Iffy Iwuoha
Despite many challenges and seeming setbacks ravaging the Southern part of the country, the people of Isiokpo in Ikwerre local government area of Rivers State took out time to celebrate one another during the Isiokpo Bicycle Carnival which held on the 31st of December 2021.
The event marked not just the end of the year, but also the second season of the most anticipated carnival amongst the entire Ikwerre ethnicities, as it attracted massive response from indigenes, who turned up to the occasion, clad in their traditional attires, cheerfully cruising on locally made bicycles around the community, in celebration of the bond of peace they share as brothers since the olden days till date.
Isiokpo is the ancestral and spiritual heartland of the Ikwerre people, natively known as “Iwhuruoha”, a distinct ethnic group dominating Rivers State. Its strength is hinged on the past legacy of their forefathers, who strived to preserve the Isiokpo economy, education, unity, governance, child bearing and relationship with their neighbours, such to include, Etche, Oyigbo, Ogba Egbema Ndoni, Ogoni, Ijaw and Igbo speaking neighbours. Despite its similarity to the Igbo language, the Ikwerre language officially is recognised as one of the numerous languages in Nigeria.
Bicycle in Ikwerre is called “Igwe”. It is also the same in Igbo, and its overall importance to Ikwerre indigenes is enormous hence, a celebration to impress it. The “Igwe” was one of the primary means of transportation aside the foot before the advent of motorcycles and vehicles, with which the locals transported themselves and conveyed farm produce from distant farms to homes and market places at little or no cost. Till date, people still enjoy more benefits of bicycle in Ikwerre land.
The carnival was no doubt a parade of colourful dramatic expressions of sort, and all manner of comic displays, as some Isiokpo youth, were spotted riding their bicycles loaded with several items, ranging from farm produce and equipment, to obsolete radio and television sets, common in Nigerian homes in the 70’s and 80’s. This not only added humour and intensified the excitement, but also relives the traumatic experience of the Igbo people during the fratricidal civil war, where many Igbo families fled their villages on their bicycles with some portable household properties and food items tied onto the seat.
The women and children were not left out of the celebration, as they equally dressed in the native attire danced and sang happily in their local dialect, amidst cheers from excited onlookers which included foreigners who were present to witness for themselves the epic carnival symbolising brotherhood.
It stands out as a unique demonstration of love, unity, togetherness, good health and progress amongst the people of Isiokpo, not forgetting the preservation of green life, free from the decaying pollution from toxic chemicals emitted from combustion engines as is the case in most cities.
The Isiokpo bicycle carnival has come to stay and has shown the world that there is beauty in the African culture which naturally fosters unity and togetherness, a core weapon in nation building.
