The Institutionalism of Odo Masquerade and Sustainable Development in Igbo Land

Abstract

: Africans’ greatest problem was the incursion of the white men tino Africa many decades ago, even though many European authors described Africa as darkness before the coming of the white man, the natural growth that had been established in many African kingdoms was aborted as the white men brought and imposed another culture upon Africa. The Odo masquerade cult has outlived the colonial invasion of Africa and is still serving as a worship and as a cultural system. The objective of this study is to examine the relevance of Odo masquerade cult in this present age. The Modernization Theory is adopted as the theoretical framework of the study while content analysis was utilized as research method. The findings include that Odo Masquerade is a cult, a culture, a form of religion and a masquerade. The paper recommends the reform of the practice of Odo Masquerade cult to be relevant in this present age and be a tool for sustainable development. The modernization process is to shield the tradition from all the practice or tenets that are contending and inimical with the present development of today.