HEEDING OUR ANCESTORS: URHOBO AND CONFUCIUS’ CONCEPTS OF ANCESTORSHIP AND THEIR RELEVANCES TO SOCIO-POLITICAL/ECOLOGICAL CHALLENGES

The world today is troubled by socio-political and ecological problems. These problems include corruption, terrorism, wars, violence, modern-day slavery, deforestation, desertification, marine, and atmospheric pollution, climate change, and so forth. In the pursuit of solutions to these myriads of problems, different solutions such as environmentalism, socialism, communism, capitalism, anarchy, feminism, and many others have been proposed. This paper argues that there are aspects of the concept of ancestorship that can contribute to ameliorating these problems. It is in this light that the paper will examine the concept of ancestorship among the Urhobo people of the Nigeria Delta and as opined by the Chinese philosopher, Confucius. The paper finds that the concept of ancestorship in these two traditions is still relevant. It concludes that adherence and emulation of viable aspects of ancestorship can help in resolving socio-political and ecological problems in the contemporary world.