Solidarity Practices Among The Igbos And The Framework Of Ubuntu Solidarity

Okafor, Polycarp and Ogbunkwu, Anacletus and Okeke, Basil (2024) Solidarity Practices Among The Igbos And The Framework Of Ubuntu Solidarity. REDVET - Revista electr�nica de Veterinaria, 25 (1). pp. 4603-4607. ISSN 1695-7504

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Abstract

Solidarity constitutes a foundational principle in both the indigenous Igbo worldview of southeastern Nigeria and the broader African philosophy of Ubuntu. While Ubuntu has achieved global recognition as the quintessential expression of African communitarian ethics encapsulated in the maxim "I am because we are", the Igbo conceptualization of solidarity, expressed through concepts such asigwebuike (unity is strength), onye aghala nwanneya (be your brother's keeper), and the Igbo apprenticeship system,represent a distinctive articulation of communal obligation embedded within specific historical, economic, and spiritual frameworks. This study undertakes a comparative philosophical analysis of solidarity practices among the Igbo people in relation to Ubuntusolidarity. Drawing on recent scholarship in African philosophy, ethnographic accounts, and analyses of the Igbo apprenticeship system as a contemporary manifestation of solidarity economics, this paper argues that Igbo solidarity practices both affirm and complicate Ubuntu's claims to universal African communitarianism. Beyond minor nuances, both traditions emphasize relational personhood, mutual care, and collective flourishing. The study concludes that examining Igbo solidarity alongside Ubuntu offers amore nuanced understanding of solidarity's operation in African contexts and provides resources for addressing contemporary challenges of social cohesion and economic development.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: A General Works > AS Academies and learned societies (General)
Divisions: Faculty of Arts > Faculty of Law > Faculty of Management and Social Sciences
Depositing User: Uchenna Eneogwe
Date Deposited: 29 Jul 2026 12:47
Last Modified: 29 Jul 2026 12:47
URI: http://eprints.gouni.edu.ng/id/eprint/6074

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