First Day God Came to Africa

Written by Compassion Chidozie

Different races have different traits of religion. God, among Igbo-speaking people of Nigeria, Africa, is commonly translated as ‘Chi’, ‘Chukwu Okike,’ and ‘Chukwu Abiama’ – Great God or Great Chi, representing the identical Igbo denotations of the supreme being. You can say ‘Chi-dinma’, ‘Chi-dozie’, or Chi-diebube’ – meaning the goodness and power of God, as in Christianity. But God is for all identities and ethnicities. The Igbo thought about God, traditionally. They thought their God was God over ethnicities. However, no thought is wrong or right, it could only transcend as time changes to meet the trends of the moment. God is One Supreme Being for all peoples. This I can show by reference to the fact of the uniformity of nature. If there were many gods with similar powers, nature would be in chaos because of conflicts and wars between the gods.

But nature is homogenous, not bedlam: a dog, for example, brings forth a dog, not a cat. And a cat produces a cat, not a dog or a hen. All these imply proof of One Supreme Mind ruling nature. But what exactly is God? This nobody knows or can know but we try to eulogize while explaining what we ‘thought’ God is.

Many fallacious interpretations of the meaning of God in some African churches have distorted the faithful from benefiting from the meaning and understanding of God. Fallacies like “God of Odyssey,” “God of Adenuga,” “God of Abagna,” “God of David,” “God of Ade and God of Yemi,” “Intercessory God,” and “God of Otokoto,” are all vicious means of reducing God to mere mortality. This is what you may call “religion reductionism.” These perspectives are arising due to the predominantly religious character the Igbo people possessed.

There are divergent opinions on the rendering of Chi in the central metaphysical conception of Igbo religion and cosmology, and the general philosophy of life. This argument contends that “Chi is inextricably linked with eke which is a complementary spiritual force with diversities in human personality.” This perspective needs further interrogation to create a new pattern of thought in this regard.

The above debates did not fail to allude to the effectiveness of the Christian missionary introduction in Igbo land which produced contradictions in producing a holistic interpretation of God in Igbo cosmology. Nascent Christian missionaries that are evolving are perpetuating these contradictions further. What is my suggestion, I want the present to learn from the past, therefore, I would suggest, in all sincerity, before individuals are decorated with the church robe to mount the pulpit, such individuals must be grounded, nurtured, and groomed in the study of theology, linguistics, history, philosophy, psychology, etc, which would enable to create a balance in the discourse. Acquiring a diploma (degree) from an accredited institution and never derailing from the ethics of oath of allegiance as a conveyor of faith would provide succor to the ailing understanding of what God actually represents in Igbo tradition.