OZO TITLE AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC RECOGNITION IN IGBOLAND: A PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

The aim of this article is to contribute to further understanding of the socio-economic dynamics of Igbo society through philosophical analysis of their Ozor title-taking. It explores the relationship between the Ozo institution and social esteem in Igbo land.  The Ozo title is an important and significant institution in Igboland. Besides historians, anthropologists and novelists, little or no attempts have been made to interrogate it or subject it to the rigours of conceptual, social, normative or philosophical analysis. This is the gap that this paper tries to fill. This paper first establishes the general meaning and perception of the Ozo title as a position of distinction reserved for hardworking and accomplished men of Igbo communities who use their wealth to promote social good. It then engages in conceptual analysis of the related but different normative terminologies like privilege and esteem which are forms of recognition to the Ozo, seeking to account for the justification of each within the socio-moral order of the Igbo communities where they occur. Finally, it reviews the Ozo title from the point of view of a theory of recognition according to which merits or achievement provide justifications for social esteem. On the basis of five distinct moments or impulses of growth and expansion of Ozo, the paper ends by outlining a proposal for the possible reforms this hallowed institution in Igboland to ensure its survival and modernization.