ANEXO DE JURISPRUDENCIA:
28. AP Pontevedra, sec 1ª, S 27-4-
lineage compound and would be looked after by her children as well as by the lineage which assists her by way of a regular annual allotment to her of a plot of the lineage farmland.
3. 5_______ Ibo Religious Belief
The tenets of Ibo traditional religion are inextricably interwoven with traditional ideas of individual well-being and wealth. Almost all studies of the Ibo have pointed to the continuation of traditional
religious observances (cf. Green, 1947: 49-60, Meek, 1937: 20-52, Arinze, 1970). According to Afigbo (1974: 49) one conclusion that emerges from all studies of Ibo religion is "that the Ibo are naturally, or even excessively, religious". He went on to analyze the genesis of this view as follows:
"Some of those who hold to this view do so on purely logical grounds. They contend that all pre-industrial societies ... have values which are necessarily other-worldly oriented if not in fact superstition-based, and that since Igbo society was and still is largely pre-industrial or even pre-scientific, then they must be very religious or even superstitious. Some go further than this and point to the existence of a
multiplicity of gods and goddesses in the Igbo religious firmament, to the dominance of ritual and magic in ordinary life and so on."
The second aspect of Ibo religion noted by Afigbo (regarding the
multiplicity of gods) is certainly true of Ibo religion as is borne out in recorded ethnographies (cited above). Meek (1937: 20) enumerated the "pantheon of high gods" characteristic of Ibo traditional religion to include Chukwu (the Great Spirit) or Chineke (the spirit that creates), Anyanwu (the Sun), Igwe (the Sky), Amadi-Ofia (Lightening) and Ala (the earth deity). Apart from these, there are other minor deities in charge of water and agriculture, fortune, destiny, wealth, strength as well as the ancestral spirits who control the fortunes of their living
descendants (cf. Arinze, 1970).
73.
father of the pods) who created heaven and earth and is the only source
of wealth; lie sends the rains and makes the crops grow (Meek, 1937:
20; Afigbo, 1974: 49). The legend is that originally "Chukwu" lived
amongst men but as a result of incessant worries by men with their
trifles, he was ’’fed up" and "went away to a distant land where it would
be hard and tedious for people to approach him" (Arinze, 1970: 12).
The minor deities were thus intermediating between "Chukwu" and humans.
One of the most important of these was the earth deity, "Ala", who was
concerned with crops, human fertility and human welfare (cf. Ottenberg,
1959: 136, Afigbo, 1974: 49). Thus, the earth deity had the power to
reward upright people and punish the wicked by endowing them with, or
withholding from them the gift of children and material wealth.
Another tenet of Ibo traditional religion was that, whatever status
was achieved on earth, could be carried over to the next world (Afigbo,
1974: 49). Thus, in essence, one had to be upright or moral and
industrious in order to receive the blessing of the gods and ancestors.
No one wanted to be identified as an unlucky man because he had failed
in life and hence everyone had to strive in order not to be so identified.
In this sense, a rich and successful man was identified as an upright
man who had favour in the sight of the gods and ancestors and had been
rewarded accordingly with a wealth of children and material goods. On
the other hand, a poor man was identified as a wicked man whom the gods
had punished with failure and sterility (Afigbo, 1974: 50).^ This, by
implication, meant that one who was blessed with good health, and with
a wife or wives who were fertile and could produce children in abundance
was well equipped for even greater success in life. Thus, as Afigbo
had suggested, Ibo religious ethic manifests its close similarity with
1. Wealth, in Ibo thought, consisted and still consists (in rural areas) of land, crops and livestock, children, money and other forms of material goods (cf. Okore, 1977; Afigbo, 1974: 53, Ottenberg, 1971: 11).
the Puritan and Calvinistic ethic which Max Weber (1930) portrayed as tending to induce men to show initiative and enterprise in business and to practise thrift - attributes which, according to Weber, were largely responsible for the rise of capitalism in the Western World. Even though the Ibo religious ethic may not have resulted in the rise of capitalism (in the Western sense), it may be largely responsible for their proverbial drive, enterprise, and individualism (cf. Jones, 1949: 150; Ottenberg,1959: 136; Leith-Ross, 1939; Richards, 1939: 449). The effect of the introduction of Christianity upon these beliefs is discussed in Section 3.7.
3. 6_______ The Traditional Economy
Farming was and still remains the major occupation in most Ibo villages and land is the basis of existence in the Ibo-land (cf. Harris, 1942: 89; Green, 1949: 33; Igwebuike, 1975: 15). The mode
of cultivation is "in accordance with the general West African pattern of hoe culture" (Harris, 1949: 89, 1943: 12, cf. Forde, 1937: 25). Farm instruments consist mainly of hoes and knives and little or no mechanization of rural subsistence farming exists. The household members form the basis of the farm labour force with occasional co operative work arrangement being organized to assist families in their work."*" Farm crops consist of yams which are, to a large degree, the prerogative of the males and casssava (manioc), maize, coco-yam (taro), bean of various kinds, fluted pumpkin, water melon, okra and pepper which the women control. (cf. Nsugbe, 1974: 6-7 and 21-22; Ottenberg, 1968: 15, 1971: 4; Harris, 1943: 12; Green, 1947: 34 and 36; Meek,
1. The "co-operative work" groups were observed by Ottenberg (1959: 139) in Afikpo and by Igwebuike (1975: 51) in Abakaliki. This involves the teaming together of some men or women to assist one another in turn with bush clearing, planting and weeding etc. (cf Green, 1947: 35). It is one way by which members of the lineage
1917: 17; Ottenberg, 1959: 207). The major and staple foods among
all the communities are yam and cassava which are supplemented with the
other subsidiaries listed above. Thus Morgan (1955: 330) noted that,
"yams and cassava are the bases of the diet whilst other crops are
either flavouring elements or provide some variety". (cf. Ogbu, 1973:
318; Green, 1947: 41; Uchendu, 1965: 22). The Ibo farming season
starts in January, when lineages meet and decide on which bush will be
cultivated. During February the bush clearing and burning take place,
and with the first rains in March, yam planting starts and continues
through April. Thereafter, the women begin to plant their own crops
(May).^ Thus as Uchendu (1965: 24) put it "women's crops follow the
men's". By June all planting is over and both men and women visit the
farm - men to put up sticks on which yam tendrils climb and women to
"repeat the sowing if some of the earlier seeds have failed to sprout"
(Nsugbe, 1974: 24). Weeding (done mainly by women) takes place between
July and August. In the meantime, men engage in other activities such
as repairing their yam barns in readiness for harvest, tapping palm wine
for sale, setting traps for bush animals for food and for sale, etc.
By the end of August and early September men start harvesting yams on
a small scale for the new yam festival while final harvest starts by
October and lasts up to December. Women also harvest their "subsidiary"
crops (excepting cassava which matures in 18 months as opposed to yams
6 - 9 months) during October - December.
Thus, the period between June and August is generally described as
"hunger-period" or "Onwo" during which families have to depend solely
on women's cassava (of the previous year) occasionally supplemented with
yams put aside by men for this period, (cf. Uchendu, 1965: 25; Nsugbe,
1974: 24; Ogbu, 1973: 322-323).
1. Women do not own land, nor are they given a share of the lineage farmland (excepting widowed women), rather they plant on their husband's farm plots (inter-cropping between yam mounds).
(a ) Land Tenure
Among the rural farming populations, the most important capital possessed by the lineage is land which is owned in common for farming purposes. The head of the lineage is usually the custodian of all land belonging to it and lineage land is scattered in different locations at distances ranging from one to six kilometres from the village. Such communally owned land cannot be alienated or pledged by any member of the group. The lineage decides at the beginning of each year which plots of land they will cultivate during the farming season (January to November), fixes a date for the allotment of the land, and apportions the plots to adult males and widowed women within the lineage. The number of plots alloted to any individual is a function of age or seniority rather than family size (cf. Forde and Scott, 1945: 65). The
older members, who also are the hard-core and more established farmers eet three to five strips and this declines to one or two
1
strips for the young unmarried or newly married adults. This sort of leasehold gives usufractuary rights to members of the
lineage for the farming season, at the end of which all land returns
1. As Forde and Scott(1945: 67) noted, most land-holding units (the
lineage) in Iboland are numerically small. Thus, for instance, among the Ozuitem Ibo (Eastern or Cross-River area), "the lineage of some 10 to 30 living men is the largest significant controlling group". As we have noted elsewhere, the size of this "controlling group" which constitutes the hard-core farmers does not necessarily increase in proportion to the increase in lineage population.
This is explicable in terms of the fact that many of the younger people who should otherwise have joined the group are increasingly becoming aversed to farming (especially if they have had some schooling which is now widespread), and are taking to trading, tailoring, driving, etc. or moving to the cities in search of
urban jobs. At the same time, the very old members of the lineage eventually retire from active farming. Hence, the number of
persons within the lineage who farm the lineage land remains relatively stable over the years (Okore, 1^77a: 266).
7 7.
to the common pool. Women do not share in the allotment of land but plant on their husband’s plots (the only exception being the widowed).
Apart from the lineage land, there is a lesser area of individually owned land which is handed down from father to son and can be sold or mortgaged without reference to anyone. Thus a man can pledge his land in order to cancel a debt, pay a bride- price, or even raise money to pay tax, or pay school fees for his children. Land so pledged is usually redeemable at any time at the same rate at which it has been pledged. It is also possible to obtain extra plots of land for farming from other lineages under a system of "Kola tenancy" which involves the presentation to the lineage of palm-wine, local gin and meat. If accepted, the tenancy is usually for one farming season and confers on the tenant a right to cultivate a given piece of land without a legal claim of ownership to it (Uchendu, 1965: 23).
There are in addition, a few plots of land (sacred land) owned communally by the village or the clan on which shrines are built. In some parts of the Eastern or Cross River Ibo area
(Ututu, for instance) villages own large areas of common land on which they harvest palm fruits, the sale of which yields money
for the village coffers.^ (b) Division of Labour by Sex
Division of functions by sex is an important element in Ibo rural life and extends beyond agriculture (cf. Harris, 1943: 15-19, Nsugbe, 1974: 21-22* Ottenberg, 1959: 207; Green, 1947: 35). For brevity, we shall dichotomise the activities of men and and women in a tabular form (after Harris, 1943: 15) with an "X" 1. For a more detailed account of Ibo Land Tenure see Meek, 1937:
100-104; Jones, 1949: 309-323; Uchendu, 1965: 22-23: F.A.O., 1966: 331-338).
representing participation and an "0" representing non
participation.
Table 3.1 Division of Labour by Sex
Type of Activity______________________Men______________Women
1. Farmwork
(i) Bush clearing X Assist in some cases
(ii) Burning the bush X 0
(iii) Clearing stumps and
burnt sticks X X
(iv) Planting
(a) Yams (including
making mounds X
Assist with transportation of yams from barn to farm
(along with children) and placing them on mounds.
(b) Cassava and
subsidiary crops X X
(v) Weeding 0 X
(vi) Training yam tendrils
on sticks X 0
(vii) Harvest
(a) Yams X Assist (along with children)
in cleaning and washing and carrying yam from farm to barn.
(b) Cassava &
subsidiary crops 0 X
(viii) Preparing Barns for
Storing Crops
(a) Yam barn X 0
(b) Cocoyam/Maize/
Okra etc. 0 Hires labour or ask grown
up children to erect a fence in her backyard.
(ix) Preservation of
other items
(a) Meat and fish 0 X
(b) Kola-nuts for
79.
Table 3.1 (Continued)
Type of: AcLlvlty_________ ____________ Men_____________ Women
House-■Building
(i) Making mats for
Roofing X 0
(ii) Cutting sticks for
houseframe X Assist (with children)
in carrying sticks home.
(iii) Erecting House-frame X 0
(iv) Fetching water for
Puddling Mud 0 X (and children)
(v) Puddling mud and making
mud-wall X 0
(vi) Roofing X 0
(vii) Rubbing walls and
floors 0 X (and children)
Hunting/trapping of Bush
Animals X 0
4. Fishing X Catch smaller fishes with
children. 5. Household Chores (i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
Fetching water and
wood 0
Cooking/washing
utencils and dishes 0
Childcare 0
Washing Clothes
(a) Individual Clothes X or older
children
(b) Young Children’s
Clothes 0
(v) Care of Domesticated
Animals (goats, dogs, sheep, fowls-individual X or N children s) X or older children X or older children X or children
6. Cutting Palm fruits X 0
7. Processing Palm fruits for
Palm Oil X (May assist X (extract oil
with and kernel).
pounding)
Table 3.1 (Continued)
Type of Activity _____ __________ Men Women 9. Marketing
(i) Yams Z X
(ii) Cassava & vegetables 0 X
(iii) Petty Trading Occasionally X (processed food fish, penper, Kola-nuts etc.) (iv) Large Scale Trading
(imported consumer
goods, e.g. cloths) X Occasionally