Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / NewStats: 3,194,660 members, 7,955,393 topics. Date: Sunday, 22 September 2024 at 02:51 AM |
Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Culture / The Ibibio Origins Of The Okonko Cult (4120 Views)
The Ancient Ibibio People / Nsibidi And The Ibibio Civilization Of Arochukwu / The Dialects Of Ibibio And Where They Are Spoken (2) (3) (4)
The Ibibio Origins Of The Okonko Cult by Nobody: 2:12pm On Jan 21, 2016 |
The Ibibio Origins of The Okonko Cult Origins of Okonko OBINKITA Obot Okon Ita or Obinkita was the capital of the Ibibio kingdom of Obong Okon Ita a.k.a. Ibom/Mbot Abasi, before its conquest by Igbo and Akpa invaders between 1630–1720. This town is significant in Aro History because Obinkita became the center where defeated Ibibio warriors and many of their Long Juju Shrine priests were judged and eventually executed. That is why all Aro villages assemble, annually, at Obinkita during the Ikeji festival. Obinkita is now one of the 19 villages of Arochukwu. Note: Obot means HILL in IBIBIO. So, Obot Okon Ita means Okon Ita Hills Note: The Akpa (Efiks) were themselves of Ibibio origin Origin of Okonko The exact period and date when the Okonko Society came to Igboland is not known. Most heads of families and elders in Igboland today cannot give the historical origin of Okonko. They are contented with saying that the society was in existence even before their forefathers. They do not know or cannot provide the answer because the Igbo are not the originators of the Okonko Cult. The society came into being in an attempt to put a stop to community conflicts, inter-tribal wars (Ibibio versus the migrating Igbo and their allies) and eventually create a peaceful coexistence among people and neighbors. According to James (1976), the people realised that warfare was incompatible with trade. The Aros used the Okonko society in order to win the co-operation of different communities. From another angle, prominent elders from Ohafia, Bende and Ikwuano areas of Abia State strongly opined that Okonko was derived from Ekpe society of the Efik-Ibibio. Okonko originated in the Ekot areas, and by early part of the eighteenth century, it had spread to the Cross River territory. It is likely that Ekpe diffused into Arochukwu, a neighbouring group where it was known as Okonko during the same period. From Arochukwu Okonko spread to other parts of Igboland. In the light of the above, Ekpe society migrated into Igboland as Okonko, spreading to almost all communities of Igboland that have “ndee wo” and ”mma mma” (Ngwa/Annang dialects) as their forms of greetings. It is to be noted here that early members of Okonko were associated with the Long-juju of Arochukwu. According to Offenberg (1975), “members visited Arochukwu so that the oracle would solve such problems as “poor crops”, continued illness, epidemics and lack of children.” A middle opinion on the origin and history of Okonko society claims that the local agents of the Long-juju of Arochukwu were pioneers of Okonko society. They were called “Enyi Ndi Aro”, friends of the Aros. It is claimed in some Igbo quarters, that the Aros (Ibibio descendants) gave them a secret symbol of Okonko called “Ngbara” which empowered them to form the society in their localities (Abadist,1954). |
Re: The Ibibio Origins Of The Okonko Cult by Nobody: 2:16pm On Jan 21, 2016 |
NOTE: The Igbo word, NGBARA (Power or authority) is similar to the Yoruba word, AGBARA, which also means POWER or AUTHORITY. The Igbo and the Yoruba were one and the same in ancient antiquity. They split and eventually developed separate and very distinct identities over time. The founder of Okonko in each Igbo community was recognized as the President or “Eze Ngbara”. Eze means King or Lord in the Igbo language. The president presided over the weekly meetings of the society and regulated its affairs with the multi-titled holders constituting the second rank in Okonko society (Abadist 1954). In all analysis, the consensus opinion about the origin of Okonko in Igboland is that the society sprouted from among the free-born as a platform of social, economic, political and religious metamorphoses. The society existed and still is a formal society in Igboland permeated by a sense of mystery. Just like the descriptions Laye (1981) gave to a coherent society with a consistent manner of life, Okonko society is a society whose origins “are incapable of explanation”. Religious and Social Functions All households and lineage in Igboland have their own heads. Most, if not all of such heads, are elderly men and staunch members of Okonko society. This informed the reason why Onyejekwe (2003) described Okonko society as indispensable in the daily governance of communities in Igboland. He strongly submitted that, Okonko was a powerful institution, which dominated the government of the community. During the precolonial and colonial eras, Okonko promulgated laws, enforced laws and order and performed the function of social control, it employed different techniques to enforce its rules and regulations. |
Re: The Ibibio Origins Of The Okonko Cult by Nobody: 2:26pm On Jan 21, 2016 |
Okonko served and still functions as the principal means of communicating with supernatural beings and the ancestors with the purpose of maintaining religious and social stability in Igboland. Offiong (1989) puts this point thus: “The Okonko is an attempt to reduce the all pervading spiritual world to an organization in which a few selected men can contact the spiritual world and interpret it to the people.” Therefore, among the religious and social functions of Okonko is the settlement of important disputes in various Igbo communities. When there is a religious or social matter at stake, threatening community stability, Okonko members would assemble at the village square or at the “Obi” to listen to the matter. Decision or judgment is decided according to custom and tradition. Against this background, Ilogu (1980) wrote that, “the sort of things that are publicly judged include “aru” which are against the earth goddess believed to bring disintegration to the “Umunna”, village or town such as murder of a fellow town’s man, Inbreeding, stealing of yam especially by… titled person. Okonko society, no doubt, had the most powerful administrative network in Igboland. Before any major feast or initiation ceremony in Igboland, the “eze Okonko” makes sacrifices to the mother spirit inviting her to grace the occasion with her presence. Her presence is believed to be inevitable if the ceremony or initiation is to be successful. The Okonko society also performs immersion ritual on behalf of the community. The community passes through such a cleansing process in order for all the evil things and sins of the community to be forgiven. This religious duty is often carried out, by the Okonko society, at the beginning of the planting season. The religious and social functions carried out by the Okonko society give the people a sense of reassurance that all is well again in the community. It is also the Okonko society that determines the date and manner in which the new yam festival will be celebrated within the year. The new yam festival is an agricultural and social ceremony designed to rejoice together for the good harvest. It is also put in place by the Okonko society to appeal to the spirit in charge of yam, to be equally propitious the next season. Until this ritual is carried out by Okonko society, new yams, at least theoretically, are not eaten. The ceremony is quite elaborate involving sacrifices to the “ahia njoku”, the yam spirit. In all these, the Okonko Society features prominently (Offiong 1989). Okonko society also excommunicated people in very severe cases. The person is outlawed, banished and sent on involuntary exile (Achebe 1981). Despite Western education and the influence of Christian Religion in Igboland, the functions and activities of Okonko society are still celebrated with zeal. Though these are now done with modifications, the secret symbol and mysteries of Okonko society remain a matter of pastoral concern for the Christian Churches. Today, even though membership in Okonko is not mandatory, young men still look up to membership. A lot of parents feel uneasy until their male children indicate interest and are initiated into Okonko society. |
Re: The Ibibio Origins Of The Okonko Cult by Nobody: 2:27pm On Jan 21, 2016 |
CONCLUSION Of all the societies in Igboland, Okonko has the central place of importance in the lives and affairs of every free born male adult in the land. Okonko covers the traditional, religious and social lives of the Igbos prior to the advent of Western Culture and Christianity. The society is primarily a social, political, religious and judicial organization, established for the purpose of maintaining justice, peace and order in Igboland. This means that Okonko Society had the effect of preventing crime in the community. It was a vital society that reassured the rest of the populace concerning the enforcement of customary laws, especially in land matters and marriage cases. Yet discussing the signs and counter signs in Christian life in Africa, a former Duff Lecturer insisted that “however anxious a missionary may be to appreciate and retain indigenous social and moral values, in the case of religion, he has to be ruthless…, he must admit and even emphasize that the religion he teaches is opposed to the existing one and that one has to cede to the other” (Westermann 1973). These submissions by Westermann (1973), a German missionary scholar, today captures the relationship between Okonko Society and Christianity in Igboland. Some indigenous clergy, zealous and committed to pleasing their European masters, see Okonko society as an institution that should be completely eliminated. According to them, “giving” the new means taking away the old. It has taken the intervention of another scholar of missionary expansionism, Cragg (1968), to raise the question: “if the old is taken away, to whom is the new given?” |
Re: The Ibibio Origins Of The Okonko Cult by Nobody: 2:35pm On Jan 21, 2016 |
From all these and what is on ground in Igboland, one is firmly moved to state that Christianity cannot succeed in enthroning God’s kingdom if it ignores the impact of “Okonkonism” in the lives of Igbo Christians. “Okonkonism” is a manifestation of Igbo race’s search for God. This means that Okonko society was a providential preparation for the advent of Christian religion in Africa in general and Igboland in particular. In the theory and practice of Okonko society, as this paper has highlighted, God was ahead of the Christian missionaries, preparing the Igbo race to encounter Christ. Thus, Sanneh (1983), in connection to this fact said that the places (in Igboland) reflecting the most marked accession to the Christian religion are also the areas of the highest concentration of the old traditional religion. Okonko society in Igboland is thus, a significant factor that the immense Christian presence should not ignore. The Church has a lot to learn from the Okonko society especially in the areas of human and divine values embedded in Afrel. Therefore, this paper advocates that African Bishops and Priests drop their negative views of their own culture and religious history. This will be the beginning of the enormous task ahead in the area of inter-religious dialogue with Afrel and incarnating the gospel in Okonko society of Igboland. |
Re: The Ibibio Origins Of The Okonko Cult by Nobody: 2:35pm On Jan 21, 2016 |
REFERENCES ABADIST 1954. Report on the Long –juju of Aro and Okonko Society. National Archives Report Series No 54/20, Enugu: Abadist. Achebe C 1981. Things Fall Apart. London: Heinemann Books. Ayandele EA 1991. The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria 1842-1914. London: Longman Group Ltd. Awolalu JO, Dopamu PA 2005. West African Traditional Religion. Ibadan: Macmillan Publishers Limited. Comblin J 1998. Called For Freedom. New York: Orbis Books. Cragg K 1968. Christianity in World Perspective. London: Lutherworth Press. Ilogu E 1980. Igbo Traditional Societies. Enugu: SNAPP Press. Jones J 1976. The Trading States. Nairobi: Heinemann Books. Laye C 1981. The African Child. London: William Collins & Co. Ltd. Mbakwe PU 2008. Christianity and Socio-Cultural changes in Mbaise. Imo State. AAU: African Studies Review, 7: 28-38. Offenberg D 1975. Ibo Oracles. Port Harcourt: Newsman Press. Offiong DO 1989. Continuity and Change in Some Traditional Societies of Nigeria. Zaria: Ahmadu Bello University Press Ltd. Onyejekwu U 2003. Okonko Society in Igboland. The Guardian Newspaper, Daily, February 15, 1982, P. 12. Sanneh L 1983. West African Christianity. The Religious Impact. London: C. Hurst. Thompson BF 1970. West African Secret Societies. The Organizations, Officials and Teachings Westport: Negro University Press. Vatican II Fathers 1965. Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions. Vatican II Council. October, 1962-1965, pp. 733-743. Westermann D 1937. Africa and Christianity. London: Oxford University Press. http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/T-Anth/Anth-12-0-000-10-Web/Anth-12-3-000-10-Abst-PDF/Anth-12-3-161-10-601-Nwosu-P-U/Anth-12-3-161-10-601-Nwosu-P-U-Tt.pdf |
(1) (Reply)
Seun Osewa Did You See This? / Meaning And Origin Of The Word Isee Or Amen / Oyo Empire - 1300CE
(Go Up)
Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 33 |