The Igala people take immense pride in safeguarding their timeless heritage. This heritage, like a binding force, unites them both within their homeland and across the globe. It is heartening to witness the unwavering resilience of their culture, guiding them from the depths of antiquity into the modern era. However, the Igala language and culture stand at a crossroads, with the alarming risk of fading into obscurity. Preserving a Unique Legacy The Igala […]
Learn Igala Mother Tongue Online
Kigala-Online introduces a novel Igala literacy course designed for beginners through the medium of English language and the Internet. It is a part of the holistic instructional package aimed at safeguarding the Igala language, which is currently mortally endangered, against the external and internal forces railroading it towards ultimate extinction. My dear compatriots, this may sound alarmist, but the truth is that the Igala mother tongue is hanging precariously at the cliff’s edge, having become increasingly […]
The Psychology of African Royal Cognomens
Merriam Webster Dictionary (1828) defines ‘cognomen’ as a “distinguishing nickname or epithet.” In several cultures of the world, boys that have just attained puberty are likely to seek attention, particularly from their female counterparts. Their innate AGM (Attention-Getting Mechanism) triggers the adolescence crushes that they exhibit, including taking ego-massaging nick-names. An excited teenage boy is wont to declare: “Òmi àkpòlì” (I, the tempest). Another may take the appellation of “Ọ̀kákwū” (Hippopotamus) or “Ọ̀nyẹ̀” (Crocodile). All […]
We Thank Thee for 2021, Good or Bad
James Travis Reeves, popularly known as ‘Jim Reeves,’ was a world-renowned country music hero and the singer of the epic song, “We Thank Thee,” which had remained top of the chart till he passed onto greater glory on July 31, 1964 in a plane crash. According to Wikipedia, “Gentleman Jim,” as he was fondly called, was immortalized in both “the Country Music and Texas Halls of Fame.” Jim Reeves, in that musical masterpiece, appreciated the […]
King-Designate Converting To Divinity
Miles Clifford, in his book, A Nigerian Chiefdom: Notes on the Igala Tribe in Nigeria and their “Divine King,” juxtaposes “the Idah chiefdom…and the Jukun chiefdom of Wukari,” This is not surprising, considering the long cultural association that the two groups had shared in Medieval times of Apa or Kwararafa confederacy. C.K. Meek, in A Sudanese Kingdom: An Ethnological Study of the Jukun-speaking Peoples of Nigeria, remarks that “According to early British explorers of the […]
