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I, however, call on our Christians as individuals and as communities to open their eyes to the needs of their neighbours

III. Adjectival phrases/clauses

5.2 Pathos-baseddevices

5.2.1 Code switching from English to Igbo to express solidarity with the audience

5.2.1.3 Igbo proverbs

Proverbs are wise sayings that show in a condensed form the accumulated wisdom and life experiences of a people. They make available ideas and values neatly packed in memorable and easily reproduced forms. Opeibi (2009) describes it as a model of compressed or forceful language. In the Igbo culture, proverbs are very highly valued, so much so that they are regarded as the oil with which words are eaten. They are commonly used as expressions of traditional wisdom and familiarity with Igbo lore. Edeh (1985) observes that Igbo proverbs are innumerable, broad in scope and elasticity, and that there is no experience, sensory or perceptual, that cannot find its legitimate domain of expression in proverbs. In using proverbs, the speaker or writer employs a resource for handling a social situation (Hansen 1996).

The bishops, as Igbo indigenes, have exploited the resource of Igbo proverbs in their pastoral letters, for the purpose of expressing solidarity with the audience to enhance

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acceptance of their messages. In text 90, for example, an Igbo proverb is deployed to facilitate compliance with the message of loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church.

Text 90:

You must also be careful about men and women who insinuate themselves into families to get influence over silly men and women...Ukpana okpoko buru nti chiri ya! (WWF, p. 67)

The Igbo proverb, here, though not translated, literally means: ‗a grasshopper taken by okpoko is deaf.‘ Okpoko is a kind of bird which is known for its loud noise. It is believed that before this bird could get at its victim, the victim must have heard its noise and taken precautions. It is only a deaf grasshopper that can be caught unawares by the okpoko.By means of this proverb the bishop appeals to the Igbo traditional wisdomto persuade the audience to heed his warning to beware of identifying themselves with anti-Catholic groups. If the audience have ears, that is, if they are not deaf, they should heed the bishop‘s warning; if not, they should be ready to bear the consequences just like the grasshopper which fails to hear the sound of okpoko.

Through mutual understanding created by the choice of the proverbs, the bishop aims to persuadethe audience to remain loyal to the Roman Catholic faith.

Similarly, Igbo proverb is used in text 91 to make the faithful respond to the call to support the Church financially:

Text 91:

We want to challenge the faith of our Catholics to rise up as responsible members of our Family of God to bear the responsibility of supporting the Church freely according to one‘s means. The Igbo adage has it Oji ego kwaa nne ya, na oburo diokpala gbulu ya! (FFF, p.90)

The highlighted part of the text is an Igbo proverb. Its meaning is understood from the context as, ―whoever has the means should bear the financial responsibility of his dead mother‘s burial;

after all it is not the first son that killed her.‖ In the Igbo culture, the financial responsibility of burying a dead father or mother is solely shouldered by the first son (just as he is the one who inherits the father‘s property after his father‘s death). Sometimes, however, the first son lacks the means to carry out this responsibility, hence this proverb. The proverb is used to buttress the bishop‘s point that financial support to the Church should be given in faith according to

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one‘s means and not through flat levies. By using this proverb in its original Igbo form, not translated, the bishop demonstrateshis linguistic and cultural solidarity with the faithful, who are made to feel at home with him as their own brother. The use of the proverb also creates in the faithful a sense of admiration for the bishop, who, despite his education and priestly vocation, is still knowledgeable in his people‘s culture.

The Igbo proverbs in text 92 are found handy by the bishop to enlist the support and cooperation of the audience in relation to the message of loyalty.

Text 92:

You may think that it is easier to go to other Churches and groups…Ebe onye no, ebe onoro ana-agu ya! (One is attracted to the place where one is not). You have only to taste and see that the simmer will wear off and the pretence continues! Oburo etu ugoro si ada n’onu ka osi ato uto…not all that glitters is gold (FFF, p. 79)

Here, the proverbs are used in the context of the bishop‘s warning against defection of the faithful to non-Catholic Churches. The literal meaning of the first proverb is given in brackets as ‗one is attracted to the place where one is not.‘ In other words, one always tends to consider a place where he has not been to to be better than the place where he is. The bishop uses this proverb to criticise the attitude of the faithful who always consider non-Catholic Churches to be better than the Catholic Church and so tend to defect from the Catholic faith. The second proverb is an addendum, a complement, to the first one. After supporting his criticism of the faithful‘s attitude through the use of the first proverb, the bishop now sounds a note of warning to them by means of the second proverb, whose literal translation is ‗The taste of bitter kola is not as pleasant as it sounds when it is being eaten.‘ This meaning is reinforced by the equivalent English proverb not all that glitters is gold. The bishop uses the proverb to make it clear to the faithful that things are not always what they appear to be. The non-Catholic Churches which appear attractive to them have some ugly things about them. This warning through the use of proverb serves to persuade the faithful to remain steadfast in the Catholic faith.

The use of Igbo proverbs in the bishops‘ letters is a way of demonstrating loyalty to the Igbo culture and solidarity with the faithful. It indicates the bishops‘ attachment to the Igbo

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community and its linguistic climate. Through shared socio-cultural beliefs, the bishops are able to persuade the faithful to remain steadfast in the Catholic faith.