INDIGENOUS RELIGION AND CHRISTIANITY IN AN AFRICAN SOCIETY: A FOCUS ON NIMO, SOUTHEAST NIGERIA (1911-2011)

Abstract

From the 1950s, Afrocentric scholars were greatly spurred on by the need to reconstruct and give a good view of their history after being distorted by Eurocentric scholars. To this, prominent Igbo scholars and concerned academics took it upon themselves to rewrite the wrongs of the past and give their different communities a truly African perspective of their history. However, in Nimo, eminent scholars have only focused their attention on other subjects of discourse like the history of Nimo, Nimo and her neighbours, Nimo Brotherhood Society, Nimo Social Clubs, Nimo Festivals, etc. No concrete work has been done on the traditional religious practices of the people before the coming of Christianity viz a viz the present fate of Christianity in the community. What we have is the existence of abridged information on the discourse that has not been properly collated and arranged for better understanding. Salient questions like what was the nature of the religious tradition of Nimo before the advent of the Christian missionaries? Who were these missionaries? How did the local inhabitants receive the good news? What were the consequences of their activities? What is the state of cultural and religious beliefs in Nimo in this present time? How strong is the Christian faith in this time? Were the concerns that engaged the focus of this research.