Leo Igwe



Dare to think. Dare to doubt. Dare to question everything in spite of what the superstitious around you teach and preach.

Leo Igwe (born 26 July 1970) is a Nigerian skeptic and humanist, who is currently serving as the chair of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, and holds leadership positions in the James Randi Educational Foundation and in the Atheist Alliance International. He holds a PhD from the and has led efforts to promote reason and science in the African continent. One of his most prominent efforts is for the ending of child witchcraft accusations in sub-Saharan Africa. He founded the Advocacy for Alleged Witches Foundation (AFaW), which serves to aid those accused of witchcraft effectively.

His criticism of religion and superstitious thought has not been uncontroversial in Africa, a continent of very devout religious views, and has brought him into the sights of religious organizations such as the Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries, an organization quite responsible for much of the problems Igwe has discussed. But even with this, Igwe has stayed optimistic concerning the spread of rationalistic and humanistic thought in Africa. In A Manifesto For a Skeptical Africa, Igwe states that:

Impact of Imperialism on African Skepticism
In the aforementioned A Manifesto for a Skeptical Africa, Igwe also discusses and disputes the belief in Africa that rationalism and humanism are somehow "un-African," stating that:

Essentially, he is stating that much of the bigotry and superstitious beliefs that exist in Africa today are not something inherent to Africa, but rather an import from outside a consequence of imperialism.

In reference to this, Igwe has also stated that much of the homophobia that exists in Africa's laws today is not a consequence of some inherent homophobia within its culture, but rather because of imported Western and Arabian norms through colonialism and imperialism, stating that:

iDoubt
In 2017, Igwe introduced the method of "iDoubt" in an article for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Essentially, iDoubt is a way to scrutinize information before one takes it as fact, a way for critical thinking. To do this, Igwe introduces five "doubts," which he calls "individual doubt, inspire doubt, inculcate doubt, inform doubt, and Internet doubt."

Support for LGBTQ+ rights in Africa
Igwe has undertaken advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights in his home country of Nigeria, and has written articles in support for the LGBTQ+ community in Africa. In a 2017 article for the Nigerian Observer, Igwe noted that: