Anioma Christians have been urged to use their faith to purify, strengthen and preserve the values in their culture that promote human dignity, family, community, love, respect, honesty, hard work, hospitality and peaceful coexistence.
The charge was given by Engr. JohnCee Onwualu, president of Anioma Catholic Community of St. John Mary Vianney Catholic Church, Asaba during its Anioma Day celebration.
The celebration with the theme: “Faith, Culture and Unity: Preserving Our Anioma Heritage for Future Generations” offers the opportunity to accept the responsibility of preserving the values that have sustained Anioma people for generations yet unborn, he said.
“As Catholics, our faith is the foundation of our lives. But our Catholic faith does not require us to abandon the good values of our cultural heritage. Our communities have traditionally placed great value on family, respect for elders, communal responsibility, hospitality, enterprise, education and mutual support,” Onwualu said.
According to him, “in a world where globalization is rapidly changing the way our children think and live, we must be deliberate about preserving the things that make us uniquely Anioma.
Modernization should not mean the loss of our identity. We can embrace technology, modern education and global opportunities while still knowing who we are and where we come from.”
Onwualu who is also the managing director of Jefcon & Associates Limited and a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, said that “where faith, traditional wisdom and responsible leadership work together for the good of the people, our communities become stronger.”
He called on parents to “teach our children that they can disagree with one another without becoming enemies; that they can come from different communities and still belong to one people; and that the progress of one Anioma community should be seen as a benefit to all.”
He, however, noted that where a cultural practice needs to be changed or purified in the light of the Gospel, “we should have the courage to do so. In this way, our faith and our culture can enrich one another. Our culture gives us identity; our faith gives us direction. And when identity and faith work together, they can produce a people who are confident about their past and hopeful about their future.”
In a speech on “Unity in Cultural Diversity. One body in Christ”, Comrade Alex Akpu, an Assistant Director in the Delta State Directorate of Arts and Culture, said communities within the Anioma area were having a problem of forming a collective entity at x point.
“So, our fathers then, Chief Dennis Osadebey and others decided to create a stronger platform that would unite these communities and give them a collective identity. They came up with Anioma. Anioma is a coinage to unite Aniocha, Ndokwa, Ika and Oshimili.
“In spite of our diversities, we are one body in Christ. God is all knowing, all wise and all creative. He created the diverse races, tribes, cultures and languages for the purpose of beauty, variety, creativity and strength”, Akpu said.
The ceremony was graced by a number of Anioma sons and daughters, including Hon. Bridget Anyafulu, member of Delta State House of Assembly representing Oshimili South Local Government Area; Dr. Emmanuel Emecheta, Owelle of Ubulu-Okiti and Ogbueshi Afam Obiago, one-time Chief Economic Adviser to Delta State government.
