Ndigbo Must Begin A Journey Back To The Soul Of Our Ancestors

By Odimegwu Onwumere

Many persons lack connections with their souls. The only connection they can think or boast of is the connection to create and make wealth. They have much time to pursue money but had no time to nurture their Inner Being, hence the separation between the body and the soul has become a huge problem besetting mankind.

Many of these persons do not know where to turn to when the wealth vanishes. Because they have been living a life without their soul intact, they would vanish just as the wealth. This brings to bay the way my Igbo forebears lived.

My Igbo forebears did not separate themselves from the spirit while in pursuit of wealth. They observed the spirit world and the realm of matter without a separation. They believed that in as much as matter occurs, Spirit can be found, and vice versa.

Remember that my Igbo forebears didn't see or periscope spirituality as a part of life. They believed that all life is spiritual. Hence, they observed the seen and unseen world to be working together.

Our worldview then was the best unlike today many of us are viewing the world through the periscope of the West where what matters is 'leave the past behind and look only to the future.'

The ‘future’ here is wealth. My Igbo forebears did not do that: They carried both the past into the future. My Igbo forebears were not only interested in 'drive-to-succeed’ (not at all costs) but did not allow this to separate their souls from them. They never allowed their lives to lack deeper meaning and nevertheless, they were not empty.

The ancient Igbo never separated self from the land of ancestors and the realm of Spirit. They had meaning individually to their community and gave structure and meaning to life. This made them the wise people as has been acclaimed worldwide.

Unlike today, the Igbo have eschewed what worked for them in the past. They are living in the past glory. We just have schooled brilliant persons today and not actually wise people like our forebears who operated in our community by exhibiting intention for general well-being and oozed positive energy.

However, this is the time we have to reconnect to our natural environment and begin the journey back to the soul of our ancestors in order to achieve completeness. The time is now.

Odimegwu Onwumere is a Poet, Writer and Media Consultant based in Rivers State. Tel: +2348057778358.






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