IGWEBUIKE PHILOSOPHY, STRATEGIC RELIGIOUS ACTION AND THE THEORY OF CHANGE

Abstract

This paper examines the root causes of the problems of religious tensions, violent conflicts and killings, using the North Central Region of Nigeria as a case study. Consequently, the paper develops a Strategic Religious Action to tackle the menace. The research uses the tools of an indigenous African philosophy called Igwebuike, which is a substratum of African traditional values, philosophy and religion. It embodies an integral principle of African philosophical experience which enhances the unity of all Africans. Igwebuike philosophy is an accepted tactics of soft power, i.e. the ability to attract and co-opt people, expose problems about Human Rights on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), and then proffer a strategic religious action. The submission quickly addresses all the contentious issues that facilitate agitations from different sections and players in the region under focus, and submits that traditional African values, in relation to the Igwebuike philosophy, strategic religious action and the theory of change (collectively speaking), are sine qua non for prosecuting the problems in question. To achieve the goal of this study, historical and phenomenological methods of enquiry are deployed in the collection and analysis of data, while the ‘indigenous holistic theory’ and the ‘theory of change’ were adopted for the interpretation and understanding of the problems at hand. Furthermore, it concludes by stating the ultimate aim of the study, which is basically to examine the root causes of the aforementioned problems in the middle belt of Nigeria, namely: religious tensions, violent conflicts and killings and proffer a strategic religious action within the context and framework of the Theory of Change (ToC).