This question is based on selected poems from Wole Soyinka (ed.) Poems of Black Africa and D.I Nwoga (ed) West African Verse. The oilbean in Christopher Oki...

This question is based on selected poems from Wole Soyinka (ed.) Poems of Black Africa and D.I Nwoga (ed) West African Verse.

The oilbean in Christopher Okigbo's 'The Passage refers to

Answer Details

In Christopher Okigbo's poem "The Passage," the oilbean refers to one of the totems of Idoto, a goddess in Igbo mythology. The poem describes a ritual in which young women, who are initiated into the cult of Idoto, must bathe in a river and eat the oilbean as a symbol of their purification and rebirth. Therefore, the oilbean is not just a physical object, but a symbolic representation of the spiritual and cultural beliefs of the Igbo people.