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The epoch of redivivus of Igbo heritages: a challenge of Igbo youths today

RESPECT FOR MORALITY
Ugwo oru ezi omume bu n’ihu Chukwu meaning that the reward of good behavior is before God.The traditional Igbo moral orientation has great respect for morality and with great trepidation avoided the consequences accompanying the committing of any offence against the Supreme Being, the ancestors, local divinities and deities. the traditional Igbo were known for is that they were a very spiritual people, such philosophical understanding holds in the place of their morals, customs, traditions, beliefs, and myths. Songs like ome mma chere mma ya, ome njo chere njo ya( let he who does good wait for good and he who does bad also wait for bad)shows that The ultimate which a traditional Igbo person cherishes is to live a good and worthy life here on earth, die and receive full and proper burial rites and finally rejoin his ancestors who lived well and died a good death. This could only be achieved within a decent moral order. That is why the grace of reincarnation ti only available to those who lived well while they are alive so to reincarnate the traditional Igbo person try to live well. Right at the very foundation of the igbo belief system is that the moral order must be maintained so that they can live in peace and have abundant life. For one to inherit there must be something to inherit such propelled the  Igbo ancestors to articulate some number of socio-cultural controls. The first was to emphasize characters (Ezi omume ka ego). Character refers to moral uprightness, peace with the gods and peace with human beings. Purity among the Igbo was seen as essential in blocking the  Anger of the gods or the ruin of evil spirits, this is the implication of onye aka ya di ocha. Hence seasonal festival included purification rites. They left behind for us a widely accepted system of moral codes known as omenala or omenani, which regulate the behaviour of the people including their social, economic, and political lives. Omenala is believed to have been handed down from Ala (the Earth goddess) through Ndi Ichie (the ancestors) and so literally means action in accordance with the stipulation of the land. Omenala in Igboland contain prohibitions which regulate human behaviour, maintain purity and sustain community life. These prohibitions are known as Nso Ala (taboos). They also involve seasonal celebrations like Iri ji/Ahiajoku and Igo Arọ. Ndi Igbo explain some aspects of their life- experiences, namely, natural disaster and calamity, as resulting from pollution of the land somewhere along the line by which harmony between man, nature/environment and the spirit would have become broken. The main objective behind Igbo morality was primarily to keep the harmony, well- being and effective co-existence of members of the 'community' made up of the living, the dead ancestors and children yet unborn.
 

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