New yam festival in Igbo land popularly known as ‘Iri ji’ or ‘Iwa ji’ is a very flamboyant celebration which was started by the town of Nri in Anaocha local government area of Anambra State. The town is reverenced in Igbo land as the custodian of Igbo cultures and tradition. According to Mr. Henry Nwune from Nawfia, Njikoka local government area of the state who is at home with Igbo cultures and tradition, in the olden days, food was farfetched and because there was nothing to eat, the traditional ruler of Agukwu Nri (Eze Nri) thought of what should be done to remedy the situation.
He said, “From the story I was told by my late grandfather, the then Eze Nri in his quest to provide remedy took the drastic measure of killing his eldest son, cut the body into small pieces and buried them. His daughter went the same way.
It is strange you may say, but five months later, yam tendrils (ome ji) were seen growing at the very place where the dismembered parts of the body had been buried. In a similar way, ede (coco-yam) began to grow where the remains of the daughter had been buried. After six months, the Eze Nri dug up fine large yams from his son’s grave and Ede from the place where he had buried his daughter. He cooked both and found them sweet. That may be a myth but I don’t know.
“One day, one of the children of the village came to the Igwe ‘s compound to fetch fire and Eze Nri gave the boy a piece of cooked yam, he went home and promptly fell asleep. The child’s people were surprised and, when he awoke, asked him to relate to them what had happened.
He replied that he did not know what it was that Eze Nri had given him to eat. So the process was repeated and it happened again as at the first instance. Then the people asked for yam and cocoyam. The king demanded a huge price before he handed out supplies, and gave instructions on how to plant the yam should be planted. It was from that time that yam and cocoyam appeared throughout the nation”. He said that from there the celebration of New yam festival emanated.
New yam festival (Iwa ji) is usually held in Igbo land between August and September of every year and the occasion is used to thank the gods of the land for the end of a good planting season and to herald the beginning of a new one. It is an occasion that brings people of Igbo inclination together both home and abroad. Yams being the first food crop to be harvested are revered in Igbo tradition and culture hence, it is even used in times of traditional marriage where the suitor is told to buy a certain number of yam. In occasions of New yam festival, only yam dishes are served.
It is roasted and eaten with red oil, garden egg leaves and oil bean seed (Ukpaka) or pounded and consumed with well prepared bitter leaf soup. As tradition demands, the roasted new yam is prayed over and blessed by the traditional ruler who afterwards cuts it, take some portion and eat it with the garnished fresh red oil but in time past, it was gathered that it was the oldest man in the community that usually eat the yam first before it is passed to the traditional ruler.
That procedure was followed because of the belief that their position bestows the privilege of being intermediaries between their communities and the gods of the land. After the traditional ruler have eaten the yam, the remaining from his cut is then passed to the members of his cabinet while the rest of the roasted yam are shared amongst the people but in the recent times people do not get to taste the yam until they get home to prepare theirs. The occasion simply stands as go ahead for people to begin to eat new yam. With the advent of Christianity, most traditions are no longer followed to the letter.
For instance, years back, it was a taboo for any community to eat the new yam in any form or manner until after the formal celebration has been performed by the traditional ruler, but lately people just buy and eat new yam whenever they feel like eating it. The occasion is usually celebrated with traditional dances which include Ijele masquerade dance, folk dance, masquerade displays and display of outrageously big yams by farmers which the traditional goes home with.
It was gathered that in the olden days, fowls offered as sacrifice to the gods of the land for a bumper harvest are taken to the farm where they are slain and the blood sprinkled on the farm. Yam is then cut into some sizes and thrown to the gods with prayers offered for protection. When the ceremony is completed, everything is taken home; the yams are laid up before the deity together with all the farming implements, while the fowls are boiled and prepared with yam for soup aka known as “ji awii” are eaten at the subsequent feast. Everyone is allowed to partake in this and those who are not immediately around will have their portion when they come.
The small town of Alor popularly referred to as Alor Kingdom in Idemili South Council Area was over the weekend a beehive of activity as the town made popular by the former governor of Anambra State, Senator Chris Ngige played host to personalities from all works of life, traditional rulers, well-wishers and friends from within and outside the state as Igwe Mac- Anthony Okonkwo celebrated his maiden New Yam Festival as the Ezedioranma the third of the kingdom
The Festival held at the Igwe’s Palace kicked off with a 21 Cannon shots summoning all the 18 kindred units of the community to the venue of the celebration before they later proceeded with Igwe Okonkwo to perform his maiden installation of Ndi Ichie- Ichie Agu and Ichie Atu. That was immediately followed by the mounting of the horse by the Monarch before moving round the arena in the company of Ndi Ichie and Ndi Idi-Alo to acknowledge greetings from his subjects.
Performing the traditional new yam cutting (Iwaji ), Igwe Okonkwo thanked God for the gift of the yam and the rich cultural event with which Ndigbo celebrated it and prayed for a bountiful harvest this year as well as for peace and stability to reign in the community and the state at large. “My message is peace, peace and peace. Without peace, no sustainable development can take place. Alor is one and will remain so.
I want the peace and unity that I have known her with to continue especially in this period when God has chosen me to serve my people as their Igwe,” he said.
=The Royal Father described the New Yam Festival as an age long custom that helps foster peace and brotherliness among the people, and stressing the need for Ndigbo to hold tenaciously to the positive aspects of their tradition so as to preserve them for posterity. On his part, the traditional ruler of Obosi, Eze Chidubem Iweka, in a goodwill message, observed that the Alor Community under the leadership of Igwe Okonkwo is poised to witness massive transformation and called on the people to rally round the royal father to make his reign successful.
“It is heartwarming that Ndigbo are beginning to heed the call to participate in their cultural activities as it will give impetus to government’s efforts at reviving the dying Igbo culture and traditions,” he said. Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Youth Mobilisation, Comrade Tony-Uche Ezekwelu, described culture and tradition as the people’s true identity and sued for the active involvement of youths in the ongoing quest for cultural revolution so as to guarantee that the people’s culture does not go into extinction.
“When we celebrate New Yam Festival in Igboland, it is always an opportunity to thank God for his provision. As is customary in Igbo tradition, the Traditional Ruler performing the Iwaji will open the way for everyone in the community to eat yam.
It is believed that after this ceremony, the yam to be consumed will nourish the people,” Ezekwelu said. In their separate remarks, some of those honoured at the event, Chief Chukwunwike Nnanyelugo and Nnamdi Okide as well as a Chieftaincy Title holder in the area, Chief Ogonna Olisa, acknowledged that the successful celebration of the festival and other cultural events made possible by the emergence of Igwe Okonkwo, were clear pointers to the lasting peace and unity that has come to stay in the kingdom.
Highpoints of the Festival were the Royal Father’s dance to the traditional Ushe music, ceremonial cutting of the yam, performances by various dance and masquerade groups as well as paying of homage to the king by his subjects and other well-wishers.
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