Cultural festivals are unique moments in the lives of particular communities when the vital components of their worldview are explicitly displayed through various cultural acts, amplified with colourful costumes and culinary delights. This becomes more interesting in relation to the Arondizuogu Ikeji Festival.
Arondizuogu is a group of sprawling communities, spreading across three local government areas in Imo State, Ideato North, Okigwe and Onuimo with its largest area located in the land obtained from Umualaoma town.
The people of Arondizuogu, descended from the slavery merchants of Arochukwu, have several origin stories for the festival. The popular version links it to the traditional status of yam, planted only by men then, as the king of crops in Igboland. It suggests that “Ikeji” comes from the phrase “ike ji,” which means to tie yam in the barn. There have also been suggestions that it is taken from other meanings: “the power of the yam” and “the power that holds the yam.”
For the people of Arondizuogu, the Ikeji Festival is an annual festival of thanksgiving, merriment and propitiation. It is celebrated every April each year often falling alongside Easter. It is very rich, in both historical and cultural festivities, filled with scintillating performances from masquerades, comic acts, thrilling dances from different dance groups and memorable sights.
The festival began as a ceremony to mark the end of the planting season and the beginning of the harvest season. The festival is a four-market days’ affair. Each of these market days: Eke, Orie, Afor and Nkwo, has its own significance and represents a particular aspect of the Ikeji festival.
On Eke day, people buy yam and oil, goats and fowls, in preparation. On Orie day, they make thanksgiving sacrifices to their ancestors, seeking blessings for the event, and also to bridge the gap between them and Chukwu. On Afor day, there is cooking and eating and all masquerades assemble at the village square. On Nkwo day, the main day, people go to the community square, to watch masquerades perform. This is usually the most interesting part of the festival. It takes place on Afor and Nkwo market days.
During the festival, young men are inducted into the mmonwu society of masquerades. As part of the expensive events, they are required to abstain from injustice, lies, sexual relationships, and food cooked by women.
Ikeji is one of the greatest cultural festivals in Igboland and is celebrated beyond Arondizuogu and Arochukwu and is anticipated in major cities like Aba.
Ikeji festival is also called the biggest festival in the Southeast of Nigeria and the biggest gathering of masquerades in Africa.
There are some interesting points in time in this article but I dont know if I see all of them eye to centre . There is some validness but I will take hold legal opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we want more! Added to FeedBurner besides.