JONATHAN UZOARU, who attended the 2014 edition of Iri Ji Mbaise, writes on the glamour and cultural dimensions of the annual event.
Roasted yam with sauce and glasses of palm wine served at the event.
If the Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation’s pledge in its mission statement is anything to go by, then Mbaise in Imo State can be said to be well favoured, considering her potential and outings in her annual new yam festival called ‘Iri Ji Mbaise’.
The festival is celebrated every August 15.
The ministry, in her mission statement, pledged to promote the nation’s rich cultural heritage through identification, development, as well as marketing the diverse cultural and tourism potentials of the country.
The 2014 edition was not an exception. In fact, for the over 20,000 guests to the cultural heritage of Mbaise people, showcased at Chioma Ajunwa Stadium, Afor-Oru Ahiara in Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area, it was an exciting affair.
The event, which ran from 10am to 5pm, brought to a climax the six months plan of what has become a yearly ritual of the Mbaise nation.
There was also the national dimension of the festival that saw President Goodluck Jonathan, being represented by an Mbaise princess and Minister of Foreign Affairs 1, Professor Viola Onwuliri.
Iri Ji Mbaise is a special cultural festival which affords the Eze Ji or custodians of yam the opportunity to thank God for being alive to witness a new yam harvest and beginning of the eating of ji ohuru (new yam). Traditionally, the celebration of new yam festival is the beginning of consumption of new yam among these adherents.
The event, which had 81-member planning committee, with a sponsorship from Nigerian Breweries and Seaman’s Aromatic Schnapps, also attracted the presence of other corporate citizens like MTN Nigeria, Etisalat Nigeria and Sabmiller Breweries.
It was an opportunity to showcase cultural dance from different communities, climaxing with prize-giving for the farmer with the richest harvest (in both yam and cassava) and best dance group from different categories.
Those who are not conversant with Mbaise as a people imagine it as a community with villages. But when they realise that Mbaise is a constituent of five independent clans that can stand on their own as local government areas each, with 91 autonomous communities (kingdoms) with own traditional rulers and approximated population of 1.5 million people, it is then understood why among every 10 Igbo men, one is likely to be onye Mbaise.
Currently, Mbaise has one independent federal constituency, and shares another with Ngor Okpala, six local council development authorities (LCDAs) in addition to three local government areas namely Aboh Mbaise, Ahiazu Mbaise and Ezinihitte Mbaise and half of Owerri Senatorial Zone.
In his remark, the chairman of the occasion, Paschal Madu, thanked God for creating Mbaise people with the wisdom to set aside August 15, to thank him in a special way through Iri Ji. He commended the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, for attracting federal presence to Mbaise and Imo State in general.
Madu equally paid tribute to the developmental strides of the state governor, Rochas Okorocha.
The chairman of Mbaise Council of Ndi-eze and Deputy Chairman, Imo State Council of Chiefs, Chidume Okoro, while welcoming the state governor, described him as a “pace-setter, architect of free and compulsory education, admirer of culture and crusader of rural transformation as well as great friend of Mbaise nation”.
He described Ihedioha, as a “legislator par excellence and the pride of Mbaise nation, whose honesty, hard work, commitment and sheer dint of sincerity of purpose to his political career now stands as a colossus”.
Eze Okoro also lauded Senator Chris Anyanwu, the Ada Eji Eje Mba Gburu-Gburu Mbaise, as a political icon and true ambassador of the Mbaise nation.
He gave special thanks to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Edem Duke, who doubles as the chief host of the occasion, for adopting the festival as a national event.
Encomiums were also poured on Professor Onwuliri, and Nnanna Igbokwe who represents Ahiazu/Ezinihitte Mbaise Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
The monarch informed his audience that Iri Ji Mbaise is a paramount cultural festival of Mbaise people, a culture that was inherited from their ancestors, that has attained international status, coming at a time the entire world has recognised the importance of culture in national development.
Okoro eulogised the late Ambassador Gaius Anokam, former Imo State Director of Arts, for initiating and institutionalizing the Ahiajoku Lecture Series and Ozuruimo Cultural Festival in 1976, drawing attention to an online portal that covers the history and culture of Mbaise people as well as executive profiling of Mbaise sons and daughters in the Diaspora.
Explaining the origin of Iri Ji Mbaise, President, Ndi Eze Ji Society, Mbaise, Dr. Eze Ihuoma, stated that it had been part of Mbaise culture to celebrate new yam, as a way of expressing gratitude to the Almighty who, he said, created in Mbaise a place called Orie-Ukwu Umunama in Ezinihitte Mbaise.
Yam is regarded as the chief crop of Mbaise and Igboland in general.
He described Mbaise as a special specie of God’s creation that loves God; hence her reference to the supreme God as Eke kere uwa (creator of the universe).
According to Ihuoma, before the advent of the colonial administration, Iri Ji Mbaise was celebrated in villages. However, at the creation of the first local government areas in Mbaise in 1976, the Eze Ji Society came together to have a unified body of all Eze Ji in Mbaise. Since then, the festival is celebrated together.
Activities of the event kicked off with the presentation of kolanuts by Okoro, which was presented to Eze Samuel Agunwa Ohiri, Chairman, Imo State Council of Ndi Eze. The kola – which is planted in commercial quantity by the Yoruba and revered by the Igbo – moved to Ihedioha, onward to Okorocha. Finally, it was time to savour the new yam, after a special prayer to God by all that came for the event.
Governor Okorocha lauded Mbaise people for their resilience and support for his government, adding that starting work at the campus of Imo State University in Mbaise/Ngor Okpala axis was to demonstrate his love for the people of Mbaise.
In her message, Onwuliri drew the attention of the people to the importance of farming, given that agriculture is a major pillar of the Transformation Agenda of the federal government. She used the occasion to present a live cow to the Mbaise traditional rulers on behalf of Jonathan. And in her capacity as a princess, she presented two jars of palm oil to show respect to the traditional rulers.
Dafe Emuibo, Sales Manager Grand Oak Limited, makers of Seaman Aromatic Schnapps; and Aguodili Frank, Sales Executive with Nigeria Breweries, partners of the festival; endorsed Iri Ji Mbaise as a special brand for promoting cultural understanding.
Mrs. Roseline Mere, Head Performing Arts Department, Imo State Ministry of Arts and Culture, applauded the event as a huge tourism potential to the state government, considering the crowd it attracted. She, however, but picked hole in the political campaigns that heralded the beginning of the festival.
Climax of the event was the presentation of award to the highest farmer sponsored by Athanasius Egwim. It was won by Ezeji Titus Nnadozie. Award for the highest cassava farmer went to Ugoeze Ngozi Nwaigwe.
In the traditional dance award, which was sponsored by Akachi Alozie, the men’s category went to Abigbo Chokoneze, while the women’s category went to Di Bu Ugwu Nwanyi. The boys’ category went to Ogbede N’eto Dance Group from Umuagbavu Umuokirika. The maidens’ category award went to Mbaise Maidens Dance Group.
The warning, days before the event, through announcements in the media, that politicians should not turn the event into a political jamboree, did not deter them from making good use of the event to present themselves to the crowd. Thus, governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly aspirants from different political parties leveraged the opportunity presented by the festival to present their manifestoes.