Maazi Dibia (Uchechukwu Obiajulu Sakar), the Teaching Magnet

Recognised by Nkuzify as Distinguished Teacher of the Year.

Maazi Dibia, whose full name is Uchechukwu Obiajulu Sakar, is one of the best-known teachers of Igbo religion and culture today. He is a traditionalist and a native doctor, a dibia, and he is also trained as a chemical engineer. Few people stand where those two worlds meet. He does, and he teaches from there.

A teaching magnet

I call him a teaching magnet, and the name was earned. He has taught many classes for people across Africa and in the diaspora, and people keep coming to learn from him. His YouTube channel describes his work as teaching the deeper knowledge of the Igbo spiritual system, Omenaani.

From engineering to Igbo spirituality

He trained in chemical engineering. A biography on Igbo Genealogy and Biographies says he later studied theology in a Catholic seminary, and describes him as a historian and researcher too. So the man who defends Igbo religion has also studied the science of the laboratory and the theology of the church. He did not walk into African religion because he knew nothing else.

Standing for African religion

Maazi Dibia sets Western religion beside African religion and examines both. He stands for African religion, and for Igbo religion in particular, and he makes his case in the open. Readers come to this topic with different faiths, and Nkuzify recognises him here for his teaching, not to argue anyone out of theirs. But a teacher who gives reasons, takes questions and teaches whole classes about what he believes is doing what a teacher is meant to do.

Giving back

According to a Connect Nigeria profile, he is the founder of Sakar's Foundation International, which works for physically challenged people and other marginalised groups. The biography above adds that he founded the Maazi Dibia Foundation, which works to preserve Igbo history and culture.

What he teaches us

Maazi Dibia shows that teaching does not need a school building. His classes reach people in Africa and in the diaspora, and what he gives them is a way back to who they are. That is close to Nkuzify's own work of bringing African education back to Africa.

Thank you, Maazi Dibia

Nkuzify recognises him this Teachers' Day, as a teacher of the Igbo way of life.