TABLE AND TRUST: THE AFRICAN CULTURE OF COMMUNALISM IN OGBA, EGENNI AND IKWERRE TRADITIONS

Abstract

Communalism is a characteristic feature of the African culture. Africans celebrate everything together. They rejoice together, mourn together and share things together in the spirit of African brotherhood. In the same spirit of oneness, the Ogba, Egene and Ikwerre ethnic nationalities of the central Niger Delta in Rivers State of Nigeria share many cultural practices together. Some of these include: the kinship system, land and other property inheritance customs as well as mortuary rites. These three heterogeneous traditional ethnic nationalities trace their descent to the ancient Benin kingdom. This ancestry bond over time and space has been weakened by several factors, such as: migration, cross cultural contact, modernization and globalization. The research observes that no African nation is without challenges which has changed the African coloration of communalism. This paper, therefore, examines the concept of communalism and the associated challenges in Ogba, Egene and Ikwerre traditions. The paper adopts the historical and sociological approaches in the discussion. The challenges include; religion education and politics. This paper concludes that the said ethnic nationalities (Ogba, Egene and Ikwerre), which had earlier practiced communalism, are gradually shifting to individualism. The study recommends a revival and renaissance of African traditional heritage to avoid a complete collapse of the culture of communalism in the area of our discussion.