Notes

by the members of that society. If a man, for instance, did not think it wise to make
honesty a personal value, and it is widely held by his immediate society that truth
telling is a non-negotiable virtue, it would not be long before such an individual
gets into trouble with other members of his society. This shows that values occupy a
central place in a people's culture. It forms the major bulwark that sustains a people's
culture, making it more down-to-earth and real. Elsewhere, we have seen African
culture as "all the material and spiritual values of the African people in the course of
history and characterising the historical stage attained by Africa in her developments"
(Idang 2009: 142). This simply means that there is a peculiar way of life, approach to
issues, values and world views that are typically African.
Based on cultural considerations, some forms of behaviour, actions and
conduct are approved while others are widely disapproved of. To show the extent of
disapproval that followed the violation of values that should otherwise be held sacred,
the penalty was sometimes very shameful, sometimes extreme. African culture, with
particular reference to the Ibibio people in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, for instance,
has zero tolerance for theft. The thief once caught in the act or convicted, would be
strinned naked his or her hody muhbed with charcoal from head to toe and the ohiect