Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened...And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Romans 1:21,23
"Fidelis Igbege Ajah and Dr. Utre Eno Iwara explain it best in their paper Spirit Being In African Indigenous Religion: The Mbembe 
Perspective.
The paper states that the concept of spirit occupies a vast space in
African indigenous religion. It comprises the Supreme Being, the
divinities, ancestors and other innumerable lesser spirits.... “Most traditional religions in Africa
have developed at the local level and are unique to a particular
society. Common elements include a belief in a creator god, who is
rarely if ever represented in art, and directly approached by
worshipers. Instead, the supreme deity is petitioned through
intermediaries, or lesser spirits. These spirits may be related to the
natural world and have control over powerful natural phenomena.” ...and so the African turns to the ancestors, and sometimes to nature spirits.
Ajah and Dr. Iwara
elaborated on this, defining ancestors as “the spirits of dead parents
who had good deaths and burials and had lived to ripe old ages” ,
adding that “ancestral spirits which are originally of lesser cadre and
inhabit the place below the ‘home of the living’”.
There is always a growing interest in what these spirits look like and
there have been many descriptions of them, with many being depicted as
shapeshifters.
1) The Nyau was a masked brotherhood of the Chewa
speaking people. Nyaus are an initiate conduit of life, death belonging
to a secret brotherhood within Chewa societies found in Malawi, Eastern
Zambia, Western Mozambique, and areas where Malawians migrated to in
Zimbabwe. These young men are often seen at important ceremonies
performing ritualistic dance. The Nyau beliefs include communication
with those who are dead, or their spirits.
2) Makeda — who according to lore and legend — was the mysterious and majestic Queen of Sheba and also the beloved of King Solomon of Israel. Stories of Makeda, Bilqīs, or the Queen of Sheba remain amongst the most fertile cycles of legend across East Africa.
3) Yumboes were a kind of fairy-race in the mythology of the
YumboeWolof-Lebou people on Goree Island (Senegal, West Africa). They were also believed to be no more than 60 centimetres tall, with silver hair and shimmering skin.
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| Yumboe |
YumboeWolof-Lebou people on Goree Island (Senegal, West Africa). They were also believed to be no more than 60 centimetres tall, with silver hair and shimmering skin.
4) Oshun, who in Yoruba mythology, is the Orisha
goddess of love, beauty, luxury, fresh waters, and statesmanship.
Fondly referred to as the mother of all sweet things, she is often
depicted in honey-yellow or gold, while holding a mirror up to herself
in admiration. The legend of Oshun is native to the Yoruba people of
South-Western Nigeria. It was also believed that Oshun once lived a
mortal life, and that during this period she was elected as the first
female Iyalode. An Iyalode is a high-ranking female chieftain in traditional Yoruba states.
5) The charming, cunning, and mischievous Anansi
who was a
trickster spirit of the Akan people and often acted on behalf of Nyame, the sky god. He is depicted as possessing great intelligence and charisma. Amongst many other things, Anansi is attributed with the original stories for both wisdom and jealousy. Anansi is often depicted possessing special abilities such as the power to make rain, shapeshift (usually into a spider), and superhuman strength. In West African and Caribbean folklore Anansi was often celebrated for his cunning wit and penchant for turning the tables on his very powerful enemies.
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| Anasi |
trickster spirit of the Akan people and often acted on behalf of Nyame, the sky god. He is depicted as possessing great intelligence and charisma. Amongst many other things, Anansi is attributed with the original stories for both wisdom and jealousy. Anansi is often depicted possessing special abilities such as the power to make rain, shapeshift (usually into a spider), and superhuman strength. In West African and Caribbean folklore Anansi was often celebrated for his cunning wit and penchant for turning the tables on his very powerful enemies.
6) Yemaya (Yemoja
in Yoruba) — the Yoruba Orisha or Goddess of the living Ocean — is
considered the mother of all and is often depicted as a mermaid or moon
goddess.Yemaya belongs to an ancient pantheon of gods and goddesses
native to the Yoruba people of South-Western Nigeria. As the Yoruba
origin myth goes, there was a time when Yemaya was heavily pregnant.
When her water finally broke, she gave birth to 14 Yoruba gods and
goddesses, as well as all the rivers, and all mankind.
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| NyamiNyami |
7) Nyami Nyami
is believed to have been the god of the Zambezi Valley and the Zambezi
River before the creation of the Kariba Dam. According to legend, Nyami
Nyami (sometimes known as The Great Mudzimu) was the chief god of the Tonga people
of Southern Zambia (and a small fraction of Northern Zimbabwe). He was
believed to be a paramount source of protection and sustenance. Dwelling
in the heart of the Kariba Gorge,
Nyami Nyami’s wife travelled to answer the petitions of their people
one day. Foreign men arrived and began to build a wall — this would
later become the Kariba Dam. It is purported that Nyami Nyami took great
offense to the strain on his people and was deeply hurt by the
subsequent separation from his wife — both a result of the construction
of the Kariba Dam. For these reasons, he is traditionally believed to
have been responsible for the several deaths and catastrophic floods
that brought the Kariba construction to a halt and near end.
8) Obayifo is a vampire-like mythological creature of West African
origin that first appeared in the folklore of the Ashanti (of present-day Ghana). Obayifo were also known as Asiman by the Dahomey people (of present-day Benin) and were also considered a kind of sorceress. In Ashanti, folklore Obayifo are very common and may inhabit the bodies of ordinary people. They were described as having shifty eyes, being obsessed with food, and when travelling at night they were said to emit a phosphorescent light.
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| Obayifo |
origin that first appeared in the folklore of the Ashanti (of present-day Ghana). Obayifo were also known as Asiman by the Dahomey people (of present-day Benin) and were also considered a kind of sorceress. In Ashanti, folklore Obayifo are very common and may inhabit the bodies of ordinary people. They were described as having shifty eyes, being obsessed with food, and when travelling at night they were said to emit a phosphorescent light.
9) Dzivaguru is the creation goddess credited with designing and
nurturing. She is believed to be the mother goddess of the
Shona-speaking people of Korekore in Zimbabwe. Dzivaguru’s
story answers fundamental questions about nature such as why we have
day and night or rain and drought. Said to have ruled both heaven and
earth, Dzivaguru is depicted as wearing goatskins, beautiful flowers,
and bearing a cornucopia of magical substances. Her sacred creatures
include a pair of mythical golden sunbirds, probably modelled after
swallows. She was said to have lived in a beautiful palace by a sacred
lake near Dande in the Mashonaland Central Province of Zimbabwe." AMAKA