Leo Igwe is Going on Tour

Nigerian humanist Leo Igwe is embarking on a packed United States tour to meet American humanists coast to coast and share his important work. From March 17^th to April 9^th, he has scheduled meals and talks with several local humanist and atheist groups, visits to schools in California and Texas to observe children’s philosophy classes, discussions with humanist leaders to share expertise and develop trainings, meetings with the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and US Institute for Peace, and a presentation at the American Atheists 2024 Convention. Throughout his tour, Igwe will encourage us to rethink and re-envision how we promote humanism and atheism around the globe. “This century beckons on us to change, to do more and to do better for humanism and humanity.”

Igwe is a board member of the Humanist Association of Nigeria—which he founded in the 1990s—and Humanists International, and he directs the Advocacy for Alleged Witches and Critical Thinking Social Empowerment Foundation. He holds a masters in philosophy, and a doctoral degree in religious studies from the University of Bayreuth in Germany, where he wrote his doctoral thesis on witchcraft accusations in Northern Ghana. His US tour will focus on humanism in Africa, critical thinking in schools, and advocacy against witch persecution. In his talk on humanism in Africa, he’ll explain the discrimination humanists face in the world’s most religious continent and what can be done to protect them and help humanism flourish. His talk on critical thinking will share how fostering cognitive skills in African primary and secondary schools can combat religious extremism, ignorance, and superstition-based abuses. And his talk on the persecution of alleged witches will review advocacy efforts to protect the thousands of people—mainly women, the elderly, and children—who are attacked, banished, and killed each year due to witch-hunting in sub–Saharan Africa.

See Igwe’s public event schedule to find how you can connect with him during his tour:

March 17: “Why Critical Thinking Matters in Africa” Sunday, 11am – 1pm PT, 2535 W Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA, Hosted by Center for Inquiry West with Atheists United as a co-sponsor

March 21: “Critical Thinking and Why it Matters in Africa” Thursday, 5:30-7:30pm PT (potluck dinner then talk), Encina Royale Clubhouse, 250 Moreton Bay Lane, Goleta, CA and on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88193881833, Hosted by Humanist Society of Santa Barbara

March 23: “A New Future for Atheism and Humanism in Africa” Saturday, 3-5pm MT, Secular Hub, 254 Knox Court, Denver, CO, Hosted by the Secular Hub

March 25: “InformAction Theory of Change and Witch Hunting in Africa” Monday, 5-7pm MT, Longmont Public Library Room A/B, 409 4th Avenue, Longmont, CO, Hosted by Boulder Atheists

March 28-31: “A New Future for Atheism and Humanism in Africa” (see American Atheists Convention for day and time and registration), Loews Philadelphia, 1200 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA and online, Hosted by American Atheists

April 7: “A New Future for Atheism and Humanism in Africa” Hosted by UU Humanists of Clearwater, Florida

Thank you to all the organizers and donors making Leo Igwe’s US tour a reality and full of opportunities to learn together. Looking forward to sharing his vision for the future of the humanist movement, which includes effective education, leadership, and collaboration to make sustainable connections and change, Leo says, “The atheist/humanist movement will nurture that sense of solidarity too often missing, too often ignored, but so much cherished. We will fulfill that need to belong and be loved that lurks in the hearts and minds of non-theists across the globe. Based on commitment to all and responsibility from all, we can do more and we can do better.”