Belief in the Supreme God

A general trend in academic discussions of Igbo deities is to provide some hierarchy of the deities, either overtly (c.f. Okorie 1998 and Agbedo 2010) or covertly by suggesting that such a hierarchy exists (Uchendu 1965). These scholars place the Supreme God at the top of the hierarchy, followed by other deities and spirits. The idea of a Supreme God in Igbo cosmology has raised a lot of controversies. For while some scholars posit that the idea existed in Igbo cosmology before the arrival of Christian missionaries (c.f. Uchendu 1965, Metuh 1973, Bews 1985), others insist that the idea entered Igbo cosmology through the agency of Christian missionaries (Achebe 1975, Nwoga 1984, Oyali 2016). Here, I argue in support of the latter view.

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Uchendu (1965: 94) posits that the idea of a supreme creator of all things is focal in Igbo cosmology: “They believe in a supreme god, a high god, who is all good”. However, in his words,

[t]he Igbo high god is a withdrawn god. He is a god who has finished all active works of creation and keeps watch over his creatures from a distance. The Igbo high god is not worshipped directly. There is neither shrine nor priest dedicated to his service. He gets no direct sacrifice from the living but is conceived as the ultimate receiver of all sacrifice made to the minor deities […] He seldom interferes in the affairs of men, a characteristic which sets him apart from all other deities, spirits, and ancestors. He is a satisfied god who is not jealous of the prosperity of man on earth.

Several observations could be made from Uchendu’s (1965) statement. Despite his claim of the Igbo belief in the Supreme God, he presents that this deity is never worshipped directly, has no shrine erected for him, and receives no direct sacrifice. The only evidence provided is the surmision that this deity is worshipped indirectly, and sacrifices made to other deities are ultimately made to the Supreme God. Interestingly, Ubah’s (1982) ethnographic research reveals that, as far as the people making the sacrifices are concerned, “sacrifices offered to any spirit are meant for its consumption, although it could invite any other spirit or spirits to its meal” (quoted in Nwoga 1984: 29).

What this indicates is that Uchendu (1965) uncritically imposed the Judeo-Christian idea of a Supreme God on the Igbo system. This is further illustrated by this analysis of the current names for God in Igbo:

The high god is conceived of in different roles. In his creative role, he is called Chineke, Chi-Okike (Chi – God; Okike – that creates [sic]). To distinguish him from other minor gods he is called Chukwu – the great or the high god. As the creator of everything, he is called Chukwu Abiama, while as the pillar that supports the heavens, he is called Agalaba ji igwe. The sky is regarded as his place of residence and people invoke his name as Chi-di-n’elu “God who lives above”. (Uchendu 1965: 95)

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Although Uchendu (1965) here presents that Chukwu is used to distinguish the Supreme God from “other minor gods”, evidence from the IBTs done up to 1900 shows that Chukwu was used for both the Supreme God and other minor gods, indicating that there was no such distinction in Igbo prior to the 1900s. It was not until the Union Igbo translations were produced that such a distinction was made, with Chineke used for the Supreme God and chi for minor gods, and Chukwu was removed completely from the IBTs because of its negative associations (cf. Section 4.3.1.1). So, Uchendu’s (1965) statement describes a highly Christianized Igbo worldview, and not the worldview of the Igbo prior to their encounter with Christianity.

Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the different roles of the Igbo Supreme God identified by Uchendu (1965) are the same as the roles of the Christian God – creator of the world, greater or higher than other deities, and lives in heaven. It is too much of a coincidence for the Christian Igbo people to have the same roles for their non-Christian Supreme God as the non-Christian Supreme God. Besides, describing God as “the pillar that supports the heavens” is reminiscent of Job 26: 11: “The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof”. So, Uchendu’s (1965) ideas of an Igbo Supreme God is influenced by the Judeo-Christian ideas of a Supreme God.

So far, it is seen that there seems to be a gap between claims of the Igbo belief in a Supreme God and the data from which these claims were supposedly derived. On the topic, Afigbo (2006: 212) states that “[i]f the truth must be told, we do not know its [the Supreme God’s]

name. Traditions which do not go further back than the 19^th century which saw the penetration of Christian missionary influence give it out that it is called Chineke, Chukwu or Obasi-di-n’elu”. So, since ethnographic studies do not show a clear link between the data and the position that the Igbo had always believed in a Supreme God, and since the narratives that posit the existence of this belief dates to the period when the missionaries arrived Igboland, it then suggests that the Igbo belief in the Supreme God is an outcome of Christianization. The remaining sections of this Chapter explore important background information on the Igbo language.

20 1.2 The Igbo Language

As noted above, the word “Igbo” is used to refer to the geographical space identified as the Igbo culture area, its inhabitants and their language. The people living within this area speak the same language. In this section, I highlight some salient issues about the dialects of Igbo, before discussing the evolution of Standard Igbo.