International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education (IJHSSE)

Volume 1, Issue 11, November 2014, PP 23-34

ISSN 2349-0373 (Print) & ISSN 2349-0381 (Online)
www.arcjournals.org

Philosophical Significance of Myths and Symbols: Zangbeto

Cult
Maduabuchi Dukor

Abstract: Zan-gbeto cult reflects the cosmology of Ogu people of Badagry Local Government of Nigeria.
Although, the language and the set-up of this rich traditional heritage has some unique features as distinct
from so many others like Egungun (Yoruba), the Eyo (Yoruba), Muo (masquerade cult in Igbo land) and
Cargo cult, Azande, and so on, there are some fundamental affinities in their thought process.
Consequently, although this study concentrates on Zan-gbeto tradition, I am also convinced that my
assumptions and conclusions are also valid, at least, to a large extent with regard to African Culture
generally.
Keywords: Zan-gbeto, Cult, Africa, Philosophy, Theism, Festival and Tradition

Zan-gbeto tradition is an epitome or expression of religious humanism and philosophy. The

festival and cult, named after the sea god of peace, is embraced by members of all religious
denominations among the people of the Badagry Local Government area of Nigeria. The leaders
and chiefs of this tradition are traditionalists as well as the Christians and Moslems. This partly
accounts for religious harmony and understanding among the Badagry people of Nigeria. During
the festival, the supreme deity is called upon through the sea god or spirit, Zan-gbeto to protect
and hear the people. For this reason, among others therefore, my concepts of
polymonotheism,1Theistic Panpsychism and Humanistic Theism 2 for African metaphysical
world-view are also valid for Zan-gbeto culture. The tradition, as a religion, tradition and
philosophy of a people is explainable and rational in its context. The philosophical significance of
this tradition is its religiosity which underlines the African philosophy. It is also important to note
that this tradition, in theory, belief and practice, is the same with similar traditions among the
peoples in the west-coast of Africa namely the Ijaws, the Itsekiris and Ilajes of Nigerian, the Ewes
of Togo and Ghana and virtually all the people inhabiting the edge of Atlantic Ocean in Africa.
Religiosity of African Culture
Zan-Gbeto cult is fundamentally religious. This is precisely because African people have high
religious consciousness: they were extra-ordinary religious. Old African administrators
acknowledged this and so referred to them as “incurably religious people” 3. An average African
man is highly idealistic and this is what accounts for his religiosity. Suffice it to say that religion
permeates all aspects of African culture. The people think in religious terms and this is noticeable
in their music, dance, art, architecture and so on. According to Walter Rodney, “African dance
and art were almost invariably linked with a religious world-outlook in one way or another.”4 And
to John S. Mbiti, “the individual is immersed in religious participation which starts from birth and
continues after his death. For him, therefore, and for the larger community of which he is part, to
live is to be caught up in a religious drama… Both that world and practically all his activities in it,
are seen and experienced through a religious understanding and meaning” 5 Religion is the matrix
with which aspects and elements of African culture can be explained. There is hardly a distinction
between the secular and the sacred. Zan-gbeto cult and its festival is therefore immersed in a
religious drama.
Equally religious are the ontologies and metaphysics of the Africans. Everything is defined from
its relations with the supernatural forces. In African ontology, we have God, gods, spirits, man,
animals and plants, phenomena and objects, space and time. God is the highest force which
creates, controls, and informs others and man is the center of this ontology. “The animals, plants
and material phenomenon and objects constitute the environment in which man lives, provides a
means of existence, and, if need be, man establishes a mystical relationship with them.” 6

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Traditions, cults and festivals in Africa establish or affirm the people‟s mystical relations with
phenomenon or gods. Cults and festivals, therefore, are characterized by a celebration of life,
humanism, universalism, symbolism and transcendentalism.
Ogu People and Zan-Gbeto
Ogu people occupy a wide and aesthetically beautiful expanse of land adjacent to the sea border
between Nigeria and the Republic of Benin. “Badagry is on the edge of land, the edge of the
Atlantic ocean and shares s boundary with the then kingdom of Port-Novo (Now Republic of
Benin)”7. Ogu people include not only the people that live in Badagry town but also people from
neighbouring villages that made up the Badagry local government area, who also were the
inheritors of Zan-gbeto tradition. These people are peace-loving. Thus their disposition could be
partly accountable by the sea god of peace for whom and in whose honour a festival is celebrated
annually. Although, there are Yorubas, Ogus, and Ghanaians as settlers in Badagry and environs,
the Ogu were the people that carried the Zan-gbeto tradition from Republic of Benin to Badagry
Local Government area of Nigeria. According to Chief K. A. Amosu an Ogu man from Ajido, an
initiated member of Zan-gbeto cult, a retired major in the Nigerian Army and once the Chief
Security Officer of Lagos State University said that the first place the Ogu people settled in
Nigeria with the cult was at Ajido, his native community. According to him, immediately the
people arrived in Ajido, there arose a disagreement between two brothers of the ruling family over
who was the rightful person to be the Oba or traditional ruler of the Ogus. As one of them
inadvertently went back to their original home in Republic of Benin to get permission for his
obaship, the other one swiftly got the support of the people with him in Nigeria and installed
himself as the Oba. The result was that when the one who left for Republic of Benin came back,
he heard of his brother‟s installation as the Oba, and since two kings cannot control a domain, he
decided to settle in Badagry town and introduced Zan-gbeto cult. The history of Zan-gbeto can
therefore be traced to the original home of the Ogu people which is Republic of Benin. However,
today, the Ogu people have sparsely settled in Badagry, Ajara, Ajido, Shoki, Ere and Vawhe of
Nigeria where they celebrate and maintain the tradition. These areas constitute “an eastward
extension of Gu-speaking, Ogu people who are to be found in fairly large concentrations in the
Republic of Benin”. 8 An interesting phenomenon in African is that people of fundamentally
different cultures could settle in a land and interact. A case in point here is the interaction between
the Awori-speaking Yoruba people and the Gu-speaking Ogu people. The Zan-gbeto tradition,
though Ogu in origin has been able to survive in the mist of other cultures of Yoruba origins like
the Egungun and the Ayo. The interaction has been going on against potentially formidable odds
like language barriers. It is important to note that language of any people is a sine-quanon to
understanding the logic of their thought. Funso Akere says,
“Although the Gu. Language is distinct from any of the dialects
of Yoruba language; there have been extensive interaction
between Ogu and Yoruba people in Badagry. The interaction
between the Awori-speaking Yoruba people of Lagos and the Gu-
speaking Ogu people of Badagry Local Government area and
parts of Dahomy (Republic of Benin) has a fairly long history... It
was one which involved both linguistic and socio-cultural
contacts”9
The pertinent question then is; why all this linguistic and socio-cultural contacts without any of
the culture dying off for the survival of the other in accordance with Darwin‟s theory of natural
selection?10 What might partly be accountable for this is the similarity in the fundamental thought
processes of African cultural groupings. E. G. Parvinder acknowledges this fact;
The filling up of ethnographic detail produces an impression of
chaos where there is in fact only variation on a few themes.
African societies can be broadly classified into a limited number
of economic and political types and the difference between the
most varied African tribes is slight when compared with the
difference between the most highly specialized African Societies
and developed industrial societies. By comparism, African tribal
societies are relatively infferentiated and homogenous11
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Philosophical Significance of Myths and Symbols: Zangbeto Cult

Another phenomena which might account for the interaction between different cultures in Africa
are acculturation and syncretism. Acculturation is “a process of intercultural borrowing marked by
the continous transmission of traits and elements between diverse people resulting to a new and
blended pattern”12. Zan-gbeto tradition might have acquired some degree of acculturation since its
arrival to Badagry because some traits of Yoruba culture might have permeated into it and vice-
versa. It is undeniable that language is a formidable factor in the dissemination and sustaining of
culture and it is not arguable that the universality of English language is the greatest force in the
process of universalization of European culture. Therefore, the extent to which Ogu people
absorbed or learned Yoruba language will determine the extent they have absorbed Yoruba
culture into their corpus of tradition. According to Professor Funso Akere,
Linguistically, the Giu-language is still spoken extensively in
Badagry and the surrounding villages, although a sizable
proportion of Ogu people are bilingual in Gu and Yoruba. Socio-
linguistically the contact between Ogu and Yoruba cannot but
have some effect on the Gu language which has a minority status
in comparism with Yoruba.13
If “Linguistic behaviour has always been taken as an index of the socio-cultural characteristics of
a people‟14 and some Ogu people are bilingual in Gu and Yoruba langages, then their culture
(including Zan-gbeto) may likely have some Yoruba cultural influence. It is not entirely strange to
discover that a new and different culture might emerge out of the mixing of two cultures. This is
called syncretism. Another factor which might have affected African cultures is the process of
Transculturation. Transculturation is “the modification of a primitive culture resulting from
prolonged contact with a more advanced culture”15. There is little doubt that Zan-Gbeto corpus of
tradition might have been affected somehow by Christianity and Islam. Those members of Zan-
gbeto cult include Christians and Moslems and, that Badagry was the gate-way to Christianity to
Nigeria buttress this fact. But whatever the extent of Acculturation and Transculturation might
have taken place in relation to Zan-gbeto tradition, the basic elements of the tradition are still
preserved intact against the phenomenon of enculturation. Enculturation is always negative to a
native culture. “It is the process by which individual learns the traditional content of a culture and
assimilates its practices and values” 16. Enculturation so far in Africa is the process by which
western culture completely annihilated the indigenous cultures of the Africans with little or no
room for their survival. However, the Zan-gbeto corpus of tradition consistently and tenaciously
has remained immuned to encultural attack.
Zan-Gbeto Cult
According to legends and oral tradition, Zan-Gbeto is a spirit which came out of the sea Ohu and
settled on Ogu land, adjacent the sea border in the Republic of Benin. According to the myth,
when the spirit evolved from the sea, it brought for the people good things and omens like good
health, coconut, technology for fishing and building houses and other essentials of life. An
evidence of this spirit having come from the sea is shown by clusters of coconut trees which
easthetically beautified the sea beach-lines in Ogu land of Republic of Benin and Badagry area of
Nigeria. It seems, therefore, that the good things in Badagry and Ogu land like coconut, and peace
are, for the people, a sign of the ever-presence of this spirit. Zan-gbeto spirit, now elevated to the
status of a god, is sacred and esoteric, and it has mystical relations with the people. It is believed
that it appears on different occasions and times as circumstances and need arise. Zan-gbeto cult,
should therefore be a kind of charismatic movement inspired by the spirit of the sea.
Man, from the earliest times, conceived and believed in the idea of spirit. The whole idea of belief
in spirit is called spiritism. Spiritism is rooted in idealism and religion. Its frame of reference is
unempirical and immaterial. Nevertheless, the Africans were so religious because they needed to
be idealistic to justify their existence in the world. Spiritism has informed and engendered many
movement, societies and religions in the history of mankind. It has given rise to Zan-gbeto cult
just as it has occasioned Christian Pentecostal movements, and oriental cults which from the first
century before Christianity spread rapidly across the Greek and Roman world. Spirit of Zan-gbeto
is believed to be as holy as the Holy Spirit that descended on the disciples of Jesus on the
Pentecostal day. For according to Acts of the Apostles, “when the day of Pentecost had come,
they were all gathered in one place… And they were all filled with the holy spirit and began to
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Maduabuchi Dukor

speak in other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance” 17 The Zan-gbeto’s spirit possession is
common among the people in their agricultural, cultural and craft practices.
The church or the movement which began in Jerusalem and spread to Samaria and Judea as a
result of the out-pouring of the Holy-spirit is similar to the movement or cult which is now
associated with Zan-gbeto, the holy spirit of the sea. “The Christian church in the course of her
long history has witnessed out-bursts of movement whose members claimed to be specially
imbued with the holy-spirit”18. Examples include the montanist movement in the third century;
Afro-Christian churches like the Aladura churches, Celestial church, Brother-hood of cross and
star and so on. Africans hold a special belief in spiritism. According to Bolaji Idowu, “spirits,
according to African belief are ubiquitous; there is no area of the earth, any object or creature
which has not a spirit of its own or which cannot be unhabited by a spirit…”19 .“All waters are
places of power; wells and springs; rivers and streams”20. The idea of associating some powers
with rivers or seas is common to many cultures. Christians use water for baptism. The spirit of
river Tano of Ghana is one of the chief spirits of that country and the people of Songhay, on
sundays, have popular drummings and dances where people are possessed by river-spirit called
Zin or Jinn.21 The great rivers of East and South Africa are also associated with spiritual beings.20
The Ogu people believe in the plurality of spirits as well as in the Supreme Being. Like many
African people, they believe also in the Supreme being who control other lesser spirits, and for
that reason I described African culture as polymonotheistic. Again since Africans believe that
there is life in everything as well as that the supreme deity exists, I again described African
culture as Theistic Pansychism. Therefore my explanation of African culture in terms of
polymonotheism and theistic panpsychism are subscnbable to Zan-gbeto corpus of tradition.
Zan-gbeto is a cultural as well as a religious institution with the initiated community of elders at
the helms of affairs. “Non-initiated cannot know anything about the esoteric activities of Zan-
gbeto and cannot accompany or address Zan-gbeto anyhow”22. Zan-gbeto usually appears to the
people as masquerades. And there can be as many Zan-gbeto masquerades as possible, each and
every one of them representing the spirit, Zan-gbeto. Zan-gbeto (in the masquerade form) is built
of raffia leaves called zanho in order to conceal the spirit of Zan-gbeto. It should be noted that
members of Zan-gbeto cult or a congregation of its followers are also known as Zan-gbetos. The
cult is made-up of elderly people who inherited this tradition from their forbears. There are
various names and ranks for the elders, according to their order of importance. The overall head
and leader of Zan-gbeto in Ogu land is called Azogan, who is the highest Zan-gbeto chief in his
village. The next in rank and authority is Zangan who is the leader of the various Zan-gbeto.
There is also the Zannukonfo who is the leader of the night groups of Zan-gbetos. The Azogan
presides over Zan-gbeto meetings at night. Like the Misthraisf and Isis of the ancient Greek and
Roman world, Zan-gbeto cult requires new members to undergo a series of initiation. All male
members of the communities can be initiated. Initiated members cannot and should not divulge
anything about the initiating ceremony to non-members. Failure to adhere to this rule always
carries or attract severe fines or punishment called ozan. This Ozan is the process of afflicting
punishment on anybody who goes contrary to the rules and regulations of the cult. The fine is
normally a goat or pig as the case may be, a basketful of paps, an alcoholic drink (Ogogoro) and
so on, depending on the weight of the offence. Failure of the defaulter to produce all these things
could result to his death. One who wishes to be initiated as a member will first of all consult an
initiated elderly person who will present his case before the Azogan. The person to be initiated is
normally asked to provide certain initiation material s. This varies from village to village. In Ajara
community or village, near Badagry town one will be asked to provide the following; a bottle of
gin Ahan, N60.00, a bundle of raffia leaves, firewood (to be burnt at night), a keg of palm-wine
and so on. On being initiated, there are certain secret and esoteric rites and rituals that are
performed in the midnight. On being initiated, one will be given Zanyin, another name with which
he will be called at nights to prevent non-initiated person from identifying the person in the
midnight. In the night the person being initiated will be taken to a shrine where certain rites,
rituals and ceremonies will be performed. A newly initiated member may not sleep throughout the
night for nine consecutive days and must always be seen at the common centre or headquarter
known as zanvari. Initiated members have certain taboos, rules and regulation to observe in
respect of the Zan-gbeto cult. Alto there are various esoteric signs and languages of
communication used by initiated members and which non-initiated cannot comprehend.

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Philosophical Significance of Myths and Symbols: Zangbeto Cult

Zan-gbeto cult is not only religious, it is also social. It does perform certain social action for the
benefit of the society. In this direction, its primary function is to safe-guard the village against
evils, armed robbers, buglers or invaders and to help create peaceful atmosphere in Ogu land. In
Ogu land, it serves as a law enforcement agent and could be referred to as the village police. Zan-
gbeto could arrest any inmate of the community who goes contrary to the village morality and
code of conduct. In Ajara community, near Badagry town, strangers who enter into the town at
certain hours between 11.00 p.m and 5a.m. are interrogated. Such strangers would be arrested by
Zan-gbeto and will be taken to the Zanvari (headquarters of Zan-gbeto) where the culpit or
wanderer would be fined or punished by the Azogans and Zangans. In Ajara if there are public
disturbances of any form, the perpetrators would be arrested by Zan-gbeto and taken to Bale
(Chief) house where they would be punished. For example, if a man beats his wife and his wife
cries to the hearing of their neighbours, Zan-gbeto would arrest the man and impose on him a fine
of N20.00 and a bottle of gin. This is believed to serve as a deterrent to others who might fight
their wife. Also Zan-gbeto could be seen as a means of entertainment in Ogu land. Zan-gbeto
appears before the people and displays or performs many actions before the people in the public
place called Hunto on some occasions like burial ceremony of important Zan-gbeto chiefs and
personalities and Zan-gbeto festival days Hunwe.
Zan-Gbeto Festival
Zan-gbeto festival is an avenue through which the Ogu people express their religious tolerance
and humanism. Africans generally believe a lot on this planet. Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, the first
President of Nigeria was only affirming African philosophy of life when he said; “I am not in a
hurry to leave this world because it is the only planet I know” 23. And in his odyssey, he said
again, “In the course of my life odyssey, I have been convinced that I must be idealistic to justify
my existence as a human being, but I must also be material istic to adapt to the concatenations of
a materialistic world”24. These quotations of the great Zik of Africa are an aspect of African
world-view. E. G. Parrinders also argued, “The African thinks of this world as light, warm, and
living, to which the dead are only too glad to return from the underworld of darkness and cold.
This is the best of all possible worlds; the African attitude is world affirming not world
renouncing. It is therefore a punishment to be detained in Hades, and childlessness is a curse
because it blocks the channel of rebirth” 25. Africans believe in the celebration of life especially in
honour of the Supreme Being, gods and spirits who can make and unmake. They are, ipso facto,
transcendentalists and humanists. Belief in God and Man is what I have described as Theistic
Humanism. Africans are also Universalists or wholistic which is an affirmation of their
Humanism, and which underscores their philosophy of oneness and brotherhood of Mankind. In
short, Africans are cosmic optimists and not cosmic pessimists. Their cosmic optimism,
humanism and celebration of life are expressed in many ways which include the festivals.
Zan-gbeto festival is an annual festival usually held in honour of Zan-gbeto, the sea god of peace
and good things. The festival is usually a great occasion for the Ogu people. Because there is no
fixed month or days for the festival, it varies from village to village among the Ogu people. In the
past, Zan-gbeto festival used to take place for months. But nowadays the festival last for a week
or weeks as fixed or decided by Zan-gbeto Chiefs and the Bales. In Ajara village, the festival
takes place once in a year in any chosen month. However with the emergence of modernity the
festival rarely takes place in some years. On the first day of the festival, the people normally
perform certain rites and rituals with perhaps strangled hens and cocks and pray to their god or
spirit (who is believed to be servant of the supreme being) to give them children, safety, good-
health and so on. This attitude is what I conceptualized as Theistic Humanism. They also go to the
four corners of their village and make some incantations for the security of their village. After that
they go back to the Bale or the Chief to get permission for the festival to start.
The Zan-gbeto masquerades go to houses where they dance and receive gifts on the second day,
the Zan-gbeto masquerades appear at the public place Hunto where they perform dances and
music for public entertainment. During this time Zan-gbeto masquerades from all parts of Ogu
land are usually in attendance. At the arena native women known as Yalode normally sing and
dance, following the Zan-gbeto at its back and shouting Azoo! Azoo!!, while drums of different
sizes and rhythms are master fully and intricately handled by professional traditional drummers
and musicians. It is also an occasion for the Zan-gbetos to engage in competition in areas like

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Maduabuchi Dukor

dancing, performance of different weird and miraculous actions with their knowledge of occult
and higher sciences. In the arena, Zan-gbeto could give birth to a young Zan-gbeto. Zan-gbeto’s
body Zanho could be set ablaze and could be seen to have been apparently burnt to ashes, when
all of a sudden the ashes would be seen to have again regenerated into a full and physically
existing Zan-gbeto. Zan-gbeto could also change into a snake and often Zan-gbeto power was
shown when about twenty people could not pull it down or out of its spot with a rope. Also Zan-
gbeto’s housing (that is the raffia leaves known as Zanho) could be uncovered without people
seeing any human being inside, thereby confirming to the people that inside the raffia leaves is a
spirit that is invisible. Many other feats are performed with rituals and rites involving the
straggling of cocks, goats and so on.
Rationality of Zan-Gbeto Tradition
Zan-gbeto cult is a tradition and also religion. It is religiously important to the people. Zan-gbeto
god is believed to be giving meaning and direction to the life of the people. The belief is backed
up by myths and rituals. Some of these rituals and cultic activities are usually displayed during the
festival. These rituals and customs generate phenomena which apparently defy common sense and
scientific explanation. Take for example; burning of a Zan-gbeto masquerade and its eventual
regeneration into a full and normal masquerade is wonderful; also the changing of the masquerade
into a snake is equally perplexing, so on. Explaining Zan-gbeto cult is just like explaining cargo
cult or Azande belief in witchcraft because the same concepts and thought process are involved. It
seems to me that similar cultic activities are involved in Melanesian and African cultural
inheritance which Levi-Bruhl allegedly described as prelogical. It follows therefore that criticism
of cargo cult for example amounts to a criticism of Zan-gbeto cult. Critics of African and
Melanesian traditions have always proceeded from the premises that they were all religious and
primitive thoughts. Azande belief, cargo cult and Zan-gbeto belief are to the white man savage
ignorance as against the white man‟s civilized knowledge. This savage ignorance has been
variously described as “not rational” and „other than rational‟ while the civilized knowledge is
rational. Critics of cargo-cult argue that it is irrational and magico-religious. According to
Raymond Firth, it is an attempt to “create new illusions to counter disillusion and strain” 26.
Similar cults have been described as fantasy which is a form of escapism from the reality of
disillusionment. There is incompatibility of wants and the means of satisfaction of the natives. He
says, “They lack the knowledge necessary to get what they want and this impass turned them to
fantasy, that is, resorting to magic without scientific accompaniment?” 27 If these critical questions
are applicable to African and Melanesian cultures, then what is the disillusionment which the Ogu
people were under?‟ what is the illusion they have created to solve this problem?; is Zan-gbeto
cult and festival a fantasy?‟ is there any incompatibility between Ogu people wants and the means
of satisfaction?; and finally, are there cultic practices or magic unscientific and irrational? These
questions, I do hope, will provide us with an analytical frame of reference for explaining Zan-
gbeto cult. To be disillusioned is to “set free from a mistaken belief”. Then, were the Ogu people
holding a mistaken belief or were they under strain?
The Ogu people, like the rest of mankind were not holding any particular mistaken belief, but they
were under the strain of doubt and wonder as to how the universe could be explained. Like the
ancient Greek philosophers, they were asking, what is the fundamental stuff of the universe?
Could the probable answers to this question be the illusion they have created to counter the
disillusion of doubt and wonder? If yes, then all religionists throughout the world are under
illusion. Christians postulate God with Jesus Christ as the guide and Moslems postulate God with
Mohammed as their guide. The Africans appreciated the beauties of nature that gave rise to their
belief in God and plurality of divinities. Consequently, they built myths and mythologies to
explain nature “it seems that polymonotheism originated from man‟s wonder about what could be
best explanation of nature. Man tries and sees the universe as a religious experience. There are
natural forces surrounding him which he could not explain. Therefore he built mythologies as
means of understanding the nature.”28 For instance, the Ogu people could have built the myth
about the sea-god, Zan-gbeto out of their appreciation of the nature of the sea and the coconut
trees at the beach sides. This attempt to explain nature and religion generally is an attempt to
explain and rationalize nature. Lucy Mair and Raymond Firth could be wrong in describing
„religion‟ as irrational or „other than rational‟ unless if they were using western scientific
methodology as their parameter of rationality.
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Philosophical Significance of Myths and Symbols: Zangbeto Cult

I find it equally disagreeable that religious explanation of the universe as the Ogu did or as the
ancient Greek people did is irrational. What is rationality precisely? Is it predicted on doctrine or
belief or action? It seems that we can use rationality of an action to justify its doctrine and belief.
Jarvie accepted goal directedness of action as the criterion of the rationality of the action. Zan-
gbeto cult has a doctrine about a sea-god that emerged from the sea and landed in Ogu land
bringing good omens like peace and coconut. The rationality of this doctrine, therefore, is tied up
in the goal-directedness of the people‟s actions. Situational logic can also explain Zan-gbeto cult.
Explaining cargo-cult, Jarvie attributed “reasonable aims to the actors in the situation and try to
show that within their frame of reference their actions, if interpreted as trying to realize those aims
are perfectly rational”29. Zan-gbeto cult could therefore be rational so long as the people achieve
their aims by their actions. For Jarvie, if the myth of a cult embodies a coherent horizon of
expectation, then the cult is rational. When we ask whether a cult or tradition is rational, we could
mean whether it is integrated with the traditional world-view of the people or with the previous
background of myths and ritual of the people. This is a functional way of explaining the society.
Functionalism is “empirically interested in the inter-relation of roles, the inter-relation of
institutions”30 Functionalist among social anthropologists have been interested in how primitive
societies fitted together. Therefore rationalism of any practice is the extent to which it is inter-
related with the whole. Because they are interested in what is observable in the ritual, not in the
belief; social change to the functionalists, therefore are the changes that have taken place in what
people do and its rationalism is the extent to which these changes are integrated to the whole.
These cannons of rationality by the functionalists can easily be met by Zan-gbeto cult. For one
thing, the cult is backed up and supported by the structure of the Ogu traditional world-view
which is not fundamentally different from that of the rest of the Africans. It is also integrated with
the myths and rituals of the people.
Now the next question is; is there any incompatibility between the Ogu people‟s wants and their
means of satisfaction? Do they lack the necessary knowledge for the realization of their wants?
Because they live close to the sea have a good knowledge of fishing, constructing boats, farming
as well as building houses. If this expertise is tied up with a myth (the story of the sea god that
bestowed these blessings upon them), does that mean that they are giving a fantasy explanation of
the means of satisfaction of their wants? The Ogu people want coconuts; fishes, boats and houses,
and they have and know the techniques of realizing these ends. I don‟t think there is any rational
discontinuity between the satisfaction of their wants and their cultic religious belief. If the
people‟s explanation of their store of knowledge is fantasy or mythology, then there is something
rational in mythological fantasy. Religion in general has been described by some scholars to be a
fantasy, yet there is to me, some rational elements. Discussing about cargo cult, Jarvie argued,
“The natives have technology. There is difference between rule-of-thumb and scientific theories.
The natives techniques does not give them a claim to comparison with us, and their explanatory
(magical and animistic) theories can be so compared‟31. The African Ogu people have a
technology which may be described as rule-of-thumb theories as distinct from western scientific
theories. It may also be described as magical and animistic theories, and which does not have
anything against it. The history of human thought passed through mythology, religion, magic to
what is now called western science. So magic and animism are phases in the history of human
thought before the emergence of science which to some is more rational. Jarvie argued that
“theories of empirical sciences are testable, tested, and have survived test. But these theories are
no more rational than magical ones”32. Some philosophers like Karl Popper, Watkins and Bartley
have argued that scientific theories are more rationally held. This thesis seems to me to be more
acceptable than the thesis that African cultic activities are not rational at all. According to Jarvie,
that they indulge in magic does not mean that they don‟t have science. They realize that the two
go together. Malinowski perhaps rightly argued; “if by science be understood a body of rules and
conceptions, based on experience and derived from it by logical inference, embodied in material
achievements and in a fixed form of tradition,… then there is no doubt that even the lowest
savage communities have the beginnings of science however rudimentary”33. Religion and magic
are, to many people, part of common since. It is reasonable for them to hold it. The Azande, for
example, believe “that certain of their members are witches exercising a malignant occult
influence on the lives of their fellows. They engage in rites to counteract witch-craft; they consult
oracles and use magic-medicine to protect themselves from harm”34 Similary cultic-activities
takes place in Zan-gbeto cult. These cult-activities are based on common sense, and anything that
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Maduabuchi Dukor

is common-sensical should be rational. Winch has argued that “intelligibility takes many and
varied forms, that is, there is no norm for intelligibility in general” 35. Intelligibility or rationality is
therefore contextual. This contextuality is not necessarily relativism for a people is said to be
rational in their undertaken if they realise their aims and objectives by their practices.
Philosophy in Zan-Gbeto
The point at issue here is the question of the philosophy in myths, folk-lore, proverbs and
religious beliefs upon which of which Zan-gbeto cult hinges. While some see philosophy from the
exclusive point of view, the apostles of African philosophy as myths and religious world views
see it from the inclusive point of view. The exclusive view is that philosophy should be critical
and effective while the inclusive view is that it should be both uncritical and critical, and
reflective and unreflective. While the exclusive school fail to appreciate the historical and
dialectic nature of philosophy in being at a stage uncritical and at another stage critical, the
inclusive school fail to appreciate the self-criticism of philosophy in dialectic mood. However the
points of the inclusive school are worthy of note as far as the philosophical import of myths and
symbol in African philosophy is concerned. According to K.C. Anyanwu, “philosophy should not
be an academic matter but an expression of a people‟s culture. As a philosophy, its business is to
articulate the principle by which the people can live as a whole man, and its concern is with what
is meaningful and significant in experience. It is not a critical philosophy, and critical philosophy
cannot start unless there are existing material for it”36 He says that myths may embody ultimate
insights and intuition of reality as experiences within a universe of aesthetic continuum. In
African culture, myths are used to give certain topics or themes the character of parable or
allegory. But in reality, the parable or allegory has a direct reference to human beings, human
situations or to society and it has moral, educational and philosophical interests.
Some anthropologists and philosophers would not agree with the
dictionary contention that myth only relates the ancient story of
gods and heroes. The function of myths goes beyond that, some
believe that it concerns legends, folktales and stories of past
events not necessarily with regard to gods and heroes. In fairness
to the dictionary it could be a mythical matter, a figment, an
unconsciously held belief but which renders explanation of social
consciousness. Even if it is dream like, yet some dreams are
reflections or reply of man’s experiences in his daily life37.
The philosophical dispute concerning African philosophy on whether it is myth or not seems to
me to be a misuse of the language „philosophy‟ and a language game which certainly talks of one
and only one thing, that is, that African philosophy exist, but that it has to start critically from the
religious world-view of the African. The exclusivist school cannot deny the relevance of myths in
the study of African philosophy if they are fully aware that the ancient Greek philosophy is
punctuated with myths, for instance, in Plato’s Republic, Georgias, Phaedo and Phaedrus. In
these works you see allegories and prescientific explanations of the universe and yet they are
philosophies. The relevance of myth or religious world view as a source of material for
philosophic reflection is admitted by the exclusivist school or the logical neo positivists and
philosophic criticism and reflection on the religious world view is accepted by the inclusivist
school or ethno-philosophers. So the debate is a mere language game that confuses prioritization
of either criticism or myth with philosophy when in actual fact philosophy demands that they be
placed in dialectical and historical perspective.
Peter Bodunrin argues that not all rational logical and complicated conceptual systems are
philosophical. But the goal of any philosophical enterprise (a critical philosophy in Bodunrin‟s
sense) is rationality and, therefore, if any system rigorously strives to achieve that goal then it is
philosophical. And philosophy in dialectical and historical sense demands a movement from one
stage of rationality to another in obedience to changing circumstances. What is rational today may
not be rational tomorrow since that is always the case, criticism and revision as demanded by the
logical neo positivists become necessary. In African philosophy, the Paul Radin‟s Autochthonous
intellectual class and Gordon Hornings principle of synthesis set the machinery in motion for self-
criticism and revision. And William Abraham‟s distinction between private and public aspects of
African philosophy shows that the public aspect is a criticized, revised and harmonised aspect of
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Philosophical Significance of Myths and Symbols: Zangbeto Cult

individual and private philosophies of the Autochthonous intellectual class. Therefore the
rationality of any system in an age is the philosophy of that age.
The philosophical significance of Zangbeto belief is the rationality of the myth upon which it is
erected. According to Alasdair Maclintyre, “myth is living or dead, not true or false. You cannot
refute a myth because as soon as you treat it as refutable you do not treat it as a myth but as a
hypothesis or history,”38 so the Ogu people are not under illusion about their belief in Zangbeto.
The origin of their belief was in their wonder and curiosity about the origin of the universe. The
rationality involves here is what K.C. Anyanwu calls the logic of aesthetics while formal logic
deals with, and results to, abstractions, logic of aethetics is the unity and meaningfulness of
individual‟ and community‟s experiences in life. Lucy Mair and Raymond Firth may, therefore,
be wrong in describing religious‟ as irrational, unless if they were using western scientific
methodology as their parameter of rationality.
Universality and rationality is an important object of philosophy. So how rational and universal is
symbol in philosophy? Symbols in African culture have no special significance except on the
basis of myths. So to establish the philosophical significance of symbols and vice-versa, symbols
can be simply defined as objects, words, language and sounds which more often than not have
esoteric meanings. The symbols can be simply defined as objects, words, language and sounds
which more often than not have esoteric meanings. The symbols in Zangbeto cult, therefore,
comprises of rituals, rites, sacred words, and names, cult and magical practices. Rituals and rites
are symbols because esoterric words and language are the backbone of occult and magical
practices.
All words are spiritual, nothing is more spiritual than words…
Unless we fully realise the profound influence of superstitions
concerning words, we shall not understand the fixity of certain
widespread linguistic habits which still vitiate even the most
careful thing39
Like the Mustraisf and Isis of the ancient Greek and Roman world, Zangbeto cult require new
members to undergo a series of initiation characterised by rituals, rites and the use of sacred
words. In understanding Zangbeto belief, we cannot underestimate the power of words and
language. And the history of philosophy is incomplete without the history of the argument
surrounding the relationship between language and reality. In Black Africa, the power of spoken
words is given a special place in the magical and animistic practices. We were told that language
is a duplicate, a shadow-soul of the whole structure of reality. Hence the doctrine of reality is
called the supreme reality or the divine soul, substance. Heraclitus saw in language the most
constant thing in a world of ceaseless change and for him the structure of human speech reflects
the structure of the world. Aristotle believed that everything appeared to be modelled in its entire
character on number and that numbers are the ultimate things in the universe. Pythagoreans were
puzzled by number symbols. In fact, Pythogoreanism passed from a doctrine of the world as a
procession of numbers out of the one to the construction of everything out of number – soul, each
claiming an immortal and separate existence. “All sounds evoke indefinable and yet precise
emotions in or, call down among us certain disembodies powers whose footsteps over our hearts
we call emotions”40 Ancient beliefs may be dead, but the instinct or the hope is strong. In ancient
Africa, “man‟s greatest power is the power of words. By virtue of this power, he is capable of
creating meaning and value, of transforming the world and himself, and of giving meaningful
directive to material events... Words have the power to define and to compel. As a result, it is the
vehicle of order, the principle of creativity and destruction”41 In Zangbeto cults, the sacred names
and ritualistic incantation belong to the category of powerful words. There are various esoteric
signs and language of communication used by initiated members and which non-initiated cannot
comprehend. These rituals and rites generate phenomena which apparently defy common sense
and scientific explanation. Explaining Zangbeto cult is just like explaining Cargo-cult or Azande
belief in witchcraft because the same concepts and thought process are involved. Aesthetically,
the Ogu universe as depicted in Zangbeto belief is meaningful, beautiful and satisfying because it
unifies man‟s experience into a whole. African universe enables man to see his place in the
universe and his relationship to other creations. Like the Dogon universe, the Ogu people‟s world
is presented “as undifferentiated, and they are formless, or meaningless until the, „signs‟ come to

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Maduabuchi Dukor

rest on each of the „things‟ which they symbolise” 42

The African Ogu people have a technology which some have described as rule-of-thumb theories
as distinct from western scientific theories; some have also described it as magical and animistic.
But one of the underlying principles behind the „African technology‟ is the power of the spoken
word. There is no doubt that African science derives much of its strength from the occult powers
associated with the power of spoken words. The common criticism on African ritual practices is
that it is not scientific, or that it does not follow the model of western science, and so it is
irrational. It has been argued that the history of human thought passed through mythology,
religion, magic to what is now called western science; so magic and animism could be phases in
the history of human thought before the emergence of the so called western science which to
some is more rational. Jarvie argued that “theories of empirical sciences are testable, tested, and
have survived test. But these theories are no more rational than magical ones” 43 Some
philosophers like Karl-Popper, Watkins and Bartley have argued that scientific theories are more
rationally held. If this thesis means that African science is rational but not as rational as western
science then it may be arguable. Jarvie argued that the fact that Africans indulge in magic does
not mean that they don‟t have science. Members of Zangbeto cult engage in rites to counteract
witch-craft; they consult oracles and use magic – medicine to protect themselves from harm.
These cultic-activities are based on common sense and anything that is common sensical should
be rational.
REFERENCES
„Polymonotheism‟ is a term or concept which I Pastulated for understanding or describing
African philosophico-religious world-view. What I mean by Polymonotheism is the idea of
unity in diversity of forces, that is, belief in one Supreme Being as well as in the plurality of
lesser beings or gods. It is coined, as it were, from polytheism which is the belief in plurality
of gods and monotheism which is the belief in one God. For detail see M. DUKOR
“African Polymonotheism. An existential humanistic culture” in Philosophy and Social
Action, New Delhi Vol. 14 No. 2, Jan-June 1989 P. 23-31.
“Theistic Panpsychism” is a concept or term which I coined for understanding African
etaphysical world-view. It is supposed to show that, although the Africans believe that there
is psychic dimension in everything in the universe (Panpsychism), they also believe in the
existence of a supreme being (theism). It shows that African panpsychism is strictly theistic
and not atheistic. For detail see M. DUKOR, “God and Godlings in African ontology” in
Indian Philosophical Quarterly. XVIII
“Theistic Humanism” is at best a doctrine which I think best describes African understanding of
God and Man. African culture is, Ipso-facto, Humanistic and Theistic. Classical theories of
humanism and theism tend to show that both concepts are irreconcilable. But in African
culture they are at unity. Theistic Humanism is therefore a philosophy of the Africans, which
has its theoretical and philosophical root in African polymonotheism and Theistic
panpsychism.
E. G. Parrinder, African Traditional Religion (London, Sheldon, Press 1962) p. 9
Walter Rodney; How Europe Undeveloped Africa (Washington D.C., Howard University Press
1982) p. 35.
J. S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (London, Heineman 1969) p. 15.
Ibid., p. 16
I. C. Dioka. “The Evolution of Nigerian International Boundary 1961-1989” eds. A. Adefuye, B.
Agiri, and J. Oshuntokun in The History of the People of Lagos State (Lagos, Lantern Books
1987) p. 216
102. Funso Akere, “Linguistic Assimilation in Socio-Historical Dimension in Urban and Sub-
urban Lagos” Ibid p. 172
Ibid p. 172
Darwinian Theory of natural selection postulates a differential death rate between two variant sub

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Philosophical Significance of Myths and Symbols: Zangbeto Cult

classes of population, where the lesser death rate characterizes the better adapted sub class.
What is being implied is the survival of the fittest when if applied to cultures would mean
that a more viable or powerful culture in the mist of other cultures will survive at the expense
of others.
E. G. Parrinder. Op.cit P. 11.
Websters, Third New International Dictionary (U.S.A., Merian-Webster Inc. 1981) p. 13.
Funso, Akere. Op.cit P. 173.
Ibid.,p. 189
Webster Third New International Dictionary op.cit p. 2426
Ibid., p. 747
Acts 2:1-4
S. U. Erivwo “A Consideration of the Charismatic Movement among the Urhobo and Isoko
Speakers: 1929 to date” in Orita, Ibadan Journal of Religious Studies Vol. XV/1 June 1983
p. 17
E. Bolaji, Idowu. African Traditional Religion, A Definition (London, SCM Press Ltd) P.
Geoffrey, Parrinder. Religions (London; Sheldon Press 1969) p. 56
Ibid., p. 57.
The fact that it is only men that are initiated into Zan-gbeto cult shows that the Ogus, like other
Africans have a esoteric conception of man. Africans have the tradition of always mystifying
man to show women that they are inferior to men ontologically.
Dr. Nmandi, Azikwe. “Zik quotable quotes” in Weekend Concord Vol. 1, No. 36, Saturday,
November 1989, P. 5
Ibid., p.5
E. G. Parrinder. op.cit p. 138
I.C. Jarvie. “Explaining Cargo Cult” ed Bryan R. Wilson in Rationality (Britain Oxford, Basil
Blackwall 1977) p. 56.
Ibid., p. 53.
Dukor, M. “African Polymonotheism, An Existential Humanistic Culture” in Philosophy and
Social Action New Delhi Vol. 15 No. 1-2, Jan-June 1989 p. 23-24.
I. C. Jarvie. Op.cit p. 57
Foot-notes Ibid., p. 60
Malinowski. quoted by Jarvie. Ibid., p. 53
Peter, Winch. “Understanding a Primitive Society” in Rationality Ibid., p. 78
Alasldair, Macintyre. “Understanding Religion and Believing” Ibid.,p. 66
Anyanwu, K. C. “Philosophical significance of Myth and Symbol in Dogon world view” in C.S.
Momoh The substance of African Philosophy (Auchi, Nigeria, African Philosphy Project
Publications, 1989) , P. 259 and 260
DUKOR M. „African Cosmology and Ontology‟ in Indian Philosophical Quarterly Vol. XVI No.
4 Octo. 1989.
Ibid., P. 394.
C. K. Ogden. and I. A. Richards. The Meaning of Meaning (London, Routledge and Kegan Paul
Ltd. 1972) P. 24.
Ibid., P. 45.

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Maduabuchi Dukor

Anyanwu, K. C. “Presuppositions of African Socialism” in The Nigerian Journal of Philosophy

Vol. 3 No. 1 and 2 1983 P. 57.
Anyanwu, K. C. Op.cit, P. 266
I. C. Jarvie. “Explaining Cargo Cult” ed. Bryan R. Wilson in Rationality (Britain, Basil Blackwell
1977 P. 60)
I am very grateful to Mr. Emmual Hunwi, one of my students and a native of Ajara near Badagry
for supplying me with classical names, terms and some information concerning Zan-gbeto
cult. I should also express my gratitude to Chief K. A. Amosu ones the Chief Security
Officer of Lagos State University and a Chief of Zan-gbeto cult in Ajido for his critical
comments on the manuscript. Others who I cherish their help include Chief Emmanuel
Okeyele Fanu who is the Chief Priest and leader of Zan-gbeto in Badagry town, his
Secretary, Daniel Idowu Suru and Prince Fatail Durosinmi of Olumetu, Ojo.

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