Igbo Spirit, Destiny and Life (ISDAL), Christian Life and Destiny (CHRISLAD) in collaboration with Communio Sanctorum Ministry International is organising a bash to celebrate Very Rev. Fr. (Prof.) Bonachristus Uchenna Umeogu’s 50 years birthday anniversary today, Sunday, June 10, 2018 at the Communio Sanctorum Ministry Ground behind Old Tourist Garden, Awka near Old English Hotel.

The group is as well holding a great colloquium for Ndigbo at the same venue tagged 2018 Great Colloquium for Igbo renaissance – Solving the problem of Unity and Division in the Cultural Hermeneutics of Igbo Identity. They are inviting Igbo sons and daughters as well as all Igbo lovers to attend the event scheduled for 10th June, 2018 with 11 am Holy Mass.

The Holy Mass would be presided over by Very Rev Fr Remigus Okafor and Very Rev Fr Nnaemeka Ezeokeke while the Homilist is Very Rev Fr Dr Chika Okapalaike.

Governor Willie Obiano is a special guest while Prof Joseph Ahaneku, Vice Chancellor of Unizik will chair the occasion even as HRH Obi Gibson Nwosu is the royal father of the day. Prof Ike Odimegwu, Dean of Unizik PG School is the Colloquium moderator.

Colloquium participants are Very Rev Fr Msgr Prof Okere, Very Rev Fr Arazu, Very Rev Fr Prof Oguejiofor, Prof Felicia Uchehara, and Mr Chuks Iloegbunam.

Others are Prof Pita Ejiofor, Chief Dr Nkwo Nnabuchi and Dr Dozie Ikedife among others. Very Rev Fr Prof BonaChristus Umeogu is the host.

According to Bro Damian Ofornagoro, President, Governing Council Communio Sanctorum Ministries International, the summit is to dwell on resolving Igbo ontologies shown in relation to colonisation, Education, Religion, Specialisation, etc, and reach common grounds of, “solving the problem of unity and division in the cultural hermeneutics of Igbo identity.

Bro Ofornagoro informed that Fr Bona as a Catholic Priest, University teacher, Philosopher and Spiritual director of the Communio Sanctorum Ministry International has propounded theories and principles of cultural hermeneutics that will in their intra, extra, contra, inter, supra and intergo proportions unify these militating factors of qualifications as they qualify and are qualified by Igbo cultural identity, but needed a common ground to unify the theories and principles.

He said Fr Bona was worried in his thesis on cultural hermeneutics and the problem of unity and division in Igbo Identity that the Identity of a people is always a function of their culture, hence he argued that Igbo identity must come from the hermeneutics of Igbo culture.

Fr Bona Umeogu as he is fondly called had said: “Igbo culture is the Igbo way of life interpreted from the identity of Igbo knowledge, belief, law, custom, art, morals and other inclinations, capabilities and traditions acquired and developed by Igbo people as citizens of Igbo land. So Igbo Cultural identity becomes the domain in which theories and practices, impressions and expressions, times and traditions, etc, continue and unite Igbo being and belonging despite the factors that discontinue and divide Igbo cultural essence and existence.

“Igbo Cultural Identity is no longer a homogenous one, because of the onslaught of colonialism, religion, science, modernism, Globalism, etc. The result is that Igbo cultural identity stands divided by these cultural agents of incidence and influence.

“As Professor Chinua Achebe will put it in the tongues and tribe of a character in his Things Fall Apart. They have “put a knife in what held us together and we have fallen apart”.

“With the yawning gap of adequate theory and principles of cultural hermeneutics of the intra, extra, contra, inter, supra and integro, the cultures of colonialism, modernism, Science, religion, etc, divided the cultural identity of the Igbo person, in such a way that the Igbo who is educated became different from the Igbo who became uneducated, and the Igbo who became a Christian became different from the Igbo who is a pagan and the Igbo scientist became different from the Igbo who is a scientist by European or American or Asian standards and the Igbo who is colonised became different from the uncolonised barbarian Igbo, and the Igbo who is a native doctor became different from the Igbo who became a medical doctor.

“But there is a paradox to all these: that in all these dividing dimensions the same Igbo Person, the same Igbo people, the same Igbo race, the same Igbo nation “is” involved. We are not talking of a divided disunity but of an undivided unity. So if you ask question: who is a native doctor and who is a medical doctor, or who is a pagan and who is a Christian, or who is a barbarian and who is the civilised, etc, the answer must remain – the same Igbo person, the same Igbo people, the same Igbo race, and the same Igbo nation. So these qualifications should stop dividing the Igbo person, the Igbo people, the Igbo race, the Igbo nation. These qualifications should stand to qualify Igbo identity and be qualified by Igbo cultural identity.

“So we need a theory and principles of cultural hermeneutics that will in their intra, extra, contra, inter, supra and intergo proportions unify these militating factors of qualifications as they qualify and are qualified by Igbo cultural identity.”

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