The 1987 Clash between Oghu Cultural Festival and Christianity in Okwudor

摘要

The advent of Christianity into Okwudor shook the very foundations of the culture of the indigenes of Okwudor, who before then, professed traditional religion. One of the effects of the advent of Christianity was the derogatory way it treated adherents of oghu cultural festival. The tongue lashing on the festival kept on resurfacing, disrupting the relationship between staunch Christians and oghu adherents. This paper attempts to dissect the crisis between Christianity and oghu cultural festival, as it affects the unity of the community. The coming of Christianity into Okwudor was supposed to engender peace in the community but instead, sowed a seed of discord as a result of ideological differences between the people. There are few researches on this community, hence the research into the 1987 clash between oghu cultural festival and christianity in Okwudor. This study analyses the resolutions of the committee formed to resolve the crisis between oghu adherents and Christians. Adopting the culture conflict theory, data for this paper rely on primary and secondary sources. Findings show the derogatory remarks used in the resolution document which were offshoot of the view held by Christians corroded communal integration. Also, not all aspects of the resolutions are adhered to as girls are still being flogged and the ‘ebeleri’ masquerade still moved about with charms as at 2005. This study recommends that the Christians and oghu adherents should imbibe the philosophy of live and let live.