“Bringing priests to pray during Oghu Festival is an abuse of culture.” Chinedu Onye Ntunu.
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Chief Aloysius Chinede Iwuajoku popularly known as “Chinedu Onye Ntunu” has frowned at the act of bringing churchmen, especially orthodox priests to conduct prayers during the celebration of Oghu festivals.
Chief Iwuajoku stressed this point last week when Umuaka Times paid him a visit. According to him, it is an abuse of culture for our people to invite prayers in order to have a hitch-free oghu celebration. He described this act as a practice never known to oghu dance and culture. The high profile community leader went further to say that ever before the advent of Christianity in African, “our forefathers have been celebrating the oghu culture and God was blessing them during their time. He wondered why people would like to incorporate priestly blessings into the culture “as if God would not hear our prayers when we pray.”
“There is no part of Oghu culture that allows for a blessing of the festival by a priest. Therefore, bringing a priest to bless the event suggests that we Africans can’t receive God’s blessings unless from a foreign religion,” he told Umuaka Times.
Chief Iwuajoku also used the opportunity to pray for the unity and progress of Umuaka community and asked God to protect the community from Covid19.
No culture or tradition can over a very long time withstand some form of adulterations or embellishments. If priestly prayers can tighten some loose ends & make it more viable even now that culture has become a veritable tool in tourism business…it shall be welcomed.
It all depends on where the person conducting the prayer is at the time but if its in the scene of the event persons presenting such prayers must be innitiated into the ogho folk before such an activity. It therefore means that if prayers are allowed, all regions would be welcomed to present theirs.
I therefore advise that such prayers should be better said in the chusrch as per christians and in various shrines and worshipping centres as per other religions.
Brother and Chief chinedu is right.