Who will re-fix the contest of baal and the true God?’: analysing the re-surging dibia practices in an African community

Paulinus Okechukwu Agbo ()
Additional contact information
Paulinus Okechukwu Agbo: University of Nigeria

Palgrave Communications, 2024, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Rekindled passions and revival of indigenous beliefs and practices have become one of the emerging conversations on African Religions (AR). This paper draws upon an ethnographic study of the Nsukka-Igbo communities to negotiate the impetus for the increasing dibia (broadly defined as medicine man/priest/diviner/healer) practices among the Igbo of Nigeria. Despite the informed school of thought contemplating African Religions and their attendant agencies as being in retreat, evidence from this study portrays a rejuvenation of indigenous knowledge and practices dealing with health concerns particularly as found in dibia practices. As discovered, this new trajectory, among other constructs, is shaped by the youth’s reawakening trust in local knowledge systems. This account maps into the discourse on the resurgence of indigenous health agencies in the midst of the dominant Western medium of seeking wellness in postcolonial conditions.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-024-04141-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palcom:v:11:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-024-04141-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/palcomms/about

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-024-04141-8

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Palgrave Communications from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().