LA LECTURA Y EL USO DE LA INTERNET

realize why we should suppress the ego to arrive at life mission for the attainment of purpose in life, existential duty, true nature and path in life.

The same religious sentiment is also shared by Catholic Christians when they honour the saints in their faith. The saints are believed to partake in the power of God Almighty. So, they are believed to intercede for the militant church that is facing some difficulties in their earthly journey of life. To actualize this, the Catholic Church permits cult observations or prayers to honour and provoke their intercessory roles for the church. Udeajah’s comparison as a matter of fact highlights the roles of Igbo ancestors which is central to the overall well being of their descendants. To Udeajah, the ancestors are no more than the Christian saints.

The saints to the Catholic Church are people who lived very good lives, recognized as being holy because of the way they lived their lives. This particular attribute that qualify them for saint hood is believed to make them partake in the power of God. And it is because they left the world as good Christians that earned them transition to higher status. But they are not like the Supreme Being. But being closer to the Supreme Being, they are believed to intercede for members who are still facing challenges of the world. And to provoke these intercessory roles, cults or prayers are being made in their honour. The Christian saints are akin to Igbo ancestors.

The ancestors are those who achieved to a remarkable degree the values and aspirations of their communities. It means more than just being dead. The qualification to ancestor hood changes the ontological status, brings them closer to the Supreme Being and makes them share imperishability with ultimate reality and at the same time they are closely connected with individuals on the level of human kind with whom they were in flesh. The Igbo believe that some of their departed ones occupy this exalted position and can intercede on their behalf from the Supreme Being from the ancestral world provoke such demands for protection and intercession in ancestral cult.

In Ezenweke’s (2008) work entitled, Cult of ancestors; a focal point for prayers in African community. She made in her discussion on the cult of Ancestors in African traditional

Religion, in the area where she located the possible moral reasons why the African honours his or her ancestor or ancestress. She averred that:

The ancestors or the living dead are believed to be disembodied spirit of people who lived upright lives here on earth, died good and natural death, that is, at ripe old age, and received the acknowledged funeral rites. They could be men or women. But more often than not, male ancestors are predominant since patriarchal lineage is the dominant system of family and social integration in most traditional societies. For matrilineal groups like the Ashanti of Ghana, and the Ndembu of Zambia, both male and female ancestors are duly acknowledged (p. 51).

Ezenweke, underscored the outstanding moral life of the African or Igbo ancestor as that which can be emulated. The moral rectitude of the living- dead exerts joy and followership among the descendants. Descendants are expected to be the moral ambassadors of their forebears. Living members of the deceased families make it a point of duty and honour to propagate the good virtues and works of their forefather’s and ancestress. It is always a good humour among the Igbo to hear that their ancestor did one significant thing or the other which helped the village in terms of need. Ancestors and ancestress are therefore moral reference points where lessons on moral strength, physical strength and overall behavioural patterns could be emulated.

In Metuh’s (1999), work entitled, God and man in African religion, his argument corresponds with minds that were divided against the proper clarification of African attitude towards their ancestors. It has been observed that there exists parallel attention given to both deities and ancestors during cultural, ritual and social occasions. In all these, the Africans show a greater affection on the ancestors may not be unconnected from filial relations between Africans and their departed parents and dear relatives. Metuh argues that if religion can be

understood as one’s expression, submission and dependence on a supernatural being, there is no difference to the rule or intention seen in Africans paying homage to the ancestors or to the deities. Metuh further observes;

There is apparently very little difference between the cults given to the ancestors.

Both are given offerings of food and fresh blood, the form of prayers is similar, and the attitude of the worshippers shows very little difference. In some prayers and sacrifices, ancestors are invoked along with the Supreme Being and deities (p. 120).

The closeness in respect and appeal shown between African ancestor and the deity come around because of familiarity and responses to favours. In most cases ancestors are believed to be closer to humans than the Supreme Being and the deities.

This close relationship as a matter of consequence can explain the heavy or regular appeal for intercession to Africans themselves. In continuation of his argument in favour of homage paid to African forefathers, Metuh explained the observed close relation between the Igbo and their departed ones as that which exudes confidence and regard. He says; Offerings made to the ancestor are called by the Igbo “Inye fa nni, (feeding them). Ancestors may be persuaded to grant a request by promises of a more generous offering or by a threat of starving them should they fail. Sometimes the relationship with the ancestors is believed to be governed by the principle of reciprocity (p. 123).

We can glean from Metuh’s insight that what engenders ancestral cult among the Igbo is the issue of mutual understanding of reciprocity of charity between the ancestors and their descendants. For the humans, theirs is to remember them in family activities as when they were alive. Such actions as libation, dropping of food on the floor, sacrifice of animals to them and beckoning on them to intervene in times of crisis in the family and kindred are endearment actions which aid in the ancestor intervention in the family matters. To make it more realistic,

these actions, as a matter of fact, must be sustained. Still in the manner of reciprocity, the ancestors are expected to fulfil part of their obligations to their families. These obligations include protection from evil spirits, evil people and dangerous plagues that may ravage their communities any time. This comes to show the Igbo belief in ancestral veneration as potent in ensuring the cardinal value of any Igbo community which places man at the centre of everything as captured by Madu (1996), thus:

Man is at the centre of everything. But he is not alone. He exists for the community and the community exists for him. He relies on patronage of the gods and his neighbours. This brings out the community consciousness among the Igbos. Thus, he has to be his brother’s keeper. This underscores why neighbours help to build a house, cultivate yams and harvest crops (p. 7).

But to be noted in ancestral veneration as differentiated from the worship of Supreme Being is that, the ancestors are addressed in plural “inye fa nni” (feed them). And there is a threat of starving them should they fail to meet the expectations of man as observed by Metuh (1997). It becomes germane at this point to note that ancestors are not worshipped but venerated as they are observed to be under God in Igbo ontological hierarchy who alone, the Igbo worship. The ancestors are believed to be closer to the Supreme Being than man. The Supreme Being to the Igbo is awesome and there appears so much distance that reaching him seems mostly through intermediaries, unlike the ancestors which the Igbo believe is always here and now as observed through different ritual observances like libations and breaking of kola nut. It becomes worthy of note that based on Igbo value system and attitudinal orientations, the Igbo are not alone. They are in communion with gods, fellow men and inanimate matter. (Madu 1997) summed them up as being in relations.