"A natural Igbo man is a born rebel even to his own God. The stubbornness of the Igbo to their various deities and to even the christian God is very legendary if not more defiant than that of any other race I know. Igbo's continuous worship of a deity or a supernatural force is chiefly based on the deity's performance and not entirely out of fear. Therefore, it's a common saying in Igbo land that "Arusi nyebe nsogbo egosi ya osisi ejiri pia ya" meaning that "if a deity becomes unreasonable or stubborn , it will be told the wood from which its symbol was carved". That is why if you think you will use force like Nigeria military are using against IPBO thinking they can subdue them, think twice. An average Igbo man hate challenges and never believe that he or she cannot stand without you or there are Mountain too high for them to climb.
"This is an age-long practice in Igboland to "dis-god" a deity by a general consensus or acclamation in a properly constituted meeting of all members or the natural representatives of a village or town . Once a sentence of "no more worship" or "sack" is passed on a deity in a general meeting of the worshippers or citizens of a community, the shrine of the dis-goded deity is destroyed and the deity is expected to take flight and leave the community". This is the reason IPOB is growing because they have come to a conclusion that the injustice perpetuated against them by the Northern oligarchy has reached its pick. So there is a need to rebel against this evil plan by breaking away from them.
"The same goes for the evil forests owned by powerful deities. Nnewi people capture this with a saying that "Obu madu mere Edo ka o nwelu Nkwo" meaning " That Edo deity owns Nkwo market land and the adjoining thick forest was because it was so given by Nnewi people" and that the same citizens could as well repossess their property from the deity at anytime if they so wish.
Edo is the supreme and most powerful deity of the Nnewi people. The power of the Igbo in abridging the influence of their gods was proven in the 1980s at Nnewi, when the town agreed to clear the dreaded Edo evil forest to build the Agbo Edo International Market. The initial attempts by the state government's contractors to clear the forest were resisted and frustrated by the deity as powerful snakes, bees and mysterious birds openly chased the workers away even with their earth moving equipment". They were too hasty as Nigeria is too hasty to Biafra people.
"It wasn't until all the Ndi Isiobi (or village heads) led by the traditional ruler of the town, Igwe KON Orizu, assembled at the precinct of the forest and announced to the deity, the decision of the Nnewi people to repossess their land, that the clearing of the forest became possible. The Igwe symbolically felled a shrub and all other village heads followed suit, one after the other. By this single act, the supreme deity had been properly served a notice of repossession. Edo had to comply" like IPOB under her supreme leader HRM NNAMDI KANU had summoned courage to demand Biafra and graduating all Igbo elites including traditional rulers are coming out gradually to demand for Biafra.
"The contractor who was asked to commence clearing after this important ritual was surprised that none of those dangerous animals or spiritual soldiers opposed or harmed their workers until the entire evil forest was cleared and a modern market erected. There is a long list of many deities in Igbo land sacked for either demanding more expensive sacrifices or acting against the interests of the general populace or their worshippers".
It is noteworthy that no one person, not even the chief priest of a deity can summarily sack or de-god a community deity. Due process must be followed. There must be a consensus otherwise the action is severely punished by the deity itself. Many ignorant converts of new religions have gone mad or their children seriously afflicted because they single-handedly destroyed shrines of their community gods or appropriated property belonging to a deity without first securing the permission of the family or community members.
Igbo men and women wonder how a deity, called God or Allah would expect mere humans to help it punish its enemies. Such abdication of duty by a supreme being is incomprehensible to an Igbo man or woman. In Igbo land, a deity worth its reverence or worship, demonstrates its ability to fight its own battles. Why would an entity be worshipped if it relies on a man to subdue human beings or elements to its glory? The tested power to strike dead (as Amadioha deity does) or bloating the stomach of offenders (as Udo deity does) are the marketing tools employed by the Igbo deities to awe their worshippers. This is the reason Igbo cannot kill people in the name of killing for "Allah or God" like Muslims are doing because Igbo's believes that if your "Allah or God" is strong, let him fight his battle.
It is by routing miserable diseases and misfortunes on enemies and showing instant justice to the supplicants that the obeisance, trust and greater worship are obtained from Igbo followers of a spiritual being. Igbo's believe that the job of a drummer should be separated from that of a dancer. Hence, they would never obey the instruction from any deity that asks them to beat the drums and at the same time expect them to do the dancing.
A god should fight its own popularity fight. For an Igbo, it smacks of a high fraud for a spiritual being to recruit him or her to kill and coerce unbelievers to worship it when simple miracles or signs and wonders which should be the hallmarks of such a deity, Allah or God, can do the job. If an Igbo man must kill a fellow human being, it must be for an earthly gain or an instant benefit, not for a reward that would be received elsewhere. Like Muslims were promised 72 virgins as a reward in heaven if they commit suicide, an average Igbo man cannot be deceived by this superstitious and fraudulent believe. How I wish God will reveal to all of them where all the dead terrorist are.
This is the belief of the Igbos; the very same reason why they fear no human authority because by their nature they can and do fearlessly disinherit, banish and even sack their own gods. If you are in search of a suicide bomber, count an Igbo out because they see it as a spiritual fraud. But if you tell an Igbo man that he will enjoy so so wealth for 30 years after he can commit suicide, he will gladly accept it. Igbo's believe in a luxurious life and is ready to do anything to get it.
In conclusion, I will say that it is not possible to use force to subdue an average Igbo man as Nigeria government are doing to IPOB, and it is also not possible to persuade an Igbo man to be a suicide bomber or fight for a god because to an Igbo man weather educated or illiterate, he has the ability to reason. The spirit of reasoning is in him and also the spirit of rebellion and stubbornness is also in him too so trade with cautions. Igbo's believe in "live let me live", and if you say you will live and I will not live, then you are looking for trouble .
The views expressed on this article are solely the authors opinion and I take the responsibility of what I have said here and it might differ with your own views, which is understandable.
Written By,
P O, Iwuama, (Bc)
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