"CHI" IN IGBO THOUGHT AND CULTURE

Written by Rev. Fr. Francis Anekwe Oborji, Pontifical Urban University, Vatican City (Rome)
Email: anekwe.oborji@gmail.com

Monday, July 10, 2023

Our concern in this short write-up is to articulate, briefly, the true meaning and significance of the concept, "CHI" among the Igbo in the context of the concept of the "Person" in African thought and culture as articulated in Igbo, African scholarship in recent years.

The Problem:

The pre-theoretical concern about the concept of the person in philosophical and theological discourse challenges us to give a unique and coherent response to the following questions: What is the person? What does it mean for a person to be the same persistent entity through time (or in a moment of time)? How many distinct ontological entities constitute a person? What relationship, if there is, exists between the subjective experiences of an individual first-person and our perspective third-person? What is the influence of our culture and society on our system of thought and interpretation of reality and 'non-regular causation' of things in the universe? What kind of relationship exists between the thinker and his cultural and religious context? What is the influence of this cultural context on our philosophical and theological thoughts?

The African scholars, especially, philosophers and theologians, including the Igbo scholars, take seriously the challenge of giving an adequate response to these questions in the African, Igbo context and perspective. This is why in the African, Igbo context, unlike that of the West, plausible answers to an application, are usually informed by plausible answers to other questions.

Therefore, to appreciate the rich meaning and significance of Igbo concept of "Chi" in the context of the concept of person in African thought and culture, I would like to explore the way in which the Igbo, African theory of the universe and of the ontological reality has provided us with the integrated responses to the question under consideration. And how we must build these answers on it. My approach, partly descriptive and partly imaginative, should be familiar; I adopted it by the tradition of the first African scholars, from their reaction as well as their appreciation of the pioneering work of Placide Tempels, La Philosophie Bantoue, published in 1945.

The foundation of the problem that we are treating derives from the famous proposition of Aristotle, "man is a rational animal." This definition of man as a rational animal did not apply, then to the (African) man or woman. The expression of Descartes "cogito ergo sum" (I think, therefore, I exist), was inspired and built on Aristotelian tradition. Therefore, Descartes, like so many other authors of the philosophy of the Enlightenment, did not see the African people as having the ability to think on the ontological level. The authors such as Hegel, Kant, Heidegger, and so forth, never assigned the ability to think at the philosophical and metaphysical level to the African man (or woman) mind.

Therefore, the Igbo, African philosophy today is responding to this historical legacy of the so-called classical philosophy and of the Enlightenment-Era in their comparison with Africa. African authors, including Igbo scholars, have already made good progress in this regard. Thanks to them, today no one has any more doubts about the capacity of Africans to think at philosophical-metaphysical level. In many countries, African philosophy and African Christian theology are studied today at university level.

"Chi" and Igbo (African) Concept of Person

In the first place, the person is a fundamental entity of reality. Therefore, its concept or meaning does not only belong to a people, because other peoples have their concepts of the person. So, what does the African (Igbo) originality of person consist of? To borrow from the words of Charles Nyamiti (a Tanzania theologian), the African (Igbo) originality of a concept such as the "person", goes beyond the normal accentuation of the term to assume a cultural coloring. In Africa, and in Igbo society, in particular, the person as such, is a concrete reality defined in its ontological humanity, existentiality and community. Therefore, the African Igbo philosophy speaks of three constituents of the person.

The changing patterns of August meetings in Igbo land

By Emeka Mamah, Vincent Ujumadu, Chidi Nkwopara & Anayo Okoli
~Vanguard Nigeria. Wednesday, August 16, 2017.

August meeting in Minnesota, USA

WOMEN in Igbo states including Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo are holding their yearly August meetings in their various communities to contribute their quota towards developing of their home towns.

Although, this year's meetings are not glamorous as they used to be because of the economic recession, which has brought gloom to most families, the yearly meetings, which began over 20 years ago, have become a yearly ritual as Igbo women living at home and abroad return home as part of their efforts to complement the efforts of the men in providing essential amenities like roads, health centres, electricity and churches among others in their communities.

During such meetings, the women organise bazaars and levy themselves and whatever is generated is usually channelled towards providing amenities in rural areas.

Community involvement in rural development began at the end of the 30 months civil war between Nigeria and Biafra in 1970, when the late Sole Administrator of the Eastern Region, Dr. Ukpabi Asika,urged communities to develop their areas under the aegis of Otu Olu Igbo.

Since then, most Igbo communities have been building schools, health centres and hospitals as well as grading their local roads and handing same over to their various state governments.

However, the involvement of women in the development of their rural communities became popular when churches organised their various women organisations to contribute towards the building of their worship centres in particular and their communities in general as a way of complementing the efforts of the male folk.

Initially, the period of "august returns" was as used an avenue for displaying affluence by most women until the churches decried that only cheap uniforms belonging to Christian mothers are worn during such meetings. It has, however, shifted from an avenue of displaying affluence to a period of brainstorming on how to make their communities better.

At Ogbe, Ahiazu Mbaise Local Council Area of Imo State, the meeting started on a controversial note as the women claimed that a health centre which was built about 17 years ago had been used by some government officials to "retire some expenditures," without their knowledge.

President of Ogbe Women Development Association (Home and Abroad), OWDA, Mrs. Anastasia Anyanwu, said: "Our frame of mind when we opted to build a health centre, about 17 years ago was not for anybody or group to take credit for what they were never a part of." Anyanwu said their priority is and remain "to actively bring in development in the community, including but not limited to, training our children, according to modern demands’ and improving the quality of family life."

Surreptitious taking over

She, however, frowned at the surreptitious taking over of their health centre project by government, claiming that it was "built by the Federal Government in collaboration with Imo State Government."

Jesus tomb in Jerusalem renovated

~News Agency of Nigeria

Jesus tomb: renovation by Greek team completed

A Greek team has completed the restoration of the Jesus tomb in Jerusalem at a cost of $4 million.

The renovation lasted almost a year, the UPI reported.

The tomb site is a cave where Roman Catholics and Orthodox Catholics believe Jesus was entombed and then was resurrected. It lies beneath a shrine called the Edicule, which itself is surrounded by the 12-century Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.

The restoration included the cleaning and reinforcing of the limestone and marble Edicule and the removal of an iron cage installed in 1947 to shore up its walls. The shrine was restored once before, in 1810 after an 1807 fire, and has not been improved since.

The project was led by the National Technical University of Athens and was announced completed on Monday. The restoration team removed hundreds of years of candle soot, as well as marble slabs encasing a stone bench where believers say Jesus’ body was placed after his crucifixion and death. One slab was installed by the emperor Constantine when the first church on the site was built; another was from the late-Crusader era in the 14th century.

“It was really important to see the bench, very flat and almost complete, from the right to the left, almost for the shape of one man [who] can stay on it,” said Eugenio Alliata, an Italian archaeologist. “This was really something very important. And it was the first time it has been documented as it is.”

The funders for the project included Jordan’s King Abdullah and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

“I would venture to say that if this intervention hadn’t happened now, there was a very great risk that there could have been a collapse,” said Bonnie Burnham of the World Monuments Fund, a New York-based non-profit organization which also raised funds for the project.

A small window was cut into a cave wall so visitors can see the burial place.

Jesus tomb: renovation by Greek team completed

Religious persecution, extremism will kill Nigeria if… – Jonathan

Written by Anthony Ogbonna
~Vanguard Nigeria. Thursday, February 2, 2017.

Former President Jonathan giving his speech at Oxford

Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has said that “If, as a nation, we do not kill religious persecution and extremism, then religious persecution and extremism will kill Nigeria.”

He also said that, “the potential danger associated with the level of conflicts going on across the country is so glaring that no sane mind can ignore.”

He said it is not in thebest interest of the U.S. and indeed the international community to ignore Nigeria.”

Jonathan gave the statement in a speech he delivered at the U.S. House Sub Committee on Africa on February 1, 2017.

The speech is titled, “Challenges of Nigerian Christians and the Niger Delta Question-A Summary.”

Read the full speech below:

Challenges of Nigerian Christians and the Niger Delta Question-A Summary

A Presentation by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Chairman of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation to the U.S. House Sub Committee on Africa, February 1, 2017

Let me start by thanking Congressman, Christopher H. Smith, Chairman U.S. House Sub-Committee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations for inviting me to share my views on the crisis facing Christians in Nigeria today and the Niger Delta question. The U.S. Congress is a powerful institution not just for good governance in the U.S. but also for global peace and development. Over the years, the U.S. Congress has shown consistent interest in African affairs and I thank you for this and for showing interest in Nigeria.

Congressman Smith has personally visited troubled spots in Nigeria and especially those geo-political zones that are considered the frontline of ethnic and religious conflicts. He has also visited the Niger Delta. I sincerely thank him for these efforts.

In your invitation letter, you highlighted a number of very sensitive issues you wanted me to touch on. I group all these issues under 'Challenges Facing Nigerian Christians and the Niger Delta Question'. A full discussion on even one of these issues may take a minimum of two hours, but here, I am expected to be very brief. I will therefore present a bird's eye view, but when next your committee visits Nigeria, even more detailed presentations will be made by other stake holders.

Nigeria and the World
I read a paper presented by Princeton N. Lyman, a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, suggesting that Nigeria is no longer strategic to U.S. interests in Africa and the world as it used to be. Ambassador Lyman may have had valid reasons for such a view point, but I make bold to say that the relationship between the U.S. and Nigeria has come a long way since Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa's State Visit to the U.S. in July of 1961 and that relationship should not only endure, but be built upon.

Nigeria, as a nation, is relevant to the U.S. in my opinion especially when you consider such parameters as:


Mineral Resources

Economy/Trade

Biotic Resources

Population/Human Resources, etc

Nations such as Nigeria can impact the globe positively when things are handled properly. They may also affect the world negatively if things go wrong. It is not in the best interest of the U.S. and indeed the international community to ignore Nigeria.

Fr. Mbaka: Fr. Mbaka's bombshell on Buhari's govt

Topics:

• Fr. Mbaka's confession…
• Fr. Mbaka's bombshell on Buhari's govt
• MBAKA HAS COME AGAIN
• Father Mbaka: Petulant priest or foul prophet
• Catholic Church plans to transfer Fr. Mbaka
• Mbaka: Priests are human
• Inside embattled Father Mbaka's new Parish!
• Father Mbaka under fire
• No, Father Mbaka's being persecuted -RCCG pastor, other clerics
• Mbaka: Priest, politician or renegade?
• I'm going to suffer -Fr Mbaka • Fiery priest moves from duplex to one room apartment.
• The making of a fiery priest

________________________________________

Fr. Mbaka's confession…
Written by PETRUS OBI, ENUGU
~The SUN Nigeria. Friday, December 16, 2016.
My transfer has brought about miracle explosion in my ministry



HIS transfer at a point became an issue as his followers saw it as a major distraction to his adoration ministry. They were afraid of the unknown but Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, the fiery Enugu Catholic priest who prophesised the end of former President Goodluck Jonathan's era, may have had a premonition of what lay ahead of him.


Before he departed The Christ the King Parish GRA, for an ob- scure Our Lady Rosary Parish, Emene, earlier in the year, he told the congregation that God was about to lift the adoration ministry to greater heights.


He said; "God is wonderful. You can see that I am smiling, filled with cheers and the joy of the Lord. I have the feeling that God's hand is in my going out of GRA. I am seeing everything as the will of God. When I remem- ber that my providing God is with me and for me, I am filled with joy and I'm comforted. The ways of God are divine and mysterious and at times when he wants to do a thing, we humans may not understand it. We may be seeing the external but God who sees the future planned and packaged everything for us."


Few months after the trans- fer, Mbaka in an exclusive chat with our reporter last week at the permanent site of the adora- tion ground in Emene said, "the Journey to the adoration perma- nent site is a blessing in disguise and I welcomed it with joy even though I was misunderstood. Some people who thought I would disobey the church and the Bishop by saying I would not go out; but how can I dis- obey the bishop?


"Now we have packed in here and within few months, the number of people coming there has doubled more than 20 times and we have started a new par- sonage, Adoration parsonage, and it's nearing completion. God is 100 per cent on our side and the congregation is happy and I am exceedingly happy. I am grateful to the Bishop and the Church that moved me out oftheGRA;Iamjustlikeafish that was growing inside a bottle and now has been put inside the ocean. I thank the church for that move from the GRA for the Ministry is serving a larger role to the global universe; it is not just a parish per se, it is serving the whole Nigeria. It is inter cul- tural, it is inter denominational, it is also inter tribal. The adora- tion Ministry, Enugu, Nigeria is the grand parent to all the new adoration ministries that aregrowing and God has given us a home and made Umuchigbo, Nike land where we are, a glori- ous empire of the Holy Spirit.

Abomination! Catholic priest married two wives

Written by NOAH EBIJE, Kaduna

~The SUN Nigeria. Sunday, August 14, 2016.

- Bubble burst as wife took child to Archbishop

- Church disrobes, banishes him

- Archbishop: We're shocked, pained

Parishioners at Queen of Apostles Catholic Church, Kakuri parish, Kaduna State, are still in shock following revelation that the parish priest, Very Reverend Father Peter Zuni, 54, was engaged in a secret marriage to two women, an act that led to his being disrobed and sacked from the priesthood.

Sunday Sun gathered that one of the wives is already late, while the surviving one who blew the whistle about three weeks ago over the secret marriage is said to be nursing a child for the embattled priest.

According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, only unmarried men are ordained into the priesthood as they are obligated to swear to an oath of celibacy and observe perfect and perpetual service for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. This, it is believed, would enable the priests to easily remain close to Christ with an undivided heart, and dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and the congregation.

When Sunday Sun visited the premises of the Queen of the Apostles parish, some parishioners confirmed the report, which they said was initially thought to be mere rumour.

The parishioners who spoke on condition of anonymity said they were shocked and surprised to learn of a petition to the Bishop of Kaduna Archdiocese, Bishop Ndagoso Manoso, that two women had children for their parish priest, an act considered to be an abomination and grave sin against the Catholic doctrine.

They pointed out that in order to cover up the priest's 'sin' from spreading to the larger public, the Archdiocese allegedly organised a send off for the embattled priest to a remote village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

"During the send off, the priest was not allowed to make a farewell speech, and many people refused to take photographs with him. There was little or no felicitation with him because most of the time he was seen standing aloof under a mango tree without anybody going close to him.

Why Ndigbo rejected national prayer at Enugu Town Hall Meeting

Written by Emeka Mamah
~Vanguard Nigeria. Wednesday, August 10, 2016.

ENUGU--The Town Hall Meeting organised by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture at Nike Hotel Resort, Enugu, enultimate Monday, must have been an eye opener to the organisers on the position of Ndigbo on some national issues, including "the new National Prayer, restructuring of the country, marginalisation and alleged politics of exclusion by President Muhammadu Buhari," among others.

The meeting was attended by traditional rulers and top government functionaries who remained standing in the crowded tent for hours due to inadequate number of seats.The first contentious issue during the meeting bordered on the "National Prayer," aimed at reducing the time spent on prayers during national events.

The Master of Ceremony had kick-started the occasion after brief introductions by the Information Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, by asking the crowd including the governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwanyi and his deputy, Cecilia Ezeilo, deputy governors of Anambra, Abia and Ebonyi States; the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and five other ministers including that of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, Chief Audu Ogbe (Agriculture), Prof Isaac Adebowale (Health) and Mr Geoffrey Onyeama (Foreign Affairs), among other high ranking officials, to recite the national prayer after him.

After most of the attendees had "parroted" the national prayer and the occasion began, the proceedings were interrupted once again following objections by some religious leaders who insisted that proper Christian prayers must be conducted if they must be present.

BIAFRA: How activists met Pope Francis in Rome

Topics:

•  BIAFRA: How activists met Pope Francis in Rome
• Pope advises Biafra agitators to be patient

___________________________________________

 BIAFRA: How activists met Pope Francis in Rome

Written by Anayo Okoli, Ugochukwu Alaribe & Chimaobi Nwaiwu

~Vanguard, Nigeria.  Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, at
St Peter’s Square Rome, during their visit to Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Made 5,500 calls to the Pontiff, as 35,000 receive prayers

We never met any American group-Ohanaeze youths

I didn’t declare support for Biafra-S-East chairman of monarchs

ROME-Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francis greeted a group of activists from the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, group, who are campaigning for secession from Nigeria, after they gathered at the Vatican on Sunday.

During his weekly Angelus address where the Pope addresses crowds of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square from the balcony of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis extended a word of welcome to the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB. The Pope's statement was greeted with cheers and celebration by the Biafran group, who were waving flags during the address.

In a release yesterday in Nigeria, the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB, said it took its agitation for the release of its leader and Director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu to Pope Francis at Vatican City for him to see the level of killing and injustice meted to them by the present All Progressives Congress government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Addressing newsmen yesterday in Nnewi, IPOB Media and Publicity Officer, Mr. Emma Powerful said IPOB has made 5,500 calls to Pope Francis who accepted and gave his word to pray for the agitators and talk about Biafra and its restoration.

"The IPOB bombarded Pope Francis with 5,500 calls and the Pope answered the calls and gave his word to make sure he talks about Biafra and its restoration and yesterday, about 35,000 Biafra agitators in Europe, Asia and America visited the Pope at Vatican City and the Pope and other Catholic leaders addressed them as Biafrans and prayed for them.That was the first time a world leader at that level addressed us and called us by the name Biafrans and prayed for us," he said.

Preventing the denigration of Igbo native religion

Written by Emefiena Ezeani

~The SUN, Nigeria: Fr. Ezeani is of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Federal University, Ebonyi State

LET us reason together: 

Because our African cul­tures (names, languages, beliefs and practices) are different from European cultures, the Europeans tagged most of our cultural practices, beliefs, and elements ‘pagan’ and devilish. Since this errone­ous knowledge has been transmitted from genera­tion to generation, today in Igbo land things are falling apart with brothers fighting against broth­ers in the name of God and religion. In this dis­course, we shall look at the Igbo Christians and the idol-war currently going on in various parts of the Igbo land. We shall take idol to mean any­thing that is capable of menacing a people, that is, something that can endanger the welfare of a people or community. Idol can also mean a sculp­ture or moulded object of a spirit (Chi) which we can call a religious idol.

In contemporary Igbo society, there are a num­ber of things which threaten the welfare and life of many people in society. These include cor­ruption, deception and selfishness of the politi­cal class, daily intimidation and extortion of the already impoverished bus-drivers and Banye-transport riders (Keke) by different Nigerian law-enforcement agents, deception and robbery in God’s name by different ‘Men of God’, embez­zlement of the Church’s money by various min­isters of religion, establishment of fake Miracle Churches where gullible people are hoodwinked and robbed of their money by ‘Men of God’ (some even have private helicopters), cheating, calumny, lying, envy, wickedness and glaring acts of injustice by different ranks of Christians and their religious ministers. All the above come under what I call social destructive idols.

Under religious idols, we have spirits with var­ious names according to geography, such as Udo, Ọgba, Ikenga, Idemmili, Amadiọgha, Ogwugwu etc. Contrary to the views of most Christians, for the Igbo native religion theologians, these (small) spirits are spirit-servants of Chi-ukwu (Chuk­wu), the Great Spirit. For Igbo ancestors, they are simply spirits and God’s agents and not gods Only Chukwu is both Spirit and God (Onye-okike). The ‘idols’ (images) which represent these spirits are mere representations or symbols of them and noth­ing more, as a picture of one’s mother is simply a picture/representation of her and not one’s mother. Why are Christians from various parts of Igbo so­ciety investing so much time, human and material resources waging war against religious idols? There seems to be two explanations for this.