By Okorie Uguru
Five days to the end of last year, various communities in Ohafia, Abia State, rolled out the drums to celebrate their sons and daughters who have survived the vagaries of life, and are being welcomed into the traditional status of community elders.
The status of elders within the traditional setting in Ohafia has its perks. Ohafia is segmented into age groups. These age groups serve different functions within the community, including being community policemen or security, engaging in clearing of community bush paths to farms or streams, going to wars on behalf of the community either for punitive purposes, or to wade off existential threats (in the olden days), or generally embarking on different kinds of works for the community. All these cease for members of an age group once they celebrate the Igba Uche or Otuomu ceremony.
In Ohafia, the age group system serves as a tool for social bonding, camaraderie and creates opportunities for members to help one another. It is a progressive process that actively ends after retirement. So, the traditional retirement is seen as a big event in Ohafia especially considering that in most cases, before one could get to the age of Igba Uche, many of one’s age mates might have died. For an average Ohafia person, male or female, being alive to mark one’s Igba Uche is a milestone that the drums are literally rolled out to celebrate. It offers Ohafia people the opportunity to showcase their rich culture, history and could be used as a tourist attraction.
The age group system works like a conveyor belt, as one age group is retiring, the group behind them (uke no ogo) would immediately take up a project, their final labour, for the community. At the lowest rung of the ladder still, young men in their 20s or 30s would take the first step towards forming their age group. In Ohafia, two years is the minimum number of years that separate one age group from another. One is not considered older than another person by just one year.
Okagwe, Ohafia was abuzz on Monday, December 30 the first day of the two-day celebration when the members of Azumini age group, resplendent in their traditional uniform danced to the community square full of pride to hand over their opus magnum, a civic hall for the community. It was a festive procession in which the age group was received by the Ezieogo Dibia Ette, the traditional ruler of Okagwe and his council. After the handing over ceremony, each member of age group was given ‘a discharge certificate’.
The ceremony was marked with drumming and festivity. The parade of the age groups reminds one of Ojude Oba in Ijebu Ode where age groups prepare to showcase the rich culture of the people. However, the Igba Uche, for the Ohafia people, is more elaborate. It is not just about showcasing the individual and collective achievements of the particular age group. It is an opportunity to add value by embarking and handing over a project that would benefit the community.
Chief Iro Igwe, a member of the Azumini age group spoke about the traditional event: “Igba Uche in Ohafia tradition and culture has a lot to do with identifying with your community first, you identify with your age grade members , that is first and foremost. Igba Uche shows that someone has come of age within the community, and the person has been involved in activities; it is a social event for the community. It involves an age group being able to organise themselves to a point that the community will be able to recognise them and say yes, they have come of age. The community would give the age group a project that they will execute for the community. Once you come of age, the community will be looking up to you for what you have to offer towards the social wellbeing of the community. When you get to Ohafia, Okagwe to be specific, from the primary school to the secondary school, almost all the structures, or 95 per cent of the structure, were constructed by different age grades either during their Igba Uche or or Igba Otuomu of Igba Ekpe. So, these are the ways we develop our community, without the age grade system, Ohafia cannot develop. These are among the things that give me joy being part of the Azumini age grade that just celebrated their Igba Uche.”
Igwe explained more about the ceremony: “It is a two-day ceremony, the first day, and the second day. The first day is normally a day dedicated to showcase to the community what the age grade can offer to them. As an age grade, what will you be remembered for, even when you’re no more? What would your children remember you for? The first day is set aside for the age grade to hand over to the community what they have achieved. For my age grade in Okagwe Ohafia, we used it to hand over a civic hall to the community.
“On the second day, it is a day set aside for friends, children and families of the age group members to be celebrated while alive. An age group member can celebrate the occasion the way he or she wants based on the person’s capability. You invite friends, relatives and so on.”
One notable aspect of the ceremony is that most of the members of the age group celebrating their retirement complete their dressing for the occasion with an umbrella usually carried by a young man for the celebrant.
While the Azumini age group in Okagwe was celebrating, in the Abia community, the Deputy Governor of Abia State, Ikechukwu Emetu had visited to celebrate with the Obimba age grade. In his keynote speech, he commended the age group for being able to mobilize its members and resources by the age for a project central to the development of the community. He said: “We cherish it when people support the government to bring development and this is a clear case of such. As a government, the people will remain at the centre of what we do,” he said.
The Obimba Age Grade executed and delivered a feeder-road bridge, called Owalude bridge to Abia community, in fulfilment of the traditional requirements for the ceremony. The bridge, which eases access to farmlands in the locality, is expected to open up a long stretch of land for housing development.
The Igba Uche ceremony is never complete until the next age group that would retire comes to the community square to display and show their willingness to take over from their elders who had just retired.
In Okagwe, it was the turn of the Umuakuma age group. They trooped to the community square. This is referred to as Ibanyi Ogo. To show their willingness, the age group presented the traditionally required items to the council of elders. These include a ram, bags of salt, tubers of yam and other items. Every member of the age group will be praying for long life to be able to celebrate just like their elders, the Azumini age grade.