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

TRUTH AS IGBO PRINCIPLE OF LIFE
Ezi okwu dika afo ime adighi epkuchi ya aka meaning truth is like pregnancy you cannot cover it with hand.Truth is a noble value in all human culture including the Igbo. Though an important religious and philosophical idea, it has received little attention from scholars. Partaining the Igbo expressions for truth: ihe mere eme meaning 'what really happened.' This is what philosophers defined as conformity of thought/words with reality.The Igbo words signifying falsehood or untruth or lie are, okwu asi and asi In Igbo thought system onye okwu asi or onye asi are used judgmentally for someone who cannot be trusted, believed or unreliable. Other related Igbo words are used, for instance asiri refer to gossip, rumour mongering or onye ogba asiri (someone who goes about spreading rumours saying what is true or untrue). As nwanna Chidi Osuagwu  pointed out that the Igbo word for truth is ezi. Ezi means correct, order, positive, proper rectitude, genuine, upright or valid. When ezi is used to qualify okwu which is Igbo word for 'word' or statement then the word eziokwu becomes what is valid, positive, genuine and truthful. Truth is paramount in Igbo life. Ezi is from the root word zi. From this root, Igbo language generates such words like izi, to show, imezi, to rectify, to correct; ikozi, to explain correctly, to teach; igbazi, to strengthen, ihazi, to arrange, to organize idozi, to order, to arrange, idazi, to fall into place, igozi, to bless, iduzi, to lead aright, ikwazi, to mend, to arrange properly; this word-study is significant and it is deliberately done to emphasize that in Igbo 'truth' is order. In Igbo igha means to scatter. This word links up all chaotic processes as the Igbo see it. Such include aghara, commotion, disorder. Agha means 'war', ighasa, to scatter, to spread out; ghaghagha, chaotically bad and igha, to scatter, spread, to lie; onyeaghara, troublemaker, madman. Thus igha means 'to lie'. To lie in Igbo mind is to cause a thought scattering, a mental disorder. From the above it can be deduced that falsehood is disorder; a disorientation. The Igbo thought system viewed falsehood as simulated disorder, disarray or chaos- generating expression. A liar in Igbo is basically a chaos – generator. Just like eziokwu is okwu dabara adaba, ordered train of thought, falsehood is okwu nadabaghi adaba — a disordered thought. Thus the Igbo view of ezi is that of ordered, the truth, whereas 'ugha' is falsehood. In an ugha system only guesses can be made, while the order in an ezi system allows for prediction and precision. Truth is synonymous with order hence its predictability. Falsehood is disorder, amplifying unpredictability. For the Igbo, the notion of truth is so central and imperative that there are a number of ways in which it is characterized. 
 

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