Achieving Global Peace through the Igbo Concept of Justice in Language and Proverbs
Chinedu Cletus Agbo1, Ahmad Zuber2, Robertus B Soemanto3
1Chinedu Cletus Agbo, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia.
2Ahmad Zuber, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia.
3Robertus B Soemanto, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia.
Manuscript received on 16 June 2019 | Revised Manuscript received on 11 July 2019 | Manuscript Published on 17 July 2019 | PP: 556-563 | Volume-8 Issue-1C2 May 2019 | Retrieval Number: A10910581C219/2019©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: Achieving and sustaining global peace has been the most human challenge, and strive of all functions of world bodies including the United Nations. In short such bodies like the UN came into existence in search for world peace but this has remained elusive owing largely to misapplication of power and justice by some world leaders. For the Igbo nation of Southeast Nigeria, just as a man is considered impotent if he cannot impregnate a woman by sexual intercourse, someone’s power is deemed impotent if such is unjust and so cannot ensure peace. Hence the proverb Egbebereugoberenkesịrịibeyaebelankukwaaya (let the kite perch and the eagle perch, whichever refuses the other to perch may her wings break). This study examines how the world can achieve peace with the Igbo concept of justice in language and proverbs, and evidence of this in some events of their history with the Nigerian state. Proverbs are the heart of Igbo language and culture but have yet to receive needed academic attention and so have remained under-researched. Thus the importance of this study. Research method is descriptive qualitative with Igbo proverbs as source of data from observation, in-depth interviews and documentation. The data were analysed qualitatively using Interactive Analytical Model. Results show that Igbo language and proverbs on justice form the people’s worldview in response to Nigeria’s injustices especially following the Nigeria-Biafra civil war. A worldview that has made the region more peaceful and resilient despite the odds. This study recommends adherence to the Igbo concept of justice by world powers for achieving global peace.
Keywords: Global Peace, Igbo Justice, Impotence of Power, Proverbs.
Scope of the Article: Natural Language Processing