IGBO

 Igbo also know as ibo

 Lives in southeastern Nigeria
 “igbo” is their language

Igbo, also called Ibo, people living chiefly in southeastern Nigeria who

speak Igbo, a language of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo
language family. The Igbo may be grouped into the following main cultural
divisions: northern, southern, western, eastern or Cross River, and
northeastern. Before European colonization, the Igbo were not united as a
single people but lived in autonomous local communities. By the mid-20th
century, however, a sense of ethnic identity was strongly developed, and the
Igbo-dominated Eastern region of Nigeria tried to unilaterally secede from
Nigeria in 1967 as the independent nation of Biafra. By the turn of the 21st
century, the Igbo numbered some 20 million.
Most Igbo traditionally have been subsistence farmers, their staples
being yams, cassava, and taro.
Traditional Igbo religion includes belief in a creator god (Chukwu or Chineke), an earth
goddess (Ala), and numerous other deities and spirits as well as a belief in ancestors
who protect their living descendants.

Igbo- ukwu

The Igbos is one of Nigeria’s three major ethnic groups. They are
found in Nigeria’s southeastern states of Abia, Anambra,
Ebonyi, Imo, Enugu and parts of Delta and Rivers states.
According to Ifemesia (1979:15), the Igbo country covers an
area of over 15,800 miles.
Chineke

Peception Of Illness:

 Folk medicine in Igbo society explains causes of illness in terms of four categories outlined by
Huff (2008). These are: (a) The patient world – habits, diet, smoking, drinking and general
lifestyle etc. (b) The natural world – illnesses caused by micro-organisms, environmental factors,
animal bites etc. (c) The social world – interpersonal conflicts, stresses of daily living etc. (d)
Supernatural world – illnesses caused by spirits, ancestors or gods offended in course of daily
living.
 Sexual intercourse on sunny afternoons results in delivery of albinos.
 Pregnant women who take too much pepper will deliver babies that have bald head throughout
life.

Perception on Health:

For the Igbo the sumum bonum or the highest value is Ndu (life). They expressed this believe in
their name: Ndubuisi (ie life is of prime importance), Nduka, Ndukaku (life is better than wealth)
and so on. For the Igbo, Nwala echoes: "Life is supreme importance; both in the cosmological
order and in the day to day life and activities of the people this important belief in the supremacy
of life is reflected" (p. 144). No wonder that Africans abhor any threat to life and can do
anything humanly possible to restore life.

Health Beliefs and Practices:

 Like other social groups in Nigeria and elsewhere, the Igbos has forms of folk medicine
 They believe that traditional medicine is their way to cope with their environment and to lessen
pain, treat injuries and illnesses of physical and mental nature
  The information is provided by adults or may be gathered and applied by significant others with
specific roles as traditional healers, bone setters, herbalists, traditional birth attendants etc.
 Traditional healers are the live wire of folk medicine in Igbo communities. They are persons
recognized by the community in which they live as competent to provide health care using
vegetable, animal and mineral substances.
 Among the Igbos, native or traditional healers are further distinguished in accordance with their
areas of specialization. They have ‘Dibia Afa’ (diviner) and ‘Dibia – Ogwu’ (medicine man). The
former is a diagnostician while the latter is the physician. They also have ‘Dibiamgborogwu na-
nkpa akwukwo’ (herbalist); ‘Dibia-Okpukpu’ (bone setter); ‘Dibia-Ogbanje’ (Peadiatrist),
traditional surgeons, traditional birth attendants etc.
 Each folk medicine practitioner in Igbo society has treatment approaches which cut across
medical herbs, massage, hot and cold foods or baths, prayers, dancing and even flogging as in
cases of mental illness. Others are magic, diet, exercise, exorcism, proper social relations, and
counseling etc
 Thus, the placebo effect plays part in the efficacy rating of folk medicine
 Example If a woman has whitlow, she should deep the affected finger into her vagina, the
whitlow will heal.
 Application of egg yolk treats burns and prevents severe blisters from emerging.

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/236406681.pdf European Scientific Journal December 2014 edition

vol.10, No.36 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431

AKAN

The Akan are historically an important ethnic group in West Africa. They are believed to number
over 20 million and are considered one of the biggest Ethnic groups in West Africa today. They are
considered the largest ethnic group both in Ghana and in the Ivory Coast. The Akan speak Kwa
languages which are part of the larger Niger-Congo family [1]. Generally, the term ‘Akan’ is
applied to the group of related people residing in the southern, mostly forested, regions of what
are today the Republic of Ghana and Cote d’lvoire (Ivory Coast) in West Africa

 Before Africa was colonised, the traditional African had always believed in God and the
ancestors and had been extremely spiritual. This is contrary to the perception in the
minds of colonial authorities and Christians that Africans were ‘unbelievers’. Van Dyk [8]
described the ancestors as the ‘living dead’. Compassionate spirits who are blood-related to the
people who believe in them. The ancestors continue to show interest in the daily lives of the
relatives that are still alive. They are superior to the living and include, amongst others
deceased parents, grandparents, great-grandparent, aunties and uncles. Because these spirits
have crossed over to the other side of life, they act as mediators between the living and
God.
 Traditional medicine practice has its own foundation in intense belief in interactions
between the spiritual and physical well-being of patients [12]. Traditional healers therefore
use holistic approach in dealing with health and illness [13, 14]. This implies that the
healer deals with the complete person and provides treatment for physical, psychological,
spiritual and social symptoms. Healers do not separate the natural from the spiritual or
physical from the supernatural [15].

Perception on Illness:

 Sickness does not only refer to pains in the body and the malfunctioning of cells in the body.
The concept is usually more complex. Kahakwa [10] refers to sickness as imbalance within
the human being, the clan and also within the society and needs healing. Healing therefore
refers to the process of restoring harmony and wholeness in humanity and its relationships; be
it physical, psychological, social, moral, economic, political and spiritual. Disharmony in the
community is therefore considered as illness.

Perception on Health:

 The Akan understands health as not just about the proper functioning of bodily organs. It goes
beyond that in the sense that good health for the African consists of mental, physical, spiritual
and emotional stability of oneself, family members and the community.
 African Traditional Religion holds the view that the body is merely a container of the essence:
soul and spirit, hence what touches the body also touches the soul and spirit of a person.
 “Whatever happens to the individual happens to the whole group, and whatever happens to
[the] whole group happens to the individual. The individual can only say: I am because we are,
and since we are, therefore I am.”
 A very important aspect of the Akan view of good health is the connection or part that relation
with the ancestors plays in any Akan (African). It is generally believed that good health is
understood in terms of the relationship with one’s ancestors. Health amongst Africans is not
based merely on how it affects the living, because it is of paramount importance that the
ancestors stay healthy so that they can protect the living.

Health Beliefs and Practices:

 The condition could be attributed to ancestral wrath witchcraft and/or natural
circumstances. In order to restore the harmony, the ancestors should be consulted
either directly or through the healer, in order to establish the true cause of the
disharmony and know the healing rituals to be performed
 The process of healing most of the time begins with consulting the ancestors as to the cause
of the disease and to seek their help in diagnosing it. Then the appropriate medication will
be applied or employed.
 The effect of such disturbance in the body or the social location may result in illness
without disease. Disorder may manifest itself in physical, emotional, spiritual or social
discomfort. To treat such condition therefore, the body must be restored to the
person’s overall human nature, in the familiar social setting. Twumasi [16] put the
condition in the following words; “All elements economic, spiritual and social must be
addressed in diagnosis and therapeutic
 Bone Setter Treatment:
The bone setters are known to have the capacity and expertise to repair various kinds of
fractures faster than western scientific medicine
1. Aries et al [24] advances the following in his work as the reasons why fracture
patients leave the hospital to the bonesetters or indigenous orthopaedic
therapists for treatment: (i) They were convinced that bonesetters have more
expertise in fracture treatment.
2. (ii) Patients often do not have to pay anything if the treatment of the
bonesetter fails meanwhile hospital treatment is too expensive for many
Ghanaians.
3. (iii)They wanted the bonesetter to strengthen the bones and preferred to
recover in a more convenient and private atmosphere. In their opinion a
surgeon repairs the bones; a bonesetter strengthens those bones.
4. (iv) Hospital treatment takes longer time and is expensive.
5. (v) It is more convenient with the bone setter who is closer to the patient and as
such more convenient than the hospital care which is bad and impersonal
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
361664270_Akan_Belief_System_and_their_Influence_on_the_Diagnosis_Treatment_and_Rehabilitatio
n_of_Indigenous_Orthopaedic_Therapy