ABSTRACT

The paper examines the existence or otherwise of the philosophical foundation of African Traditional Religion, from the Idoma experience of Nigeria. Hitherto to the present epoch, some of the pioneer scholars of Africans and her religion have made wrong assertions that the African man and mind is incapable of, comprehending the existence of the Ultimate Reality, God. Implicitly and explictly denying the fact that Africans can rationalize and think about their existence and their interactions with the universe and the final end of man on earth.But facts and records available suggest the opposite, because Africans observed and pondered on issues of the universe and discovered that after night comes the morning, after the raining season comes the dry season and so on, including his own existence. If African Traditional Religion has a philosophical foundation, then the paper is a re-affirmation of the philosophical foundations of African. This is borne out of the natural instinct of all human beings, that sense of rationality that is imbued in all of humankind irrespective of faith convictions, ethnic affiliations and the like. Pondering and speculating are all part of the acts of philosophizing. So, African Traditional Religion was borne out of philosophical speculations as the man intereacts with his universe, with the realization that a Being greater than himself is responsible for creation epecially, putting in place that Divine Creative Order. The paper is analytical in nature drawing strengths from available secondary sources of data, to buttress the fact that African Traditional Religion is well grounded on sound philosophical foundations as against earlier wrong notions and contemporary wrong assertions stating the contrary. A denial of the philosophical foundations of African Traditional Religion both in the short run and long run would be an exercise in futility, because it would amount to an attempt at denying the humanity of the Africans.