Put together by the Elements of the Conversational Society of Philosophy (CSP)., Monday, June 15, 2020

Introduction

When an individual contributes immensely to humanity or makes giant strides in his/her field of endeavour, those who are aware of those contributions are immediately met with sadness when the demise of such an individual becomes news. Despite the promise of a blissful paradise, on one hand, or a blissful nothingness, on the other hand, this sadness persists. The reason for this sadness emerges, first and foremost, from the fact that something as intimate as another person’s subjective experience has been snuffed out. Second, the fact that the continued contribution to society, which the individual is known for, would no longer be actively pursued by the dead individual.

Thus, it is with great sadness that the Conversational School of Philosophy announces the passing of Professor Chris Okezie Ijiomah of the Department of Philosophy, University of Calabar.  His reflection ended in the early hours of Sunday, May 31, 2020. He was one of the first-generation giants of the Calabar School of Philosophy.  He contributed a lot to the ascendancy of philosophy at the University of Calabar in the last three decades via his research and teaching.

Professor Ijiomah began his philosophical journey at Western Kentucky University, Kentucky, USA, where he earned his degree in philosophy.  He subsequently earned his doctorate at the University of Calabar, Nigeria. Prof Ijiomah began his teaching career at Western Kentucky University before moving to the Federal College of Education, Katsina, the University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, and finally, the University of Calabar. Professor Ijiomah specialised in African philosophy, logic, and foundations of mathematics. His two notable theoretic formulations are Harmonious Monism and Humanistic Epistemology. Harmonious monism, his best-known theory of philosophical logic, emerged as a reaction and counter-claim to Levy Bruhl’s claim that Africans are pre-logical. Ijiomah’s main thrust was that to understand a particular way of thinking, one must first understand the logic underlying that mode of thought. It is against this backdrop that Ijiomah developed a three-value system of logic from the prevalent African ontological viewpoint of the interplay between matter and spirit. He believed his system of three-valued logic could ground and legitimise African philosophy.

Professor Ijiomah was also a great teacher, and most of his students would attest to his intelligence, sharp wit and a great sense of humour. He taught and supervised many students over a period spanning more than 30 years, including the logician, professor Uduma O Uduma, who is the current Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at the National Open University of Nigeria, and Jonathan O Chimakonam, the founder of the conversational school of philosophy and proponent of Ezumezu logic, among other established and emerging scholars in universities across the globe. Indeed, many of the vibrant young scholars of African philosophy from the Calabar school, all had some encounter with the great man.

The passing of Professor Chris O. Ijiomah has marked the beginning of the end of an era! In the last two decades (2000-2020), philosophy at the University of Calabar, Nigeria rose to take a top spot in the Nigerian philosophical community. Globally, in the last decade, it has emerged as the first among a few equals as far as African philosophy is concerned. The alias, Calabar School, has become emblematic of that great African philosophy shrine and centre of learning. Professor Ijiomah was one of the first-generation giants of the Calabar School, which is now witnessing the rise of the third generation. His contribution to the emergence of the Calabar school has secured him a place in the annals of history. He will be greatly missed. Below are some tributes that poured in from his former colleagues, students and admirers as put together by the Conversational Society of Philosophy (CSP). 

The Last Conversation and the beginning of the End of an Era

On Tuesday, April 14, 2020, at precisely 10:25 am, my phone rang. It was one of the chief priests of the shrine of African philosophy at Calabar. I did not imagine it would be the last conversation. It lasted for 2 minutes and 9 seconds. He wanted to check on me amidst the coronavirus problem in South Africa. “You might be over there now, but you belong here in Calabar. When you are tired of running, you will come back here and pick up the baton from those of us who are now fading away,” he said. 

Oketim! He called out to me as usual. We both laughed aloud. The nickname had an unpleasant history. It was a nickname he gave to me when I returned to the shrine for my doctoral studies.  I had chosen him as my master’s supervisor, but things did not go well between us. But somehow, as most men do, we found a way to resolve our differences, and I chose him, yet again, to co-supervise my doctorate. It was then that he gave me the nickname Oketim, which I resented. I recall I did not hide my displeasure for the strange nickname, but he would not stop. One day, I asked him to stop calling me by that name. Stubbornly, he made it clear that he would not stop. Realising the futility of my demand, I humbly asked to know the meaning of the name. If I could not stop him, perhaps, I could find solace in the meaning of the name. To my chagrin and utter desolation, he said it was a nickname of a certain stubborn man in his village. It was professor Ijiomah’s unwavering opinion that I was stubborn. He always said that he had nothing but admiration for my type of stubbornness, even when I do not see myself as a stubborn person. On the flip side, my long relationship with professor Ijiomah as my teacher and supervisor left me convinced that he was not just stubborn, but very stubborn. To my surprise, he always contested that. But here is the twist; I found no worthier interlocutor and conversationalist than him. He, too, loved every session he had with me. How two people who believed each was stubborn, came to agree on many points in their debates would remain a mystery to me.

Ajo nwa si owele baa nne ya afo! He laughed again, in one of his usual jovial innuendoes. His voice was characteristically youthful, unmistakably sarcastic, yet, ever playful. I admired the man, even though I never said that to him. I knew he felt the same way, even though he did not say that to me. The only time that he ever said something close was when he said that he admired my stubbornness. How was that supposed to be a pleasant remark? But that was the enigma called Chris Ijiomah. When I completed my doctorate, he said, unexpectedly, that he had taught me everything he knew. It was not true. I said it then, even though I understood the context. I continued to learn from the man many years after because once a teacher is always a teacher. Just before we ended the last conversation, he asked when next I would come to Calabar. I promised I would come around in December. I told him that I would bring along a complimentary copy of my forthcoming book on Logic and African Philosophy to which he contributed two chapters─his last academic writings. Had I known it was to be the last conversation with a man I shared some qualities with, I would have prolonged the telephone call.

The Calabar School has lost one of its finest exponents of original thoughts. He can neither be replaced nor forgotten. It is the beginning of the end of an era!

Professor Chris O. Ijiomah was not the tallest nor bulkiest of men, yet, somehow, the tallest and bulkiest would choose their words in his presence. He was not just a logician; he practised the craft in his everyday life. “Height and size,” he said to me on some occasions, “are not part of the defining features of a human being. Otherwise, those who are the tallest in height and biggest in size would be the most intelligent.” On one occasion, he said in his usual witty demeanour, “Oketim, that stubborn man in my village whom I named you after was a short fellow, but he was very intelligent.” He was simply teaching that the height and size of a man are inconsequential. It is the brain-power that matters, and he had a lot of it.

He was not the finest nor the most prolific philosopher from Africa; and certainly, not the finest in the world, but he had his moments. His article, “A Man in Confluence: An Index for the Millenium African Philosophy”, ─that was a masterpiece. “Some Epistemological tools with which Africans relate to their Realities,” that was Professor Ijiomah at his best. What of Harmonious monism: A philosophical logic of explanation for ontological issues in supernaturalism in African thought? The book was doubtless his chef-d’œuvre. Those were moments that will immortalise him.

As a teacher, he was dazzling!

As an interlocutor, he was fierce!!

As an intellectual, he was eponymous!!!

He was not without flaws. None of us is flawless, anyway! Hubris always lurks around every great man. Flaws or no flaws, he was my teacher, one of the wittiest I have known, and that is all that matters to me. It was his witty essays that re-ignited my passion for African philosophy. He sowed some of his knowledge in me. My story as a philosopher cannot be told without a mention of his name. He had a fair share in the accomplishments of philosophy at the University of Calabar. He was one of us!

Yours in conversation,

JO Chimakonam, PhD, cspp,
University of Pretoria,
President: The Conversational Society of Philosophy.

Prof. Chris O. Ijiomah: An African Philosopher of Uncommon Courage

My relationship with Department of philosophy, University of Calabar dates back to mid-1980s. Apart from having one of the products of the Department as my undergraduate teacher, many other scholars came from Calabar to the University of Ibadan for their postgraduate studies in Philosophy. Philosophy at Calabar has proved to be one of the most developed ones in Nigeria leveraging on the analytic tradition just like Ibadan, and developing what they call the conversational tradition, and then making a giant foray into Philosophical Logic, History of Philosophy and African Philosophy. It was within this enviable and developmental tradition that Chris Ijiomah developed his intellectual fame, having obtained his first and second degrees in Rome and USA and his PhD from Calabar. He showed particular interest, developed and taught various students in Logic, Foundations of Mathematics, Mathematical Logic and African philosophy.

I met this great scholar in person in 2014 on a National Universities Commission accreditation to the Department of Philosophy at the University of Calabar. This period also coincided with the year he published one of his major contributions to philosophy, under the title of Harmonious Monism: A Philosophical Logic of Explanation for Ontological Issues in Supernaturalism in African Thought (2014). I was lucky to receive an autographed complimentary copy from this amiable and logic happy Professor of Philosophy.

            In Harmonious Monism, Ijiomah makes the following claims, among others:

1.         Philosophy is culture-bound

2.         There is African Epistemology

3.         Root-paradigms influence philosophy within culture

4.         Every explanation has a logical base

Some of the implications of these claims can be put thus: Since every explanation has a logical base, African culture also has one, and this leads to the refutation of scholars like Lucien Levy-Bruhl on primitive mentality. It also means that logic can be studied as an instrument that explains the structure of reality in itself.

One should also be quick to point out that Ijiomah has his grudge against formalism in logic as it lacks eidetic (ontological) meaning and therefore cannot represent a statement of ontology. This observation alone gives the foundation to ‘Harmonious Monism’ as a basis of philosophical logic for the explanation of ontological issues of supernaturalism in African thought. This is a major contribution to philosophical logic.

Ijiomah further notes that “every logical system cannot be adequate for the explanation of all social experiences” (Harmonious Monism: vii). Flowing from this is that “logicians could benefit from a conscious interest in constructing alternative logics that could serve as a good explanatory tool for analyses of different phenomena “(Harmonious Monism: Ibid). This position serves to validate, legitimise or give due space to many-valued Logic rather than the hegemonic two-valued Logic that has been uncritically and dogmatically adhered to by some philosophers in Western and non-Western cultures.

Harmonious Monism is, therefore, a veritable basis for constructing alternative logic which, I believe, is complementary to two-valued logic rather than opposed to the latter, to explain the realities of human cultures, especially African cultural dynamics. In Ijiomah’s postulations, he shows that metaphysics, especially ontology, is crucial to other aspects of philosophy such as logic, epistemology, ethics and so forth. This is for the simple reason that, according to him, “one cannot successfully philosophise on a phenomenon without touching on the nature of the being of that phenomenon (“Humanistic Epistemology”, 2011: 63)

I sincerely believe that Ijiomah’s contribution to philosophy, which was championed by him through uncommon courage makes him one of the Philosophical Legends of our time. Adieu Professor Ijiomah until we reunite in the world of forms.

Olatunji A. Oyeshile, PhD,
Professor of Philosophy, University of Ibadan.
Email: alabi14@yahoo.com

My  First and Last Encounter with Chris Ijiomah: A Tribute

Deep emotion overwhelmed me as the news that Professor Chris Ijiomah has passed on last Sunday, May 31, 2020, hit me. This is an intellectual giant whose contribution to African philosophy is something only very few can ever surpass. His doctrine: “Harmonious Monism” is one of the trailblazers in the journey toward system building and original thinking in African logic and philosophy. Unfortunately, I did not know that my first encounter with him last July in his office at the University of Calabar will be the last.

My good friends, Dr. Lucky Ogbonnaya and Mr. Samuel Odey, the latter a lecturer in the Faculty of Education, UNICAL were my escort as I demanded to meet Calabar scholars whose books I had read. Incidentally, only the exponent of ‘Harmonious Monism’ was available on the day I visited. Being a very good friend and kinsman of my undergraduate project supervisor Professor Princewill Alozie, it made sense to engage him.

Professor Chris was very charming and played a good host. He was attentive to my proposal that logic grounds ontology, since the language employed for the latter is enmeshed in the former. After listening to me, he rose to a board in his office, pointed to a diagram of two intersecting circles and illustrated to me why he thinks the converse should hold – ontology grounds logic. Then he invokes his Structural Analogy and logical functionalism (SAALF) to buttress his stance. Not that I was totally convinced, but I was relieved that he could churn out names that stick to either side of the discourse. I learned many things that day!

Perhaps the death of this great scholar may come as a shock to many, allow me to relay to you that Professor Chris died a fulfilled man. He pointed at the beautiful photographs of his children, home and abroad that hung in the wall of his office and spoke with an air of accomplishment: “I do not mean to be boastful, but I am a man that has excelled excellently as a father, husband and philosopher!” This utterance obviously parallels the pictures I was seeing. But deep within, I now recall that a great scholar that I was meeting for the first time was already signalling his exit paradoxically!

I had just one encounter with the proponent of ‘Harmonious Monism’, and it was enough to strengthen my intellectual journey. I interacted with a scholar who strongly believes in the progress and development of the African intellect as he lectured me how ontology grounds logic when I hold a converse perspective.

Existentially speaking, death is a debt that we cannot experience, but others will on our behalf. As I witness Professor Chris’ I am consoled that he left this realm, fulfilled as a father, husband and scholar. Rest on sire!

Emmanuel Ofuasia csp,
Doctoral Research Student,
Department of Philosophy,
Lagos State University Nigeria.

Tribute in honour of the memory of Professor Chris Ijiomah

Professor Chris Ijiomah taught me Logic and Foundations of Mathematics at the Master of Arts level. I found his ability to explain complex concepts in simple ways intriguing. I believe he influenced me in this direction. He was my charismatic, resourceful and intelligent teacher, who became my friend, elder brother, colleague and associate in African philosophy. In African philosophy, he is one of the original thinkers in the field and is legacies in “Humanizing Epistemology” and “Harmonious Monism” can never be undermined or erased. Professor Chris Ijiomah had his faults. We all do. May God forgive his human frailties and grant his soul eternal bliss in the heavenly realms.

Mesembe Ita Edet PhD, cspp
Department of Philosophy
University of Calabar
Calabar-Nigeria.

Tribute in Honour of Professor Chris Okezie Ijiomah

Prof Chris Ijiomah was amiable and friendly. I can’t now put a date to our first meeting, but I do recollect that he simply walked into my office and stated that he was on a familiarisation tour. In truth, he had stopped by to visit Dr Azubike Iloeje and strayed into my office. That chance meeting was the beginning of many years of mutual respect and friendship.

What perhaps made this relationship enduring was the love of family. We both, to a large extent, had family physically away from us, yet ever near. Chris was immensely proud of his daughters and could never stop talking about them.

Fond memories of how he would call out my name still ring in my head. It was always Eno Nta; nothing more, nothing less. When others get carried away by titles, he remained Chris Ijiomah, ever friendly and with a listening ear.

I thank God that he was celebrated on August 22, 2018, when he presented his inaugural.

The Faculty Board will surely miss his witty interjections, but I will hold on to the memory of a friend and brother.

Professor Eno Grace Nta,
Director,
Centre for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE),
University of Calabar.

A Tribute to Prof C O Ijiomah

Prof, the news of your demise came as a shock to us. I still remember the first time I had a chat with you, though I never knew it would be the last. You met me by your office waiting to have a meeting with Prof. Mrs. Olu-Jacobs (President, FAHSANU) who was yet to arrive. Young lady, you asked, are you waiting for me? And immediately I glanced at the name tag on the door and said, good morning Prof Ijiomah, oh no, I’m waiting to meet with Prof. Olu-Jacobs. You kindly invited me to wait for her in your office, which I did with all pleasure. While in your office, I introduced myself and as soon as you realised I was a junior colleague, you handed me a copy of your inaugural lecture and encouraged me to work hard so that I will be ready to present mine at the appointed time. You encouraged me to write, publish, work hard to be a good academic. I left your presence that day mentored and happy.

Prof. May your Soul find eternal rest. Amen!

Dr (Mrs) Gloria B. I. Okon (nee Umukoro),

Dept of Modern Languages & Translation Studies, University of Calabar.

Tribute to Prof Chris Okezie Ijiomah

The news of professor Ijiomah’s passing on May 31, 2020, got me thinking about the time I spent under his tutelage at the University of Calabar. I will always remember him for his contributions in making a philosophically curious intellectual out of me. He was not just a lecturer; he was also a proud father and husband. Prof Ijiomah was indeed a force to be reckoned with in the Philosophy Department of the University of Calabar. He contributed a lot in projecting philosophy at the University of Calabar. He taught many, including me. I remember how my colleagues and I used to wait patiently for the end of his ‘unending’ lectures. He never runs out of energy and would seize every opportunity to discuss his idea on “the excavation of logic in African philosophy”.  He will be missed dearly for his contributions to African philosophy. Adieu Prof.

Diana Ekor Ofana csp,
Doctoral Student, University of Fort Hare,
Member of the Conversational School of Philosophy.

A Tribute to a Great Logician and Mentor

The sad news about the demise of Professor Chris Okezie Ijiomah, which reached me on May 31 2020, traumatised me. At first, I doubted it and had to put phone calls across to two of my friends in Calabar, for confirmation. When I received a confirmation that professor Ijiomah has joined his ancestors, I quivered and cogitated on the Albert Camus’ philosophy and Aribiah Attoe’s theory of meaninglessness of life. As I meditated, considering Ijiomah’s indelible contributions in African philosophy, through his doctrine of “Harmonious Monism” and his novel idea and coinage in epistemology called “Humanized Epistemology”, I was bold enough to fault both Camus’ and Attoe’s positions about life. After all, even professor Ijiomah had the belief that there is spirituality in physicality and physicality in spirituality. Though he is dead, his discoveries in Logic, African philosophy, Epistemology, Philosophy of education, to mention but a few live on.

I am a scholar who never liked logic as a course. Despite my poor background in logic, his humorous and excellent way of teaching built up my confidence in logic. My postgraduate coursework on Logic and Foundations of Mathematics made me see professor Ijiomah as a logic simplifier. While researching on my doctoral dissertation, I had the good fortune to interact with professor Ijiomah who introduced one of his articles in the philosophy of education to me. That encounter was the beginning of a series of interactions I had with him, in and outside his office, which provided tremendous insight into my work. I still remember how joyous he was when I told him about the thesis of my PhD work. In his humorous style, he told me that he had argued a similar position in one of his articles too. His position was that we experience problems in our educational system because of the lack of an indigenous or a specified philosophy on which the policies of education in Nigeria could lean on. He was one of those who gave me confidence that my proposal for a veritable philosophy of education in Nigeria represents an uncommon insightful direction.

The Conversational Society of Philosophy (CSP) and the Department of Philosophy at the University of Calabar have lost a logician par excellence. May we be consoled, comforted and take solace in the fact that his epistemic contributions remain forever.  

Umezurike J. Ezugwu PhD, csp,
General Studies Unit (Philosophy),
Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State, Nigeria,
Member of the Conversational School of Philosophy.

A Tribute to my Teacher

I wish someone would tell me that the news of your demise was only a false alarm. I still can’t believe you have joined the cloud of witnesses!

I had anticipated doing a doctorate at the University of Calabar with a bias in African Philosophy of Logic to have the opportunity of learning from you. This time, not as an undergraduate degree student but as a postgraduate research student. Indeed, for me, it was to have a second taste of your intellectual wittiness and mastery of logic and foundations of mathematics at a more advanced level. I remember those years of my undergraduate studies; you taught me, Research Methodology and Philosophy of Mathematics respectively, the latter brought shivers to many students of philosophy in their final year class. Senior colleagues told us stories of how difficult the course was and how very mean and stern the lecturer could be. As a result, most of us treaded cautiously and resolved to turn the narrative by focusing on our studies and putting in our all into it. Alas! I passed so well in both courses.

I remember another time I visited the University of Calabar in 2017/18, as a postgraduate student from University of Ibadan seeking for research materials on African Philosophy of Logic, of course, Unical Philosophy Department remains the centre of attraction in the country. It was the birthplace of the trio of Ibuanyidanda, Harmonious Monism and Integrative Humanism, and the novel style of philosophising now called conversational thinking.

The conversation between Professor Ijiomah and I as I recall it:

Me: Good afternoon Prof. It’s me, your ex-student from back in the day. I learnt your book “Harmonious Monism…” is finally out after long years of being in the cooler. I consider myself so lucky as it came out the exact time I am doing my master’s research on African logic. So, I came to buy a copy.

Prof: Please, do come in and have a sit.

And before I could say, Jack, you excused the visitor in your office and then summarised a book of almost 200+ pages in less than 20 minutes before handing it over to me.

Indeed, a star has fallen from the roof of the sky. A god amongst men has joined his ancestors. A great iroko has fallen!

Dear Prof, please be rest assured that your intellectual contribution to scholarship and African Philosophy of Logic, in particular, will live on.

Intellectual Eggheads are now gathered to mourn the demise of a celebrated African Philosopher per Excellence. The proponent of the acclaimed ‘Harmonious Monism’ and ‘Humanized epistemology’.

If only consciousness is transmittable…

If only cerebral wittiness can be transmitted with all of its contents..!

Some of us wouldn’t mind owning your mind.

I am so saddened by the news of your demise. But I am, however, consoled by the fact that you bequeathed those of us who are proud to be called your students your intellectual legacy.

As some philosophers in the West today are proud to have sat under the tutelage of the likes of WVO Quine, P.K Feyerabend, Karl Popper etc., I, as an African philosopher, am proud to have sat under the tutelage of a great intellectual Arusi as you. And so shall your legacy live on.

Adieu, my Teacher and Lecturer at the University of Calabar agora.

Amaobi Nelson Osuala, csp,
Ex-Student, University of Calabar,
Doctoral Research Student,
University of Ibadan, Nigeria,
Member of the Conversational School of Philosophy (CSP).

An Encounter that Never Was

I have always looked forward to meeting Prof Chris Ijiomah, having read and reflected on his theory of harmonious monism, which marked yet another attempt by a forward-looking Nigerian philosopher to advance African metaphysics. On several occasions of my visit to Calabar, the long-awaited encounter was postponed as it could not be arranged. Alas, the encounter is now postponed forever as the professor exits our tumultuous world after rendering invaluable service to African humanism. While I regret the encounter that never was, it is comforting to me that he makes his exit in a confetti shower of praise for lifetime achievement in the field of African Philosophy. He will endure!

Dr Ada Agada csp, 
Centre for Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Studies,
Universität Tübingen, Germany,
Member, The Conversational School of Philosophy.

In the light of Scholarship: Conversation with Chris O. Ijiomah

It was in Prof. LOM Enendu’s office in 2018 that Prof Ijiomah was discussing the contributions of Africans to philosophy. I didn’t know what brought about that. I said to him, Sir, I won’t blame the non-Africans when African Scholars themselves cannot tell them that values cannot simply be understood within the Truth/False dichotomy. He then said to me (in feigned ignorance, I presumed), if it is not true or false, what is it?

Prof Ijiomah: Can you explain that Chinyere?

Chinyere: Prof, look at the sense and not the grammar (At this point Prof Enendu laughs as usual).

Prof Ijiomah: If you like say it in Igbo, let me just hear your argument.

Chinyere: As a catholic, it is Purgatory, heaven and hell. In Pentecostal reality, we know heaven, hell and the unseen reality that only God knows about- should I say grace?

As a native of a place where African Religion is key, things are not strictly understood within the confines of truth or false. There is a thin line in-between.

Prof Ijiomah: Explain, please.

Chinyere: A woman went to the market and bought goat parts, head and legs. Two months after eating it, her children and husband died, and she was about dying. Through divination, it was discovered that she brought home a stolen goat, and the gods were after her. She didn’t steal the goat; she bought it in the market from a meat seller who also did not steal the goat. The owner of the goat that was stolen said to the “Arusi” “take this Kola nut and alligator pepper, wherever the head and legs of my goat entered, CLEAR!!! Those that bought the other parts and the thief were exonerated.

Prof Ijiomah: Really?

Chinyere: I am not done, Sir. In the early 1990s, my cousin gave birth to a child and that child was born with a kind of translucent bulb on his head. The child never slept nor ate. He was taken to many hospitals and UNTH, in the present day Enugu State. Nothing was diagnose. The next option is to go abroad. Then one morning, the grandfather’s sister in her 80s came to the house and started scolding everyone, heard the child’s cry and carried and said to him, “Joseph, please forgive me, you can’t doubt my love for you. I didn’t know you came. Jenny and her children never informed me.”  The cry stopped. The translucent bulb dim and the baby became okay without further treatment.

Profs Ijiomah &  Enendu: How did that happen? Throw more light.

Chinyere: Mama Mary was in the house singing the praise of his brother who died as a result of the bomb or bullet that fell on his head during the Nigerian civil war.  The brother appeared to her in a trance, and said “Mary why are you still lamenting and calling me when I have returned to you, but you never cared to take care of me. I am tired of crying. I will return home soon if you don’t take care of me.” He disappeared, and Mama Mary moved to his brother’s wife house base on that visitation. As she entered, the story above unfolded.

Prof: Ijiomah: mmh, is this true?

Chinyere: Very true, I can’t project the course of ancestor worship but remember that Wole Soyinka in “Myth, Literature and the African World” talked about the Living, dead and Unborn. That’s African value system. It’s tripartite!

Prof Ijiomah: Great, I am sharing my inaugural invitation. Come to my office later.

I went to that Office, and he gave me a journal titled Ultimate Reality and Meaning Vol 27, 2004.  In his contribution, Ijiomah states: “African contribution to philosophy of language is quite different from what obtains in the West… Language reflects the people’s perception of reality. Therefore, African philosophy of language is not just a study of the logical structure of language or how language is used at a particular time and space.” Thus, he agreed with Kagame that in “African language the choice of words is made strictly in agreement with one’s concept of reality which his language describes”. 

I can say, that Ijiomah’s claim is his reality to the growth of African Philosophy. “The thesis of this paper is that there are different kinds of cognitive paradigms from which philosophical discussions can be carried out” (2004: 70). Thus, he highlights the overview of African cultural inclination found mostly in the third value.

Adieu, great thinker! Adieu Prof Ijiomah!!

Chinyere Lilian Okam,
Theatre, Film and Carnival Studies Department,
University of Calabar-Nigeria.

Tribute to Prof C. O. Ijiomah

Dear Prof C. O. Ijiomah,

Your demise is a painful one not just to me, but to everyone within and without the philosophical community who cherished your unique energy and ambience of placidity. You were a prototypical cynosure of African intellectualism as embodied by your mental progenies of Harmonious Monism and Humanistic Epistemology.

Particularly worthy of mention is your wits and inimitable sense of humour that made your lectures both intellectually stimulating and vivacious. Your ability to dissect the most complex issues to the understanding of your students is a skill worth emulating.

As a “Biafran General” as you would fondly call yourself, you led the battle for the emancipation of the African intellect from the CSP battlefront with your logical armour, to the trenches of Humanistic Epistemology with your courteous demeanour.

I’m elated our paths did cross beyond the walls of logic. I wish you a Harmonious exit from the mortal gate of existence, into the Monism of that which your life embodied.

Farewell, the General as you begin your journey to the ontological beyond.

Sangha-sung, owoh ukoh!

Ben P. Effiong, csp,
Former student, University of Calabar,
Member, The Conversational Society of Philosophy.

Tribute to CO Ijiomah

Bia enyia! Yes, you at the far back, what is your name? Those were the exact words of the professor of philosophy of mathematics on my first encounter with him as he walked into the classroom to discharge his duties, as my teacher. In a class of over a hundred students, Prof. Ijiomah, as we fondly called him had the jovial habit of walking around the classroom, probing and wanting to know each student by his/her name. In many of such occasions, he would present each person with a token (sometimes, sweets), and this, to a large extent goes to suggest how passionately he cared about and valued his teacher-students relationship.

Not minding his age, Prof. Ijiomah, a man with immeasurable virtues, impeccable character and one with an unusual kind-heartedness would stop at nothing to ensure that every participating student in any of his classes understood the topic of the day. He would explain an idea severally, sometimes, relentlessly until he is assured that many have understood him.

Alas! Prof. Ijiomah, a good man with the purest of hearts, has left us and gone to be with the Lord. We nonetheless find solace in the good things he has done, and the many indelible legacies he left behind for which he will forever be remembered. As I bid you farewell, on behalf of myself and the graduating set of 2018/2019 Academic year, we pray that you find eternal peace in the Lord until we meet to path no more. Rest on Prof Chris O. Ijiomah.

Akpa Princewill Chukwuemeka, 
(His former student at the University of Calabar).

The Harmonious Boss, Gone?

Just a few months ago, you survived the scare of a near plane crash, and your testimony made you even stronger, but your sudden demise only left me confused.

You were my mentor! I was employed to study Logic and Foundations of Mathematics under your tutelage, but the cold hands of death have snatched such an opportunity away. How am I going to carry on? Before your sudden departure, you were concluding a book manuscript on Philosophy of Mathematics. What now? Perhaps, the burden lies on some of your mentees like myself to see that it is published posthumously.

Professor Ijiomah was a kind and generous man. For a short time, I worked under him as his trainee; I began to have a full grasp of his intellectual voyage in African logic, which culminated in his theory of Harmonious Monism.

He was compassionate, relating to everyone as though they were old-time friends. He was very straight-forward and always wanted everyone to do the right thing at the right time. He hated trouble, and will at once render an apology if he stepped on someone’s toes. Goodbye is hard to say, but can we question your maker? No. GOODBYE BOSS.

Okey, Joel Ndifon,
Graduate Assistant, Department of Philosophy,
University of Calabar.   

In The Creed of Harmonious Monism of Prof CO Ijiomah:

A Tribute to its Proponent

Dear Dede, as I fondly call you, it is not without pain that I sit reminiscing on the powerful philosophical claims you exposed me to during our short but productive encounter. Your claims are rational, humanistic and convincing. Your averment that there is unity in reality; that the basic ground foundation and attribute of Being is HARMONIOUS MONISM, is ever more illuminating. That the three value logic is meaningful only when we choose to be humans, that my idea of Phenomenological Justice is evidently intrinsic in the ontology of the justice-giver as a Being-with-others, as a conscious rational rule-guided Being and not solely as a distinct rule-governed Being. But Dede, you departed even without the completion and publication of the masterpiece.

Dede, your intellectual sagacity, tenaciousness and humane approach will forever be cherished and missed. We, your mentees, students and loved ones will miss your fatherly encouragement and support. We cannot change what fate has granted you but can only say: rest on with the good spirits beyond!

Celsuspaul Ekwueme
PG student,
University of Calabar

A Tribute to My Reified Postgraduate Supervisor: Professor Chris Okezie Ijiomah

Until his Last Breath in the Month of May 2020, Chris Okezie Ijiomah was an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics, University of Calabar, where I did my Postgraduate Studies (2013-2016). Here are synopses about de’ Professor C. O. Ijiomah, I Know!

My Logic Professor: Ijiomah was classically a Jovial Teacher. I enjoyed his manipulation of logical absurdities in Class, but I did not choose him to supervise my MA Re-Search on ‘The Ontological Foundation of Logic and its Effects on Cross-Cultural Understanding’, which was meant to be a critique of his theory of Harmonious Monism (2016). Somehow, the Department, in its wisdom, asked me to work with professor Ijiomah. The first meeting was not funny: ‘You know very well that I am the ONLY qualified full Professor in Uni-Cal to Supervise your thesis, leave my office!’ Luckily, some of his colleagues interceded to normalise relationships. He was working on his magnum Opus on his theory of Harmonious Monism, then. He often talked about it. We discussed many aspects of the work. He said he was determined to complete the project. The genial professor kept to his promise: the book, Harmonious Monism. Philosophical Logic of Explanation for Ontological Issues in Supernaturalism in African Thought came out before I could complete my MA Program. Okezie Ijiomah was, in truth, a Caring Father and Logical Supervisor!

Indelible Advisor: “Nnanna, be cautious with your research, my experience during and after the Biafran War shows that people tend to hate you when you know their tricks. As you continue your PhD re-search always remember that that the ignorance of sound logical principles is the major cause of injustice. Nigeria, for example, would not have defeated Biafra. I am proud of what you people [CSP] are doing.” That was his last advice during my conversation with him on May 28, 2019.

 Prof. C.O. Ijiomah was a Jolly Fellow, Logician and Father!

Odogwu na’ Obodo Nne n’Nnä-nna° CSP°

Oke Mmuo na ‘Cross many Rivers’ I Know, You Know

Okezie Ijiomah Dey Rest 4 Homeland!

We Know, Oke dike, Anaghi Anwuanwu°

Victor C. A. Nweke csp,
DFG Researcher, University of Koblenz-Landau, Campus Koblenz,
Member, Conversational School of Philosophy (CSP), Calabar,
June 07, 2020.

Tribute to Prof CO Ijiomah

“HE should have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a world. Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Crept no wonder desire. It’s like a tale told by an idiot full of words and fury but signifies nothing. Life is but a walking shadow, a brief candle, it lits, and it goes…” Shakespeare

The deaths of Chinua Achebe and Prof Chris Okezie Ijiomah at different times, though with impactful lives, remind me of the meaninglessness of life and scholastic injury in promoting originality in literary and philosophical adumbrations.

Ijiomah- a quintessential, dramatic, hilarious and uncompromising personage was my teacher at different levels of academic pursuits. A scholar of no mean measure was credited to discovering the existence of units in component whole through his harmonious monism. Ijiomah’s humanised epistemology remains a gateway to clear grasp of epistemology within the African context.

As a student of due process, originality and standard, Ijiomah’s ardent and uncompromising resolve to ensuring decency and due process earned him an avalanche of criticisms.

Prof Ijiomah was glued to decency, and this quality reflected on his appearance anytime any day. Indeed, I have lost a friend, teacher, counsellor, in-law and a fearless Biafran who detested slander and running down of people. Rather, Ijiomah liked to confront situations head-on, and what he could not tell you face-to-face, he would not do so behind you. A man with logical and philosophical stamina, courage and oratorical prowess who would speak out where others would remain silent for fear of blame. I have lost a great African philosopher, a socialite, bridge builder, logician, author and teacher of originality. Good night my dear teacher as tears fail to dry.

E. A. Ikegbu PhD,
Department of Philosophy,
University of Calabar.

A Tribute to Prof. Chris Ijiomah

My heart is heavy with sorrow since I heard of your demise. My sorrow is informed by the mass exodus of our finest brain in the academic field of African Philosophy. The truth is that this field is yet to attain its full maturity. Unfortunately, “the men who are full of age, who by reason of use have exercised themselves to discern good and evil” are gradually leaving the stage.

Oh, Shakespeare was right in his observation that:

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”

The truth is that you maximised your stage and played your parts and acts intelligently. These were demonstrated aptly during your lifetime.

I have heard of your passion and quest in contributing, nurturing and teaching of African Philosophy during your days at the University of Calabar. My friend Victor Nweke once told me of your passion for excellence and hard work as a supervisee under you. He informed me of how you critically and consciously read and shaped his work.

Your theories, Harmonious Monism and Humanistic Epistemology are classics on their own.

Rest on Sir

Conversationally yours,
Osita NNAJIOFOR, PhD csp,
Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

A Tribute to Ijiomah

My memories of Professor Ijiomah have always been fond memories. I, first, remember him as a great teacher – as a young undergrad who was still finding his feet, my most imprinted memory of him was his explanation of Russell’s paradox. A difficult thing to grasp as a second-year philosophy student, his down to earth explanations and patience in answering all my questions in clear terms, was most liberating.

As I grew older and became a master’s student at the University of Calabar and eventually as a PhD student at the University of Johannesburg, we grew closer, and he became one of my mentors. I remember, most fondly, his wit and sense of humour during this time. Every time he saw me, he called me Abiriba (a town somewhere in the south east of Nigeria) which was a humorous corruption of my real name “Aribiah”. He always asked about the wellbeing of my family and what progress I had made in my studies (Needless to say, I was always inspired to achieve something so that I would be able to reply to his questions about my progress anytime we met).

Every moment spent with Prof Ijiomah was a moment to learn, as he not only taught logic, he lived like a logician. One naturally felt safe talking to him as he was a father to many.

As his existence has now turned into nothingness, may his reflections live forever with us, or, at least, for a very long time.

Aribiah David Attoe, PhD, csp,
Centre for Leadership Ethics in Africa,
University of Fort Hare, South Africa,
Member, Conversational School of Philosophy.