The Nollywood star also spoke on how reviving Igbo traditional religion can help check insecurity in Nigeria’s south-east.
Jideofor Ugezu, better known as Ugezu J. Ugezu, is a Nigerian director, actor, screenwriter and producer.
Mr Ugezu is popular for his frequent promotion of Igbo culture and traditions. He hails from Enugu-Ukwu in Anambra State, Nigeria’s South-east, with a high Christian population.
In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES, the 53-year-old Nollywood star speaks on his aversion to Christianity in Nigeria and why he quit attending churches.
PT: How do you describe yourself? A Christian or a traditionalist?
Ugezu: I’m a Christian by faith but a traditionalist by practice.
PT: Do you worship in churches?
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Ugezu: No. (But) I go to church only when I’m invited to an event by people. If there’s a programme like a church wedding and I’m invited, I go. But not like I set out to go to church. I have a lot of friends who are Christians, and even reverend fathers who understand my position as a traditionalist, and they do not have any problem with that. I even have a friend who is a bishop, and he understands my position.
PT: At what point did you stop worshipping in churches, and what is your problem with being a Christian and worshipping in churches?
Ugezu: Christianity is an organised business, and people are beginning to understand that it is a business. It is not about the Bible but about the highest bidder. I read what Chimamanda Adichie wrote about a burial she attended in Cross River State, how the priest reacted to an issue, and she recalled how her father was buried. Maybe the brand of Christianity practised has to do with our people. She (Adichie) was trying to make a case that what she saw there, in Cross River, is not what is obtainable here.
How can the church refuse to bury a member because she owed some dues before she died? Such things happen, and people defend them. When you understand that the church has become political, you can become a traditionalist and still go to church. Not everyone can come out like me and say he is a traditionalist because of fear of what people would say. But if you have murdered fear like me, then you can do whatever you want to do.
PT: Do you agree with arguments by some South-easterners that the problem with Igbos is that they are embracing the Western religion, like Christianity, rather than their traditional way of worship?
Ugezu: But that is just the absolute truth. It is something that somebody should not speak about so much before we understand the need. I have spoken on a very large platform. Let us just take something as simple as praying over a kolanut, for example. And then you will see some people that you give them a kola nut for them to pray over it. And then they are smuggling the Christian prayer into the kolanut and after praying over the kola nut, they say that they are blessing the kola nut in the name of Jesus, for example. That is an aberration and it is part of the problems we have. Nobody is against anybody deciding to pray according to the Christian faith or whatever faith. That is a different kind of prayer. You make such prayers, it is good. But when you are required to pray with a kolanut, it becomes a different kind of prayer again. It is a prayer that is anchored on the four cardinal forces that control everything in Igbo land. These are the forces of Eke, Orie, Afor, and Nkwo (market days). These are the spirits that control finances. Every community in Igbo land, no matter where they are located, has these forces domiciled. If you don’t have Eke, then you have Orie. It is only prayer over a kolanut that you call unto them to sanctify what you are doing. The majority of right-thinking people, including me, believe that if you can pick up our tradition and practice it the way it should be, so many of the problems we have in Igbo land would have ceased.
I heard of a time in Aguata where two boys ran into a church where people were praying and informed them that they saw some herdsmen coming into their town with AK-47 rifles and the congregation ran away. But in an organised town, where people are still maintaining Odinani (Igbo traditional religion), how can anyone run away from his town? Because there’s nothing that will come that can overwhelm you. We have lost it as a people, and that is why we are having a lot of problems.
I believe that if we can go back to our roots and do things we are supposed to do, many mistakes will be corrected, and a lot of abnormal things we are experiencing will be fixed.
PT: Are you saying that if Igbos should return to Odinani, the traditional way of worship, the insecurity in the South-east would cease?
Ugezu: Yes. Insecurity is local. If the local communities can trigger the totality of a way of life, there is no criminal that is not known. We are just playing politics with insecurity. If we do things the way they should be done, all these things will not be there.
