Questions that have emerged from the various papers written on Igwebuike is: What is the 
origin of Igwebuike? How did it begin as a pattern of thought in African ontology? Is it a 
thought or philosophy that is exclusive to the Igbo or Africa? My response has always been 
that although Igwebuike is an Igbo word (Kanu 2019), it is not a philosophy that is limited 
to the Igbo world; rather, it is a local expression of a universal experience of the relevance 
of solidarity and complementarity (Kanu 2017j).

i. Wonder, the Origin of Igwebuike Philosophy 
Igwebuike began with wonder as African traditional thinkers began to reflect on the nature 
of their immediate universe. This wonder shaped their thoughts, thus, establishing a 
connection between philosophy and the cosmos. Aristotle (1941) writes that “It is through 
wonder that men now begin and originally began to philosophize” (p. 10). This wonder 
was the first step, which was followed by questions as a second step, and then the third, 
being proffering answers to these questions. They raised questions about the nature of 
reality: its beauties and the negative vicissitudes the human person must face in life. 
Realities such as the nature of life, its brevity, human suffering, successes, failures, 
sorrows, joys, death, the after-life, the nature of the human person, disease, decay, etc. 
They asked if there is a particular way in which a person ought to behave and a way he 
ought not to behave. They wondered at the origin and age of the universe, was it created or 
is it eternal? If it was created, who created the universe? They wondered at the order in the 
universe, why the rainy season is succeeded by the dry season, the day, the night, the 
seasons, the birds of the air, the fish that make their way through the waters, the animals in 
the fields; they wondered at how they are sustained. They wondered at the system of the 
universe which is a conflict of opposites: good and evil, life and death, light and darkness, 
hot and cold, wet and dry, love and hate, fortune and misfortune, male and female, etc. 
 These wanderings by African traditional thinkers led to the discovery that the universe 
persists because of a healthy inter-subjective relation. This discovery was conceptualized 
as: Igwe bu ike.

4.  Origin and Principles of “IGWEBUIKE”

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Maiden Inaugural Lecture, Tansian University, Umunya



ii. The Principles of Igwebuike
The principles of Igwebuike refer to the framework that shapes Igwebuike. These 
principles are the values on which Igwebuike stands. While these principles guide 
Igwebuike, they also justify Igwebuike. In each of these principles, the Chi of whatever is 
plays a very significant role. Chi is used within the context of the imprint of the part of 
Chukwu (the Supreme Being) on all that He has made. These principles include: 
 a. The Principle of Identity 
The principle of identity is the first principle of Igwebuike. It states that every being is 
determined in itself, is one with itself and is consistent in itself. Thus, every being is one 
with itself and divided from others. If reality does not have an identity, then everything 
would be everything, giving birth to one thing since nothing can be differentiated from the 
other. In this case, there would be no subject and object relationship (Kanu 2012). This 
would create a causal traffic in the order of being and knowledge. The principle of identity 
is very important in Igwebuike because, before we can talk about inter-subjectivity, 
interconnectedness, complementarity, the other must have an identity of its own (Kanu 
2013). This identity is determined by the Chi of the being (anatara Chi- received from 
Chi), which individuates it in relation to the other. This is important as Chi is individual to 
every person, no wonder, it is called 'personal god' or 'personal guardian spirit'. It is also 
within this context that we understand why the symbol of a person's Chi is destroyed as 
soon as the person is dead. 
 b. The Principle of Hierarchy
Every reality in the universe has a force; however, not all realities have the same force. The 
variety of the degree of forces is at the base of the categorization of being. In the hierarchy 
of forces, those with a greater force come first, with God at the apex as the source of all 
force. It is the Chi of a being that determines the force and, therefore, its place in the 
hierarchy of beings. It is also the hierarchy that determines the relationships.
 c. The Principle of Contrariety
Contrariety is from the word contrary. Aristotle defines contrariety as: “a kind of 
difference, and difference is a kind of otherness” (p.681-926). He writes further: 

The term contrary is applied to those attributes differing in genius, which cannot 
belong at the same time to the same subject, to the most different of the things in 
the same genius, to the most different of the attributes in the same recipient 
subject, to the most different of things that fall under the same faculty, to the 
things whose difference is greatest either absolutely or in genius or in species (p. 
763).

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Professor Ikechukwu Anthony KANU, O.S.A.



Within the context of Igwebuike, contrariety is part of the natural universe. For instance, in 
the same universe, we find both good and evil, life and death, light and darkness, hot and 
cold, wet and dry, love and hate, unity and diversity, short and long, substance and 
accidents, act and potency, fortune and misfortune, male and female. These are contraries 
to each other, and are indispensable realities of the universe (Kanu 2018). It is the Chi of a 
being that individuates it and thus makes it contrary to the other. 
 d. The Principle of Unity 
In spite of the contrariety of reality, there is something common to everything. Igwebuike 
understands every individual reality as part of and the completion of the whole, and thus, 
there is a unity in the midst of diversity (Kanu 2019). Although Chi provides for the 
individuation, identity and contrariety of being, it is also the basis for the unity of being. 
Chi being a 'thumb print' of Chukwu in all that He has made, provides for the unity of being, 
and, a basis for interaction and collaboration. From the foregoing, the strong 
individualistic strain which Chi provides in the theory of personality, does not contradict 
the emphasis on the overriding value of unity in diverse human situations. Thus, Chi is not 
only a basis for identity in Igbo ontology, it is also a basis for unity- a common gift or 
platform for communal relations. 

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Maiden Inaugural Lecture, Tansian University, Umunya