INDIVIDUAL, COMMUNITY, AND MODERNIST PERSPECTIVES ON 'ORI' AND 'CHI' IN YORUBA AND IGBO CULTURES

Ori (Yoruba) and Chi (Igbo) concepts symbolise the metaphysical connexion between the human and the divine. They act as guardians, spiritual duple, and life-blueprints. The study examined how Ori and Chi have influenced the development of individualism and moral responsibility within Yoruba and Igbo cultures. Hence, a Phenomenological theory was utilised in its discourse, while the phenomenological design was adopted to capture the perceptions and essential logics in the Yoruba and Igbo cultural milieu. Accordingly, a purposive sampling technique was applied to choose two key informed participants for an in-depth interview. This ensured that all the identified research themes were treated through the generated data. It was found out that Yoruba Ori is the vessel of personality and the individual personal deity, whereas the Igbo Chi is considered as a personal god or guardian spirit that acts as a spiritual double that validates a person's life-path. Ori, can influence an individual’s destiny, while the Igbo agency espouses that Chi is sensitive to a person’s struggles and life-direction that a person decides to follow. However, immorality cannot be attributed to Ori or Chi because in Yoruba belief, a criminal falls short of being an Omoluabi (ideal person), and In Igbo worldview, the person remains accountable for any determined action. Modernism and religion, have subverted the concepts of Ori and Chi, but these concepts must have been invented as tools deployed for social order. These could be primordial and atavistic concepts that leverages on modernism. In conclusion, Ori and Chi are metaphysical frameworks that are well-designed for individual accountability