Ubuntu, Ibuanyindanda: Harnessing African Philosophy of Personhood for Peaceful Co-existence in Nigeria. 1 Anselm K. Jimoh Abstract Ubuntu as an African philosophy of personhood extols the positive potentialities of the human person and describes the intrinsic connection between humanity and the eco-system in which communal responsibility sustains life. Ibuanyindanda is an ontology of complementarity achieved through mutual relations. Both concepts explicate the narrative notion of person in African ontology. They provide an understanding of personhood from the communitarian context, where obligations and responsibilities to others define the individual. In this paper, I explore both notions in theorizing an account of peaceful co-existence in Nigeria, a country torn apart by ethnic, cultural, and religious differences. My aim is to establish a philosophical foundation on which to build a culture of ethnic dialogue, understanding, acceptance, tolerance, and forgiveness, amongst Nigerians. Employing the methodology of a critical and systematic analysis to interrogate the African idea of personhood, I examine the cause of division among Nigerians and conclude that rediscovering and exploiting our common humanity and African communalism provide the platform for our peaceful co-habitation and existence. Keywords: Ubuntu, Ibuanyindanda, personhood, communalism, African metaphysics 40 Introduction Nigeria, as it is currently, is a divided nation, torn apart along the lines of ethnic, cultural, and religious differences. The impact of this division not only retards development, but more significantly, breeds intolerance and hatred that makes peaceful co-habitation and existence elusive. This negates the African metaphysical idea of communalism as against the Western idea of individualism. The South African notion of Ubuntu, and the idea of Ibuanyindanda espoused by Innocent Asouzu lucidly captures the African ontology of communalism that describes the innate African spirit of togetherness, which has been adulterated with Western individualism and subjectivism. The culture of individualism breeds egocentrism and selfishness, it lacks respect for the well-being of other members of the community and consequently creates an atmosphere of tension, agitations, and violent conflicts. This, in recent times, characterizes the Nigerian state. In this paper, I x-ray the African concept of person through the lens of Ubuntu and Ibuanyindanda. I identify the cause of the current tension in Nigeria as lack of genuine concern and respect for one another; an attitude that negates our inherent African communality. I therefore, propose a rediscovery of that which is germane to our being as Africans and integrate it with the positive impact of civilization and globalization to entrench an atmosphere conducive for peaceful cohabitation in 1 Department of Philosophy, SS Peter and Paul Major Seminary, Ibadan, Nigeria; jimohanselm1@yahoo.com. Ewanlen: A Journal of Philosophical Inquiry Vol. 1, No. 1, 2017: 40 – 49