Contextualizing ‘Philosophic Sagacity’ among the Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria: An Examination of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

Abstract

This paper validates Odera Oruka’s assertion that Philosophic Sagacity is a pervasive phenomenon among African peoples. It argues that whereas Oruka mostly focused on the Kenyan social environment in defense of his thesis, his observations are also applicable to African communities outside Kenya’s borders, especially in their pre-colonial settings, where there were people who interrogated the rationale of their cultures’ beliefs and practices. Towards this end, the paper deploys textual exegesis on Chinua Achebe’s epic novel, Things Fall Apart, set among the Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria.

Key Words Chinua Achebe, Igbo, philosophic sagacity, Nigeria