By Odogwu Emeka Odogwu


IGBO LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND FR PROF BONACHRISTUS

Igbo language is one of the four major languages in Nigeria. Igbo language is a member of the Niger-Congo family of languages. And it is spoken by about 18 million people in Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, etc.

Love it or hate it, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, an organ of the United Nation, UN, in 2012 has said that the Igbo Language will be extinct by 2050.

UNESCO predicted that “half of the 7000 plus languages spoken today will disappear by the end of the century?” Already we are in 2018 and so many Igbo groups rather than focus on the solution via promotion of the Language, culture and tradition of Ndigbo were rather busy ranting over the comment by the world body. Any sustained plan to reinvigorate the Igbo tradition, language and culture is a welcomed development.

This is one mission the Igbo village and centre for African Civilization (IVACAC), a Directorate in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, created in the 2016/2017 academic session by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph E Ahaneku FAS has taken to achieve before the deadline of 2050. The center has Very Rev. Fr. Prof. BonaChristus Uchenna Umeogu as the pioneer Director and Prof. Okodo Ikechukwu as the Deputy Director. IVACAC has marshalled out plans to ensure Igbo Language, culture and tradition reign supreme first in Nigeria, Africa and the World.

According to the Director, Very Rev. Fr. Prof. BonaChristus Uchenna Umeogu, the Directorate was created to preserve and foster “Igboness” (Ejirimara Igbo) in relation to the people who regard Igboland as their ancestral homeland and who think in and speak Igbo language and have their life, and existence in Igbo tradition and culture.
The idea is to expose the Igbo civilization to the Igbos, Africa and the world at large. That is the deciding reason why the motto of the directorate is: Enlightening the world through Igbo African Heritage. Since we are talking about “Igboness”, that is, what concerns the Igbo people, the term, “Igwebuike” which connotes the spirit of oneness, collectivism and communalism represents the ideology on which Igbo Village as the centre of African civilization can be developed from a university as an Ivory Tower.
Fr Bona who holds a Television programme with the ABS Awka on ‘’The kingdom of God and Igbo University’’, said that the absence of “Obi” in an Igbo community is like the absence of soul in a body, for Obi Igbo is the quintessence of Igbo civilization. The absence of Obi Igbo anywhere in Igbo community will always be a tragedy, because it is indicative of the fact that such a community has no origin, no history, no authority, no people, and no life. So the presence of Obi in Igbo community is always a clear indication of the being and existence of Igbo spirit. So Obi Igbo is the place from which the spirit of Igboness emerges to connect with and possess the Igbo people for the authorization and generation of enlightenment and civilization.
Igbo village and the centre for African civilization is consequently founded on “Ohazurume Igbo”. Ohazurume simply means ‘‘it is the Igbo communal spirit that does things”. That is to say, whether in Igbo or in Africa or in the world “oha” is greater than anyone (Ohaka), that is, the community as instituted by Obi Igbo and personified by eldest males or most important individuals is supreme. In Ohazurume, “Oha” represents the spirit of Igboness or the Igbo spirit or the spirit of Igbo people (both living and dead) which, even though it is arrived at by “consensus communi” and ipso facto by representative or sovereignized Obi Igbo leadership of the council of elders and most important individuals, cannot be faulted by any single individual or village or town, or group, etc. So, Igbo Village and Centre for African Civilization is here to constitute and institute Obi Igbo Ohazurume ideology.

Very Rev. Fr. Umeogu noted that the aims and objectives of the Igbo village and centre for African civilization is aimed at excavating the contributions of heroes of the past such as Nnamdi Azikiwe, Mike Okpala, Power Mike, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Chinua Achebe, etc, as the foundations of today’s Igbo civilization. From their works and achievements we hope to establish a background to form a foreground in expanding the frontiers of Igbo civilization through Research, Science, Medicine and indeed every aspect of human endeavour. It is important to note that ignoring the works and achievements of such elders and heroes of the past has created a huge gap between them and the present generation and it is this gap that the directorate hopes to fill.

Also, the directorate has a view of indigenizing researches by instituting Igbo studies in areas of Igbo Science, Igbo Medicine, Igbo architecture and engineering, Igbo physics, etc. The idea is that before the colonial times, the Igbo society was functional in every sense, but with the coming of the colonial masters, all aspects of these functional structures were abandoned. It is our objective and vision to explore these areas with a view to remodel same for the civilization of mankind.

This, Fr Bona hopes IVACAC will achieve by drawing and executing programmes to highlight and showcase the culture and tradition of Igbo extraction to the world; By annual “Ohazurume Igbo Festival” to promote Igbo language and thought through building and remodeling of thought process in a way that will unify the entire Igbo people; Promotion of programmes geared towards engraving the Igbo ideology in the mind of the new generation which is fast loosing hold of what the Igbo culture and tradition really are; Enlightening the world through Igbo-African heritage, by the use of Radio, Television, and Social Media vehicles and programmes among others, etc.
Fr Bona, a first class brain all his life and the only Magister Maximus concluded that : ‘’IVACAC has been created to preserve the order of Igbo spirit amidst the march and progress of Igbo civilization. Yes, IVACAC has come to act as the conscience of Igbo people. Of course, “Conscience is an open wound and only truth can heal it”. So IVACAC is concerned not only with fostering and preserving Igbo civilization in the world, but also, with using Igbo spirit, to organically measure and maintain the order and homogeneity of Igbo civilization amidst the changing and heterogeneity of the Igbo times.
IVACAC has come to make sure that all Igbo traits and natural inclinations are in consonance with the Igbo spirit. To be sure IVACAC has come to connect Igbo civilization to its source: Igbo spirit, so as to give the world worthwhile enlightenment and civilization.


IGBO VILLAGE IN UNIZIK, PROF J. E. AHANEKU, FR PROF BONACHRISTUS AND CHIEF NNIA NWODO


Matching words with action, a maiden Ohazurume Igbo festival was organized as well as fund raising and awards ceremony at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka. At the event, the foundation for the Directorate of Igbo Village and Center for African Civilization (IVACAC) was laid. The construction of the center is to cost Six Hundred and Ninety Six Million, three hundred and seventy six thousand eighty eight naira , fifty kobo (N696,376,088,50).

Speaking during the maiden Ohazurume Igbo festival , fund raising and awards , the Director , Directorate of Igbo Village and Center for African civilization (IVACAC), Rev Fr Prof Bonachristus Umeogu said the sum would be raised to build a befitting center for IVACAC in Unizik and appealed for support to make it a reality.

The Unizik renowned international Philosophy Professor Fr Umeogu appealed to Governors in the South East led by Ebonyi State Governor, Chief Engr Dave Umahi , lovers of Igbo nation , philanthropists and well-meaning sons and daughters of Ndigbo to rally round and make the center a reality for the future of Ndigbo.

The Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka , Prof Joseph Ahaneku, FAS said the University was responding to the fear of the eclipse of Igbo language and culture hence the University decided to set up the Igbo Village and center for African Civilization to research on , revive and revitalize Igbo language and culture in the context of contemporary times and to promote /propagate same in tandem with African civilization.
Prof Ahaneku appealed to Igbo sons and daughters to assist the University in making the center a center of attraction in Igbo land.

In his lecture, the lecturer and President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo , Chief John Nnia Nwodo commended Prof Ahaneku for instituting a General Studies in Igbo in the University to ensure that every student graduating through the institution had a smattering of Igbo language and culture, describing it as a milestone in advancing the culture and language.
He frowned at the attitude of some parents who not only discourage their children from grasping the language and culture but ensures they do not speak it with them at home even as he appealed to parents to be vanguards of promotion of the language and culture at all times and shun those who refer to Igbo language and culture as vernacular.

He further commended the development strides by the Unizik VC , encouraging him to continue leaving his strides on sands of time as history would judge him creditably.


GREAT COLLOQUIUM OF IGBO RENAISSANCE: MSGR PROF OKERE, FR DR ARAZU, FR PROF OGUEJIOFOR, MR OBAZE, ETC

In similar situation, a one day Igbo Renaissance Colloquium held on Sunday June 10th, 2018 during the Golden Jubilee Birthday of Very Rev Fr. Prof BonaChristus Umeogu at the Communio Sanctorum Ministry International ground behind Old Tourist Garden, Awka capital territory near Old English Hotel ended with resolutions for dedicated re-awakening of the Igbo spirit, culture and tradition in the contemporary era.

The Colloquium organized by Igbo Spirit , Destiny and Life (ISDAL), Christian Life and Destiny (CHRISLAD) in collaboration with Communio Sanctorum Ministry International Awka was to celebrate Very Rev. Fr. (Prof.) Bonachristus Uchenna Umeogu’s 50 years birthday anniversary.

Rev. Fr. Prof. Umeogu an incandescent scholar, a luminous star, who has chosen to be pedagogic in his life, has his personality adored by the literati and intelligentia because he is a notable patriot, a philanthropist, a bridge builder with a passion for humanitarian gestures particularly in the development of philosophy education.

Bonachristus has achieved some organon of intellectual artistry, amalgamated with God’s grace and innermost self-disposition. His image is already made by his services to God and humanity. He is like a ‘‘light that shines in darkness but darkness does not comprehend it’’. Fr BonaChristus, a colossus, a titan of his class was seen among the ancients in the days of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle; during the Medieval in the likes of Tertullian, Augustine and Aqunas; among modern intellectuals in the likes of the Encyclopedists, Immanuel Kant, Baruch Spinoza, Newton, Einstein, etc .

The colloquium tagged ‘’2018 Great Colloquium for Igbo renaissance-----Solving the problem of Unity and Division in the Cultural Hermeneutics of Igbo Identity’’ was attended by thousands of eminent personalities and clergy.
The Colloquium insisted that it is now time for Ndigbo to close ranks to revitalize and re-align their cultures and traditions with their Christian faith to enable them be at par with other major tribes in Nigeria.

The attendees called on Ndi Igbo to ensure they preserve and sustain their culture, language and traditions at all times.

The colloquium which started with a Holy Mass attracted many Reverend Fathers and sisters, academia, top government officials, and thousands of friends and well-wishers to felicitate with Rev Fr BonaChristus Umeogu, founder of Communio Sanctorum.

Speaking, a renowned Catholic Priest in the Archdiocese of Owerri, and the father of African Hermeneutics of Culture, Msgr. Theophilus Okere noted that Igbo identity was never a matter of debate before the debacle of Biafra. He wondered why some communities in Nigeria particularly South-South who speak Igbo and answer Igbo names still see themselves as non Igbo communities by even corrupting their names to sound strange in Igbo language and culture.

Msgr. Okere stated further: ‘’…..some unity, some division there always was and there always will be. But, the modern levels and versions of disunity, and, division seen to stem from defeat, and, loss of Biafra and the collapse of all its hopes’’.

‘’Hermeneutics like archaeology is a study of backgrounds, a baring of foundations, a digging for the pre-judgment behind the explicit judgments. Applying this to Nigeria for the purposes of peaceful co-existence we must talk of our fears of each other, our mutual suspicions, prejudices and distrust, our hatreds, secrets, plans and plots, past and present. We must honestly examine our consciences and admit and confess wrongs done to individuals and groups. There has been too many wrongs, too many victims, too much oppression and especially there has been too much insensitivity’’
.
‘’Hermeneutics is the act of interpretation.‘’Interpretation means finding and getting meaning out of something. Bringing light to its hidden meaning, obscurities’’.


In his submission, a catholic Priest, Reverend Father Dr Raymond Arazu who went down memory lane to discuss the travails and ordeals of Ndi Igbo in the entity called Nigeria with its attendant challenges for over sixty decades.

Rev Fr Arazu further revealed that the Igbo race was at a great disadvantage for it could not compete with its better placed and wealthier compatriots, as the meagre savings of the Igbos since 1960 went more into family, village and town rehabilitation projects, than into buying of shares in industries and other business concerns and noted that Christianity has helped to mellow the spirit of the Igbos.

As well, Rev Fr Prof Obi Oguejiofor , Director of General Studies Unizik, said that being an Igbo man comes from home where the parents will start early to teach their wards mother tongue, lamenting that some are now weak while the Igbos are known as industrious, hardworking and eager to do new things.


In his paper presentation titled Igbo Aphorism as guide and metaphors that presage Igbo renaissance, a former Governorship Aspirant under PDP in Anambra state and former secretary to the state government, Mr Oseloka Obaze said that Ndigbo need to make the best of the circumstance they found themselves in Nigeria and regretted that majority of the Igbo leaders especially those in the corridors of power have not done enough to alleviate the plight of Ndigbo.

Obaze, a former UN staff declared: ‘’My point is that I had no choice in being made a black man and an Igbo man. But someone else made a choice for me, to belong to a country called Nigeria, and to be for some exhilarating but anguishing 30 months, a citizen of a country called Biafra. Likewise, someone unbeknown to me, but with the tacit complicity of my parents made me a Christian, and specifically, Roman Catholic. Yes, that I am, and as much I accept it and adhere to the tenets and dogmas of Catholicism. I am certainly not Roman. I am a Nigerian. And proudly, Igbo!’’

For former Vice Chancellor of Unizik and President Otusubakwa Igbo, Nigeria, Professor Pita Ejiofor, while regretting the attitude and nonchalant posture of Ndigbo to their language , tradition and culture encouraged Ndigbo to engage in active speaking of their mother tongue without apologies to rekindle interest in the language and culture to avoid the prediction by UNESCO. He traced the efforts of the Otusubakwa Igbo to ensure the language and culture of Ndigbo is respected and recognized world over.

Earlier in a homily, Reverend Father Dr Chika Okpalaike said the convener, Fr Bona was born to help the spiritual and healthy evolution of man and to ensure that our life as Igbos is not lost ; advising for the discovery of all that made us Igbo.
The moderator of the colloquium who is the Dean School of Post Graduate studies UNIZIK, Professor Ike Odimegwu said though we learn education with English language but vernacular gives deeper meaning more especially by using idiomatic expressions.

Another speaker, Prof. Tracie Utoh-Ezeajugh who is the Dean, Faculty of Arts Unizik insisted that the challenge against Igbo language, culture and tradition should not be only focused on men. She said also that it is disgusting and against Igbo tradition and culture for women to strap their child on their back and be begging along the roads or on top of bridges.

Contributing, an Expert on Entrepreneurial Studies, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam , Prof Felicia Uchehara in her paper entitled: ‘’How does culture influence the entrepreneurial behavour of the Ndigbo?’’, said though culturally, Ndigbo are endowed with proven acclaimed character-traits of successful, entrepreneurs, but there are challenges facing the achievement of these potentials.


She noted that: ‘’to arrest this ugly situation for a better society, social entrepreneurship need to be encouraged. Social entrepreneurship is different from commercial entrepreneurs that seek financial gains. The successful Igbo entrepreneurs need to be encouraged to use part of their profit to establish/encourage the economic development of the unemployed and vulnerable groups in Igboland.
‘’What the Communio Sanctorum International Ministries is doing today and always such as; attending to the sick, empowering the youth through imparting knowledge, and attending to other social problems during first Thursday in the monthly prayer sessions is called social entrepreneurship. A priest who finds time to attend to the social needs of the people is referred to as “Clergypreneur”. It follows therefore that very Rev. Fr. Prof. Bonachristus Umeogu is a Clergypreneur.
To be continued here ......

http://www.ashiwaju.org/2018/07/igbo-village-prof-ahaneku-fr-prof.html

Odogwu Emeka Odogwu is a known Journalist , Editor, famous Blogger , Social Media Entrepreneur, Media Strategist, Publisher and Conversationalist @ www.odogwublog.com among others Phone Number: 08060750240 E-mail : odogwuchampionawka@yahoo.co.uk
Ok Sir
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God bless the igbos