Of Jukun Culture and Traditions: The Aku Uka's Funeral and Matters Arising

(By Moses E Ochonu) – The Aku Uka’s Funeral and Matters Arising 

    The recent funeral of the late Aku Uka of Wukari, the traditional ruler of the ancient Jukun empire, one of the oldest in the Nigerian territorial areas in Nigeria. Thanks to social media and the democratization of audiovisual and photographic technology, many of us got to watch it unfold in real-time or real-time videos of it. 

    Already, instead of celebrating this beautifully passionate display of an ancient, traditional African funerary practice and its self-affirming and proud survival in the face of colonial and postcolonial pressures, I see derisive and dismissive contempt for the rites from the usual suspects. 

    The sight of thousands of men, women, boys, and children dressed in the traditional, hand-woven Jukun tie-dyed loincloth and adoringly marching, singing, and ululating to send their beloved king to the other side is remarkable. 

    But not everyone is impressed. The Pentecostal crowd is out in full force, condemning what it sees as demonic, cultic funeral rituals of the late king’s transition to the land of the ancestors. The problem I have with my Pentecostal brethren is that they sometimes have a hard time accepting a world where people of other religions can find their path to God or spiritual happiness. And they insist on applying the logic and exegetical rules of their faith to other religions and belief systems. 

Nigeria, Nollywood, Magical Religiosity, and Ritual Murders

(By Dr. Luke Emehiele Ijezie) – The Rise in Ritual Murders and Poisoning: Influence of Nollywood and Magical Religiosity 

    The Nigerian society is currently awash with increasing cases of ritual killings and maimings of people through one form of occultic violence or the other. It is still a mystery how these things work, but one needs not underrate the reality and power of demonic forces. The troubling thing is that the phenomenon appears to be fuelled by our movie industry, Nollywood, and our Pentecostal type religiosity together with the ever increasing healing and adoration centres. 

    The movie industry dramatizes and celebrates ritually acquired wealth. People are given the false impression that they can achieve breakthrough in life instantly by simply passing through a ritual process, which most of the time involves the killing or maiming of somebody. The situation is that someone is some where celebrating the arrival of new wealth and fame while some other is heartbroken somewhere because of the killing of a loved one perpetrated by the celebrant of the new wealth. 

Of Nollywood Films and Ritual Killings: The Gods Are Not To Blame

(By Peace Anyiam-Osigwe MFR) – THE gods ARE TO BLAME

     The high level of ignorance exhibited by the members of our house of representatives, in deciding that the fact that our films mirror our societies ills is the reason money making rituals are on the rise, is inexcusable.  

    Unfortunately, this shows how little our so called political leaders actually understand the structures with which the Nigerian film industry operates. 

    For one, we are one of the few countries in the world that has a censorship board rather than a classification board and our films are made within the ability to get the censorship certificates. 

    Do we depict rituals in our films? Yes. 

    However, most of our stories are derived from actual events witnessed or reported by the media – and in some cases, told by victims or individuals related to the story or cases. 

    Our eroded value system has a lot to do with the total collapse of our cultural values which consumption of material wealth is the evidence of suceess. Our political structure portrays immediate wealth after or through successfully winning an election by stealing or manipulating votes. 

    Stories abound as how political aspirants have to swear oaths of allegiance to their godfathers, as prostitutes, who are being trafficked abroad also do. 

Nigerian Youth, Popular Culture, and Ritual Killing

Taaooma Comedy: RITUALIST // JONATHAN JOBURG

 

"I Am Not Strong in the Face of Grief" - Adichie

I Am Not Strong In The Face Of Grief - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 

Of the Church and Compassionate Priests: "The Priest Matters" - Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Addresses The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria. August 25th, 2021

In Memoriam: bell hooks

                                  “Popular culture is where the pedagogy is, where the learning is.” 
                        bell hooks: foundational Black feminist, writer, professor, activist, and truth teller 

                                                                            (1952-2021) 

Asaba: Nigeria's New Hub of Filmmaking

(By Sylvester Asoya) - Asaba: Nigeria’s New Hub of Filmmaking 

    Asaba, capital of Delta State is now Nigeria’s newest film hub. This development is not only exciting but also a great news to many young people, filmmakers, moviegoers, small business owners and even Delta State government that is already waiting in the wings. To many people, Asaba is a natural destination for movies, tourism and entertainment generally, and the reasons are not far to seek. 

    Before now, the Delta State capital showed promise with its location, growing infrastructural development, proximity to Onitsha, a major movie centre, and the relative peace and stability everyone living in Asaba, enjoys. But there is also the factor of geography, a bustling young population, the state’s new status as holiday haven and the changing landscape within the capital territory. This new standing of Asaba is therefore not only a welcome development but also a boost to social life, tourism and leisure. There is also the economic angle to this growth that is already attracting visitors and increasing employment opportunities in the arts and entertainment world. 

    It is already evident that very few smart and resourceful film directors and producers can resist Asaba’s alluring scenery and tranquility. This, in recent times, has been heightened by a booming real estate market that is decorating the beautiful capital territory and providing irresistible locale for shooting.

Nollywood and Pentecostalism: Preaching Salvation, Propagating the Supernatural

(By Chijioke Azuawusiefe) - Nollywood and Pentecostalism: Preaching Salvation, Propagating the Supernatural

CrossCurrents. 2020. 70 (3): 206-219 

    "Since the inception of cinema, religion has constituted an essential element of screen images. With the production of its inaugural film, Living in Bondage (1992), Nollywood —the cinema of Nigeria and the world’s second largest film industry—established itself within cinema’s tradition of enchanting the world. The supernatural (often explored in Nollywood films through the occult and witchcraft) has remained one of its staple genres and distinctive features, a hallmark that speaks to the quotidian beliefs of African Christians who navigate their everyday interactions in a milieu where religion not only permeates the daily social life but also the economics and politics of the continent. It constitutes a key factor for plumbing Nollywood’s constructions of popular religion or the understanding of religion in public space, given how Nollywood films position the occult as the force against which different religious traditions (Christianity vs. African Traditional Religions) and denominations (Pentecostalism vs. Catholicism) battle one another for supremacy. 

     Nigeria, which accounts for about a fifth of Africa’s population and a sixth of its Christian population, presents a significant site for the interrogation of religion.

Chijioke Azuawusiefe: Profile in Catholicism

Chijioke Azuawusiefe, SJ

(By Wamara Mwine) - An Interview with Father Chijioke Azuawusiefe, SJ

--Profiles in Catholicism (Published December 29, 2020; Updated January 26, 2021) 

    

Wamara Mwine: Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order, was known for his crusades with followers through harsh conditions to achieve a spiritual connection with others. What experiences have you had that resembles Ignatius' journey? 

     

Fr. Chijioke Azuawusiefe: St. Ignatius of Loyola lived in a different time. He led a remarkable military life as a soldier prior to his conversion experience following the Battle of Pamplona (1521) where a cannonball shattered his left leg. However, although some aspects of his Spiritual Exercises, like the “The Call of the Eternal King” (93), might have a crusading flavor to them, Ignatius never traveled as a soldier post his conversion. 

     That said, I do not have any experiences that approximate his soldiery background. Nevertheless, as a Jesuit and following in the way of the Spiritual Exercises (a foundational prayer and spirituality text for Jesuits and many Christians, which evolved from Ignatius’s own prayers, meditations, and reflections), I bring the energy and the grace of the Exercises to my life and encounters with people, seeking, as St Ignatius put it, “to find God in all things.” 

Rev. Fr. Ojefua: Making of a Saint

(By Sylvester Asoya) - Rev. Fr. Anselm Abraham Ojefua: The Making of a Saint 

    He is easily remembered by the older generation for always praying the Rosary in front of the imposing entrance to St. Patrick’s College, Asaba, Delta State. This regular ritual associated with Reverend Father Anselm Abraham Isidahome Ojefua held when students would have entered their respective classrooms after the morning assembly. After that customary prayer session, Father Ojefua would return afterwards to the classroom to teach. This priest and monk from Igueben, Edo State, was highly respected by his colleagues, students and parishioners. 

    For instance, in the early 1950s, this remarkable priest already had his first and second degrees, but he remained a classroom teacher at St. Patrick’s College, Asaba under Reverend Father O’ Rouke. An amazing polyglot, though Esan by birth, Ojefua spoke perfect Latin, English, Igbo and had a working knowledge of many local and international languages. 

    In the old Catholic Diocese of Benin, Ojefua was a well known intellectual and radical priest who left his mark on many institutions. He was also a prolific writer and a great editor who edited Catholic Life, a very popular magazine that was very critical of the then Western Nigeria government and the ills of society. 

    He was without doubt, an important Catholic priest who had a very positive impact on the lives of many people. Like his Irish, American and Italian predecessors and contemporaries, he mingled freely with his parishioners and host communities, and even spoke their languages.

Ijele Remake: Culture and Its Iconic Ambassadors

 

Larry Gaaga - Egedege (Music Video) [ft. Pete Edochie, Theresa Onuorah, Flavour & Phyno]

Flavour, Levels, and Pop Culture: Celebrating Industry and Opulence

Flavour - Levels (Offical Video)

Translated Lyrics, courtesy of Mr. Xpression 

Nollywood, Criticism, and the Critic's Candor

(By Olamide Adio) – In Praise of Criticism 

          There are two moments in my life that define me as an artist and critic. Although I am usually wary
of reducing the entirety of being into moments, but “moments”, for me, remain the most potent manner of seizing poignant, character-defining experiences. Both moments, womb-to-tomb important as they are, came when I was a child, proving that it is in childhood that the fire of life strikes us the hottest, every other burn later is afterglow. The materials from these two moments are important to me particularly because I now find them replaceable only by duplication—I have obviously encountered better materials since childhood, but with each encounter, I have found that I have been looking for the same materials essentially, only more sophisticated—to be burned but at different degrees, at different spots. 

          The first material is nameless and irrelevant to film. I grew up in a school under strict tutelage and this meant that I was always surrounded by books to read, that I saw the news on AIT every night, that I constantly overheard intellectual arguments on national problems, and that, choiceless, I had to know the meaning of pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis at age nine. The purity of the arguments I heard—but didn’t understand—and the fervor with which these arguments were delivered, drew me to criticism early. I found flaws in the Punch newspaper cartoons; I found the popular 2000s American soap opera, Passions, too foreign, thus distasteful (but, suspiciously, I thought the 2001 animated series, Justice League, to be a masterpiece); and I was secretly sure that Yuen Woo-ping’s Iron Monkey was the greatest film ever made. Again, as with purpose, it appears criticism is present at all ages, only continuously redefined to suit sophistication—a baby will pinch its nose at bad milk—and every criticism, like the baby’s, is incontrovertibly subjective without the maturity of knowledge. But criticism by its nature is hardly ever agreeable.

Traditional Religions in Old vs. New Nollywood

(By Daniel Okechukwu) – Old Nollywood demonised traditional religions. New cinema says ‘No More’ 

A scene in Living in Bondage: Breaking Free
(Ramsey Nouah (L) and Kenneth Okonkwo)

Witches, gods, folklore take two. 

          In Narrow Escape, a classic 1999 Nollywood film, the embattled protagonist Reverend Emmanuel is facing a formidable enemy: his father. The two men are on either side of the well-known battle line of good vs. evil. Reverend Emmanuel is of the Christian faith, spreading the gospel. His father is a traditional worshipper. 

          “In the past twelve years, we have had fourteen Reverend Fathers in Umuaka. Six left here as corpses,” a concerned elder warns Reverend Emmanuel in one scene. The cause of death? Murder by a powerful cult of traditional worshippers. 

          This line exemplifies the specific religious theme of many films made in Nigeria at that time. Characters representing the Christian faith – pastors, deacons, reverends, believers – were inherently good and under attack by adherents of traditional faith – depicted as witches or ritualists – who were seen as full of evil. 

          Narrow Escape, with its all-star cast, was a hit as were other films with similar themes. End of Wicked depicted the wickedness of witches; Billionaire Club was about sacrificing loved ones for wealth; Festival of Fire followed the persecution of missionaries. It is not hard to see why these films were popular. They drew inspiration from the policies of colonial missionaries who saw traditional customs as evil and irreligious. This message found a receptive audience in one of the world’s most religious countries. 

          Yet today, the tides have turned. Filmmakers in Nigeria are now exploring previously-maligned traditional faiths and subverting how they have been depicted. What changed? The answer is likely to be found in Nigeria’s changing relationship with religion.