Uturu in Abia State is currently noted more as a university community, but it is a town that is stepped in history with rich culture that dates back to hundreds of years. It also has beautiful landscape with undulating hills
Uturu has also been a destination for archeologists. In 1977, a group of archaeologists discovered signs of the habitation of early, middle and late Stone Age Homo erectus in the caves.
However, all these endowments were relegated to the background last December as the people trooped out in large number for the Igbo Uturu carnival. The carnival is unique in itself as it is devoted to the celebration of Ndi Igbo, and as such, it has a deep cultural inclination. This year, the carnival was celebrated in honour of Chief Sab Ejimofor.
A display of its inclination towards exposing the cultural elements of the people in a very profound manner was the setting itself which was entirely made of local materials creatively put together. In this wise, the locally woven mats and straw hats which are part of the cultural symbolism of the people of Uturu featured prominently alongside native calabashes, clay pots and cups and other forms of art and craft. Even in the area of communication, it was purely that of an Igbo affair by all the speakers that mounted the rostrum at the various events to deliver speeches or lead programmes.
The founder of the carnival, Ibe said: ”The major aim of the carnival is to explore the potency of the carnival to weld apparently disparate cultures to create cultural unity, social harmony and strength on the one hand, while on the flip side, it is to checkmate the move towards ethnocentrism which leads to racial prejudice, discrimination and other social ills.”
Thus, this was what informed the choice of this year’s theme: ‘Ibu anyi danda’ (Resilience, the indomitable spirit of Ndi Igbo), an evocation of the consciousness of Igbo cultural unity and to influence national cultural unity.
In retrospect, Ibe, who is also the Chancellor of Gregory University, Uturu, described the four-day celebration as a huge success. The choice of the theme, according to him, was not only to pay homage to Chief Sam Ejiomofor who rose from rags to riches through the dint of hard work and resilience, but also to every Igbo man who has achieved a lot in his various enterprises and engagements in life as such achievements came through resilience and surmounting of life threatening obstacles.
The presence of the President-General of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, Chief Gary Enwo Igariwey, he said, boosted the appeal of the carnival.
”We have achieved without major partners; we have achieved in a major way of bringing our culture to the world; we have achieved by our continuous demystifying all the na sayers,” said Ibe.
The fact that children and the youth have embraced the carnival and the yearly turnout with different masquerades and dance troupes, to him, are feats and indications that the culture of the people will never die because the older generation is using the carnival to pass on the cultural values and traditions of the people to the younger generation.
“Weare achieving something because it will remain indelible in their minds. Before leaving this planet, we would have achieved some greatness by imparting it to the younger ones,” he said even as he pointed out that the choice of Uturu as the venue of celebration is a deliberate effort to create awareness and draw the people’s attention to the extant Uturu Caves which he said had been proved historically to be the ancestral home of the progenitors of the Igbo race, as traces of what he called the”’early man abode,” is obvious for all to see.
The first day of the carnival signalled what was to characterise the entire celebration as it was fun filled, excitement galore and colourful all the way as the people came out in their numbers to participate and witness a rare communal cultural feast that is almost going extinct in most parts of the country.
Besides the harvest of cultural entertainment, there were a lot to drink and eat bearing in mind that the event which held between December 27 and 31, took place at a festive season when many of the Ndi Igbo come home to celebrate with their people. It wasn’t surprising that the arena was filled to the hilt most of the days.
Also, there was a huge presence of many personalities at the event. They included Professor (Eze) Laz Ekwueme who is the traditional ruler of Oko in Anambra State and the President General of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, Chief Gary Enwo Igariwey.
His Royal Highness, Cyril Ibe, the Okwelube 1 of Amaokwe Autonomous Community, Uturu led other traditional rulers and ezes from over 20 autonomous communities and villages in the area to the event.
Goodwill messages were delivered by many of the guests present during the event with Professor Ihechi Madubuike who is the Director of the Centre for Igbo Renaissance of the GUU and a former Minister of Education, leading the tributes.
Guests spoke on the carnival and need for the preservation of the culture of people. They called for support for the continuous staging of the carnival.
There was also the presence of both the state and federal governments as a number of the officials of Abia State government and members of the state House of Assembly, among others, attended the event. The National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) was represented by one of its directors, Professor Chukwu Ezi, who was overwhelmed by the high level of the event and the extent to which the people went in preserving and entrenching their culture.
While urging the further entrenchment of the culture and the event, he praised the founder of the carnival and pledged the support of the commission in furthering the frontiers of the carnival and ensuring that NCMM gives the necessary aids in the development of the cultural icons of the people as its affects the work of the commission.
After the goodwill messages and cutting of the cake to declare the carnival open, various masquerades and cultural groups entertained the people by displaying their acrobatic dancing and singing skills. They included Ohafia war dancers, acrobatic troupe from Edo and Akwa Ibom, a masquerade troupe from Anambra State and representatives of Northern Eastern states.
Other entertainers and performers were Igbo Uturu Cultural Carnival Troupe, Eminent Ladies of Uturu, Arondizuogu Masquerade Troupe and representative of Northern Central states. There were also the Great Ladies from Cross River State, Chimemeze Dance Troupe from Okigwe and Ugo Masquerade of Uturu. A number of children’s groups also took to the stage to entertain the people in dance drama, songs and choreography.
The day’s event climaxed with a musical concert with a Makosa group from Benin Republic, entertaining the people till the early hours of the next day. Other days witnessed Ada Uturu Beauty Pageant, Cultural Christmas Cantata, Cultural Music Expo and Thanksgiving/Crossover Service which apparently was the climax and a glorious end to the four-day cultural carnival.
It was an enthralling night of cultural dances and colourful fireworks display which kept the people spellbound and entertained. At the end of it all, it was a grateful people that rose in unison, giving thanks and singing praises to the good Lord not just for another successful hosting of the sixth edition of the Igbo Uturu Cultural Carnival, but for witnessing yet the beginning of another year with great ecstasy.
