Ekwensu is the Igbo word for the devil to the modern Igbo. Not the Igbo version of satan, but the real deal, just given a local name like the cup is called iko.
Due to the fact that Ekwensu is seen as the antithesis of God and the epitome of evil. Every kind of evil you can think of, from the trivial to the abominable can be found in him.
Igbo people may perceive Ekwensu as more terrifying than its English counterpart. It’s fascinating to consider that this is a relatively recent development that continues to gain popularity in modern interpretations.
In the beginning, Ekwensu was just Chukwu’s daring rival, who was eventually banished to hell to roast with the humans he had possessed on earth, but instead, he was the chief of evil.
Igbo people did not use the word “evil” in its original meaning, according to P-J Ezeh in his book “The Ekwensu Semantics and the Igbo Christian Theo Linguistics”.
Ekwensu is a god in Igboland, one of the many. In the same league as Ani, Amadioha, Ikéngà , Agwu, and others he has risen to the top.
Ekwensu is the name of a powerful and benevolent deity, the god of war. As an Igbo trickster god, he is revered. Because of his craftiness and cunning, traders looked up to him when it came to negotiations and trades. In tough mercantile situations, such as bartering or negotiating, he was called upon to offer advice.
Aside from his role as the god of war, many people believe that he also has a chaotic and violent nature. When fighting or war broke out, warriors and head hunters invoked him. When Ekwensu was in possession, it was assumed that reckless acts during peacetime were influenced by his possession.
A community named after Ekwensu, like Nru N’ato Ezike Ekwensu in the Nsukka area of Enugu, illustrates the deity’s importance in the past. It’s called Ekpensu, a dialectical variation of Ekwensu in Ezi, Delta.
Ekwensu is a praise name in Akpugo, Enugu, for someone who has achieved a lot. There are differences between Christianity and traditional Igbo religion, which led to the mistranslation of the term. This dichotomy between the great good force and the great evil force does not exist in Igbo thought, as it does in Christianity.
As a result, in Igbo, there is no such thing as God or devil, heaven or hell, demons or angels, or any of that. In the afterlife, there were only gods, each with varying degrees of power, and spirits, each with a good or bad nature, as in the human case. colonial missionaries, who believed that any religion that was foreign to them was evil, were tasked with introducing these alien concepts into the native people’s philosophy.
So they copied the methods of early Christians in Rome, who had assimilated pagan festivals and rituals in order to accomplish this goal. To achieve their goals, they altered traditional local concepts, which bore only the slightest resemblance to their own, in order to achieve their goals. Improvisation is another term for it.
As a result, chi, Chukwu (the Aro deity) became the ultimate God (the personal guiding force). Ekwensu appeared as the Devil at that point, completing the Christian faith’s spiritual duality.
The journey to demonize Ekwensu began. Today, the term is regarded as a leper and is avoided by all parties involved.
As a result, most communities and individuals that used to go by the name have changed their names to avoid being associated with something so evil. Having the surname Ekwensu is equivalent to being painted a dark, unimaginable color.
There is a possibility that Christians in Igboland are fervently pushing for the name of the communities to be changed because, in Igboland, names are extremely important because they are thought to influence one’s destiny.
Ekwensu’s story is yet another example of colonialism’s impact on African cultures. Nevertheless, the damage isn’t irreparable and can be repaired.
In order to correct these Theo linguistic errors, some intellectuals have published books that accurately describe these mistranslated aspects of culture.
Ekwensu in the Igbo Imagination: a Heroic Deity or Christian Devil? Likewise, we should seek accurate information about our culture in order to gain a deeper understanding of our roots and pass the baton to future generations of our culture on to them.
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