From Okey Sampson, Umuahia and Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Various Igbo communities are currently paying obeisance to yam, widely regarded as the king of crops. 
In Ibeku land, landlords of Umuahia, capital of Abia State, Iri Ji (New Yam) festival is unarguably the most prominent and significant event in their cultural calendar.
Little wonder the whole place became carnival ground as the ceremony took place on Thursday, August 25. According to some natives, “whenever the Ibeku people celebrate their new yam festival, it is regarded as Igbo ‘Eriele ji’,” meaning that the Igbo as a whole have celebrated the new yam.
What this simply means is that the rituals performed by the Ibeku people for the ‘Iri ji’ festival were for themselves and on behalf of the rest of Igbo. This does not imply that Ibeku is the origin of the Igbo, but they said it is actually “a carry-over from the days of Ibeku kingdom when the Ibeku people were in control of much of Igbo land.” They equally said it was an indication that the Ibeku were among the early settlers of Igbo land.
Prior to this, New Yam festival in Ibeku land was characterised with clashes and other hiccups as the youths would go out of their ways to foment trouble and inconvenient residents in the name of celebration.
This year’s event was marked in a very peaceful and convivial atmosphere devoid of clashes and molestations. The camaraderie that reigned within the 17 clans of Ibeku kingdom had never been witnessed in such occasion in recent times.
Custodian of the custom and tradition of Ibeku, Prince Benjamin Apugo, embarked on aggressive enlightenment and persuasion of the youth; using radio announcements and other channels to a celebration without the traditional bearing of cutlasses. The occasion did not also witness weird dancing on major streets of Umuahia.
It was impressive as large crowd of people, mostly youths trooped out in their numbers as never witnessed in recent times, to be counted.
Apugo, who goes with the titles of the Ochiagha and Oparaukwu Ibeku, said: “The youths were recently made to know their roots, they now know who-is-who in Ibekuland, and have accordingly turned out en masse to identify themselves with the culture and tradition of the people.”
On that day, unusually large crowds of youths and elders of the land gathered at the ancestral home of Egwu, the progenitor of Ibeku land, at Umuajiji Isieke Ibeku, early in the morning. They waited for the arrival of Apugo who performed traditional rites kick-starting the celebration.
As the Ochiagha arrived, gunshots boomed heralding the commencement of the festival. Apugo explained: “The Egwu Ibeku has for several years remained an important site for Ibeku people. Besides housing the shrines of all Ibeku people, it serves as a place where all major issues concerning them are discussed, and decisions taken. The site is the final burial place of the founder of Ibeku land, Mr. Ibeku.”
A villager, Ndemele Kelechi, told Daily Sun that Apugo comes to the site early in the morning of every ‘Iri ji’ day to perform various traditional rites after which the people can begin to cook and eat the new yam: “The performance of the rituals precedes the cooking and eating of the yam. Any Ibeku person who flouts it in any part of the world is sanctioned.”
The Ochiagha explained why this aspect of Ibeku tradition was reserved for him: “The performance of these traditional rites is an inheritance. When I am no longer there, the rite will be performed by any of my children, or any member of my family.
“No matter how rich you are, you cannot come to ‘Egwu Ibeku; to perform the rites to herald the new yam festival. This responsibility is reserved for only the descendants of Ibeku land.”
The rites include beating of the ‘Ikoro’- a wooden instrument used in Igboland to summon the entire community in periods of emergency; breaking of kolanut, and pouring of libation to the gods for keeping the people alive to witness the celebration of another new yam festival.
As part of heralding the festival, several Ibeku women were seen cooking yam in one part of the buildings housing ‘Egwu Ibeku’ and they later gave guests enough to eat.
At a similar festival in Ishi Ubomiri autonomous community in Mbaitoli Local Government, the traditional ruler, Eze Emma Ekeh, urged the Igbo to see beyond the cultural significance of yam. He said the people of the region could turn around Nigeria’s dwindling fortunes in agriculture if many of the big businessmen from the zone invested in the sector.
The monarch noted: “If agriculture is aggressively embraced like other businesses of the Igbo, the region will become a major su8 of foods to other states and even outside Nigeria.”
Ekeh who is also president, Imo Exporters Association, called for stronger measures by the various tiers of government to revive and resuscitate the nation’s ailing agricultural sector.
He warned that continued neglect of such a critical sector would worsen the raging food crisis and deplete the much-needed resources for development: “My community is famous for agricultural activities and as a traditional ruler, I’m into active farming and if the various levels of government can sit up and accord stronger prominence to agriculture, it will generate more revenue for the government and provide jobs for the youths and I believe that can start here in South East.”