MANY TONGUES, ONE PEOPLE: REDISCOVERING THE DESCENT OF THE IGBO MAN When I saw this topic, I thought

for a while that it would have been better delivered by an African historian or cultural anthropologist. I am a priest, only working in a parish. However, I am Igbo and one who is very interested about the cultural projection of Ndigbo. To project, we have to know the rich past, be cognizant of the present and then courageously approach the future. Consequently, this discuss puts before us a modern challenge of what it is to be Igbo. But how and why? I grew up in the period of the aftermath of the civil war and have known Ndigbo as a people outstanding in great cultural heritage, industriousness, brotherly love, strong religiosity and intellectual leadership. In the last two decades, however, several ugly acts have crept in to destroy our rich past and these acts, I believe, call for a rediscovery of the descent of Ndigbo. In the recent past, we have had recurring cases of ritual killings, advanced fee fraud or 419, kidnappings, armed robbery, assassinations, and even in our clerical circles; a handful of sacrilegious acts. The negative effects of these acts spread fast, home and abroad, and make people sometimes questions the sincerity of the Igbo man and whether he can be outstanding in leadership without being corrupt. A typical example (in National politics) is the production of four senate presidents (Senators Evans Enwerem, Chuba Okadigbo, Anyim Pius Anyim, Adolphus Wabara and eventually Ken Nnamani) in two republics (1999-2007) not on the grounds of competence but of corruption. Of great concern also are the recent incidents of our young men kidnapping their kinsmen, bureaucrats, businessmen and even priests, just for a ransom. These are just few examples. There are many more cases that signal a fast deterioration of values among Ndigbo. All these beg the question, Who really is the Igbo man? Is there something wrong with our descent? How can we redefine ourselves now? and Where do we go from here? This paper tries to answer these questions. It will x-ray the concept of many tongues, look at the rich past of Ndigbo and combine both to propose a way forward for Ndigbo. Many Tongues The concept of many tongues may be misleading. One may easily limit it to the question of language and dialect, but it can be distinguished in three ways, language/dialect consisting in only one. The first way of looking at many tongues is biological. Every man is created with the organ called tongue which is beautifully sewed into the mouth for the purpose of aiding sucking, chewing and swallowing, as the major bearer of taste buds, and as an aid to speech. Its general functions may be similar to all humans but each tongue is distinct to its owner. The function of speech brings us to the second way of considering tongue. In this sense tongue can be used in place of language or dialect. Thus, some of us are privileged to have the capability of speaking several languages and dialects and we can be said to speak in many tongues, however only one can be our native or mother tongue. There are, for example, over 20 Igbo dialects like: Aro, Ikwerre, Isuama, Izzi, Ngwa, Nsuka, Umuahia,

Ohafia, Ohuhu, nch, Enuani, rl, Owerre and so on. Language is part of what defines people of a particular culture and so all these dialects put together with some other cultural elements like music, dance, mode of dressing, belief and ideologies, values and norms, statuses, roles and cultural integration; help to define Ndigbo culturally. The third way of looking at tongue is transcendental. At this level, we see the tongue not just as a vital organ of the human body but standing for what a person actually represents ethically and spiritually. Tongue is mentioned 163 times in the Bible with the greatest mention in the Psalms and proverbs. Psalms 38:28 corroborates the point the tongue is meant for Gods praise and edification, and my tongue shall speak of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long. Also Proverbs 21:23 says whoever keeps his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from trouble. Consequently, tongue can be said to represent good or evil both of which are a reflection of the state of a persons soul. Some can also be lukewarm and inconsistent, always dangling between good and evil tongue. In this third way we can talk of a person having a good tongue or evil tongue or inconsistent owing to utterances and actions; and thus we can say a person has a healthy soul or corrupt soul. In a word, the idea of tongues can be biological, cultural or transcendental. For the purpose of this work we will concern ourselves with the cultural and transcendental aspects of tongue. Brief look at our culture The Igbo culture is outstanding in Nigeria. The sounds of udu, ekwe, ichaka, ogene, opi and igba remind us of our heroic past. We are proud of being who we are (our descent) when we here the instruments. Our masquerades and dance are evidences of our profound creativity which transcends mere merry making but is made concrete in the skills of our craftsmen, in the research efforts of our scholars, in the business acumen of our technocrats and common business men. The elegance of our traditional dressing speak dozens of a people of great pride; the isi-agu, ozo cap, judge-wrapper and women Ichafu -that is getting wider by the year- reiterate our belief that we are conquerors, purposeful and a happy people. Our colonial experience coupled with various experience of warfare no doubt had great impact on our mental maps. We had to work extra hard to recover our past state of happiness and prosperity since a lot was lost to warfare. This idea of hard work became an outstanding characteristic of Ndigbo everywhere. In every sector of the Nigeria society and almost every corner of the world, we are working hard to better ourselves and better the society. It is usually said that any place you cannot find an Igbo man is clearly inhabitable. One vital thing that came with colonization was Christianization; where the concept of God was discovered to be similar to the concept of Chi and the former was eventually adopted and adapted to the later for many who came to accept Christianity (Cf Summa Theologiae, I, Q. 13, A 1-12). Culture is no doubt not static but dynamic and so the concept Chi underwent significant changes and it is still changing. Chi is very crucial to our identity as a people because our existence is dual: spiritual and material. Chi perfectly orchestrates the coordination of the two in

the composite man. And so he defines our origin and direction: terminus ad quo and terminus ad quem. Consequently, it is with the Christianized concept of Chi that we were able to resolve certain problems in our culture like the killing of twins, Osu caste system and all forms of idolatry. We are here today as Igbo Christians who are basking in the zeal of promoting our unique culture. By the nature of our chosen vocation, we are placed in the position of spiritual and intellectual leadership. And so we should not give up in the ongoing process of Christianizing the concept Chi especially as it pertains the issue of Deus es machina. This craze about finding solution no matter where it surfaces and the growing view that God can be summoned to intercede; the way our remote-control works with the television. A transcendental tongue While considering tongue form a cultural perspective we find out that we are a united people. The differences in our dialects do not separate us but points to the fact that we are part of a bigger family. We are more united by our rich cultural heritage- the rites, the dance, the clothing, the struggling spirit and most essential, (for me) the concept of Chi. Out of all these riches of Ndigbo, some recent unfortunate events pose the challenge of an eroding culture. We are on the verge of losing our rich heritage to brigands. What is wrong? Why the kidnappings, 419s, robberies, ritual killings, sacrilegious acts, and drug trafficking? I trace these ills to the decaying understanding of the purpose of man and his relationship to Chi. It is not untrue that these problems are related to socio-economic problems of Nigeria in general but my argument is that, it is not unrelated to how we define ourselves and how we picture God. We have already talked about how our experience of warfare made us into an extra hard working people because of the need to replenish and flourish despite the great lose to war. It seems that in the process of our struggles, many missed the point of the meaning of success. We do not just believe that man is a composite being but also that his end is happiness and freedom, not just a pure rational autonomy but specifically, the achievement of moral and spiritual perfection. That is why we usually say: a good name is better than great riches. This saying confirms the fact that the measure of success is not the amount of material acquisition but in integrity and hard work. The aberration of this timeless value is that the measure of success is in the level of material acquisition- exact opposite you will say. This form of materialism is the deadly cankerworm that is destroying our good values and it is spreading rapidly like a wild fire. Many people unconsciously subscribe to such form of materialism and forget the essence of mans life. They direct all of their efforts to the search for material riches and do so by any means possible. It is this wide spreading distorted understanding of human achievement or success that leads to desperation and eventually the deadening of the conscience against that prime value of human life. This growing dehumanism is fueled by the usual Ulo December- the yearly reunion of Igbo families in their village (hometown), which has become for many a time for showing off wealth instead of appreciating our great cultural heritage, promoting integrity and

sound values. Consequently, there is a growing curiosity in young people to succeed like their contemporaries- materially. To do so, some resort to ritual killings, kidnappings, robbery and other criminal acts in order to meet up. The second problem is the distorted understanding of who God is and how he relates to us. It is true that more than 96% of us (Ndigbo) are Christians but it is evident that our general moral and social conduct betrays this fact. Christian values are pro-life and man who is made in the image of God should strive for moral and spiritual perfection in all his dealings. On the ideological level, I think that more work should by theologians on the proper understanding of the Christian concept of Chi to avoid the elements of syncretism that has crept in. This growing confusion in the mind of people concerning principle of deus ex machina is alarming. Suddenly, many Christians start approaching God as if he works like an automatic machine. The craze for instant miracles, wonders, overnight financial explosion and so on is clearly a distortion of the understanding of who God is. For many, though unconsciously, Gods ways have become the ways of men. Some of our own ordained priests are not even helping matters. All because of the material gains, some priest promote this psychological sensation that is based on the principle of deus ex machina. The result of this a clear divide between ones life as a Christian in the church and ones life as an ordinary person at home and at work. The God of divine providence is not desirous of a divided human person. He wants us to be organic in our thinking, living and loving. So to regain our rich past, there is need to turn to God and to understand him in a proper way that will promote human flourishing and the attainment of true freedom. What next? Though we are a people with many tongues of dialect, we are united in goals and aspirations. In this rediscovery of our descent, we have pointed out the strength of our cultural heritage is enormous. We pride in our creativity and integrity but now we are threatened by an aberration of a key value, that is, the true measure of success. This distortion in the mind of many is linked to the wrong understanding of essence of man and the wrong understanding of who God is. This two put together is a big catastrophe that we cannot shut our eyes to. It is true that it has not affected all of us but it is rapidly corrupting our people and giving us bad name. We must redefine ourselves by correcting these anomalies and all of us have our own unique role to play. But how? We, the Igbo people, are one. However, there many tongues that are conflicting and disturbing our growth as one people. The wrong ideologies and unfortunate practices that bewitch our people have to be exorcised. It begins with you; the values you defend and how you use your tongue to promote your culture. You can make a change but defending sound Christian values in any position or place you find yourself. What you say of your culture and your people also matter. Use your tongue not to condemn but to promote the Igbo tradition and culture, and constructively criticize when necessary. Our leaders, elders, Igwes, Ozo title holders, parents, government and professionals have to do their work well. They have to stick to the right ethos and life

organic lives. Our scholars, philosophers and theologians have to go back to their ideological board and begin to reconstruct what has been dilapidated by corrupt values and distorted ideologies. As Pastors, we have to hold on to the proper Catholic doctrine which we profess and make sure we present to the people of God, the right image of Chi. We should try as much as possible to do away with rousing people to a psychological sensation that makes them think God works like a machine. As Christians, we should strive to live an organic life. Our whole being should be enveloped by the spirit of God such that our thinking, living and loving reflect the life of a true heir of Christ. By this, we would live beyond all these problems that threaten or unity and divide our tongue. Conclusion The question of many tongues goes beyond the problems of language. It raises both a cultural and transcendental concerns. Our culture and traditions but some of our people are getting infected by the craze of materialism which we have traced to the wrong understanding of mans end and a distorted picture of Chi. The unity of tongue lies in the solving of this great problem. We have always been courageous and victorious people. We are up to the task. The descent of the Igbo man is based on the fact that we are half spirit, half flesh. That means we are a composite being of body and soul, made in the image and likeness of God. We have to fight on to fulfilling our mission of a free and united people. A mission which means striving for moral and spiritual perfection which in turn translates to a healthy unity in diversity and flourishing socio-cultural atmosphere. It is now left to you- use your tongue well. Thank you!