IGWEBUIKECONOMICS: THE IGBO APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM FOR WEALTH CREATION

Abstract

The fundamental place that the economic factor occupies in human life, expressed in the fact that economic need is man’s fundamental need, and the need that structures and explains social life has attracted the application of Igwebuike philosophy to economics. This study, therefore, aims at discovering the relationship between Igwebuike philosophy and the socio-economic categories of Igbo reality, with particular reference to the Igbo apprenticeship system anchored on the Igbo social structure of reality, the Igbo thinkhome ideology and the Igbo spirit of resilience. Using the philosophical idea of Igwebuike, this piece has established the centrality of Igwebuike in the Igbo apprenticeship system that has created wealth over the years for the Igbo, making the Igbo the most successful business men and women in Africa. The beauty of it is its simplicity. It is a system that does not take equity or require raising huge capital. It is driven by a human-platform and it works based on the Igwebuike philosophy that understands the other as a part of me, and thus making me responsible for the other. Beginning with the question of who the Igbo is, this paper has studied and unveiled the various dimensions of the Igbo apprenticeship system and the human platform or network that underlies its efficacy. For the purpose of this research, the Igwebuike indigenous method of research is employed. While establishing that Igwebuike philosophy is at the heart of the Igbo apprenticeship system of commerce, the paper argues that there is the need for the government to invest in this incubator system for the creation of wealth and for the tackling of the problem of unemployment.