What is the name of God in Tiv language and in all other languages that exist in Nigeria? Do all the nations and tribes call God the same or are there any differences? Probably, we will need to dive into the religion of each particular ethnic group to see what they believe in and what they prefer to call their Almighty.
What is the Tiv God name and what God do they believe in?
The Tiv nation who live in the central Benue land in Nigeria call their God Aondo, which means “the sky”. It’s interesting that they don’t worship their highest God as other people from other religions do. They say their God doesn’t care much for them. In return, they don’t care much for him, either. The main thing their God has done was the creation of everything, including the evil. Then, the God headed away and the Tiv people never asked him where.
In general, the Tiv people have more faith in unseen substances that have a certain power over humans. They respect ancestors but their ancestors don’t rule any supernatural forces. The actions that humans take are responsible for the awakening of evil and all the further results. These actions may be influenced by a lump of metaphysical substance called Tsav. This substance often acts like a real organ but gives a person some special abilities.
In the material world, they believe in the so-called Akombo, symbols of powers. They are no way gods or anything near to it. They are something close to what is called the powers of nature in the western world. However, when something bad happens, it’s very likely that Akombo will be in charge for that and steps will be taken to neutralize or destroy the power of this evil force.
It’s interesting that the majority of Tiv religion followers calmly claim that they know well how Akombo rituals are conducted. In fact, it has never been said that it was a kind of mystery. They believe that somebody always knows more about certain things.
If somebody dies without an obvious reason, they say that the God knows why the death has occurred. They believe that there’s always a certain human motif behind any such case but they haven’t discovered it yet. Everything seems to be yet ahead for them.
Nigerian nations and their names for god
- Hausa call their God Ubangidi. This name means “the only supreme” and depicts the honor with which Hausa treat their God. They worship their supreme god greatly
- Yoruba call their God Olorun or Olodumare. These names mean “the mightiest among the mightiest”. Surely, it’s obvious how much they cherish their creator and his power over the world
- Igbo call their God Chukwu. The name means some force that has been there before all other beings. No wonder that many male names belonging to Igbos have the part “Chukwu-” in them. Another known name of the God is Chineke
- Edo call their God Osanobwa. This is a mighty ruler who sustains and gives birth to everything in the whole world
- Birom call their God Dangwi. The name means “the primary source of existence”.
- Efic people call their God Osa or Nudazi, Fulani – Geno. These names certainly mean approximately the same with the previous ones, all the forms of the endless power and life-giving
This is practically everything regarding the names of God in Nigerian languages. If you know more names that are not here on the list, share them in comments.
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