Nigerian Gods

Erubu Otobo

Description

Nigerian Gods is an enlightening and sobering review of the impact of the introduction of the three main Abrahamic religions on Nigeria's traditional religions, culture and way of life, viewed through the prism of its eleven largest and two of the smallest ethnic groups. Kome Otobo, gives here a factual and acute description and presentation of the main characteristics of the major ethnic groups in Nigeria - historical background and socio-political structures, demography, traditional religions, differing impacts of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and major occupations and modes of existence - which should serve to propel all to a fuller assessment of the complexities of the directions which a Post-Covid-19 World is tending rapidly, ethnically and racially exploited differences jumping to the fore to question erstwhile dominant political ideologies and political arrangements based on them.

Sujets

• African Studies
• Ethnic Studies
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Anthropology

Informations

• Publié par: Malthouse Press
• Date de parution: 05 mai 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9789786020464
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

NIGERIAN GODS

NIGERIAN GODS Kome Otobo LLB (King’s College London), LLM (Queen Mary, University of London)

© Kome Otobo 2022 First Published 2022 ISBN 978-978-59611-7-1

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This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade, or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in writing, in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

International Distributors: African Books Collective , Oxford, UK Email: [e-mail] Website: http://www.africanbookscollective.com

DEDICATION To my dearly beloved family, without whom this book would not have become a reality.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, my unreserved thanks go to the invaluable repository of information that is Journal Storage (JSTOR), without which this book would be less than half of its current length and severely lacking the detail necessary to do each of the ethnic groups full justice. I am similarly indebted to the kindness of various institutions across the world who ensure the online availability of postgraduate students’ theses. I would also like to extend my deep gratitude to the venerable educational institutions that are collectively responsible for my intellectual development: St. Saviour's School Ikoyi, Queens College Lagos, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Cheltenham, King's College London and Queen Mary University of London. Special recognition is due to my Cheltenham Ladies’ College A Level History and English teachers, Mrs Hilary Bradley and Mrs Celia de Piro, who were so complimentary about the lucidity and succinctness of my writing that their kind words have stayed with me throughout the years, and were instrumental in my decision to embark on this personal project. Words cannot express how thankful I am to the legion of regional and international researchers and historians who were sufficiently curious about Nigeria and the inner workings of its residents to take time out of their lives to set their findings to paper. The length and breadth of information available for public reading is a true testament to their dedication to education. My penultimate words are the exclusive preserve of my family, who stood by me through the highs and lows of bringing this book to life. They listened to my rants about intertribal tensions, to my excited updates as I completed each chapter, and even to my occasional complaints when a particularly fiendish sub-section took its toll on my health and my sanity. On a final note, my thanks are due to Malthouse Press Limited, for taking a chance on a brand-new author who had nothing more than a concrete book idea and the desire to share it with the world. Kome Otobo Lagos, April 2021

FOREWORD Nigerian Gods , metaphorically and factually, provides the context the of admixture and dynamics of crosscutting old and modern traditions that constitute reality for individuals, families, and clans and with which they navigate their way in political setups, such as Nigeria, with multiple ethnic and racial populations. First, so-called traditional belief systems and practices still form the basic foundation upon which older religious teachings propagated by Judaism, Christianity, and latterly, Islam, rest, rendering it immensely difficult to predict actual behaviour or conduct in differing contexts, a good instance being gut reaction to physical safety threatened by ailments and diseases, recourse to apparently ever-present but invisible ancestors, herbs/herbalists, exorcists from all religious and irreligious denominations, soothsayers, amulets and waistbands routinely reinforcing science-based unconscionably and brutally expensive services of physicians and pharmacists. Second, historically, such coexistence and proximity of ethnic and racial groups predate the current politico-administrative arrangements, and their internal dynamics were naturally also different. But, current Nigerian State and modern life have been generating new criteria for socio-political stratification, economic mobility and thus rank ordering of social status and in course of which both self-flagellating individuals and emergent pressure groups blatantly “weaponise” ethnic origin and religion - compulsively targeting attendant modes of dressing, appellations and formal education in particular - for political and economic benefits. Ostensible “ethnic balancing” in recruitment and placement by parastatals and in political appointments and award of contracts, projects and their locations and certain social policies are insidiously paraded as being in the “national interest” and “patriotic”. That is, presumptive or imagined ethnic groups’ interests are subsumed by self- obsessed new elites, substantially playing God on behalf of their ethnic and religious groups for mostly private gain, as it turns out, since their villages,

and towns wallowing in poverty, terrorised by freewheeling bandits and kidnappers avoided by law enforcement agents, and with most inhabitants remaining unaware of the existence of these self-branded frontline “warriors” and “protectors”. In competition for distribution of the “national” cake without much contribution to its baking, only one of the multi-billion dollars wastefully located, landscape-decorating iron and steel mills as a result ever functioned for a few years, and all refineries have gone moribund as one of the tenth largest producers of crude oil and gas in the world continues to import refined petroleum products. Third, all the above suggest that multi-ethnically and multi-racially constituted modern nation-states are likely to face increasing internal, partisan and discriminatory social, economic and political rivalries and practices, worse in those where economic and political power are constitutionally centralised and dominated by a few of them. Decentralisation, the natural order and practice before and during colonial nation-state and in Nigeria’s First Republic, and the Swiss example and, to lesser degree, the United States of America, offer less-conflictual options for more meaningful social existence. In this regard, it is easy to foresee the Northern Ireland crisis and why the Scots and Welsh would prefer looser ties with the English- dominated Parliament in London. Our author, Kome Otobo, has not spelt out all these my way and need not do so. Her factual and acute description and presentation of the main characteristics of the major ethnic groups in Nigeria – historical background and socio-political structures, demography, traditional religions, differing impacts of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and major occupations and modes of existence – more eloquently do this. Her command and use of the English language and the professionalism of detachment can only but be commended. It has been a delight reading Nigerian Gods . This is a compulsory read, and I suggest that it should serve to sensitize us into a fuller understanding and appreciation of the direction in which a post-Covid-19 world is tending rapidly, ethnically and racially exploited differences jumping to the fore to undermine erstwhile dominant political ideologies and political arrangements based on them. It has been my pleasure to write this Foreword. Dafe Otobo, BSc (Ibadan), MSc (London School of Economics), DPhil (Oxford) Professor 11 August, 2022

FIGURES, ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES Sokoto Caliphate [4] Sample Text from the Hausa Bible [16] Sample Text from the Yoruba Bible [26] First 16 Principle Odu or 16 Meyis [37] Sample Text from the Igbo Bible [46] The 12 Tribes of Israel [52] Sketch of Igbo Cosmology [57] Caliphate of Usman dan Fodio [68] Sample Text from the Fula Bible [71] African Animism [76] Sample Text from the Kanuri Bible [90] Sample Text from the Tiv Bible [104] A Collection of a Tiv Blacksmith’s Tools [116] Sample Text from the Efik Bible [126] Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Routes [140] An Example of an Ijaw Water Spirit Mask [150] Sample Text from the Edo Bible [161] An Example of Oguega Seed Pods Used in Divination [172] Sample Text from the Nupe Bible [183] Sample Text from the Urhobo Bible [200] An Example of an Epha Divination Apparatus [208] Sample Text from the Isoko Bible [218] Isoko eva diviners [226] Sample Text from the Itsekiri Bible [237] An Example of Masquerades from the Okere Juju Festival [245]