Ohaa Spokesperson Tackles Onyishi’s Customary Fallacy, Says Political Theatre Cannot Manufacture Ancestral Legitimacy.
The attention of the campaign of Sir Chinyeaka Christian Ohaa (Odalije) has been drawn to the recent public commentary by Dr. Reuben Onyishi concerning the conferment and significance of the Ofo Awkunanaw. While we ordinarily would not dignify partisan arguments dressed in traditional language with a response, Dr. Onyishi’s attempt to reduce a deeply rooted cultural institution to the level of political theatre demands clarification. Let it be stated clearly: political gatherings and sacred traditional rites are not the same thing. They should neither be deliberately conflated nor presented to the public as equivalent. The Ofo, within Igbo traditional thought, carries profound cultural meanings associated with truth, justice, legitimacy, responsibility and ancestral continuity. It is therefore inappropriate to treat every ceremonial object presented at a political gathering as automatically possessing the same traditional significance as an Ofo conferred within the appropriate cu...