Love and Stigma: The Outcast System. By Sir. Adolphus O.M. Ekejiuba, KSJI.
Traditions and cultures all over the world are adapting to the realities of the day where they prove incompatible, especially if they affect life, justice and peace. Igbo traditions and culture are no exception. That is my consideration for writing the book Love and Stigma: The Outcast System. Get a copy at SHOP.
In the ancient times, it was considered an abomination for a woman to give birth to twins, triplets, etc. Children resulting from those births were killed and their mothers cleansed over a period of time before being allowed to mix with other people again. Over time, with the advent of Western education and Christian religion, the killing of such children was outlawed and the law enforced. Everybody is a witness today of the type of joy people have when they have twins, triplets and the like in the family. Other similar obnoxious practices of our ancestors were abandoned as people got enlightened and realized the evil in those practices.
However, this abandonment of old and abominable practices did not affect a particular cultural practice: The Outcast System. The question is “Why was the Outcast System not abolished?” The Outcast System has been in existence for centuries. The answer is simple: it does not affect everybody or everybody does not stand to suffer from it, unlike those other obnoxious practices that were abolished. Here, ignorance and selfishness are the obstacles.
The book is in two parts. The first part is a fiction dwelling on love and romance destroyed by the outcast stigma. The second part dwells on the outcast system and discussed why and how it came to exist, why it continues to exist and why it must cease to exist. This is a book you will find difficult to drop if you start reading. Get a copy of the book here.
Love and Stigma: The Outcast System
(The Outcast System Elimination Project)
By Sir. Adolphus O.M. Ekejiuba, KSJI
True love destroyed by stigma
The book, which has aspects of Literary Fiction, Romance, Human Rights, and Religion and Spirituality, set out to address how traditions and cultures have changed over time and the challenges we face today in a modern world. In Nigeria, Our forefathers killed children born as twins, triplets, quadruplets and the like. Sometimes, they buried some wives alive with their dead husbands. There were cases of dead important persons being buried with the heads of other people. They did not send the girl child to school. Female genital mutilation was the order of the day. Worshipping of idols and shrines was routine. Over time, with better knowledge and understanding, these obnoxious practices were stopped. However, one obnoxious practice remains in force still: the practice of the Outcast System in Igbo land. This system is also practiced in India and other places under different guises and names
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Love and Stigma: The Outcast System explains what the Outcast System is and what it is not. It addresses why it continues to exist and why it should cease to exist. Discussing along the lines of Science, Religion and Sociology, the author presents incontrovertible proof that the Outcast System is baseless and should be abolished. The Outcast System was a creation of pagan religion which has no place in today’s society. Its continued practice is based on ignorance; we are far more enlightened than our forefathers and cannot continue to think and act like our forefathers in everything.
Governments are stakeholders in this project. So are all people of goodwill. Hence this clarion call to you to support the cause. In Nigeria, we are calling on those who are not outcasts to stand up and support this cause because they are the ones responsible for its continued existence.
Reviews
Ekejiuba paints a clear, compelling picture of the severity of [Outcast] discrimination and of the cultural taboos that reinforce it. [He] does admirable work, spreading ideas of equality to his intended audience … and helping to edify the rest of the world about problems facing his homeland. An argument for equality … laudable for its engrossing insights into … culture, history, and discrimination.
- Kirkus Indie Review
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Sir Ekejiuba’s book is … devoted to a detailed discussion of this ugly and inhuman practice of outcast system in Igbo land … The result is that matters about the outcast system are seen much more clearly in new ways often overlooked or not given their full weight. … Some books elegantly record history, some books make history, this book does both. Ekejiuba successfully mixed passion with erudition. The method by which he gathered his information and exquisitely presented it in his book is very impressive. The temptation which one has once one starts to read Ekejiuba’s book is not to drop it. … I highly recommend it for everybody’s education …
– Chris Nwachukwu Okeke, Ph. D., C.O.H.
- Professor of International, Jurisprudence and Comparative Law, Golden Gate University, San Francisco, California, USA.
- Pro Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, Nigeria.
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I enjoyed every bit of the book, from the first page to the last and I learned. I admire the author’s effort. The intention/objective of the book is quite noble.
- Dr. C.A. Okereke, Ph. D.,
Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
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As I dug deeper into the spirit and narrative embedded in the text, I did not stop until I read through it all. … Thank you Chief Ekejiuba for this noble service.
– Most Rev. Dr. Anthony J.V. Obinna,
Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri, Nigeria.
See other reviews under the book title on www.amazon.com, where the book has received five-star rating on all reviews received so far.
About the author
Sir Adolphus Ekejiuba is a retired geologist who worked with the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited. He is an avid world traveler who has contributed significantly to his community development and well-being of the less privileged. A Knight of St. John International and a Traditional Chief in his community, Sir Ekejiuba is the founder of the Adolphus Ekejiuba Foundation, now Friends-In-Need Foundation, a philanthropic organization aimed at catering for rural people and to reach out to the Nigerian youths to curtail restiveness, laziness, ignorance and contracting diseases thereby becoming useful to themselves and the society.
Interestingly, the author is not an outcast. He is not speaking for himself; he is speaking for humanity.
Stand Up For Human Rights; Let’s Stop The Outcast System!
Adolphus Ekejiuba Foundation
Friends-In-Need Foundation
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THE REVISED EDITION
