The drama is titled Uda Nkwa: Echoes of the drum, a play on the late Eze Kalu Orji of Arochukwu in Abia State who ruled for 73 years. Now it is being staged to show the qualities of a traditional ruler who lived for his people. Written by Dr. Ikechukwu Erojikwe, the play mounts the stage at Terra Kulture, Lagos, on February 2nd. Edozie Udeze who watched the rehearsals and then spoke to the playwright writes on the cultural richness of the play.
Uda Nkwa: Echoes of the drum, is surely the sort of sounds and stampeding melodies that one usually hears within the ambiance of a palace. This time around, the echoes are meant to stimulate and resonate with time, reverberating far afield into the distant past even as the echoes also remind the people about the events of the times. This is the whole essence of this epic stage play titled Uda Nkwa: Echoes of the drum. Uda is sound in Igbo language. Nkwa is the staccato sounds of the instruments, mainly the drums, the ekwe, the ogene, the oja and other local musical instruments traditionally associated with the Igbo.
The play originated from Arochukwu. Arochukwu is a town in Abia State. It is however a town with long history of trade, tradition and religion. The man who ruled the town for 73 years is called Eze Kalu Orji. The play is looking at the legacies of this man who took off as the Eze Aro in 1921 and ruled for such a long time that his name suddenly became synonymous with Arochukwu. In doing this, Dr. Ikechukwu Erojikwe of the department of Theatre Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, (UNN) tried to situate the man’s many strides and achievements within the context of this play. He ruled for such a long time that his wisdom also kept Aro as one. He attracted modernity and civilization to his people.
He also relied a bit on the traditions of the people based on native wisdom and intelligence to resolve a number of disputes in his domain. Today most good things that make Arochukwu an enviable town are attributed to his long and purposeful reign. So the play is saying that in Aro, Nkwa is not just that sound you hear always, it is a way of life and people live daily within that tradition by playing and loving and dancing to the heavy, percussive sounds produced from local instruments.
In writing the play, Erojikwe relied heavily on those traditional elements that celebrate and enhance the beauty of a people. Eze Orji himself was a lover of tradition who danced to ikolo and the drums and ekwe as often as tradition demanded of him. Erojikwe said, “He ruled Aro for 73 years. After the British war during which the long juju oracle was destroyed in the early 1900s, he mounted the throne of his ancestors. He started out in 1921 till 1987. His legacies still live on. His grandson Eze Eberechukwu Orji thought it wise to do a play on his grandfather, hence this stage play that is produced in his honour. It is full of all the elements of history characterized by a strong and intelligent leader of his people”. For Erojikwe, people like Eze Orji are meant to be kept alive in the memories of people. For he lived to serve to the best of his ability. After Britain ransacked and pillaged Aro, he stepped in boldly to rebuild the people emotionally, psychologically and otherwise. Aro people are known to be resilient and indefatigable, resourceful and courageous in all situations. So Eze Orji took off on that note, trying to let his people forget the trauma done to them and their traditions by the colonial overlords.
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The playwright continued, “He stood tall throughout. His achievements are yet to be equaled. Now we are using songs and dances and drums as a metaphor to tell his story. That is why it is the echoes of the drum. The sounds of the drums wake you up. It makes you agile. The ikolo that is the giant drum is used mostly in the domain of big men. It is the drum meant for kings and princes and all these signify the importance of Eze Orji, a man of class and wisdom.
“We therefore embellished the story with all these. This is so because Aro people are very rich in tradition and otherwise. They do not play with their culture. Cultural displays and masquerading are some of the things that make them to always stand out. The play opens with dances, masquerades and so on. The infusion of all these is strategic. It is to mark the very elemental and first point of contact with the people. The play also celebrates planting season. The harvest period in the lives of the people is equally highlighted. Yam and other crops make the Igbo stand out. And in Aro, farming seasons are very important moments in the socio-cultural and religious life pattern of the people”.
For a very long time, the Ibini Ukpabi, the long juju oracle of the Aros held sway in Igbo land. It was an instrument of justice and punishment and served the religious purposes of the people. Aro was a place where Igbo people went to seek for justice over disputes, over stolen items and other wrongs done by one to the other. So this powerful but innocuous means of justice made Arochukwu strong and bold throughout Igbo-land and parts of Cross River and Akwa Ibom States. Now, the play has chronicled in part a history that is rich in all fronts. The Eze Orji tenure serves as an embodiment to revisit some of those moments in time when a leader was expected to douse the ugly history of the past, so to say, in order to embrace changes and carry the people along.
A peep into the rehearsals of the play at the National Theatre, Lagos, showed that the dancers dwelt more on Aro, Abiriba and Ohawfia dances. The dances are provocative and do not depart from the seriousness of the Aro when faced with the ordeals of life. The movements were electrifying, properly choreographed to show determination. All these are tied to the purposeful reign of Eze Orji, a man that ruled with modern ideas but also reminded his people about Ibini Ukpabi, the supreme one who will judge all and sundry. No one can escape his judgment. The rich assemblage of local musical instruments showed how embellished the play will be when mounted on stage. The artistes themselves were eager to hit the stage. The sound of the ikolo alone when it was beaten tore deep into the air. It could be heard miles away from the National Theatre.
The playwright said once again, “Yes, it is a historic play on an individual. We didn’t look at the politics of the long juju or ibini ukpabi. What we did is for us to look at it from the perspective of the people. How do they see the ibini ukpabi? What relationship do they have with it? Or is it still in existence up till date? These are some of the values of the long juju we added to the play. The man in question also came from the same tradition”. However, what made him so unique was that he said, “No one can rule Aro; you only follow Aro. That in itself means that no one can force himself on Aro, you can only guide them to attain truth and fulfillment.
What made him different was that he was a king like no other. His wisdom was unparalleled. He relied more on the provisions of the traditions of the Aro, “And beyond that he was also a great healer of people. He was known all over the place for his ability to heal stroke patients. So even as a king, he was also a grassroots person, touching people, healing them and identifying with them and their problems. He was simply a great man of honour and prestige. He was also a herbalist. He understood the workings and the potency of every herb and he used them judiciously to cure and heal and rescue his people. Such a marvelous man needs to be celebrated”, the playwright said.
Most of the songs are chanted within the palace. They dwell on his exploits. They dwell also on his wisdom. The songs say in part, “Let us go to the farm, folks. It is time to plant. It is time to harvest. Time to be serious”. Some of the dancers have baskets with them, while other have hoes in their hands. Both men and women are involved in the rigorous dance. Although Erojikwe says it is not a dance drama per se, the heavy infusions of dances seem to make the play fall fully within the ambit of epic historic play. Eze Orji was known to have had a good relationship with White Missionaries. Mary Slessor was the Scottish Missionary that saved lots of twins meant to be slaughtered in Igbo land and other places around in those days. She worked around those areas of Nigeria and Eze Orji came in contact with her before she died in 1913.
Eze Orji also encouraged White people to build and settle in the land. He gave them land and this helped to develop Arochukwu. The play was staged in Arochukwu in December 2024. The crowd that turned out to watch it was mammoth. This time around, it will be staged at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos, on February 2nd. It will be time for more lovers of theatre to go see what epic stage play is made of. The play lasts for one and half hours on stage and it has over thirty casts and crew. So the story is about leadership, what our leaders must do to be close to their people. Eze Orji was fond of leaving his palace to visit his subjects at home. People brought cases and disputes from far places for him to settle. He was a peace maker and ensured that people in the Eastern region lived in peace while he was on the throne. In the end, he received two awards from the British and even from the Nigerian government after independence.
Also Chukwuemeka Uba of the UNN, who co-directed the play with him affirmed the story and decided that Mazi Kalu Orji was indeed an uncommon and enigmatic traditional ruler, someone that should be emulated, celebrated and honoured.