No ritual in Ekpe masquerade of Ngwaland
The contemporary underdevelopment challenges in Ngwa Land started from shallow mindset of our people. The white man has completely brain-washed us to the level that we don't even have any culture of our own in Ngwa Land, let alone knowing its imperative.
Comically, the same white man has not Jettisoned even a pinch of his culture. The white man told us in his church that we should throw away our Cultural Artifacts. Our people did that out of ignorance, exposure and functional education.
Today, most of the Ekpe, Ekpo, Nmawo, beads, Ngwa Cultural Costumes such Mgbaji, Nkalari, etc that our people were known for in 50s, 60s 70s, 80s and early 90s; are currently exhibited in foreign Meseums abroad by the white man. How did they fly into those Meseums? Who sold them to the white man? Some people connived, received money and handed over those artifacts, crafts and creative works of our people(Ejirimara Mba) to the white man.
Currently, the white man has written fake histories/narratives of our stolen Cultural Artifacts(their origins, fabricators, family that developed them, etc), that are criminally exhibited in their meseums.
Sadly, our people who live and visit abroad pay in foreign currencies(Pounds, Dollars, Euros, etc) to watch/appreciate our stolen artifacts/creative works) in white man's foreign museums(foreign land).
If there are those who worship idols, it's we Christians. How? The statues of Mary and so many others are by no mean real and prototype. Today, we kneel before Mary's Statue, praying, fasting, casting, binding, killing satan, etc; thereby creating nuisance in our communities/neighbourhood. Can any Ngwa Man or Woman kneel down before the Statues of Late Jaja Nwachukwu, Late Chief Ururuka, Late Chief George Nwigwe, among others? Our people won't do this because the colour of the statues of these departed great Ngwa sons are black. Can any white man or woman kneel down to pray and fast before the statues of those Ngwa heroes?
The implications of distortions of our culture by the white man through brainwashing of our people has resulted to unprecedented erosion of all practiceal skills/crafts that our people were known for.
If you go to all the urban and rural markets in Ngwa Land today, you will shade tears. Thus, If the Anang people from Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom State do not come to market, our Ngwa People cannot buy Ute(mart), Ekete(locally fabricated basin), Mkpasa(shiver used for preparing garri prior to frying it), Onyia Igwe, Onyia Okukpam, Aziza/or Njuju(broom), Avo(locally fabricated basket), 'Garri Turner', our local handkerchief, Ite Aja(our local cooking pot), Udu(our local butter), Otikpo/iko(our local cup for
drinking water), Ebele, aguba(our local razor blade), Matchets/Cutlass, kitchen knife, Akwa Nmiri, Ike Mbe, Uta, Egbere Ogu(weeding hoe), Mbazii, Ogu Ntuala, etc.
How did the above practical skills and crafts that our people were known for, go extinct? What do we tell our children tomorrow? Yet, every Ngwa Man and Woman kept quiet. We keep blaming one another and living in great suspicion with one another. Today, most families in Ngwa Land cannot eat in one plate, let alone drink with one cup. Our young children can hardly live peacefully with their siblings. Our relationship and co-existence as a people are fragmented, polarised and characterised by disunity.
Sadly too, you can hardly see any blacksmith in any part of Ngwa Land today. Is blacksmith practical skill not our intergral local technology? Has it not gone completely extinct? How do we develop as a people?What we see today is the proliferation of churches everywhere in Ngwa Land.
Comically, attendance in churches in white man's land hardly exceeds 20 worshipers inside a big edifice on Sunday Service. The people that brought the church are virtually absent, leaving a big edifice empty during Sunday Services.
I crave the indulgence of every Ngwa Man and Woman to re-examine his/herself. We have destroyed and desecrated our land. We need to work very hard. Otherwise, Ndi Ngwa will soon start begging food survival due largely to abandonment of their cultural heritage. We have ignorantly followed the Euro-centric and Imperialistic foreign cultures of the white man. We have done so much disservice to our children, grand-children and our collective well-being as a people; due to ignorance.
Chris Nwagboso, PhD.
(Technical Facilitor)
04/12/2024.
Prof. Nwachukwu Nwankwo... So much ritual in Ekpe masquerade
I am compelled to respond to this post because of the level of respect I have for this my wonderful brother that posted it and because of the distortions of information contained there in.
1. Except the author is totally a foreign Igbo (Ngwa) person that has no aged and informed person in their family he will not be telling such open lies about masquerade in Igbo land. For the avoidance of doubt there is no cultural masquerade (not the type of nmanwu-Enugu that some of my friends used to buy the costum from Ogbete market to come home and dance during Christmas) in Igbo land that operates without receiving powers from their village oracles. This is an open platform, there are some esoteric secrets of our culture that I cannot pen down here. For the doubting Thomases, please when you go home for Christmas go and ask those that dress our ekpe, masquerade what happens at okpukpu-ekpe before and after it is dressed, ask them why the ekpe must pay homage to that 'small but mighty' shrine near the culvert and why it has to go to Ama Udara by Obayi road junction before it replaces the opia with broom for dancing. Little boys, go home and ask serious questions from those that know. Even my Bible says "for lack of knowledge my perish". Information is key.
2. Masquerade is not the Igbo culture. Culture is the way of life of a people. We must see the wider context of Igbo culture in the way we live our life's, dress, respect elders and authority, eat marry, accept or reject twins, treat both freed slaves and victims of war, believe in a supreme being that our fore-parents represented in different ways. This is culture. Masquerade is just a minute segment of entertainment in our culture.
3. We must learn to draw the line between the colonial masters and the missionaries. Recently one of the prestigious universities in UK has introduced a course in Witchcraft. Does the make UK a witchcraft country.
4. The Young man that authored that disjointed piece must be from a Roman Catholic background, that is why he could not differentiate between what Christianity believe in and what Roman Catholics practice.
5. I talk about idol worship and the inherent evil with knowledge and authority because am sure those who know my root as the great grand son of the lineage of the Chief Priests of Isiugwu Ohafia. Those who know, they know those who don't know.......
6. If any of us settle down to know what Christianity has done to open our eyes, we will be giving greater reverence to the God of Christianity and the missionaries. Most times I get pissed out when I discover that most of the advocates of our cultural (masquerade/idol worship) revival are either twins whose bones should have rotten years back, or sold into slavery for what their parents/grandparent did or those that Umu Nde Oluguma, like me, would have used to test the efficacy of our new poison, I just shudder and bow in gratitude to the God of Christianity.
Please don't let the dirty cloths of the mechanics confuse us for madness.. There are plenty of fake churches and worshippers everywhere, but TRUE CHRISTIANS reman sure and steady. May quality knowledge and information remain our watch word. Isiugwu kaani.
No more ritual for Ekpe masquerade... Uduma Kalu
Yes, there used to be sacrifices for some important masquerades like the Ekpe in Isiugwu Ohafia. But today, a lot has changed. Those instances you cited today are basically observances or visiting reminders of what used to be. For example, no ritual happens at the shrine near the culvert by the Ekpe. The Ekpe pays homage to the deity because in a way, the Kamalu was a war deity linked to the Ekpe.
At Ndi Ucheji, another homage is paid to the man that offered a slave to the Ekpe to stop it from carrying knife for a broom. It was his request that the Ekpe visit his compound after Ndi Agwu, instead of Ndi Emele as it used to be.
In all this, no sacrifice is done but observances, like homages to Ekpe leaders in Isiugwu Ohafia too by the Ekpe and his troupe.
Ekpe masquerade has also evolved outside Ohafia where different ways are observed in its entertainment outside the way Ohafia observes it.
And yes, in Ngwa areas as in Umuahia, Opobo, Obowo etc, no sacrifice
Okiyi: No ritual at all
Prof nnawo, igbapele.
Kaa.
Let me particularly respond to your first paragraph.
Chris Nwagboso, PhD is also a great Scholar, Politician and a very successful Farmer and a well respected Ngwa man.
He is also and elder, not a foreign Igbo (Ngwa) person, aged, not just resident in Abia State but in constant contact with his people.
Sir, your notion about Ekpe Isiugwu Ohafia is incorrect.
As children, and while growing up, we hold at a very high esteem whatever our wise fathers/mothers, notable uncles/aunts, and other elderstatesmen/women tell us, and we jealously guard the information, however, while becoming of age, those that have interest to learn more will start querying the status quo by unlearning and re-learning.
Dear Prof, I want to tell you that no ritual is performed at Okpukpu-Ekpe during the time Ekpe is dressed up at Okpukpu-Ekpe.
Let me also tell you that the Ekpe can be dressed in any other place other than the Okpu-kpu Ekpe and nothing will happen to the Ekpe.
The last Ekpe festival was on Saturday, October 12, 2024, and that was the last Ekpe sponsored by my Age Grade (Ekwueme) for our Izara-afa.
There were lined-up programmes for the Izara-Afa ranging from ichikoro ugbu Ekpe (taking the Ekpe Regalia to Okpukpu Ekpe) to ikpuru Ekpe (dressing the Ekpe), iwedesa Ekpe and the Ekpe leading Ezie-Ogo-In-Council and IOCDA to Local Authority (LA) for the presentation of our project and then back to ime-ogo for igu-afa etc, we were running behind schedule and Ezie-Ogo-In-Council were patiently waiting at Ogbo-ukwu Isiugwu; to worsen the situation, it started raining and we got confused.
We started looking for Nde Nchichi Ekpe, we saw few of them, to expedite action in order to meet up with time, I joined them to the house of the man where ugbu-Ekpe is kept, the ugbu-Ekpe was NOT kept in a shrine but in a man’s house and it was kept clean just in the same way we keep our clothes clean, we took it and off we ran slowly, in celebration to Okpukpu Ekpe, when we got to Okpukpu Ekpe, it was still raining and I asked Nde Nchichi Ekpe what we can do they said we should go to Chief Adumo’s house, we went there and the Ekpe dress up took place,Uke Ekpe brought ekpem mmai oku olu, we drank and Ekpe Isiugwu came out in celebration…that is all.
No single ritual was performed.
As the Ekpe is coming down to Ime-Ogo, it stops over at the graves/houses of Nde Ekpe ibe ya that had died to greet and pay respect to them…nothing more...no single ritual is performed in all Ekpe stopovers.
As for the replacement of the opia, Mr Uduma Kalu has explained and that is the truth and nothing but the truth, I'll add something to that but not now.
All the Compounds and Houses the Ekpe visits, it’s just presentation of nzu (white chalk that signifies peace)and mmai oku (local hot drink, brandy, whiskey and even beer)…that’s all , no ritual is performed anywhere.
We pay so much money to go and watch whiteman’s masquerades , praise their masquerades and come back to demonize our own masquerades and culture…let us stop it, it is not good at all.
Till date, the Whitemen enviously safeguard all their traditions and culture including their masquerades, they joyfully celebrate them and we hail and praise them while we demean and condemn ours.
The burial of the late Queen of England was televised world over , all their traditions, culture and masquerades were in full display, too many rituals took place (all televised for us to see), including ram sacrifice, we saw all of them...and what did we do...as usual, we hailed and praised them while we continue to condemn and demonize our own culture, tradition and masquerades.
Most of us now are lettered, informed, civilized, exposed...we now know better yet we swallow whatever the Whitemen give us hook, line and sinker.
So many people on this platform do not like the way we condemn our own culture but they prefer to sit on the fence so that they will not be tagged "anti Christianity."
"We Christians" of African extraction are always in a hurry to condemn almost all the actions of our Ancestors...why ?
Who are our Ancestors...our Ancestors are our beloved late Fathers, Late Grand Fathers, Late Great-grandfathers and it keeps moving to the first generation; we that are alive today, we will one day die and join our Ancestors...will it be fair enough for our own children and grandchildren to tag us evil Ancestors when we've died ?
Me am not a bad person, I do not know about others and it will be grossly unfair for my descendants to tag me and evil Ancestor when I've gone.
What exactly are the sins of our forefathers/Ancestors ?
Why do we condemn almost all our own culture and tradition but praise all the cultures and traditions of Whitemen just to answer a dedicated and committed Christian...are we that bad... could it be mental slavery or what ?
Kaa Nwadiya.
Okiyi Ukariwe.
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