OHAZURUME - Unizik Journal of Culture and Civilization

This study examines the contemporary Igbo family in relation to Obi or Ngwuru (family homestead), vis a vis the core Igbo people’s reverence and esteem for it. The study employs both the primary and secondary means of data collections. The required notions and closures were made exclusively on the analysis and synthesis of the gathered data delineated through culture centered and phenomenological approaches. Additionally, this study adopts the Berry’s model on the theory of Acculturation. Findings posit that the precolonial Igbo enclave accorded high reverence to the Obi or Ngwuru. Regrettably, however, some contemporary Igbo families do not place much necessary value on its significance. Some contemporary Igbo first sons who inherit the Obi or Ngwuru according to the Igbo cultural provisions often sell it out for quick wealth, thus they bring shame and disgrace to the legacy of their parents and ancestors. Consequently, they lose their ritual, moral and legal rights and they are denied the basic positions and obligations they supposed to wield among other aspersions the Igbo societies cast on such violators. This study advocates that the contemporary Igbo family should redirect their steps back to the ancient pathway of maintaining the sanctity of the Obi or Ngwuru. They should not allow the obsession for quick wealth or foreign influence to push them to lose their cultural identity. Ways to redeem and re-consecrate the Obi or Ngwuru that had been violated and desecrated in order to avert the associated curses were also posited in this study.

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