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By Uche Ohia
Owerri is set to erupt in a blaze of cultural pride and scholarly brilliance as the Ahiajoku Lecture – Igboland’s most prestigious intellectual festival – returns on November 27 – 28, 2025. After years of silence imposed by COVID – 19 pandemic, insecurity, and the menace of non-state actors, the Imo State Government under Governor Hope Uzodimma (CON) has struck the gong once again to rekindle the fire of Igbo intellectualism that has shaped generations since 1979. This year’s edition, the 30th lecture in the historic series, marks a dramatic revival of a tradition that has survived coups, regime neglect, political upheavals, and cultural disruption. With the selection of the erudite cleric, Most Rev. Prof. Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, Catholic Bishop of Nsukka, as Guest Lecturer, Ahiajoku Lecture 2025 signals not just a return, but a rebirth – a renewed call for reflection, unity and cultural self-examination in a region facing deep socio-economic uncertainty.
For two days (Ahiajoku Colloquium on November 27 and Ahiajoku Lecture proper on November 28), Owerri will once again assume its role as the intellectual capital of Igboland, gathering scholars, cultural custodians, traditional rulers, policy makers, thinkers, artists and diaspora delegates in a festival of thought, memory, scholarship and celebration. From the Opening Ceremony to the Colloquium, from the iconic Lecture itself to the Gala Night, the 2025 Ahiajoku festival promises the full splendour and philosophical profundity that earned Ahiajoku Lecture its legendary status across the African intellectual landscape. By restoring this sacred intellectual covenant between the Igbo past and the Igbo future, Gov. Uzodimma has reopened a philosophical gateway, inviting Ndigbo to interrogate their journey, rediscover their identity and chart a new path amidst insecurity and rapid global changes. Owerri awaits. The fire is about to be lit again.
Historical Outline
Whenever the story of Ahiajoku Lecture is told, the credit is often given to Chief Sam Mbakwe, first civilian governor of the old Imo State, and rightly so: it was during the Mbakwe administration that the first Ahiajoku Lecture was organised in 1979. The idea of Ahiajoku Lecture, however, predates the Mbakwe administration. The story of Ahiajoku Lecture is inseparable from the search for Igbo renewal after the Nigerian-Biafran Civil War and from the wider African cultural awakening of the 1970s. Here is the story:
In 1977, Nigeria hosted the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC ’77) in Lagos. Imo State, newly created at the time, participated robustly. After the 29-Day cultural fiesta in Lagos, the Imo contingent returned to Owerri vibrating with excitement and brimming with fresh ideas for cultural renewal. At a 19-day “mini-FESTAC” held in the state afterwards, Military Governor Ndubuisi Kanu, a navy commander, unveiled a cultural policy that proposed enduring structures for the preservation and promotion of culture in Imo State. Within this atmosphere, officials in the Ministry of Information and Culture began to conceive a platform that would go beyond masquerades and dances – a pan-Igbo intellectual festival that would interrogate Igbo history, philosophy and civilization at the highest level.
The Director of Culture, G.M.K. Anoka, drafted an Executive Council memorandum proposing what would eventually become the Ahiajoku Lecture. The memo was presented to the State EXCO by Dr. Agom Eze, then Commissioner for Education and Information, and was approved under the military government of Commodore Adekunle Lawal (1977 – 1978). Before the plan could be implemented, Lawal left office. His successor, Colonel Sunday Adenihun (1978 – 1979), was preoccupied with preparing the state for the return to civilian rule. The idea could easily have died on the shelf. Instead, it waited for a man whose political instincts and cultural convictions were perfectly aligned with the vision.
On October 1, 1979, Samuel Onunaka Mbakwe, the fiery lawyer from Obowo, was sworn in as the first civilian Governor of old Imo State (then comprising present-day Imo, Abia and Ebonyi States). In his inaugural address, he famously promised “to restore the dignity of man”. For Mbakwe, a rugged lawyer who had fought tirelessly against the Abandoned Property policy and other post-war injustices, cultural re-awakening was part of that project. He saw Ahiajoku Lecture as an idea whose time had come. Within his first two months in office, Mbakwe dusted up the file and, using a formidable team of elite commissioners and technocrats, midwifed the inaugural Ahiajoku Lecture in November 1979.
The intellectual calibre of Mbakwe’s first cabinet explains the speed, seriousness and precision with which Ahiajoku Lecture and other legacy projects of that regime were executed. Among Mbakwe’s team were Dr. Ray Ofoegbu, political scientist, Commissioner for Information and Culture; Prof. Adiele Afigbo, eminent historian, Commissioner for Education; Prof. Enoch Anyanwu, economist and Secretary to the State Government; Dr. Ihechukwu Madubuike, who served briefly as Commissioner for Education and later became a Federal Minister; Dr Loveday Ememe who served as Commissioner for Agriculture and as Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ishmael Anyadiegwu who served as Commissioner for Public Utilities.
Others were Dr. Alex Emeziem who served as Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Dr. Cajetan Duruji who served as Commissioner for Local Government Development, Dr. O.B. Aguocha who served as Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Rose Ure Mezu, scholar of literature and Commissioner for Social Welfare; and Ambassador Gaius Anoka, the first Director of Imo State Council for Arts and Culture, Mr. Chris Duru, etc. Together with other professionals, they pulled the Ahiajoku Lecture from concept to reality – complete with logo (adapted from a FESTAC art piece submitted by young artist Paddy Obinna depicting the yam pantheon), clear objectives and a permanent slot on the last weekend of November.
The Vision
Ahiajoku Lecture was named after Ahiajoku, the deity of agricultural fertility reimagined as patron of intellectual fecundity and cultural reawakening. The vision of Ahiajoku Lecture was anchored on Igbo Culture as Intellectual Storehouse. From the outset, the Imo State Government framed Ahiajoku as more than a talk shop. The festival was designed to:
Define key aspects of Igbo culture and relate them to Nigerian, African and world civilization;
Stimulate serious research in Igbo history, language, religion, governance, economy and philosophy;
Relate scholarship to Igbo world view and human development; and
Build a diachronic (historical) understanding of Igbo civilization across disciplines.
Thus, Ahiajoku Lecture was positioned as an intellectual databank – a carefully curated archive of Igbo thought, distilled annually from the reflections of the best Igbo minds and preserved for present and future generations.
Ahiajoku Lecture Over the Years
On November 28, 1979, the dream became reality when the first of many big masquerades of Ahiajoku was unveiled: Professor M.J.C. Echeruo, literary giant and later pioneer Vice-Chancellor of Imo State University, mounted the podium in Owerri to deliver the maiden lecture: “AHAMEFULA: A Matter of Identity.” In that lecture, Echeruo framed the Igbo post-war struggle as a battle not just for reconstruction, but for memory and self – definition. “Ahamefula” (may my name not be lost) became both a warning and a prophecy.
The second lecture in 1980 by another big masquerade, Prof. Bede Okigbo, a plant pathologist and geneticist, “Plants and Foods in Igbo Culture”, led the audience through farms and forests, reminding Ndigbo that imported diets had displaced traditional, nutritious foods to the detriment of health and longevity.
In 1981, astute African historian Prof. Adiele Eberechukwu Afigbo an Ijele masquerade in the field of historical reconstruction and historiography delivered “The Age of Innocence: The Igbo and Their Neighbours in Pre-Colonial Times”, reconstructing a pre-colonial landscape of diplomacy and trade that challenged lazy stereotypes of Igbo isolationism.
The 1982 lecture by Prof. Anya Oko Anya, scholar, technocrat, and a doyen of biology and parasitology, “The Environment of Isolation”, moved from biology to sociology, urging Ndigbo to move beyond geographical and psychological isolation and embrace integration in Nigeria, Africa and the wider world.
Within just four years, Ahiajoku had announced itself as a serious forum for self -interrogation and intellectual excellence. Between 1979 and 1995, fifteen lectures were delivered. There were interruptions in 1983 and 1993, both years of serious political crisis at the national level. Yet, through most of the military era, successive administrators – Ike Nwachukwu (1984 – 1985), Allison Madueke (1985 – 1986), Amadi Ikwechegh (1986 – 1990), Anthony Oguguo (1990 – 1992), James Aneke (1993 – 1996) – kept faith with the festival. The major exceptions were the regimes of Evan (s) Enwerem (1992 – 1993) which was short-lived and the regime of Colonel Tanko Zubairu (1996 – 1999), under which Ahiajoku was effectively abandoned and neglected. Those years underscored one of the lecture’s deepest vulnerabilities: its dependence on the disposition of whoever occupies Douglas House, the seat of government in Owerri.
With the return of democracy in 1999, Governor Achike Udenwa resurrected the festival. From 2000 to 2006, Ahiajoku held consistently for seven years as follows: Prof. Cyril A. Onwumechili (2000): “IGBO ENWE EZE: THE IGBO HAVE NO KINGS”, Prof. Emmanuel N.E. Emenanjo (2001): “IGBO OR IGBOID: ASUSU N’AGBURU NDI IGBO, Rev. Prof. Emmanuel N. Onwu (2002): “IGBO RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY”, Prof. Michael A. Nwachukwu (2003): “BEYOND TEKUNZU: TECHNOLOGY IN IGBO THOUGHT”, Prof. Inyang A. Eteng (2004): “ONYE AJURU AJU ANAGHI AJU ONWE YA”, HRH Prof. Laz E.N. Ekwueme (2005): “JI NA NDI IGBO: THE YAM AND IGBO VALUES”, Prof. C.S.A. Ogbuagu (2006): “IGBO BUSINESS PRACTICES IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD”
His successor, Governor Ikedi Ohakim (2007 – 2011), not only continued the tradition but took steps to institutionalize the Ahiajoku Festival. First, the Ohakim Administration initiated moves towards the enactment of a law establishing Ahiajoku as an institution and appointed the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dr. Amanze Obi as its pioneer Director-General. Also, the Ohakim government constructed the “Ahiajoku Centre” in New Owerri – a physical home and a monument to immortalize the Ahiajoku festival and for other cultural events. Under his watch, the 2007 lecture by Msgr. Prof. Theophilus Okere, “Communication in Igbo Culture (Mmekorita n’Omenala Igbo)”, was delivered in both English and Igbo – the first bilingual (Igbo-English language) Ahiajoku lecture. In 2008, Ohakim crossed the proverbial ikpa n’asaa, mmiri n’asaa (seven forests and seven rivers) to bring back the world-renowned novelist, Prof. Chinua Achebe who had relocated to the United States after a fatal accident, to deliver a much-celebrated lecture titled “Igbo Intellectualism” in which Achebe proclaimed that deep thought and critical inquiry are native to the Igbo spirit.
With an eye for excellence and innovation, Ohakim also brought Prof. Bath Nnaji, the first Nigerian professor of robotics to deliver the 2009 lecture titled’ Ka Ihe Di’ (Let there be light) as well as the renowned metallurgical and materials engineer, Prof. Chinedu O. Nebo who delivered the incisive 2010 lecture titled “Leadership and Sectoral Underdevelopment”. It was also the Ohakim administration that commissioned and produced the first compendium containing all the past Ahiajoku Lectures in one single volume. The compendium of past Ahiajoku lectures was produced both in hard copies and digital CDs in 2009 by a committee led by Dr Chris Asoluka. More than any other governor, Ikedi Ohakim showed great commitment and passion for the Ahiajoku Lecture and positioned the intellectual fiesta for exponential growth.
That momentum was dramatically reversed under Governor Rochas Okorocha (2011–2019). Although lectures held in 2011 with Prof. Benjamin Ajuiwe Eheazu’s “Global Warming and Climate Change: A Sustainability Alert to Ndigbo” and in 2012 with Prof. Uba Sonny Frank Nnabue’s “Okezuo Ogbuu Alaa: Equity and Justice in Igbo Jurisprudence and the Nigerian Polity”, the Okorocha administration soon discontinued the series and converted the Ahiajoku Centre to the “Imo State Trade and Investment Centre”. The decision was widely seen as a political attempt to erase the legacy of a more cerebral predecessor. In any case, the “Trade and Investment Centre” under Okorocha attracted neither significant trade nor serious investment, but served largely as a venue for political meetings.
Okorocha’s government also drew criticism for demolishing the historic Mbari Cultural Centre, its priceless structures, art works and irreplaceable artifacts in a bid to foist a controversial “Imo State Traditional Assembly” patterned after the northern emirate system. Even the giant sculpture of the legendary Mazi Mbonu Ojike, an Igbo icon and a fierce advocate of Igbo culture popularly known as the “Boycott King”, that was erected at the forecourt of the Ahiajoku Institute by Ohakim was removed by Okorocha.
For many culture activists, this remains the darkest chapter in the history of cultural iconoclasm in Imo State and an unforgivable assault on Igbo heritage.
In 2019, the short-lived administration of Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha moved decisively to repair the damage. The government restored the building’s original identity as Ahiajoku Institute, and re- appointed veteran journalist and culture administrator Dr. Amanze Obi as its Director-General. To mark 40 years since the inaugural festival, the state convened the 29th Ahiajoku Lecture in November 2019, inviting once again the pioneer lecturer, Prof. M.J.C Echeruo, who spoke on “Ogu Eri Mba: We Shall Survive.” The title captured both the history of the Igbo struggle and the resilience of the festival itself. Ironically, however, it could not save the Ihedioha administration which was soon consumed in a simmering political conflagration.
Other News
Then came January 2020, a new government, and a new global crisis. As Governor Hope Uzodimma (CON) assumed office, the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world. Lockdowns, travel restrictions and bans on public gatherings made it impossible to host an event of the magnitude of Ahiajoku Lecture that traditionally attracts dignitaries from across Nigeria and the diaspora. As the pandemic eased, the South East was gripped by insecurity, a major jail break in Owerri, attacks on security formations, and the scourge of so-called “unknown gunmen”. Large gatherings became risky and ill-advised. Even the much-anticipated 2023 edition, which would have been the 30th lecture and the 45th anniversary of the festival, had to be shelved on security grounds. Through this period, however, the clamour for the return of Ahiajoku Lecture never died. Even as security reports remained adverse in 2023, Gov. Hope Uzodimma announced the appointment of a former congressman, theatre artist and administrator, Hon. Nze Ray Emeana as Director – General of the Ahiajoku Centre. The appointment brought to the fore the governor’s determination to host the Ahiajoku Lecture at the earliest opportunity. Against this backdrop, the announcement of the 2025 Ahiajoku Festival generated excitement – and relief – across Igbo land and beyond.
As the city of Owerri once again plays host to Igbo intelligentsia from November 27 – 28, it will be a symbolic homecoming for an idea that was born in Owerri in 1979 and has since grown into the most important annual intellectual festival in Igboland. To lead the away as Chairman of the Event at the 2025 Ahiajoku Lecture will be Prof. Anya O. Anya, the 1982 Ahiajoku Lecturer. The big masquerade that will dance the Ijele dance on the podium will be the fiery speaker, Rev. Prof. Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, Catholic Bishop of Nsukka and distinguished scholar, with a lecture themed: “The Future of Igbo Economy Amidst the Challenges of Insecurity in the South East: A Call for Paradigm Shift.” It is a topic that speaks directly to the anxieties – and possibilities – of the present moment in the South East.
The Four Dimensions of Ahiajoku Lecture
Over the years, Ahiajoku has evolved from a single lecture into a four-part festival, typically spread over two days featuring an Opening Ceremony – a ritual of cultural awakening featuring prayers, libations, music, dances, exhibitions and formal addresses that situate the event spiritually and symbolically; the Colloquium – a lively, often multidisciplinary debate in which scholars, students, cultural enthusiasts and leaders interrogate the lecture theme, revisit past lectures and explore current issues affecting Igboland; the Lecture Proper – delivered by a carefully chosen eminent scholar of Igbo extraction, presenting a comprehensive thesis on an aspect of Igbo life – from language and law to economics, religion, science and technology. The lecture is later published, adding to the growing archive of Ahiajoku texts. Finally, the Gala Night – A colourful valedictory evening of music, dance, drama, awards and feasting. It is a reminder that in Igbo culture, thought and celebration are not enemies: we think, we debate – and then we dance. It is this fusion of ritual, reflection, reasoning and rejoicing that has given Ahiajoku its unique flavour and staying power.
The Big Masquerades
Across more than four and a half decades, only distinguished professors and top-flight intellectuals of Igbo extraction symbolically referred to as “The Masquerades of Ahiajoku Festival” have been invited to deliver the Ahiajoku Lecture. From law to economics, traditional medicine, physics and philosophy, literature and linguistics, religion and philosophy, science and technology, music and values, entrepreneurship, climate change and jurisprudence, the Ahiajoku Lecture podium has carried the full spectrum of Igbo scholarship which I chronologically encapsulated in another write – up as “The Big Masquerades of Ahiajoku Festival (1979 – 2025)”. Many of these lecturers have since joined the ancestors, but their words live on in published texts, libraries, private collections and the memories of those who heard them. Together, they constitute a rich intellectual databank – a collective autobiography of the Igbo mind.
The Planning Committee
Behind every successful edition of Ahiajoku stands a Planning Committee – the invisible engine of the Festival. From the first team put together in 1979 under Colonel Adenihun and later Governor Mbakwe, through different political eras, these committees of civil servants, academics, culture activists and administrators have, crafted the themes, recommended and invited lecturers, managed logistics, hospitality, security and publicity, mobilized funding; and preserved records and institutional memory. Often working with limited budgets, little or no extra pay, and changing political climates, they have kept the flame alive. As Ahiajoku returns in 2025, these committees – past and present – stand out as the quiet custodians of a great tradition. The Chairman of the 2025 Ahiajoku Lecture Planning Committee, Chief Garry Igariwey and the Deputy Chairman, Sir Staney Amuchie have called for the support of Ndigbo across political, religious and generational lines to give the 2025 Ahiajoku Festival the prominence it deserves, stating that “in celebrating ourselves, we fortify our future”.
Challenges
For all its achievements, the Ahiajoku Lecture has wrestled with serious challenges:
Political inconsistency – Support for the festival has depended heavily on the disposition of each administration, leading at times to relegation, suspension or outright abandonment.
Weak infrastructure– Not until the creation (and later restoration) of the Ahiajoku Centre with a substantive Director General was there a dedicated home for its archives and programmes. Even now, there is need to fully equip the Ahiajoku Centre as a cultural complex worthy of its stature.
Academic elitism – The heavy intellectual tone of the lectures means that the ordinary Igbo person often encounters Ahiajoku only through newspaper excerpts, occasional broadcasts and, in recent times, social media posts. Greater involvement of younger generations and the hoi-polloi is necessary for continuity and sustainability.
Poor digitization – Many past lectures are not available or digitized, limiting their reach in an age dominated by social media, podcasts and online learning. A compendium of past lectures available in hard copy and e-book is apposite.
Funding constraints – With minimal private sector involvement, theoretical participation by the Igbo speaking states, the festival has been largely dependent on Imo State government subventions, making it vulnerable to political and economic shocks.
These are not merely administrative issues; they are questions about how a people manage their memory in a rapidly changing world.
The 2025 theme of Ahiajoku Festival focuses on the future of the Igbo economy under the shadow of insecurity – and calls explicitly for a paradigm shift. Insecurity in the South East has not only disrupted business and social life, it has also threatened culture itself, forcing cancellations of festivals, markets and public gatherings and causing relocation of funerals and traditional weddings to alien locations away from the homeland. By placing economy and insecurity side by side, this year’s lecture promises to go beyond lamentation. It invites Ndigbo to think of how to protect lives and investments in a volatile environment, how to harness the global Igbo diaspora for development, how to re-imagine commerce, technology and industry in ways rooted in Igbo values of community, self-help and resilience, and how culture – including platforms like Ahiajoku Lecture – can contribute to peace-building and a new economic vision. If earlier lectures wrestled with identity, language, cosmology, technology, and governance, the 2025 edition steps squarely into the arena of economic survival and transformation.
Going Forward
Looking ahead, the future of Ahiajoku Lecture will depend on how successfully it modernizes without losing its soul. Among the proposals frequently canvassed by culture advocates are:
Giving the festival firm legal backing as a regional heritage institution with guaranteed annual support from SE state governments and from SE regional agencies such as the Anambra/Imo River Basin Development Authority (AIRBDA), South East Development Commission (SEDC), etc;
Expanding the Ahiajoku Centre into a full-fledged cultural complex with museum, library, digital archive and international exchange and research facilities;
Building a robust online presence – website, app, YouTube channel, podcast – to host live streams, past lectures and youth-friendly content;
Creating youth essay and innovation competitions, fellowships and community projects under the Ahiajoku umbrella;
Developing strong diaspora partnerships so that Ahiajoku-themed events can hold in major cities around the world; and
Establishing an endowment fund supported by governments, corporate bodies and individual patrons to secure long-term sustainability.
In an era where cultures without digital footprints risk oblivion, Ahiajoku must move from being an annual event to a year-round movement.
Conclusion
As Owerri prepares to welcome guests on November 27 – 28, 2025, the Ahiajoku story comes full circle. From the post-war anxieties of 1979 to the pandemic and insecurity of the 2020s, the lecture has remained a mirror and a compass – reflecting the state of Igbo society while pointing towards new possibilities. It has survived military coups, political neglect, economic downturns and physical threats. It has produced an impressive corpus of indigenous scholarship and inspired countless conversations about what it means to be Igbo in a changing world. Yet, as its own chroniclers admit, Ahiajoku is not complete. It is not a relic to be embalmed, but a living covenant between ancestors and descendants, between land and people, between memory and vision. In this season of Ahiajoku, therefore, the call is clear: to remember, to rethink, and to re-imagine. If “Ahamefula” was the cry of 1979, and “Ogu Eri Mba – We Shall Survive” was the affirmation of 2019, in 2025, with insecurity at the gates and opportunity in the air, with extremism on the land and pacifism in the mind, the challenge before Ndigbo – and before Ahiajoku – is to go a step further: not only to survive, but to transform like the Phoenix – the mythical bird that rises from its ashes.
•Ohia, former Commissioner for Tourism, Culture & Creative Arts, Imo State, writes from Arondizuogu
