THE OBASI-NJOM – (God of Cult Agency)

INTRODUCTION

It is a well-known fact that Africans believe in a multiplicity of gods. This statement is true of the Ejagham people who are found partly in Manyu Division, South West Region of Cameroon and in the Cross River State of Nigeria. These people believe in Eyumi-Nfam, the god of protection and retributive justice; Ndem also known in other Ejagham clusters as Anim, the god of procreation; Obasi-njom, the god of divination, and a host of other greater and lesser gods. However, the ‘’Obasi-njom’’ as the name implies is the most superior of all their gods. The name Obasi-njom in the Ejagham language literally means ‘’God of the cult-agency. By using the noun ‘Obasi’ (God) as a pre-modifier to the second noun ‘Njom’ (cult-agency), the Ejagham people wish to emphasize its superiority over all other cult-agencies they possess.

The Njom (an abridged form of Obasi-njom) functions through spirit possession:

Spirit possession, Inducing or Mediumistic possession means compelling a god to take over control of a man’s body; a new personality temporarily guides his behavior, and when he regains himself, he naturally enough knows nothing of what happened in its absence.

Although the Obasi-njom has a shrine which admits only its members, its divinations are in public, usually in front of the ‘Ochamemgbe’ (the Mgbe Lodge) where all and sundry are invited to partake in the performance. It is in this setting of music and dancing that the Njom proceeds to divine, causing a mixture of feeling of awe and exhilaration to his curious on-lookers.

Most of the Njom songs are in Ejagham, which is the language of the Ejagham people from where the cult originated. Information gleaned in the field from authoritative voices all point to the fact that the cult originated from Mbinda in Upper Ekwe, Ejagham Njemaya in the Eyumojock Sub Division. The name of its founder was stated categorically to be EKU ERIM. To further buttress this accession is the all-important fact that the working language of the Obasi-njom is Ejagham. Among the Bayangs, Efiks, Orokos, Bakwerians and Ibos that have been initiated to the cult, the language of divination is strictly Ejagham.

ORIGIN AND OBJECTIVES

As earlier mentioned, this cult has its origin from Ejagham and its name Obasi-njom, its titles, formal salutations and most of its songs are in Ejagham. Nkom Ayum reveals that:

— noticing that the village had degenerated into perversive acts of witch-craft and other forms of evil, an ancestor is said to have appeared in a dream to a man called Eku Erim in Mbinda village, Upper Ekwe.

He revealed to Eku the secret with which to salvage the community from the evil. In view of the burdensome nature of the mission, he invited a few reliable members of the community to share in the revelation. This became the origin of the cult with a constitution enacted to govern its functioning.

After due consideration, the original members of the cult accepted to sell lodges to other communities (not individuals) that faced the same challenges. The village of my present informant (Ayaoke) was the second to acquire a lodge. Giving the achievement of this cult agency, lodges have so far been set up among other peoples in near and distant lands. The Efiks and Igbos in Nigeria, the Banyang, Oroko, Mboh and the Bakwerians in Cameroon join the Ejagham today to celebrate the Obasi-njom. Also, researchers, especially from Europe and Asia* have made countless visits to Ejagham communities to carry out findings about the Obasi-njom.

The supreme deity of the Ejagham people is most widely acclaimed, to the extent that other deities bow to it. According to Bissong Ayuk Etta:

No eveil that be or come from outside Ejagham has dominion over it. Yet the omnipotence of God is recognized and acknowledged by its adherents.

The Obasi-njom oracle is symbolized by the god itself in the masquerade as the diviner. And this cult has as purpose:

• The detection and exposure of witchcraft and witchcraft practices;
• The prediction of epidemics and other health hazards, such as: small pox, chicken pox, yaws, epilepsy, insufficient yield of food crops, poor birth rates, etc, and the procedure to cure, prevent or atone for these misfortunes prescribed.

Etta emphasizes:

No matter how well transformed the evil or calamity is, those possessed by evil spirits are redeemed after due consultation with cult members.

MEMBERSHIP

Obasi-njom initiates go in as recruits, but with time individuals attain various grades. These include:

• Ntui-njom: This is the most senior grade. He performs the ritual connected with the ‘head’ (shrine) of Obasi-njom.
• Ebhu-njom: The person who wears the Obas-njom costume (Akpa) and thus becomes the Diviner. The selection of Ebhu-njom is a purely divine phenomenon which has nothing to do with the human physical qualities. Once initiated in this role you automatically understand and speak the Ejagham language during a performance, because this is the language of Obasi-njom*. After the performance however, your knowledge of the language vanishes if you are not Ejagham native and have no previous knowledge of the Ejagham language.
• Osame-njom: He is the intermediary between the Obasi-njom and the population; he interprets the message of the god. While the Obasi-njom wonders around in his ostensible search for information, the Osame-njom stands fixed next to the pulpit. From that position he can communicate with the Obasi-njom even from a considerable distance*. Any attempt to misinform could lead to fatal consequences on the part of the Osame-njom. He generally shares much in common with the Ebhu-njom in terms of initiation rites.
• Erutu-njom: He has a responsibility to move the Diviner after delivering a series of divinations. Also, when it is deemed necessary for the Diviner to discontinue with a particular revelation which members judge can tear the village apart or which can cause more harm than good. The Erutu-njom enables the Obasi-njom to move away from the spot. He does this by blowing a long circular horn at his heels. Once he moves, the knowledge on the current subject is forgotten and can hardly revert to it.
• Agune-njom: They act like personal body-guards to the Obasi-njom and abide by its instructions. The two carry den guns and move or stand directly behind the Diviner. They can stop the Obasi-njom from talking or moving by pressing the den guns on the ground. As earlier explained, this happens when members feel the revelation in question can result to fatal consequences. The Erutu-njom will then sound his horn to liberate the Obasi-njom.
• Ma-njom: Besides these very active members during a performance, there is also the Ma-njom, wife of the Obasi-njom. Though the Obasi-njom cult is a preserved for men, honourary membership is accorded a young girl of pre-puberty stage. Her honourary status is withdrawn the day she experiences her first menstruation. One at a time, through a special call, Ma-njom is selected. Her role is to pacify the ‘Obasi-njom’ when in wrath. Also, by virtues of her virginity, she could be invited to grind certain herbs needed to perform the rituals on the shrine of the Cult-agency. The existence of ‘Ma-njom’ and Obasi-njom represents the equated male and female existence in God’s creation. The status of Ma-njom attracts honour and respect from the villagers; they are well informed and generally regarded as the elite women of Ejagham traditional communities.

Each of the grades discussed above has its own admission fees, initiation procedures, and duties with regards to the association as a whole. Each also has its own position where its members sit in the association house. The grading is further reflected in the degree to which the members have knowledge of the association’s internal constitution and procedures. It should be noted that even during the social and recreational moments of the cult, which seldom come, the air of an esoteric association is emphasized by the many minor rules governing procedures, sign language and proverbial songs.

However, the grade of Ma-njom does not attract any charge or fee. Rather, it is a kind of award to a chosen village girl as noted earlier.

ERFORMANCE CONTEXT OF OBASI-NJOM

In this section the circumstances under which the Obasi-njom may be called to perform, as well as what constitutes a performance is examined.

The ‘Obasi-njom unlike Mgbe, Amgbu and other recreational associations has limited occasions of performances. There are basically three circumstances, where the Obasi-njom can ‘answer’ or be called to manifest.

One of the commonest performance situations is when an afflicted person invites the cult-agency to divine his/her problem. This could be an ailment or an unexpected death of a love one.

The second is when the cult-agency foresees an impending calamity such as an epidemic or plaque, it has to ‘answer’ so as to inform, warn or at best advice on emergency measures to avert the calamity.

In the two situations mentioned, the Obasi-njom dance can take place at any time without prior warning and often at an unusual time (for example, about 4am). Also, all the elements that constitute a performance will be called to play as the occasion demands.

Thirdly, a lodge may be invited to divine the cause of misfortune in a settlement away from where the lodge is located. Here too, the performances are elaborate.

A new tendency is manifesting itself in the history of Obasi-njom, where lodges are invited to honour important events in the cities, where the services are purely recreational. In this case, the celebration is less elaborate and the songs are mere praises to the cult. Nevertheless, this new tendency is under study and this researcher feels that this development is tantamount to adulteration of the cult.

In any of the situations discussed above, the procedure is that the Ebhu-njom is seized by the Cult-agency when in the course of ordinary activity. He becomes possessed, cries out in a high pitch voice at regular intervals. Such possession may occur without a performance taking place. Amongst other reasons, this may happen when some highly specialized actors are absent, especially the Osame-njom. In which case the possessed man, through a brief ritual, is placated until he returns to normalcy.

If the performance is to take place, the “Apka” (Obasi-njom costume), drums and other musical items are quickly arranged in an open area of a settlement. The possessed man is led in and the “akpa” put on him. At the sound of the talking drum the entire village is invited to the arena. The women come along with their “ajak” (clapping sticks) and position themselves behind the drummers. All other actors, as earlier discussed, position themselves accordingly ready to dramatize. The Osame-njom stands at the center, nearer to the audience to ensure smooth communication, also besides the “Ntai-njom” (the pulpit).

The ‘Obasi-njom’ begins a wheeling and sliding dance, followed by his attendance. He can move anywhere within the settlement including inside houses or the neighbouring bushes in his ostensible search for witchraft. At various times he returns to the Ntai-njom and halts abruptly. The music stops and the Obasi-njom starts divining through the ‘Osame-njom’ who prefaces all his remarks with “‘Njom‘ says—” and referring back to him for further instructions. In this way and with breaks for further dancing, the message of the Obasi-njom is conveyed.

The intermediary communication channel employed by Njom in a divination performance can be represented diagrammatically as follows:

The diagram shows how the villager, now a diviner has been elevated to a higher supernatural plain than the rest of the people. From his elevated position, it is believed he interacts with the supernatural forces of the area.

It is worth mentioning that most of the songs sang during a performance are hinted by the Obasi-njom. This is so because each song has a logical relationship to the divination in process. The songs are therefore an integral part of the divination process.

BY WAY OF CONCLUSION

In pre-colonial Ejagham country, Mgbe was and still partially is the main administrative machinery of the Ejagham people. On the other hand, the Obasi-njom ensures the community’s health and well-being through spiritual healing and its detective role in exposing witches and witchcraft practices. These two main organs played a complimentary role which created a balance in the spiritual and material wellbeing of the people.

In recent years while Mgbe thrives, we notice that the role of Obasi-njom has diminished in most Ejagham communities due to the following reasons:

The proliferation of modern medical facilities; through western medical propaganda and vaccination campaigns against diseases such as small pox, yaws among others, many people are convinced that their problems can be easily handled by Western healthcare services rather than the Obasi-njom. The propaganda challenged the system of inoculation that was carried out by the Obasi-njom as lacking in scientific and rational inquiry, thus barbaric.

Secondly, the inundation of Ejagham land by Western religions. Christian missionaries on their part have been campaigning vigorously against the Obasi-njom and our belief systems in general as fetish and demonic and their activities as ungodly.

Thirdly, Western education is diverting the interest of most young men to western values and beliefs. The young people are more and more incline to urban and modern life styles, as opposed to traditional beliefs. Coupled to these is the fact that many knowledgeable old men are dying without being able to pass on the knowledge to the younger generation.

Furthermore, unlike Mgbe where it is prestigious for influential individuals to buy lodges, dress gorgeously and flaunt conspicuously their titles of ‘SESSEKU’, the Obasi-njom can only be acquired by a community when they deem it absolutely necessary to do so. There are no occasions for festivities, no titles to flaunt around. Thus, young men tend to shy away, not wanting to be associated with the stigma of belonging to a “satanic” cult.

These and more are contributing to make the Obasi-njom redundant in the provision of its services in most villages of Ejagham land.

Be that as it may, the Obasi-njom remains resilient in some communities of Ejagham land and beyond, performing its traditional role of unleashing violence by publicly exposing witches. Also, giving that modern healthcare system is ill equipped to treat a wide range of diseases occurring in African communities such as psychiatric disorders, epilepsy, and it does not deal with spiritual aspect of disease. These and more have created a space for which the Obasi-njom will always step in to fill.

The Ejagham people will forever have the exclusive intellectual property rights of the “science” of Obasi-njom as long as Obasi-njom performed anywhere can only speak in the Ejagham language.