“Igba Boy”: An Igbo Indigenous Structure For Community Development and Social Welfare

Abstract

The fundamental concerns of the politics of community development and social welfare include the creation of employment, promotion of income, food security, housing, and improving the conditions of the extremely poor and vulnerable, and the integration of these (vulnerable, marginalized, disadvantaged, etc.) into mainstream development. Among the Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria, they had a traditional structure which was the basis for the development of the community and the improvement of the social welfare of her people, and some of these structures have endured to this time. One of these structures is the 'Igba Boy' incubator system for wealth creation. This piece, therefore, studied the contribution of the 'Igba Boy' system of commerce to the development and improvement of the welfare of Igbo society. It also studied the relationship between this Igbo apprenticeship system and the Igbo social structure of reality, the Igbo think-home ideology and the Igbo spirit of resilience. This piece established the centrality of the Igbo apprenticeship system in the creation of wealth over the years among the Igbo, thus, making the Igbo among the most successful business men and women in Africa. The beauty of it is its simplicity. The objective of this study is to develop an indigenous economic system that has value for modern economic systems in Africa and beyond. The significance of this study is that is creates a basis for further research in indigenous economic systems. 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. For the purpose of this research, the Igwebuike indigenous method of research is employed- it is an approach that is complementary and other oriented. This paper argued 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 in Africa.