Most Blacks i mean Africans living in Africa, expecially Nigerians. IGBO indigents to be precise.
After seeing Black Panther Movie will be shouting Wakanda wakanda.
Without knowing the origin of some letter representations there.
Those are NSIBIDI.
IT IS THE OLD WRITING SYSTEM OF THE IGBOS.
YOU WILL ONLY KNOW THIS IF YOU ARE WELL ROOTED OR SOMEHOW HAVE SOME RELATIONS WHO BELONG TO EKPE CULT. They are the ones that are still using it till date. You need to educate yourselves.
I came Across NSIBIDI WHEN I was in Secondary school though i don't really understood what it was.
To me it was either Indian or Chinese writing. Therefore i neglected it then, though it wasn't my fault nobody taught me that such a thing existed or still existing.
But in those days, there were old women and Men with some tattoo kinds of drawings on their hands or necks. At times all over their belly.
Being a kid who is very inquisitive to know and learn everything, I questioned My Mother about those drawings and why and where did those old people get the tattoos. Because to me Tattoo is a modern thing how come this old people has tattoo?
My mother's answer will always be that those were markings used by parents to mark their Children should incase they are enslaved, that they can be able to identify themselves wherever they meet in the future, they can be reunited. 🙄🙄🙄🙄 Thats was close? But not.
Judging by my Mother's explanation, she is somehow close to the answer but not correct. She was unable to read Nsibidi because its not english or simplified Igbo language she was trained with.
Now as a grown up, and a Nsibidi Literate maybe. I started to think, was it that This writing system is secretive or used particularly by a group of persons?
From my findings by asking questions anyway. It was never a secret writing system. When it was in use, everyone that knows how to use it uses it to communicate or send kids on an errand to the Village king or to the town crier.
THEN THERE CAME CHRISTIANITY.
After Christianity was introduced and majority abandoned Nsibidi writing system and enbraced English form of writing. Only few who didn't convert to Christianity continued to use it to communicate and this set of people belonged to EKPE CULT group.
The generation that came after now consider Nsibidi writing as demonic because it is used by the EKPE CULT Group or by People that belonged to Masquerade Group.
This set of non Christian Believers are never in anyway demonic but just wanted in anyway they can to preserve their heritage.
Some places and homes in IGBO LAND today still have this writing inscriptions on their gates or wooden Doors. Some old people still have a tattoo of this writing on their body, expecially the traditionalists among them.
Then later I stumbled on Nsibidi while searching OLD WRITING SYSTEMS. TO my greatest surprise this writing system originated from the Eastern and southern part of Nigeria. I started learning it immediately without wasting a single time. ( google about it )
Who ever that wants to see more should come to Centre for black and African arts and civilization, in marina, lagos.
There are lots of works there.
Now everybody is busy shouting and cheering Wakanda, but this system of writing was abolished when Christianity came. It's not a crime that we accepted Christianity but why did we abandon our invention ?
Sit down, humble yourself and ask yourself have i learned the things I supposed to know
And I can bet that some casts of the Movie don't know about this
