EXCERPTS FROM MY KEYNOTE PAPER PRESENTED AT THE FIRST EVER INTERNATIONAL NSIBIDI PUBLIC LECTURE HELD AT THE AXARI HOTEL CONFERENCE AND EVENT CENTER, CALABAR ON DECEMBER 27, 2024
© Holyns Hogan, 2024
LECTURE THEME: NSIBIDI: THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
MY PAPER TITLE: NSIBIDI: AN ETHNOLINGUISTIC AND HISTORICAL EXAMINATION OF EFIK ANCIENT MYSTICAL SYMBOLS
DEFINITION/HISTORICAL AND ETHNOLINGUISTIC BACKGROUNDS
I authoritatively defined, historically traced, ascertained and pointed the Efik’s origin of Nsibidi to the orient, dated circa 3000 B.C in existence. I expatiated that the Efik as a cultured, endowed, prodigious, adorable and globally visible riverine minority did not, contrary to their Ejagham, Uruan, Isangele and Ibibio fallacious claims, purchase or borrow their Ekpe and Nsibidi from any tribe as theirs by origin and practice clearly predate and differ from those of their rivals in rating, class, fame, practice and intent. At least, history affirms that Efik progenitor –Iboku lived in the Mesopotamian Egypt, Nubia and Northern Sudan era of earliest global humans’ civilizations and pioneer international trade hub, from where Efik later migrated to now Nigeria with their Nsibidi bearing USAN ABASI, described Eurocentrically by Waddell (1862) as “a mimick of the Hebrews Ark of God”.
I further emphasised that Efik, prior to their sojourn in Uruan, meeting of, and/or cohabitation with Isangele, Ejagham, Ibibios or Efuts of South Western Cameroun by the 1945 UN plebiscite in which some Efik people voluntarily opted to maintain their lands in the aforementioned [now] Cameroun region, Efik ancestors were originally familiar with the sylvan and aqua deities that they naturally and spiritually encountered and deified as serpent (Asabọ) and personified Leopard (Ekpe) totems.
Of course, it was Efik ancestors that first exhibited their original Nsibidi and Ekpe as Ndem pictographs and cyphers in Usan [Ndem] Abasi and Nyana-Nyaku/Nyamkpe at Ibom Isi and Ututu-Arochukwu in the 1300s, long before any such primitive arts or science inventions were known, heard or seen anywhere in sub- Saharan African region.
Besides, it was Efik ancestors that first invented and improved their Nyamkpe to the more sophisticated, embellished and adored Idem Ikwọ that now serves mundane and extra- mundane errand, appeasement, governmental, totemic and/or spiritism purposes in Efik history and cosmology.
Thus, it learnedly debunk and invalidates existing revisionist or self-seeking claims that Efik bought or borrowed Ekpe and Nsibidi from their rivals, who as noted rightly in the paper rely solely on the misleading conspiracy theories of Macgregor(1909); Talbot (1912); copied by Jeffrey (1963); Onor (2005); Abasi-Atai (2008); Noah (2005) and Essien (2005) etc, all of which have hitherto been floored by Waddell (1862); Godie (1862); Maxwell (1909); Aye(2005); Akak (1991); Uya (2005); Miller (2011) and Hogan (2023) as historically and empirically baseless for lack of genuine historicity.
LOGICAL PROGRESSION
From the above premises, it is logically deducted that since Efik indigenously helped to globalize, civilize, acculturate, govern and Christianize all rivals in the ancients, it follows logically that Efik culture not only dominate them but Efik language, Ekpe and Nsibidi served equally as their original cultural inspirer and lingua Franca from the remotest ancients.
FINALLY
I concluded amongst other things that Ndem predates Ekpe as the originator of Ekpe and Nsibidi in Efik cosmology, mythology, mysticism and spiritism as affirmed by history. Also, that Nyamkpe and Mkpe are purely Efik words that her rivals probably copied and modified to mean one and the same thing or a natural coincidence.
Further, it was concluded from the point of knowledge that the Ibibios et al are the descendants of ancient Efik indentured servers that lost their original ethnolinguistic identities or have no properly defined history and heritage, hence would not mind to do everything negative to blackmail their former [Efik] slave masters and their culture to ascertain that their ancestors were once indigenously colonized, undignified, oppressed, enslaved and sold by Efik ancestors.
The above realities were distinctly affirmed [wittingly or unwittingly] by all the guest speakers (including the Ejagham, Igbo, Efut and Cuban speakers/ representatives) at the event.
HAVE YOUR SAY!
