“Kumen Mfe Nungwan Ibyumegh” (Pounding Knowledge, Adding Foolishness): A Tiv Epistemological Critique of Western Epistemic Modality in Political Philosophy

This paper critiques Western epistemic modality in political philosophy through the lens of Tiv epistemology, encapsulated in the proverb Kumen Mfe Nungwan Ibyumegh (“Pounding Knowledge, Adding Foolishness”). It interrogates the intellectual dependency on Western epistemology in African political thought, arguing that it often results in an epistemic framework that alienates indigenous perspectives and renders them subordinate or irrelevant. Adopting an eclectic framework that combines Syed Hussein Alatas’s Academic Dependency Theory and Chinweizu’s Piles of Rubbish Theory, the study highlights the intellectual hegemony that marginalizes indigenous epistemologies, particularly Tiv political philosophy, in favour of Eurocentric paradigms and offers a pathway for getting out of the quagmire. The paper contends that Tiv epistemology offers a critical perspective on the limitations of Western epistemic modality, revealing its inherent contradictions, exclusions, and decontextualized universality. It argues that Western epistemology, when uncritically adopted, functions as a form of intellectual neocolonialism, stifling the organic growth of indigenous African political philosophy. By analyzing Tiv oral traditions, proverbs, and philosophical constructs, the paper exposes the epistemic violence embedded in the universalization of Western thought. The conclusion calls for the reclamation and reinvigoration of African indigenous epistemologies, advocating for a decolonial turn that integrates Tiv epistemological insights into the discourse of political philosophy. The paper recommends an epistemic pluralism that situates indigenous knowledge systems as coequal to Western paradigms, promoting an Afrocentric approach to political philosophy that values contextual realities and intellectual sovereignty.