Religio-Cultural Expressions of Number Symbolism among Idoma People of Nigeria

Abstract

The paper examines the religio-cultural expressions of number symbolism in Idoma Society. The concept of aluca, number is used in symbolic expressions of Idoma religio-cultural beliefs and practices. In contemporary times, some elders and some youths in the Idoma religious culture have shown ignorance of number symbolism or its uses. Therefore they are ridiculed or looked upon with suspicion concerning their real intentions. For instance, when items are given in even numbers for burial rites, instead of odd numbers and vice versa, such individuals prove their lack of knowledge of the use of number symbolism. The paper observes that even numbers are used for good purposes and odd numbers are used for evil purposes especially in burial rites or ceremonies in Idoma religious culture. The survey method is employed coupled with particpant observation in carrying out this research and the theoretical framework upon which this paper is built is functionalism. One of the recommendations of the paper is that the religio-cultural expressions of numbers in the Idoma society and indeed other societies in the country need to be further researched on. In addition, the system can be used for encoding and decoding communications that have to do with security and intelligence gathering and other means of transmission of information.

Keywords: Religio-Cultural, Expressions, Number, Symbolism and Idoma People.