By Abuchi Obiora
This discourse concludes our inquiry on the ensuing conflict between the newly promulgated Anambra State Homeland (Agunechemba) Security Laws (with its execution arm codenamed OPERATION UDO GA-ACHI) and Igbo traditional religion.
It further articulates the consequences of the conflict and the possibility (if the conflict is properly managed) of a renaissance in the long-abused, bastardized, denigrated and desecrated traditional Igbo religion, after the faceoff.
The discourse also warns of the need not to scuttle the sprawling Igbo civilization which is a product of Igbo tradition and culture.
Any indigenous religion subscribed to and practiced by a people is both a simulation and summary of their norms and idiosyncrasies which metamorphose to their tradition and culture. The tradition and culture of a people define their laws, a set of standard procedures that uniformly guide and direct the actions of everybody in the community.
From this understanding, it is very clear that a people’s religion predates their tradition and culture. As a matter of fact, religious belief system which is the first thing that articulates and reflects the world view and value system of a people actually define the direction of their norms, idiosyncrasies, tradition, culture and civilization, all in this ascending hierarchy and order of superiority.
This is the reason why in order to capture and enslave a people, you must first conquer their minds through manipulating and altering their religion, directing it along the line of your expected end and reason for capturing, conquering and enslaving them
To drive home the power of tradition and culture in the life of a person, no matter how we may hide it, there is still that element of ‘Igboness’ in the way some of us, professed Christians, practice our Christian religion. This ‘Igboness’ can be seen in our attitudes to worship, to songs, to praises, and to prayers.
Localizing studies on anthropological foundations of different people, you find out that all possibilities of uniformity in world views of different sets of people are destroyed as a result of their different interpretations of reality and the nature of things because of the different impacts of environment and elemental forces on them. This, undoutedly brings about limitations on the local interpretation and expression of foreign languages in the course of cultural and religious syncretism.
The evidence of the above can be seen in the etymological and philological disparities that respectively result in the interpretative deficiencies that usually are observed in some foreign languages that have been absorbed in local environments. Words lose their values and sentences do not exactly convey the meanings that they are supposed to convey. This is why, in order to get their complete spiritual values and benefits, some Roman Catholic High Masses must be held in their original Latin language with Latin words generously applied in much the same way that all of the world’s most renowned mystery schools still endeavor to extensively use and hum the original intonements with which the original initiatory rites and rituals of those organizations were founded.
Etymological development of words and philological development of languages trail the norms and idiosyncrasies of a people and all of these sum up to the culture that support age-long and long-held traditions. The ambush of Western European culture on the Igbos in the mid-15th century with the arrival of the Portuguese who made contact on the Nigerian coast brought about the beginning of the corrupting influence of western civilization with its Christian religion to ‘Igbo Odinala’ (tradition) and ‘Omenala’ (culture).
As tradition and culture are the offshoots of norms and idiosyncrasies which themselves are direct synthesis of the environment with indigenous religious belief system, group (ethnic or tribal) character sums up from the collective characters and destinies of a people in any given society and this ultimately defines their civilization.
This process can either retard or evolve, courtesy of nature’s immutable law of change. Though it may appear to be stationary and static, it is not. This is the true present condition of the culture and tradition of Ndi-Igbo which has created the vacuum in which the on-going abuse of Igbo traditional religion, now being challenged by the Anambra State Homeland (Agunechemba) Security Laws, takes place. Nature does not allow a vacuum. Something must fill-in the space even if that thing be sorcery, magic and outright evil and paganism as are presently practiced by young Igbo men and women in their ‘Okeite’ and ‘Awele’ human/blood money ritual.
For this reason, the sprawling Igbo civilization which was brought about by some fixed and century-old value system runs the risk of being stunted as a result of the contamination of Igbo traditional religion with sorcery, magic and paganism. This is the reason why people like us absolutely support the promulgation of the Anambra State Homeland (Agunechemba) Security Laws and its execution arm codenamed ‘OPERATION UDO GA-CHI’. Though these laws were supposed to have come earlier, it is still better to be late than never. It is good that it came late rather than it never came at all.
With this understanding as explored in the need for a people to have their own tradition and indigenous religion in order to feed and sustain their civilization, there should be no opposition either from the Anambra State government or anybody else for that matter to the practice of Igbo traditional religion built from the norms, idiosyncrasies, value systems, culture and tradition of Ndi Igbo. What we should oppose, which I would believe is the major motive of the Anambra State government in the promulgation of the Anambra State Homeland (Agunechemba) Security Laws is the wrong practice of the Igbo religion which will undoubtedly cast aspersion on the perception of the character and nature of Ndi Igbo.
The Igbos were never pagans or idolaters. Far be it that they were ever sorcerers and involved in human sacrifices as the new generation of Igbo youths may want us to believe. Though the Igbos indulged in punitive death sentences and throwing of the people who commited serious offences (Ime aru ) to ‘Ajo Ohia’ (evil forest) in order to appease the gods of the land (ikpu aru), Ndi Igbo were never eaters of human beings (cannibals) and sacrificers of human beings. The reason slave trade was more pronounced in Igbo land than any other part of Nigeria is that the Igbo man found it better and more profitable to sell-off those who committed abomination than send them away to die in ‘Ajo Ohia’ (evil forest ). There has always been high reverence for human lives in Igbo land.
In “Nkowmi Nso” (Iwu Ometara Buru) of Igbo traditional religious scripture published as “Ofufe Nso Omenala” by the Research Institute of African Religion, an arm of the National Igbo Church of Godian Religion, it is stated in “Ihe mmuta nke iri na asato” with the title “Mmechi Okwu na- Okwukwe” under the specific teaching of “Uzo na-eduba n’ezindu”, amaokwu isii (verse six) that, “ Ekwere m na onye obula ga na-efe Chineke dika o si di ya mma n’ obi” (I believe that anybody can worship the creator (God) as his heart desires).
By the way “Nkowmi Nso” is the only document that I can find so far that contains much of Igbo value system expressed in a religious belief. Most probably because of the Igbo competitive spirit always expressed in the maxim “Igbo enwe eze”, this document is not accepted as a standard document/scripture for worship in Igbo traditional religion.
Please the reader should understand that I am not making a case for the acceptance of the mode of worship by the Godianism Igbo religious sect, (a religious system of worship that I have subscribed to before), I am only an independent, unbiased researcher who sees the urgent need for a standard religious document/scripture for Igbo traditional religion in order to avert the practice of sorceries and evils that pollute the Igbo traditional religion. Igbo tradition religious practitioners should look deeply into having a uniform, standard, accepted and popularly recognized document for the practice of their religion.
Absence of a standard, recognized and popularly accepted reference scripture which sums up the doctrine of the Igbo traditional religion as was articulated by Osamaro Ibie in his “Ifism: Complete Works of Orunmila” (upwards of thirteen volumes), for the indigenous and traditional religious belief system of the descendants of Oduduwa now known as the Yoruba both in Nigeria and the diaspora, is the bane of the Igbo traditional religion.
Founding of a common and standardized religious worship document for Igbo traditional religion will safeguard the Igbo traditional religion as well as minimize abuse and a resort to paganism, idol worship, and sorcery, exactly what Emperor Constantine the Great did to harmonize the worship in the Christian religion and make the religion to toe along the same line, purpose and reason with the ideals of the Roman empire.
In the Ifa traditional worship as espoused in “Ifism: The Complete Works of Orunmila” by Osamaro Ibie, a Bini traditional exponent of ‘Ifalogy’ the author makes it clear that “ESU (the Devil), a deity in the service of other major deities (Orishas) in Ifa traditional worship, notably Elegua, Obatala, Ogun, Ishango,Yemoja (the mother of all Orishas), Osun, and Orunmila, has its own domain of authority as in a subterrain and invisible division of labor of the gods and this domain of ‘Esu’ is not necessarily evil as may be seen by novices outside the Ifa traditional worship. This tallies with the understanding of Ekwensu (the exact equivalent of Esu) in Igbo traditional religion. As a matter of fact, the seven major Orishas in the hierarchy of Ifa traditional pantheon each has a certain area of influence and authority which must not be tampered with by other major deities in the hierarchy.
Ifa traditional religion has so much been developed that it already has a fixed liturgical order of service held on chosen days every week as Christians do. I attended Ifa traditional religious services in my early days of research into that religion somewhere in Upper Sakponba Road, Benin City in the late eighties and early nineties. As a matter of fact, my late wife, Eghosa, a Bini Princess and an exceptionally spiritually powerful woman was an Ifa Priestess before I married her.
I have gone far to say a lot about Ifism so that Igbo traditional religion can borrow a leaf and learn from it to develop her own religion since there are many similarities in the two religions which include seven major deities in each of the religions wherefore the areas of authority of these deities for example ‘ESU’ (the Devil) and ‘EKWENSU’ (the Devil) are similar. I will not go into details now as to other contents of the works on Orunmila by Osamaro Ibie but to observe that religious and cultural syncretism ensured that Jewesun, an assumed character and personality of Jesus Christ is ascribed, rightly or wrongly with some qualities of this great spiritual master of all times, in those works on Orunmila.
In Igbo traditional religious ontology, “EKWENSU’ (as ‘ESU’ in IFISM) is the trickers, the father and initiator of all transcendental arts as it is also the same in the Igbo traditional religion. In the same manner that Jewish Kabala is the oral doctrine of the Jewish religion of Judaism and enhances the practicability of Jewish religion of Judaism, there must be a feeder source from where Igbo traditional religion must derive impetus for its practicability. Ifism as a system of religious worship already has this.
In Igbo traditional religion as in IFISM, ‘EKWENSU’ is not synonymous with Satan the Devil, and hence not an evil spirit. The general name “Mmuo Ojoo” (Evil spirit) is applied to all evil spirits that dwell within the elements of fire, water, air and earth, and there are many of them. In the same, manner, the general acronym for “OGBUNABALI” (the evil spirit of death) is used to define the god of death. In Igbo traditional religion, “Ala” (also called “Ani”) is the female goddess (ALUSI) or deity of the earth, morality, fertility and creativity.
This is why we have in Igbo land what we call “Imeru ala” (abomination) when such things as incest are committed and “Ikpu aru” when sacrifices are offered to appease “Ala”, the land deity so that the abomination will not result in and cause such things as early and sudden death, famine, infertility, etc within the people.
Conversely, “amusu” is the Igbo traditional religious practice that involves witchcraft, sorcery clairvoyance and necromancy. I have researched very deeply on ‘amusu’ and have make written some books on it. These are not true traditional Igbo worship but have heretical undertones of Igbo traditional worship which confuse people to believe that both of them are the same thing. Most unfortunately, these heretical worship alternatives are what young Igbo men and women have jumped into and embraced.
As we come close to ending this discourse, let me observe that sacrifices of human beings or human body parts to achieve the evil purposes of ‘Oke Ite’ or ‘Awele’ as means to wealth, power and longevity do not constitute essential and integral paths of the Igbo culture that is both communal and republican in nature, where human lives are highly respected and regarded for the reason of giving those lives the opportunities to achieve their maximal competitive edges. In the days of yore in Igbo traditional worship, the sacrifice of dogs, tortoise and water docks serve their respective purposes in such areas requiring the saving of lives, the attainment of wisdom, and the enhancement of good fortune in these respective orders.
Like the sacrifice of human beings in the corrupted Judaism religion (corrupted through cultural syncretism between the Jewish culture and the cultures of those powerful empires that conquered them during the first, second and third exilic periods) was abhorred by the Israelite God, Yahweh, it is not unlikely that the ancestral land of Igbo is mounting a revulsion with the massive, widespread and wanton killings, sacrifices of human beings and human body parts and diverse activities in sorcery that have presently become the first love of many young Igbo men and women. The result, of course, is that life spans in Igbo land has reduced to such levels that people celebrate forty and fifty years birthdays with prompt and pageantry amongst a people hitherto known for longevity.
The dastard activities of criminals and their fake cronies wearing the garb of Igbo traditional religious worshippers, native doctors, and accomplices in Anambra State has offered a golden opportunity for the reformation of Igbo traditional religion. It is hoped that other South Eastern Igbo States will toe the footsteps of Anambra State government and close the cycle of criminals wearing the garbs of Igbo traditional religious worshippers.
But the pertinent question is: after Governor Charles Soludo has successfully phased out criminals in Anambra State and won the war against fake Igbo traditional religious worshippers, what happens next? What happens next perhaps will be the most crucial phase of the battle so that core Igbo traditions, cultures and religious values may not be lost to the future generations of Ndi Igbo.
Professor Charles Soludo must convene a conference of traditional Igbo Chiefs (Ndi Eze), Chief Priests (Ndi Isi Nchu Aja) of the Igbo towns and recognized shrines and cause the Conference to outline a verifiable system of religious worship from strictly certified Igbo culture and tradition. This will be the first step in documenting traditional Igbo religious values in order to save it from future abuse as has just happened, or even extinction.
As for the appeal to ‘EKWENSU’ to stop the reformation of Igbo traditional religion by Governor Charles Soludo, though I am neither an Igbo traditional religious worshipper or even a messenger of “Agwu Nsi” (God of divinity, wealth and prophecy), I have researched and known enough of Igbo traditional religion to be sure that such base and hallow appeals will not attract a response from ‘EKWENSU’ because even ‘EKWENSU’ must have known he has long been misrepresented in Igbo traditional religion wherefore all negative and evil things done by faceless “mmuo ojoo” have been ascribed to him as the origin. ‘EKWENSU’ needs the type of reformation that is presently going on in Anambra State to separate the wheat from the chaff.
There is no doubt that the ongoing clampdown on criminals and implementation of the Anambra State Homeland(Agunechemba) Security laws is going to impact positively on the practice of the age-long Igbo traditional religion which was instrumental to what the present generation of Ndi Igbo have become – one of a few ethnic groups in Nigeria that has never ever been defeated in a war – and it is hoped that when finally the Igbo traditional religion bounces back to its original strength as of old, it will bear witness to the original virtues that have marked the Igbo man out as primus interpas, first amongst equals, when the new dawn of a purified and vibrant Igbo traditional religion eventually emerges.
From all indications, the Igbo traditional religion, when rid of charlatans will come out pure, clean and strong more than ever before in the same manner that the religion of Judaism came out pure and clean from the sorcery of King Saul in the shrine of the witch of Endor, when God rejected Saul and chose David ‘the man after the heart of God’ to reinstate the true worship of the Israelite God, Yahweh, and make exploits in the expansion of the domain and authority of Israel over their enemies more than any Israelite king in history.
As I end this discourse, I must observe that there is a very thin line between idolatry and the practices in most of the traditional religions around the world including the world’s major and known twenty-one trans-border religions.
Modern Pentecostal Christianity is only able to escape this trap because it divested itself of many pagan practices which were necessary to inculcate in the religion of Christianity by Emperor Flavius Valerus Constantinus (Constantine the great – circa 272 C.E to 337 C.E) through his Edict of Milan in 313 C.E, a document which legalized Christianity and granted religious freedom to worshippers paving the way for eventual dominance of Christianity as a state religion.
In this same way that it is in other religions, there is also a thin line between the traditional Igbo religion and sorcery so much that the former seem to have a direct link with the later because of human greed employed in its practices.
This precarious condition brings about the need for an informed analysis and decision on choice of a religion amongst many that are available in the environment by an individual. But I must admit that whatever I may say from here onwards is my personal opinion, as I take authority and refuge from the verse earlier quoted in this discourse from “NKOWMI NSO”, viz: “Ekwere m na onye obula ga na-efe Chineke dike o si di ya mma n’obi”.
What I wish to say is that my own experiences have informed my choice to be JESUS CHRIST and his teachings all of which he lived out during his brief sojourn on the earth. It is an attractive choice to make when compared with the religions establish by some faceless and unknown deities, gods and many avatars around the world, (we know them and their stories) whose lives did not exemplify their teachings. NO WONDER, JESUS CHRIST HAS BECOME THE UNCHALLENGED MESSIAH AND THE TRUE BRIDE OF THE WORLD UPON WHOSE SHOULDERS THE SALVATION OF ALL HUMANITY IS ANCHORED.
THE END
ABUCHI OBIORA
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