IGU AFA (NAMING CEREMONY) The naming ceremony is the process of ascribing a personal identification label to a new born baby. It is usually performed by the eldest in the family on the eight day from birth . Holding the baby in his arms, the officiating man talks to the baby thus: “in the name of our forefathers and of the family and those gathered here, I welcome you to the family and to our community”. “In our world,” he continues, “people are identified by names; hence, we have come to give you a name by which you will be identified.” Then he announces the name by which the child is to be known. Prayer is offered to God, divinities and ancestral spirits, asking that the child might live up to the name as well as have long, useful life on earth. He proceeds to acquaint the child with characteristics of life on earth by feeding him with bits of the items provided for the ceremony and draws the relevant inference. For instance, he may take a piece of the bitter kola nut and touch it to the baby’s tongue and say: “Life is not always pleasant; there may be times of bitterness. May you be able to accept it as a part of what it means to live. Our wish, however, is that you do not experience the bitterness of life.” The ceremony incorporates the new born into the nexus of relationships including the protection by the ancestral spirits. It is usually considered a micro ceremony.
“Life is not always pleasant; there may be times of bitterness. May you be able to accept it as a part of what it means to live. Our wish, however, is that you do not experience the bitterness of life.”
…or something like this:
“In our world,” he continues, “people are identified by names; hence, we have come to give you a name by which you will be identified.”
IGBA NNUNU It consists of parading a live bird hooked to a bow by a boy between 5 and 7years of age throughout the nooks and crannies of the community where his relatives live. The live bird hooked to a bow symbolizes the enemies he will be expected to capture and bring home alive or the skull of those he will kill in the course of his head hunting or security functions later as a youth in the community. The child, who is usually naked, is escorted by an older child who keeps the tokens of appreciation, comprised of tubers of yam, maize and money which their hosts shower on the celebrant, in a basin. The gifts are given after the child has saluted his adult guest and narrated how he mounted the sentry box and captured the bird as it was coming out from the nest. Adults usually initiate the salutation and narration by addressing the boy as “eti” which means child hero. Sand is poured on the head of the boy by adults to show that by this act the boy has identified with the community and her ideology of life which borders on military invincibility. The bird is usually roasted at the end of the one day exercise for the boy and his peers to eat. The tokens of appreciation together with the feast which is held in the evening for the boy communicate messages of approval, acceptance and identification to the individual. This childhood rite symbolizes the transition from infancy to childhood. The presumed entrance into the bush to hunt for birds marks the separation stage. The daylong parade across the community marks the transformation phase when the child is endowed with new nature and roles. The feast in the evening with his peers marks the incorporation into society as a boy. The new being that was remade to an infant person at the naming ceremony now graduates to boyhood. The rite is exclusively for males. UKE OGBA NGWURU Uke Ogba Ngwuru literary means the age grade that shoots the lizards. In the olden days, lizards were used for sacrificing to certain gods. The young men, whose ages are about 8-13 years are assigned this responsibility of bringing in the lizards whenever the elders wanted some for the shrines.It is important to note that these junior age grades are equally assigned the responsibilities of keeping the larger village squares clean. In the early days, the kings proclamation at Iri-Ama included the definite assignment to Use Ogba Ngwuru to keep the Ama-Uku square clean. Ama-Uku is the main square in the centre of the city. It is where major cultural events including the yearly proclamations of the King takes place.
UCHE OBA
“Uche-Oba” is the customary rite which symbolizes the transition from childhood to youth. It is performed by male children between twenty five and thirty years of age who later emerge as an age grade. The initiates retire to the bush and use the community barn as a rallying point for a period of four days during which they are symbolically transformed. The separation from the community symbolizes the stripping of their former mode of being, making them neither children nor youths. The four days duration in which they do not taste anything cooked by a woman symbolizes endowment with new nature and roles. During this period, they are spiritually and sociologically remade into ‘new beings’ with new social roles. They are exposed to the ugly realities of guerrilla warfare such as harsh weather conditions, attack of ferocious animals, darkness, thirst, hunger and hunting skills. They are acquainted with the oral history of the community, norms, values and structure of the community government. UKE EKPE Uke Uche-Oba transition into Uke-Ekpe. It is at this occasion that the official and respective name of this age grade is formally announced. By the completion of this tutelage of keeping watch over the barns, the age grade has performed the Ime Ekpe.From this moment on, the age grade comes into official recognition and now allotted responsibility through the most senior age grade, the Uke-ji-agbala, the age grade responsible for law and order and as directed by the Enachioken. In this modern age with the functioning of the ACIU as the modern developmental body of Abiriba,this responsibility of assignment of infrastructural contributions or other development to age grades is the Unions responsibilty. This responsibility allotted to the age grade is to be completed before the celebration by the age grade into full citizenship, Igwa-Mang.
IZARI AFA
This maturity rite symbolizes the transition from youth to adulthood. It is performed by people between thirty-five and forty years of age whose age grade is due for recognition with a name by the community. The ceremony involves a royal procession across the community led by a horse rider with intermittent libationary stoppage at the designated centres of the community. The ceremony ends with the unveiling of the developmental project which the initiates embarked on to mark the event and their reincorporation into the community through pouring of libation, elaborate display of their unique cultural dance andmasquerade. They are showered with congratulatory messages from the community’s customary and civil authorities amidst feasting. The rite embraces male and female members of the age grade.
“IGWA MANG” (Fulfilment of vows)
This is a ceremony performed by an age grade to mark the end of four- years of formal military cum civil service to the community. It is performed by men and women between forty-five and fifty years of age. The risky nature of the military function creates fear in the subjects, hence the need for consulting God and gods for protection as a precautionary measure. This consultation of spirits features a vow or pledge of a token of appreciation which one will give to God/gods on successful completion of the four years community service. At the end of their tenure of service, the participants separates themselves from the community on a designated day of the customary four-day week and retire to the shrine of the village god that is believed to have performed the feat of protection. They spend the night there and perform rites that amount to fulfilment of their collective and personal vows which they made before the god at the commencement of the four year military service. Thereafter the initiates move from the shrine into the community with a colourful dance procession. The community and their respective families recognize their heroic feat through verbal and non verbal appreciation. Thus they are reincorporated into the society as old adults.
“UCHE” ( Retirement)
“Uche” is the last cultural ceremony conducted by age grade members between sixty and seventy years of age to mark the end of their four years community surveillance function and retirement from community service. This rite marks the transition from old adulthood to living ancestorship (“Onye Ichie”). The “uche” rite consists of symbolic separation from the community marked by erecting a traditional canopy with George or wax clothes at the community centre where a night vigil is kept on the night preceding the event. The ceremony is marked by presentation of gifts in form of cash and kind by the celebrant’s wife (wives), children, in-laws, friends, and general public. Customarily the celebrant does not sleep in his house on the night of the “Uche” day. It is presumed that the celebrant would be killed by visiting malignant spirits sent by enemies who are envious of the gifts they received during the day. The only way to avoid the attack is by escaping from the house so that the spirits will not find him when they visit the house that night.
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