Afro-Igbo Mmad? and Thomas Aquinas’S Imago Dei: An Intercultural Dialogue on Human Dignity

By Venatius Chukwudum Oforka

In our modern and globalised world, the concept of human dignity has gained a haloed status and plays a decisive role in assessing the moral integrity of every human being. It provides a necessary foundation for the on-going human rights struggles. For the idea of human dignity ensures that our ever-growing complicated world wears a human face and that human beings are respected as absolute values in themselves. Afro-Igbo Mmad? and Thomas Aquinas' Imago Dei: An Inter-cultural Dialogue on Human Dignity attempts to expand the discourse on the concept of human dignity, which appears to have been parochially founded on the principles of Western cultures and ideologies. To deparochialise this discourse, it proposes an inter-cultural dialogue towards establishing common principles that define the foundation of human dignity, even when the approaches of diverse cultures to this foundation differ.
The Afro-Igbo Mmadu and Thomas Aquinas' Imago Dei is, therefore, a model of such inter-cultural dialogue. It hosts a profound dialogue between the concept of Mmad? among the Igbo people of eastern Nigeria (Africa) and the concept of Imago Dei according to Thomas Aquinas of western European culture. The study discusses the rich values in these cultural concepts and acknowledges them as veritable tools for establishing human dignity as a universal and inalienable character of human beings. It, nonetheless, highlights the low points in these cultures that are discordant with this universal and inalienable character. The dialogue establishes that these two cultures could complementarily enrich one another and in this way mutually augment their shortcomings towards a more globalised and reinforced foundation of human dignity and the defence of the dignity of every individual human being.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524500481

Venatius Chukwudum Oforka

Venatius Chukwudum Oforka comes from the town of Isiokpo in Ideato Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria. He holds bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and theology from Urban University Rome and master’s degrees in the same areas of study from Imo State University and the University of Lampeter, Wales, respectively. He did his doctoral studies in moral theology in the University of Tübingen, Germany.

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

The Igbo People

Part 1

The Concept of Mmadụ and His

Moral Status among the Igbo

Introduction

Part 1A: The Concept of Mmadụ in

the Igbo Pre-Christian History

Chapter 1:   The Concept of Mmadụ in Igbo World View

Introduction

1.1    Mmadụ in Igbo Cosmology

1.2    The Concept of Ndụ in Igbo World

1.2.1    Ndụ as a biological Gift from Chukwu

1.2.2    Ndụ as Regeneration, Good Health, and Longevity

1.2.3    Ndụ as Existential Mobility

1.2.4    Ndụ as Moral Character

1.3    The Sanctity of Ndụ

1.3.1    Murder Prohibited

1.3.2    Suicide Tabooed

Chapter 2:   Mmadụ in Igbo Sociopolitical and Religio-Ethical Life: Positive Cultural Orientations in Relation to Ugwu Mmadụ

Introduction

2.1    The Igbo Political System: Defining the Basic Elements of Ugwu Mmadụ

2.1.1    Igbo Enwe Eze: How True Is the Claim?

2.1.2    The Political System of a Typical Igbo Community

2.1.3    Democratic Monarchy among the Igbo

2.1.4    The Igbo View of Life without Freedom and Autonomy

2.2    The Igbo Social Structure: Harnessing Ugwu Mmadụ

2.2.1    The Igbo Idea of Complementary Existence

2.2.1    The Constitution of an Igbo Community

2.2.2    The Relationship between the Individual and the Community

2.2.3    Individuality, Freedom, and Autonomy in Igbo Social Structure

2.3    The Igbo Traditional Religion and Mmadụ

2.3.1    The Anthropocentricity of Igbo Traditional Religion

2.3.2    The Place of Human Freedom in Igbo Traditional Religion

2.3.3    Igbo Traditional Religion: In Defence of the Unique Status of Mmadụ

2.4    Igbo Ethics and Ugwu Mmadụ

2.4.1    Ndụ as Igbo Highest Good

2.4.2    Igbo Ethics as a Means of Maintaining the Inviolability of Mmadụ

2.4.2.1    Omenala as the Igbo Ethical Code

2.4.2.2    Omenala in Relation to Mmadụ

2.4.2.2.1    Moral Laws Regulating the Relationship of Mmadụ and the Deities

2.4.2.2.2    Moral Laws Regulating the Relationship of Mmadụ with Fellow Mmadụ

2.4.2.3    Iwu––Positive Law

2.5    The Status of Women in Igboland

2.5.1    Rights of Women in Igbo Society

2.5.1.1    The Political Status of Igbo Women

2.3.1.2    The Contributions of Igbo Women to Igbo Economy

2.5.1.3    The Cultic Status of Women in Igboland

2.6    The Role of the British Colonial Government in Reducing the Rights and Autonomy of Igbo Women

Chapter 3:   The Concept of Mmadụ in the Pre-Christian Igbo World: The Negative Cultural Actions against Ugwu Mmadụ

Introduction

3.1    The Primitive Culture of the Killing of Children of Multiple Births and Human Sacrifice

3.1.1    The Killing of Children of Multiple Births

3.1.2    Human Sacrifice

3.2    Slavery in Igboland

3.2.1    Ohu-ọrụ (Pawn)––Domestic Slaves

3.2.2    Chattel Slaves (Ohu)

3.2.2.1    Igboland during the Atlantic Slave Trade

3.2.2.2    Chattel Slavery in Igboland after the Abolition of Transatlantic Slave Trade

3.2.2.3    The Status of Chattel Slaves in Pre-Christian Igboland

3.2.3    Osu Caste System in Igboland (Cult Slavery)

3.2.3.1    The Origin of the Osu Caste System

3.2.3.2    The Degeneration of the Concept and Status of Osu

3.3    The Agony of Womanhood among the Igbo

3.3.1    Igbo Myths and Proverbs as Means of Women Discrimination

3.3.2    The Igbo Custom of Kola Nut (Isụ/Ịgọ Ọjị) as a Means of Defining Women Inferiority

3.3.3    Igbo System of Inheritance and Preference of Male Children to Females as a Form of Oppression of the Feminine Gender

3.3.4    Divorce among the Igbo: A Further Marginalisation of Women

3.3.5    Widowhood among the Igbo: A Cultural Humiliation of the Female Gender

3.3.6    Bride-wealth among the Igbo

Part 1 B Ugwu Mmadụ in the Christian Era

Chapter 4:   The Perception of Mmadụ following the Christianisation of Igboland

Introduction

4.1    The Linguistic/Semantic Ontological Bedrock of Mmadụ

4.1.1    The Dialectical Nuance, ‘mma ndụ’

4.1.2    The Dialectical Nuance, ‘Mma du/ Mma dị’

4.1.3    The Dialectical Nuance, ‘Mmanụ’

4.1.4    ‘Mmadụ’, ‘Madụ’, ‘Mmadị’, or ‘Mmànù’?

4.2    The Psychosomatic-Spiritual Interconnectivity of Mmadụ

4.2.1    Ahụ as a Composite Part of Mmadụ

4.2.2    Mmụọ: The other Component of Mmadụ

4.2.2.1    Mkpụrụobi as a Poor Nomenclature for the Immaterial Part of Mmadụ

4.2.2.2    An Attempt to Categorise Mkpụrụobi as a Third Component of Mmadụ

4.2.3    Mmadụ––A Composite of Ahụ and Mmụọ

4.2.3    Akọ n’Uche: Perfecting the Being of Mmadụ

4.3    Onwe: The Springboard of Individuality, Freedom, and Autonomy

4.4    Ịlọ-ụwa (Reincarnation): The Mystery of Being Mmadụ

4.5    ‘Chi’ and ‘Eke’ in Igbo Ontology: The Divine-Human Connection

4.5.1    The Ontology of Chi

4.5.2    The Ontology of Eke

4.5.3    The Relationship between Chi and Eke

4.5.4    Short Summary of Part I

Part 2

The Ontological Foundation of Human

Dignity in Western Thought: The Model

of Imago Dei in Thomas Aquinas

Chapter 5:   The Imago Dei Controversy

Introduction

5.1    The Emergence of Imago Dei as the Foundation of Dignity in Western Historical Development of Human Dignity

5.2    Imago Dei Controversy in Modern Scholarship

5.2.1    The Oriental Background of OT Imago Dei Concept

5.2.1.1    The Egyptian Background of OT Imago Dei Concept

5.2.1.2    The Mesopotamian Background of OT Imago Dei Concept

5.2.2    Interpreting Imago Dei in the OT

5.2.2.1    Semantic and Textual Interpretation of Imago Dei

5.2.2.1.1    The Prepositions ב (bə) and כ (ki)

5.2.2.1.2    The Nouns צַלְמֵ֖ (ṣäläm) and דְמוּתֵ֑ (demũt)

5.2.2.1.3    ‘In the image of God he created him; male and female he created them’––Gender and Imago Dei

5.2.2.1.4    ‘Let them rule over the fish of the sea and… over all the creatures that move along the ground’––The Mission of Adam in Relation to Imago Dei

5.3    The NT Concept of Imago Dei

5.3.1    The Christology of Imago Dei

5.3.2    The Sotoriological and Eschatological Contents of Pauline Imago Dei in Relation to OT Imago Dei

5.4    Imago Dei in the Teachings of the Church Fathers

Chapter 6:   The Concept of Imago Dei According to the Teachings of Thomas Aquinas

Introduction

6.1    Thomas’s Concept of Imago Dei in the Scriptum super Sententiis

6.1.1    The Structure of Thomas’s Teachings on Imago Dei in Book 1, Distinction 3

6.1.2    Vestigium Trinitatis: The Likeness of the Trinity in Creatures Lower than Humans

6.1.3    Thomas’s Development of the Concept of Image

6.1.4    The Concept of Image in Distinction 28

6.1.5    The Subject of Image

6.1.6    The Augustinian Triads and the Characteristics of the Image of the Trinity

6.1.6.1    The Character of Distinction

6.1.6.2    The Character of Consubstantiality

6.1.6.3    The Character of Order

6.1.6.4    The Character of Equality

6.1.6.5    The Character of Actual Imitation

6.1.7    The Permanent Presence of the Trinity in the Soul

6.1.8    The Ontological Status of Imago Dei

6.1.9    Summary

6.2    The Concept of Imago Dei in Quaestiones Disputatae de Veritate

6.2.1    The Relationship between the Mind and the Soul

6.2.2    The Relationship between Memory and Mind

6.2.3    The Augustinian Triads and the Image of the Trinity

6.2.4    The Image of the Trinity in the Mind According to the Order of Knowledge

6.2.5    Summary

6.3    Imago Dei in Thomas’s Commentaries on the Scriptural Epistles

6.3.1    The Christological Usage of Imago Dei

6.3.2    Imago Dei and the Theology of Reformation

6.3.3    Imago Dei in Relation to Gender

6.3.4    Summary

6.4    The Concept of Imago Dei in Thomas’s Last Major Work: The Summa Theologiae

6.4.1    The Structure of the Prima Pars of the Summa

6.4.2    The Teaching on Imago Dei according to Question 93 of the Prima Pars

6.4.2.1    The Concepts of and Relationship between Image and Likeness

6.4.2.2    The Search for Imago Dei among the Creatures in q. 93 a. 2

6.4.2.3    The Further Search for what Defines Imago Dei in q. 93. a. 6

6.4.2.4    The Three Dimensions of Imago Dei According to q. 93 a. 4

6.4.2.5    Quest for the Ontological and Universal Character of Imago Dei in q. 93 a. 8 ad 3

6.4.2.6    Imago Dei and the Gender Question

6.4.3    The Ethical Dimension of Imago Dei: Practical Reason and the Ultimate End of Imago Dei

6.4.3.1    Happiness: The Ultimate End of Imago Dei

6.4.3.1.1    The Relationship between Particular Contingent Acts and the Final End

6.4.3.1.2    The Ultimate End and Practical Ethical Orientation

6.4.3.1.3    Ratio Practica: The Dialectics of Intelligentia and Voluntas towards the Attainment of the Ultimate End

6.4.3.1.3.1    The Process of Human Action: The Interplay of the Intellective and Appetitive Powers in Aquinas’s Theory of Action

6.4.4    Summary

Chapter 7:   Problematics in the Teachings of Thomas Concerning the Dignity of Imago Dei

Introduction

7.1    Thomas’s Teaching on Capital Punishment and the Dignity Status of Imago Dei

7.2    Thomas’s Teachings on Slavery and the Dignity Status of Imago Dei

7.2.1    Aristotle’s Concept of Slavery: The Prototype of Thomas’s Position

7.2.2    Thomas’s Teaching on Slavery

7.3    Remarks on Part 2

Part 3

Mmadụ, Imago Dei, and the Ontological Foundation

of Human Dignity: An Intercultural Complementarity

Chapter 8:   Mmadụ and Imago Dei in Dialogue towards a Complementary Ontological Concept of Human Dignity

Introduction

8.1    The Relationship between Igbo and Thomas’s Perceptions of Human Nature

8.1.1    The Place of the Human Being in Nature

8.1.2    The Ultimate End of the Human Being

8.2    The Relationship between Imago Dei and Mmadụ as Bearers of Human Dignity

8.3    Strains in Igbo and Thomas’s Concepts of Human Dignity and the Mutual Complementarity of their Thoughts

8.3.1    Capital Punishment in Thomas and the Igbo Response

8.3.2    Slavery in Igbo Culture and Thomas’s Response

8.3.3    Practical Ways to Address the Culture that Inferiorises the Osu and Ohu

8.3.4    Addressing the Status of the Female Gender in Thomas Aquinas and Igbo Culture

8.3.5    Improving the Dignity of the Female Gender in Igbo Society

Conclusion

Bibliography

FOREWORD

In the globalised world of the twenty-first century, one of the most important challenges for theological ethics is to foster and promote the intercultural dialogue. Even if this dialogue has to be lived out on different levels—interpersonal, political, legal, scientific, etc.—the ethical dimension is of crucial importance. In order to overcome the strangeness of different cultural traditions, which is a major source of prejudice and hostility, we have to build bridges of mutual understanding on the basis of those moral key concepts that could be found in all different cultures one way or the other. The concept of human dignity is one of these concepts that are not only deeply rooted in western European tradition but can also be found in the rich cultural heritage of Africa. Therefore, it seems well-founded that Venatius Chukwudum Oforka dedicates his dissertation on the different aspects of human dignity that could be found in two important traditions: the theological approach of Thomas Aquinas and his tremendously influential understanding of ‘imago Dei’ on one side and the Igbo understanding of ‘mmadụ’ on the other side. Oforka’s careful study sheds light on the different aspects of these two very complex concepts with their different but often complementary strengths and weaknesses. In unfolding these differences in detail, he shows not only the importance of the Igbo voice in the current debate on human dignity but also illustrates the fact that the bridges for mutual understanding need to be built from both sides. For this reason, I highly recommend this fairly balanced interpretation, which seems to me an impressing example of the pioneer work that needs to be done to enhance the African-European dialogue.

Tübingen, January 2016

Franz-Josef Bormann

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Afro-Igbo Mmadụ and Thomas Aquinas’s Imago Dei: An Intercultural Dialogue on Human Dignity was accepted as a doctoral dissertation in the winter semester 2015 by the faculty of Catholic theology of the University of Tübingen (Germany). It owes its successful completion to the careful and painstaking supervision of Prof. Dr. Franz-Josef Bormann, who also kindly accepted to write the foreword. I am very grateful to him. I equally thank Prof. Dr. Johannes Brachtendorf, who helped to supervise the work and also accepted to stand as the second referee.

I appreciate the support of my emeritus bishop, Dr. Gregory Obinna Ochiagha; my incumbent bishop, Dr. Augustine Tochukwu Ukwuoma; and the bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart Diocese, Dr. Gebhard Fürst. I also thank E. E. Gabriel for his friendly and dependable support throughout the period of this project. My family has been very supportive and has always stood by me through thick and thin. I appreciate the love of each and every member of the Oforka family. Mr. Günter Schmider and his daughter, Julia, have also been very instrumental to the success of this work. I thank them for their love and warm friendship. Rev. Fr. Angelo Unegbu was very helpful in starting off this research work. I thank him for his kind contributions. I equally express my gratitude to Dr. Titus Offor and Dr. Philip Omenukwa for proofreading this work and offering their useful suggestions. I also thank Dr. Ralf Lutz for his contributions.

There are many other friends who contributed in one way or the other to the success of this work. I am thankful to them all: Dr. Remigius Orjiukwu, Wolfgang Dunz, Dr. Innocent Ezeala, and Dr. Aloysius Ndukwu. Others are Rev. Srs. Lotachi Asiegbu and Enderline Emeruwa; Dr. Pius Adiele, Rev. Frs. Celsius Offor, Innocent Ezeonyeasi, Albert Ofere, Maurice Chukwukere, John Ekwunife, and Cyriacus Uzochukwu; Dr. Dieter Eckmann; Martin Ebuzoeme and Wolfgang and Traude Friedrich.

To the loving memory of a beloved brother and friend

Jonathan Okanandu Oforka

INTRODUCTION

Afro-Igbo Mmadụ and Thomas Aquinas’s Imago Dei: An Intercultural Dialogue on Human Dignity is a discourse on the foundation of human dignity which intends to defend human dignity as an ontological character through an intercultural approach. The concept of human dignity has gained a haloed status in the modern world and today plays decisive and incisive roles in assessing the moral status of every human being. It has become the pivot upon which the struggles for human rights are founded. Accordingly, the United Nations’ Universal Declaration on Human Rights defines ‘the dignity and worth of the human person’¹ as ‘inherent, equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family, the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’.²

Sequel to this United Nations declaration on human dignity, on 10 December 1948, the first indigenous university in Nigeria, the University of Nigeria Nsukka, adopted the following motto: ‘To restore the dignity of man.’³ This university was founded on 7 October 1960, shortly after Nigeria gained its independence (1 October of the same year) from British colonial rule. The university was founded by Igbo elites. These elites—many of whom were scholars—perceived the period following colonialism as a period of rebuilding the long history of the serial abuse of human dignity in the indignities of slave trade and colonialism. (The international slave trade—Arab trans-Saharan/Mediterranean and Western transatlantic slave trade—lasted over a millennium in Africa; and as the slave trade receded, the continent became gruesomely colonised. The Igbo shared greatly in this brutal history.)

Prior to colonialism, however, there existed also some cultural practices among the Igbo which disregarded the respect for the dignity of some groups of human beings (for instance, the killing of children of multiple births, human sacrifice, slavery, and some dehumanising treatments meted out to women). Some of these practices (killing of twins and human sacrifice, for instance) were based on religious perceptions and cosmological intuitions. The basic aim of the Igbo, however, was to maintain cosmological order. Nevertheless, the dignity of these human beings was utilitarianly sacrificed in the process.

The perception of the Igbo elites in adopting the motto ‘to restore the dignity of man’ was, thus, equally intended to redress such cultural orientations that abused the dignity of any human being. This new ideology takes, therefore, the form of a movement towards an enlightened and scholarly interpretation of Igbo cultures and customs in such a way that they will serve as a means of defining and insuring respect and protection for every human being as creatures of Chukwu (Supreme God) who are naturally endowed with ugwu (dignity).

The idea of dignity among the Igbo revolves around the concept of mmadụ (human being). Their world is anthropocentrically construed. They believe that mmadụ stands at the centre of existence; that although all beings receive their being from Chukwu, they (even the deities) tend towards mmadụ. All beings are conceived, more or less, as existing for the sake of mmadụ. Every activity in the cosmos, according to the Igbo world view, is directed—directly or indirectly—towards the welfare and preservation of mmadụ. This form of perception of existence is the first indication of the moral value the Igbo repose in mmadụ. They believe that mmadụ has an unquantifiable value and is, as such, of high dignity and deserves special respect. However, the concept of this moral value has not always possessed the same meaning in the different historical epochs of the Igbo people. It has continued to evolve. The concept received a major shift in meaning with the advent of Christianity in the nineteenth century. Thus, the idea of ugwu mmadụ (human dignity) in the pre-Christian Igboland differs from the concept of ugwu mmadụ in the Christian era.

Though the non-literary pre-Christian Igbo world had the view that existence was anthropocentric and that mmadụ was inviolable, it was more interested in the moral status of the generic mmadụ and its preservation as a generic entity. It concentrated more on the defence of the common good and the preservation of the community of mmadụ. It believed that this could be essentially achieved by maintaining cosmic equilibrium, which constitutes Igbo ethics––moral good acts help to maintain cosmic order, and moral bad actions achieve the contrary. The effort to restore this order in the face of moral offences resulted in a quasi utilitarian morality which permitted any solution that would benefit the common good, even if it compromised the sanctity of any individual mmadụ.

In this way, the fundamental dignity of the individual mmadụ was not guaranteed. It could be compromised to ‘save’ the entire community from perceived threat of extinction or calamity (as the gods would, through their priests, reveal––so it was believed). Hence, the idea of ugwu mmadụ in the pre-Christian era did not recognise the dignity of the individual mmadụ as an inalienable and inviolable character. Its concept of dignity could be said to be generic more than appreciating the autonomy and inviolability of the individual mmadụ. Hence, such practices as human sacrifice, killing of children of multiple births, slavery, and some forms of inferiorisation of the female gender were permitted.

However, following the Christianisation of Igboland, a new idea of mmadụ began to evolve. This, naturally, was as a result of the influence of the Christian culture—which, through Western education and modern enlightenment, corrected misconstrued religious beliefs and cosmological misconceptions against which mmadụ was abused and helped to end most of the obnoxious practices against mmadụ. Christianity showed a new understanding, which led the Igbo to see in the same old world view new ways of looking at existence. It offered them the opportunity to arrive at an enlightened and profounder understanding of the concept of mmadụ, both as a collective entity and as individuals. It would be a false impression, however, to think that the Christian influence means a destruction or displacement of the Igbo culture by Western Christian culture. It is rather a reinterpretation of the Igbo concept of mmadụ and ugwu mmadụ in the face of a more developed knowledge within the same cultural framework.

Having been equipped with the tool of literacy and Christian enlightenment, Igbo scholars began to use the same fundament that generated the world view of their ancestors and through which their present cultures were transmitted from many centuries past, to reconstruct a new concept of mmadụ. Many among these Igbo scholars argue that their ancestors’ concept of mmadụ as a special creature of Chukwu, who is naturally endowed with ugwu, is axiomatic. They accept, however, that it is obvious that these ancestors did not come to the level of the concept of ugwu mmadụ that is universal and inalienable.

These scholars believe, nevertheless, that this idea could be reconstructed from the basic principles of the cultures and traditions they maintained. Consequently, following the explication of the old philosophies with enlightened modern interpretations, they started to conceive ugwu mmadụ no more just as a status that is left at the control of the gods and primitive cosmological intuitions in which the dignity of an individual could be compromised to preserve cosmic order and, consequently, the common good. They rather defend it as a natural and inalienable endowment of every individual mmadụ.

This book is, accordingly, a participation in this scholarly discourse on the concept of ugwu mmadụ among the Igbo. It, however, deparochialises the discussion and constitutes it into an intercultural dialogue between the Igbo concept of ugwu mmadụ and the Western concept of dignity. This approach will, hopefully, contribute immensely to reinforcing the modern idea of ugwu mmadụ among the Igbo, which guarantees the protection of the dignity of all who bear the human nature. In order to achieve this purpose, therefore, the work seeks a concept in Western scholarship that can complement and reinforce the idea of dignity which modern Igbo philosophy pursues. It found this concept in Thomas Aquinas’s model of imago Dei.

Thomas is chosen to be a dialogue partner for two reasons. Firstly, the anthropology and natural philosophy of Thomas have much in common with Igbo world view. Although the basic principles of his views are already developed in the thoughts of Aristotle that one could speak of the similarities between the Igbo world view and Aristotle, Thomas applied these principles, however, with ingenious dexterity to explain the theological anthropology of imago Dei (a concept that mirrors the concept of mmadụ in Igbo culture) as the ontological bearer of human dignity. Secondly, though the concept of imago Dei generally captures the Igbo idea of mmadụ, its development by Thomas makes the relationship between mmadụ and the biblical imago Dei very obvious, while providing stronger ontological principles for the dignity of imago Dei. He handles imago Dei not simply as a theologico-anthropological concept but also shows how the imago Dei character is ontologically founded and, above all, ethically oriented. No theologian or philosopher, in my perception, has been able to harmonise the diverse facets of imago Dei into a systematic moral theology as Thomas has done. Thus, imago Dei in Thomas gains his dignity not just from his anthropologico-metaphysical structure but, more essentially, from his status as a dominus sui—the principle of his own actions, a moral agent who determines his end through the acts of practical reason.

A complementarity of the concept of Igbo mmadụ and Thomas’s concept of imago Dei is intended here, therefore, to fortify the idea of the ontological foundation of human dignity and its legitimate bearers. This provides stronger ontological principles towards a practical defence of those members of the human family whose dignity is yet to gain a complete acceptance, especially among the Igbo.

The work is arranged in three parts of eight chapters altogether. The first part—which is dedicated entirely to the concept of ugwu mmadụ in Igbo culture and composed of four chapters—concentrates wholly on the Igbo theologico-philosophical categories and avoids making cross-references to other cultures. The purpose here is bifocal: identifying the principles that designate the moral status of mmadụ and their practical application in Igbo existential field. To achieve this purpose, this first part is further divided into two. In the first part, which is composed of three chapters, the concept of mmadụ in the pre-Christian era is investigated. The investigation employed the method of a historical inquiry into the concept of mmadụ in order to ascertain the historical developments of this concept and its consequent ugwu till the dawn of Christian enlightenment in Igboland. The historicity of this concept is naturally connected with the complex development of Igbo cultures through which the concept of mmadụ assumes a practical dimension. This historical inquiry will concentrate more on the concepts of osu caste system (temple slaves) and the ohu (chattel slaves) and the cultural practices surrounding them. It will also give a special attention to the status of women in Igboland. These are the major areas where the dignity of mmadụ remains strongly challenged in Igbo modern society.

The second part of only one chapter explains the philosophical categories which the modern Igbo scholars have employed in defining ugwu mmadụ as an ontological and inalienable concept of every mmadụ. This part employs the method of linguistic and semantic analyses of the concept, mmadụ, and other Igbo ontological concepts which further express the profundity of mmadụ. This approach gives the Igbo metaphysics of mmadụ the opportunity to reveal ugwu mmadụ as a natural given.

The second part of the entire work, which contains three chapters, investigates the concept, foundation, and subject of human dignity in Thomas Aquinas. To achieve this end, the idea of imago Dei in the teachings of Thomas, on which his concept of human dignity is built, is investigated. Like the concept of mmadụ, imago Dei equally has a history. Its historical development in the teachings of Thomas runs through most of his works. This makes it, therefore, imperative to investigate his most important works on his teachings on imago Dei. Thus, the investigation begins chronologically with Summa Sententiarum (Super Sententiis) and continues in Quaestiones Disputatae de Veritate and Commentaries on Biblical Epistles and dovetails in his final major work, the Summa Theologiae. Through this historical scrutiny, the principles that determine the claim of imago Dei as the ontological foundation of human dignity in Thomas Aquinas is ascertained.

The origin of the concept of imago Dei as a Christian concept is the Bible. It appeared first in the creation account in the book of Genesis. St. Paul later used it often in his New Testament Christological, sotoriological, and eschatological theologies. Many Church Fathers and patristic theologians, especially St. Augustine and Peter Lombard, engaged in rich discussions on this concept. Thomas’s Baccalarius Sententiarum (a work written to complete his foundational studies in theology) was a commentary on Lombard’s Sentences (Lombard’s commentary on the teachings of the Church Fathers) in which the teaching of Augustine in the De Trinitate was prominent. Imago Trinitatis appeared as a major theme in these works. These formed the leading background of Thomas’s teachings on the same concept.

However, the concept of imago Dei did not originate primarily with the priestly hagiography of the Genesis creation account. Biblical exegetes trace the primary origin to ancient Egyptian religious and kingly cults and oriental ancient kingly cults and cultures. And this biblical exegesis is provided by modern Old Testament biblical scholarship. It is against this background that this research investigates, first, the modern biblical exegesis of the concept of imago Dei before appraising the discussions on the same theme which preceded Thomas. This prelude will make it easier to appreciate the teachings of Thomas on imago Dei and their relevance in modern discussions on human dignity.

In the third and final part of this book, the Igbo concept of mmadụ is brought into dialogue with Thomas’s notion of imago Dei. This encounter reveals the similarities and differences between these two different cultural concepts of the bearers of human dignity and results in their mutual complementarity and reinforcement of their respective claims as the bearers of inalienable human dignity. Against this backdrop, some of the cultural practices among the Igbo—which still compromise the dignity of some categories of mmadụ—are critiqued. The critique singles out current problems connected with the slavery of past centuries among the Igbo, on the one hand, and the issue of women inferiorisation, on the other.

THE IGBO PEOPLE

A research, which requires a reconstruction of Igbo history or understanding the antiquities of the Igbo, is admittedly difficult due to minimal historical sources. The Igbo have a poor documentation of their history, and studies in Igbo history and ethnography are barely over a century. There were earlier projects carried out by foreign researchers who, judging as only external observers, made some poor appraisal and, sometimes, outright misrepresentation of the Igbo people. Nonetheless, a good deal of authentic information could be sieved from their works. The indigenous scholarly historians eventually tried to reconstruct the history of the Igbo people using recent archaeological findings, historical linguistics, and oral traditions. However, an unscathed account of the origin and evolution of the language, conceptual thought, and culture of this people may have been lost to the dusts of antiquity. The renowned Igbo professor of history Adiele Afigbo comments:

The writing of Igbo history is still at a very rudimentary stage. Not only are we still to work out the main stages in the evolution of Igbo culture and society, but what is more the raw materials––archaeological, ethnographic, linguistic, etc.––from which the historian can distil Igbo history are yet to be adequately uncovered, collected, collated and interpreted.⁴

We shall, nevertheless, attempt a short exposition of the history of the Igbo people as a way of situating the present study. However, as this research is not essentially a historical enterprise, it will be an overstatement to claim to provide an adequate historical survey of the Igbo people here.

Igbo is a tribe that is located in the south-eastern part of Nigeria. Europeans and people less informed of Igbo phonetics know and spell it wrongly as ‘Ibo’, ‘Ebo’, or ‘Heebo’. It is one of the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria––the other two being the Hausa-Fulani and the Yoruba.⁵ It is believed that the tribe has presently a population of about 30 million people⁶ and inhabit a land of about 15,800 to 16,000 square miles.⁷ (These are, however, only summations. There is no dependable data on this information). The name ‘Igbo’ can be used in three different senses: as a language, as a tribe, and as a people.

There is no common consensus on the origin of the Igbo. There are, rather, many varying theories vying for authenticity of tradition for the historical origin of the Igbo. While some think that the Igbo people were strongly influenced by cultures outside of Africa, some contend that they are typical Africans with, perhaps, peculiar cultures. According to Augustine Okwu:

Astonished by the Igbo socio-political arrangements, the freedom and liberty of the individual in a high density environment and economic accomplishments without a history of a common putative ancestor and without a centralized government authority, most of the European writers theorized that the culture could not have originated from within the society but have stemmed from some advanced foreign civilizations.⁸

G. T. Basden, one of the popular old writers on the Igbo people, for instance, submits that the Igbo people, like their Yoruba neighbours, at some remote past either actually lived near or had very close association with the Semitic races. He argues that successive waves of invasion from North-East of Asia down through Egypt pressed these groups of people to the south-west, from which the Igbo came to settle where they are today. Basden supports his claim by pointing to some similarities that exist in culture and tradition between the Jews and the Igbo.⁹

Perhaps Basden was influenced by the ideas of Olaudah Equiano and James Africanus B. Horton, two Igbo ex-slaves who wrote about the Igbo people at least a century earlier before the Igbo literary tradition emerged. Equiano, also known as Gustavus Vassa, is alleged to be the first Igbo to write something about the Igbo people in 1789. Equiano had submitted that Igbo culture and religion indicated clear evidence of ‘Hebrewisms’. He thus traced the word ‘Heebo’ (his spelling for the word ‘Igbo’) to the word ‘Hebrew’ as the original root.¹⁰ Horton, without mincing words, stated as he wrote in 1868 that ‘Eboe’ (his own version of the name ‘Igbo’) is a ‘lost race of Israel that had occupied parts of Egypt during the days of Moses.’¹¹

Percy Amaury Talbot, however, believes that the origin of the Igbo could be traced to Egypt rather than to the Jews. He opines that the Egyptian migration of 1870 BC made some Egyptians settle in parts of the Yoruba and Igbo regions.¹²

These purported oriental origins of the Igbo became widespread among the Igbo following the popularisation of these publications. However, after some scholarly appraisal of these submissions, Afigbo describes the proof proffered by these authors as pseudo-evidence and informs that scholars attribute the local popular acclaim of this oriental origin of the Igbo to ‘a vain search for a noble cultural ancestry, an overreaction to cultural snobbery of the West’.¹³

In another version, Walter Rodney popularises the hypothesis that the street of the Nri family was the street of the gods through which all who died in other parts of Igboland passed to the land of the spirits. He therefore thinks that the Nri-Awka area was the cradle of the Igbo people and their culture in a period no later than the epoch of the food producing revolution.¹⁴ But this is nothing but an academic popularisation of a mythological account of Igbo origin. The Nri corpus of traditions has a mythological claim that the great Igbo God, Chukwu, sent the Igbo first parents to Nri, from where the rest of the Igbo people take their origin.

According to C. T. Shaw, archaeological excavations of Igbo copper and bronze works, pottery, beads, and textile materials pointed yet at Igbo-Ukwu (Awka area) as the original home of the Igbo.¹⁵ Nnabuife also cites the excavations at Ezi-Ukwu Ukpa Rock shelter, near Afikpo, which yielded stone tools and pottery shards dating between 2935 BC and AD 15 as pieces of evidence to help in determining the origin of the Igbo people. According to him, similar objects were recovered at the Isi-Ugwu Obukpa rock shelter and University of Nigeria agricultural farm site, both in Nsukka. He argues, however, that these discoveries only confirmed the thesis that Igboland has been inhabited and exploited for thousands of years.¹⁶ They do not furnish us with any evidence about the origin of the Igbo.

These theories have been, therefore, summarily disregarded by local and international scholars of history, archaeology, linguistics, and related disciplines who are interested in Igbo studies. They argue, rather, that the Igbo were a Negro people and a highly specialised race of the human family. They believe that the origin of the Igbo could not be traced outside the context of the origin of the Negro peoples of West Africa, among whom they were found.¹⁷ This summation is based on some further archaeological evidence found in the central Igbo area. Stone Age artefacts similar to the Acheulian culture––hand axe, cleavers, and stone knives dating between 60,000 and 50,000 years––were discovered at Ugwuele prehistoric site at Uturu near Okigwe.¹⁸ Other calculations from this discovery show that identifiable and uniquely Igbo personality and culture began to emerge about 5,000 years ago in the region below the Niger-Benue confluence.¹⁹

The local and international scholars mentioned above—working on this evidence that Igboland had been inhabited for at least 50,000 years—applied historical linguistics to further determine the origin of the Igbo people. They trace the Igbo language to the language family belonging to the ancient people of the Niger-Congo. The scholars believe that a sublanguage family known as the Kwa developed from this Niger-Congo stock. It is adjudged that most of the languages of southern Nigeria originated from this Kwa matrix, including Igbo. The original speakers of the Kwa language are believed to have inhabited the Niger-Benue confluence area, from where they dispersed to other parts of West Africa.

This account states quite firmly, therefore, that the Igbo originated from or were one of the descendants of the original Kwa-speaking ancestry whose descendants occupy what is today known as Southern Nigeria. The Igbo are thought to have come to their present location not as Igbo speakers but as proto-Kwa speakers, who in time developed into Igbo speakers.²⁰ Presently, scholars accept this theory as more plausible than the former ones. It has also been worked out through scientific methods of historical linguistics that the separation of the Igbo language from its parent language started about 3000 BC to 2000 BC, and that it was around this period that the Igbo culture began to gain autonomy.²¹

The Igbo people have been classified into five zones, based on the different factors that distinguish the various subcultural groups among the Igbo. The study of D. Forde and G. I. Jones,²² which pioneered this classification in 1950, groups the Igbo into the following five zones:

(a) The northern Igbo/Onitsha Igbo comprising of Nri-Awka, Elugu/Enugu, and Onitsha town.

(b) The southern Igbo consisting of the Isuama/Orlu, Oratta-Ikwere, Ohuhu-Ngwa, and Isu Item.

(c) The eastern/Cross River Igbo include the Ada (Edda), Abam, Ohaffia, and Aro.

(d) The north-eastern Igbo composed of Afikpo-Abakaliki axis: Afikpo town, Amasiri, Okpoha, Akaeze, and Nkporo—as well as Ezza, Ikwo, and Izzi that make up Abakaliki area.

(e) The western Igbo divided into the Northern Ika, Southern Ika (Kwale), and the Riverine (Oru).

In his book Political Organization in Nigeria since the Late Stone Age, Oriji adopts this schema.²³ However, C. C. Ifemesia²⁴—in his 1978 studies—groups the Igbo also into five cultural zones but with some variations from what was done earlier by D. Forde and G. I. Jones:

(a) The northern Igbo comprises of towns located around Onitsha, Awka, Udi, Awgu districts and also parts of the Nsukka and Okigwe areas.

(b) The north-eastern Igbo subculture embraces Abakaliki and Afikpo.

(c) The eastern Igbo is composed of parts of Afikpo, Bende, and the whole of Arochukwu.

(d) The southern Igbo includes Owerri, Aba, parts of Okigwe, Bende, and Ahoada areas.

(e) The central Igbo—or the heart of Igboland—is located around the present Awka, Orlu, and parts of Owerri with the southern part of Okigwe.²⁵

This later classification is preferable because it is a study done by an indigenous scholar who better understands the cultures of the different zones and could notice better how they are related to one another. The classification also reflects the actual cultural similarities between these zones than the above stated. The Orlu, parts of Awka and parts of Owerri axis are believed to be the centre of Igboland. Afigbo, however, excludes Owerri from this original axis and gives preference to Nri.²⁶ He follows the discovery made by A. G. Leonard and the pattern of Igbo dispersal produced by G. I. Jones.²⁷ However, tradition accepts that the first immigration (perhaps from the Niger-Congo confluence) settled in Orlu-Owerri axis. Onwuejeogwu, therefore, contends:

The present Owerri-Orlu area may be regarded as one of the primary cores of Igbo cultural area. Linguistically heavy nasalization and aspiration occur in Igbo dialects of this area. There is linguistic evidence to indicate that early Igbo population dispersed from this core to other secondary cores, for as one moves out of this area in any direction both nasalization and aspiration occurring together seem to be archaic traits of Igbo language.²⁸

Amaigbo, a town in Orlu area, for instance, means ‘the gate of the Igbo’. According to Afigbo, ‘[for] the Ohuhu, Ngwa, Mbaise, or even the Cross River Igbo, the place which Nri occupies in the ideological and historical framework of the Northern and Western Igbo is occupied by Amaigbo in Orlu. The name ‘Amaigbo’ means the street or meeting point of the Igbo. In the oral history of the groups mentioned, it was from Amaigbo that their founding ancestors dispersed.’²⁹ It is this zone that is also believed to have preserved much of the Igbo original cultural traits because of its strategic central position, which cushioned it from intercultural corruption.

In spite of the dialectical and cultural variations among the five zones of the tribe, there still remains a strong commonality that identifies them as one people. The language of the Igbo people, for instance, is ‘basically Igbo but with variations in dialects that stretch from mutual intelligibility to partial or almost no intelligibility.’³⁰ Commenting on these linguistic differences, Oriji agrees with V. C. Uchendu, who notes that the Igbo language was characterised by different dialects that were mutually unintelligible between the polar communities due to the linguistic influence of their non-Igbo neighbours and ‘greater marginal alienation.’³¹

The culture of the Igbo share a lot of similarities. They share common core cultural traits that point to their one common origin. However, influences from neighbouring tribes have corrupted the typical Igbo culture of those living at the borders. There are also indications that some of the Igbo living at the borders are the Igbo people who migrated but returned after a long sojourn among other tribal groups. The group known as Umuezechima (the children of Eze Chima), for instance, have been identified as part of this group of Igbo that returned from other tribes where they migrated, and then founded some major Igbo border towns like Onitsha, Ogbaru, Atari, Ogidi, etc.³² The typical Igbo culture was, therefore, adversely affected by such external cultural influences.

However, the main factors that essentially dislodged the Igbo culture are colonialism and the unfortunate amalgamation of the numerous tribes with varying languages, cultures, religions, politics, and social structures into one state called Nigeria.³³ The advent of Christianity, modern urbanisation, and the quest for the Western style of life are also pushing the Igbo further away from their cultural heritage. Nevertheless, an appreciable bulk of the culture is still preserved with pride in some Igbo hinterlands. Despite the cultural diffusions, ‘certain traditional practices are [still] quite resilient’.³⁴ The extent the culture survived foreign infiltration will become clearer as the discussions over the concept of mmadụ and ugwu mmadụ unfold.

PART 1

The Concept of Mmadụ and His Moral Status among the Igbo

INTRODUCTION

The Igbo world is generally anthropologically construed in such a manner that existence is believed to revolve around mmadụ. All beings are conceived as more or less existing for the sake of mmadụ. Every activity in Igbo world view is directed towards the preservation of mmadụ, indicating the moral value reposed in mmadụ. There are cultural stipulations that serve to protect ugwu mmadụ. These stipulations can be distilled from the sociopolitical and religio-ethical lives of the Igbo people. The concept of and respect for mmadụ, however, have not always been the same through the different epochs of Igbo history. There was a major shift in the concept of ugwu mmadụ (human dignity) with the advent of Christianity in the late nineteenth century. Thus, the pre-Christian idea of ugwu mmadụ in Igboland differs from the same concept after Christianisation. We, therefore, speak of two major periods in the evolution of the concepts of mmadụ and ugwu mmadụ among the Igbo––the pre-Christian and the Christian eras.

Though the non-literary pre-Christian Igbo world had the view that existence was anthropologically centred and that mmadụ was inviolable, it was more interested in the protection of mmadụ as a species rather than as individuals as such. Its effort was more invested in the defence of the common good and the preservation of the community of mmadụ at large. This resulted in a kind of utilitarian morality which permitted any act that could benefit the common good, even if it contradicted the integrity of an individual mmadụ or groups of mmadụ. The morality was tyrannical to the minority and the defenceless. In this way, the sanctity of the individual mmadụ was not guaranteed. It could be compromised, if it was believed as necessary, to save the entire community from any perceived threat of extinction or calamity informed by superstitions arising from primitive religion and cosmology. Thus, the pre-Christian idea of ugwu mmadụ in Igboland did not recognise the dignity of the individual mmadụ as something that was inviolable and inalienable. This was, however, more prevalent when the compromising of an individual mmadụ was meant to restore the natural order or harmony—which, if neglected (as the primitive Igbo believed), would destroy the entire community. Such practices as human sacrifice, killing of children of multiple births, children of major deformities, and children who cut the upper teeth first were examples of such compromises of ugwu mmadụ. There are, however, some other abuses of ugwu mmadụ which did not (and still do not) arise from this background—for instance, slavery and inferiorisation and instrumentalisation of the female gender.

As a result of the Christianisation of the land, however, a new idea of mmadụ began to evolve and, consequently, a new idea of ugwu mmadụ. This was, no doubt, a strong influence from a Christian culture, which helped to end most of the obnoxious practices against mmadụ and correct some of the wrong and misconstrued religious beliefs and cosmological conceptions of the Igbo people. There is the danger here, however, to think that this influence was a transposition of Igbo culture by Christian culture. It was, on the contrary, a reinterpretation of the Igbo people’s world view at the dawn of modern enlightenment brought by Christianisation—a change in thought and understanding, which resulted to a change in attitude that was not difficult to arrive at because of the close relationship between the Igbo world view and Christian theology (as shall be made clearer in the succeeding chapters). Christianity showed a new light, which led the Igbo to see—in the same old culture—new ways of looking at mmadụ, both as a collective entity and as an individual. It was a reorientation enabled by the Christian culture and not a supplanting of the old culture by new Christian ideologies.

Thus, having been equipped with the tool of literacy and Christian enlightenment, Igbo scholars began using the same fundamental principles that yielded the world view of their ancestors and the cultures transmitted from many past centuries, to reconstruct a new concept of mmadụ. They believe that their ancestors’ concept of mmadụ—as a special creature of Chukwu, which is naturally endowed with ugwu—is axiomatic. However, it became clear that the ancestors did not come to the level of the concept of ugwu mmadụ that was ontological and, therefore, inalienable. It is, however, believed that this idea of inalienability could be sieved and reconstructed from the principles that defined the general world view and the cultures they maintained. Accordingly, Igbo scholars of the Christian era, through the explications of the old philosophies, in the new light of understanding gained from Western education and Christian enlightenment, understand ugwu mmadụ no more just as a generic status such that an individual mmadụ or groups of mmadụ could be compromised to preserve the corporate existence of a community. The new interpretation of Igbo world view acknowledges, in the present dispensation, that maintaining cosmic harmony really consists in the respect of ugwu mmadụ, which is now considered as a natural right due to every individual mmadụ—male or female, young or old.

It has been pursued since the Christian enlightenment, nudged by the Igbo enlightenment policy, ‘to restore the dignity of man’, that every individual mmadụ be respected as a creature that has been marked with the divine companion of Chi/Eke and founded on the ontological principle of onwe, which is the seat of individuality, freedom, and autonomy. With this change in ideas and orientation, most of the hitherto legitimised utilitarian practices that did not acknowledge the dignity of the individual have been generally abrogated. Nevertheless, the fight to ‘restore the dignity of man,’ to bring this new idea of dignity to all spheres of Igbo culture, is yet to be a complete conquest. One can still observe the tension between the old system and the reformed views in the treatment being meted out to the so-called osu and ohu (the progeny of cult slaves and chattel slaves of past centuries), and in the status accorded the female gender.

This first part attempts a comprehensive presentation of the concept of mmadụ and his consequent ugwu among the Igbo before and during the Christian era. It is divided into two subparts composed of three and one chapters respectively. The first chapter extensively investigates the concept of mmadụ, his place in Igbo cosmology, and the cultural practices that enhanced and abused mmadụ in the pre-Christian Igboland and such practices that are still active in the contemporary Igbo society. The second part examines the approach of Igbo scholars, following Christian enlightenment, in redefining the concept of mmadụ as a being whose ugwu is ontologically endowed by Chukwu, making ugwu mmadụ a universal and inalienable character of every individual mmadụ.

PART 1A

The Concept of Mmadụ in the

Igbo Pre-Christian History

CHAPTER ONE

The Concept of Mmadụ in

Igbo World View

Introduction

The way a people understand existence conditions what they believe, controls their existential concepts and linguistic pattern, and determines their values. It is against this backcloth that F. U. Okafor defines a people’s world view as ‘the concepts of the basic notions underlying their cultural, religious, and social activities.’³⁵ This means that understanding a people’s world view is a key to understanding and appreciating the epistemic content of the people’s culture. Thus, E. Onuoha describes it as ‘a set of values, concepts, attitudes, and images which guide man’s perception and interpretation of facts and events’.³⁶ To appreciate the concept of mmadụ, therefore, it is important to understand the Igbo world view. This will reveal the anthropocentric mien of Igbo cosmology. It is within this world view that the unique status of mmadụ among the Igbo begins to unfold. This first chapter provides the basis for understanding the Igbo concept of mmadụ.

1.1  Mmadụ in Igbo Cosmology

The Igbo concept of the cosmos—that is, the totality of all that is—is articulated in the word ụwa. It is sometimes difficult to define or explain the concept of ụwa, and this could sometimes lead to a misrepresentation of what this concept really means, as is the case in E. E. Edeh’s definition:

Ụwa (world) is the Igbo term for the visible world. The term used for the invisible world is Ani Mụọ (land of the unseen). If we are looking for an Igbo term that is equivalent to the English idea of the universe, that is, the totality of what is, we have to combine the two terms ụwa and anị mụọ. This would give us something like Ụwa N’ani mụọ. The modern Igbo ways of characterizing the ‘universe’ are ụwaa n’ụwa ọzọ (this world and another world) and enu igwe n’ụwa (the top of the sky and the earth).³⁷

This description will sound awkward to a traditional Igbo. An expression like ụwa N’anị mụọ does not linguistically cohere and is equally misleading. It distorts the Igbo linguistic content and ideological conceptions. Anị mụọ is not a separate entity from ụwa but, rather, a component.

Uzodimma Nwala used ụwa to identify the visible world.³⁸ This appears equally misleading because the Igbo concept of the cosmos is larger than the English ‘cosmos’ or ‘world’ or even ‘universe’, which has a materialistic undertone. However, Nwala’s division of ụwa into Ala-mmụọ and Ala-mmadụ³⁹––the world of the spirits and the world of humans––is an indication that he is not unaware of the fact that the concept of ụwa is larger than just the physical world. Edeh’s use of the expression ụwaa na ụwa ọzọ also points to his acknowledgement of an immaterial world apart from the physical one. He used ụwaa to refer to this empirical world and ụwa ọzọ to speak of the supernatural world. So the concept of ụwa accommodates the empirical and the supernatural planes of existence. Ụwa has a richer conceptual content than its English transliterations ‘world’, ‘universe’, or ‘cosmos’. The concept of ụwa articulates a meaning much more sublime