. *- , ;'t (SCHOOL OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES)

- 1'

.. r . DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY I

. - SEMINAR PAPER

..

.. .. TOPIC: I 'POWER IN THE SPOKEN WOE?': '

-A VIRILE CONCEPT IN AFRICAN O N * I ~ L O G Y (A CASE STUDY OF ONICHA-OLONA PEOPLE)

8 . r

. OSEMENAM CHARLES NNAi PI

REG. NO - PGIMAl9812492fF' '*-- ;"a s ,

I . I

8 8

REV. FR. DR. B. N. EBOH (SUPERVISOR)

* .

'T . : .

. b .

! I

t +

D ,'*

I r"

'4 . , . 3 I

<.

, - 'I.

.: .

WHO ARE ONICHA-OLONA PEOPLE - (How adwere they affected by the Power of the word:

Christians and Native Adherents alike) , Relevance of power in the 'spoken word' in Onicha-01ona of today. . 1

I .

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POWER AND THE SPOKEN WORD.

I

CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS

REFERENCES.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION -

Defmition of Concepts Power Word African Ontology,

WHO ARE THE ONICHA-OLONA PEOPLl E - (How adwere they affected by the Power of the word:

Christians and Native Adherents alike) i Relevance of power in the 'spoken word' in Onicha-01ona of today. I

i 1 '

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POWER AND THE SPOKEN WOW.

I

INSTANCES OF POWER IN THE SPOKEN WORD I

CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS I

I REFERENCES. I

I

INTRODUCTION:

The Western mind has often

Philosophy. They present the African illlllu - YC..,lY IIIImlllG ll.wO1

abstraction and reflection. Wh

different African peoples have

may be found in the religion. t, ,,,I ,,. ,,,, ,Lu,l,l,l,,. ,,I,,,, ,,,, ..l,,,, of thc

- ---- ------- --- -- . --- -- --- --- -- r- "-- -- lile I believe that philosophical systems of

not yet been formulated, nevertheless, they wnrrarhc nr-1 tt-arl;t;nnc! m t h ; ~ ~ ) - n A m m r ~ l e

anal y

the o

that have devastating consequences ..,A, A, :, , ,,,1:,,1 "...A ...C dt... -A:,.

In African traditional societies

well as a vehicle of blessing.

communication and instruction but a1,- . ,., .,...,. ,.,,, ..,.,, ,, ,.,,, if misused. Coi

W U I U ~ 13 il ca~uluil~ UL UK ~ ~ ~ q u e t t e of traditio..-. , u ~ w . w ~ . w u .

'Following this realization, strict observance is applied to ensure a code of

conduct, speech and morality.

1

nsequentIy, the use of ngl Afr i ran r n r i ~ t i ~ c

words even affect the body functions. In numerous studies, spoken words

have been shown to have the abilitv to lower bodv temperatures. to relax

Aristotle says "the science of being as being". African concept of being is

relational- as in causalitv and rmnnnrihilitv - - . - - - - - - - , - - - - - - - - - -' - - - '--" - -.,r""""" J .

The Africans are held together as in spiders' - web where what

affects one affects others. While the Western mind may regard as

illogical, arguing the cases of causal relationships like in the crying of the

witch and the death of child; Africans have in many situations proved

some of these claims to be very credible.

In Africa, many people who were accused of causing illnesses,

deaths and other maladies to others had before traditional courts and .#.. .. . . .. ... .

people even confcssed and opted for payment of fines or any other

stipulated penalty. m 1 I P . I . a , . . n . . -1 . 10 Know an Amcan is to unaersrana 111s concept or ueing. r nis is

why many offences are regarded as affecting a whole clan or society. It th.., Lnnn-n, +Ln . - o m - n , o ; ~ ; l ; t ; r n C +LA ,.,LnIfi -rr-Lrrrn +r. + . r r n r r ~ * + n m a n h lIlU3 UCbVlLlC3 LllC I C ~ ~ U L l 3 I U I l I l ~ U l CLlG W l l U I G IIICIIIVC13 iV pLCVGIIL 3 U t l l

calamities that would disturb the frabric of their existence. Consequently,

thev hrinw mlt =r lnt nf dn'c 2nd Ann'tc fnr tlirir m~rnhprc Fnllnwinu ihic

individuals are best understood as belonging to a composite whole where

their attitudes, beliefs and life styles are determined.

2 WHO ARE THE ONICILA - OLONA PEOPLE . .

T% - A ---- fi-:-L- ni,.-- .n .e A -;nt.h,-, ?,lnFth l,w."l "** ,~~mmc."+ "roq I nt: iown V ~ ~ I C ; I I ~ ~ - V I V I ~ ~ . I 13 III m l I u u l a A Y V I LLI IUWU gu VLI IIlllbIIC C U ~

of Delta State and is one of the major towns that make up the Ezechima

The history of the people of Onicha-01ona can &lly be traced back

to the 15" century AD. during the reign of Oba Ewuare the great. His 5

reign was full of terror, with lots of human sacrifices and victimizations.

This made his reign very unpopular and many citizens had to migrate to

other lands beyond his jurisdictions. According to Dentoa N.C. this was

the source of the tradition of the Bini (Benin) origins of the neighbouring peo~le like the Western Ihnq and the nnitshn n ~ n n l ~ 2 ~t i c thk timr t 1 1 ~ t

t migration of

F ~ ~ r h i m n '

. - - - - ----- ---- . - ------- --uu -.a- ra.w V..*W..H y w w y a w . I C LIJ &111.J LL..AU C I I U L

he Ezechima's clan took place.

-I-I......U s two eldest sons were Onicha and Oligbo. Onicha was

wicked and disobedient while Oligbo was cool and of service to him.

3zechiula cursed Onicha and blessed Oligbo. The group that moved lo

3nicha-Ugbo was headed by Onicha. It is generally believed that at

lo have a replaceinent. It is all quamls, acri~nony, ranwur, law suits and

what have you. Peace is indeed v n y el ushe from the people.

1.2 RELEVANCE OF 'POWER 1N THE SPOKEN WOIW IN

ONICHA-OLIQNA TODAY

I have emphasized that it is believed that Ezechirna's curse is till

very livid down rnany generations now. The sir] of incest which was wre - - - -..-

of the results has co~liinued lo send many young tncn of the town out d

the church ministry. Even many wornen have as a result been driven out

,.F +LL -,,G-,~.,LI L--.~" r-ll,x.-,:fl,w . y w . . , ~ . . ,I . .%-. ,-~. .I .... n - -... : -......<..

I-Toncstly, tile sin has bccome the rule raLhcr than the except iwi.

It is most regrettable that in my town (Onicha Olor~a) many people

haw ever1 inflicted evil upor1 their families by negativt. speaking. There

are many cases uC suicide and strange deaths arising frorn curses and oath

taking. There are riurnerous cases of barrenness, tniscarrirrges and .. ..I . . . . . . . . 1 . ,

K - d - - - - - - - U J

curses. The result of all these is that rnany uf the peupk travel

never return home. Tt is a comlnorl experier~ce sccil~g young peq

can neither identi& or be identified Ily many as 'sons and daugl

out and

down by a bus on high speed that same day. When the news reaclicd 7

Without the availability of power, spoken words would be express

verbosity. Power makes wbrds important as it emphasizes authoril v and

one's place in the hierarchy.

The close relationship between Power and Spol

strict compliance in good child upbringing. Some l l l ~ ~ l l J , b ~ a G

bow conscious o f thc detrimental consequences of curses on their children

especially by adults aud do everything to prevent them.

In the words of J.S. Mbiti, "it is heid in all African societies that

thcrc is power in thc universe and it comes from God. When it is used

harmfi~lly, it is regarded as evil, magic, witchcraft, or sorcery and it may

be used in CU~SCS". G.A.I; knight sums the situation well:

J u ~ t as the h w n m word is a livirig thitzg SO is the word of God It is

part of God ... and beingpart of God, it coijtained the whokpote~cy

of God's will arzdpersm when it is zitiered '. Paul Yonggi-Cho reasons, "speech center in the brain has total

dominion over all the other nerves. The speech center has such power

over all the body to manipulate it in the way it wishes. l l some one keeps

i n ~ t n ~ri innc rmtn nl ir r ~ n l r a l cnrnnl~rnicat inn I hai we sh11d become weak.

someone is a Christian, he can commit a crime and later deny it. He k

would refuse to swearhany deity claiming he is s Christian. (Of course,

there are several cases of madness that were caused by false swearing.)

More rampart is the occurrence of people dying of swollcn body. These

some traditionalists claim are some of the reasons why many are hiding in

t h ~ fhr ict inn hrarkftt

In African traditional societies inany villages are very backward in

development. The reason in many cases is adduced to offences they

committed in the past which they denied. Like in 'Idumu-Ugbe7 village in

Onicha-01onn where the whole villagers were made to swear before the

shrine of 'Idigwu'. They swore that if they had done such abominable

'crime like stealing the 'ofo7 of the Obi of the town they would never see iTLc.

progress. Latcr aClcr two years #q "ofo' was discovered to be buried in

the 'O~wa' of their Diokpa. Little wonder that no sooner had it been

discovered than people started dying like in an influenza case

'Idigwu' had started to fight, elders reasoned. Till date any

remarkable effort at developn~ent of that village like good building usually

results cithcr in the death of the builder or something mysterious would

happen that would stop the project.

Jt is observed that in many traditional societies (Onicha-01ona

inclusive) words are free of any spiritual or physical powers only on a day

r l ~ w i n t r ~ F I Q irnrlifinnal I>nl \~ u w ~ k - In m m m r nf t l l ~ M T ~ c f ~ r n T r r h n c r r r i ~ f i ~ c it \ L U L 1 1 1 6 L 1 1 b C I U U L L I L J I I U I A l V J J V V U V I \ . A l l J L L C C l l J V L L I I U T V W J L W I l l 16VV J U V L \ I L I V J L L

is called the festival of 'Igba-he'. 'Igba-ine' is a period of Freedom of

speech. One can say anything on that day and it will not be counted as an

offence against him neither has the spoken word any efficacy or power.

5. CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS

There should be enlightenment campaigns to dispel ignorance on the

nntencv o f cnnkrt~ wnrdc N ~ o a t i v ~ c n ~ a k i n n m;r tncm ~ h l n r a t& n m r n r A m n n A

curing the ills of commu The

power of positive speaking nas ueen explorea 111 many paces ancl seen to

enthrone development, good health and longevity. It has the ability to

nities - immorality, witchcraft and so on. 1 1 I 1 - I .

,...-.-- -*---- -..-------- ..- ...A- .

I abuse of words are being createt I-:- -.-A dl-..- ---rY?-..dL- a *:.

give birth to cherished situations. Indeed, there is power in the spoken

word and is recognized and respected in Alrican metaphysics.

Today in Onirhn Olcrna awarenew In the cOnsequemxS of oath

taking, curses anc i. Nevertheless, many

are yet to accept tlllb m u LIIUS S U ~ L C I LIIG IGpCU~mns. True Christianity

teaches that "when one breaks the hedge the serpent would bite him". So

running for cover in the church may not work if the person's hands are

soiled.

"Thc spitting out of saliva" is done as a visible proof of the fact that

the one who pronou~lced the curse has disassociated himself from a11

willful pernicious influence. But wi

pronounced thc cursc is dcilcl. This is t l

Ezechime had long been buried in hista

the town. Nevertheless, efforts are still mwaLeu L I I I U U ~ I ~ V ~ ~ I U U ~ s i lr; l lr lbGs

by traditionalists, and prayers 1

hoped that the curse will eventui

-

by Christians to remove the curse. It is

ally be removed.

One thus pauses to wonder whether prevention is not better than

cure. Lots of lives and innumerable maladies that In- never be retrieved 1

had already been caused. This is why many should understand that there

is power in the spoken word.

power; :ky influence. This is why it is good to be good and 'innocent'.

When orle is innocent even Nature itself fights for him rendering curses of

evil people harmless. In the words of Tempels:

f i r men of humble station there is bzrf one way /o innintoin and

incr-ease [ [ f i r rig/?/ rrnd the Good 7%e wny is by [he

ucknon~kdgernenf of higher living viiul rank; or if /hey have

Every one should be careful against committing injustice towards

God and towards the Natural order. To the African (Bantu precisely), the

worst evil and indeed the only real injustice is the ham to the vital force.

Consequently, restitution is not just latitudinal or . .. 3ayecan eyc for an eye'. . ... The restitution is greater in gravity (proportion) btbiise of the joy of life.

Juridical restitution always has the sense of restoration of force and is

d

w

eterminei by the injured man.

It is to be reiterated that a subordinate force (young person) can

ever cause 2 diminution of a superior force (older person). It is a

letaphysical impossibility. Nevertheless, the activities OF the younger can

ffect the fabric of the society. It can trouble the ontological order. This

the 'unknown' may bring 1 evil to a community or even exterminate a clan. 8 ,,<I l.-,.,,l,A,, ,..,+ ,",,,A, r',, 4L.-

well being of the community.

This concept, and understanding of 'I am' because 'we are', cannot

be treated with disdain and ignominy. The consequence of the error of

one man (Onicha) - the father of the founder of the town, had aRected his ..-= .-" - '

son and has now spread like wild fire unto the t&&in general. That one

merely says 'I am not involved' does not count him out'. Indeed, many

have experienced the pangs of the curse.

It is my appeal that critical thinkers and people touched by the

seeming helplessness carry out research on the extent, nature and eficacy

of placations, restitutions and restorations of people and communities,

who are already reaping the consequences of curses, evil speraking and

spells.

REFERENCES

Aja Egbeke

Dentoil, N.C.,

Mbiti, J.S.

Kight, C.A.E.

Eiement of Theory of Knowledge. Enugu:

Auto Century Publishing Company 1993, P. 18 Lb.

... . - . - intelligence Report op the formation of

*::':".

Onicha-01ona" Ministry of Local Government,

Benin City No. B.P. 13221288, 1937. P.4.

Introduction to African Religion London:

Heinemann pres 1975, I? 37

"A Biblical Approach to the Doctrine of the

Trinity" Scottish journal of Theology,

Occasional Paper I (Oliver & Boyd, 1953) P. 16

C,>-> Yonggi Paul The fourth Dimensions Beinin City: Rhema

Publications ministry 1979, PP. 67 - 63.

Temples Pacid Bantu Philosophy Paris: presence African, 1969

P.46.

Achebe Chinua Arrow of God London: Heinenamin

Educatioixil Books Ltd. 1 964, P. 90

Ibid PP 98 - 99

Tclnplcs Placid Op. Cit P. 63