Many indigenous African religions revere "nature" spirits living in the sky, water,

and forests. These impersonal spirits help protect people from harm and provide
them with life’s essential ingredients such as water, sun, and wildlife. This belief
system is commonly referred to as animism.
Serpent Myth
The swamp dwellers give equal importance to men, lands and animals. In this
regard, mention can be made of the Serpent myth, which can be called an eco-
myth, an educational tale designed to uphold key ecological messages and promote
place-specific ecological values. How the myth helps the swamp dwellers to be
intrinsically nature protective becomes clear from the following conversation
between the Beggar and Makuri:
Makuri: “You wish to rob the Serpent of the Swamps? You wish to take the food
out of his mouth?”
Beggar: “The Serpent? The Serpent of the Swamps?”
Makuri: “The land that we till and live on has been ours from the beginning of
time. The bounds are marked by ageless iroko trees that have lived since the birth
of the Serpent, since the birth of the world, since the start of time itself. What is
ours is ours. But what belongs to the Serpent may never be taken away from him.”
The Serpent myth teaches about the need for humans to recognize the swamp as a
place in its own right that belongs primarily to its animal inhabitants and must be
treated with care. This eco-myth is an example of popular local knowledge that has
a clear influence on the indigenous people’s everyday lives. The story of the
Serpent deserves repeating, briefly, in order to highlight both the moral of the story
and its origins as the product of the unique social history of the Niger Delta region.
Such a mythological story that the swamp dwellers should not make an attempt to
reclaim the land from the Serpent also teaches them to be friendly towards their
lands and environment.
The Swivel Chair
A piece of the modern world, in an traditional place, symbolizes the city’s ability to
corrupt or infiltrate the village. It also represents Igwezu and his filial respect of his
parents. Kadiye sits down in the swivel chair that Igwezu had sent his
father for his customers. This imagery shows how Igwezu worked hard
to fulfill his promise to his father about the chair, he has kept his word.
And, now a man sits upon this chair who has corrupted his word to his
people as Kadiye has stolen the sacrifices of the villagers for his own
food.
The Knife
Kadiye has come to Makuri's for a shave, but wants Igwezu to do it as
the old man's hands shake. Ironically, Igwezu is out to prove the priest
is corrupt and has stolen his sacrifices. Thus, the knife in Igwezu's
hands means that Kadiye has unknowingly delivered himself into the
potential of death.