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To write about a culture and its relevance of thought using techniques and methodology invented in another culture can be deceptive. Every culture has its raison d’etre. The ideology of a society moulds its culture as well as the values of that society. Those members of a society who have been indoctrinated and miseducated in another cultural setting simply do not qualify to use the techniques they have learned in formulating a framework for the constructs and principles of the culture in which they were born. They do not have sufficient knowledge of their parent culture, thus their analysis can be misleading and full of disturbed facts and findings. However, they can attempt to rediscover their culture and ascertain the salutary effect that certain of its characteristics or modes of thought might have when applied or adapted to another culture.
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- Copyright © African Studies Association 1971
References
page 12 note * “If a person fails in the knowledge of self, he shall be carried beyond his father’s gate.” This applies to both Africans and non-Africans, especially those in African studies.
page 14 note * Like Igbo religion, Ofoism, Igbo nationalism concerns itself with man. It begins with Umunna (the strongest but smallest political unit of Igbo political organization — literally meaning “children of one father“), each of whose members is an “insider” or Ikwu. Any person outside this unit is an Ibe — “outsider”. Often in Igbo people hear of Ikwu na Ibe meaning “the insider and the outsider”.
This brand of nationalism guides the individual to respond to his community, for whenever the community gathers for political action, it becomes a sovereign with supreme power, assuming the name Oha and demanding complete loyalty from its constituents. If the Oha threatens any member unit, however, this unit may be forced to dismiss Ikwu Oha unilaterally and exclude it as an Ibe. In like manner, whenever an Ibe threatens any member of an Ikwu, the latter buries all differences within it to protect the person. Thus Igbo individualism is strengthened by its Ikwu.