Sir Cletus C. Nwafor

The Origin of Agbogugu (Agbogwu Oshie Aneke) Sir Cletus C. Nwafor

I am inspired to write this book for our youths and for posterity. This book has been written to give values to life of the youths who, otherwise, would not have known what happened far back before their great-grandfathers up to fourth to fifth generation. This will help them to give values to life and to know what was noble and what was traditionally an abomination so that it will guide them to fashion their lives, achieve what is noble, and die peaceful deaths. This book also aims at showing that there is very little difference between a worthy Christian life and an ideal traditional life. What is good for the gander is good for the geese. Good and evil exist whether one is a Christian or a traditionalist. God exists, and the belief is nearly the same to both religions. What is different is the mode of worship. Igbo man, having originated from the Jews, borrowed their religion1 from them and also from the manipulation of the Aros2 from Aro-Chukwu, and the Nshis3 from Awka through their oracles. Therefore, readers of this book, after reading it carefully, you will notice that God is supreme. Jesus Christ is the saviour against the cults (which encourage sacrificing human beings) of the past and present generations, symbolised by different 'shrines' for example, Ani, Ogbuikwe, Nneche, Nwangene, Ofo, Umu etc. In Agbogwu and Ntegbe Nese in general, the existence of the age grades and the noble roles they played in the cultural activities like wrestling, dancing, masquerading, marriage, war, farming, etc are carefully highlighted. The roles of the pioneer Christian missionaries (Catholic Mission) as regards Agbogwu in conjunction with colonial administrators in the suppression of the people's cultural lives are equally discussed. Mention is made of the steps taken by the white man, especially the Irish priests, to blackmail or/ and wipe out the evil practices in our culture, such as Aros, Agbala, Nshi, Igwekala-Umunoha,