AMAMIHE Journal of Applied Philosophy

This paper is an exploratory and critical examination of the Odo and Ezugu Cult Saga that blew open in some parts of Enugu State at the dawn of this decade. The paper notes that the cult saga, especially that of Odo, is nebulous and ubiquitous, and could be considered from many angles-culture, religion, cultism, economy, politics, legalism, etc. The paper, however, addresses the claim that Odo is a culture, even “our culture”. It laments the fact that many Africans remember their culture only at the appearance of masquerades. The paper argues that even if the Odo masquerading and masquerades were part of the people?s culture at inception and invention, they should have been reformed to make room for contemporary, historical needs. It argues that it is precisely the failure of the Odo adherents to understand that culture is a dynamic, human creation that led to the conflicts and crisis that engulfed many societies as a result of the desire by many members of these societies to seek and make alternative rational choices. The paper addresses the Odo cult saga as an example of how African Philosophy should constructively engage pristine, autochthonous beliefs in order to see how they can (possibly) be relevant for contemporary life. The paper considers the philosophical basis for the emergence of the Odo cult and sees it as a great irony that a culture that emerged to solve a problem, with all its artistry and creativity, could not creatively transit from its original philosophy to address and reform into a new need. The paper blames this on the traditional authoritarianism of the African past. It ends with a random expression of lessons that could be learned from both the emergence of the Odo cult and the crisis that trailed its failure to undertake what Kwasi Wiredu calls “critical and reconstructive self-definition”.

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