Reconnecting with our Spiritual Past: Remember our Ancestors When we pray to God

Africans reconnecting with their Spiritual past is not like looking through the rear mirror while driving.  That is dangerous.  But reconnecting with the Spiritual past means tapping into the alleviating and collaborating energies of the Ancestors. It is like tapping into within or looking within the self.  There is a great need for Africans to reconnect with the wisdom and knowledge of their ancestors.  A people cannot sever the relationship that exists between them and their past and remain connected with Osinegba, Oghena or (God) and exist a surviving and prosperous people. This Phenomenon, the Diffused Energies which was first conceived by Africans and which others later called God, is ever present with all humanity until one disconnects him or herself from the “Him-Her.” To sever from the past is to disconnect from the Him-Her.  The past in this regard is the ancestors and the history of our land and our people, who are very connected with the God of humanity in death.  

A people’s ancestors are their closest link between them and Osinegba, Oghena, Otsanobulua, Olorun, Oluwa, Olodumare, Ubangiji, Wandayimu, Mandaukaki Sarki, Chineke, Chukwu or God of the Universe.  It is therefore important that Nigerians, by extension Africans, should reassess their current behavious in their interactions with God through prayers.  Let me say that at least, in the last 20 years, to be conservative, when most Nigerians pray, they do not pray directly to God; instead, they ask an intermediary for the favour they want from God.  The intermediary they go through to God most of the time is one with which they had had no direct personal experience. Nigerians ought to go direct to God, our Father Almighty in adorations, supplications or prayers; the natives have been doing just that before the advent of foreign iconoclasts.  But if for some reasons the request(s) has to go through an intermediary, it should ideally go through our ancestors with whom the people have had direct relations and experience while they were here on Earth with us.  In plain language, our ancestors and our founding Fathers and Mothers who have passed on to join our ancestors are closer to God in death.  They are in the position to intercede or mediate on our behalf before God faster. Because they know and understand us, they would join hands with Him as His Messengers to get our requests delivered to us in good time. For example, if we want something from our parents, we go to them directly to make our request, and they will give to us what we requested.  The idea of going through someone we do not directly know to our Father or Mother when we need something from them will be seen as strange and timid. Our parents would find it hard to give something personal that we need from them through someone else to us for a number of reasons. One is giving this example with a view that Nigerians will seriously and earnestly think about remembering their ancestors who are now within the Spiritual Realm of God in our universe.  At least, they represent, if they are not, the Saints and Angels who are the messengers of Our Heavenly Father, scripturally speaking.  Our message in prayers and supplication to God will reach God faster than when we pass such requests through a stranger or strangers.

Before the advent of Christianity and Islam in Africa, Africans recognized the plural nature of God since He is everywhere present and with all, animate and inanimate that He has created.  This is one of the reasons Africans today need to think of the Nature or God’s Symbolism expressed or signified in many of the indigenous local Deities that are found with most of the ethnic group areas of our land.  It is like history which normally assist humans to know where they were, which then helps to know where presently they are, and from where they look and hope for a better future for which they all longed and aspired.  The situation in our country, Nigeria, today requires serious attention.  Many Nigerians have abandoned themselves; they have put aside what is theirs while absolved themselves in what is not their own. We disrespect those who could have been our heroes and heroines for one reason or another.  We refuse to celebrate our ancestors and founding fathers.  We are taking over the culture of those who the least appreciate us. We have forgotten how our ancestors prayed and worshipped.  When we pray today, we do so through foreign Angels and Avatars.  In spite of all the volume of prayers the people of our country offer almost every day through our foreign angels and avatar or messiah, the situation in our country is taking too long to improve.  Man’s unfairness to man is at a point of intolerable; injustices could be reduced with effective prayers and supplications. Our polity needs to be on a firmer footing; corruptions need to be on the decline.   It is not helpful to write down in this message all the ills of our country because I wish no ills to our country.  But the attitude of Nigerians in prayers needs to change.  We need to recognize our ancestors as potential helpers. Also, if we need extra hands, we ask our ancestors to go before God on our behalf because we know God will pacify us upon the intercession of those who know us and hear us more than we hear ourselves.

The state of affairs in Nigeria today calls for soul searching.  A situation where relatively a tiny minority of the population who received western socialization and orientation in education are turning away from the people’s way of life, amounts to miss education and a betrayal.  This group seemed to have successfully converted the entire people including those who had not even had the opportunity to western oriented education and turned them against our indigenous way of our lives.  One is not sure that not very few Nigerians still remember our ancestors in prayers nowadays.   Most Nigerians now pray to God (Oghena) through unknown foreign Deities in foreign religions that over ran our landscape.   It is not unlikely that it is why we as a nation are having majority of the problems Nigeria is having.  Our ancestors are seeing us and are looking at us because we have forgotten them.  We care less about those who have gone before us; those who have attained the highest Initiation possible, and we are claiming that which was not for us to claim.  Individually and collectively, and as a nation we pay no attention any more to our ancestors nor do we remember them in most of the things we do.  As music is the food of the Soul so is prayer and supplication to our God through our ancestors who are waiting to hear from us. 

The irony of the situation is that those whom we run after their culture and traditions, which are foreign to us, have not dropped any of some of their more bizarre way of life in this time and day, yet we are allowing our way of life that is more humane and much more richer, to be eradicated.  Nigerians like to imitate others’ ugliness, but not the ideals of others worth emulating.  For example, America celebrates Columbus Day, and President’s Day as public holidays every year as special days to pay tribute to Christopher Columbus, the *“claimed discoverer” of America and past and present Presidents of the United States, in America. In our case in Nigeria, it is abuses and curse we rain on both the past and present rulers of our country.  Not many Nigerians remember those who fought with their tooth and nails, some with their lives to see that Nigeria was a free country.  No matter the nature of Independence, “flag or not,” and whatever the state of affairs or condition of things, Nigeria is out of the claws of imperialists because of our heroes past.  Our neglect of the old is  major among the reasons the youths of our generation do not know the history of our country; they know nothing about our nationalists of old and who they were. 

There are those of the nationalists, heroes and heroines, some of who paid with their lives that Nigeria may survive; those who transitioned to the great beyond.  They include the Herbert Macaulay, “Zik” of Africa, Right Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Omo Osagie, the  Body Thomases; Alhaji Ahamadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto; Alhaji Abubarka Tafawa Balewa; Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. A. B. Olorun-Nimbe, Dr. J. K. Randle, Chief Okotie Eboh; Dr. E. M. L. Endeley, L. P. Ojukwu, Dr. Adeniyi Jones; the Alhaji Maitama Sule, Mallam Aminu Kano, Mallam Ibrahim Imam, Mr. J. S. Tarka; the Ogusayas, Sam Grace Ikoku, D. Chukude. Osadebay, E. E. Esua; Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Mallam Bukar Dipcharima, Dr. Chike Obi, Chief H. O. Davis, A. C. Nwampa, Mrs. Margaret Ekpo, Dr. M. I. Okpara; the Anthony Enahoro, Dr. Hon. Jaja Anucha Wachuku, Dr. Akanu Ibiam, Mr. T. O. S. Benson, Dr. M. K. O. Mbadiwe, the Kolawole Balogun, Dr. Akinola Maja, Chief J. M. Johnson, just to mention but a few.  Many of these illustrious sons and daughters of Nigeria are not known by the youths of this generation because nothing is done to remember them, just like the ancestors.  Their names are not in history books for our young ones to study especially that History as a subject has been removed from the school curriculum in the country.

Should Nigerians resume remembering to pray through these illustrious sons and daughters who have attained the highest initiation and are in a position to collaborate with our ancestors of old before God on our behalf, our requests and supplication to God would be heard and answered quicker; especially if we pray in our God given languages instead of Arabic and English, Nigerians current behaviour and character amount to neglect, disrespect and disobedience to our ancestors, culture and traditions.  Before this era of the new foreign religions in our land, it is the food that we eat here on Earth that we normally offer to those who have left us; this we do with every food, especially when we take supper or evening meal.  We used to have special days or festivals in which we do the offering to the ancestors.  To my knowledge, it is only in the Great Edo state of Nigeria that Ogitso, Oba of Benin, the Omo n’ Oba n’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa, (CFR) now celebrates Igue Festival every Christmas, one of such occasions that allow us to celebrate and offer food to our ancestors.  Igue is unique as one of the few that survived British iconoclastic onslaught on our way of life and special auspicious time in our world.  The Europeans give flowers, plastic dolls and candles to their dead and they do not miss doing so, but we Africans, sons and daughters of Akebu Land, of the Bight of Benin and Biafra, (Nigeria) have refuse to offer food to our ancestors.   It is not impossible that they are starving, which may be one of the reasons they have refused to help us in our hours and time of need in Nigeria.  We need to change our heart and mind.  Aa yo kha mie me to ne lokho, there is no pain that will not subside. Please continue reading earlier posts, click here:   http://omohforum.blogspot.com/

 *See Professor Leo Wiener’s “Africa and the Discovery of America,” 1919-1923; and read “Dark Race in the Dawn, K. M. Johnson, 1948.”  There was an African civilization in the Americas before Columbus. The claim that Christopher Columbus discovered America is incorrect.  Evidence abound.