A cursory glance at the historical evolution of thought reveals that right from the ancient 
world, thinkers have been concerned about the nature of the operative conditions of reality. 
When Thales of Miletus pointed to water as the fundamental unity underlying the diversity 
of reality, it was born out of the search for reality's operative condition. When 
Anaximander referred to a neutral element that is infinite, eternal and indeterminate, he did 
not only express the fundamental nature of reality, but the search for the unity of the 
plurality of things. According to Anaximenes of Miletus, Air is the underlying principle of 
all reality (Omoregbe, 1997 and Kanu 2014). 
 The search for the operative conditions of reality has been part of Africa's intellectual, 
documented and systematic tradition. In his work, La Philosophie Bantou, Placide 
Tempels arrives at a fundamental and underlying factor in Bantu philosophy, which he 
calls force. Tempels (1945) writes: “…the Bantu speak, act, live as if, for them, beings 
were forces. Force is not for them an adventitious, accidental reality. Force is even more 
than a necessary attribute of being; force is the nature of being, force is being, being is 
force” (p. 431).
 Alexis Kagame, in his work Philosophie Bantou-Rwandaise de L'Etre, develops 
Tempel's philosophy of force further. He argues that Ntu is the category of being or the 
generic meaning of something. This he classified into four: Umuntu (human beings); 
Ikintu (non-human beings); Ahantu (place and time); Ukuntu (Aristotelian category of 
quantity) (Kanu 2012a). Ntu, thus, becomes the unifying notion among all these, and the 
element of interaction between all these forces. Edeh (1983) in his Towards an Igbo 
Metaphysics observes that Idi is the Igbo verb to be, and can be used as an adjective and 
suffixed to anything to show that it exists (Kanu 2012b). Iroegbu (1995) in his 
Metaphysics: The Kpim of Philosophy avers that to be is to belong. Thus, being is 
Belongingness. He defines belongingness as 'the synthesis of the reality and experience of 
belongingness' (p. 374). While Okere (1983) and Abanuka (2003) have proposed chi as an 
alternative concept for being in Igbo ontology, Asouzu (2011) and Njoku (2018) have 
introduced the concept of Ibuanyidanda as an intellectual framework to hang the being of 
society.
 The present lecture on Igwebuike: The Operative Condition of African Philosophy, 
Religion and Culture- Towards a Thermodynamic Transformative Ontology is the 

2.  Introduction

17

Maiden Inaugural Lecture, Tansian University, Umunya



researcher's contribution to the ongoing discourse on the operative conditions of reality. 
Igwebuike, in the researcher's perspective, is the moving spirit and the pivot upon which 
African philosophy, religion and culture revolve, thus, the key to the understanding of 
African Traditional religion, culture and philosophy. It is thermodynamic because of the 
interdependence and complementarity of the elements of the African universe, which 
characterizes the African way of thinking, feeling, talking and responding to various 
human conditions. Igwebuike which is an Igbo proverb and proper name forms the 'tool 
box', the trajectory system and the practical art for the development of this inaugural 
lecture.
 What is the basis for the shift from Ibu anyi danda to Igwebuike since both deal with 
the complementarity of reality? At the centre of the concept Ibu anyi danda is the limited 
being called danda (the ant), and even though the meaning of the concept has gone beyond 
the literal understanding, the abstract meaning generated through the binoculars of reason 
cannot escape the limitations of the creature danda. We cannot entirely speak of the human 
person in relation to danda, since the former is rational and the later irrational. No matter 
how great danda is in carrying out its activity towards sharing the burden of life, it cannot 
be entirely related to the human person. There is, therefore, the need for a concept that goes 
beyond the particularities and particularities of reality right from the conceptual level, 
wide a concept, however, potent enough to accommodate the different beings within the 
economy of the hierarchy of being, and this concept is Igwebuike. 
 To accomplish the demands of this presentation, the lecture would be divided into four 
parts. The first part would focus on the philosophical dimension of Igwebuike, the second 
would reflect on the socio-political dimension of Igwebuike. While the third part would 
deal with the economic dimension, the fourth would entertain issues around the religious 
dimension of Igwebuike. The choice of these dimensions is to express the broadness of 
Igwebuike as a thought current. 

Figure 1: Lecture Outline 

IGWEBUIKE

Economic 
Dimension

Religious
Dimension

Socio-political
Dimension

Philosophical
Dimension

18

Professor Ikechukwu Anthony KANU, O.S.A.