PERSONALITY CULT AS CULTURAL RESIDUUM IN AFRICA-A STUDY ON ANCESTORS

Abstract 

The thrust of this paper is on personality cult as a cultural residuum in Africa. The idea of personality cult as known in the Igbo worldview (Africa) is that of the ancestors. The ancestors are the police of their individual families, who keep surveillance on their descendants. Though dead, they continuously participate in the holistic family activities. Viewing from this lens using observation and phenomenological methodology of study, it is pertinent to understand that different African countries inevitably had early fathers from religious to secular world who contributed immensely to the discovery and institutionalization of nation state. These personalities who supposed to be revered as forerunners of the nationhood have been subverted with modern personalities whose ideology and worldviews are quite strange to the national. This paper will highlight the position of ancestors in African Traditional Religion in order to establish the importance of personality cult in Africa. The essence of this is to restore the dignity of African personalities that have contributed towards nation building. 

KEYWORDS: Ancestors/ancestorhood,  African Traditional Religion, Modernism, cult and Cultural residuum.