Annang Cosmogony: A Critical Inquest

Introduction

            The point at issue in this discourse is a critical analysis of the presuppositions of the Annang story of origin, otherwise known as Annang cosmogony. This inquest is about asking whether the known claims of the Annang tradition of origin holds water in the face of critical analysis. Accordingly, an attempt shall be made to interrogate into who the Annang people are. Thereafter, an articulate account of the origin of the Annang people shall be given after which certain questions shall be addressed to the narrative presuppositions of the Annang cosmogony.

Who are the Annang People?

            It is noteworthy that the Annang people, otherwise known as Annangs, are a group of people found in Akwa Ibom, a state in the South-south geo-political zone of Nigeria.[1] Some scholars hold that the Annangs have a common history of migration with the Ibibio nation and the Igbo nation from the Middle East, Israel, to be precise. Hence, they are blood descendants of Abraham.[2] The Annangs exists alongside the Ibibio nation as major ethnic groups in Akwa Ibom state where there are other minorities like the Oron nation etc. They occupy Abak, Ikot Ekpene, Ika, Ukanafun, Etim Ekpo, Obot Akara, Essien Udim and Oruk Anam local government areas in Akwa Ibom State.[3] The Annang nation, whose language is also Annang is bounded to the northwest and southwest by the Igbo nation and to the northeast, east and southeast by the Ibibio nation.[4] It has a population of about two million people distributed through some 750 villages.[5]

The Annang Cosmogony

            The narrative of Annang cosmogony, like many other cosmogonies, is built on causality.[6] The Annang universe came to be from the self-caused Awasi Ibom, who is the Supreme Being. He first made Anyong, Isong and Inyang-Ibom, that is, the sky, the earth and the ocean, respectively. The narrative goes that Anyong and Isong were together in the heavens while Inyang-Ibom was below. However, Awasi-Ibom sent an unnamed creature, a giant in human form, to separate Anyong and Isong. Further, Awasi-Ibom ordered Anyong and his children including sun, stars etc., to move upward and Isong and his household too to move downward. Since the time of the separation, they both have been enemies. When Anyong covers Isong, day occurs and when Isong covers Anyong, night occurs.

            Moreover, when Isong was coming down, he fell into Inyang-Ibom, the ocean. With this fall, some of its parts were immersed in Inyang-Ibom, the other parts not inundated is dry land. The giant who had come to separate Anyong and Isong later went to bathe in the ocean and drowned. From his dead body particles animals and plants emerged into land and sea. His bones became rocks, his breathe air and the wind. Human beings came when Awasi-Ibom instructed, the earth goddess, Awasi-Isong to preserve the wall-gecko, ukpong-ajen in a clay pot for eight days. Awasi-Isong sent akuwe, the chameleon to secretly inspect the work of Awasi-Isong to ensure that it was done. Awasi-Isong did its work and on the eighth day, Awasi-Ibom spat on the clay pot and broke it. From the broken clay pot emerged two strange beings, the male and the female. And Awasi-Ibom asked the male: ade anyie – who are you? And he answered: nde agwo – I am a person. And Awasi-Ibom said: agwo, du uwem – human being, keep on living.

Furthermore, life continued and Awasi-Ibom became very cordial with human beings and Awasi-Isong did not like this. So, when the former sent the latter to come and deliver a message of immortality to human beings, she refused and rather sent two animals: the dog and the goat, ewa and ebot, respectively, to come and deliver the message to human beings. The initial and true message was that if any human being dies, the person should be sprinkled with ashes and left on the verandah and three days after, they would rise to life. This was given to the dog. However, the sheep was told to tell human beings to bury dead people deep inside the ground. The dog ran fast but was distracted by stopping on the road to eat faeces. The sheep, though slow, got to humankind kind first and its own message was adhered to. So, the gift of immortality was lost because of the envy of Awasi-Isong and the carelessness of the ewa.[7]

A Critique of the Presuppositions of the Annang Cosmogony

            It is interesting to note that the number of days that ukpong-ajen stayed in the pot before emerging as ‘human person’ corresponds to the eight days of the Annang week. These eight days are: Ared-Abo, Abo, Uruabom, Affiong, Ared, Aritagha, Atim and Akeyong.[8] This pattern of counting days is obviously different from the one the modern person is used to – the seven days of a week pattern, which must have had its way into traditional African soil by the coming of the missionaries. Evidence that this seven days counting is Judeo-Christian is replete in the Holy Writ. For instance, in Genesis chapter 1, God is said to have created the world in six days, rested on the seventh.

However, there are questions one must ask and concerns one must raise concerning the Annang cosmogony. Who was there to record all those happenings at the beginning of everything? To this, nevertheless, some may argue that it was revealed through some oracle to humankind. Again, a feminist critique can be levelled against the Annang cosmogony and the question would be asked: why did Awasi-Ibom not ask the female that initial question? Why did Awasi-Ibom ask the male? Why is the pronoun “he” used for Awasi-Ibom and the pronoun “she” used for Awasi-Isong who eventually turns out to be envious and wicked? Is this not a ploy to show the feminine dimension of the universe as sinister? Besides, is the silence of the female human not a justification of why the female in the society must be second class? More so, if the dog, ewa, was eating faeces, it definitely was human faeces. Why could it not pass the message to the persons around whose faeces it was eating? Was there a particular person it was supposed to pass the message to? Who was that person? Besides, when did all these take place and where? The truth is that some, if not all, of these questions can obviously not be answered.

In the final analysis, cosmogonies are rather stories that are used to justify or explain how society has come to be the way it is. The Annang cosmogony is one of such stories. They may not be stories of actual past events, but they are symbolic and carry with them information of inestimable importance. They signify both literal and figurative descriptions of a society’s past that has shaped its present and is molding its future. Accordingly, to interrogate them for the accuracy and precision that the critical mind wants might amount to addressing the right questions to the wrong quarters.  

Bibliography

Essien, Ephraim S. and Umotong, Iniobong (Eds). Elements of History and Philosophy of

Science. North Carolina: Lulu Press, 2013.

Essien, Ephraim. “Annang Philosophy: Foundations and Outline.” Aworom Annang, African

Journal of Culture, Philosophy and Society, http://www.aworomannang.com/annang_philosophy_foundations_and_outline.html Accessed 7/3/2016.

Okure, Tom U. “Historical Revisionism: The case of the Annang Nation,” Vanguard Online

Community, http://community.vanguardngr.com/profiles/blogs/historical-revisionism-the-case-of-the-annang-nation Accessed 7/3/2016.

Umoh, Dominic. “The Reality Behind The Mask In “Ekpo Ikpaisong” In Annang Culture Of 

Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria,” Journal of Communication and Culture: International Perspective. Vol.2, No.1 (April 2011), pp.101-108.

Umoh, Iyiet Edidiong. “Annang People are Israelites: The Story as it is,” The Link

Newspaper http://theinknewspaper.blogspot.com.ng/2015/07/annang-people-are-israelites-story-as.html Accessed 6/3/2016.

 “Annang People” Nto Annang Foundation USA Inc,

http://www.ntoannangfoundation.org/html/annang_people.html

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[1] Dominic Umoh, “The Reality Behind The Mask In “Ekpo Ikpaisong” In Annang Culture Of  Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria,” Journal of Communication and Culture: International Perspective, vol.2, no.1 (April 2011), p.104

[2] Iyiet Edidiong Umoh, “Annang People are Israelites: The Story as it is,” The Link Newspaper http://theinknewspaper.blogspot.com.ng/2015/07/annang-people-are-israelites-story-as.html accessed 6/3/2016.

[3] Tom U. Okure, “Historical Revisionism: The case of the Annang Nation,” Vanguard Online Community, http://community.vanguardngr.com/profiles/blogs/historical-revisionism-the-case-of-the-annang-nation accessed 7/3/2016.

[4] “Annang People” Nto Annang Foundation USA Inc, http://www.ntoannangfoundation.org/html/annang_people.html accessed 7/3/2016.

[5] Ephraim Essien, “Annang Philosophy: Foundations and Outline,” Aworom Annang, African Journal of Culture, Philosophy and Society, http://www.aworomannang.com/annang_philosophy_foundations_and_outline.html accessed 7/3/2016.

[6] Ephraim S. Essien and Iniobong Umotong (eds.), Elements of History and Philosophy of Science (North Carolina: Lulu Press, 2013), p.136.

[7] Ephraim S. Essien and Iniobong Umotong (eds.), Elements of History and Philosophy of Science (North Carolina: Lulu Press, 2013), p.136-138

[8] Ephraim S. Essien and Iniobong Umotong (eds.), Elements of History and Philosophy of Science (North Carolina: Lulu Press, 2013), p.138.