The primary focus of most modern Dibias, or should I say social media Odinani promoters, is mainly centered on feeding your Chi, Olu Mmiri, Ichu Aja, Igba Afa, Ogwu and Ilu Agwu. We make it look like these was all our ancestors were all about.
Little attention is paid to our ancestors primary demand for Ethics and Self Reliance.
I believe Odinani is nothing without its total demand for Ethics which is well encapsulated in the saying, Ome Ife Jide Ofo. In all you do ensure you stand on truth.
Ofo is Igbo symbol of truth. Unfortunately, modern day Dibias have reduced Ofo to the symbol of Ogwu. Whenever you see the social media Dibia actors dramatising their Ogwu r!tuals, they hold Ofo as the proud enforcer and energiser of the diabolic Ogwu they have prepared.
Look at the lifestyles of many modern day Dibias or Ezenwanyis and ask yourself if it’s worthy of emulation? Does their lifestyle show truth or sublimity?
In respect to self reliance, our ancestors were people who produced 100% what they used.
Odinani if defined as a way of life is all about self reliance. Our ancestors used the herbs in our environment to heal sicknesses. They used trees and resources in our environment for their socio-economic sustenance. This is the implicit meaning of nku di na mba na eghelu mba nri.
This saying shows Odinani is all about self reliance. Total maximisation of the natural resources in your environment to drive and sustain your economic cum spiritual, growth.
And I ask, when we talk of Odinani on social media, how come we refuse to highlight these important aspects which will reignite the agro-economic restoration of Ala Igbo?
Why do modern day promoters of Odinani not talk of being as self reliant as our ancestors? The very thing that will reverse the import driven economy which modernisation brought to us.
No one talks about it. Rather, every promoter of Odinani focuses on aspects of Odinani that will put immediate food on their table. So I ask, is Odinani Renaissance driven by hunger or by the quest to reconfigure a better working society?
If Odinani is poised to make a difference, if Odinani is poised to succeed where Christianity failed in Ala Igbo, then promoters and practitioners of Odinani must treat Ethics and Self Reliance as the primary, and the rest religious practices as secondary.
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©️Ezeikolomuo
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