Dr. Leo Igwe holds a B.Phil and an M.A in philosophy from Seat of Wisdom Seminary Owerri and University of Calabar in Nigeria and a doctoral degree in religious studies from the University of Bayreuth in Germany. Igwe founded the Nigerian Humanist Movement (now the Humanist Association of Nigeria) and worked for some years for the International Humanist and Ethical Union (now Humanists International) in the UK and the Center for Inquiry in the US. He has research interest in atheism, religion, and witchcraft, in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia. At the moment, Igwe devotes his time to campaigning for the release of the detained Nigerian Humanist, Mubarak Bala, working to eradicate witch persecution and fostering critical thinking in schools.
Here we talk about the “The Value of Skepticism” lecture in Africa.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: The first skepticism lecture in Africa was done in November of 2023. I’m currently in Odesa about to leave to Mykolaiv in Ukraine in a couple of days. I return on December 6th [Ed. Interview immediately prior to November 29th], so I can continue the work once home and get this published. Why make this first move in Africa?
Dr. Leo Igwe: We made this move to beat back the tide of superstition and irrationalism sweeping across the continent with devastating effects on the rights and lives of Africans. We started this lecture to make it clear that there is a skeptical Africa with it enlightening potentials and possibilities. For too long, the destructive impacts of these occult and magical beliefs have been ignored or not treated with the urgency that they deserve. And the situation is worsening everyday. So it has become pertinent to respond and speak out against this ugly trend, this dark and vicious wave of unreason…
Jacobsen: The theme is “The Value of Skepticism.” Why choose this broad theme?
Igwe: Because it speaks directly to the problem that we face here. It sets the stage for subsequent lectures and engagements. Because many Africans do not value skepticism, they suffer, and die needlessly. Because many do not value skepticism they believe in and peddle so much nonsense. Because many Africans do not value skepticism they commit atrocities such as ritual attacks and killings, witch persecution and murder.
So it is important that the first lecture fires the correct salvo, draws attention to the value and importance of skeptical rationality.
Jacobsen: What were some of the ways in which this was organized at the University of Lagos?
Igwe: We reached out to the department of philosophy at the university and the head of the department welcomed the initiative. We also contacted the philosophy students association and the excos were cooperative and helped publicize the event. With the cooperation of the faculty, staff, and students of philosophy, we were able to pull off the event.
Jacobsen: Who were the main participants?
Igwe: The main participants were university staff members and students, mainly philosophy students. There were non university students in attendance, some humanists and skeptics who live in Lagos.
Jacobsen: What was the sub-theme of the lecture by you?
Igwe: My sub theme lecture was “Towards a skeptical awakening on campuses.” I decried the gradual erosion of academic and intellectual freedom, and how this erosion has turned our campuses into a stronghold of dogma, superstition and blind faith. I bemoaned the hijacking of our campuses by religious faiths and the pervasiveness of indoctrination and dogmatization as opposed to education and critical inquiry in schools. I noted the efforts by my organization, the Critical Thinking Social Empowerment Foundation to counteract this insidious trend through the promotion of critical thinking in schools and skepticism on campuses.
Jacobsen: What were some of the reactions and questions from the participants at the lecture?
Igwe: Some of the reactions: The reactions were mixed. Some attendees welcomed the lecture and urged for more to be organized across the city and country. Students from other campuses, the Yaba College of Technology and the Lagos State University proposed to host similar events next year to ensure that the skeptical message got to their campuses. A few attendees noted that the central message of the lecture would unsettle ardent religious believers or offend their sensibilities.
Jacobsen: For teacher training, what is the hope for the ways in which these critical thinking and skepticism lectures can help them instil skepticism in their pupils?
Igwe: There is hope that the critical thinking and skeptical lectures will help instil skeptical rationality because they would make students and pupils to question their assumptions and examine received knowledge, the lectures will enable students to interrogate claims and doctrines. The lectures will make them cultivate the habit of doubt, the courage to critically analyze and inquire, and the willingness to argue and debate issues.
Jacobsen: What are the main primary education reforms needed in Nigeria? Is this true in most African countries?
Igwe: The education reforms include a more student and learner approach to teaching and learning in schools, more of student as the questioner, than teacher as the questioner approach, an active learning culture that emphasizes critical thinking and problem generation and creative/innovative thinking and problem solving….a teaching and learning culture where asking questions not providing answers is the test of knowledge and intelligence.
Jacobsen: Congratulations on the recent achievement, I hope we will see more.
Igwe: Thanks, yes there is more to come. We plan to take the message to other parts of Nigeria and Africa..We are already making contacts with skeptics in Ghana, Cameroon, Malawi so that we can extend the skeptical lectures and evangelism to these places and get the message of doubt, rational inquiry and critical examination of claims and beliefs to different parts of Africa. Look, African enlightenment cannot be realized without a robust culture of skepticism. African renaissance cannot be achieved without a skeptical awakening of Africans.
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Photo credit: Leo Igwe and Scott Douglas Jacobsen.