HIV/AIDS constitutes a global problem. A good number of scholars from different nationalities, multiple rationalities, religious sensibilities, theological intelligibilities and ethical, cultural, and ecclesiastical backgrounds have affirmed that this worldwide quagmire constitutes a global health problem and social malady which does not have a well-defined geographically limited spread. The global nature of HIV/AIDS as seen in the statistics does not however undermine the fact that the effects of this sickness are not felt proportionally from one nation to another. This book proposes to situate the local as a veritable site of empowerment for communities dealing with HIV/AIDS, as it is the case with the African continent. The author of this book, over and above the way the problem of HIV/AIDS has been constructed, projected, and reviewed, decided to situate this epidemic of the 20th Century within the socio-cultural and political context of the Nigerian nation with particular reference to the Igbo people. The task of contextualizing this problem reveal the identity of the author as an Igbo, and as a theologian, who engages the indigenous ethical principles, unsophisticated traditional wisdom, cultural and religious values of his people in offering solutions that resonate the cultural identity of his people in dialogue with modern and post-modern constructs.

From What We Should Do To Who We Should Be

Negotiating Theological Reflections and Praxis in the Context of HIV/AIDS Among the Igbos of NigeriaBy Benedict Chidi Nwachukwu-Udaku

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Benedict Chidi Nwachukwu-Udaku
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4634-1493-1

Contents

Dedication.................................................................................................................................................................viiForeword...................................................................................................................................................................ixIntroduction...............................................................................................................................................................1A Projected Objective......................................................................................................................................................4Methodology................................................................................................................................................................7Division Of the Work.......................................................................................................................................................9Acknowledgement............................................................................................................................................................111 The Igbos, Their Worldview and Encounter with Modernity..................................................................................................................152 HIV/AIDs: A Reality in Igboland..........................................................................................................................................813 "Nku di na mba na eghere ha nri" and the Prevention of HIV/AIDs (Proposals from Igbo Cultural Values)....................................................................1494 "Nwanne di na Mba" and the Prevention of HIV/AIDs (Integration of some Bioethical and Igbo Cultural resources in the Prevention of HIV/AIDs).............................2015 the Church as "Ochie Dike" and the Prevention of HIV/AIDs (An integration of an indigenous Igbo ecclesiological image in the Prevention of HIV/AIDs).....................2756 General Conclusions......................................................................................................................................................357BIBLIOGRAPHY...............................................................................................................................................................381

Chapter One

The Igbos, Their Worldview and Encounter with Modernity

I. Introduction

There are three important questions that will guide our reflection in this initial chapter: 1) who are the Igbos, 2) where are they located in the global geography and 3) what makes them to be who they are? Background information about the Igbos, such as their statistics, geographical location, socio-cultural structure, and their economic and political situation in the present Nigerian society will aid in answering these questions. Attention will also be dedicated to unveiling their general worldview, which has to do with their belief system, habits, laws, customs, their conception of the universe and their attitude to life, etc. Finally, I will underscore the impact which Christianity and modern civilisation have had on Igbo culture. The presupposed background information will be grossly deficient if nothing is said about the repercussions of the Christian religion and modern civilization on the Igbo people's life, their history and their general well-being.

This background information about the Igbos will be utilized later as important resources that will be transformed into possibilities of life and development in this age of HIV/AIDs.

II. Who are the Igbos?

The question of who one is or who a particular people are is of utmost importance in any effective discussion that is oriented towards a better understanding of the person or group in question so as to project their interests in the best possible way and to identify them as moral agents. This anthropological question is common among scholars in the communitarian tradition. For example, Alasdair MacIntyre in one of his major works was faced with the problem of understanding the identity of the modern and contemporary man, which he described as "disquieting." Stanley Hauerwas, in the bid to figure out what could be the proper identity of Christians, maintained that Christians ought to be a "community of character." In the same way, the authors of the Habits of the Heart observed that American society is a "community of memory." In search of the true meaning of community in today's modern world, Daniel Bell studied the theme of Communitarianism in his work titled, Communitarianism and Its Critics. In a recent work, Samuel P. Huntington observed that, "almost everywhere people have questioned, reconsidered, and redefined what they have in common and what distinguishes them from other people: Who are we? Where do we belong?" A knowledge of who a people are helps to make them accessible to relationships both at local and global levels. The English saying, "if you want to teach Latin to John, it is not enough to know Latin but also to know who John is," is quite instructive in this regard.

Likewise, the question of who the Igbos are in order to teach them "Latin" has received inspiring attention in the writings of some Igbo scholars and foreign commentators and anthropologists. In a review of two literary works that give account of who the Igbos are, I will outline the qualities of their principal characters, since the Igbos believe that you could know a place by making reference to the quality of the individuals that are found in it and vice versa. More so, for the Igbos, an individual is referred to as Ugwumba (pride of the community).

1. Literature Review: in search of who the Igbos are

The first literary work of our interest is Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, one of the most distinguished African authors. Things Fall Apart is Achebe's first novel and is recognized as a literary classic which is taught and read across the english-speaking world. the novel has been translated into at least forty-five languages. A year after publication, the book won a major literary award, the Margaret Wong Memorial Prize. My interest in this work is that it is focused on the Igbo culture and its contact with Christianity and modernity. Additionally, it projected some characters that represent the ideal Igbo person. This latter reason will punctuate my reflection in this section.

The principal character and protagonist of Achebe's epoch-making literature is Okonkwo whose personality, beliefs, bias, and way of life aptly reveal an authentic and representative Igbo person. As a hero in Umuofia, Okonkwo demonstrated a determined and inflexible personality which earned him a lot of power and prestige. Okonkwo vigorously preserved his manly characteristics to the extent that his tragic fall was rooted in his fear of weakness and failure.

Achebe described Okonkwo as tall and huge with bushy eyebrows and a wide nose that gave him a very severe look. Okonkwo was renowned as an indomitable wrestler, a credible warrior and a successful farmer of yams. He had three wives and many children.

Throughout the novel, Achebe presented him as a man who had his feet on the ground. Okonkwo was a self-made and hard-working man whose life and activities could be summarized in the following proverb: "Those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble." This proverb means that one whose success is a result of luck must not forget that there are people who are not as lucky as himself/herself. Okonkwo, however, "cracked his own palm-kernels by himself" because he overcame poverty not through luck, but through hard work and determination. This spirit of determination made him overtly hate people who were weak and unfocused like his father, Unoka.

Consequently, Okonkwo shunned all forms of paternalism. This non-paternalistic character of Okonkwo was demonstrated vividly by his refusal to beg his bosom friend obierika to rebuild his barns and two huts, rather he decided to send him money from his place of exile. He also refused to demonstrate paternalism in the upbringing of Ikemefuna, the slave boy. He rather allowed him to develop a self-determined style of life. It was in this account that Ikemefuna had great influence on Nwoye, the first son of Okonkwo.

Okonkwo represents, to a laudable extent, an ideal Igbo man. These ideals which are encapsulated in Okonkwo's personality are punctuated with the good, the bad, and the ugly. However, I will be concerned more with the positive qualities of Okonkwo, at the same time indicating why he is considered as a tragic hero in Things Fall Apart. In Okonkwo, we could visualize and admire the following characteritics and virtues of the Igbo man: the Igbo person is Di-ike (the master of strength, and theferore the strong and able one); Di-mkpa (the master of emergency, the one who is never embarasssed by the un-expected); Di-mgba (the master wrestler, the one on whose shoulders rests the responsibility for the honour of his village during wars or inter-village competitions); and Eze-ji (the one who has yams in abundance). In Okonkwo, the Igbo person is also considered Ekwueme (one who keeps to his words). these qualities and virtues will be highlighted when I discuss the theme of virtues and their application with respect to HIV/AIDs in chapter three.

Okonkwo's rejection and dislike of people who are weak emphasizes the Igbo tendecy of preferring excellence, hard-work, in disrespect and discredit to one who is, in the words of Achebe, an Efulefu (worthless person). The fact that Okonkwo was unable to take care of the sickness of his daughter showed that he also experienced difficulty. Moreso, Okonkwo was later exiled from his village because he committed a homicide; the consequences of which remained with him untill his tragic death.

Another novel of interest in our search for who the Igbos are is a work written by Pita Nwanna, titled Omenuko. The story of Omenuko is purely an Igbo narration about a young man Omenuko who needed to leave his homeland in search of greener pasture. It starts by saying, "n'akuku obodo anyi n'ime Africa" (in a part of our town in Africa). this novel and its principal character Omenuko provide an idea of how life is lived among the Igbos/Africans in the midst of adversity and want. My principal interest in choosing this novel is to demonstrate the adventurous spirit of the Igbos, their ability to maintain their identity and narrative wherever they find themselves and their willingness to survive irrespective of the apparent historia calamitatem which has punctuated their life and existence.

In Omenuko, I see that the Igbos maintain relationships with their cultural and family roots despite their frequent change of location or their out-going nature and deep-rooted spirit of adventure. An Igbo person is always in relationship with all of his family, his community and always has two nations (the resident nation and the home nation). If an Igbo man lives outside his community, that place, no matter how beautiful and welcoming it could be is always considered to be a "temporary home," while his true home is among his people, the Igbos of Nigeria.

The Igbo person cannot forget his roots, as we have indicated above. These are the words of Pita Nwanna on this point:

In our own part of Africa, it is almost like an obligation that a man does not forsake his fatherland. A man can live in a foreign land but no matter how he is accepted or how successful he becomes in business or social relationships, and no matter how much the people among whom he lives hold him in high regard, there are bound to be attitudes or things which will remind him once in a while that he is a stranger and he ought to become more determined to return to his native land.

In the story of Omenuko, one could deduce that the Igbos are characterizedbytheirindisputableattachmenttotheirlandoforiginfrom which they derive their identity and sense of purpose. They are noted for hard work and enterprising spirit. Other common distinguishing traits of the Igbos include assiduousness, resourcefulness, the power of imagination, being outgoing and the desire to protect the interest of the community.

Selecting two characters to represent who the Igbos are demonstrates the relationship between the individual and the community. Though the community may be ontologically superior to the individual, the community cannot claim to survive or have a name without the individual. This idea will guide us throughout this project because there is a tendency to perceive the Igbos as merely an organic community, i.e. one where the individuals do not have rights, but only duties as was the case in the Western world before the modern civilization.

The use of two male characters, Okonkwo and Omenuko, to describe who the Igbos are is a clear revelation that the Igbo traditional society was patriarchal where women were considered to be inferior to men. In the classical work, Things Fall Apart, written during the colonial rule, the image of Igbo women was subservient and voiceless; women who had no economic and political power. This impoverished image of women is still at the heart of how women are treated even in the contemporary Igbo world of today, as we shall demonstrate in this work.

Some ethnographic studies have revealed, however, that there were notable social changes in the life of the pre-colonial/pre-Christian women and post-colonial Igbo women. According to these studies, the pre-colonial and pre-Christian Igbo women had economic, social and political authority both in their families and in the community. On the contrary, colonial and post-colonial women lost this traditional authority because of the introduction of Western education and Christian religion. Women were presented with the colonial and post-colonial image in the two novels. These two complimentary identities (pre-colonial and post-colonial) will be utilized in making known who the Igbo women are. Furthermore, these two identities will be made more obvious when we discuss the socio-economic and political structure of the Igbo traditional society.

2. A synopsis of the uses of the name "Igbo"

The word "Igbo," like the word "Africa," has many interpretations. In a recent study by David Ihenacho on Igbo Catholicism, he affirmed the word "Igbo" as obscure and disputed as the origin of the Igbo race itself. Notwithstanding the debatable character of the name "Igbo," Ihenacho underscored the importance of this word in domestic use; especially in proper names such as Igbokwe (if the Igbo permits) and Igbozurike (may the Igbos have peace, may the Igbos cease from strife). to this list I could add such names like Igbojionu (the Igbos have to say), and Igbowuigbo (the true and authentic Igbo).

The word "Igbo" is also used to articulate community names which demonstrate the symbiotic relationship between the individual and the community. Such common names are Igbo-Ukwu (the great Igbo people) and Igboama (the far distanced Igbo). The word "Igbo" is therefore used in three senses. In the first instance, it is used to refer to the Igbo people, i.e. a person whose native land is Igboland is said to be an Igbo. To be an Igbo in this sense has a deep cultural and ethical significance.

Culturally it means that the person in question is an Igbo in his being and cannot help but always be an Igbo. Igboness, which is the beingness of the Igbos, is an identity which they carry when they work, pray, eat, and dance. It is this cultural identity that makes the Igbo speak, celebrate, mourn and rejoice like Igbos.

Ethically, a person from Igboland is expected to act in a socially accepted way, following the ethos which one has learned within the Igbo community. An Igbo frequently hears words such as I bu kwa onye Igbo (Are you really an Igbo), when he or she acts contrary to some laid down code of conduct.

A second significance to the word "Igbo" is to refer to the Igbo territory. This is why the Igbo are said to be a community of place. the word "Igbo" or "Igboland" is the place that Igbos call their home. this is where most of the Igbos are born and bred and often where they would like to end their earthly existence.

The third definition of the name "Igbo" refers to the language spoken by the Igbos. Igbo language belongs to the Kwa sub-family of the niger-Congo language group. Commenting on the richness of Igbo language, Peter okuma observed:

Igbo have a very rich language that is nourished and flavored with proverbs, songs, folktales, visual art, customs and patterns of expressions (...) most of the words and proverbs are deeply rooted in unraveled theological and existential meaningfulness that express deep yearning, religious and existential worldview of the Igbo.

Since I have carefully unearthed the three significant uses of the word "Igbo", the question of their historical and geographical background will therefore be discussed as well.

3. Where are the Igbos Located?

To talk about where the Igbos are located is fundamental, owing to the fact that socio-cultural and political problems such as the issue of HIV/AIDs are most often influenced by environmental and geographical factors. This is obvious in the sense that it is not the same to be infected by the HIV virus in a tropical climate as it is to be infected with the same virus in a Mediterranean climate. It is not the same also to be infected by the HIV virus in the Western world, where HIV/AIDs is now being listed among the chronic diseases as it is to be infected with the same virus in the developing countries where HIV/ AIDs is regarded as obiri na aja ocha (that which terminates in the grave). It is not the same to talk about HIV/AIDs among the Igbos and to talk about its influence among the Kerala of India. It is a truism that the fact that one is born within a determined geographical area could open an oasis of opportunities for his or her well-being or could also make one a victim of unspeakable woes. People's social context and environment have great influence in their welfare, ethical decisions and sense of purpose.

Our historical and geographical inquiry about the Igbos will be studied under the following headings: statistics and geography and historical origin.

(Continues...)

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