Consecrated Spaces and Ecospirituality in Amagu-Ezza South, Southeastern Nigeria
Conference: ISA 22nd Annual International Conference (2025)
Presenter(s): Kingsley C. Ezeuwa
Abstract
Amagu is one of the multiple communities that constitute the Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Its people, from antiquity, have shown conspicuous reverence for environmental spaces such as Ogbuiyioke forest reserve, and Uruenyim, which arguably remains the largest cluster of organic ponds in Igboland. The aim of this paper is to draw from oral sources, personal experiences, and existing literature to reflect on the ecological and religious imperatives for the consecration of such spaces. I want to demonstrate how the application of sanctions by the custodians of sacred spaces in Africa could be interpreted as a form of environmental activism in the industrial age, a symbol of the people’s understanding of the connections between nature and spirituality, as well as the capacity to transform a physical space into metaphysical dimensions of power and uniqueness. The study is intended to resonate with the environmentalist tone of On Care for Our Common Home, which was Pope Francis’ second encyclical letter released in June 2015 to strengthen the nexus between greater commitment to the environment and sustainable development in the twenty-first century.
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