JOURNALS

ABSTRACT

Proverbs and wellerisms are wise sayings that address the heart of the discourse in any given context, truthfully and objectively. A good understanding of the Igbo proverbs and wellerisms would automatically lead one to an understanding of the Igbo man, his philosophy of life, tradition, culture and mode of living. The values of the proverbs and wellerisms in the Igbo society cannot be overemphasized. In relation to societal core values and education, they are regarded as instruments used for socialization and pacification with the aim of enhancing peace and unity. Among the objectives of the paper are: firstly to define proverb and wellerism, secondly to show the differences between the two and thirdly to examine the Igbo pacification proverbs and wellerisms in relation to peace and conflict resolution. The research design for the study is structured in line with descriptive method. The study is anchored on the Use and Relevance theories of meaning. The writer uses her intuitive knowledge as an L1-speaker of the Igbo language to generate the relevant primary data while the secondary data are sourced from relevant literature. From the analysis, it has been established that Igbo pacification proverbs and wellerisms are ready tools for conflict resolution at home, school and society in general. They also perform didactic functions and are seen to touch all aspects of human life. The paper suggests that interested researchers in this area of study should go further to look at pacification in other figurative expressions as a way of peace and conflict resolution. This will possibly create opportunities for the learning of the proverbs and wellerisms as useful tools for settling conflicts.