by Emeghara, Nkem
INTRODUCTION
Does the African attribute any dignity to the human person? Anyone who is influenced by the old ideas of colonial writers on African societal life would perhaps readily answer this question in the negative. This is because such writers did not take time to study the African mind well before drawing their conclusions. The Africans have thus been described as 'brutes', 'cannibalistic'' crude', 'primitive', 'dark', 'savages', 'pagan', 'ignorant' etc. Human sacrifice and twin murder are among the practices usually cited as evidence of poor regard, or lack of regard, for human dignity on the part of the Africans.
It is the aim of this short paper to call attention to the fact that African society has a very high regard for the human person and gives the preservation of human dignity a priority, contrary to the old beliefs held by some scholars.
The dignity of the human person is seen in the African view of human origins, worship and morals, and in community life.
Much of our illustration will be taken from the lgbos of Nigeria. This is because the writer is lgbo by tribe. The contents of this paper are essential in this day when the world has continued to neglect the dignity of the human person, which has resulted in so much inhumanity on the part of human beings towards each other. Africa is not excluded from this modern inhumanity.
1. HUMAN DIGNITY IN CREATION
One of the ways by which Africans accord a high dignity to the human person is in their view of human origins.
In the creation stories of all African peoples, humanity and God are so connected that one would cease to exist without the other. Although God is understood as being all-powerful, ever-present, all knowing and demanding the greatest honour, fear and reverence from all creation, the African realizes that God's imprint is within the human being, who imperatively acknowledges God's existence and worships accordingly. The lgbos of Nigeria, for example, recognize that the mystery associated with what is called amadu (humankind), which includes humankind's inestimable abilities to produce, build, and to destroy, accounts for human origins and sustenance in God (Chukwu). The chi in human persons is regarded as the inner presence of Chukwu (God), linking them spiritually with God. God created human beings good, complete and likable.(1) They have communion with God, and this communion can be ritually restored whenever it is disrupted. Metuh expressed this closeness to Chukwu among the lgbos when he stated:
Viewed from the standpoint of his origin and final destiny man is best understood in relation to Chukwu (God), his creator. Man comes from God. He has a definite mission to fulfil in God's plan and will eventually go back to God. (2)
Being a complex psycho-physical being which is as mysterious as the universe, the human person remains the highest of all the creations of God. Humanity is the high-point of God's creative action and it is around the human person that the physical and spiritual dimensions of life activities seem to cohere.
God gave human beings the capacity for bringing the ideas they have to fruition, a human trait symbolized in the lgbo Ram headed deity called Ikenga (4).
Ikenga operates in a number of selves or principles: The obi (the heart) is the centre of volition and obedience. It is the concrete human and can be described as courageous, or weak, good or bad, strong or soft. The desire of every human person is to have a strong, courageous and kind or soft obi. A weak and wicked obi is easily subject to the attacks of witchcraft and sorcery, and may consequently weaken and die (5). At death the obi leaves the physical body. In some parts of lgboland it is ritually strengthened for the ancestral world and in preparation for reincarnation.(6). The obi can thus be regarded as the manifestation of life. The chi, as we have said, is the aspect of the human person that comes directly from Chukwu. It has been regarded as a life principle, a genius, or spirit doublet It is the chi that links the human person to God and determines an individual's fortune, or destiny in life. At death, the chi (destiny-spirit) goes back to God in preparation for the person's reincarnation which is determined by God. The eke links people with their ancestors and as a result with the life-force of the clan. A child comes to the world with an incarnation of an ancestor's eke. This ancestor must be known in order to reveal to the parents the taboos and rituals to be observed in order to ensure the child's survival. It is a common saying that a person embarking on a journey should leave his or her eke at home and proceed with the chi. This is because it is believed that in case of danger, the eke will call the person back home, while one needs one's chi on a journey because the chi ensures that the destiny will be achieved on the trip. This destiny is also represented as akara aka, i.e. prints or crevices on the palms of the hand. The goal of a person's life is to achieve the akara chi, i.e. the destiny imprinted on the palms. The eke and the chi work together to achieve this. (8)
Other aspects by which people operate include the shadow-spirit (onyinyo), which is believed to be individual, while the real human person is created by God. The shadow-spirit is also said to be incarnate in the body and is assigned an ancestral guardian. It is believed to survive after death as an individual person and can in turn become an ancestral guardian.(9)
The ume (breath) shows that the breath-spirit is operating in the physical body (ahu). At death the physical body decays and dissolves while the person continues to exist as onye mmuo (spirit being), different from onye mmadu which he or she was before death.
These principles of operation make the human person feel closely related with the unseen "spirit world" through the consciousness of self-transcendence in spite of the physical interactions in the visible world. (10) Peaceful operation at all these levels is necessary for the human person to live life (ndu) to the fullest, which is God's most precious gift. (11)
Thus the dignity of human persons is seen in their being created good by God, their complex nature and God's imprint in them as the crown of God's creation, as well as in God's provision for a continual interaction with them through ritual, despite their limitations. To the lgbo, the human person has an intrinsic nature which, among all creation, is special in the sight of God.
1. An attempted etymology of the lgbo Word mmadu renders it as mmadu "let goodness exist" see R. ARAZU "A Cultural Model For a Christian Prayer", in African Christian Spirituality, A. SHORTER (ed.) (New York: Orbis Books 1978) 114.
2. Emefie Ikenga - Metuh, African Religions in Western Conceptual Schemes: The Problem of Interpretation (Studies in lgbo Religion) 2nd ed. (Onitsha Nigeria: IMICO Press 1985) 109.
3. Cf. O. Imasogie, African Traditional Religion Ibadan (Nigeria : UPL 1982) 56.
4. Cf. E. Ilogu, Christianity and Igbo Culture (New York : NOK Ltd. 1982) 204.
5. E. Ikenge - Metuh, Comparative Studies of African Traditional Religion (Onitsha, Nigeria: IMICO Pub. 1987) 187.
6. Cf. Metuh, Conceptual Schemes, op. cit., Ill and C.K. Meek, Law and Authority In a Nigerian Tribe (London: OUP 1937) 55.
7. See E. llogu, Christianity and lgbo Culture, op. cit., 34. Bolaji Idowu, African Traditional Religion: A Definition (London: SCM 1973) 177. Metuh, Conceptual Schemes, 111.
8. Cf. Metuh, Conceptual Schemes, 111.
9. Metuh, Comparative, 187.
10. Cf. llogu, op. cit., 204.
11. Emeka Ojukwu, The Ahiara Declaration (Geneva: Mark Press 1969)25.
II. HUMAN DIGNITY IN WORSHIP
The dignity of the human person is also identifiable in an insatiable desire to worship.
Mbiti has rightly observed that African peoples do not know how to exist without religion.(12) Adasu also observes that the Secretariat for Non-Christian Religions has acknowledged that African religion impregnates the whole life of the community. The day begins and ends with ritualism. All life bears the sign of transcendence and African life has developed a human personality, the spiritual dimension of which assists each one to respond to the noblest aspirations - aspirations that are religious, intellectual and artistic. (13).
Wherever the African is, there is religion and its morals. For the African, the human person is a religious being. (14) This value gives the human person a high dignity. The poorest person is, therefore, rich in nobility as a religious being. This dignity may not provide material wealth, but the African is satisfied with it because it gives hope and a reason for living. As Parrinder puts it,
Man lives in a moral society and his behaviour is prescribed by relationships. Morality is the mores, the manners and the customs of society.(15)
Religion, which gives the African morality, is part and parcel of African customs and traditions, African life. They do not need to put them down in scripture or in texts or as tenets. (16) Each one is aware of all the elements of religion and worship. God, spirits, and the divinities are part of the body of beliefs. To take part in community worship is to have life, for that is what gives the human person dignity precisely as human. In relating with God, who is always the first and the last, Africans do not neglect the lesser spirit beings, without whom their interactions may not be complete. Above all, these spirit beings exist because humanity exists. Any deity that humanity discards ceases to exist. They are messengers of God for the benefit of humankind.
The lgbos of Nigeria believe that God pays attention to every individual at all times. Thus the individual directs prayers, sacrifices, rituals, offerings etc. to God in the manner of worship and incorporates God's name into the names given to children. Theophorous names include Chinomso (God is close by me), Chukwudi (God is), Chika (God is the greatest), Chidimma (God is good), lzuchukwu (God's plan), lwuchukwu (God's laws), etc. Because God is the final arbiter and judge to the lgbo, God's name is used in blessings, oaths and curses, and it also features in songs, and greetings.
The high point of the lgbo concept of human dignity manifested in worship is, perhaps, the reverencing of the ndichie (ancestor). An ancestor is a male person who lived a good life, had offspring, died a good and natural death at a good old age. Such a person is ushered into the ancestral world through funeral rituals and is again reincorporated into the family of his children through the setting up of a shrine for him. It is in this shrine that he is reverenced or worshipped. His presence is felt at all times as he is considered to be part and parcel of the families of his living children. Above all everybody is regarded as the reincarnation of an ancestor, a belief that accords everyone the highest dignity.
Finally, the traditional African allows individual determination of worship expression. No converts are made. There is no mission or evangelism to win people over to the traditional faith.
This also is a recognition of the dignity given in creation. Everyone has the right to religious self-expression.
12. J.S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (London: Heinmann 1969) 3ff.
13. M.O. Adasu, Understanding African Traditional Religion, Part One (Dorset: Dorset Pub. Co. 1985) 18 citing Non-Christians Secretariatus Meeting The African Religions (Roma: n.p. 1969) 3f.
14. Adasu, African Traditional Religion, 18.
15. E.G. Parrinder, Religion In Africa (London: Penguin 1969) 89.
16. An Ashanti proverb says that everyone knows of God's existence by instinct and even children know him. See Mbiti, op.cit., 29.
III. HUMAN DIGNITY IN COMMUNITY LIFE
The lgbo recognizes human dignity in human origins and Worship. It is, however, in the community life that the dignity of the human person finds perhaps its greatest expression among the lgbos.
First of all, individuals are not regarded as complete until they have been identified with a community. Each one must belong to kith and kin, to parents, brothers and sisters, who are immediate, and to a wider relationship within the extended family. There is nothing like individualism. A person belongs to an immediate family, hamlet, village, clan and town. This belonging enhances chances of survival and ensures security and growth. The compound segment is very important in lgboland. A compound is made up of families of the same immediate fathers. An individual without family is an anomaly, for the family makes the person. A family includes living relatives, ancestors and those yet to be born. According to Shorter, this is the most realistic human community. There is peaceful coexistence through sharing and mutuality. This value, he says, is shown by the use of "our" instead of "my" by Africans.
Every life crisis of an individual involves the whole compound and sometimes the whole hamlet, village, clan, or town. A new born baby does not belong to the biological mother and father only. The baby belongs to the whole community. Thus the lgbos say that one person does not own a child. The child addresses father's brothers (i.e. those called "uncles" in English) as "fathers". A child grows under the watchful eyes of everybody. As they grow up, children are initiated into the appropriate roles they are expected to play. They are not left alone to learn the societal omenala (traditions) without guidance. It is a common African belief that there is foolishness in the growing person (young person). They must therefore be guided otherwise they may destroy themselves. At all levels of development, the lgbos give people titles which indicate expected roles. Thus after infancy and childhood (nwata), a person becomes okorobia (male) or agbohobia (females). In later adult life one is referred to as okenye (old adult). At a good old age one is referred to as onye nka (the very old). At death one becomes ndichie (ancestor). Each stage carries its own dignity and respect as well as its associated role.
A person also acquires respect through the age groups he or she belongs to, for a person's age group is expected to ensure protection and security.
Thus the daily duties of a weak or sick person would be carried out by companions in the same age group. In spite of poor health, one took part in collective farming, building and harvesting, which used to be usual daily experiences. Poor people were never derided as long as they had done their best. In fact, collective labour made it impossible for a family to suffer hunger or want. During the gleaning months anyone could go into any farm to harvest the leftovers.
It was a duty to protect your neighbour's back. Everyone's dignity was respected and ensured. The farmlands were fairly distributed and no one person or selected individuals could own more than their entitled portion. Thus oppression of the downtrodden was checked. In fact there were no downtrodden. Is it any wonder, then, that hunger was not a known issue in lgboland before colonialism and the modern age of capitalism and unjust economic systems.
Respect for one another was further enhanced by the fact that the ruler and the ruled were responsible to God for whatever they did, and everyone's actions were regarded as affecting others and society for good or bad. Everyone was, therefore, "his brother's keeper". Human dignity was highly preserved for that dignity was part of a person's immortal soul or life essence. The lgbo say that "Dignity is beauty". Whenever you encounter someone, you learn, through long greetings, of his or her real condition. You put forward in conversation feelers to find out the possible reactions to the proposals you might intend to make. As a host you do not ask people whether you could do something for them. You are expected to do all you can, offering them your hospitality and warmth of reception, thereby creating for them an atmosphere conducive to speaking out frankly. A visitor is never a disturbance and does not need to make an appointment for a visit. Gifts are not to be refused, for this is regarded as an insult. (21)
If a neighbour seeks to borrow from you, you give what is needed in confidence. You assist the neighbour who is in trouble without waiting to be invited.
The old are respected and cared for as they are the custodians of the societal customs and morality. The older people in the community are regarded as advanced in wisdom and self-discipline. The whole life of a person in the community is geared toward the service of God and humanity.
Sin is regarded as resulting from the urge for power. (22) Power is sought as a means of suppression and oppressfon of the weak. The lgbo understanding of human dignity recognizes that suppression and oppression (power) are desires lying at the centre of human personality which must be adequately checked if human dignity is to be upheld. Neglect of human dignity can result from sin, which can lead to catastrophe because the gods would readily react adversely - a situation that would do no one any good.
Taking care of the less fortunate ones in the community is a duty no one dares neglect. The orphan, the widow, the deformed etc. are provided for and never to be oppressed. A child is taught lessons against the oppressing of the weak early in life. This is done through songs and folk stories. The following is one such song which the writer was taught when he was about the age of five:
nwa ewen nne UnechU
nwa 'wen, nwa 'we nneh, Unneh!
eshi ma nri
Unneh!
akpaba nwa enwe nne
Unneh!!!
Eje ma oru
Unneh!!
Akpofu nwa nwe nne
Unneh!!!
Eshi sha nri
Unneh!!
Akpofu nwa enwe nne
Unneh!!!
Eri mma nri
Unneh!!!
Akpofu nwa enwe nne
Unneh!!
Nwa enwe nne Unneh!
Ahu shiela m anya Unneh!
Ahu shie anya, Unneh!!!
Ahu shie anya ka onwu
Unneh!!!
Translation
Oh! the orphan! Oh! the orphan!!
In preparing food,
The orphan is involved in the cooking.
In going to work (farm),
The orphan is involved in the work.
But when the cooking is completed,
The orphan is sent out of the house.
When the eating is carried out,
The orphan is sent away.
Oh! the orphan!
I, the orphan, have suffered indeed.
I, the orphan, have suffered indeed.
My suffering is worse than death.
The lesson that is taught in this song and the accompanying story shows that the orphan represents all the possible states of the weak, all the types of oppression which can come from the master, and the consequences for the oppressed. Oppression of the helpless leads to a most pitiable state.
In some parts of Africa, there existed the common practice afan anonymous person leaving an empty basket in the center of a village as an indication that some person or family was in difficulty. People responded to this gesture by putting into the basket whatever they could afford to give away, sometimes from their very need. No questions were asked. After a while, the anonymous person came to carry away the filled basket.(23)
21. Ibid, 133.
22. Ibid. The writer's great-grandfather who was leader of his people relinguished the throne because the colonial masters introduced oppression of the subjects.
23. A practice among the Shilluk and some tribes in Nigeria. See Ibid., 111.
CONCLUSION
The human person, special among all the creatures of the universe, has a high dignity in the mind of the African. Although hey may not be perfect, human beings still have a special place in God's heart. God does not discard them and has given them many special qualities which make them different and dignified. People worship God as a right and this makes them morally responsible, a value that other forms of creation lack. In the African community, therefore, all acknowledge this special nature of the human person, and consequently human dignity is extolled and granted each one. African society was what it was solely because the upholding of human dignity was uppermost in the African mind. Being an ever-worshipping being, the African sees the greatest indication of worship in care and respect for others. From childhood, each one is taught to belong and to respect, to produce and to share.
The lesson the modern world can learn from the African is that inhumanity breeds oppression, competition, war, hunger and, perhaps, the final destruction of the human race itself.