VAABONG (CULTIC CONFEDERACY) AMONG THE MUMUYE: AN EXPOSE OF RE-BUILDING MORALITY IN CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA.

Nigeria is a pluralistic society. It is located in West Africa with over 240Million population. Prior to the coming of Western culture to Nigeria, morality was a watch word which is been reiterated for daily maintenance of moral living in the society. No one exists outside of the community. In this excerpt, Vaabong cultic confederacy would be used to rebuild the fallen moral standard of the Nigeria society is which indeed decaying 'Mumuye' is both a language spoken and a name use by the same ethnic group who reside in Adamawa and Taraba States all in North Eastern Nigeria. There is no society that can exist without some fixed norms and traditions being put in place to ensure high moral compliance by members. Prior to the coming of western culture to African society, the sacred institution of moral cult of morality like Vaabong were highly put place for the maintenance of morality in the society. Morality in the African past was highly cherished and promoted by various moral watch dogs, in order to ensure loving and peaceful coexistence among members in the community, whose hope, fears, aspirations and thoughts are made realized in their cultural and socio-religious worldview as expressed in community spirit. The study seeks to exhume Vaabong as an architect for the enforcement and rebuilding of fallen standard of morality in contemporary Nigeria society. The paper adopted a phenomenological approach to explore Vaabong as a cult of morality among the Mumuye, which could be used also in rebuilding the decaying standard of morality in Nigeria today. Data were collected reliably from the field and from relevant books, long essays, dissertation, journal and oral interviews from custodians of Vaabong cult. The paper discovered that, morality in contemporary Nigeria society has been weakened due to the rising influence of secular culture with its tentacle like education, westernization which brought violent destructions on the code of morality and considers Vaabong cult practices as barbaric, violent, ancestor worship and retrogressive. Also, violent nature and penalty of the cult of morality is been abused by custodians of morality in terrorizing innocent people instead of judiciously using it to rebuild decaying moral standards in the society today. In the furtherance and maintenance of Vaabaong cult in rebuilding morality in contemporary Nigeria society, the paper recommends the need for custodians of Vaabong cult to allowed it to be invigorated with positive vitality from outside so as to serve of cult of morality rebuilding high fallen moral standard in the society today. Vaabaong cult be borrowed by other similar culture for the furtherance and rebuilding of morality. Positive aspects of Vaabong (cult) should be used to compliment other means of maintaining morality in contemporary Nigeria society. Custodians should not use the cult of morality to witch-hunt victims, instead, they should invigorate the cult to become relevant in promoting a true humanistic and moral society, where morality needs to be rebuild because it is at the verge of collapsing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]