LIFE AND DEATH: REALITY OR MYTH IN EJAGHAM'S THOUGHT

Abstract

Life and death are universal and mysterious phenomena. These are realities with no cultural bias or exception. These dual concepts have continued to puzzle the philosophical minds of thinkers at every epoch in history. In this article, our attention shall be focused on a careful but critical examination of these concepts in Ejagham belief system. Our aim is to find out how the Ejaghams conceive and understand these concepts of life and death. Are these realities or myths? How does this pattern of belief shape their understanding of life? The method we shall deploy in this study is the critical method of analysis of the data available to us. A greater part of these data is drawn from the oral tradition of the Ejagham people through interviews as am result of the dearth of documentation in this area of study. The present study observes that there is life before death and life after death. Life pre-exist death and death regenerates life in a curb web that is a continuum.