Nze Izo Omenigbo - The Ecotheology of Ahobinagu

8/20/2019 Nze Izo Omenigbo - The Ecotheology of Ahobinagu

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The Ecotheology of Ahobinagu:

An Igbo Deity of Wildlife and Forestry

By Nze Izo Omenigbo

“Uzu amaro akpu ogene, ya nee egbe anya n’odu” (A blacksmith who doesnot know how to fashion a twin gong—should observe the kite’s tail) —IgboProverb

A Primal Birth

Quite plainly, Ahobinagu or Obinagu is identifiable as the Igbo Alusi (Deity)that is spiritually inherent in the flora, fauna and extensive wildlife of the forest.A brief etymological assessment of the word itself reveals Obinagu as anessentially aggregated Deity. In other words, it is a spirit-guild of thecountless, highly diversified essences immanent in the ecosystem of forestlife. However, this definition should not –by any means –be seen as acementing point of the obviously far more complex nature of this Deity.Perhaps, a very convenient way to comprehend the nature of this

unique Alusi is to picture a host of spirits, each embodying a specificallyassigned purpose in its nature, but all sharing one great cognitive head. Also,the somewhat similar image of an octopus might come to mind. But surely, anoctopus is no contestable match for Obinagu, any day.

For a credible theogonical account (Deific Birth) of this Alusi , it is only right torefer to one of the two well-known and comprehensive cosmogonies of theIgbo world. In one of these ancient creation stories (or unified field theories asthey’re branded today), both the known and unperceivable dimensions of theuniverse (Uwa) were considered to be in a unified state of rest at one time. A

state simply referred to as “the primal house” in this cosmogony. In thisimmensely unifying house—once existed the “secret project” of Chi-Ukwu, thecolossal God. However, given the very curios nature of Chi-Ukwu’s wife—Komosu, this “secret project” was consequently made known when shebravely ventured to peep into Chi-Ukwu’s coveted Obi or sacred enclave,which was located right in the middle of the larger “primal house”.



Subsequently, beautiful Komosu was martyred by the impact of the immenseprimal energy that escaped from this private enclave, and thus—the knownworld was born! In other words, it is essentially in this great outburst ofdynamic manifestation that the basic building blocks of life were seeded orbrought into being. However, as the Divine being that she is, Komosuconsequently reincarnated back on Earth, as Ala, the Igbo Earth Goddess.

So, following a brief analysis, it becomes rather logical that the very earliest“seeds” to have possibly emerged from Komosu’s initial mischance should bethe immanent spirits/essences, incarnated in the infinity of created life acrossthe universe, especially as is observable here on Earth. In this sense,the Alusi known as Obinagu is principally one of such primal incarnations.Moreover, as an indispensible ally of Ala, it is only proper that Obinagu shouldshare one of the Earth Goddess’s imperative attributes, namely, an eco-system.

Given the discovery of what must’ve seemed an incredible bond, the ancientIgbos most likely proceeded to place Obinagu in the readily acknowledgedposition which it continues to inhabit today in the larger Igbo Cosmo-theological system. In a more summative analysis of this multifaceted Deity—then, one can briefly consider Obinagu as partly serving as a well-realized“Spiritual Locus” of the Earth Deity within the intricate natural network of theforest. Hence, the dual meaning of the name: Obi-n’agu (I) That which lives inthe forest (II) The heart of the forest.

An Inherent Operative Synchronicity

In the many Igbo traditions where this Deity is highly revered, such as in Udi —Enugwu State, there are many associated activities that are consideredsacred to it. One of such is the Egwu Obinagu, which literallymeans, Obinagu music. This sacred music is also known as Igede Obinagu, inother parts of Udi . It is essentially flute music (Egwu Oja). But theaccompaniment of other wooden Igbo musical instruments is not entirelyforbidden. However, the use of metallic musical instruments such as Ogene(twin gong) appears to be excluded from that opportunity.

Indeed, if one would only stop to consider the profound and unrelentingreverence that ancient Igbos had for nature, then the much deeper mysteriesbehind the resource-specific instrumental selection of Egwu Obinagu willbecome evident. An important remark is the fact that the Oja (flute) is aninstrument that is totally carved out of wood. And wood itself being a resourcethat can only be naturally acquired from the forest—strikes a note of great



importance, in relation to the forest Deity itself. Hence, the reason forexcluding the Ogene and other metal-honed musical instruments in theaccepted implements for making the Obinagu sacred music.

It is also important to point out that the primal resident spirits that inhabit the

various streams and springs that course through forests—are not left out inthis intricate synchronicity of spiritual forces, which in turn aggregatesinto Obinagu. This becomes further obvious, following a recognition of theindispensible union between water and the boundless, naturally-laid networkof trees, herbs and shrubs—all layered out in profound harmony, with the restorganic/inorganic presences in Earth’s ecosystem.

Indeed, life feels itself and in return, it progresses to express what it feelsthrough nature. However, beyond the overt, mundane and maneuverableaspect of a Deity such as Obinagu, there exists a core spiritual dynamic to

nature that has continued to escape contemporary awareness. Yet this simplecore can be appreciated once again through the grasp of a very ancientlanguage. This language is no other than the sacred cosmic language, Afa.The amazing thing is that we’re told by the ancients that humanity once spokein Afa. And even at that time, it was considered a sacred tongue, just as it’sstill considered today. In other words, according to Igbo mythic account, ifhumanity had once regarded the language of Afa as sacred, then surely, wemust’ve—at one time—also viewed ourselves, the speakers of thislanguage—as sacred beings.

We’re also told that among other things, Afa is also fundamentally a languageof nature; a language of the gods. However, since nature is also our onlyviable means of interfacing with the gods—through Afa, then Afa is also acosmic language, because all the higher Deities are principally cosmic beings.Now one might ask, what then is the basis of such a language and how did itcome to be spoken by man? Well, the simple secret is that Afa language waspatterned after the brilliant, vibratory harmony that is found in nature. Andsince it is held to be life’s very first language—spoken by the godsthemselves—then it was destined that humanity should inherit this cosmictongue from the gods, just as it inherited other wonderful gifts of civilizationfrom them.

We don’t know how we came to forget or lose the ability of this divine tongue.But a very mystifying fact about Afa is that it is a language that can only beunderstood by nature; which means that we once spoke and communicatedwith nature, much like we do with ourselves today. Interesting isn’t it? Well,actually not all of us have lost this ability. Our Ndi Dibia still retain it and in



fact, they still employ a great deal of it in their work. Notice that Afa proves tobe an all-encompassing and all-knowing language—as a result of its ability tointerface with all of nature, hence interfacing with all of life. At this juncture,the spirituality of nature and the bonding nature of spirituality is made evident,as one makes the connection to the earlier stated harmonic-essence that isfundamental of the Obinagu Deity.

Now whether in Igboland or elsewhere in the world, we might have succeededin convincing ourselves that there are certain, extant members of creation thatare strictly known as plants. However, the truth is that, at one time, manhimself was also a plant in the garden of nature! Specifically, we were once“man-plants” or what is known as Akwu. A linguistic variation of this name isstill used for the palm-tree in Igboland today. Moreover, the palm-tree is alsoconsidered sacred all over Africa, especially in its aspect as the tree of life.So, in contrast to the ‘exceptionist’ perception of most people today—inrespect to the place of man in nature, Afa tells us that we once viewedourselves as merely members of the colossal, cosmic organism known as life,whose outer ornament is the awe-inspiring nature.

For the keen-eyed observer, a plethora of clues abound in Igbo life andculture to substantiate the mystic remnants of Igbo antiquity, in respect tonature and how ancient Igbo societies related to nature. One of the mostobvious of these is the Igbo word for name: Afa (pronounced differently).Already, one can sense the overt etymological relationship between Afa, thename and Afa, the tongue. Still, it becomes even more obvious when weconsider that in Igbo culture (indeed in many African cultures) one’s name isbelieved to embody their existential lot or destiny in a given life-time—inaddition to serving as their natural compass. In other words, one’s Afa (name)essentially becomes a dual conception; especially in the Igbo sense. Firstly,as their sacred individual ‘code’ for assessing nature’s existential allotment forthem (destiny) and then, as their divinely-accorded compass for identifyingtheir place amidst nature (distinction). Hence, without even recognizing it,one’s name is essentially their own unique cryptogram; their cosmic code forrelating to Chukwu and the gods. And even more, one’s name is their

first Afa (divination account).

Without diving too deep into the mystical dimensions of this fact, it can beobserved that humanity actually has no choice but to recognize its sacrednessonce again—as part of the divine ornamentation that is nature. Therefore, asprivileged and responsible members of this endless festivity of life, our role isprecisely that of caretakers and not squanderers. Furthermore, in relation tothis inherent role of custodianship, another sublime parallel exists here



between man and Obinagu—as the custodian Deity of natural life in the forest.However, in the end, it appears that even more responsibility is expected ofman as Mma Ndu, the crown of creation.

Igbo Antiquity and Ecotheology

Regarding the sheer, immense reverence that ancient Igbo societies had fortheir natural environment, the opening axiom of this discourse makes it evenclearer with its instructional diction—recommending that humanity should turnto nature for her absolute wisdom. In fact, it is arguably only out of suchsimilar, passionate and overwhelming reverence that the ancient Igbos wentas far as condemning the conception of twins, which they innocentlyconsidered an undoing of a primal modus in their cosmology of the humanreproductive system—in relation to the larger paradigm of nature. All thiswere done in their honest efforts of preserving the essentialities of what they

considered as highly sacred, the Earth.

However, they also came to realize in the end, out of ensuing wisdom that“When something stands, another thing stands beside it”. Curiously, till thisvery day, this monumental amendment (termination of the twin taboo) alongwith its many theological and cosmological triumphs—remains one of manysuch profound turning points in Odinala and Igbo culture in general, that havemanaged to pass by without any epically recognized or institutionalizedcelebration of it, for unaccountable reasons.

At this point, it is also highly important to point out that even at the time whenthis act was still practiced, the twins were not exactly killed—in the literalsense of that word—but were merely taken to the very thickest parts of theforest, where they were plausibly left in the care of Ala and the forest Deity.An observable reason for this decision being that—instead of having to bearthe more recognizable karma that comes with conventionally taking a life, onewould rather have the fate of such children determined by the Deitiesthemselves.

Still, what is far deeply inherent here is that, in this monumental case of

theological defeat, the operative synchronicity of Obinagu and Ala is madeeven more evident, as one recognizes the explicit irony behind the act ofhanding over these children to two Deities whom were both considered asDivine Nurturers. At this point, we can imagine the outright perplexity thatmust’ve overwhelmed the ancients. However, in their infinite wisdom, theywould guiltily return back home—only to mourn these same children and offer



copious sacrifices to appease Ala for the mind-boggling act that had justtranspired.

Essentially, the very multi-faceted and primal status enjoyed by Obinagu, as acustodian Alusi of the forest is almost unquantifiable. However, one only

needs to be reminded of the highly agrarian nature of Igbo society prior thisage to make the connection. Hence, given the very predictable preference forwell-nurtured wildlife and agricultural yields at the time, there surely couldn’thave been a better role for this Deity.

The Imperative Need for Re-Consecration

The Deities (in their aspects as Gods and Goddesses) are profoundlyinfluential by nature, and countless in number. However, since the verybeginning of time, humanity as Mma-ndu (the crown of creation) have

unarguably enjoyed a God-given right to explore, harness and negotiate thepotentialities of these various incarnated forces. But just as even the mostmundane of life’s activity requires a procedural edict/code of conduct, so doesthe consecration of these higher forces require a spiritually sound arena to bemade very effective.

Obinagu, for instance, cannot be “aligned” or brought into operation in anaturally deprived environment, because it is a Deity that operatessimultaneously with nature herself, in the capacity of its custodian. Also, themere knowledge of the esoteric operatives used in sacred science is not

necessarily enough to potentiate a Deity. Just as an actual car will require acompetent mechanical engineer to be present from its creation process to themanufacturing process—so as to ensure optimal performance in the finishedproduct—in the same way, a potential Deity requires a competent DibiaOgwu to be present from its creation (or negotiatory process, depending onthe Deific hierarchy) to the erection and final dedication process. Moreimportantly, a very spiritually disciplined mind/population is also imperative forsuch universal principles to be brought down—in the first place—to earthlydimensions and even more, to make them abide for a very long time. This isthe inherent strength and genius of ancient Igbo societies. The discipline oftheir time should be a strong fascination for any clear minded Igbo persontoday.

In fact, one of the utmost advantages of deific consecration to man is that,unlike modern scientific results and its technological triumphs that oftenwaiver in their abilities, mystical/spiritual potencies (whether they come in theform of a massive “Esere-Ese/spiritual inscription”, a massive pyramid or even



in the form of a simple tree-post) are still essentially non-third dimensional intheir potency. Hence, they’re essentially predisposed to influence (positively)or mercilessly interfere with anything below their dimensions of origin; just asone cannot help but experience the inevitable presence of rain and sunshinehere on earth, regardless of their personal opinions about these twoperceivable forces of nature, whose origins are well beyond the thirddimension.

So, in consecrating or aligning these Deities, we automatically implore them tooversee and influence our third dimensional experiences. But in other to beable to operate these higher forces (especially the more manipulative lesserdeities), a sacred state of being is imperative. In other words, Igboland has tobe re-consecrated once again, because our Deities cannot do much for uscollectively at this point, until we jointly reinstitute our traditional ethics and re-consecrate the land for them to be able to co-inhabit it with us.

Fortunately, considerable efforts are been made towards this agenda, at thispoint in time. But there is no denying the intensity of the task ahead.Nonetheless, it is only common sense that Igbos all over the world shouldbegin to see themselves as returning prodigals, in the most productive senseof that expression. Because eventually, one cannot grow too far from theirroots, anyway.

—Nze Izo Omenigbo—

Nze Izo Omenigbo - The Ecotheology of Ahobinagu

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