Abstract
Some of the traditions and cultural beliefs and practices of the Idoma people of Nigeria have been influenced both positively and negatively as a result of the advent of Christianity in the area. The aim of this research is to investigate some of the cultural beliefs and practices of the Idoma people before the advent of Christianity, the people’s response to the new faith and the propelling factors behind the responses of the people. In doing so, a comparative study on these beliefs and practices after the advent of Christianity in Idoma traditional society was done. The study adopts a qualitative phenomenological research design and descriptive method for data analysis. Personal interviews form a primary source of data collection, while the secondary source includes library sources. This method of study was chosen to allow the data collected to speak for themselves without any interference from the researchers. The study unveils that the advent of Christianity in the Idoma traditional society had some impact and consequences on the traditional and cultural practices of the people, such as death and burial ceremonies, the Aje-alekwu festival and widowhood practices among others. The study recommends that there should be a synergy between Idoma traditional beliefs and practices and Christianity for peaceful co-existence, progress and development in the area.Contribution: It is erroneously believed that in the contemporary society, traditional religious practices are going to die and become a thing of the past. However, one would observe from this study that Idoma people still hold their traditional beliefs and practices in high esteem despite the influence of Christianity in the area.
Highlights
Anizoba and Johnson (2021:5) observed that the Idoma tradition is complex in nature and even if certain aspects of the tradition died out, other aspects still survived and many of them were changed or transformed by Christianity to meet the needs of the changing times
The aim of the research is to do a comparative study of the effect of Christianity on the tradition and culture of the Idoma people of Nigeria
One of the positive impacts of Christianity on Idoma culture was the abolition of killing of twins
Summary
Some of the western influences on the Idoma traditional belief system are reflected on modernity, science and technology, religion, industrialisation, urbanisation, and so on. Anizoba and Johnson (2021:5) observed that the Idoma tradition is complex in nature and even if certain aspects of the tradition died out, other aspects still survived and many of them were changed or transformed by Christianity to meet the needs of the changing times. Mbiti in Agha (2012) remarked that some of the traditional beliefs and practices Christianity tries to influence still remain human problems, especially those concerned with birth, marriage, death, the hereafter, suffering, sickness and so on. Idoma traditions and its belief system will continue to have something to say on these issues of human life, even if Christianity and scientific ways of thought have either positive or negative influence on the cosmology as a result of the advent of Christianity in the area. Students of ATR who may wish to embark on a similar topic will see the work very useful It will document the cultural changes among the traditional Idoma people since the appearance of Christian missionaries. Traditional religious worshipers in the area, who still hold the beliefs and practices in high esteem, will benefit from this study
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