Obiora F. Ike Livres

A fundamental dimension of man's life on earth is Human Work. It is the guiding thread which co-ordinates the multifarious activities of man in his attempt to build, renew and elevate the world. Central to the problem of work is man, for he is the being who works and who must be served by work and its products. The Encyclical Letter of John Paul II «Laborem Exercens» devotes adequate attention to the right understanding of the value meaning and social ordering of human work with a consideration of the problems and prospects of Work in an post-industrial society. What has «Laborem Exercens» to offer the African in post-colonial society? This work attempts to re-evaluate-adapt and re-translate the relevance of the social Teachings of the Church in the context of Nigeria.

From the late 1990s through the present, globalization has become a buzzword. Despite very different meanings attached to the term and even more divergent evaluations of its likely impact, globalization has not yet become as global as it sounds. The reality within Africa makes this very clear. There may be a global village, but there is not a door through which the majority of citizens may enter that village. Only a few make it. This may change. It is clear that we are in an accelerated process of transition to a new period in world history. But what does this mean today for the African peoples and cultures, for humanity at large, both in the northern and in the southern hemispheres, and especially for vulnerable groups and the poor everywhere? The contributions within this volume address these questions. Obiora F. Ike is a Catholic priest and theologian, director, Catholic Institute for Development, Justice, Peace and Caritas (CIDJAP), Enugu.

Obiora Ike ist Priester. Er hat es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, Frieden zu stiften zwischen den Christen und Muslimen in seinem Heimatland Nigeria – und die christliche Botschaft der Freude und Hoffnung zu verbreiten. Während seines Studiums in Bonn hat der »schwarze Prophet«, wie er genannt wird, Deutschland kennen und lieben gelernt. Die rheinländische Frohnatur war seinem eigenen Wesen so ähnlich, dass er Weisheiten wie »Et is, wie et is!« (Es ist, wie es ist!) oder »Wat kütt, dat kütt!« (Was kommt, das kommt!) schnell in seinen Sprachschatz übernommen hat. Doch Deutschland hat sich verändert, und Obiora Ike wundert sich: »Wovor habt ihr Angst, wo sind eure Freude und euer Optimismus geblieben?« Mit diesem Buch will er dem Land, in dem er so viel Liebe und Freundschaft erfahren hat, etwas zurückgeben: Afrikanische Lebensweisheiten voller Mut und Lebensfreude und die einzigartigen Beobachtungen eines Mannes, der mit Witz und Wortgewandtheit zwischen zwei Welten pendelt.