Hilaskee: I thought those widowhood rites of drinking water from the the bath of the corpse and sleeping in the same room with the dead body...are only performed to widows suspected to have a hand in the death of her husband?

Abagworo:

I'm an Igbo man that's also deep in my culture. Never have I heard nor seen such practice except in instances of oath taking. If the dead is believed to have been murdered, all the suspects would undergo that ritual and take an oath of innocence. If Achebe took the Ozo title then he will be buried sitting upright on a throne in an Ozo burial chamber after undergoing the necessary rituals. The picture below depicts that.

alfaman1: Anyway, Achebe brought this to himself by pandering to christianity.

ACM10:


Achebe did not pander to christianity. He was born into a christian family. So he became a christian by birth, not by choice. His late father was an orphan and refugee from a bitter intra-ethnic civil war. Achebe's paternal grandparents died in that war. His father was raised by his late uncle. An orphan status made his father to be more open to western religion. No doubt that he readily accepted western religion and became an early convert of Anglican church in my town. Achebe's late father also served as a catechist at St. Philip Anglican church Ogidi in 1940s.

Achebe suffered from identity crisis as he became more educated and wide-read. He started to trace back his root to African traditional religion from then on. If you read Achebe's works, you will observe some of these transitions in his life

S@NNiE:
The Anglican Church has said it will not release the body of the renowned author, Prof. Chinua Achebe, to the Ogidi community, Anambra State for burial.

Similarly, the church and family of the late professor have said that they will not allow his wife, Christy, to go through the traditional widowhood rites that women who lose their husbands in Igboland are made to undergo.

The Archdeacon of Ogidi and Vicar of St. Philip's Anglican Church, Ven. Obi Ubaka, told Saturday PUNCH that the body of Achebe belonged to the church, which shall perform the final rites for the fallen statesman on Thursday, May 23.

The church's reaction came as Chief S. Okoli, the Regent of Ogidi, Achebe's hometown, said the late author would be buried at night because he was a titled man.

Okoli had said, "As a titled man, he (Achebe) will be buried towards evening in line with our culture and tradition. His body will lie in state in the yam barn where daughters of the clan shall pay him their last respects before he will be buried in the night."

But the archdeacon said, "He (Achebe) is going to be buried immediately after the church service at 1 pm in broad daylight. It is not true that he will be buried at night.

"The church won't hand over the body to the community. Which one has the upper hand; the church or the community? The church has the upper hand in this case. He was a Christian and should be buried in a Christian way," Ubaka insisted.

Similarly, the Achebe family said the issue of when and how the late author would be buried was not a subject of dispute.

The head of the Umu Ada Achebe (the female members of the family), and niece of the late author, Mrs. Ngozi Ezedum, told Saturday PUNCH that the story that her uncle would be buried at night according to traditional rites was an unfounded speculation.

"He was from a real Christian family. And in the Achebe family, we do things the Christian way," Ezedum said.

She said the title that Achebe held did not in any way compromise his religion as a Christian. Achebe's Ozo title is Ugo Belu N'Orji (Eagle on the Iroko).

Ezedum said Achebe's wife could feel free to come home without fear that she will be made to undergo traditional widowhood rites.

"I have told my uncle's wife that I am around, nobody will do anything," the head of the Umu Ada said.

She, however, said other traditional rites like searching for Achebe and taking care of his body by the women would be performed.

She said the Anglican Church in the Niger Diocese had long abolished the widowhood rites because they were repugnant to good conscience.

Such practices include making the widow to shave her head, drink the water used to bathe her husband's corpse, sit on the floor and sleep in the same room with the corpse.

"She will not even wear any mourning clothe black or white. The Anglican Church doesn't want that anymore," Ezedum said.

Meanwhile, preparations for the burial of the late literary icon are ongoing.

His Ikenga Ogidi country home is a beehive of activities as workers, artisans and builders work round the clock to erect a mausoleum, which would serve as his final resting place and obi, the major reception in his compound.

The compound situated on the Ogidi-Abatete Road was cordoned off and only the people working on the project are allowed in.

The main house is also being given a facelift, while a new coat of paint has been added to the perimeter fence.

The entire Ikenga Ogidi community is also being given a face-lift as the Idemili North Local Government Council has been grading roads leading to the family home of the Achebes and the St. Philip Church, where the funeral service will be conducted.

The church building is also being rehabilitated, with dozens of painters, masons, tile layers, iron benders and electricians working on the new church auditorium, which has been selected to host the burial service.

The Archdeacon of the church, Ven. Obi Ubaka, said the family had provided financial assistance to finish the work on the new church building so that it would be ready to host the event.

"The Primate of the Church of Nigeria will lead the officiating ministers. He will be supported by the Archbishop of the Niger, the Most Rev. Christian Efobi, and the Bishop on the Niger, Rt. Rev. Owen Nwokolo," Ubaka said.

Secretary to the Anambra State Government, Mr. Oseloka Obaze, who was in Ogidi to monitor the level of work on the projects, told Saturday PUNCH that President Goodluck Jonathan and two other heads of state would be present at the burial.

Oseloka denied claims by some family members that the Anambra State Government had not provided substantial financial support for the burial of the author and playwright.

Though he did not want to go into details, Obaze said, "That is categorically wrong. That impression is wrong. Anybody, who has said that is not being forthright. That is wrong," he said.

http://mobile.punchng.com/output.php?link=http://www.punchng.com/news/community-church-family-fight-over-achebes-body/

alfaman1:

There is no such thing as a "christian family". If you reach an age where you should stop believing in fairy tales but chose to continue to de so, you cannot blame others. When he realised that christianity was bullcrap, he still continued in it until his death. Do you think this church would be coming out fighting for his body if he had declared himself a pagan?

ACM10:

Why do you love to flaunt your ignorance in a public forum? I have a feeling that you have mental issues. I repeat that widowhood rite in my town does not dehumanize women. Tell me what is dehumanizing in a woman in her late 70s shaving her hair, adorning white cloth and staying within the confines of her husband's house to mourn him within a stipulated time? My grandmother passed through it. So I know what I'm talking about. Mrs Achebe may choose to forgo such rite. No one will force it on her. But it will be nice that she pass through it, since her husband was a strong advocate of African traditions.

Blackgold09: Things no fit fall apart o cos d church must burial him oooooo

dasparrow:

@Bolded

Why must the woman's head be shaved when the hair of a woman is her glory? And then you tell me it is not dehumanizing. Is that the thank you a woman gets for sticking with her husband all this years and bearing his kids? You people are heartless with hearts as dark as the night. Life is not meant to be forever so I don't know why Nigerians and probably other Africans make such a big deal when a married man dies but when it is the wife that dies first, you people will be quick to start looking for another wife for the widower before the body of his late wife even get's cold.

This is why African women in particular need to open their eyes before accepting proposals and marrying men from certain African ethnic groups who practice barbaric customs which are meant to cause a grieving woman more pain in this 21st century. If Africa wants to remain backward, stuck with her barbaric backward cultures, then so be it but the rest of the world is forging ahead.

I don't blame Mrs Christy Achebe for choosing not to come to Nigeria for her husband's burial. No elderly woman who just lost her husband of many years needs the added stress of adhering to some ancient and brutal tradition as if shaving the head will bring back the dead. Why don't they equally castrate the men when they loose their wives to prove they have no hand in their wives' death? After all, what is good for the goose is equally good for the gander. Bunch of jokers!

S@NNiE:


Such practices include making the widow to shave her head, drink the water used to bathe her husband's corpse, sit on the floor and sleep in the same room with the corpse.

/

alfaman1: I feel like bombing a church.

ACM10:

But mind you that it is not easy to be a paganist or an atheist in this part of the world. You will be virtually ostracized by the dominant religions.

2dmax: Agbaworo, can you pls send me the link to the picture you pasted on this response? Thanks.

goldolu: Since the hunter have decided to shoot without missing, the birds have also decided to fly without perching

IGBO-SON:
Umu-Ada!.....a very powerful group of women in any extended family, trust me!