JAK: Igbo Renaissance

Ichie Jakumakalu Njoku

writes from USA

Igbo Renaissance: A Culture-Centered Approach

By Jakumkalu Njoku

Introduction

In the ongoing quest for Igbo renaissance, there is wisdom in looking at cultural transformations also from the point of view of Igbo life as a process of creative ethnicity, where people selectively appropriate things they want to add to their way of life. Creative ethnicity model is useful in that it allows us to see how transformations are enacted, complicated, and negotiated. It is instructive to look at Essays on Africa’s Later Past, a book edited by Graham Connah,[1] for a reminder of the dynamic character and complexity of cultural transformation in Africa, about which many scholars[2] have written. Contributors to Essays on Africa’s Later Past, instead of seeing ethnicity only from the imposed one-sided hegemonic perspective of “a continent woken from a timeless sleep by the intrusion of European colonialism,”[i] provide useful insights into many dimensions of cultural transformation in the face of continuing traditions. Linda Heywood’s[3] discussion is important for understanding how African peoples reshaped their cultural institutions in Central Africa, where they interacted with the Portuguese under repressive conditions until 1800. John Oriji’s[4] historical analysis of transformations in the Ngwa clan is a useful model of neo-Igbo traditionalism as a desirable approach to shaping and reshaping the direction of social and cultural change among the Igbo in the twenty-first century. I stand on the shoulders of these scholars to present a culture-centered model that encourages a return to Amamihe Igbo (Igbo traditional knowledge) for the cardinal doctrines that inform and guide Igbo life.

The fundamental doctrines, beliefs, and values of Ndiigbo are in Igbo traditional knowledge. They contain the basis of accumulated conventions in Igboland, the frame of reference for every social action and interaction among the Igbo who are properly brought up in Igbo tradition. In fact, they are the basis of upbringing and character formation among the Igbo. By transmitting them, the Igbo ensure the continuity of their community tradition of service. Hence, the Igbo are known for their service all over the world. The framing idea of Igbo life is service. To be alive and not be of service is worse than being dead. That is the purpose of life. Service is an integral part of Igbo personhood. Being of service to creation, humanity, community, or hearth is the cosmic vocation of the Igbo as a people. It is the crown jewel of Igbo life. At home or abroad, service to one’s community is a moral mandate.

Ironically, when Igbo children go to public and mission schools that discourage traditional knowledge, they begin to pay less attention to these doctrines, thereby suppressing the tradition. The more formal education the Igbo get, the more they tend to ignore Igbo system of knowing, belief systems, and customary practices. Yet, when they grow up, regardless of the heights any Igbo attains in education and no matter where formal education and related profession take them, the Igbo are still socially and culturally expected to be Igbo.

This is the cultural challenge that most Igbo adults face in major cities and in countries around the world. The challenge is perhaps more so in the case of the United States, where ethnicity is rapidly becoming a factor of life. Most Igbo students came from somewhere else, and where you come from determines your ethnicity.

Igbo students are finding ways to regenerate Igbo community traditions in America. Igbo students are making individual and group efforts to revitalize Igbo cultural ideals. For example, they organize weekend language institutes, and some adults are taking their children to cultural camps. Unfortunately, many Igbo parents cannot afford expensive camps. Furthermore, because they are among those who were educated away from their tradition, they could not give to their children what they do not have. Compounding the problem is the fact that their children go to public and private schools in cities and towns where the forces of acculturation and eager acceptance of mainstream American ways make it difficult for them to be ethnically Igbo.

That was the challenge that led to a subsidized week-long cultural immersion program for Igbo families at the Igbo Farm Village in Staunton, Virginia. Specifically, they used Igbo affirmations (Igbo Kwenu!), Ọfọ na Ogu (Justice and Equity) folksongs, and moonlit night games to teach the principles of Igbo moral life. In the process, they developed mechanisms for applying acquired Igbo traditional knowledge to their daily lives and for character formation.

Under the direction of Ticha Akuma, folklorist and tradition bearer, participants used Ogu folksongs, Igbo affirmations (Igbo Kwenu), and moonlit night games to teach the principles of Igbo moral life. Participating parents drew from their residual knowledge to add complementing ideas and activities as teaching and learning tools. Children had the opportunity to develop mechanisms for applying acquired Igbo traditional knowledge to their daily lives. Some children were able to appropriate selectively what they learned from the immersion classes to make up their own stories and prepare class presentations.

One of the Igbo folktales used during the cultural immersion class in Staunton, Virginia to demonstrate the centrality of Amamihe in Igbo thought and life is the one that, after the “Once up a time” formulaic opening, goes on to say as follows:

The Leopard invites Little Ram for a sleepover. “Fine, I will be there,” Little Ram accepts. Now, everyone in the Animal World knows that Leopard is carnivorous and that his most favorite prey is the goat. Therefore, on his way to Leopard’s house, Little Ram branches off to find out what Mother Goat knows and thinks that Little Ram ought to know. You see, Little Ram goes to the one who knows, believing that a forewarned son does not do MIA or die in war (Agha á gbara àmà ya anaghị eri nwa ọkpara), singing as he goes: “Because the leopard preys on the goat, the goat knows the leopard.” (Ebe agụ na-eri ewu, ewu amarala agụ. Agụ na-eri ewu, ewu amarala agụ!)

It is a brief visit. Mother Goat steps out of the door to see Little Ram off singing: “Ignoring what you know that you ought to do and doing something else is foolishness.” (Ị mara ihe ị ga-eme, ma ị meghi ya, gaa mewe ihe ọzọ, ọ bụrụ iberiibe.)

It is not clear what Mother Goat told Little Ram, but her song suggests, by cultural reasoning, the idea that proper preparation can prevent a poor performance. Mother Goat’s song is reminding Little Ram that knowledge manifests itself in proper behavior. The kind of cultural due diligence sought by Little Ram is not uncommon in Igbo folklife. People consult augurs, diviners, and oracles before planting, going to war, and for almost every reason relating to life from the cradle to the coffin and even about hereafter.

It is therefore not out of place for Little Ram to seek to know from the one who knows. It is downright stupid to ignore that which one knows that one ought to do to be safe. When one who is informed and thus expected to be knowledgeable acts in a way that demonstrates a lack of information and understanding, people regard that person as thoughtless. We learn therefore from Mother Goat’s song that proper action or reaction is expected of a knowledgeable person.

Evidently armed with due cultural diligence, Little Ram proceeds to Leopard’s house. At an earshot distance, Little Ram calls out a greeting. This section becomes a canto with antiphon as the audience joins the singing while the principal narrator acts as the cantor. There is no doubt that the sung dialogue is between Little Ram and Leopard. Entertaining though this section is, it demonstrates that tact and proper action are crucial dimensions of assumed thought that, if anyone would know about his secret scheme, it would not be the little ram (Ebune), the son of a sheep (Atụrụ). The sheep is the symbol of someone who is doltish. In Igboland, if some tells you that you are atụrụ, it means that you are destitute of knowledge. A popular Igbo adage has it that “A sheep that begets a ram is childless (Atụrụ mụrụ ebune gba aka nwa).” Leopard seemed to have taken it for granted that Little Ram would act in accordance with the stereotype or his wish. Leopard, apparently astonished by the unexpected response, wonders aloud: “Who told you, son?”

However, if someone is trying to disconcert you and you do not want to fall into the person’s trap, you can say sotto voce, Ị hụla nwaatụrụ gị! (You found your lamb!) We can see this kind of subtext hidden in Little Ram’s response to Leopard’s welcome offer of kolanut, in which he identified himself as the crafty little ram (Nwaebuneakọ). Leopard did not pay attention to the underlying implicit meaning of “Nwaebuneakọ is greeting you.” Had Leopard been discerning, he would have been able to differentiate this little ram from the average easy-to-dupe lamb (nwaatụrụ). Even after Little Ram had identified himself as Nwaebuneakọ, the adroit little ram, and apparently blinded by an inordinate desire to consume, Leopard did not recognize the implicit meaning of “Nwaebuneakọ is greeting you.” This underlying cunning characterization of Little Ram runs through the following sung dialogue between him and Leopard.

Little Ram (Ebune)

Nna Agụ Nnọọ ekelee m gị-o Greetings to Father Leopard