Dialogue: The Kpim of Igbo-African Socio-Religious Lifestyle.

The article focuses on the dialogical nature of the traditional Igbo-African socio-religious lifestyle, arguing that dialogue was the core principle through which the Igbo people socialized communally and engaged in religious worship. It explains that Igbo communalism, characterized by collective participation and high tolerance, was fundamentally dialogical, involving open, respectful conversations among community members and between humans and divine beings. Traditional religious practices involved calm, ordered rituals of prayer and thanksgiving at family altars, emphasizing interaction with a hierarchy of spiritual entities led by the Supreme Being (Chi-ukwu). The paper contrasts this with contemporary Igbo socio-religious life, which has shifted toward individualism and radical, often health-detrimental religious expressions influenced by Western contact, resulting in social fragmentation and loss of the dialogical communal ethos. The authors suggest revisiting the traditional dialogical approach to restore communal harmony and a balanced socio-religious life.