This article explores masquerade celebrations among the youth in the Nsukka area. Over a two-year period, youth masquerade celebrations were studied in the towns of Nsukka, Obollo and Umundu, and it was concluded that there were no reservations around participation, despite Christianity maintaining that these are pagan and fetish practices. Many reasons emerged for participation: attachment to Igbo culture, the quest to belong to the community/the question of identity, the communitarian aspect of masquerade celebrations, the challenges of inculturation, cultural revivalism, and the commercialisation of masquerades. Contrary to early (Western) missionaries’ prediction that Christianity would erode the Igbo people’s ‘fetish’, masquerades are thriving in Nsukka, perpetuated by the Christian youth in a bid to keep their cultural practices alive. This indicates that Christianity, despite its longstanding presence, has not succeeded in curtailing this growing phenomenon.

The Biafran separatist calls of Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB have spread like bush fire over the years among Igbo people. Presently, it is one of the most discussed topics among Igbo people and Nigerians. The narrative of both Kanu and IPOB operate is that Igbo people are marginalized in Nigeria and therefore need freedom. This article examines how some Christian leaders of Igbo extraction now fit into the picture as regards Biafra separatist cause. Utilizing oral interviews and the theory of marginalization, the article illustrates how some Igbo Christian leaders are now supporting the Biafran separatist cause. Their strategy appeals to the Christian faith for justification for Biafran separatism. Hence, ‘spiritual legitimization’ of the Biafran cause by some Igbo Christian leaders helps make Biafran separatism more appealing to many Igbo youth. Christianity now plays a role in the Biafran separatist struggle, although usually neglected in the discourse on Biafra.

This article studies Proverbs 22:1 in relation to the Igbo maxim, 'Ezi afa ka ego' (Integrity surpasses wealth). The poet of Proverbs 22:1 claims that integrity surpasses wealth and then admonishes people to embrace virtues and shun vices. It is sad to observe that in the Igbo society of Nigeria, some citizens presently engage in ritual killings, human trafficking, prostitution and other vices in the quest to acquire wealth. Against this backdrop, this essay analysed Proverbs 22:1 vis-a-vis the Igbo proverb, ' Ezi afa ka ego.' The methodology adopted by the researchers is literary analysis, which is a synchronic approach that studies a biblical text as it appears in its final shape. The researchers employed a random sampling technique to interview seven knowledgeable Igbo people orally to examine the meaning of 'Ezi afa ka ego' in the Igbo context. The study affirmed that modernism has negatively affected the Igbo's cherished value of integrity. This study charges those that engage in iniquity in order to acquire wealth to eschew such practices because a good name surpasses wealth. Keywords: Proverbs 22:1, Good name, Integrity, Ezi afa ka ego, Igbo aphorism

At the height of the deadlocks around global climate change discussions and negotiations, Pope Francis made entry with a morally captivating encyclical letter (Laudato Si) on the Care for Creation. Using a scoping review approach, we focused on a five-year-old body of research around the encyclical, identifying impacts as well as other issues arising from the scholarly engagements. Here, 150 English written publications from 2015 to 2020 were reviewed. The majority of these texts (80 %) addressed the significance and vision of Laudato Si. The rest were distributed between those that presented criticisms of the letter (11 %) and those that gauged the impact of the letter on environmental worldviews (9 %). Second, the climate change (technological advancement)-poverty (climate justice) connection, which is the encyclical’s major focus, remains contested and inconclusive as some critics have rather found and presented a positive relationship between these variables. Third, Laudato Si has recorded a mixed impact. To some people, it has not only led to increased credibility of the Pope but also the increased concern for climate change, whereas to others, it has led to a decreased credibility of the Pope as well as a lessened concern for climate change. Fourth, studies gauging Laudato Si’s impact is geographically biased as they have largely focused on the US and Europe while neglecting other regions especially Africa. The implications of these findings for research and policy are discussed.

With its reflection on God's love for Christians amidst life crises, Romans 8:35–39 ranks among the most loved of Pauline writings. This study reads Romans 8:35–39 in the context of its existential and psychological implications for Igbo Christianity. The study adopts a lexical exegetical approach and considers aspects of the psychological theory of religious coping in its reading of the pericope. In the study, it is contended that Romans 8:35–39 dealt with existential threats that threatened all first-century CE Christians (particularly those in Rome), and that its teachings were aimed at psychologically conditioning the minds of these Christians towards having a positive perception of existential threats through a belief in the love of God. This interpretation holds promise for Igbo Christianity, where the combination of life crises and spirit-world paranoia has had a negative impact on Igbo Christians' view of human existence. Romans 8:35–39 teaches Christians the need for having a positive perception of life crises, notwithstanding a belief in the reality of the activities of the spirit world; God's love is always enough to pull Christians through life crises.

This article explored a new approach to football fandom by Liverpool F.C. supporters club in Nsukka, Nigeria. Between 2019 and 2020, this group embarked on thanksgiving ceremonies to commemorate the successes of Liverpool F.C. within that period. The study adopted participant observation and oral interviews as methods of data collection. Findings show that the reason for the thanksgiving ceremonies by the group is anchored on a tenacious faith in God, who can do all things, including helping Liverpool F.C. win trophies. This finding brings to scholarly attention the much-neglected role the Christian faith plays in football fandom among young people in Nsukka, Nigeria.