CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The Igbo are an ethnic group found predominantly in south-eastern Nigeria, often called Igboland, with smaller communities in the South-South region. They occupy the south-eastern states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, with sizeable populations in Delta and Rivers States. Igboland lies roughly between latitudes 5° and 7° north of the equator and longitudes 6° and 8° east of the Greenwich meridian (Ilogu, 1974). The Igbo are one of the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria (Odimegwu & Somefun, 2017), although estimates of their numbers vary widely. They are an industrious and deeply religious people who speak the Igbo language in numerous dialects across sub-cultural areas. It is through these dialects that Igbo culture, tradition, ethics and norms, and the whole gamut of life, are passed on to children. Igbo proverbs, idioms, legends, folktales, and moral and ethical lessons are drawn from the language and are the principal vehicles of this instruction (Uchendu, 1965).

The origin of the Igbo has long been shrouded in controversy and continuing academic argument. Archaeological finds at Igbo-Ukwu, which date to about the ninth century AD, show that sophisticated Igbo-area civilisation is of great antiquity (Shaw, 1970), but written records that would settle the question of origin are lacking (Isichei, 1976). Because of striking resemblances between aspects of Igbo and Hebrew culture, some historians, other writers and many Igbo themselves have held tenaciously that the Igbo migrated from Israel and are one of the lost tribes of Israel. This school of thought points to similarities in child naming and in the meanings attached to names, many of which refer to God or the gods; in marriage rites and the practice of polygamy; in certain myths and the belief in reincarnation; in circumcision on the eighth day; and, more generally, in the intense religiosity found in both the Hebrew Bible and Igbo life. Proponents suggest that the Igbo migrated from Israel to Egypt, then to Sudan, from where they moved southward to their present location in Nigeria. The idea has a long pedigree: Olaudah Equiano speculated on a Hebrew origin in his 1789 autobiography (Equiano, 1789/2003), and Igbo identification with Jewish ancestry strengthened markedly during and after the Biafran War (Bruder, 2008; Lis, 2009, 2015). It remains contested, however. Many scholars regard it as lacking historical and archaeological support and treat the resemblances as reflecting wider patterns of West African culture and the effects of colonial-era identity-making (Isichei, 1976; Bruder, 2008).

Before the arrival of European missionaries and the agents of colonialism in Igboland, the people held a robust religious system that recognised the existence of Almighty God, called Chukwu (the Big God) or Chineke (God who creates), who was worshipped through divinities. These include Ala (the earth goddess), Amadioha (god of thunder) and Ahajioku (god of yam), among others (Arinze, 1970; Metuh, 1981). Ndichie, the ancestors, were revered and venerated. In some sub-cultural areas and communities, the four Igbo market days (Eke, Orie, Afo and Nkwo) and notable rivers, streams, forests, trees and hills were also deified.

Unlike the major world religions, Igbo Traditional Religion, like other African religious systems, has no known founder (Idowu, 1973). It is native and indigenous to the Igbo, a belief system handed down from one generation to the next. It is in this sense that it has been summarised by the Igbo term omenani, the way of the land.

The Igbo belief system also recognises and honours a special category of people known as sacred specialists. These are religious personalities who have acquired knowledge and skills and who are believed to have derived powers from the spiritual realm and to function in the spiritual governance of the world. They are respected men and women who play a key role in providing solutions to the problems of life, and they hold what Mbiti (1969) describes as an "office personality," a status and knowledge that are not accessible to ordinary members of society. They therefore carry a religious mandate to mediate for the people and to reveal information relevant to the community. Among the Igbo, life, its meaning and its preservation are sacrosanct, and they call for wellness and social order. For this reason an unpalatable situation is never allowed to persist without consultation with forces more powerful than human beings, in order to gain insight and ritual remedies (Arinze, 1970). In such situations, concerted effort is made to obtain an answer or clearer understanding from sacred specialists, who can then assist, manage or control the situation as the case may be.

Sacred specialists offer advice on ritual resources, strengthen holistic approaches to problem-solving, and foster the socio-cultural, political, economic, psychological and physiological dimensions of the interaction. They contribute in no small way as they share in, and respond to, the events and crises that people bring to them, and they are therefore regarded as friends of the community. Scholars use various terms to describe these functionaries, including sacred personages, special men, sacred men, ritual symbolic persons and religious authorities (Mbiti, 1969; Parrinder, 1970). In this work, the term "sacred specialists," which Parrinder also used, will be used prominently and interchangeably with these terms. The class includes medicine men, priests and priestesses, diviners and mediums, rainmakers, prophets and prophetesses, kings, queens, rulers and elders, among others. The dibia, who may act as herbalist, diviner or ritual expert, occupies a particularly important place among them, and Umeh (1997–1999) has documented the cosmology, divination and sacred science on which the dibia's work rests.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

From time immemorial, the Igbo religious system was traditional, cultural and natural. It may be said to have been original and unadulterated. With the arrival of Christian missionaries and the agents of colonisation, who met a pattern of life that ran counter to Euro-Christian principles, Igbo religious society and its sacred institutions came under a first attack from foreign culture, technology, education and Christianity, to the point where they became vulnerable (Ekechi, 1972; Okeke et al., 2017).

In a similar vein, the thirty-month civil war of 1967–1970 remains the most brutal assault on the Igbo and their cultural heritage, preceded by the massacres of Igbo people in 1966. This pogrom is an unpleasant chapter in the survival history of Igbo cultural practice, and it led to the loss of living witnesses of Igbo history and culture (Achebe, 2012). The culture is still recovering from this ill wind of change.

Beyond the racial pride and cultural arrogance of Europeans, and their use of derogatory terms to describe the traditional religion, Igbo belief and cultural practice have also suffered indifference and apathy at the hands of some Igbo themselves. This attitude is connected with ignorance, the adoption of Western culture and wholesale subscription to alien practices. It explains the repeated raids on sacred groves and shrines by some converts to Christianity, who invade and destroy religious objects and, in some cases, sell the artefacts to Western art collectors (Okeke et al., 2017). Early missionaries behaved as social revolutionaries, condemning and attempting to eradicate traditional religion, and some overzealous converts destroyed statues and emblems of great artistic merit as idols (Okeke et al., 2017).

Consequently, the sacred rituals and practices associated with the offices of medicine men, priests, diviners, rainmakers and others have been carelessly infringed upon and debased by an unbridled quest for power, prestige and wealth, and by indifference to traditional customs and values. Recent studies even point to a resurgence of dibia practice among young people in Nsukka-Igbo communities (Agbo, 2024), which makes careful scholarship on the true role of sacred specialists all the more necessary. It is therefore necessary to underscore the activities and contributions of sacred specialists so that their significance and impact can be properly and fittingly understood.

1.3 Aim of the Study

The imitative nature of human beings and the wholesale adoption of Eurocentric culture have devastated and negated some Igbo cultural practices, especially the vital contributions of sacred specialists. The time has come for these cultural practices to be adequately represented in scholarship. This work therefore sets out:

• To enlighten all peoples of the world on the place of sacred specialists as well as the rich cultural heritage of the Igbo.
• To help in the reconstruction of a balanced socio-religious outlook on life, so that there will be an objective evaluation and appreciation of some fundamental traditional values that were thrown to the wind by the wave of modernisation and Christianity.
• To promote the Igbo worldview so that non-Igbo may know the social and moral norms of the Igbo as well as the dominant role of sacred specialists, which may not have been rightly understood.
• To highlight salient elements and features of Igbo Traditional Religion.
• To showcase the negative impact of Western culture on some Igbo traditional institutions.

1.4 Significance of the Study

This study is necessary because, from time immemorial, the practice of Igbo Traditional Religion was of immense significance to the forebears of the Igbo, and it is still adhered to by many Igbo today. A meaningful study of Igbo sacred specialists will therefore give considerable attention to indigenous religious and cultural practices, at a time when great emphasis is being placed on cultural regeneration.

The institution of sacred specialists is often surrounded and guarded by taboos and other religious practices. A detailed study of their contributions is of immense significance because it will manifest the nature of Igbo traditional beliefs, practices and values, and how the organisation of society is rooted in religion. It will also throw more light on the conceptualisation of Almighty God, underscoring the fact that, to the Igbo, the Supreme Being is real, unique, and worshipped as the Creator of the universe and the absolute controller of everything in it (Arinze, 1970; Metuh, 1981).

The work will be of immense significance to contemporary society because it elaborates and illustrates skills and creativity in a continuously changing world. It will create awareness of the native and indigenous practices of sacred specialists and of their relevance in the modern world. The work will also add to the body of research in this area and will, it is hoped, inspire researchers who wish to undertake further studies on Igbo Traditional Religion, serving as useful material for future research.

1.5 Scope of the Study

Nigeria has six geo-political zones, one of which is the South-East. The South-East comprises five states: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo. Although Igbo people are scattered in other neighbouring states, the study concentrates on these five core Igbo states. The activities and services offered by sacred specialists in Igbo Traditional Religion are the thrust of the research. The influence of other religions and cultures is, however, also considered for an objective and comprehensive analysis.

1.6 Methodology of the Research

The Igbo sacred institution has not been accorded its due place in Igbo scholarship. Case studies of sacred personages in Igboland, of how they are understood, and of how they and their counterparts in other African countries proffer solutions to the problems of the people, should therefore command more attention than they currently receive. This work is primarily a study of the contributions of sacred specialists to Igbo Traditional Religion. In some cases, however, the comparative method is applied, as indicated above, in order to compare and contrast the religious institutions and phenomena under study. Despite this comparative approach, the analytic method has been of immense help, as it has helped to discard some misconceptions and over-generalisations. Moreover, the researcher was nurtured in traditional society and tutored in traditional religion, and therefore has participant and existential experience of the subject. The participant observation method was also applied to validate the materials used.

1.7 Definition of Terms

For clarity and proper elucidation, the following key concepts are defined.

Sacred. The sacred is that which is set apart from ordinary, everyday (profane) use and treated with reverence. Durkheim (1995) described sacred things as things set apart and forbidden, and Otto (1958) characterised the sacred as the holy, the object of awe and religious veneration, while Eliade (1959) treated it as the realm that stands in contrast to the profane. In ordinary usage, therefore, to call something sacred is to say that it is devoted to a deity or to a religious purpose, is used in or related to worship, is worthy of veneration, is dedicated to or in honour of someone, or is inviolable and not to be challenged or disrespected. Etymologically, the word derives from the Latin sacrum (sacer), which refers to the gods or to anything within their power, and to what is set apart, as the area around a temple was set apart. Sacred specialists are accordingly people who are devoted and dedicated to religious purposes: people who are called, or who offer themselves, to the service of God, the divinities and humanity, and who are worthy of respect.

Igbo Traditional Religion. Igbo Traditional Religion, like other religious systems in Africa, has no known founder (Idowu, 1973). It is native and indigenous to Igbo culture and is the belief system handed down from one generation to the next. It is in this sense that it has been summarised by the Igbo term omenani. Its main components are belief in a Supreme Being, belief in divinities and spirits, veneration of ancestors, and a body of rites, sacrifices and taboos that regulate the relationship between human beings and the spiritual world (Arinze, 1970; Metuh, 1981).

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