THE CONCEPT OF DEATH IN THE CHANGING WORLD OF AFRICAN WORLDVIEW

Abstract

Death is considered a scary phenomenon among many people in different cultures of Africa and many things are done to prevent it by all means. But finally, it comes when it will come, African interpretation of death and how it occurs are viewed from different perspectives in relation to its rituals and ceremonies being performed by the people of Africa. The conception of death from the pristine era is being eroded daily by the influence of some factors that affect the African worldviews with the advancement of science and technology or put in another way the globalization of the world. These factors changed the view of Africans' conception of death from rigid conception to flexible acceptance of death as yet painful phenomenon. The write-up brought out the changes that are taking place daily in the life of the Africans towards the notion of death when compared to the previous conception of death in Africa. The scholarly African works on this issue from different parts of Africa were carefully studied and their views were synthesized through a philosophical approach. The result of this shows that the conception of death has changed in Africa for good but with some effects on the lives of people in the society.