REPORTER : LEONARD OSI
The people of South East region have been urged to intentionally preserve their rich cultural heritage especially the New Yam festival. The traditional ruler of Nkaliki Echara Unuhu Autonomous Community Eze Sunday Oketa made the call in Abakaliki while speaking on the significance of the New Yam festival in Igbo Land.
The New Yam festival is widely known as Iri ji or Ikeji in many states across the South East region. The festival is a major cultural and agricultural celebration held annually between August and October across Igbo Land, to mark end of the farming season.
In Ebonyi State, various communities take pride in celebrating the new yam festival annually. For the Ezza people, the new yam festival is known as Oke aku, for the people of Izzhi, it is Ojiji while Ikwo identifies theirs as Nnefi Oha. The new yam festival begins annually in Ebonyi State from July with Oke aku Ezza while the Nnefi Oha of Ikwo and Ojiji Izhi comes up by August respectively.
In line with the culture of the people, no one is allowed to eat the new yam until the custodians of peoples culture or elders of various communities offer sacrifices to God and their ancestors for a bountiful harvest. The traditional ruler of Nkaliki Echara Unuhu Autonomous Community in Ebonyi State Eze Sunday Oketa describes how the new yam festival is celebrated in his community.
Eze Oketa says the sustenance of new yam festival in Igbo Land including Ebonyi State would help to advance the course of peace building in the area and promote development in the region. The traditional ruler of Amagu Ikwo Kingdom, Eze Dominic Aloh, who describes yam as king of all crops, throws more light on why it occupies a central position in Igbo tradition, not only as a major source of food but also as a historical measure of wealth and social standing.
A custodian of culture at Ikwuato Idembia Autonomous Community, in Ezza South LGA, Eze Christopher Obasi explained that the Ezza Ezekuna who is regarded as the eldest clan in Ebonyi State, kick-starts the festival with the Okeaku celebration which attracts friends, sons and daughters of Ezza Ezekuna from within and outside the country to their ancestral home where elders, traditional leaders and people even from political and religious backgrounds gather.
Eze Obasi explained that though the names and ceremonies differ from one clan to another, the message remained largely the same with household or individual preparation of various traditional cuisines, displays by masquerades and dance troupes along major streets, markets and village squares. Beyond Ebonyi, the New Yam Festival remains a powerful cultural thread connecting Igbo communities across Nigeria and in diaspora.