African Indigenous spirituality

The intermittent conflicts within the Akuapem State are a legacy of the Akwamu wars with the people of the Hill Territory (Akuapem Ridge) in the 17th and 18th centuries. As the catalyst for the Guan-Akyem alliance and the subsequent formation of the 'Akuapem State,' this study examines the intricate role of the African indigenous religions in conflicts and state formation in indigenous Africa. With focus on the indigenous equivalent of the Abotakyi Accord, the ritual planting of stone(s) and salt, the study raises questions on the significance of that ritual and its embedded symbolism.

Yorùbá cosmology represents a significant lacuna in Yorùbá studies. Unfortunately, originary narratives within this cosmology tend not to be explicitly investigated at the level of epistemology. As concerns methodology, phenomenological studies of Yorùbá cosmology are rare and typically gain less traction than studies produced using preponderant social scientific approaches. In this essay, I argue that a phenomenological analysis of originary narratives in Yorùbá cosmology illumines the presence of orienting concepts that articulate a Yorùbá epistemological perspective. We find in some of these narratives five orienting
concepts that convey this perspective: mystery, materially-based relationality, unpredictability, the permanency of existential conflict, and irresolution.

Human-wildlife conflict is a growing problem worldwide wherever humans share landscapes with large predators, and negative encounters with eight species of the crocodilians is particularly widespread. Conservationists’ responses to these adverse encounters have focused on the ecological and behavioural aspects of predators, rather than on the social, political, and cultural contexts which have threatened their existence in the first place. Few studies have thusfar tried to understand the rich, varied, contradictory and complex relations that exist between particular humans and human societies, and particular predators and groups of predators. It is in the spirit of Brian Morris’s explorations of the interactional encounters and co-produced sociabilities that exist between humans and animals in specific places and regions that this paper offers a cultural herpetology (an account of human-crocodile interrelations) of the Nile crocodile (Crocodilus niloticus and C. suchus) in Africa. It draws on extensive historical documentation of the interactions of humans and crocodiles across Africa to examine how diverse and complex human responses to Nile crocodiles have been, and continue to be, and suggests some implications for improving human-crocodile relations.

The study intends to add to practical knowledge about the use and implementation of leadership programmes, but also to challenge theoretical understanding of Inspirational Leadership in Africa. The theoretical foundation related to the topic is weak. Therefore, the research method used is an exploratory case study with research questions formulated as management issues. First National Bank (FNB) is one of the few South African organisations that have made a difference in terms of transformation. The company started a VUKA programme five years ago with the objective of creating a workplace community of real, new South Africans from different backgrounds. FNB clearly tries to do a better job balanacing people management and content management. Leadership in FNB is inspirational, and it definitely has African elements. At the same time, it seems that some employees have difficulties in clearly seeing the support for the programme throughout the hierarchy, and find African Leadership confusing.

When we discuss the legacies and impact of trans-Atlantic enslavement on the Diaspora, we must consider several issues. Among these is the tendency of the word “legacy” to have a positive connotation for many – where the enslavement of African people may fail with regard to this criterion. More importantly, in this paper I would like to draw the reader’s attention to the fact that in many places, such as the United States, slavery has never been abolished by law, merely renamed. As such, it becomes difficult to discuss a legacy or aftermath of something that is still in progress. Therefore, we will take the United States as a case study of slavery changing names/forms yet remaining essentially the same in spirit and nature if not worse in terms of impact on African people.

Re-posted on Facebook, 11/13/2015, this essay was originally posted on September 24, 2013. It is one of my earliest essays after joining entitled "The Blood". It explains why animal sacrifice is necessary in African Vodun and in traditional African spiritual systems in general.

This excellent poetic song composed by Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba ibn Muhammad al-Bakaai’ is an excellent work on the remembrance of death, and the loss of spiritual masters. In it Shaykh Bamba, famous as the Khadim (servant) of the Messenger of Allah, explains the fundamental principles of the spiritual path, its foundations and the essential equipment needed for a disciple who desires to take the arduous inner journey of self-transformation. The founder of the world renown Muridiyya brotherhood, with its center in Touba, Senegal, uses this work to give a precise picture of how a genuine spiritual guide must be. For those who lack a spiritual guide, the Huqqa’l-Bukaai’ paints a poetic ‘cv’ or ‘resume’ for how one really looks. Because, it is rare, and almost impossible to find people alive who meet the standards Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba depicts, it is obvious why he composed this poem. I translated it and embedded pictures of the most important spiritual guides who passed on to the Next world and who had a personal impact upon me as a spiritual disciple. I habitually recite this work of Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba because of the many secrets, but because it reminds me of the many spiritual teachers we have lost. It is said that remembrance of the righteous causes baraka and mercy to descend. It is in this light that I present this poem to our readers.

The home of Nigeria's renowned Marxist anthropologist, Ikenna Nzimiro, and of the country's ''first lady of letters,'' Flora Nwapa, is Oguta, a sprawling commercial centre situated on Oguta Lake near the confluence of the rivers Niger and Urashi. Both authors have described their home town in their own diverging perspectives. While Nzimiro's account focused on the town's political organization and questions of state formation and authority, Flora Nwapa was a novelist concerned primarily with women's issues. She engaged her home town's custom and religious beliefs centring on the pre-eminent lake goddess, Ogbuide, in her quest to champion womanhood. This paper examines how the novelist took certain artistic liberties and critically decon-structed local custom in her cause to promote women. While Nwapa's primary concern was women's reproductive rights and welfare, she also cherished Oguta culture, voiced her critique with caution, and was increasingly critical of foreign intrusions.

Essay written on my facebook page, on 11/24/2015, discussing the things that make me the most thankful for, in vodun, during this holiday season. I use the backdrop of the classic Christian hymn, Amazing Grace, which I learned in my youth and has new meaning for me since my coming to know the spirits.

These are selected essays from my facebook page written in February 2015: "Vodun/Orisa: Spiritual Warfare and the He Said, She Said"; "Traditional Spiritual Systems And The Abuse Of Women Hinders Our Work"; "In Pursuit of African Spirituality...Backwards?"

The home of Nigeria's renowned Marxist anthropologist, Ikenna Nzimiro, and of the country's ''first lady of letters,'' Flora Nwapa, is Oguta, a sprawling commercial centre situated on Oguta Lake near the confluence of the rivers Niger and Urashi. Both authors have described their home town in their own diverging perspectives. While Nzimiro's account focused on the town's political organization and questions of state formation and authority, Flora Nwapa was a novelist concerned primarily with women's issues. She engaged her home town's custom and religious beliefs centring on the pre-eminent lake goddess, Ogbuide, in her quest to champion womanhood. This paper examines how the novelist took certain artistic liberties and critically decon-structed local custom in her cause to promote women. While Nwapa's primary concern was women's reproductive rights and welfare, she also cherished Oguta culture, voiced her critique with caution, and was increasingly critical of foreign intrusions.

Essay written on my facebook page, 1/25/2016, highlighting death row inmates, their misunderstanding of the spiritual consequences of their heinous deeds, and our understanding that there are consequences of our misdeeds here on earth as well as in the beyond.