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From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
It was not just another festival. It was a cultural homecoming. Last Friday, the usually quiet Iho-Dimeze Ancient Kingdom in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State came alive with loud drum beats and sounds of flutes as masquerades swirled around, while the ancestors seemed to walk again among the living.
It was the annual New Yam Festival, also Known as Iriji by the natives. With the traditional ruler, HRH Eze Martin Chieze Amaku, Dimeze II of Iho-Dimeze Ancient Kingdom and Nwammirienweiro I of Ikeduru, directing the affairs as the Chief Custodian of culture and tradition of the Iho-Dimeze Autonomous Community, the event was more than a festival. It was a statement of identity.
From early morning, impressive motorcades and convoys filed into Iho-Dimeze. High Chief Chyma Anthony, popularly known as Odiuko Na Mba, who chaired the occasion, set the tone with a call for cultural pride. The security was tight but the mood was festive. Masquerades, tall, fearsome, and resplendent in colourful raffia and ancestral beads emerged from the villages in solidarity processions. They were flanked by dance troupes, indigenous flutists, village drummers and wooden gongs whose rhythms pulled even the elderly to their feet.
Youths, women and men lined the streets, cheering as the procession moved toward its spiritual heartbeat: the Eke Iho Market Square, also known as Eke-ije-dibia. There, the five villages that make up Iho-Dimeze assembled with their masquerades, each trying to outdo the other in acrobatic displays and esoteric songs. Seven cannon shots broke the air. It was a signal. The head of the masquerade cults had ordered the procession to the monarch’s palace. There was a rhythmic movement of the crowd, young and old, which elders described as one of the largest gatherings in the community’s history.
At the heart of it all sat the chairman on the occasion, Eze Amaku; youthful, serene, yet majestic on his golden throne, flanked by traditional rulers from across Ikeduru and his cabinet members.
In his address, he thanked all who honoured his invitation, including High Chief Chyma Anthony, the Ikeduru Council of Traditional Rulers and Community Policing, Prince Charles Amadi, High Chief Osmond Ukanacho, High Chief Everest Ezihe (Akaekpuchionwa 1 Na Umueze Abazu Ogwa), and Mazi Mathew Chima Amadi, Action People’s Party candidate for Owerri Senatorial Zone, who was represented by Chief Henry Onwukwe (Apiti), among others. His message went beyond pleasantries.
“The yam we are eating today was cultivated by me on my farm. I do not use yam bought from the market to celebrate my community’s Iriji festival,” the monarch declared, his voice cutting through the drumming.
“It is a traditional and cultural sacrilege for a community to celebrate its rich cultural heritage with yam purchased from the market. Any traditional ruler, individual or group that does so is making a mockery and bastardising the divinely cherished ancestral heritage.”
For Eze Amaku, who is also a prophet of the Most High God, yam is not just food. It is divinity.
“Yam is the king of all crops, and tradition demands that every Igbo man should cultivate yam and own a yam barn,” he said.
He explained that there are seven species of yam in Igboland, including Ji agwu, which ancestors used in traditional rites. Both yam and coco-yam, he noted, are not only nutritious but medicinal foods created by God for man. And he lives what he preaches. During the last planting season, the monarch said he freely distributed more than 5,000 yam seedlings, 400 bags of fertiliser and hybrid cassava stems to members of his community and visitors.
He used the platform to reiterate his commitment: “My mission is to revive Igbo cultural heritage,” he said.
He also cautioned against the monetisation of the sacred ritual – making cash donations or spraying money during the ceremonial cutting and eating of yam, describing it as alien to ancestral tradition.
The monarch did not shy away from politics. He expressed strong support for Governor Hope Uzodimma and President Bola Tinubu, describing them as patriotic and visionary leaders deserving of support.
The political undertone was echoed by Prince Charles Amadi, popularly known as Charlvon, Operational Leader of the Owerri Senatorial Zone United Leaders, who represented his son, Hon. Akarachi Etinosa Amadi. Describing Eze Amaku as a “digital traditional ruler,” Amadi pledged total support and urged political stakeholders in Imo to sacrifice for a smooth transition of power in 2027, appealing for continued support for Uzodimma’s Shared Prosperity administration and its reported promise to support an Owerri Zone successor.
For the President-General of Iho-Dimeze Autonomous Community, Augustine Njoku Esq, the festival was a symbol of resurrection.
“We are appreciating God for giving us such a monarch. It is painful that Iho-Dimeze spent over 16 years without a structured President-General and traditional ruler because of unhealthy and unnecessary rivalry,” Njoku said.
“Our traditional ruler was given the staff of office two years ago, while, in March 2026, I emerged as the elected President-General. You can imagine what the community lost due to division, wranglings and blackmail. During those 16 years of stagnation, there were opposing camps. We are appealing to those who are still on the other side to return and become part of the developmental and transformational efforts.”
Friday’s turnout, he said, was proof that the call for reconciliation is working.
In a bid to encourage farming, the festival featured the Best Farmer competition. Five contestants participated, showcasing their harvests. At the end, Mazi Augustine Onyekwuruha emerged the overall winner.
For his feat, Eze Amaku awarded him N200,000 and conferred on him the prestigious title of Ezeji Iho-Dimeze Autonomous Community 2026.
The climax came with the cutting of the new yam, and the royal father, with his cabinet, taking the first bite in gratitude to God for a bountiful harvest. Later, the community launched a fundraising for the construction of the monarch’s proposed magnificent golden palace, a project that mirrors his larger vision to build a kingdom where tradition is not a relic, but a living force.
As the drums faded and masquerades retired into the night, one message lingered in Iho-Dimeze: Culture is not dead.
