Pope John Paul II Journal of Philosophy

?ganihu Ndigbo remains a central concern for every ‘Igbo b? Igbo’. Thus, the existential forces that impact either negatively or positively on the corporate existence of Ndigbo must be carefully diagnosed and analyzed for the survival, development and flourishing of Ndigbo. The need for such diagnosis is made even more urgent given the Igbo entrapment in Nigeria which has dealt to Ndigbo various forms of marginalization, conspiracies, expulsion to the periphery of politics and power dynamics. The appalling situation makes it pertinent to continually fight for the soul of Ala-Igbo and Ndigbo. This work precisely focuses on the phenomenon of ikeotuonye and how it impacts on ?ganihu ndigbo. Using the method of hermeneutics, the work while acknowledging the importance of the existential force of ikeotuonye, finds incorrect a reading of the notion of ikeotuonye that tend to neglect or undermine its insufficiency and limitation. It argues that while the force of ikeotuonye is a moment in the overall ?ganihu Ndigbo, the excision in time from ike?ha has tended to its degeneration into ikenga anarchism and so portends danger to the very existence of Ndigbo as a people. Ikenga anarchism thrives on the exclusive canon of ultra-individualism and so derogates from ?ganihu Ndigbo. The work calls for recapturing the expanded scope of the functional ontology of ikenga symbolism for the purposes of maintaining the forces of ike?ha and ikeotuonye in the light of Igbo holistic cosmology in a healthy, synchronic dynamism.

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