Amadiọha: The Cool Lord of Justice:
Amadiọha is the preeminent shrine of justice in many Igbo communities and the divinity of rain, lightning and thunder.
An amalgamation of his stories goes: Chi, the supreme being, created the world and divided it, one side becoming the heavens, and the other the earth and a space formed between them. Chi created the first two deities, the head of the deities, Ala the Earth Mother, who Chi sent to enforce morality, and a male known as Amadiọha or Kamanụ who rules over the heavens. Amadiọha and Ala became husband and wife.
Ala retreated into the ground and became the keeper of the underworld, Amadiọha stayed over her nourishing her with his rains making him to be known also as Igwe ka Ala, the Sky Lord over Ala.
As the sky and land retreated from one another, so also did Chi retreat from humanity into Azụ Igwe, the domain behind the heavens. The first humans came into existence between Elu na Ala, between the heavens and the earth.
The first set of ụmụmmadụ (humans) went to Ala to solve their problems, Ala set out their laws which she commanded not to be broken and kept ancestors in her womb, Ala mmụọ, when they transitioned into the afterlife.Igbo people weren’t allowed to commit arụ Ala, the disrespect of Ala, or nsọ n’Ala the soiling of Ala, as they lived off her and on her.
Ala is an intolerant arbiter of justice. Whenever ụmụmmadụ committed any taboo, Ala e gbu gbim! Ala was quick to kill without caution.If the community sinned, Ala made people infertile, she stopped producing crops and caused famine. When angered, Ala caused houses to collapse and the ground to open without warning.
After some time ụmụmmadụ were terrified of Ala, so they sought to look elsewhere and turned their head to the heavens where Amadiọha resides. Ụmụmmadụ pleaded to Agwụ, the heavenly messenger, to ask Amadiọha to deal with their court cases. Agwụ relayed this message to Amadiọha who was sympathetic to ụmụmmadụ, he told them through Agwụ to set up a shrine and make a sacrifice to him.
Amadioha is a laid-back father figure, he is cool like the rains and easy like the wind and his voice was the murmuring of thunder. He ruled the heavens along with his younger brother Igwe who he put in charge of the rains. Amadiọha was the owner of lightning bolts which made his skin light, for this reason ụmụmmadụ decided to sacrifice a brilliant white ram to Amadiọha. Amadiọha also became the lord and protector of light skinned (Igbo) men.
Amadiọha accepted this sacrifice and from that time on Ebulu Amadiọha, Amadiọha’s ram, appeared to wrongdoers after a thunder strike as a warning sign for them to repent as Amadiọha’s judgment awaited them. This was unlike Ala who didn’t want to hear it and killed instantly.
Amadiọha sent rains through Igwe to remove famine and to cool Ala’s temper. This husband and wife now came to forever contest over who would preside over the matters of humanity, Ala the head of the deities, or Amadiọha the cool judge.
Amadiọha looked over the disputes and cases of ụmụmmadụ who came to him, everyone who came to him had to make sure that they were in the right lest Amadiọha strike them down with a lightning bolt for falsely swearing in his name. As the ilu (proverb) goes: onye n’akọ ụgwọ m ji Agwụ, ọ n’akọkwa nke o ji Amadiọha? One who recounts the debts I owe to Agwụ, does he ever recount his debts to Amadiọha?
Amadiọha strikes out with his lightning bolts either to execute or to reveal the secret misdeeds of evildoers like the hiding of harmful charms. After striking a wrongdoer, Amadiọha usually leaves a black mark on their foreheads.
Ala does not accept those who are killed by Amadiọha so they aren’t given burials, their bodies and belongings are discarded as if they were pollution.
Ndị Igbo (Igbo people) started naming their children Kanụ, Kalụ, Kamanụ, Kamalụ in honour of Amadiọha. Amadiọha’s names also appear as the name of kings on several kings list, including those of the Kalabari and the Kingdom of Bonny in today’s Rivers State.
Amadiọha’s main shrine known as Kamanụ Ozuzu, is based in Ozuzu in Rivers State.
