DIBIAS
NDI DIBIA (SEERS OR NATIVE DOCTORS)
Who the Dibias (Native doctors, Seer etc) really are
*Dibia is to be seen as the existential ground of culture, knowledge system, of the land and all else
Iroegbu (2011) gives us a sense of who the Dibia really is in relation to his/her responsibility, the natural world, as well as the extensive knowledge resources of Igbo culture; accordingly pointing out the centrality of a sustained ancestral background in this practice for all concerned:
The Dibia stands out as a cultural ethical ritual logician who welcomes, directs and provides endogenous means of interactive embodiments and cosmology of life forces as a whole. A Dibia is therefore a master of the land ethos - offering ancestral wisdom, customs and traditions of being and becoming... I think it is important to recognize the massive authority and power that a Dibia embodies and weighs in the things of the land - calming down (ijiala, ibiala, di-ibiala) - a master who re-authors the land. Entirely, a
Dibia for the Igbo is a cosmological engineer - a relational order builder of this world and that world, health and society, descent and blood, kin-people and neighbors, fortune and misfortune, fecundity and expansion.... In other words, a Dibia is to be seen as the existential ground of culture, knowledge system, of the land and all else. (para. 5) With regards to the original meaning, personality, qualification, status, influence and importance of the Dibia in Igbo society of the dim past, the present, as well as the currently evolving direction of this crucial vocation, Dr. Chidi Gideon Osuagwu (2013) who is currently Professor of Biochemistry and Biotechnology at Federal University of
Technology Owerri (FUTO) and who was nominated to UNESCO in 2005 by the Imo State Government as a Living Human Treasure resulting from his work on African Cosmology, himself the descendant of an ancient and renowned lineage of Dibias from Obowu
in Imo State - has this to say:
I always tell people that I am from a family of medicine men. In the Igbo cosmology, medicine men are the Dibias, but here Dibia connotes more than medicine and healing, they were the elites and intellectuals who held and guarded the knowledge base of the Igbo people, (para. 1)
It goes therefore to say that, as Dibias are known to have been used by God since the dawn of humanity to reveal crucial knowledge and solutions to many of the ailments, crisis, difficulties and situations that aggravate the human condition, accordingly, there is today, a monumental need for the current Dibias/ Dibia lineages of Igboland and the prospective reincarnating ones to fervently and innovatively engage the present-day lifeworld of Igbo people towards an end goal of providing innovative, practical and novel epistemic knowledge, which could lead to the solving of some of the global crisis and issues that currently face Igbo people, Africa and humanity at large. Indeed, as cultural custodians and innovators of pivotal importance in the grand theatre of Igbo culture, they should realize the strategic need of ardently taking up the existent tools of contemporary scholarship, communication systems, amenities, enterprise, civic provisions as well as the emerging scientific and technological tools and seek out complementary or even novel mediums of bringing the fascinating multidimensional universe of Igbo culture and civilization to the 21 st century world. This is a task whose time is overdue.
Iroegbu (2011) gives us a sense of who the Dibia really is in relation to his/her responsibility, the natural world, as well as the extensive knowledge resources of Igbo culture; accordingly pointing out the centrality of a sustained ancestral background in this practice for all concerned:
The Dibia stands out as a cultural ethical ritual logician who welcomes, directs and provides endogenous means of interactive embodiments and cosmology of life forces as a whole. A Dibia is therefore a master of the land ethos - offering ancestral wisdom, customs and traditions of being and becoming... I think it is important to recognize the massive authority and power that a Dibia embodies and weighs in the things of the land - calming down (ijiala, ibiala, di-ibiala) - a master who re-authors the land. Entirely, a
Dibia for the Igbo is a cosmological engineer - a relational order builder of this world and that world, health and society, descent and blood, kin-people and neighbors, fortune and misfortune, fecundity and expansion.... In other words, a Dibia is to be seen as the existential ground of culture, knowledge system, of the land and all else. (para. 5) With regards to the original meaning, personality, qualification, status, influence and importance of the Dibia in Igbo society of the dim past, the present, as well as the currently evolving direction of this crucial vocation, Dr. Chidi Gideon Osuagwu (2013) who is currently Professor of Biochemistry and Biotechnology at Federal University of
Technology Owerri (FUTO) and who was nominated to UNESCO in 2005 by the Imo State Government as a Living Human Treasure resulting from his work on African Cosmology, himself the descendant of an ancient and renowned lineage of Dibias from Obowu
in Imo State - has this to say:
I always tell people that I am from a family of medicine men. In the Igbo cosmology, medicine men are the Dibias, but here Dibia connotes more than medicine and healing, they were the elites and intellectuals who held and guarded the knowledge base of the Igbo people, (para. 1)
It goes therefore to say that, as Dibias are known to have been used by God since the dawn of humanity to reveal crucial knowledge and solutions to many of the ailments, crisis, difficulties and situations that aggravate the human condition, accordingly, there is today, a monumental need for the current Dibias/ Dibia lineages of Igboland and the prospective reincarnating ones to fervently and innovatively engage the present-day lifeworld of Igbo people towards an end goal of providing innovative, practical and novel epistemic knowledge, which could lead to the solving of some of the global crisis and issues that currently face Igbo people, Africa and humanity at large. Indeed, as cultural custodians and innovators of pivotal importance in the grand theatre of Igbo culture, they should realize the strategic need of ardently taking up the existent tools of contemporary scholarship, communication systems, amenities, enterprise, civic provisions as well as the emerging scientific and technological tools and seek out complementary or even novel mediums of bringing the fascinating multidimensional universe of Igbo culture and civilization to the 21 st century world. This is a task whose time is overdue.
Praise Names of Nnechukwu the great omnibenevolent Mother of God in her diverse divine manifestations as
Nne-mu-Chukwu, Nnekete-Ngugu-Ofu-ji-Ume-Ndu, Nne Oma, Ikuku- Nnechukwu-Selitere-Uwa-n'Ofu-Akwu, Nnenwanyi-Kpuru-Ara-k'Ahu-ha, Nono-Ugwu-Aka, Agu-Nnem, Agadi-Nwanyi-Egwu-toro-n'Okpa, Nne-Atu- Ara-Zuru-Ahu, Nnem-Nwanyi-Iyi, Nne Ora, Nne Unye, Nne Okpu, Ofu-
Mmiri-Zoturu-Okike-Ju-Mgbachaa, Nne Ogo, Nne Uto, Nne Omumu, Nne Nzu, Nne Uwa, Nne Iyi, Nne Okike, Nne Ebere, Ele-Ya-na Nwa-Ya-Wa-Ofu- Ogodo, Ekekereuwa, Ulidereuwa, Nwanyi-Mara-Mma, Nne-Oma-Muru- Umu-Zuo-Umu, Ofu-Aka-Kpara-Nku-Okike, Ogbu-Amuma-Bari-Bari, Ishi
Mmiri Ndu, Nne Ogazi, Ezenwanyi-Nwe-Oshimiri-lyi-Okike, Oshimiri-Ata- Ata, Ogwugwu-Nwanyi-Okpu, Imo-Mmiri-Ochie, Mgba-Akwu-Oturukpa- Ete-Odii, Ezenwanyi-lyi-Ogba, Ijiriji Ndu, Ofu-Ululu-Aka, Owuwa Wara Uwa, Nnenwanyi-Afo-Mbu, Ora Mum Uwa, Alawuala-Nnenwanyi-Okpu, Otutu-turu-Uwa-n'Aka-Okpu, Nkata-Ofu-Moro-Anya-ka-Ahu-ha, Nne- Nwanyi-Agwu-Isi-Ajata.
Mmiri-Zoturu-Okike-Ju-Mgbachaa, Nne Ogo, Nne Uto, Nne Omumu, Nne Nzu, Nne Uwa, Nne Iyi, Nne Okike, Nne Ebere, Ele-Ya-na Nwa-Ya-Wa-Ofu- Ogodo, Ekekereuwa, Ulidereuwa, Nwanyi-Mara-Mma, Nne-Oma-Muru- Umu-Zuo-Umu, Ofu-Aka-Kpara-Nku-Okike, Ogbu-Amuma-Bari-Bari, Ishi
Mmiri Ndu, Nne Ogazi, Ezenwanyi-Nwe-Oshimiri-lyi-Okike, Oshimiri-Ata- Ata, Ogwugwu-Nwanyi-Okpu, Imo-Mmiri-Ochie, Mgba-Akwu-Oturukpa- Ete-Odii, Ezenwanyi-lyi-Ogba, Ijiriji Ndu, Ofu-Ululu-Aka, Owuwa Wara Uwa, Nnenwanyi-Afo-Mbu, Ora Mum Uwa, Alawuala-Nnenwanyi-Okpu, Otutu-turu-Uwa-n'Aka-Okpu, Nkata-Ofu-Moro-Anya-ka-Ahu-ha, Nne- Nwanyi-Agwu-Isi-Ajata.
Praise Names of Nnechukwu the great omnibenevolent Chukwu Okike, the supreme creator in his divine manifestations as
Ogazuru-Uwa-n'Ofu-Nje, Aka-Ijite-Ofu, Okike-Kere- Uwa-na-Ihe-di- Uwa-Nime, Ofu-Ire-Oku-shi-la-Mmuo-Gbara- futa-la-Madu, Eze-Onwekodo-Ikpa-Okike, Uzu-na-Akpuru-Onye-ka-Odi-Ya- n'Uche, Ezechukwuokike, Anu-Ofu-Nyiri-Ora-Mgbabgu, Eze-Ose-Ofu, Ogbuwa Ogene, Agali Odii, Igbudu Uwa, Igbudu Odii, Igbudu Ofu, Igbudu Aka, Igbudu Chi, Chukwu Eke, Chukwu Orie, Chukwu Afar, Chukwu Nkwo, Olisa-Isi, Olisa-Onye-Enu, Chukwu-Ono-n' Igbudu- Aka-Uwa, Achikwu- Igwe-Teghete, Ofu-Agada-Mmuo-ji-Ora-n'Abo, Umeju-Uwa-na-Igwe, Eze Enu, Eze-Adum-na-Mbu, Nwoke-Ele-Ele, Nwokeoma-Nwere-Awolo-Nne-ya- Ukwu, Osebiliriuwa, Egwu-Ofu-Nyiri-Dike-Oja-Mgbute, Eze-Iyi-Enu, Eze Obi Mbu, Eze Atuma, Eze Uga, Eze Any a Ofu, Eze Oba, Eze Igwe n'Asaa, Eze Ogo, Eze Udo, Ezechitoke, Eze Nka, Di-Mu-Uzu, Di-Nwe-Izu, Igbudu- Odii-Gbara- Uwa-Gharii.
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