African Traditional Festivals in a Globalised Society: A Philosophical Examination of Egba-Eze Ibagwa-aka Community

Abstract

Africa is known for her unique communal spirit. This distinctive spirit of an African is made manifest in many traditional festivals in the African world. It is also a truism that the contemporary society is said to be a global village. In this regard, the pertinent questions that bother the mind of the researcher are: What is the place of African traditional festivals in the face of globalization? Do African festivals have some relevance to the contemporary African and/or the global society? Can we say that African traditional festivals are now obsolete and without any contemporary significance as argued in some quarters today? Therefore, employing the philosophical method of hermeneutics, this paper burdens itself with the examination of the place of African traditional festivals in our contemporary globalized society. The study focuses on Egba-Eze, one of the traditional festivals of Ibagwa-Aka people. It is the submission of this study that African traditional festivals still have some relevance in contemporary society. The Paper strongly recommends for the proper application of human rationality in the display of the rich African Traditional Festivals, especially in contemporary society.