Healing as Religious Diffusion: A Postcolonial Reading of the Igbe Orhe Religious Movement in Urhoboland, Nigeria

Abstract

This article examines the spread of Igbe Orhe, an indigenous African religion originating in Kokori, Delta State, Nigeria, highlighting the role of healing as a mechanism for religious expansion. Departing from the perspective of religious diffusion studies, which have focused on world religions, this study analyzes how Igbe Orhe spread beyond Urhoboland through therapeutic authority and healing practices. The study employs a qualitative approach, drawing on interviews, oral traditions, and archival sources, and is explained through Achille Mbembe’s postcolonial framework. The findings indicate that Igbe Orhe developed through contagious, relocational, and hierarchical spread. Central to this process are the therapeutic authority of Ubiesha Etarakpor and the healing of Idubor, who catalyze the religion’s expansion beyond the Urhobo community. The findings also demonstrate that Igbe Orhe possesses capacities for adaptation, reproduction, and expansion comparable to those of more established religious traditions. Thus, this study challenges the assumption that Indigenous African Religions (IARs) are static and confined to local contexts. The case of Igbe Orhe demonstrates that Indigenous African Religions have the capacity to expand beyond ethnic and geographical boundaries and provide insights into the universality of religion and the decolonization of religious studies.