(Seeing things as they really are, not as they seem to be)
Ibibio proverb
Traditional symbolism in Nigeria is not as spectacular as the walls of Great Zimbabwe or as massive as the granite Egyptian pyramids; words like akwa, ibom, eka, signifying great, grand and ancient, often refer to inconspicuous but culturally important symbols, which arrest the respect and attention of any black African and evoke an awed, though they might arouse just a patronising sneer from a casual observer.
A small shrub with an upturned old pot underneath has a deep spiritual meaning, having been planted on that very spot at the ancient village square, years and years ago, by the founding fathers of that particular community as an altar for the worship of their ancestors and gods. The old cracked pot was once carefully tended by the traditional shrine keeper, who had the responsibility of maintaining the communication link with the ancestors. They, in turn, protected and guided the existence of their kindred and interceded with the deities on their behalf. The break of that link meant an unimaginable collapse of the well-established order of things, the loss of spiritual guardianship, chaos and calamity, lashed out by angry spirits, and these were to be avoided at all costs.
Communal social life was centred in the vicinity of such small shrines, located on judicial and coronation grounds and surrounded and protected by living compounds. In the past, witnesses say, huge trees of thick, dark foliage and tough, durable fibre, refuge of wild animals - leopards, pythons and eagles (legendary guardians by land, water and air) -enclosed and protected the sacred groves of the most powerful traditional societies (Ekpo, Ekong, Ebre).