Church and Justice in Igbo Society (An Introduction to Igbo Concept of Justice)

This book is handy for anyone looking to understand Igbo society, its traditional cultural richness and its vibrant religious, economic and political place in Nigeria today, this book is a must read. It is a getaway into understanding why most its cultural values survived the destruction of most traditional societies, then, this book as it may leads into some of the reasons why such society has continued to maintain its dominance in the 21st century. The religious richness of Igbo people offers endless view to religious scholars and missionaries alike. This has become necessary in view of the moral decadence and the struggles of an Igbo Christian. The concept of man, God, family (Umunna), the worlds of spirits and materials is deep and powerful, operating from within and is not merely an outward conformity to religious observance although it includes that (Basden 1966:38). The things to know about Igbo traditional religion is that it is a religion of “diffused monotheism”, in the sense that the Igbo worship one Supreme Being , Chukwu, though there are many intermediaries such Ala, Earth goddess. At another layer is the ancestors intermingling with personal ‘Chi’. The concept of Chi makes easy to understand personal destiny and the Igbo believe that one’s chi has an ability to alter the cause of personal events especially with regard to good fortunes. The other layer is the concept of ‘spirits’, both good and bad are highly competitive and yet, each still retains its sphere of independence activity power over the living, a power which is contractual and reciprocal. The other final layer is the Reincarnation. This is at the heart of Igbo morality as it is the principle that regulates the social and moral life of an Igbo person. The influence is tremendous because any breach of norms regulating relationships incurs displeasure and vengeance from the gods and would determine whether the person in question can reincarnate or not, a good ancestor or bad one. The essence of this is that Chukwu and the spirits exert tremendous influence on human daily life and thus for the Igbo person, morality is linked to destiny since religion, law, justice and politics are inextricably bound together and embodied in the moral code called ‘Omenala’ (p. ). The concept of justice in Igbo traditional society, like in the Graeco-Roman and Judeo-Christian milieu, is basically seen as that which orders man’s relations to his fellow human beings and which inspires the laws that guarantee the equilibrium and the tranquility of the community (p.13). Consequently, justice among the Igbo people has a moral value, a value that is synonymous with righteousness. This righteousness is a quality of intention and act, a characteristic of persons and from thence it flows out into interpersonal relations, and ultimately terminates in a quality of the community itself (p. 15). In Igbo language, justice is better expressed by hand stands straight, ‘Ikwuba-aka-uto’. In this case, justice means fairness and is regarded as the basis of any transaction both in economic or political terms. Furthermore, understanding Igbo concept of justice and its social implications makes an interesting studies in relation to Christianity in Igbo land today. Scholars believe that the moral decadence in modern societies like the Igbo can be traced to the advent of Christianity in these societies. This book tries to evaluate the Igbo values of justice in light of Christianity to see how it can engage the Igbo traditional justice values and beliefs in strengthening Christianity in Igbo land. The Igbo concept of existence as “I am ….. because we are” evokes mutual dependency. In this context, self-respect and freedom always coincide with the feeling of a firm solidarity between the individual and the groups. Key points to be noted here are the attitude towards life as demanding beneficial reciprocity and sustained through the exercise of justice. There is also the action system sanctioned by religion and thus constituting the Omenala which in its operations regulates and prohibits ways of social interactions. It also lays unlimited emphasis on group morality rather than on individual cultivation of goodness itself as a way of ensuring that neither the individual nor the group be deprived of its proper function in the joint realization of the basic good to which they are committed, namely fullness of life both un this life and beyond (p.31). In another stretch of thought, this book also noted that value is used here to mean the quality of a thing which makes it more or less desirable and useful. Thus, the question of the relevance of Igbo value of justice is the same as asking the significance of Igbo social justice to the Christian ethics? In other words, what type of attitude should be adopted towards the past and present of justice in Igbo social life in view of what has now become the inevitable interaction between the Christian and Igbo moral values (p.32)? To this question, this book says yes, there is need for Christianity to re-examine its evangelization approach by integrating the Igbo moral code, Omenala, into its ethic values without specifying which approach. The approach will the centre-piece of the author in another book which will be coming to the market soon. Watch out!