The Heart of Humanism award recognizes an individual who exemplifies humanist values. This year the recipient is Leo Igwe. Leo has been a friend of FBB for many years, having been pivotal in helping develop the program that became Humanist Action: Ghana. Leo is a Board Member of Humanists International and the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Humanist Association of Nigeria.
For decades, Leo has been a human rights advocate in Africa, focusing on the rights of women and children accused of witchcraft and protecting people against harmful superstitious practices. He has continued this work in the face of persecution, harassment, and attacks.
Leo has been working tirelessly to secure the release of Mubarak Bala since his arrest in April 2020, and has provided support to Bala’s wife and son. His work on this campaign has included starting dialogues with religious groups for assistance; liaising with the media; and developing a campaign strategy with Humanists International. Most people in the US or UK who know about Bala’s case have heard about it as the direct result of this work.
Leo’s dedication to securing human rights on both individual and societal levels is an irrefutable example of humanist values in action. His endeavors take place in a context unimaginable to many people in the US, as Leo repeatedly risks his own safety in a quest for a more humanist world. FBB is honored to recognize him for his commitment to justice.
To everyone who received an award this year: we thank you deeply. We believe the effects of your work will ripple out father than you may ever know. You are the Heart of Humanism.
We look forward to recognizing another extraordinary group of humanists next year.
Leo Igwe (born July 26, 1970) is a Nigerian human rights advocate and humanist. Igwe is a former Western and Southern African representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, and has specialized in campaigning against and documenting the impacts of child witchcraft accusations. He holds a Ph.D from the Bayreuth International School of African Studies at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, having earned a graduate degree in Philosophy from the University of Calabar in Nigeria. Igwe’s human rights advocacy has brought him into conflict with high-profile witchcraft believers, such as Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries, because of his criticism of what he describes as their role in the violence and child abandonment that sometimes result from accusations of witchcraft. His human rights fieldwork has led to his arrest on several occasions in Nigeria. Igwe has held leadership roles in the Nigerian Humanist Movement, Atheist Alliance International, and the Center For Inquiry—Nigeria. In 2012, Igwe was appointed as a Research Fellow of the James Randi Educational Foundation, where he continues working toward the goal of responding to what he sees as the deleterious effects of superstition, advancing skepticism throughout Africa and around the world. In 2014, Igwe was chosen as a laureate of the International Academy of Humanism and in 2017 received the Distinguished Services to Humanism Award from the International Humanist and Ethical Union.
Igwe was raised in southeastern Nigeria, and describes his household as being strictly Catholic in the midst of a “highly superstitious community,” according to an interview in the Gold Coast Bulletin.[1] At age twelve, Igwe entered the seminary, beginning to study for the Catholic priesthood, but later was confused by conflicting beliefs between Christian theology and the beliefs in witches and wizards that are “entrenched in Nigerian society.”[1] After a period of research and internal conflict due to doubts about the “odd blend of tribalism and fundamentalist Christianity he believes is stunting African development,” a 24-year-old Igwe resigned from the seminary and relocated to Ibadan, Nigeria
