universe.”1 What Africa awaits to arise is unselfish leadership and followership based on good principles, preferably indigenous ones which people can easily identify with, as opposed to exogenous ideologies which are often misinterpreted and misapplied, though some of them are coded and purposely designed to fail in order to foster covert Western economic foreign polices on Africa. Africans are not bereft of ideas. Therefore, African philosophers should make themselves relevant to their communities by awakening consciences, and 1 D. Stewart, et al, Fundamentals of Philosophy, 7th edition, Prentice Hall, Boston, 2010, P.1. 1 Marie Pauline Eboh seeking rational solutions to the African question. Through convincing logical arguments, their good ideas can emancipate people, especially when revolutionary ideas catch on. Besides, given philosophy’s formal object which is ultimate causes known through the natural light of reason, philosophy seeks the root causes of problems so that sanatio in radice - healing from the root can take place. Remove the cause of a problem and the effects give way. It is not for nothing that Virgil said: Felix qui rerum potuit cognoscere causas – Happy is he who can know the causes of things. In this treatise, philosophy is viewed mainly as fundamental principles and critical thinking, and also as culture related and foundational. Nyerere tried to build Tanzanian polity on Ujamaa philosophy, an African brand of socialism based on village cooperatives. Likewise, South African Ubuntu, a humanist philosophy, which makes waves as a conceptual framework for peace building, and for fostering conviviality. Ubuntu is a worldview which stokes up awareness of the humanness in humanity or the kindness in humankind in order to encourage human beings to promote communal welfare by acting humanely towards one another. Unfortunately, the xenophobic attacks in South Africa detracted from the spirit of Ubuntu. In place of hospitality, benevolence and winning together, South Africans displayed hate and intolerance. This discrepancy between theory and practice should not be the bane2 of laudable Ubuntu. Of course, abusus non tolit usum – Abuse does not remove/negate the use. If practised, Ubuntu can lead humanity out of the woods. Igbo communalistic thought equally embodies lots of wise guiding principles and sapient dicta upon which a humane polity can be built. African modus operandi are majorly humanistic but because African culture per se is non-monolithic,