The New Yam Festival of the Igbo ( Iwa ji in Igbo language) is an annual harvest festival by the Igbo people held at the end of the rainy season in early August.
The Iwa ji Festival (literally “new-yam eating”) is practised throughout West Africa (especially in Nigeria and Ghana) and other African countries and beyond, symbolizing the conclusion of a harvest and the beginning of the next work cycle.
The celebration is a very culturally based occasion, tying individual Igbo communities together as essentially agrarian and dependent on yam.
Yams are the first crop to be harvested and are the most important crop of the region. The evening prior to the day of the festival, all old yams (from the previous year’s crop) are consumed or discarded. The next day, only dishes of yam are served, as the festival is symbolic of the abundance of the produce.
Traditionally, the role of eating the first yam is performed by the oldest man in the community or the king (igwe). This man also offers the yams to God, deities and ancestors. It is believed that the position bestows the privilege of being intermediaries between their communities and the gods of the land. The rituals are meant to express the gratitude of the communities to the gods for making the harvest possible, and they are widely followed despite more modern changes due to the influence of Christianity in the area.
The day is symbolic of enjoyment after the cultivation season, and the plenty is shared with friends and well-wishers. A variety of festivities mark the eating of new yam. Folk dances, masquerades, parades and parties create an experience that some participants characterize as “art”; the colourful festival is a spectacle of exhibited joy, thanks and community display.
Palm oil (mmanu nri) is used to eat the yam. Iwa ji also shares some similarities with the Asian Mid-Autumn Festival, as both are based on the cycles of the moon and are essentially community harvest festivals.
In recent times, the celebration, which used to be the greatest festival of the year in most communities in Igboland, has become endangered. In fact, some communities have stopped celebrating it except by a handful of the people who do so quietly.
Two major reasons have been blamed for this. The coming of western education and Christianity, especially as the celebration was seen as a pagan or traditional religion celebration.
However, in the land of Ezaa Ezekuna in Ebonyi State, the new yam festival known as Oke Aku Festival is still revered and celebrated with pomp and grandeur. The festival marks the commencement of a new calendar year for the Ezaa.
Ezaa are a north eastern Igbo sub-group in south eastern Nigeria. The Ezaa are direct descendants of Ezekuna and his wife, Anyigo. They are, therefore, often referred to as Ezaa Ezekuna.
Ezaa people live in virtually all three senatorial zones of Ebonyi State and beyond, but are concentrated in Ezaa North, Ezaa South, Onicha, Ishielu and Ohaukwu local government areas and even in some parts of Enugu State.
Onueke is the ancestral headquarters of the Ezaa, one of the most populous clans in Ebonyi State of Nigeria, hence the Oke Aku Festival takes place in the town.
The traditional Ezaa in these areas still return to Onueke to offer sacrifices to the graves of their progenitors. Coincidentally, Sacred Heart Parish, Onueke serves as the headquarters of Christianity for Ezaa Catholics.
Onueke has been quite important, politically speaking. It used to be the headquarters of the old Ezzikwo Division. It was also the headquarters of the old Ezaa Local Government Area. Right now, it doubles as the headquarters of the Ezaa South Local Government Area and Ebonyi Central Senatorial Zone, comprising Ezaa South, Ezaa North, Ishielu and Ikwo local government areas.
Onueke derives its name from the famous Eke Imoha, one of the oldest and biggest markets in Ebonyi State. The Eke Imoha Market is central to the economic life of Ezaa people. This is where the people sell their rich agricultural produce. Mainly farmers, the Ezaa produse yams, cassava, rice, cocoyams, and many other crops in abundance.
These food crops, along with many other modern wares, are bought and sold in the Eke Market which is held every four days. The other markets in the Ezaa area include Awho, Nkwo, and Oryie. Eke is considered the first and biggest of these markets.Hence during this year’s celebration, the traditional rulers asked the person responsible for the recent facelift given to the market. And when the Chairman of the Ezaa South Local Government Area, Laz Ogbee, indicated that he was the one responsible, the traditional rulers immediately gave him a chieftaincy title of Ochia Aha 1 of Ezaa Ezekuna.
The seriousness and tenacity of purpose with which the people of the area have held on to the festival and their other traditions and customs is seen as a welcome development by Hon. Ogbee, himself a proud Ezaa man.
“It is good that we the Ezaa have continued to celebrate the Oke Aku Festival, especially in this era when serious efforts are being made to ensure that the Igbo language does not go into extinction”, said Hon Ogbee.
For the Ezaa, it signifies an end of a planting season, especially the planting of yam and the beginning of the consumption of new yam. Yam is so celebrated in the Ezaa land and the Igbo culture because yam is regarded as the king of crops.
The 2013 celebration was no different to that of previous editions. It was indeed a gathering of who is who in the Ezaa nation as well as invited friends across the nation during the grand finale at Ezaa Cultural Centre, Amana, Ezza South Local Government Area.
In attendance where the Governor, the Deputy Governor, the Speaker of the State Assembly, members of the National Assembly and State Assembly from the state and captains of industry.
According to Hon Ikeuwa Omebe, “the celebration for ages has never failed since it was instituted by Ezekuna, the ancestral father of Ezaa people centuries ago. The 2013 was very significant in the sense that it was happening at a time when Governor Martin Elechi wants to re-enact those cultural practices and virtues that could make Ebonyians greater than they can imagine through his attitudinal change policy which emphasises achieving a purpose in life through good character”.
On the significance of the festival, Omebe noted that no one dares harvest or sell new yams unless the festival takes place or else there will be fatal repercussions.
“If there is no Oke Aku, we can’t sell or eat new yam anywhere in the Ezaa land. If you do, then you are to experience deaths in your family. People will start dying gradually, so many unusual things will start happening in that person’s family”,Ombe said.
Historically, Ezaa have to celebrate it first before any other clan in the old Abakaliki block. This is because Ezekuna, their progenitor is believed to be the eldest of the four sons of Anakewhaliki among the four major clans in the bloc, the other three being Izzi Nodo, Ikwo Noyo and Ezekoma, otherwise known as Agba.
Izzi can be found in Izzi, Ebonyi and Abakaliki local government areas of the state while Ikwo Noyo clan are found in Ikwo local government area. Ezekoma people are otherwise known as Agba and can be found in the present day Ishielu Local government area of the state.
This is what Omebe meant when he said, “Ezzas have to do it first before any other clan in Abakaliki. After Ezza, Ikwo and then Izzi before other clans will then celebrate theirs. Every Ezza man must come over to partake in this Oke Aku festival irrespective of political affiliations or differences”.
“Naturally we used to do it at Orinte. As time went on it was shifted to the stadium, later the governor came and built a cultural centre for the people here in 2009. This place is called Ngamgbo Ezzekuna, it is where Ezekuna, the progenitor of the Ezzas lived, died and was buried. That small hall there is his house”.
At the Ngamgbo Ezekuna, one could see the mud hot where the progenitor of the Ezza nation lived and died. Behind it is the new cultural centre built by Governor Martin Elechi to promote and sustain the culture of the people. The two structures present a vivid juxtaposing picture of the history of the people- the past and the present.
“Oke Aku is a period when we sit together and reflect on the past and make projections for the future advancement and progress of the people. This is a time used to unite us. It gives us the opportunity to iron out differences and make peace with one another”.
Thus, in a goodwill message, Governor Martin Elechi sued for peace in the land arguing that no meaningful development can be achieved in an atmosphere devoid of peace and tranquillity.
Elechi represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Chief Fidelis Mbam thanked the people of the area for their contributions to the development of the state and promised more democracy dividends to the people provided they continued to remain law abiding.
For Chairman of Ezza South Local government, Mr Lazarus Ogbe, who was the motivating force behind the 2013 Oke Agu Festival, the 5 days event was a time of reconciliation that brought peace.
“It reminds the good people of Ezzas that the Oke Aku Festival was the main culture still remaining that draws both the families in Diaspora and those within together for collective progress”, Ogbee said.
The Chairman who was visibly surprised at the Chieftaincy title of Ochi Agha 1 which literarily means the war general conferred on him by all the traditional rulers in the area, said such titles will not only encourage him to do more for the Ezza nation but will also encourage others to contribute their own quota to the overall development of the people, the state and country in general.
It is hoped that the colourful celebration with its message of peace will impact into the people the need for peaceful co-existence with themselves and there neighbours especially during the forthcoming local government area elections. ENDS
