Iri ji Okposi: Annual feast of fruitfulness

From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki

Iri Ji (New Yam) festival is a remarkable part of Igbo heritage. It actually means different things to different communities. In some Igbo settings, Iri Ji is signifies New Year.

 

For Okposi people of Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, it is clearly a celebration of fruitfulness. It means the end of food scarcity and hunger, as the people are traditionally released to harvest yam, the king of crops, and end hunger.

 

This ritual is performed around August when the yam barns are almost empty, anticipating the harvest of the yam planted earlier in the year.

So, recently, the people rolled out the drums to usher in the new yam, called Ji Ovuru in Okposi dialect. Okposi is made up of three autonomous communities: Okposi, Mgbom Na Achara and Okposi Okwu.

 

The Eze Ji (chief priest of yam), Chief John Chukwu Agwu, a pharmacist and Knight of St. John, spoke to Daily Sun on the significance of the event. He said the festival was a great day in Okposi, noting that it is the day the people of the area are released from hunger from which they will start harvesting yam, the king of crops.

Agwu said: “This is a great day in Okposi clan. It is a day we celebrate our new yam festival and ensure that the people are released from hunger. From there, they will start harvesting and that’s exactly why we are celebrating.

It means that you can’t harvest yam until it is celebrated. Igbo cherish yam, we respect yam, we celebrate yam.

“Before the celebration, there are great rituals that must be done and it is only after that that you can harvest and eat yam. We went to the Eke market and did everything in the market before the celebration.

“The next new yam celebration will be great like this one. Okposi people are excited, they are happy. We are great people, lovable people and peaceful people. We are united people; we love our culture and we love our land because our land is holy. We still drink together and nobody is afraid of anyone to poison him. You can see how everybody is here eating together and taking things together”.

This year’s event was unique, with religion and tradition coming together to ensure that the Iri Ji Okposi continues to taste like old wine.

A church service was conducted by a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Peter Ogbonnaya, at the Amechi Okposi compound of the Eze Ji.

Ogbonnaya declared that the Mass was an indication that God accepted the festival and called on the people to continue to celebrate it, putting God first in the celebration.

He said the celebration was worthwhile, as, according to him, some people had bountiful harvest after planting the yam tubers, while others did not.

He further noted that some persons were not alive to witness this year’s celebration, even as some others were alive to celebrate the event.

President-general of Mgbom Na Achara Development Union (MADU) in the area, Philip Eze, told Daily Sun that the Iri Ji Okposi was passed unto the people of Okposi by their forefathers. He stated that the significant heritage was worthy of preservation.

He also noted that the event marked the beginning of fruitfulness and bountifulness in the entire community, describing the people as a people of culture.

Eze said the Iri Ji Okposi this year witnessed transformation with a blend of culture and tradition and commended the people for upholding their culture.

“Okposi Ezinasato are celebrating their new yam festival and we are a people of culture. We have come to celebrate our people. So, we are marking the beginning of fruitfulness and bountifulness in our community as a whole.

“Iri Ji is the same thing in Igboland; the planting season ends and this is the harvest season. The harvest season is a season of plenty, it’s a season of abundance, it’s a season for people to enjoy. So, this is a season of enjoyment, celebration and harvest. It’s a good season for us.

“This is something our forefathers passed unto us. First, we must ensure that it doesn’t die during our own time. So, we must sustain it, we must revive it.

“I like the transformation, this time; there is a blend of tradition and culture and now many people are talking about religion. So, there is a blend and we are not worshipping any idol, we are here to celebrate.

“We are traditionally farmers and this season is a season that we can sustain it and make sure that it doesn’t die during our own time and pass it across to our children,” Eze said.

Another stakeholder in Okposi, senior special assistant to Ebonyi State governor on projects (South), Chief Christian Okorie, said the festival has witnessed improvement in recent years.

He explained that the festival was part of the culture of the people and what they are known for and said that he would continue to contribute his quota for its sustenance.

Okorie described this year’s celebration as incomparable, saying: “The significance of this new yam festival is that it is our cultural heritage, that is what we are known for.

“Each year, I make contributions to make sure that we preserve this aspect of our culture, to make sure that this culture is going the way it should, and it is getting better by the year.

“This year’s edition is not the same thing with the one we had last year. There is an improvement and it will keep improving until we get there.”

He also commended the Ezeji for his commitment in standing in the gap, holding the torch, including attracting a large number of people to the ceremony.

Regarding the infusion of thr church service to the Iri Ji activities, the governor’s aide said: “This is to show that we are going somewhere and that’s the way it should be. It shows that there is nothing fetish about the festival.”

One of the women leaders in the community, Mrs. Rose Aja-Nwachuku Okoronkwo, said the festival has remained a unifying force in the area, stressing that the people do not toy with the festival.

She also disclosed that, even if a woman from the community is married to someone from a very far place, she is expected to cook and bring to her parents as a mark of respect and honour for them and the community.

“You can see women performing traditional dances, eating yam and celebrating this special event. You can also see the youths, men and others in celebration mood. This is our culture and we don’t joke with it.

“Even if you are married, you are expected to cook and bring to your father or your parents, that’s the role women play in this cultural festival,” she stated.

Senior special assistant to the governor on education, Mrs. Chinwe Nwachukwu, who also hails from Okposi, explained that the festival affords the people the opportunity to give thanks to God for bringing them to a new season, and expressed joy that she was alive to witness this year’s event.

The people enjoyed assorted delicacies prepared with yam during the celebration.