THE RE-AWAKENING OF THE WORSHIP AND VENERATION OF A MISINTERPRETED DEITY EKWENSU AMID THRIVING CHRISTIANITY IN OBOLLO, ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The worship and veneration of ekwensu deity is normally a yearly ritual among Obollo people of the northern Igbo sphere. Formally the intrusion of Christianity in Obollo made the deity to become infamous as against how it was extolled in the primordial culture of the Obollo people. Succinctly there became a sudden re-awakening of the worship and veneration of this deity which formally suffered extinction amid thriving Christianity in the area. It is this sudden re-awakening of the people’s culture amid Christian dominated group such as Obollo that this work is out to investigate. Many Christians of Obollo extraction claim that the deity ekwensu, in their understanding, is the same with the Christian devil or satan and should not be reckoned with. Those who embrace these views are mainly Christians. Even among academics of religion, one can still observe this deportment. The study adopted the phenomenological research approach and made use of descriptive research design which also involved the use of data from primary and secondary sources, in its method of data analysis. The study reveals that ekwensu, represents a deity in Obollo and it is not the biblical devil, it reveals the worship and veneration of the deity among the people, among other things it reveals the spots where ekwensu was worshiped during onwa-assa festival and masquerade and forest dedicated to ekwensu. It is also evident that Christianity had somewhat a tremendous impact on the people’s culture which formally engendered the extinction of ekwensu deity.