HARMONY SHATTERED: THE DILEMMA AND CHALLENGES OF A DISORDERED ONTOLOGICAL (COSMIC RELIGIOUS AND ETHICAL) VISION IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICA

Abstract

Traditionally, Africans, like most of their counterparts in other parts of the globe, cultivate and live by an ontological order and vision of reality that are essentially holistic and highly integrated. Life in all its spheres, the visible and invisible, was understood to be deeply interconnected with the animate, material world as well as the cosmic and supersensible order mutually influencing one another. Religion was the overarching reality undergirding the ethical realm. Norms of acceptable human conduct were held to be the dictates of gods and ancestral spirits. Their observance fell under the watchful eyes of gods and ancestors. Harmony prevailed so long as the delicate balance that characterizes the fundamental vision was maintained. Life was generally predictable and the wellbeing of all creatures in the universe, human and non-human was guaranteed. Interestingly, the holistic vision was shattered in the mid-nineteenth century A.D. when external agents of change gained access into Africa’s heartland. The new ontological order imported by colonial administrators, European merchants and Christian missionaries, emphasizes separation and the distinctiveness of the different spheres of human life and awareness. And this has had far-reaching consequences ever since for all domains of life in the continent. This essay focuses particularly on the social upheaval and chaotic situation that have arisen in several modern African societies caused by the displacement of the cosmic vision. I shall discuss some of the negative implications of the change for the ethical order. The issues of formation of individual conscience, legitimation of norms to guide people’s conduct as well as implementation of sanctions and deterrents have become highly problematic. Drawing from my experience and research in Nigeria, I propose to examine the dilemma and important challenges the current situation poses to orderly, peaceful harmonious living and development in most countries in contemporary Africa.