Akombo in Tiv Traditional Worldview: A Theological Discourse

Many Foreign and some indigenous scholars have in the past undertaken several investigations on the concept of akombo with varying degrees of negative ideas. The false impression created and subsequent practical misrepresentation of this concept by scholars and adherents has changed the true meaning and essence of akombo over time. This work aimed at setting a theological basis for a correct understanding and practice of akombo. This was accomplished by investigating the religious role of akombo as healing and protective rituals and as divinities in Tiv belief system. Descriptive phenomenology was adopted and used to investigate and describe the conscious experience of akombo as a way of attaining a healthy, prosperous and long lasting life through interaction with the Supreme Being. When compared, significant difference in characteristics of akombo as rituals to that of divinities was noticed. While some divinities (primordial) were deified to become ancestors no akombo had such quality. Akombo were therefore, viewed to be means through which interaction with the Supreme Being was made feasible. The work recommended that practicing akombo in hygienic condition, an integration of modern socio-religious ideas into akombo belief and practice with frequent and intensive research on the concept by scholars will help redeem the faulty perception that akombo are divinities worshipped by the Tiv.