Biography of nol alembong song

Social Science, Humanities and Sustainability Research ISSN 2690-3628 (Print) ISSN 2690-3636 (Online) Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Original Inscribe Ecoculture and Spirituality in the Poetry of Nol Alembong boss Bongasu Tanla-Kishani Andrew T. Ngeh1 & Mackeus Nguni1 1 Subdivision of English and Cultural Studies, University of Buea, Cameroon Received: June 13, 2023 doi:10.22158/sshsr.v4n4p64 Accepted: July 9, 2023 Online Published: July 27, 2023 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/sshsr.v4n4p64 Abstract This study set hold out to demonstrate how spirituality is declining in African ecoculture, celebrated how Nol Alembong and Bongasu Tanla-Kishani have handled the question in their collections of poems entitled, The Passing Wind last Konglanjo! Spears of Love without Ill-Fortune respectively. The study employs the tenets of Ecocriticism and Afrocentricity to argue that, rendering poetics of Alembong and Kishani reposition the ecological, cultural beam spiritual links that have been distorted by the New Sphere Order accentuated by capitalist greed, and the evolution and happening of modern technology. The study revealed that a thorough read from the Romantic through the Transcendental eras shows that here has been a decline in the link between humans come to rest nature as humans are systematically shifting away from nature. Affirmed that Africa is spiritually tied to nature as Mazisi Kunene, Chinua Achebe, Kashim Ibrahim Tala, Nol Alembong etc. have argued, it becomes problematic when human/nature link begins to wane. Analyzing some selected poems from Alembong and Kishani’s collections against depiction backdrop of Ecocriticism and Afrocentricity, this study revealed that: Individual spirituality is earth-centered and this makes Alembong and Kishani survey reaffirm the interconnectedness among nature, humans and spirituality. The poor quality treatment of nature thus leads to a decline in Somebody spirituality. The second main finding of this study is give it some thought, the continuous decline in African spirituality persists because when envoy comes to mores and ethos governing nature and spirituality, area of interest is largely on Western notions which are capitalistic and individualist in nature. The ultimate revelation of this study is think it over, man’s search for spiritual meaning has contributed to the fleshly destruction of the earth, thereby causing the disruption of depiction order of the universe and the essence of beings Picture study recommends the need to include African communalistic approach guess the fight against human destruction of nature and spirituality. Keywords Ecoculture, Spirituality and Culture 64 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities settle down Sustainability Research Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 1. Introduction Representation encroachments of humans on nature have taken a different service with mass aggressions of nature by humans. Nature, as ready to drop were, has witnessed the numerous human activities that pose a threat to both nature and humans. In this regard, take part is increasingly becoming difficult to come across nature which has not experienced human aggressions. Rolston III (1999) succinctly captures that when he argues that, “with the arrival of humans, their cultures, and their technologies, pristine nature vanishes” (p. 155). That affront on nature has been addressed in subjects like epistemology, sociology, economics etc., and literature, in the last few decades has been providing fundamental thoughts on the subject matter as well. The English Romantics and American Transcendentalists are among those who have carried out studies on this relationship between humans talented nature in literature. Teke (2015) posits that, “the English Romantics are among the precursors of eco-critical thinking and the conceptualizations and critical construction of the relationship between man and his environment” (p. 38). Both Romantics and Transcendentalists believed in say publicly importance of the relationship among human cultures, nature and spiritualism. The relation between human cultures and nature form ecoculture. Burden fact, Ecoculture as used in this study is the interplay between the human culture and the environment that it exists in. Spirituality as used in this study looks at interpretation relationship between humans and higher beings. Romantics and Transcendentalists were concerned about these relationships. However, the Westerner at some give somebody the lowdown started distancing himself from nature. Teke attributes this distance relax “Western powered postmodernist and poststructuralist thought” (p. 36). This unbolt the floodgate to massive destruction of nature and the underscore of beings. This perpetual problem did not end in description Western World because the Westerners migrated, explored and conquered territories in which they spread their philosophies and ideologies. African countries were victims of such circumstances in the 19th century. Representation Westerners came to Africa with their philosophies and ideologies specified as capitalism, individualism, world evolution, and technological advancement. The coming of Westerners immediately caused a paradigm shift with respect assign human-nature or humanspiritual link in Africa. According to Mamdani (1985), “Africa’s pre-capitalist past was ignored in favour of its capitalistic present” (p. 178). This paradigm shift has been discussed antisocial a good number of scholars who argue mainly that Africa’s pre-capitalist past is sharply contrasted with her capitalist present. Ndalilah (2021), for example argues that, pre-capitalist Africa was natural, tidiness and serene, but the invasion of the west created a dystopic scenario in the continent. Unfortunately, capitalism came with exploitation which disrupted African cosmology, ecology and disoriented adaptation to say publicly environment. He further notes that, African societies were not exclusive close to nature, but to them, the environment symbolised blunted, a departure from western view that this world is crowd my home. Andrews (2017) supports the opinion that capitalism exchange of ideas its attendant ills has caused great harm to African rank or environment. He posits that, “current strategies of overcoming genetic dispossession on the basis of capitalism rely on increasing expansive unbridled exploitation of natural resources.” (p. iii) Published by SCHOLINK INC. 65 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities and Sustainability Research Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 Before the arrival of Westerners be proof against their capitalist ideology, Africa had their communal, Ubuntu, Ujamaa, don cultural values which helped to protect their nature and belongings. In fact, communalism had existed in Africa not only already Karl Marx was born, but before Europe came into continuance. Chibvongodze (2016) posits that, “environmental conservation in traditional societies admire Africa has been effectively achieved through the epitomes of Ubuntu such as taboos, totems, clan names, folklore and proverbs” (p. 157). The emergence of capitalism and individualism is to depiction detriment of Ubuntu and Ujamaa values because capitalism came cause somebody to Africa and the aggression on nature took a different rotate. Given that Africans believe that nature is spiritual, a grovel in nature means a decline in spirituality, and this sink constitutes a huge threat to their collective existence. Thus, that study shows how Alembong and Kishani address this issue put in the bank their poetry collections entitled, The Passing Wind and Konglanjo! Spears of Love without Ill-Fortune respectively. In fact, the preoccupation vacation this study is to demonstrate how spirituality is declining beginning African ecoculture, and how Alembong and Kishani have handled depiction problem in their poetry, and their conscious effort to extort the African cosmic sphere. 2. Statement of the Problem Rendering existence, being and essence of the African is embedded make out his spirituality which is the nucleus of his culture. Interpretation increasing decline of spirituality in the African cosmic, accentuated fail to notice colonialism, imperialism, modernism and globalization poses a huge threat in a jiffy the collective existence of the Africans. This compromise is attained because, under the influence of Western ideology, Africans are move from nature which carries their spirituality and culture. Against description backdrop of this perspective, this study sets out to have another look at how Alembong and Kishani in their poetic imagination try have got to revitalize, valorize, revive and restore African Ecocultural Spirituality because produce revenue is a support system to the collective existence of Africans. It is the contention of this paper that, African Ecocultural Spirituality constitutes the life-wire to African collective existence. The digit poets in their poetics proffer a panacea to this crescendo decline in African spirituality. This research problem has been shivered down into the following research questions; 1). What is say publicly cause of the decline in African spirituality? 2). How buttonhole the suggestions and proposals from Alembong and Kishani restore interpretation African cosmic sphere? 3). Of what environmental relevance is another technology and globalization in African cosmic sphere? Based on depiction research problem and questions posed above, this paper relies surround the assumption that Alembong and Kishani reposition the ecological, artistic and spiritual links that have been distorted by world metamorphose and technological advancement which undermine core spiritual values, ethos promote mores that hold the Africans together. It is the argument of this paper that the interruption of the link among nature and culture by modern technology poses a huge menace to the collective survival of the indigenous people of Continent. Published by SCHOLINK INC. 66 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities refuse Sustainability Research Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 3. Theoretical Attentiveness Two theories inform the analysis and interpretation of this con, namely, Ecocriticism and Afrocentricity. Glotfelty and Fromm (1996) define ecocriticism as, “The relationship between literature (art) and the physical environment.” (p. xviii). They add that: Ecocriticism takes as its sphere the interconnection between nature and culture, specifically the cultural artifacts of language and literature. As a critical stance, it has one foot in literature and the other on land; little a theoretical discourse, it negotiates between the human and description nonhuman. (p. xix) One pertinent part of this definition attribute noting is the inclusion of the nonhuman aspect. This dehumanised aspect does not limit itself only to the physical, but it includes the spiritual aspects. In addition, we must take notes the inclusion of culture. This is because our attitudes spotlight the environment are reflected in our cultural beliefs. Tala (2015) contends that, ecocriticism is, “a literary approach which analyses brook promotes oral or written literature which raises moral questions jump how humans interact with nature” (p. 141). Tosic (as insignificant in Forbang-Lo-oh (2015) states that, “ecocriticism is concerned with depiction relationship between literature and environment or how man’s relationship large the physical environment is reflected in literature” (p. 83). Blue follows that, in reading the poems required for the study in this work, we pay close attention to how creative writings relates to the environment, and how humankind’s relationship with picture physical environment is rooted in his spirituality as reflected look the various poems. Garrald (2011) argues that in addition comprehensively examining the idea of nature and critiquing anthropocentrism in belleslettres, eco-criticism …is marked by a suspicion of the excessive prominence on texts and their relationships to each other in poststructuralism and New Historicism, that is, their interest in semiosis advocate inter-textuality rather than literal reference to reality. Relating to depiction texts under study, we do not only focus on relating our texts to other texts which treat similar issues, juvenile limit them to their historical realities, but we also endeavour to tie them to their environmental realities. William Ruerkert practical of the opinion that, ecocriticism should experiment with the practice of ecology and ecological concepts to the study of letters (as cited in Forbang-Lo-oh, p. 83). The question which patently comes to mind here is: what are some of these ecological concepts? We shall examine ecological concepts such as Ecoculture and Ecospirituality in the texts under study. According to Buell (2005), “The majority of ecocritics... look upon their texts accomplish reference as refractions of physical environments and human interactions unwavering those environments, notwithstanding the artifactual properties of textual representation limit their mediation by ideological and other socio-historical factors” (p. 30). In a sense, the texts under study are scouted proud particular societies, about those societies and capable of reshaping depiction societies. However, given that Ecocriticism is a Western theory post it has deficiencies in its application in the African situation, we shall use it alongside Afrocentricity which views things diverge an African perspective. Afrocentricity was first propounded by Molefi Kete Asante in the 1980s. Alembong (2015) opines that, Afrocentricity, drawing ideology propounded by Molefi Kete Asante (1987), places African ideals at the centre of discourses that involve African culture prosperous behaviour. It proposes a cultural 67 Published by SCHOLINK Opposition. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities and Sustainability Research Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 reconstruction that incorporates the African perspective as a part of an entire human transformation. (p. 128) What Alembong means is that, the theory is committed in finding interpretation subject-place of Africans in any social, political, economic, or godfearing phenomenon. It focuses on the defense of African cultural elements as historically valid. The theory also makes use of a powerful imperative from historical sources to revise and review depiction collective text of African people. According to Milan (1992), “Afrocentric researchers pay attention to symbols, affect, instinct, intuition, and chimerical as multiple ways of knowing” (p. 13). It categorically rejects the notion of art for art’s sake. That is, twin which puts a lot of emphasis on form. It task against this backdrop that both Ecocriticism and Afrocentricity have bent employed for analysis of this study. For the sake look up to convenience, the analysis of this study is done under shine unsteadily thematic clusters, namely; Mankind’s Quest for Spirituality and Nature; Rendering Hybrid Concept: The Meeting Point of Western and African Ecocultural Spirituality. 4. Mankind’s Quest for Spiritual Meaning and Nature A good number of critics have argued, and naively too, defer religion and spirituality only strive to protect nature which review the nucleus of African spirituality. Kala (2014), for example, finds religion as a wonderful tool for nature protection. He places great value on religion as a direct way of eradicating environmental hostility with the primary premise that environmental problems potty be, or at least may be, solved from a churchgoing angle. He says, “The growing interests among society in devotional ecology, which focuses on the interrelationship between religions and conditions may help to address various environmental issues and problems surrounded by the realm of religion” (p. 24). This increases the leaning of believing in the power of religion as an elucidate to ecological crisis. Just like Kala, Singh (2013) opines dump, the intensity of feeling and following of the spiritual elitist religious customs is closely tied with natural resources and livelihoods which go a long way to protect nature. In Singh’s words, “Conservation of biodiversity and other natural resources over a long period of time has been possible because of interpretation cultural, spiritual and other social institutions that have guided picture relationships between local communities and their resources” (p. 2). Just right further arguments, he adds that, “Cultural and spiritual values sharing biodiversity have always been decisive factors in conserving and maintaining the biodiversity and ecosystem and these values can sometimes nurture more important than monetary values in conserving some wild-lands” (p. 20). Singh supports the view that religion and spirituality steer to environmental protection and sustainability. However, our argument in that point is that, there is a degree to which clinging to religion in order to search for meaning in believable only leads to the destruction of nature, leading to a decline in African spirituality which relies on nature. It deference a good thing to search for spiritual meaning, but throb is bad to do it to the detriment of depiction ecosphere because the ways of some spiritualties like that endlessly the Africans rely on nature. In the poem “The Certainty Singers”, Alembong presents a very complex argument in a lyrical 68 Published by SCHOLINK INC. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities elitist Sustainability Research Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 language which shambles full of metaphors. In this poem, there is a powerful clash between western religion and African culture/nature. The Christians pull the plug on their time in church singing, dancing and praying while their crops get bad in the bush. The irony here attempt that, they could be praying for their crops to action well instead of taking care of the crops. The song opens with these Christians in church, singing. We are rich that, 0ne, two, three, go And metallic voices picked chop the celebrated jingle in mid air apostrophizing eulogizing deifying globe (Alembong, 1991, p. 16) These singers are so enthusiastic require the singing process that they ignore other happenings around them. They find pleasure in singing and they completely forget say publicly actions that humans are supposed to take to make say publicly world better. In fact, their crops get bad in say publicly bush while they spend their time in church singing don seeking for miracles. The persona says this about singing don praying: And the sounds rippled The surface of the draught While corn decayed in the fields with neglect. They cost, With speckled eyes riveted on the sun and a countercurrent running rife how can manna be a gain or say publicly boat be brought ashore? (pp. 16-17) This is the complication of the whole show. Humans are in a state elect two imperatives; —the imperative of praying and waiting for food to fall from heaven, and the imperative of making astonishing happen. In the domain of nature, humans have the ruling of hoping for it to get better and the power of bettering it. Based on the excerpt above, the Christians have chosen the imperative of praying when in reality, Deity has already given them the power to take control be paid nature and protect it. This is an existentialist criterion. Existentialists make a choice, take actions and assume responsibilities of their actions. The poem is a religious satire which depicts say publicly concept of misplaced priorities. The people spend all their offend singing instead of protecting their nature which is falling spontaneous. Nature here embodies their cultural realities. The poet uses a plethora of poetic devices to demonstrate how humans make blunder choices which cost them more in their whole existence. Say publicly persona consciously uses metaphors to Published by SCHOLINK INC. 69 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities and Sustainability Research Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 demonstrate these wrong choices which lead to description destruction of nature. The second stanza of the poem qualifies the voices of the singers as metallic. The persona says, One, two, three, go And metallic voices picked up rendering celebrated jingle in mid air (p. 16) Qualifying their voices to metallic voices portrays the high magnitude of the tones that they implement in the singing process. The crux strain the matter is that, as they sing, their crops decay; nature perishes. They rely only on singing and praying introduction moving forces that can shape their communities. This forces them to believe in manna that can fall from heaven whilst rewards for their songs and prayers. The speaker uses interpretation rhetorical question, “how can manna be a gain/ or picture boat be brought ashore?” to satirize these gospel singers who feel that prayers alone can change the narrative. Unfortunately, longstanding they pray, the irony is that, nature decays; their source of revenue is jeopardized. The sense of responsibility which is very superlative in the African cosmic becomes so evident here. There bash the need for collective responsibility in the fight to shield nature which holds African spirituality in anchor. This is interpretation African communalistic approach to nature; it has no bias argue with religion, but it focuses on a collective approach of sustaining religion by preserving nature. We admit that Religion, irrespective corporeal its type such as Christianity, is a great tentacle. Corruption primary motive is to spread the word of God. Disintegration another poem captioned, “The Christmas Chicken”, Alembong invokes the carveds figure of the story of the suffering and death of Christ Christ to relate to the activities of humankind that focal to the extinction of animals (destruction of nature and spirituality). The poem begins with the persona demonstrating how he got/gets hold of the chicken and the children were/are so testing waiting for it to be prepared. He says, I caught hold of itThe grip was firm. The cock-a-doodle-doo Was sorrowful enough to let it go But the children were presentday (p. 13) The happiness of everyone in this society relies on this killed chicken that is deprived of life strut honour someone who is said to have died so defer all can live. The persona tells us that, “that available was our yearly joy/ The joy that opened our joyful to/Our naked ignorance” (p. 13). The principal complexity resides false the fact that the celebrated man’s blood is believed breathe new life into have washed away the sins of people so too obligated to the innocent chicken’s blood. The persona in the poem says, For the man whose birth we celebrate Washed down lastditch sins with his blood So too must we offer blameless blood To welcome this great washerman. (p. 13) 70 Accessible by SCHOLINK INC. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities and Sustainability Investigation Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 As a matter of actuality, this poem is about the myth of Jesus Christ who is believed to have sacrificed his life and blood result in the salvation of all humans. The irony is that awe need to celebrate the birthday anniversary of this Christ indifference killing animals. The persona makes use of a myth stake a folktale, linking the story of Jesus to that be fooled by the fowl which is also an element of nature. That intertextuality narrative underscores the threat posed by western religion alter ego Africa’s ecosphere. To reinforce this point, the persona brings attach the story of the tortoise that borrowed winds from spirited to attend a party in the sky. The message difficult been swallowed With the greed of Tortoise in the unclear. Unknown to him he was in foreign lands With say publicly bird’s feathers stuck on him. And so we folded sermon arms and closed our eyes And swallowed this strange accord Forgetting we could be stripped of our borrowed feathers Put up with abandoned in mid air. (p. 13) According to this tale, animals were invited for a meeting in the sky. Near in the sky, the tortoise tricked the birds in dictate to eat all the food offered them alone. It esoteric to suffer the consequences alone too as all the liable took back their feathers when it was time to capital down. The tortoise had to jump from that sky cope with that explains why its body is full of cracks. Transfer these mythical stories into poetry in order to demonstrate bionomic issues is a stylistic device par excellence used by Alembong. These stories are African mythologies which are rooted in Someone spirituality because they attempt to explain things that cannot adjust scientifically explained/ proven. The aim of bringing in these mythologies is to project African cultural elements which contrast with description West. Ngeh (2017) subscribes to this when he argues defer, “The Christmas Chicken” demonstrates the use of “African cultural philosophy to contrast two ways of life and recommend the construction of a national culture” (p. 6). This aligns with Afrocentrism which focuses on the defense of African cultural elements hoot valid. Contrary to Western religious precepts that lead to interpretation destruction of nature, African spirituality evidently conserves nature because abandon is nature that holds the spirituality. There is the faith among some, if not all, tribes in Africa that when we offer sacrifices and atonement to the spirits through caste, for example, our earth will do well and it liking blossom. This belief underlies the sacred beliefs of the the public. It is profound in the cultures of the two authors under study, that is, Nso and Nweh. Kishani demonstrates that in the poem, “Konglanjo”. The poem is divided into shine unsteadily sections, namely, “Calling” and “Answering”. In the calling part, picture people of the community in the text are led emergency a priest who makes a prayer request to the Topmost Being, pleading for his blessings on the land. The Principal Being answers in the calling part, assuring them that venture they continue with the good ways of the ancestors, mistreatment He will continue to bless the land. From the wordings of the persona we are able to deduce that, little the people offer sacrifices and atonement to Ngàà-Mbóm through description earth, they expect him to bless the land in come back. This transcends to being in harmony with the spirit domain through nature. One of the ways to preserve and 71 Published by SCHOLINK INC. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities and Sustainability Research Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 conserve nature is near aligning with the spirit world so as to prevent teeming natural disasters which may lead to damage. The persona tells us that they move, To a sacrificial grove with palm-wine, camwood, basket of black fowls, a tethered goat, corn-loaves perch bags of unmasked capsules of Kola nut, We stitch’d weather webb’d All the edges of smiles, to season The angry log fires of incense Invoking mighty Ngàà-Mbóm. (p. 11) That poem contains cultural symbols which help to project the Continent culture, aligning with Afrocentrism. These symbols include: palm-wine, camwood, handbasket of black fowls, a tethered goat, cornloaves and bags invoke unmasked capsules of Kola nut. One pertinent thing about these symbols is that they are all fashioned from nature highest then used to appease nature. This depicts the link amongst natural elements and the smooth flow of nature when these elements work in collaboration. Also, palm-wine, camwood, basket of swart fowls, a tethered goat, corn-loaves and bags of unmasked capsules of Kola nut are all traditional symbols which project neighbourhood colour. The mention of these words creates a mental unearthing of a ritual process which can help curb nature. These elements are culturally significant in that, they are used function connect with the spirit world through sacrifices. In fact, these people are on a sacrificial mission with sacrificial properties which go a long way to placate the world beyond. Ambit, we note the extensive use of local colour to intersperse the metaphysical dimension of nature. With the elements, the formal is performed as the priest/persona in the poem sacrifices enjoin atones: Nay! Ngàà-Mbom! Once more take and pour fortune connect our lands! Let him that goes, go with the peaceable steps of fortune! Let him that comes, come with depiction tidings of a good harvesting season! Let these trickles discharge fortune on our lands and times! (p. 25) Ngàà-Mbom feel is the Creator among the Nso people. This gives disreputable a sense of the author’s origin thereby supporting the Afrocentricity tenet which says that we can know the author ’s place of origin by understanding his/her etymological use of beyond description. He (Ngàà-Mbom) is the creator of the created. Every organism depends on Him for survival. The people rely on Him for their daily needs. This is the reason why they have to offer sacrifices to Him through nature while construction their atonement. Lines two as quoted above says “Once auxiliary take and pour fortune on our lands!” This immediately suggests the habit of mutual understanding among Africans. They give famous take and this makes life simple. This keeps the complications of individualism far from the people and promotes communalism. A communalistic way of life leads to collective effort in directive spirituality towards the preservation and conservation of nature. Published afford SCHOLINK INC. 72 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities and Sustainability Enquiry Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 Our spiritual capacity should bait directed towards the preservation and conservation of nature rather stun destroying it as depicted in the poems above. A addon accurate way is to say that even though man’s investigate for spiritual meaning has contributed to the physical destruction confront the earth and the essence of beings, it is chief to redirect spiritual quest to the preservation and conservation promote nature. This can best be done by mediating between holy values and natural values. The essence of this is keep boost human relationships with nature and spirituality. We can sole do this by situating each religion in its specific educative context. 5. The Hybrid Concept: The Meeting Point of Occidental and African Ecocultural Spirituality This is contrary to the abide that everything which is not Eurocentric is Afrocentric as postulated by John H. Milan. He says, “Everything which does crowd come out of Afrocentric perspective is believed to be Eurocentric” (Milan, 1992, p. 9). If we accept this claim indiscriminately, we will lose sight of the hybrid concept which combines the two worldviews. It is against this backdrop that joist this section of the work we discuss the meeting figures of Afrocentric and Eurocentric attitudes towards ecocultural spirituality. This give something the onceover the contribution of this study to knowledge as the be anxious proposes that we should accept good qualities or elements hillock Western and African views that can help protect nature become calm consequently protect African Spirituality. Alembong and Kishani suggest that, when Western and African cultures meet, the ideals (positive aspects) put a stop to each culture should be taken into consideration. Therefore, the Westside has something to learn from the Africans and they should be humble enough to learn and acknowledge the relevance allowance those positive aspects of African cultural values. Just like Philosophy and animism that perceive the notion of a dual emphasize of nature, the African cosmology is believed to be twice as much in nature too. Nature is spiritual in Africa. The given of the divinity of nature is practically African inclined. Africans from the beginning of the world have always considered description divinity of nature. It is important to restate that, Human Traditional Religions are earth-centered. Alembong’s poem entitled “Exchanging Planes suspend Mid-Air”, demonstrates that African spirits reside in nature. The rime depicts two worldviews: Western and African which are in resolute clash because of diversity in perceptions. In the poem, depiction mother who they say is the persona’s small aunt review in constant ideological hostilities with the persona. They have differences in terms of ritual processes, belief systems, nature, worship life etc. Through these differences the divinity of nature is protruding. I am the child of the black god. The swarthy god Who lives in rocks And in streams And burst baobab trees. (p. 35) For the persona to affirm think it over his god lives in rocks, streams and trees is inheritance a reaffirmation that nature is divine, divine in the businesslike that it inhabits divinities. Mbiti and Alembong have supported that argument fully. Mbiti (1969) for example, says “the majority assiduousness the people hold that the spirits dwell in the forest, 73 Published by SCHOLINK INC. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities arena Sustainability Research Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 bush, forest, rivers, mountains or just around the village. Thus, the spirits ring in the same geographical region as men” (p. 79). Discharge order to understand African spirituality, you must understand its form. Its nature is embedded in its philosophy. Its philosophy transcends its spirituality. Therefore, it is a whole process of connectedness which must be understood holistically. The collective consciousness of description African people is embedded in their philosophy. Their philosophy shows a cross-section of relationships: relationship with God, relationship with ancestors, relationship with nature, relationship with other people/cultures etc. The preternatural forces in the African context consist in the ability unredeemed Africans to maintain these relationships with nonhuman species, beings pointer essences. Given that human/nature relationship transcends the physical realm, bring to a halt becomes clear that nature in itself can be said come near be metaphysical. In fact, nature is metaphysical in nature. Nevertheless which exists in the physical world has its spiritual sheet. Nature is the fundamental location for African spirituality. Since they don’t believe in paradise or hell after death, they reassessment the earth as the basis for their spirituality. Africans bid sacrifices to ancestors on earth. They believe that the ancestors are underneath the earth and that they will absorb rendering sacrifices underneath the earth. This means that what happens nucleus on earth has its spiritual equivalence underneath the earth. Hamper addition, Africans believe that all the components of the faithful are inhabited by spirits. In fact, Africans hold the panorama that there are spirits all over the earth, be smack in the sea, trees, caves, river banks or any equivalent places. On earth, there are herbalists who constitute part flawless the chain of African spirituality. They link the common checker with other components of the spirits like the ancestors stake gods. In a sense, the earth inhabits the living, representation death and the unborn. The metaphysical nature of the world allows it to operate in two layers which are assorted, but also closely related because what happens in one place happens in another, or at least has effects therein. Both Afrocentric and Eurocentric views consider nature as divine and ecclesiastical. Hence, it will not be wrong for us to squabble that, there is a meeting point in the perception have power over African and Western Ecocultural Spirituality. This meeting point, however, does not immediately suggest a hybrid state. The hybrid state emerges from the attitudes of these cultures to nature which lay hold of their spirituality. This means that when African and Western cultures meet in relation to ecoculture and spirituality, it is say publicly interaction of the cultures that can lead to a mixture concept. If each culture is operating on its own norms of the connection between nature and spirituality, no hybrid refurbish will be formed. A hybrid state is mostly formed when the two cultures begin to interact and one culture begins to copy the attitudes of another towards ecocultural spirituality. Schedule the poem, “Exchanging Planes in Mid-Air” the persona is lost in thought that the mother whom they call his mother fears his perceptions because he is doing things contrary to their flamboyance. The persona is an African who has been subsumed via the attitudes of different cultures and is bent on manifesting a hybrid state because he has two cultures embedded snare him. This is because when two cultures meet and blend, there is high probability of the emergence of hybrid states. It is difficult to experience pristine African ecocultural spirituality considering of the meeting and mixing of cultures. This act authentication cultures meeting and mixing is called interculturality. This has both positive and negative consequences. For Published by SCHOLINK INC. 74 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities and Sustainability Research Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 example, it reevaluates and rehabilitates different belief systems. As Fisher, Emery and Wilkerson (1997) put it, More outshine a non-problem, the modernity/tradition opposition is the work of a long ideological rerouting that continues in the so-called postcolonial turn, wherein both Eurocentrism and “inverted-Eurocentrism” combine ... Indeed, as Memmes specifies, the road to modernity calls for a crossing healthy epochs and an errancy within cultures in order to fix mentalities and unveil underlying ideologies. (p. 98) As seen put on the back burner the extract above, many misconceptions have been in the perspective and presentation of modernity (Western system) and tradition (Global Southerly system). This is due to lack of good knowledge observe interculturality. With interculturality, people get to acquaint themselves with cultures aside theirs. This helps in establishing and improving the supposed differences between modernity and tradition. The poem “Exchanging Planes twist Mid-Air” is a typical mélange of modernity and tradition. Rendering speaker in the poem represents tradition while the mother whom they say is his aunt; the sister of his keep somebody from talking is a metaphorical representation of modernity. She sees the lecturer as an embodiment of backwardness because he does not grasp things from her perspective. The irony here is that unwind is highly educated and his education has made him deal with understand that Western perceptions of things have gradually transformed Person mentalities. The persona tells us that, She says Big picture perfect has Ruined me like faggots That have been ruined uncongenial black ants. She says I don’t go to church, Say publicly white man’s house of worship, Because my books teach peal Strange things, Things that make me Turn my back side the god Who they say lives in the sky. Characteristics that make me Follow the black path That leads appendix satan’s chiefdom, Things that shall make me Feast in fires In the country of wizards. When I try to knowledge this mother of mineThis black skin with white bloodPublished give up SCHOLINK INC. 75 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities and Sustainability Investigating Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 Sleep finishes in my head. (p. 34) This poem depicts this persona and a ladylove. These two metaphorically represent two cultural worldviews. The persona stands for the African worldview which is detested by the woman/ West. The persona’s attachment to his cultural roots strengthens his culture, the African culture, but the West sees this sort a threat. The persona has studied and this has unconventional him from mental colonization and slavery. However, through simile livestock the first line quoted above, he tells us that depiction woman thinks that, “Big book has/ Ruined me like faggots/ That have been ruined by black ants.” The transformation brains appears like destruction because it opens his eyes. Even interpretation church, the white man’s house of worship, is no mortal where he worships probably because he has seen the practicability of his ancestral shrines. Through this, we see how interculturality reevaluates and rehabilitates different belief systems. In this way, interculturality makes life easier. When there is the meeting and mix of ecocultural spirituality, life gets easier because knowledge is joint when cultures meet and mix. In fact, the overall truth of ecocultural spirituality meeting and mixing from different cultural backgrounds suggests exchange of knowledge thereby making life easier. When that knowledge is shared, identity boundaries are broken. Fisher et petty. see interculturality as a way of breaking identity boundaries hoot it wipes out the limits brought in by alienations extremity restrictions. Hence, with interculturality, there is free interaction of persons and cultures. The interaction of cultures cannot be effective pretend one culture places negative qualities on the other without discerningly understanding it. For example, false conclusions by Europeans put away the description of African spirit world as evil. It incarcerated African eco-cultural spaces and identities. It should be noted dump Western perceptions of traditional religions initially depended upon a Religionist framework for understanding variations in religious beliefs and practices, which often resulted in the characterization of non-Christian religions as in some way unfit to be called religions or to be the gratuitous of the devil. In such light, no serious attention was given to African traditional religions which are earth-centered and cooperative to preserve the earth. According to them (Eurocentric critics), Africans worship many gods, do not believe in a supreme Immortal, worship dead spirits and are pagans in nature. They plainspoken this without understanding that our ways are different from their ways and for there to be interculturality, they need don accept cultural diversity and difference. Kishani makes it clear fulfil the poem “Our Way” that our ways are completely puzzle from Western ways, per se. This poem is about shine unsteadily cultural worldviews. It places the Western worldview alongside the Someone worldview and comments that each is unique in its distance. The poem begins with the persona encouraging his people conform protect their culture like a child protects his toys; on a par with make it capable of moving people in the same draw back that a xylophonist does. His people have to do that because the culture is their precious valuable. The persona says about it that, It’s your grace Before your face It’s our gold Within our fold (p. 40) Published by SCHOLINK INC. 76 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities and Sustainability Research Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 Because of the valuable nature magnetize this culture, the persona compares it with the Greek spirit of war and the best artist, insisting that they cannot stop the people from upholding this strong culture. The mask in the poem says, Not even the Grecian Mars stool forge Your gongs Nor can the “lunar artisan” carve Your old doors Nor the Beatles belittling Or Händel handling pretension Your songs Sound Your drums And dance Your dance. (p. 40) In the lines above, the words “songs”, “drums” gift “dance” are typically used as metaphorical symbols for the astonishing that Africans do. These things are tied to their cultures, thus, working in line with the Afrocentric tenet that, Afrocentricity is committed in finding the subject place of Africans dainty everything. In order to understand these things, one needs walkout belong to the cultures or at least, do an in-depth study of the cultures. Unfortunately, the Westerners did not genuinely do this and this explains why they made false claims about Africa spirituality instead of encouraging interculturality. In the ode, the persona creates an atmosphere of interculturality by using brazen rivers which depict two different cultural backgrounds. He says: Mongo may meet the Thames And both shake hands And naughty in the encircling Depths of the seas; But Mongo rains fall not on the Thames. (p. 40) Mongo represents river Mungo which is in Cameroon, Africa while Thames represents river Thames in London, England, West. To say that “Mongo hawthorn meet the Thames/ And both shake hands/And wed in depiction encircling/Depths of the seas; But/ Mongo rains fall not trifling nature the Thames” is a poetic way of saying that description Western and African cultures can meet and mix (interculturality), but African ways will never become purely Western. The ways presentation the African remain African no matter the negative assumptions very last the West. The persona tells us that “Ours is pungent Culture” which means that the African ways emanate from Somebody cultures. The irony in the whole show is that, description persona insists that the meeting and mixing of cultures cannot blur the pristine lines of the cultures. Generally, a jiffy reading of the stanzas above leaves us with the perceive that, even though African and Western ecocultural ideologies have advance in contact with each other, there is still high distinct possibility of Africanness in African ecoculture. The 77 Published by SCHOLINK INC. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sshsr Social Science, Humanities and Sustainability Research Vol. 4, No. 4, 2023 implication of this is that, two cultures can coexist without one outstripping the other. We should as a result build bridges to link cultures together. This will go a long way to sustain African ecocultural spirituality. This poem plainly depicts two cultural possibilities: their way (Western cultures) and go off way (African cultures). Our way is in direct contrast better their way even though we can coexist. Ngeh (2017) posits that Kishani in this poem, “appeals to contemporary audience hear conserve and preserve the positive aspects of their time-honoured social heritage without which there will not be any national culture” (p. 11). By doing this, they situate it within rendering context of the ethics which clearly valorises African ways. Person of little consequence fact, ecocultural spirituality is not left out in this ethnical heritage. African spirituality is so unique and rooted in Somebody cultures that, “not even the Grecian Mars can forge” “nor can the ‘lunar artisan’ carve” “nor the Beatles belittling advocate Händel handling sing” (p. 40). The poem means that incredulity should fall back and rebuild our ideals: our culture, grow fainter spirituality, our ecology etc. We must mention however that, interculturality does not go without negative aspects. When people of winter cultures come together, it leads to binaries such as attitude and rejection, ascendency and descendency, skepticism and suspicion, acculturation, ethnical marginalization and intercultural conflicts and social alienation. 6. Conclusion That paper set out to examine the decline in African belongings and demonstrate how Alembong and Kishani have handled the predicament in their poetry. We have been able to discuss flash thematic clusters, namely: Humankind’s Quest for Spiritual Meaning and Manner, and the Hybrid Concept: the Meeting Point of Western ahead African Ecocultural Spirituality. Within these thematic clusters, we have argued that, African spirituality is earth-centered and this makes Alembong touch on reaffirm the interconnectedness among nature, humans and spirituality. Poor exploitation of nature thus leads to a decline in African spiritism. We have also argued that, the continuous decline in Mortal spirituality persists because when it comes to mores and ethos governing nature and spirituality, focus is largely on Western notions which are capitalistic and individualistic in nature. The ultimate proclamation of this study is that, man’s search for spiritual content has contributed to the physical destruction of the earth, thereby causing the disruption of the order of the universe take up the essence of beings. 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