A THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON ECOLOGICAL DEGRADATION IN AFRICA: AN IGWEBUIKE THEOLOGICAL APPROACH

Abstract

Over the years the ecology of many African countries has been misused, abused, depleted, degraded or utterly destroyed by man’s ignoble activities. These unwholesome activities include air pollution, dumping refuse in water channels, building on water channels and deforestation with attendant consequences to gully erosion, farmland erosion, submerging of houses and farmlands, aquatic and animal destruction among others. The consequences from ecological crises are better imagined than felt in the real sense of the world. This has become endemic as it has the potential effects of affecting present and future generations of humans and other living species in ways we cannot even predict. It is in the light of the above that a concencsious look at ecological destruction in Africa and Nigeria in particular is needed, with a view to providing rapid and adequate response that is theological and impactful in order to curb the menace for the socio-economic development of the continent. It is in this regard that Igwebuike, as a theological reality, is employed to emphasize the inescapable presence of the divine element in the human reality, and the interrelationships of religion and nature, particularly in the light of environmental concerns. The Igwebuike theological theoretical framework and the Igwebuike wholistic method of investigation are, therefore, employed.