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Eziomume Solomon, Nnewi
Ohanaeze Ndigbo has vowed to ensure Igbo language and culture does not go into extinction in spite of the negligence of the language by majority of Igbo.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) had predicted that over 7,000 languages would be extinct by 2050, among them Igbo.
President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Nnia Nwodo, said the body was putting modalities in place to ensure the teaching of Igbo language and tradition in primary and secondary schools across Igbo land.
Nwodo, who spoke during the 1021 Igu-Aro Ndigbo, 2020AD and Eze Obidiegwu Onyesoh’s 32nd year on the throne of Agukwunri, at Nri, Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambta State, explaining that knowing the language would also help the people know their origin, styles and norms.
“All hands must also be on deck to ensure that the language is sustained. In this regard, parents, caregivers and teachers, should lead this crusade; because, they are the people to champion the use of the language at home and in schools.
“My participation at the 1021 Igu Aro Ndigbo will demonstrate to all the determination of Ohanaeze in ensuring that our language and tradition are sustained. And to make the sustenance long lasting, every Igbo person must be part of the crusade. Our knowledge of Igbo language and tradition will also help us have knowledge of our origin, lifestyles and norms,” he said.
The regent of Agukwunri kingdom, Prince Ikenna Onyesoh, said that the proclamation of Igbo lunar calendar from year to year was the prerogative of Eze Nri, being the custodian of Igbo culture, tradition and the keeper of ancestral Ofo Ndigbo.
He said Nri/Igbo New Year starts in February, same as shrines and other cultures in Asia, far East, and Israel, which he said, use the moon to determine their seasons and times. He also said that Igu-Aro was the period that Eze Nri proclaims and ushers in the beginning of the planting season.
Highpoint of the event was distribution of yam seedlings to natives and visitors for onward cultivation in the new planting season.
