NGWUYI ARUA (INSTALLATION OF ANCESTRAL SYMBOLS) RITUAL THE BELIEF AND ITS RELEVANCE: A STUDY OF EZIMO COMMUNITY

Résumé

The research studied Ngwuyi Arua ritual among the people of Ezimo community in Nsukka cultural area of Igboland. The work explored the extent to which the ritual has helped to curb conflict and maintain peace through the ancestral authority. This wholesome ritual is at the verge of extinction resulting from the misinterpretation that the ritual practice is fetish and idolatry. This paper affirms that such expression which originates from the Christians and some promoters of Western culture may be misleading. The ritual is not fetish or idolatry as claimed; it is a religious practice that traces and maintains the genealogy of the people which is an expression of family bond, sustentation of family and community consciousness, and puissance of harmonious relationship within the people and with the supra mundane. Ngwuyi Arua ritual which is historical as well as religious is aimed to ensure peace in the community and therefore ought to be sustained especially now that Igbo nation is clamouring for peace.