The Derailment of Core Cultural Values of the Igbo Youths in Traditional Society: An Appraisal of Some Selected Chieftaincy Title Names

Authors

  • Francis Chuks Madukasi

Abstract

Names are not just given for the sake of giving names in traditional Igbo communities respectively. Names are given according to the circumstances that surrounded the birth of a child and this actually makes such names to be symbolic and impregnated with meanings. In traditional Igbo communities, certain names are believed to be part or associated with molding of a person’s character. However, Igbo names play some vital roles or significance shaping the lives of the people in Igbo societies. In the past, Igbo ancestors valued hard work, dedication to duty, honesty and sincerity of purpose, genuine and decent pursuit of wealth, community service, a sense of brotherhood and community ethos. With the high rate of ritual killings, kidnapping for a ransom, the celebration of wealth gotten through the syndrome of “Igbu-Ozu” or “Obutelu-Ike” whatever that means, it is very doubtful if Igbo known traditional and cultural values are still there, or are they regrettably in decline, as the nouveau riche afflicted by a new national malaise called affluenza, have conspired to attack societal cultural values through the nonesensesical names conferred on people during chieftaincy title festivals with different symbolic meanings that portrays money as the ultimate. This paper examines why such names are given in Igbo communities and aims to bring out their interpretive paradigm and to show how these names have conspired to derail and erode the minds of the youths in knowing the real ethics and cultural norms of the tradition of the Igbo people.

Key Words: Conflict, Symbolic, Money

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