AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION
INTRODUCTION
[1]African
Indigenous religion is unlike other world religions in many respects. It has no
historical Founder, it is not a missionary religion per se: there is no
messianic expectation or apocalyptic warnings of the end of the world.
Most importantly, for our purpose here, there
are no sacred scriptures or written literature of any kind. The religion is
largely oral and its beliefs and practices are preserved in the memory of
living persons –cultic functionaries, elders, opinion leaders and other
custodians of cultural and religious traditions –and passed on by word of mouth
from generation to generation.
We will be discussing the sources of
studying anthropology under the following headings
·
Myths
·
Songs
·
Invocation and incantations
·
Legends
·
Proverbs, idioms, adages and wise sayings
It
is important to note that most of the text below are extract from the heritage
of the mouth: oral sources and the study of African traditional religion.
MYTHS
Myth
is a derivation of the Greek word muthos, implying, in a very broad sense,
anything delivered by word of mouth, it means a „true story‟ and beyond that a story that is a
most precious possession because it is sacred, exemplary and significant.
Myth is a very common feature of African
indigenous religion. It is an important means of expression through which man’s experiences and encounters with the supersensible world is
revealed. Myth provides answers for a student of African traditional region
seeking interpretations to such fundamental and cardinal questions of life as
the origin of man, the original state of man, the fall of man, the phenomenon
of death, the problem of evil, life in the after-life, etc. Thus Africans
through their encounters with the universe evolved their own indigenous myths
explaining and interpreting African beliefs concerning questions of fundamental
importance as enumerated above. Accordingly, there are cosmological myths, for
example, found all over Africa, concerned with the creation of the cosmos,
after which, man was created to take charge of the created order.
[2]
One version of Igbo cosmological myth has it that Chukwu, the Supreme Deity,
mandated Eri, a superhuman, to accomplish this assignment. When Eri and his
wife descended from heaven, they landed at Aguleri; but unfortunately, the
whole place was marshy, so they stood on a termite mound. Eri complained to
Chukwu who sent Awka, a blacksmith, with bellows, charcoal and fire to dry up
the land. In the life time of Eri, he and his dependents were fed by Chukwu
with a certain sky-substance, but those who ate of this food never slept.
At the demise of Eri, the food supply ceased. Then Nri, Eri‟s son, complained to Chukwu about
the shortage of food. Chukwu, however, replied that food would be available on
one condition, only if Nri would slay and bury his son and daughter, food would
be obtained from their graves. After initial doubts, Nri complied. Three Igbo
weeks later, plant shoots appeared from their graves. From the grave of his
son, Nri dug up yam, cooked and ate it with his family and for the first time
they fell asleep. Also from his grave sprang up palm tree. The next day Nri dug
up cocoyam from his daughter’s
grave; they ate it and likewise slept. Thus yam, which is regarded as the king
of crops, is planted by men, and it is abomination against the land for women
to climb palm tree, and worse still, tap the wine. Chukwu told Nrito distribute
this food to all mankind. Nri objected, saying that it was obtained by the
death of his first born children. Chukwu insisted and promised that in return,
Nri and his descendants would have the right of cleansing every Igbo town of
abomination or breaches of taboo. They would also have the right of crowning
the king of the children of Eri and tying the ankle cords whenever a man took
the ozo title. Nri and
his
descendants would also have the right to make the yam medicine each year to
ensure bountiful harvest.
This Igbo myth, apart from accounting for
the creation of the cosmos, also validates and legitimizes important Igbo
cultural practices and social institutions. Thus the myth attempts to account
for why today the Awka among the Igbo are considered excellent blacksmith and
why blacksmithing has become the major occupation of the adult male residents
of Akwa town. Similarly, the myth tries to legitimatize occupational roles and
functions ascribed according to gender. Thus, men must cultivate yam and tap
palm wine because they are masculine, originating from the remains of Nri‟s son. On the contrary, the
cultivation of cocoyam and vegetable is the exclusive preserve of women because
they sprang up from the grave of Nri‟s daughter. Most importantly, the
myth legitimizes the religio-political claim of hegemony of the Nri people over
the rest of Igbo land.
Generally, African cosmological myths
place the creation of the universe and all therein not directly in the hands of
the Supreme Deity but rather creation are delegated to a being or set of beings
of an intermediate character. Secondly, creation as conceived by many African
people is not ex–nihilo, out of nothing.
[3]In
other cultures, particularly among the Efik, Obasi, God, created the two world
parents, Eteteji and Etaban. They lived blissfully with God in heaven attending
to God’s farm. They were to serve God for
seven years after which God promised to make them rich, however, in the last
week of the seventh year, Etaban without the knowledge of her husband, stole
some seed yams belonging to Obasi. Obasi was so displeased that He sent them
out of the farm to the earth. However, out of pity for the couple, He gave them
plenty of yams to cultivate in order to feed themselves and their children.
These myths attempt to account for African
own idea of paradise and how it was eventually lost by the primaeval man.
Accordingly, African image of the happy life as Mbiti(1969: 98), has adequately
described it, is one in which God is among the people, His presence supplying
them with food, shelter, peace, immortality or gift of resurrection and a moral
code. However, this paradaisal relationship was brought to an end as a result
of man‟s
disobedience and breach of the moral code.
The appearance of death, its uncanning and
intriguing nature, is also subject of many African myths. The origin of death
is variously ascribed to a falsified message or slackness of a lower creature,
and in other instances, death originated when the people made an unwise choice;
choosing a large bundle of tempting articles instead of small bundle that
contained everlasting life. [4]Thus,
according to the Isiokpo, for example, in the beginning God sent the dog to the
mythical ancestors with the message that they would be immortal, but sent the
toad with the contrary message that they would die. The dog not only sauntered
on the way but stopped at different places to feed on excrement. As a result,
the toad arrived first and delivered its message. No sooner had the toad
delivered its message than the dog arrived. However, God had already sanctioned
the message delivered by the toad, and ever since death has been the lot of
man. That a toad was the harbinger of the evil message has earned it
contemptuous and scornful treatment. In
Isiokpo, the animal must be killed whenever sighted with causes and abuses.
The authenticity and reliability of myth,
as a source of oral tradition, can be attested to, since in many African
cultures, it relates to supernatural things and as such, it is revered and
surrounded with sanctions against distortion and falsification. [5]In
many African cultures, it is the prerogative of priests to recite it to a
select audience during rituals and festivals. Very remarkably, J. H. Enemugwen
has enumerated some mnemonic devices that help the priest to recite it
correctly. These are drum beats, specific dance steps, specific movements on
the sacred ground and the sequence of recitations. The priest, as Enemugwen
further noted, sometimes starts by relating the people to their homelands,
migratory routes and the events at each place of migration before pointing to
their religious life and early history of their past settlement traditions.
Some prefer chanting their recitation with a defined metre to ensure accuracy.
Most importantly, in cultures where myth
is used as a magical incantation in healing, renewal and inspiration, it is
recited with much care because alteration and distortion may render the whole
ritual process worthless and ineffective. To guide against this, the priest
usually adheres strictly to the wording of the myth, in order not to jeopardize
the life of the devotees.
Myth,
therefore, is an invaluable asset to the study of African indigenous religion.
Indeed, in African traditional societies, myth and religion are often
inextricably intermingled and used in the natural ordering of things; and most
significantly, assist man to explain reality. For it is through myth that the
inexplicable realities of the world in which Africans live aredisentangled,
revealed
and made real to them. Therefore, myth, for the African, is a symbolic expression
of a religious experience, which becomes the model for explaining and
interpreting the universe and all that exist in it.
SONGS
Songs
constitute another very significant source of African indigenous religion. In
African traditional societies, song occupies a central place and Africans
employ it for every occasion: be it joy or sorrow. Songs are used to buoy up
warriors during wars, to extol the virtues of rulers, to assuage the bereaved,
to rejoice with merry-makers, and very importantly, for our purpose here, songs
are employed most extensively in religious rituals, festivals, births and
funeral ceremonies.
African
scholars have drawn inspiration largely from African songs which are replete
with what Africans think about Deity and the supersensible world. In many
African cultures, the belief that God is creator of all things including the
divinities is implicit and unequivocal. Take for example, the Akan title for
Nyame, the Supreme Being, Bore bore, which means Excavator, Hewer, Carver,
Creator, Originator, Inventor or Architect. The Akan also call
Nyame,Odomankoma, meaning the author of all things and they regard the
divinities as the children of Nyame, symbolizing that their origin and
existence is dependent on Him.
[6]That
God is creator among the Akan strongly finds credence in one drum stanza which
goes as follows: Odomankoma, He created the thing.„Hewer-out‟ Creator, He created the thing What
did He create? He created orderHe created knowledge, He created death A sits
quintessence.
Apart from His position as creator,
Africans also conceive God as faraway and at the same time transcendent. This,
however, does not in any way imply withdrawn, remote/absconded, rather it
suggests that God goesbeyond the limit of human knowledge, experience and
reason and faraway to the point that man cannot touch and feel Him, in a
physical sense. Yet this “faraway” God is immanent and so close that He hears
and sees everyone. The transcendence and immanence nature of God is best
illustrated in the Nupesong: God is far away God is in front
He
is in the back.
One other aspect of Deity is what Africans
themselves think of their relationshipwith Him. All over Africa, people
consider Him to be benevolent, morally good and care about humans. He is
responsible for the creation and maintenance of the world. Yet, paradoxically,
in some African cultures, as Ronald M. Green observes, He is cast in a morally
unfavorable light. When God enters human affairs, it is often to cause evils
and sometimes epidemics, death by wild animals, lightning and other random
events that defy moral explanation (1988: 23). [7]The
Yoruba, for example, consider death by lightning and small pox as royal
punishments (i.e. manifesting the wraths of God). This spirit of fatalism is
re-enacted in a Dimka hymn which vividly expresses the same attitude. [8]Spring
rain in a dry spell, strikes the ant on the head with a club. And the ant says:
my father has seen and they do not know whether he helps people, and they do
not know whether he injures people.
Like
the Supreme Being, Africans also believe that spirits are ubiquitous, and can
be found everywhere. This is particularly expressed in the Nuer concept of
deng, regarded as the greatest of the spirits of the air. A man says he is
tired of the demands made by deng and that he would move. But deng, in a song
replies:
A
man avoiding deng
Will
find deng in front
On
the right he will find deng
On
the left he will find deng
Behind
him he will find deng
(E.
E. Evans–Pritchard, 1956: 47).
African indigenous religion is
utilitarian; apart from satisfying human spiritual needs, the religion is also
concerned with the good life here and now,and with health and prosperity. Man‟s position in the society is
validated through personal achievements. From cradle to grave, life is
bedeviled with obstacles which man must eliminate through personal struggles to
actualize his destiny. Most times man enlists the support of certain spirit
forces to actualize this.
For
the Igbo, this spirit force is chi;
among
the Edo, it is uhunmwa;
for
the Idoma, it is owo;
the
Nupe refer to it as kuci;
and
among the Yoruba, it is known as ori.
The Yoruba has a very interesting account
on how man chooses his destiny. They believe that a man‟s life course is predestined by
Olodumare, the Supreme Deity, and it is conferred on man in one of three ways.
Man knells down before Deity to receive or choose or have his destiny affix on
him. This is carried out in the presence of ori, man‟s guardian angel and Orunmila, the
oracle divinity. On his way into the world, precisely at the gate between
heaven and earth,
Onibodeorun(the
heaven‟s
gatekeeper) would
ask
man to declare his destiny again. When once this is done, the destiny is
finally sealed and man is born into the world. A Yoruba popular song supports
the belief that destiny once sealed before Deity is unalterable. That-which-is
chosen knelling,
It
is that-which-is-found-getting-to the world, Destiny cannot be
altered.
(Awolalu and Dopamu, 1979:162).
Another lyric popularized by the Yoruba
talking drum is:
Whatever
a spendthrift likes, He buys with his money
Hold
your tongue still, give us peace!
Whatever
the ori comes to fulfill,
it cannot but fulfill it (Awolalu and Dopamu,
1979: 162).
That Orunmila, outside the Supreme Being,
has the inexhaustible knowledge about creation and knows the destiny of every
individual has earned it the appellation Eleri-ipin (the destiny witness).
Although, Orunmila knows man’s
destiny, it is ori, the guardian angel, who has the monopoly to govern, control
and guide the individual through life’s
earthy journey. Accordingly, it is necessary for the individual to offer ori
necessary sacrifices to curry its favor. Obedience in this regard will earn him
favorable predestined future. It is perhaps, in realization of this, thatman in
a Yoruba song asked Orunmila, the wise one:
Who among
the gods shall we propitiate with sacrifice?
We shall
make haste and offer sacrifice to Eegun cult.
Orinmila
said: he is not a worthy god to be propitiated with sacrifice They said we
should desist from giving preference to ori Instead recognition should be given
to Orisaoja.
Orunmilasaid:
he is not worthy to be offered sacrifice. They answered; we shall make a round
cloth to carry sacrifice Prepared for witches to the cross road.
Orunmila
said: they are not worthy to be offered sacrifices.
Orunmila, I
confess my ignorance, blessed, cloth me with wisdom, enlighten me
Orunmilasaid,
it is ori alone That is worthy to be offered sacrifice
(AdegboyaOrangun,
1988: 37).
The
above, succinctly captures the importance of ori (especially as declared by
Orunmila, the wise one), as one who is to be propitiated to actualize a
favourabledestiny and as one who can appeal to Olodumare to mend unfavourable
destiny.
Also very remarkable as sources of African
indigenous religion are birth songs. Some of the birth songs give thanks and
extol the Supreme Being as the Giver of children; others, marvel at the mystery
of child birth, and yet others, ask rhetorical questions, as to what should be
given to God in appreciation for His gift of children. Take,for example, this
Igbo birth song:
If God were not the giver of
children
Who would have given me a child?
If God were not the giver of
children
Who would have given me a child?
(C. O Okechukwu. 2007: 133).
This
song draws attention to a very important Igbo belief, namely:that God is the
Source Being from whom other beings came into existence. He is the giver of
children. Another Igbo birth song, also reported by Okechukwu (2007: 133) goes
as follows:
Women, our members
God that gives children,
What shall we give Him?
Iyaee, Iyaee
A child is superior to money
(Okechukwu 2007: 133).
In this song, as Okechukwu attempts to
interpret, the women raise a question which emphasized God as the sole giver of
children and so deserves something in appreciation. In response to the
question, the women do not provide an answer (and no answer was expected for
the question was merely rhetorical), but rather, they sing that a child is
worth more than money. By this response, as Okechukwu points out, the women
make two important points, namely; that child is very valuable (more valuable
than money), and secondly, that no gift to God would be enough to repay for the
gift of a child. By emphasizing that a child is superior to money they imply
that even if it were possible to offer money to God, it would not be a worthy
gift in comparison to the baby they had received from Him.
Another aspect of African song that is
rich in African beliefs and philosophy are funeral dirges. Some of the dirges
may dwell on the irreversibility of death; the helplessness of man in the hands
of death; the transitory nature of man on earth, and most importantly, the
abode of the dead. Typical of such dirges is this one which depicts the
struggle between man and death.
Behold Oteka fights alone
The Bull dies alone.
O men of the lineage of Awic
What has the son of my mother done
to you?
That he should be deserted
Behold the warrior fights single
handed
My brother is armed with bow and
barbed-headed arrows
He fights alone, not a single helper
beside him
My brother fights alone, he
struggles with death (p‟ Bitek1963: 20).
The
dirge reveals that when God decrees death for the individual he struggles in
vain. And this clearly exemplifies the Isiokpo saying: sacrifice does not
prevent death(Tasie, 1999: 187).
In
all, we see that songs are at the heart of African religion. Through the songs
that are used in
worship
we learn about the names and characters of Deity and or the divinities, the
wishes and yearnings of the worshippers and some basic doctrinal issues.
PROVERBS, ADAGES, IDIOMS AND OTHER WISE SAYINGS
Africans through interactions with their
environment, and from human experiences and reflections have come up with well
known phrases and sentences that give advice or say something that is generally
true. Infact, these forms of oral tradition, collectively referred to as wise
sayings, are important means of communication in traditional Africa.
[9]Among the Igbo, Chinua Achebe
(1958), for example, tells us that proverbs are the oil with which the Igbo eat
their words. But most remarkably, proverbs also communicate religious truth and
are important vehicles through which fundamental religious lessons are
conveyed. E. Ikenga-Metuh has provided a catalogue of religious beliefs as they
are found and expressed in Igbo proverbs (1985).
The profound fatalism, the belief that
events are decided by fate and that you cannot control them, prevalent in
African religion, is strongly expressed in wise sayings. The Mende, in a few
well chosen words, express this belief in a proverb: [10]If
God dishes your rice in a basket, do not wish to eat soup! This is interpreted
to mean that a person should not desire to change the state or condition in
which God places him.
Another very wide spread belief in Africa
is the limitation of supernatural powers and the fact that the divinities in
spite of their extensive powers over their devotees are also dependent on the
latter for strength and relevance. This belief is aptly expressed in an Ikwerre
proverb: [11]The
villagers may belong to a god but the god also belongs to the villagers. This
implication of control is still implicit in a Kalabari proverb: [12]If
a spirit becomes too violent, they will tell him the stick they carved him
with. The import of this proverb is based on the fact that “the stick they
carved him with”is a figure of speech for “the instrument of their (devotees)
power over him”.
INVOCATIONS/ INCANTATIONS
These
are words that are spoken, song or chanted to have a magic effect. They are
usually addressed to the Supreme Being or the deities; and often times, are
employed during rituals especially at the pouring of libation and the feeding
of the deities. During incantations and invocations, we learn the names of the
deities, their capabilities and limitations, their attributes
and
characters, their appellations and designations; and most significantly, the
apprehensions, hopes and expectations of the devotees. Typical of such
invocations and incantations is the one use by the Isiokpo-Ikwerre to invite
home the ancestor for his weekly ritual meal.
Great Ancestor, the founder of our
lineage
He who sits at a place and oversees
the entire lineage,
He who sits at a place and protects
his children
Wherever they may be,
Our great father, the small piece of
dried meat that fills the mouth,
Killer of elephants and leopards!
The tree that towers above the palm
trees!
Come home and eat (George Tasie
2007: 133).
Another
example of incantations is the one employed by the Yoruba toward off the effect
of witchcraft and sorcery.
Akindudu is the name we call life
Akatamaba is the name we call Esu
Long-pointed-stick-that kills-a
hunter fromThe farm is what we call Songo;
He-who-has-sparse-hair-on-the
chest-and-Goes-around-last-year‟s-abandoned-farm,Is what we call
Sopono
It is
He-who-rolls-them-on-the-ground, rollThem on the ground for me;The sorcerers
that wish me evil
He-who-rolls-them-on-the-ground roll
them On the ground for me;The witches that wish me evil
He-who-rolls-them-on-the-ground,
roll them On the ground for me
(Awolalu and Dopamu, 1979: 252).
Incantations
such as this are used by Yoruba toward off evil influence and to protect
themselves against the evil machinations of sorcerers and witches.
Another very
important aspect of oral tradition which is useful to the study of African
traditional
religion is
legend. Legend by its nature talks about historical persons who lived in a time
earlier than but continuous with our present time, but who were remarkably
outstanding either because
of their
extreme strength or weakness. A careful study of the divinities and spirit
forces in the pantheon of African religion will reveal that a reasonable number
are no more than deified heroes and celebrities. Some of the divinities were
once leading personalities who brought about innovations and conferred benefits
on their societies;whereas, otherswere legendary figures who metamorphosed from
ordinary mortals and became deified. Example, the mythical origins of the Oyo
Empire
[13]The mythical origins of the Oyo
Empire lie with Oranyan (also known as Oranmiyan), the
second prince of the Yoruba Kingdom of Ile-Ife. Oranyan made an agreement with
his brother to launch a punitive raid on their northern neighbors for insulting
their father, the Oba Oduduwa, first of the Oonis of Ife.
On the way to the battle, the brothers quarrelled and the army split up.
Oranyan's force was too small to make a successful attack, so he wandered the
southern shore until reaching Bussa. There the local chief entertained him and
provided a large snake with a magic charm attached to its throat. The chief
instructed Oranyan to follow the snake until it stopped somewhere for seven
days and disappeared into the ground. Oranyan followed the advice and founded
Oyo where the serpent stopped. The site is remembered as Ajak[14]a. Oranyan made Oyo his new kingdom
and became the first "oba" (meaning 'king' or 'ruler' in the Yoruba language) with the title of "Alaafin
of Oyo" (Alaafin means 'owner of the palace' in Yoruba), leaving all his
treasures in Ife and allowing another king named Adimu to rule there in his
stead.
CONCLUSION
To sum up, I
would like to high-light two very important issues, especially as they relate
to oral
tradition,
which I consider very necessary for the continual relevance and survival of
African indigenous religion. First, this essay, as I have demonstrated in the
previous section, has shown that Africa is largely an oral continent where
information is till preserved in the memory of living persons. African rich
philosophical and religious formulations are unequivocally encapsulated and
expressed in variousforms of oral traditions which are then passed on (by word
of mouth) from generation to generation.Secondly, the limitations of this
“heritage of the
mouth”, in
the face of a rapidly changing world, where values are shifting fast, spell
danger for African indigenous religion. The ever operative factor of death,
which frequently carries away old people who are custodians of cultural
heritage; low life expectancy for which Africa
has become
notorious, and the radical and continuous breakdown of cultural barriers by
forces of modern change call for urgent need to document for posterity a
religion whose tenets have been seriously battered by these agents of change
and is now on the threshold of extinction.
REFERENCES
1.
George I.K. Tasie,
“The Heritage of the Mouth: Oral Sources
And The Study Of
African Traditional Religion,”
International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention
ISSN (Online): 2319 (march 31, 2013),
www.ijhssi.org
2.
Wikipedia, Legends of
Africa, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_of_Africa
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
[1].
Amadi, Elechi
Ethics in Nigerian Culture.
Ibadan: Heinemann, 1982.
[2].
Achebe, Chinua
Things Fall Apart.
London:Heinemann, 1958.
[3].
Abanuka, Bartholomew
Myth and the African universe,
Onitsha: Spiritan
Publications, 1999.
[4].
Awolalu J. O., “Sin and its Removal
in African Traditional Religion”,
in Journal of theAmericanAcademy of
Religion,
44/2, 1976
[5].
Awolalu, J.O. and P.A. Dopamu
West African TraditionalReligion,
Ibadan: OnibonojePress, 1979.
[6].
Danquah, J. B.
The Akan Doctrine of God London,
Lutterworth Press: 1944
[7].
Ejizu, C. I. “Methodological Issues
and Perspectives in the Study of Igbo Religion” in
Ofo: a Journal of the Humanities
.Vol. 2, 1988, pp. 67-81
[8].
Ejizu, C.I. “Oral sources in the
Study of African Indigenous Religion” in
Cashiers Des Religion Africains,
Vol. 23, No, 45-46, 1989, pp. 37-47.
[9].
Enemugwen,J. H and Darlington K.
Okere,“The Role of N. C. Ejituwu in the Development of Niger Delta
Historiography” In History in Africa
359,2008 pp. 191-207.
[10].
Enemugwen J. H. “Oral Data and the
Reconstruction of Eastern Obolo History” in
Lagos Historical Review
: A Journal of Dept.of
History and Strategic Studies,
University of Lagos. Vol. 8, 2008, pp. 79-90.
[11].
Eliade, Mircea.
Myth and Reality,
New York: Harper and Row, 1963.
[12].
Evans-Pritchard, E. E,
Neur Religion,
Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1956.
[13].
Forde, D.
AfricanWorlds,
London: Oxford University Press,
1954.
[14].
Forde, D.
The Yoruba Speaking Peoples of
South-Western Nigeria
,London: International African
Institute, 1951.
[15].
Green, Ronald M.
Religion and Moral Reason,
New York: Oxford University Press,
1988.
[16].
Horton, Robin
Kalabari Sculpture.
Lagos: Nigeria National Press, 1965.
[17].
Ikenga-Metuh, E.
African Religions in Western Conceptual
Schemes: The Problems of Interpretation,
Ibadan: Pastoral Institute, 1985.
[18].
Idowu, E. B.
Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief.
London: Longman, 1965.
[19].
______
AfricanTraditionalReligion:ADefinition.
London: S. C. M. Press, 1973.
[20].
Jeffreys, M. D. W. “The Umundri
Tradition of Origin”
African Studies,
Vol. 15, No. 3, 1956, pp. 119-131.
[21].
Liddell and Scott
Greek-English Lexicon
(abridged ed.),Oxford: Clarendon
Press. 1909.
[22].
Mbiti, J. S.
African Religions and Philosophy:
New York: Praeger Publishers, 1969.
[23].
Mbiti, J. S.
Introduction to African Traditional
Religion.
London: Heinemann, 1976.
African Religions and Philosophy:
New York: Praeger Publishers, 1969.
[5] Oral Data and the Reconstruction of
Eastern Obolo History” in Lagos Historical Review, , 2008: 80-81
Comments
Post a Comment