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International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) Volume 4 Issue 6, September-October 2020 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470 An Assessment of the Importance of Ifa Divination as Part of Igala Culture Ayegba Abdullahi Adojoh The General Igala Ambassador of Attah Igala, Founder of United Igala Kingdom, and the National Coordinator of The “Discovery and Reunification of Indigenous Igala People Across Nigeria and Beyond” Project of Attah Igala, Education and Research Unit, United Igala Kingdom, Attah Igala Palace, and Attah Idakwo Ameh Oboni Institute of History and Culture, Idah, Kogi State, Nigeria ABSTRACT How to cite this paper : Ayegba Abdullahi This research work is aimed at studying the importance of Ifa divination Adojoh "An Assessment of the Importance among the Igala people. It was discovered that Ifa has various roles in our of Ifa Divination as Part of Igala Culture" society such as; acting as a medium of communication between humans and Published in the ancestors, studying of future happenings, finding out the causes of certain International Journal strange happenings in the society, revelations of the past, present and the of Trend in Scientific future, and so on. It was also analysed that Igala has Ifa Ebutu; which involves Research and the use of sand, Ifa Anwa; which involves the use of anwa tree fruit shells or Development (ijtsrd), pieces of calabash, Ifa Obi; which involves the use of four-lobes kola nut, Ifa ISSN: 2456-6470, Eyoko which involves the use of cowries, Ifa Egigo which involves the use of Volume-4 | Issue-6, IJTSRD33592 mirror and Ifa omi which involves the use of water. Ifa Ebutu is the common October 2020, denominator of all Ifas as it can be used to interpret other types of Ifa like pp.1052-1057, URL: Anwa, Eyoko and Obi. It was concluded that Ifa till date played significant roles www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd33592.pdf in the lives of Igala traditional believers in various ways. It was recommended that further works be done on Ifa anwa especially on the names of the sixteen Copyright © 2020 by author(s) and elements (Odu Ifa), their meanings and their interpretations since the analysis International Journal of Trend in Scientific was done on Ifa Ebutu in this work. Research and Development Journal. This is an Open Access article distributed KEYWORDS: Divination, Edjo goddess, Egypt, Ichekpa, Ifa Ebutu, Igala under the terms of Corresponding Email Address the Creative Email: [email protected] Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) 1. INTRODUCTION Igala is an ancient ethnic group of Nigeria and in about Although some of them speak variants or different dialects of twelve countries outside Nigeria such as Kenya, Brazil, Cuba, Igala language while some no longer speak Igala language, Togo, Sierra Leone, Haiti, United Kingdom, etc though they are all connected with the same Igala culture and sometimes wrongly identified as Yoruba due to similarities traditions irrespective of the locations across Nigeria. They in the two languages as well as the wrong history of the past also hold yearly general meeting with Attah Igala in his which some Historians like Samuel Ajayi Crowther recorded palace titled Igala National Congress in which that Igala ethnic group originated from Yoruba. This error is representatives mostly traditional rulers and elders of also promoted in some online dictionaries such as Merriam- various indigenous Igala communities within and outside webster.com which defines Igala as “a Yoruba-speaking Kogi state converge on Attah Igala’s palace in Idah, Kogi state people of the Niger at its confluence with the Benue in to interact, and discuss on various issues on development, Nigeria”. Meanwhile, Igala and Yoruba are separate people or unity and progress of Igala people and territories across ethnic groups. In fact, Igala as a name of a tribe originated Nigeria and beyond. Igala originated from ancient Egypt, and from Ancient Egypt and existed even before the unification they were reported by various ancient Egyptologists and of Lower and Upper Egypt around 3100 BC as confirmed by archeologist to have ruled ancient Egypt from around 2130 Petrie Flinders and other Egyptologists. The Name, Igala also BC – 2040 BC as the tenth Dynasty Pharaohs (Ayegba, 2020). remained even during their migration to the Benue valley (Taraba state) as confirmed by Palmer (1936), and it is the 2. What is Ifa same name, Igala, that they are known with today. But An Ifa is a device used for communicating with the spirits by Yoruba as a name of a tribe or group came into existences humans. It is a device for determining secret things or around 19 th century during the agreement between the Oyo finding out about something. It is a form of divination. people and some Hausa group, before then, southwest had Divination is the act of seeking after knowledge of future or various groups such as Benin, Itsekiri, Igala, Nupe, Omo- hidden things by inadequate means that is usually Oduduwa, Aku, Egun, Ijebu, Anago/Igala, freed people from supplemented by some power which is represented all Sierra Leone after the abolition of slave trade, and others through history as coming from the gods (Alamu, et al., (Ayegba, et al., 2020). In Nigeria, Igala is an indigenous tribe 2013). Ifa is also defined as the act or practice of in about twenty nine states and the Federal Capital Territory. communication between humans and the ancestors, gods @ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD33592 | Volume – 4 | Issue – 6 | September-October 2020 Page 1052 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470 and goddesses. The ancestors, gods or goddesses do not marriage, love, lucks), Ichekpa (god/goddess of magic, communicate with their reincarnate (adawa in Igala healings, wonders), Oko/Ata (Male/head deities for language or their rebirth), relatives or humans physically or protection, rulership, war).The supreme God then face-to-face except through Ifa, dreams, signs and wonders. created/commanded all living things to be in pairs (male and Some of these signs are in the form of forbidden or unusual female) and other things needed in the world by man. These things such as seeing of pouched rat ( Akoto ) in the day time, gods and goddesses ruled the world, and after their death or “crying” of night birds like Owls and bats, crowing of hen (an changing to spirits, humans (Ata) took over as the adult female chicken), endless barking of dogs, regular nights representative of the gods and goddesses, and being guided mewing of cats, sudden cracking of burial tomb, crying of by the spirits of these gods and goddess who he would fairies or bush babies ( Ichekpa ) around the house in the communicate with always hence the wearing of earrings by night, being harmed or killed in the dreams, falling into a pit ancient Pharaohs and Attah Igala. That is why many Attah in the dream, etc. All these signs or wonders are bad omen or Igala including Attah Idakwo Ameh Oboni II at one point or indications that there will be a tragedy or serious problems the other have said that they are the representative of God soon, though some of them can be averted when the on earth. solutions are known earlier. But how would one know the Earth god (Ojo-ane) picture exact interpretation of “crowing of female adult chicken or crying of bush babies (fairies) let alone knowing the 3.2. Origin of Ifa solutions. That was what brought about Ifa among Igala The world was first ruled or guarded by various spirits (gods people. The act of performing Ifa or Ifa divination is known and goddesses) in form of humans then as they were created as Ifa-ebo, and the priest of Ifa who performs the Ifa by God almighty to guard and guide the male and female he divination is called Abifa (Abo-ifa, meaning one who predicts had created as well as how to make use of the resources from Ifa) or Ebifa (Ene ki a bifa, the one who predicts from available for their betterment. These gods and goddesses Ifa). Ifa, a message on how to tackle the challenges also had various roles ranging from security, fertility, surrounding nations and individual life (Ogunleye, 2019) can agriculture, good health, magic, wonders, death, love, be applied to provide some solutions to problems. Ifa directs reproduction, etc. At a point, these gods and goddesses died the consultant into proper direction (Olusegun, et al., 2010), and became spirit. Humans could no longer communicate the message which will then be delivered to the concerned with them physically but they worshipped them in their person or persons. temples or shrines. They had various priests through whom others like the Attah or head of Igala talked to the gods and 3. Methodology goddesses. When the head or Attah in particular and other This work adopts historical and analytical approaches in people he was ruling started having problems and seeing order to discuss the role of Ifa among the Igala people in different signs and wonders which were very strange to addition to the types of Ifa practiced by them. them, he had to go to the temple of the gods and goddesses of signs and wonders and complained to them through the 3.1. Origin of world creation: The Perspectives of priest in charge of the gods and goddesses. That was how the Ancient Egyptians and Igala gods and goddesses started making the priest to understand According to Egyptian perspective, the world or universe some things through vision and in a dream and started was originally of water and darkness.
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