Identity Crises and Indigenous Religious Traditions by Obinna Elijah;

Author:Obinna, Elijah;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group

The cited memo from the state government indicates the extent and impact of the loss following the conflict. However, it is difficult to understand what the secretary means by suggesting that the ‘cult’ should be banned. Such an instruction appears to demonstrate an inadequate understanding of the Ogo society and the integral place it occupies within Amasiri. The memo seems to perceive the Ogo society as a ‘cult’ which in some sense might be considered derogatory, implying that the society is on the margin of the clan. However, initiation into the Ogo society is a rite of passage, a gateway to the wider community and an identity marker. Elder Obinna Oka who at the time was the deputy chairman of the local government and the Councillor representing Amasiri ward notes that the situation was a difficult one, as often he and some of his colleagues were considered to be traitors by the clan, while the state government perceived them as weak. According to him, even his intervention to restrain the state police forces from undertaking mass arrests within Amasiri was still not enough to appease the clan.60 These patterns of perception of the other between many Christians and members of the Ogo society continue to impact on inter-personal relationships; thus some Christians and the uninitiated males live as strangers in their mother’s and father’s lands. From the foregoing it appears that PCN and Christianity in general has not had the required dialogue and interaction with the indigenous context.

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