INTRODUCTION

Does the African attribute any dignity to the human person? Anyone who is influenced by the old ideas of colonial writers on African societal life would perhaps readily answer this question in the negative. This is because such writers did not take time to study the African mind well before drawing their conclusions. The Africans have thus been described as 'brutes', 'cannibalistic'' crude', 'primitive', 'dark', 'savages', 'pagan', 'ignorant' etc. Human sacrifice and twin murder are among the practices usually cited as evidence of poor regard, or lack of regard, for human dignity on the part of the Africans.

It is the aim of this short paper to call attention to the fact that African society has a very high regard for the human person and gives the preservation of human dignity a priority, contrary to the old beliefs held by some scholars.

The dignity of the human person is seen in the African view of human origins, worship and morals, and in community life.

Much of our illustration will be taken from the lgbos of Nigeria. This is because the writer is lgbo by tribe. The contents of this paper are essential in this day when the world has continued to neglect the dignity of the human person, which has resulted in so much inhumanity on the part of human beings towards each other. Africa is not excluded from this modern inhumanity.

1. HUMAN DIGNITY IN CREATION

One of the ways by which Africans accord a high dignity to the human person is in their view of human origins.

In the creation stories of all African peoples, humanity and God are so connected that one would cease to exist without the other. Although God is understood as being all-powerful, ever-present, all knowing and demanding the greatest honour, fear and reverence from all creation, the African realizes that God's imprint is within the human being, who imperatively acknowledges God's existence and worships accordingly. The lgbos of Nigeria, for example, recognize that the mystery associated with what is called amadu (humankind), which includes humankind's inestimable abilities to produce, build, and to destroy, accounts for human origins and sustenance in God (Chukwu). The chi in human persons is regarded as the inner presence of Chukwu (God), linking them spiritually with God. God created human beings good, complete and likable.(1) They have communion with God, and this communion can be ritually restored whenever it is disrupted. Metuh expressed this closeness to Chukwu among the lgbos when he stated:

Viewed from the standpoint of his origin and final destiny man is best understood in relation to Chukwu (God), his creator. Man comes from God. He has a definite mission to fulfil in God's plan and will eventually go back to God. (2)

Being a complex psycho-physical being which is as mysterious as the universe, the human person remains the highest of all the creations of God. Humanity is the high-point of God's creative action and it is around the human person that the physical and spiritual dimensions of life activities seem to cohere.

God gave human beings the capacity for bringing the ideas they have to fruition, a human trait symbolized in the lgbo Ram headed deity called Ikenga (4).

Ikenga operates in a number of selves or principles: The obi (the heart) is the centre of volition and obedience. It is the concrete human and can be described as courageous, or weak, good or bad, strong or soft. The desire of every human person is to have a strong, courageous and kind or soft obi. A weak and wicked obi is easily subject to the attacks of witchcraft and sorcery, and may consequently weaken and die (5). At death the obi leaves the physical body. In some parts of lgboland it is ritually strengthened for the ancestral world and in preparation for reincarnation.(6). The obi can thus be regarded as the manifestation of life. The chi, as we have said, is the aspect of the human person that comes directly from Chukwu. It has been regarded as a life principle, a genius, or spirit doublet It is the chi that links the human person to God and determines an individual's fortune, or destiny in life. At death, the chi (destiny-spirit) goes back to God in preparation for the person's reincarnation which is determined by God. The eke links people with their ancestors and as a result with the life-force of the clan. A child comes to the world with an incarnation of an ancestor's eke. This ancestor must be known in order to reveal to the parents the taboos and rituals to be observed in order to ensure the child's survival. It is a common saying that a person embarking on a journey should leave his or her eke at home and proceed with the chi. This is because it is believed that in case of danger, the eke will call the person back home, while one needs one's chi on a journey because the chi ensures that the destiny will be achieved on the trip. This destiny is also represented as akara aka, i.e. prints or crevices on the palms of the hand. The goal of a person's life is to achieve the akara chi, i.e. the destiny imprinted on the palms. The eke and the chi work together to achieve this. (8)

Other aspects by which people operate include the shadow-spirit (onyinyo), which is believed to be individual, while the real human person is created by God. The shadow-spirit is also said to be incarnate in the body and is assigned an ancestral guardian. It is believed to survive after death as an individual person and can in turn become an ancestral guardian.(9)

The ume (breath) shows that the breath-spirit is operating in the physical body (ahu). At death the physical body decays and dissolves while the person continues to exist as onye mmuo (spirit being), different from onye mmadu which he or she was before death.

These principles of operation make the human person feel closely related with the unseen "spirit world" through the consciousness of self-transcendence in spite of the physical interactions in the visible world. (10) Peaceful operation at all these levels is necessary for the human person to live life (ndu) to the fullest, which is God's most precious gift. (11)

Thus the dignity of human persons is seen in their being created good by God, their complex nature and God's imprint in them as the crown of God's creation, as well as in God's provision for a continual interaction with them through ritual, despite their limitations. To the lgbo, the human person has an intrinsic nature which, among all creation, is special in the sight of God.

1. An attempted etymology of the lgbo Word mmadu renders it as mmadu "let goodness exist" see R. ARAZU "A Cultural Model For a Christian Prayer", in African Christian Spirituality, A. SHORTER (ed.) (New York: Orbis Books 1978) 114.

2. Emefie Ikenga - Metuh, African Religions in Western Conceptual Schemes: The Problem of Interpretation (Studies in lgbo Religion) 2nd ed. (Onitsha Nigeria: IMICO Press 1985) 109.

3. Cf. O. Imasogie, African Traditional Religion Ibadan (Nigeria : UPL 1982) 56.

4. Cf. E. Ilogu, Christianity and Igbo Culture (New York : NOK Ltd. 1982) 204.

5. E. Ikenge - Metuh, Comparative Studies of African Traditional Religion (Onitsha, Nigeria: IMICO Pub. 1987) 187.

6. Cf. Metuh, Conceptual Schemes, op. cit., Ill and C.K. Meek, Law and Authority In a Nigerian Tribe (London: OUP 1937) 55.

7. See E. llogu, Christianity and lgbo Culture, op. cit., 34. Bolaji Idowu, African Traditional Religion: A Definition (London: SCM 1973) 177. Metuh, Conceptual Schemes, 111.

8. Cf. Metuh, Conceptual Schemes, 111.

9. Metuh, Comparative, 187.

10. Cf. llogu, op. cit., 204.

11. Emeka Ojukwu, The Ahiara Declaration (Geneva: Mark Press 1969)25.