₦airaland Forum

Catherine Acholonu: Igbo Traditions Reveal Ancient “Genetic Engineering”
Posted on July 22, 2009 by Richard Bartholomew
Also: accuses me of racism

Prof. Catherine Acholonu has a new book out: They Lived Before Adam: Prehistoric Origins of the Igbo The Never-Been-Ruled. Acholonu is Nigeria’s Country Ambassador for the UN Forum of Arts and Culture (UNFAC), and according to this profile:

The UNFAC team of culture researchers- linguists, anthropologists, historians, IT specialists, folklorists – led by Prof. Acholonu, are conducting research aimed at unearthing the hidden meanings of ancient Nigerian rock art/inscriptions known as Ikom Monoliths of Cross River State, which thanks to Acholonu’s research findings and nomination application, have now been listed by the World Monument Fund in its 2008 list of 100 Most Endangered Sites as “a ancient form of writing and visual communication … dating before 2000 B.C.” Acholonu is seeking international support and funding for her monoliths research by which she has proved that Sub-Saharan African Blacks possessed an organized system of writing before 2000 B.C. (more than 4000 years ago) and a Pre-History recorded on 350 stones which she and her team of researchers are now transcribing and translating. (See The Gram Code of African Adam, the first in a series on the monoliths research.) She believes that the contents of these stone records will prove that Black Africans were the midwives of human civilization, and will change human history as we know it.

The inflated claim in the last sentence should set off alarm bells, and here she is in full flow on C-SPAN’s BookTV, speaking recently at the Harlem Book Fair:

Our research includes the origin and meanings of symbols used in every religion and sacred literature all over the world. In these, we found that the Hebrew Bible, the Kabbalahs of the Hebrews and the Chinese, the Hindu Vedas and Ramayana, and the recently discovered Egyptian Crystal Bible called the Nag Hammadi are of immense importance in revealing lost knowledge. Wherever we looked we found evidence confirming the claims by geneticists who have been conducting mitochondrial DNA research in four leading universities here in the USA that all mankind came from sub-Saharan Africa, that Eve and Adam were black Africans.

…Igbo oral traditions confirm the findings of geneticists, that by 208000BC – 208000 BC – human evolution was interrupted and Adam, a hybrid, was created through the process of genetic engineering. However, our findings reveal that the creation of Adam was a downward climb on the evolutionary ladder, because he lost his divine essence, he became divided, no longer whole, or wholesome. All over Africa and in ancient Egyptian reports, oral and written traditions maintain that homo erectus people were heavenly beings, and possessed mystical powers such as telepathy, levitation, bi-location, that their words could move rocks and mountains and change the course of rivers. Adam lost all that when his right brain was shut down.

Listening to that is enough to shut down both sides of the brain. It’s all nonsense, of course - the texts she cites contain no “lost knowledge”, and her description of the Nag Hammadi library (Nag Hammadi is the name of a place) as the “Egyptian Crystal Bible” is simply bizarre. The concept of “Chinese Kabbalah” can be found in a couple of dusty tomes about Freemasonry, but the term has no sensible academic application. The “lost knowledge” she has supposedly discovered is just the latest formulation in a long tradition of pseudo-scientific and mystical speculations that feed parasitically off scientific work. The purpose of all this is apparently to show that the Igbo of Nigeria are the true “kings and queens of the earth”.

Remarkably, as well being broadcast by C-SPAN, this farrago was also recently presented at an Igbo Studies Association conference at Howard University; her speech there can be seen here. It’s more of the same:

Leaning on Archaeology, Linguistics, Historical, Anthropological and Paleontological sources, but also using Igbo, Yoruba and Benin Oral Traditions (for all these peoples are related), Biblical and extra-Biblical sources such as the Hebrew and Chinese Cabbalas, our researchers trace the presence of Igbo-speaking, ichi-bearing god-men world civilizers all the way from the ancient Nok region of Nigeria, to the Sahara Desert of North Africa and to Pre- and Post-Deluge civilizations around the world, all the way to Egypt, China, India, Greece, Babylon, Assyria, Palestine, etc.; their Pre-Deluge connections to the lost continent of Atlantis where the Igbo language was also spoken; their contributions to the shaping of Hebrew culture, Judaism, the Cabbala and ultimately, Christianity; and their role in ancient Egypt in shaping world Democracy and Philosophy as inventors, architects, philosophers and masterminds of Theocracy and of the egalitarian society known in Greece and the world over as Democracy. Indeed Ndi Igbo have never ceased to be world travelers. As they populate the remotest parts of the planet today, so have they done since at least 500,000 B. C.

However, she doesn’t react well to criticism; I blogged about her previous book Garamma: Stone writings of African Adam in 2005, and her response has been to assert that I am a racist:

Dear Bartolomew and co,
I promised you I would be on C-Span on the 18th of July, 2009 to discuss my latest book and discoveries – the sequel to The Gram Code of African Adam which you have been insulting and casting racist slurs at. Well my lecture came up on the 17th but was out on U-Tube by the 18th. You can obtain copies of the lecture on C-Span Online Library and you can watch part of it on The Daily Beast U-Tube site.

Clearly, the civilized world is listening, Bartolomew. Hardly anyone is still jumping around in the jungle of human error thinking racist thoughts like you and your KKK-sounding kind,

For someone who has many tuning into your site, you would do your image a world of good by coming out of your 10th Century fixation with racial stratification of the human intellect. We would be glad to welcome you into the 21st Century.

Of course I’m not a racist – I’ve written against racism numerous times on this blog, and I’ve been proud to carry a guest-post by the Nigerian intellectual Leo Igwe. Acholonu’s theory is a grandiose fantasy, and it would be patronising to say otherwise. It’s rather pathetic to see someone who wants to be taken seriously hiding behind a bogus accusation of this kind.

Acholonu’s complete C-SPAN talk can be seen here. I’ve also blogged on a religious movement in the UK that uses Igbo identity – see here.



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http://barthsnotes./2009/07/22/catherine-acholonu-igbo-traditions-reveal-ancient-genetic-engineering/


Ndipe's comment: When I saw this woman on television making this absurd claims, I flipped the channel.

Omnipresent, Omniscience, Omnipotent! His Name is Jesus Christ!

End the relationship. Dont accept toxic folks in your life, you are better off in the long run.

Jews for Jesus will disagree with you on that!@Abuzola

Why do some of you muslims keep looking into the Holy Bible, the same Holy Book that you claim has been adulterated to validate the authenticity of Mohammed? We dont need any koran or other books to prove the Messiaship of Jesus Christ because we know that He is the one.

drlizzy:
ARE CHILDREN NO LONGER A GIFT FROM GOD[center][/center]

THE ISSUE OF HAVING A MALE CHILD,SOMETIMES AT ALL COST HAS A BEEN A THORN IN THE FLESH OF MANY HOUSEWIVES.MOTHERS INLAW HAVE GIVEN THEIR DAUGHTERS INLAW UNBEARABLE TROUBLES,WHILE SOME MEN HAVE SEEN THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO MARRY MORE THAN ONE WIFE EVEN THOUGH MOST TIMES THEY REALLY WANT TO DO SO.I COULD GO ON AND ON BUT I WANT TO GIVE US ALL THE CHANCE TO CONTRIBUTE.
IF YOU,YOUR FRIENDS OR LOVED ONES ARE NOT IN NEED OF A MALE CHILD,YOU MAY NEVER UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES IN HAVING A MALE CHILD.
SO THE BIG QUESTION IS:DO NIGERIAN COUPLES REALLY DESIRE TO HAVE MALE CHILDREN THAN FEMALES?
LET ROLL!!!!!

Not just housewives, but nearly every married woman desires to have a male child. And the reason is for the perpetuation of the family name. And besides you show know the answer to the question you pose, "Do Nigerian couples really desire to have male children than females?"

Debosky should be a contender, likewise Davidylan

First, it was 08/08/08, now it's 09/09/09. Please, Christianity has nothing to do with numerology, that is my response to another comment.

Access, Calabar, right?

davidif:
Wow, i had a friend from St. Lucia

poster
by the way, i know the oyinbo woman who married jaja of opobo's grandson, she was the head of my secondary school. I think she initially came here as a teacher or missionary. I also think she was from New York.

You mean Itak?

Encouraging!

That man comes off as a sycophant.

nostalgic

kennyaribs:
You should know that papacy is not an English word, it means Father in Faith (as the protestants call thier G.Os Daddy which is English) and the faith is in Christ. So, the Pope is the Father in the teachings of Jesus Christ.

There are many epistles written by the early fathers that were not included in the Bible and the Bible comfirmed it "not all that happened were written" because the Bible will be too big epecially for the new converts. Also, this was done because education was not common so, the Church compiled that through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for new converts to see the Bible as a small piece they can easily read and digest which is needed for their salvation. Note that Christianity is beyond just been saved (i.e being born again) the fight continues to eventually make heaven

Peter was the 1st Pope and was the head of the Apostles (Matt 16:15-20). he was buried in the vatican in Rome, the seat of Papacy

And he was married! So, isnt that a bit contradictory that your subsequent popes who regard St. Peter as their progenitor, however frown on marriage among popes?

A slap on the face of Nigerians.

Jakumo, both of you fit be contenders for the award!

And debosky

@ezinine, you have really persevered, quite touching and inspiring. Best wishes.

And this is the same organization that has keeps up with the lies that Jesus Christ came back in 1914 even though the Holy Bible has completely refuted that.

LadyT:
Theres different levels of prostrating.  You would not go flat to the ground in a market neither would I knee fully in a market.  My darling Ndipe dont get carried away!

You can easily do a semi prostate if the situation demands it or I do a semi knee our elders are not deraged to think you would lie down flat in the middle of a market.

Why adopt a half hearted measure instead of going the whole nine yards as dictated by tradition?

When I celebrate Christmas, I am thanking God for sending Jesus Christ to die for my sins to reconcile me to Him. I am not partaking in any pagan rituals or activities, and honestly, there is really no verse in the Holy Bible that forbids or mandates the celebration of Christmas.

LadyT:
I support it!  It doesnt hurt anyone.

Tribal marks, female circumcision etc need to be thrown out to the trash heap those kind of things are not needed.

I wouldnt want to prostrate to anybody. Or, would you still prostrate to an elderly person in the market?

When I celebrate Christmas, it is to thank God for His Mercies in sending Jesus Christ to die for my sins on the Cross. I have read that it has pagan regions, but that's not what I celebrate.

C2H5OH:
yah the grass should be blue, not green.

So, you are in support of this outmoded tradition? Oh well, what will you say of female circumcision? Practise it, because it's part of our culture?

Seun, ratting out someone in America over drugs comes with dire consequences. People get killed over it, not kidding at all, despite assurances of protection from the police and their relocation to a different city. That is why sometimes in tough neighborhoods like the hood, drug dealers sometimes get a free pass from their neighbors, because of the slang, "snitches get stitches."

Colossians 2:16-23 (New International Version)

16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians%202:16-23

Prostrating should be an outdated custom.

Yet, you guys keep denying that Jesus Christ is actually God despite verified claims in the Holy Bible that He and God the Father are One.

Henry Louis Gates, the acclaimed African American professor at Harvard University was arrested by the Cambride police in his apartment. According to news report, the professor who had just arrived home, found his front door jammed, but eventually, was able to gain entry into his home. Acting on a tip-off from neighbors, the Cambridge police arrived and confronted him while in the house. Reports have it that they demanded for his ID in his house, but he acted beligerence, accusing the police of being racist. Whereupon, the police officer slapped his wrists with handcuffs. The furor has yet to die down, but it's spawning discussion on race and racial profiling.

Me thinks the professor should have simply produced his ID as proof that he resides in the house instead of playing the race card. Others are insisting that he was simply a victim of police excessiveness, aka racial profiling.

Who is correct?