A comparative study of immortality of the soul in Christianity and African traditional religion

Mankind has been searching for a way to live forever. If he cannot live forever, the next best thing would be to become alive again after death. Some scholars argue that there is no immortality of the soul. They believe that death is a period of absolute annihilation. Contrarily, others regard this as erroneous teachings. This paper adopted a comparative approach to examine the views of the select religions: Christianity and African Traditional Religion on the immortality of the soul. The paper discovers that the soul of man continues to live after death. The belief in reincarnation, the ancestral world, the living-dead, continued existence of the soul in hell or heaven depicts this

Authentic personhood in traditional Igbo-African thought

The precarious nature of human life and the general social disorder that characterise human society is a human creation. A good human community requisite for human well-being is equally not natural but man-made. This type of community is made possible by the conscious, deliberate and conscientious efforts and activities of good persons or what I have called ‘Authentic Personhood’ in this discourse. This paper therefore, discusses the notion of authentic personhood in traditional Igbo thought and argues that the qualities and values of authentic personhood create the wholesome human relations and environment necessary for social cohesion and human well-being. The paper further claims that the Igbo traditional notion of authentic personhood is better than the Western conception of personhood in this respect and can therefore serve as a cure to most of the ills of our modern society if well understood, and rightly applied in human interactions and general social engineering. Keywords: Personhood, Community, Values, Well-Being, Igbo, Authenti

The inland west clusters of Ikekeonwu’s Igbo dialects classification: A modification

Among the five clusters Ikekeonwu classified the Igbo dialects, is the Inland West Dialect Cluster, which covers the Igbo dialects spoken in Onitsha, Awka and Aguata areas. The classification seems not to properly position the Igbo speech varieties of mambala area, which have some linguistic traits that qualify them to be recognised as a main dialect of the Inland West Igbo Cluster. This paper seeks to position mambala speech varieties within the landscape of Igbo dialectology by modifying the Inland West Cluster. It uses linguistic criteria with focus on the similarities and differences in the phonemes, phonological patterning of words, phonological processes and secondary articulation features. It adopts minimal pair/set analysis and comparative analysis. From the result, mambala speech varieties are grouped as mambala Main Dialect of the Onitsha Inland West Igbo

The Gender Question and the Involvement of Women in Pre-Colonial Igbo Warfare in Equiano’s Interesting Narratives

On the 2nd of November 2018, an unusual gathering took place at the Theatre Hall of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka where Paul Lovejoy, a Professor of History at York University in Canada, was hosted as the guest lecturer. His lecture dwelt on Gustavus Vassa (Olaudah Equiano) and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Representation, Identity and Reality. The curiosity of faculty members and students at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka around the thought process of this leading Africanist Historian made for a very fruitful event. The various debates raised by the iconoclastic scholar tampered with my sense of judgment as the convener; thus, I was convinced to re-evaluate Equiano’s narratives, particularly focusing on its gender dimension as well as its exploration of women’s involvement in pre-colonial Igbo warfare. This paper examines the views of academics on Equiano\u27s narratives on warfare, especially Equiano’s various enigmatic assumptions he raises. In lieu of this, the thesis of this paper is that contemporary Igbo studies have a lot to gain from Equiano’s narratives in the reconstruction of the historiography of pre-colonial Igbo warfare, especially regarding the neglected role that women have played, as this is a fact not readily accepted by many professional Igbo historians. Furthermore, using Equiano’s narratives, this paper concludes that women were relegated in traditional Igbo settings, and the claim that Igbo society was democratic and republican was over exaggerated by nationalist historians

Childhood Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome as a Podocytopathy

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome is the commonest manifestation of glomerular disease in children. The syndrome is characterized by massive proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, generalized edema, and hyperlipidemia. Although genetic or congenital forms are now well recognized, nephrotic syndrome is largely acquired. The latter form can be idiopathic or primary (the causes are unknown) and secondary (the causes are known renal or non-renal diseases). Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome consists of the following glomerulonephritides: minimal change nephropathy (MCN), focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN), mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (MesPGN), and membranous nephritis (MN). The etiopathogenesis of nephrotic syndrome has evolved through several hypotheses ranging from immune dysregulation theory and increased glomerular permeability theory to the current concept of podocytopathy. Podocyte injury is now thought to be the basic pathology in the syndrome. The book chapter aims to highlight the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of nephrotic syndrome as a podocytopathy

A Comparative Study of the Resurrection of the Body in Christianity and African Tradition Religion

The doctrine of resurrection is the heart of Christianity. It is what makes Christianity different from other religions. In the days of Jesus, there was a difference of opinion among the Jews concerning resurrection. The doctrine of resurrection, thus, has been opposed in history. Some scholars are doubtful of the opinion that the very body which was deposited in the grave would be raised up. While some early Christian fathers stressed the identity of the present body and the resurrection body. The dispute concerning the concept of resurrection lies in African Traditional Religion. Most scholars are of the opinion that African Traditional Religion is silent on this. Through a comparative study, the paper examined the concept of resurrection in Christianity and African Traditional Religion. Oral interview is a tool employed in this study to ascertain the perception of adherents of African Traditional Religion on resurrection of the body. This paper discovered that the idea of bodily resurrection is not absent in both religions. In African Traditional Religion, resurrection is conceived in reincarnation and apparition. The concept of resurrection is widely accepted in Christianity but not explicitly stated in African Traditional Religion

Understanding Freedom and Human Rights in Africa

The issues of human rights and freedom are topical in most socio-political discourse especially in the African continent given the plethora of cases of human rights abuse and unnecessary curtailment and most times outright denial of freedom to citizens. This constitutes a serious bane to the flowering of human potentialities and the general human well -being. This anomaly has however continued unabated despite the volumes that have been written on the subjects and seminars and conferences held on the same. This paper, through the analytic and critical methods, argues that much may not be achieved until the philosophical foundation upon which these subjects rest is well articulated and appreciated. The paper equally claims that one of the ways of enhancing the respect for human rights and freedom in Africa is to recognize the symbiotic relationship between the two subjects. The paper finally argues that an integral view of human freedom/rights which recognizes not only freedom-from but also freedom-to and rights-to, is foundational for the promotion of human well-being

Strengthening health systems in Africa: The COVID-19 pandemic fallout

This narrative review aims to highlight the shift in the paradigm of strengthening health systems in the African setting since the onset of the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Strengthening health systems involves upgrading a country’s health-care system through increased funding for health infrastructure, health policy improvement, and universal health coverage (UHC). Inadequate funding for health infrastructure, erratic health policy, and the inability to meet UHC targets have contributed to high mortality rates among the continent’s vulnerable groups. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the weak health systems in many African countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Before the pandemic in Africa, the African health context’s challenges essentially comprised weak health systems, weak governance and accountability, high rates of out-of-pocket expenditures, adverse social determinants of health, and non-harmonization of health aid and health service delivery. During the pandemic, a significant shift in the paradigm of strengthening health systems has occurred, with emphasis on increased funding for health infrastructure, which targets the following: Improvement of health infrastructure, the motivation of the health workforce, and improvement in laboratory facilities. It is hoped that the fallout from strengthening health systems in Africa after the pandemic can be sustained by a continental peer- review mechanism to monitor compliance with increased funding for the health sector among member nations. In the post-pandemic period, further gains in strengthening the health systems can be achieved by improving UHC (through increased funding for health insurance), constant capacity training for health care workers in critical care medicine, and institutionalization of hand hygiene

Nosocomial infections in neonatal intensive care units: Cost-effective control strategies in resource-limited countries

Background: Nosocomial infections or hospital-acquired infectionsconstitute a global health problem. They lead to significant morbidity and mortality in both developed and resource-limited countries. The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a suitable environment for disseminating these infections; underscoring the need for preventive intervention measures.Objectives: This review aims to highlight the global burden of nosocomialinfections in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), to discuss their epidemiology and clinical spectrum, as well as the costeffective control strategies in resource-limited settings.Sources: Sources of information were from Google searches andPubMed- linked articles using the key words- nosocomial infections,neonatal intensive care unit, control. Related articles from hard copiesof medical literature and journals were also gathered.Results: Although paucity of data exists on the incidence of nosocomialinfections in NICUs in developing countries, reports from developedcountries indicate a range of 6% to 25%. Much higher figures were noted in some developing countries. Several risk factors for nosocomial infections were identified but varied in different NICUs surveyed. Effective control strategies have been recommended but hand washing or hand hygiene appears universally applicable in both developed and resource-limitedcountries. Economic analyses of these strategies in developed countrieshave established their costeffectiveness while the adaptability of hand hygiene program to resource-limited settings has been demonstrated in a World Health Organization pilot study in sub- Saharan Africa.Conclusion: Hand washing or hand hygiene by health-care personnelremains the most important evidence-based and cost-effective controlstrategy for the spread of nosocomial infections in NICUs in resource-limited countries.Key words: nosocomial infections; neonatal intensive care unit;control

Tone Assimilation in Igbo: A Phonological Description

Past studies of assimilation in Igbo focus attention on segmental phonemes without relating assimilation to supra-segments (tone in particular). This paper re-investigates assimilation in Igbo with the aim of establishing that tone assimilation exists in the language. Data for analysis are obtained from both the primary and secondary sources. While the primary data are from Ogbunike Igbo variety, the secondary data are from existing literatures. The data are analysed using descriptive method. The results reveal that tone assimilation exists in Igbo. For example, in connected speech, where the first noun ends in a downstep tone and the second noun begins with any tone, the downstep tone of the final vowel of the first word assimilates the high pitch of the initial vowel of the second word. Also, where the first word is in its infinitive form with a H ↓H tone sequence and the second word has a H H tone sequence, the high tone of the initial vowel of the second word drops its high pitch and completely assimilates the reduced high pitch of the final vowel of the first word. Tone assimilation could be regressive or progressive