Ile ọmụgwọ (Maternity Visitation)

Ile ọmụgwọ na omenala Igbo bụ oge nne na abịa ileta nwa ya nwaanyị na nwa ọ mụrụ (nke bụ nwa nwa ya).
Ụfọdụ oge, ọ bụrụ na nwaanyị enweghịzị nne (ọ bụrụ na nne mụrụ ya anwụọla), nwunye nna ya maọbụ nne di ya ga-abịa nọrọ n'ụlọ ya lee ya ọmụgwọ.
Ihe mere o ji bụrụ nwaanyị na-ele ọmụgwọ kama nwoke, bụ maka na a na-ewe ya na ọ bụ nwaanyị kacha mara ihe gbasara ya maka na ọ gabigala ọnọdụ ahụ n'onwe ya. Oge ọmụgwọ bụ oge nne na-akụziri nwa ya nwaanyị ihe niile ọ ma maka ilekọta nwa a mụrụ ọhụrụ. Ụfọdụ oge, ọ na-abụ nne mụrụ nwa laa, nne di ya abịa bido lewe ya ọmụgwọ nke ya. Nwaanyị mụrụ nwa ọhụrụ na-eji ohere ọmụgwọ zuru ike ma nne ya na-elekọta nwa ya.

IHE NNE NA-EME N'ỌMỤGWỌ
1. Nne ga na-enye nwa ya nwaanyị ihe ga-eme ka mmiri ara ya gbaa ọfụma.
2. Nne ga na-esiri ya nri ndị ga-eme ka ahụ ya gbakee ọfụma.
3. Nne ga na-ama ya mmiri ọkụ n'afọ na ebe ndị ọzọ ọ chọrọ, ma tekwaa ya ihe ga-ekpo ya ahụ ọkụ (robb, aboniki).
4. Nne ga na-enye nwata ọhụrụ nri, saa akwa ya ma saa ya ahụ.
5. Ọ ga-adọtịkwa nwa ọhụrụ ahụ, ma hịa ya aka n'ahụ ọfụma.
6. Ọ ga na-ahụ na nwa ya nọ ala n'elu bọketị awụnyere mmiri ọkụ na nnu na ọgwụ eji achụ nje,nke ga-eme ka ọbara ọjọọ nwee ike gbapụta
7. Ọ ga na-ekekpa ya afọ ka o nwee ike taa ma hara etu ọhabu tupu ọ dị ime.
8. Nne ga na-agba nwa ya nwaanyị ume maka na ya na onwe ya anọọla n'ọnọdụ ahụ mbụ.
9. Ọ ga na-arụkwa ọrụ ndị ọzọ dị n'ụlọ dịka ihazi ụlọ na isi nri ezinaụlọ na-eri.

URU ỌMỤGWỌ BARA
Ọmụgwọ bụ oge nne, nwa ya na nwa nwa ọhụrụ ya na-eji enwe ezigbo mmekọrịta nke bekee kpọrọ 'bonding'. Maka nke a ka ọtụtụ ndị nne na-eji aga ebe ọbụla nwa ha nọ mụọ nwa, ma n'ụlọ maọbụ na mba ofesi, ịga nọkọọ ihe ruru ọnwa atọ maọbụ karịa.
Ọ ga-akuzikiri nwa ya nwaanyị ihe ubeakwa nwa ya pụtara, maọbụ akwa agụrụ maọbụ akwa mmekpa ahụ.

NRI EKWESỊRỊ IRI N'ỌMỤGWỌ
Nwaanyị a na-ele ọmụgwọ nwere nri ndị ọ na-eri. Ụfọdụ bụ iji asụchapụ ọbara kpụkọrọ ya n'afọ oge nwa nọ ya n'ime. Nri ndị a bụ ma mkpọrọgwụ ma ngwanri dị icheiche.
1. Ofe mmiri ụda
2. Ji mmiri ọkụ
3. Ofe nsala
4. Mmiri ọgwụ etere ete
5. Tii dị ọkụ na akamụ
6. Nri asụrụ asụ
7. Nzu
8. Azụ ọkpọọ na okporoko
9. Anụ ọkụkọ
10. Ụda
11. Ehuru na ehu
12. Ụzịza
13. Ụtazị
14. Nri ọbụla ga-enwe ezigbote ose
NRI NWAANYỊ EKWESỊGHỊ IRI N'ỌMỤGWỌ
1. Ihe juru oke oyi
2. Egwusi, ọgbọnọ na ofe ọbụla eji mmanụ esi
3. Ahuekere
4. Nri ọbụla nwere abụba (nwaanyị anaghị eri ya maka na a na-ewe ya na abụba ga-akpụkọ ya n'afọ maọbụ n'ahụ).

NGWỤCHA ỌMỤGWỌ
Ọmụgwọ gwụ, nne bịara ọmụgwọ ga-enweta ihe buru ibu. Ndị ọ bịara ileta ga-azụtara ya ihe onyinye dị icheiche dịka ego, akwa ọmụma, akpụkpọụkwụ, akpa, ihe nri dị icheiche, wee dịrị gawazie. A ga-azụtara ya akpa nnu na akpa ncha nke ọ ga-eke ndị agbataobi ya ma ọ laruo ebe o bi.
Nye aka ka ndị enyi gị malụ maka ọgbakọ a sitere n'ịkpọbata ha ka ha wee soro gị mụta ihe.
NDEWO NỤ

Source:  Prince Martin Uchechukwu on Facebook.

The Eke-Uke Dog Narrative

Eke Uke, when used derogatorily, refers to local / ugly dog. It sometimes used to refer to somebody that is archaic.

Origin of the word.
Uke is a town in Anambra state, Idemmili LGA, with Ojoto, Umuoji, Nnobi etc as its neighboring towns.

It's the town that hosts the popular Reverend Father Ebube Muonso of the Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry, Uke.

Just as every Igbo town has their own market named after the market day it mostly trades and associated with, the Uke market is named after it's market day being Eke. Thus the Uke market is referred to as Eke-Uke just as other town's market in Anambra state are referred to by their market days e.g. Nkwo Igbokwu, Orie Nimo, Afor Nnobi, Eke Awka etc.

The Eke Uke market in the 70s and 80s is very popular for dog business just as Afor Nnobi is currently known for goat and sheep business. All species of dog are found in this market. The lame dog, the fat dog, skinny, half-dead, vibrant dog etc.
But as the business has it then, the ugly dogs overpopulates the market.
With time, people started referring to ugly dogs as "Eke-Uke" And the name keeps transforming till date.

Source: Facebook User.

Umu Idemili Ekele Mu Unu o!
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Nsọ Ala Igbo (Taboos In Igbo Land)

N'ala Igbo, e nwere ọtụtụ nsọala zụrụ Igbo ọnụ nke na onye meerụọ ya, ọ kpụọ arụ maọbụ amapụ ya n'obodo.

Ha gụnyere ihe ndị a:
1. Nwaanyị anaghị awa oji, nke o ji arị nkwụ.

2. Mmadụ anaghị alụ maọbụ dinaa nwanne ya maọbụ ọbara ya.
3. Nwanne anaghị egbu nwanne ya. I mee ya na-amaghị ama, ị gba ọsọ ọchụ.
4. Mmadụ anaghị edina anụmanụ
Nwoke anaghị edina nwoke ibe ya maọbụ nwaanyị, nwaanyị.
5. Mmadụ agaghị akwụ ụdọ
6. Ọtụtụ obodo n'ala Igbo anaghị eri udele. N'ihi na ọ na-eri ihe nwụrụ anwụ nke gụnyere ozu mmadụ.
Dịka e nwere ihe Igbo zuzugbe na-asọ, nsọala ndị ọzọ bụ n'obodo n'obodo maọbụ na mpaghara na mpaghara.daalụ nụ

Source: Facebook

Obiefuna Onyekachi on the Last Ofala of Igwe Ezeokoli 2nd of Nnobi

Chief Obiefuna Leonard Onyekachi on 8th April 2018 wrote as seen below;

On this day 15 years ago, the pillar of peace and progress in Nnobi, Igwe #Ezeokoli II, joined his ancestors...
The commercial news commentary below was aired on Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) Radio & TV towards the end of his burial ceremonies that took place in December 2003. He will be forever missed!
THE LAST OFALA FESTIVAL OF IGWE EDMOND CHUKWUEMEKA EZEOKOLI THE SECOND OF NNOBI.
Few dates stand memorable in the contemporary history of Nnobi in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra Stale. In chronological order, the second day of November 1912 heralded the arrival of an infant, Edmond Chukwuemeka Ezeokoli, to the family of Igwe Solomon Ezebube Ezeokoli, while the 30th day of July 1957 was the date of his installation as Igwe Nnobi to succeed his father.

Another date was 8th April, 2003 when at about 4:45 pm , the traditional ruler quietly and peacefully joined his ancestors at the age of ninety-one years. But the greatest was the 31st day of December 2003, when the royal father celebrated his last Ofala festival in his palace at Nnobi.

As the son of a well-informed paramount chief, Edmond had the opportunity to attend the best educational institutions available. After his primary education, he gained admission into Hope Waddel Training Institute Calabar. He was however withdrawn after the first year and sent to the famous Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS) Onitsha.
As a man of immense influence and authority, Edmond’s father, Igwe Solomon Ezeokoli, wanted his children to take part in national competitions. Young Edmond was therefore made to sit for a national competitive admission examination into King’s College Lagos after his second year at DMGS Onitsha. Having passed the examination, he was admitted to Kings College where he eventually completed his secondary education in flying colours.
Edmond began his public service career as a second-class clerk in the office of the Commissioner for Colonies, Lagos. With the formation of the Zikist Movement at that time, he was appointed secretary to the movement, an office that prepared him for higher responsibility. He was later appointed the first chairman, Local Education Authority, Asaba Divisional Council.
It is often said that great minds discuss events while small minds discuss personalities. The young Edmond, right from his childhood always discussed events that made history. He nursed the ambition of making history and worked hard to distinguish himself among his equals. With his enviable record in the public service, coupled with his exemplary military performance during the second world war which earned him the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major (Warrant Officer Two), there was no doubt in the minds of all Nnobi indigenes that Edmond was a highly eligible candidate for the position of traditional ruler of Nnobi.
The demise of Igwe Solomon Ezeokoli paved way for the search for a worthy successor to the Igweship stool of Nnobi. Like the biblical King David, Edmond was sought out in the distant town of Agbor in the then Midwest in preference to his other brothers and was crowned Igwe Nnobi on July 30, 1957 at the age of forty-five.
Igwe Edmond Ezeokoli the Second distinguished himself as a royal father soon after installation by being appointed chairman Idemili Traditional Rulers Council and member of the Anambra State Council of Chiefs.
In recognition of his vast knowledge of igbo customs and tradition, the old Anambra State Government appointed him a member of the State Customary Law Manual Drafting Committee in 1977. In the same year, he was appointed President of Nnobi Customary Court.
His long reign as Igwe Nnobi witnessed giant strides in community development culminating in the establishment of two secondary schools, a modern market, a post office, a general hospital and a magistrate court. He was also credited with the successful abolition of the Osu caste system in Nnobi in 1971 and the reconciliation of all warring factions in the town to achieve lasting peace after six years of turbulent communal crisis.
It is worthy of note that Igwe Ezeokoli was a traditional ruler of immense reputation and also a courageous soldier of Christ. He was a devout Christian who worked tirelessly in the Lord’s vineyard as an organist at Saint Simon’s Anglican Church Nnobi and the moving force behind the elevation of Nnobi parish to an Archdeaconry headquarters.
The departed traditional ruler was diocesan merit award winner, a recipient of many other awards and a member of many professional bodies.
This giant, hero and soldier has translated into eternal glory. Fare thee well, Igwe.
#IgweNnobi #IgweEzeokoli
(ONYEKACHI OBIEFUNA).
Source: Facebook.

Male Daughters, Female Husbands: A Tribute To Nnobi by Rudolf Okonkwo

In an African Studies Quarterly paper titled "Domestic, Regional and International Protection of Women Against Discrimination: Constraints and Possibilities," Mojubaolu Olufunke Okome made references to Ifi Amadiume's book, "Male Daughters, Female Husbands: Gender and Sex in African Society." In the book, Amadiume talked about the culture in Nnobi where childless women acquire 'wives' who bear children for them. These women are referred to as female husbands. By bearing children through this form of arrangement, the women gain power and status within the society - power and status childlessness would have denied them.

There are also those referred to as male daughters. These are women designated not to marry but to stay at their parents' home and have kids. This usually happens when a couple has no male child. The daughter in effect becomes the male daughter. She sacrifices the chance to go out and marry. She stays at her parents' home to have babies with the hope of giving birth to a male child who would inherit the parents' property and continue to uphold the family name and maintain the lineage.

In his book, "The Liberty of Man and Other Essays" His Royal Highness, Igwe Edmond Ezeokoli II of Nnobi, wrote about the propitiation and abolition of Osu caste system in Nnobi. He narrated his personal effort that led to the severance of the Osu from the deities that once held them sway and the integration of the former victims into the mainstream Nnobi society. The ceremony performed on December 30, 1971, was led by the Chief Priest of Idemili Nnobi and was witnessed by traditional rulers of neighboring towns and the 3000 year-old ancient OFO IDEMILI. After Nnobi, neighboring towns like Umuoji, Awka-Etiti, and Oba followed the Nnobi example.

This was the progressive and liberal Nnobi that I was born in, but more importantly, the Nnobi that was born in me. For the first fifteen years of my life, I had no sense of allegiance to any other constituted authority than that of my hometown. During the 70s, my family spent seven years living in Ogbunike, specifically at the staff quarters of Women's Training College (WTC) Ogbunike where my Dad was teaching. One summer in the early 80s, I spent my vacation in Makurdi where my aunt lived. In all those travels, never did the center of my worldview shift away from Nnobi. Until I began to fill forms for West African School Certificate (WASC) and Joint Admission and Examination Board (JAMB), nothing made me think I could leave Nnobi.

Nnobi was more than a physical home for me. It was my spiritual home. It was a place where my ancestors lived. More importantly, it was a place where my grandfather made his mark. I came back to Nnobi in the late 70s and I was eager to absorb my heritage. I finished my primary school at the famous Nnobi Central School and went on to the irreplaceable Nnobi High School. It was during the fun-filled 80s and there was really nothing like home. The richness of Nnobi became my riches, the politics became my politics and the flavor also became mine. I was a consummate Nnobian before I left Nnobi.

When I left Nnobi for the Federal University of Technology, Akure, where I beheld Nigeria, I found that Nnobi had prepared me for what I saw. In more ways than one, Nnobi is a mini - Nigeria. Nnobi is divided into three main villages - Ngo, Awuda and Ebenesi. One group could easily take the place of the Igbo, the other the Hausa-Fulani and the third the Yoruba. Within these villages are politics and issues that closely resemble the Nigerian experience. In recent years, Awuda had been threatening to secede from Nnobi. And one of its prominent sons has been fighting to become the Igwe many years before the ruling Igwe Edmond Ezeokoli II joined his ancestors.

I come from Ndam. It is one of the three clans in Ngo village. The others are Umuegbu, and Umuagu. Ndam has no school, no post office and no road. Ndam has one kindergarten where kids spend their day singing "aka-beke-gbue…" Ndam is at the boarder with Alor. Most of its landscape is being swallowed by gullies. Buildings are falling in and families are being displaced. The official masquerade of Ndam is called Nkwasi Nkwa. When translated, it means something that pushes down obstacles. The obstacles facing Nnobi are seemingly beyond what Nkwasi Nkwa can push away.

Nnobi has three major institutions - the Catholic Church as represented by Madonna Catholic Church, the Anglican Church as represented by St. Simon's Church, and Chief Zebrudaya Okolo Igwe Nwogbo, alias 4: 30. The Catholic and Anglican Churches are our own Muslim and Christian divide. The Catholic Church would excommunicate a member who allowed his or her daughter to marry an Anglican. Mere walking into an Anglican church would bar a catholic from receiving communion until he or she undergoes "opipia". The Catholics run the Boys Scout while the Anglicans run the Boys Brigade. Catholic mothers join the Mambo dance while the Anglican mothers join the Awelenma dance.

Surrounding Nnobi and sharing the same Idemili tropical rain forest are towns like Nnokwa, Alor, Uke, Awka Etiti and Nnewi. Just like South Africa is when compared to Nigeria in the continent of Africa, Nnewi towers above Nnobi in our side of Anambra. But like any one would tell you, it is in Nnobi that the potentials are. But why is Nnobi the town that is struggling the most? Why is Nnobi with lots of educated citizens the one that is still battling with issues of fundamental development? Why are the roads to Nnobi one of the worst in Idemili Local Government Area? Why are Nnobi intellectuals like Dr. Edwin Madunagu uninterested in the fate of Nnobi? Why are Nnobi businessmen and women agonizing at the bottom of their class? How shall we return Nnobi to its glorious days when it brought Christianity, Western education and modernization to its neighbors?

These are the questions Nnobi people all over the globe are beginning to ask. Those at home recently resorted to the burning of all the shrines of their forefathers with the hope of chasing away evil spirits which they blamed for Nnobi failures. Nnobians in the USA will try to answer these same questions when they meet at the first Nnobi-USA General Meeting slated for July 4th weekend in Minnesota. There participants will try to reawaken in themselves the meaning of the Abalukwu Nnobi symbol - a man carrying an elephant on his head and crushing a lion with his feet.

It is in the star of Nnobi for each generation to confront the challenges of their time and triumph. Usually, it begins with a gathering like the one planned for Independence Day weekend in Minnesota. Though Nigeria may not want its National Conference yet, but Nnobi, my Nnobi, is well on its way.
Written by by Rudolf Okonkwo.

Some History About Nnobi - The Holy Land By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo

Nnobi: The Making of a Holy Land By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo.

In the dead of night, when the crickets were chirping the loudest and the rays of midnight stars were struggling to penetrate the canopy made by leaves of cashew and palm trees, he marched along the dusty road connecting Nnobi to Alor.

The weight of his feet hitting the red soil rattled wild rabbits in their holes. In the vast Nnobi-Alor forest, encroaching both sides of the road were valleys made by gully erosion.  He chanted songs of soldiers on cross country race, pausing to hear the echoes of his voice married in a remix with the chattering of forest monkeys. Smell of decaying leaves mixed with the latest deposits by flood water along the gullies crawled through his nose.  Old women who knew him when he was just a student at Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS), Onitsha, cracked open their family compound hardwood doors to peep out. One woman who was bold enough to walk outside at that time of the night asked him, “Nna a, don’t you fear the night?” His answer was as crisp as the creases of his shirt. “There’s no fear.”

That was before he joined the then Lt. Col. T. J. Aguiyi-Ironsi’s 5 Queens Nigeria Regiment (5QNR) to Congo on the 1960 United Nations’ peace mission.

I became aware of him when I got admitted into Nnobi High School. I discovered that one of the school hostels was named after him. Others were named after people like former Governor General of Nigeria, Patterson and former Premier of Eastern region, M.I. Okpara. So, I felt he must have done something to deserve that honor. But I hardly asked. And we didn’t read about him in history books. The second time him name came up was when my brother applied for admission into the Nigerian Defense Academy. The trepidation that followed his interest in joining the army was attributed to the fate that befell Lt. Ezeugbana.

On Saturday February 4, 1961, Lt. Ezeugbana died in a gun battle with soldiers loyal to Patrice Lumumba in the Kivu province in Eastern Congo. His platoon was defending the UN barrack in the city. The circumstance of his death was not disclosed, at least not to his folks. His body was not brought back home. The young ones who remembered his funeral always noted that a stem of banana plant was laid inside a coffin in place of his body. The consensus was that if he had not died in the Congo, he would have died in the crises surrounding the 1966 coup and the war that followed. He was that kind of a soldier, they said, the Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu type.

The one who did not go to the Congo or die in the 1966 crisis is Major Humphrey Chukwuka, one of the famous Five Majors that planned the infamous January 14, 1966 coup. I don’t remember when I first found out that he was from Nnobi. But the first reporting assignment I went to as a new reporter for May Ellen Ezekiel’s Classique magazine was to visit the Sandhurst-trained soldier in Enugu for an interview. For a while, the time I spent with him at his home in Enugu was the biggest thrill of my life. I was not just in the midst of a historical individual, this one was a son of Nnobi. Lt. Col. Humphrey Chukwuka, as he insisted I must address him, didn’t discuss on record anything about the 1966 coup with me. Despite all my efforts, he insisted that he had moved on beyond that. But he spoke for hours on Nigeria.

As a student at Nnobi, I watched in amazement as thousands of pilgrims descend on my home town to mark Passover. Marching barefooted along the major streets of Nnobi, these pilgrims from across the world feted Rev. Michael Amakeze, popularly known as Prophet Musa. He was the General Overseer of the Holy Sabbath Christ the King Mission, now called Community of Yahweh Worldwide.  Long before anyone heard about Prophet T. B. Joshua, he saw tomorrow, for those who believed. His followers referred to Nnobi as a holy land. Since a prophet is not recognized in his home town, most of us paid no mind to Musa. Then at Chinua Achebe’s 70th birthday at Bard College in upstate New York, I was introduced as a son of Nnobi to a professor who came to the celebration from Germany. Immediately, the professor, a follower of Rev. Amakeze prostrated. “You are from a holy land,” the professor said.

At the very least, everybody’s hometown should be a holy land.

After years of keeping a date with Dr. Eddie Madunagu’s column on Thursdays at the Guardian newspaper, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the mathematician, scholar, polemist, Marxist theorist and the last socialist in Nigeria is from Nnobi. Those days that I spent at the Guardian with Eddie (as he is popularly known), I learned something about how the environment surrounding one’s formative years influences the dialectics of his souls.

Even during the pre-colonial era, Nnobi played a role in the advancement of the Igbo cosmology, including the science of the dibia Igbo and the culture surrounding the Igbo worldview. Professor Ifi Amadiume, celebrated anthropologist, essayist and a daughter of Nnobi captured an aspect of that in her seminal work, "Male Daughter, Female Husband: Gender and Sex in an African Society." 

In show business, Chika Okpala, Chief Zebrudaya Okoroigwe Nwogbo, alias 4: 30, of the famed New Masquerade, comedian extraordinaire leads a roll call that includes Gospel Musician, Gozie Okeke, of the Akanchawa fame.

At one point in the 1990s, there were three Nnobi-born Vice Chancellors/Deputy Vice Chancellors of Nigerian universities. Leading the pack was Prof. O.G. Oba, Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (1992-1999). In religious arena, Most Reverend Owen Nwokolo, is the Bishop on the Niger, the Anglican Bishop of Onitsha Diocese. Ret. Rev. Samuel C. Chukwuka was the recent retired Anglican Bishop of Isuikwuato/Umunnochi Diocese.

In medicine, Dr. Ferdinand Ofodile is a world renowned plastic surgeon and inventor with patents right to some of the most innovative fixtures for plastic surgery, the most popular of which is the nasal implant for rhinoplasty named Ofodile Implant. He is also a retired professor of Medicine at Columbia University

The first time I saw myself as a conscious being was at Ogbunike where my father was a teacher. We were strangers in Ogbunike but whenever we visited Nnobi, my siblings and I were expatriate children. We were pampered and adored but it was the lure of Nnobi that engrossed me. Before I knew a thing about Nigeria, Nnobi was the place that earned my allegiance. For a while it was the only government I knew. Its values became my values and its politics and heroes mine.

Nnobi in so many ways is like Nigeria- a mini-Nigeria. It’s essentially divided into three villages, Ngo, Awuda and Ebenesi. During the colonial era and the few years after, Nnobi was rising and thriving under the guardianship of the Great Igwe Ezeokoli, a traditional surgeon, educationist, celebrated King and the man who brought Christianity to Idemili. In those years of yonder, Nnobi was like Singapore or Malaysia, projecting confidence and inspiring the neighbors. In the last few years, it has dealt with tussle over kingship, an attempted breakaway village, denominational divisions and charges of marginalization of one section or another in developmental projects.  In the cause of the crises, it has seen its neighbors leave it in the dust. While Innoson Motors is producing cars in Nnewi and Ojoto is the headquarters of Idemili South, Nnobi is still searching for its place.

Across the globe there are moves to reawaken the true meaning of the Abalukwu Nnobi symbol - a man carrying an elephant on his head and crushing a lion with his feet. This generation of Nnobi people, like other great generations before it, is poised to confront the challenges of their time and triumph. Usually, it begins with a gathering.

On June 20, the people of Nnobi in North America will gather in Atlanta to again begin to contribute their quota in the ongoing renaissance at Nnobi, a rebirth that will restore Nnobi’s status as a holy land.
Written by; Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo.

Omenala Igbo (Igbo Tradition) - Article by Prince Martin Uchechukwu

Omenala Igbo bụ asụsụ Igbo, efe/akwa Igbo, ma nke a na-awa awa ma nke a na-ama ama n’ukwu, okpu anyị na-eko n’isi, mkpara anyị na-eji n’aka, ọla anyị na-agba n’aka ma ọ bụ n’ụkwụ, ihe ọlụ anyị na-anya n’olu, akpụkpọ ụkwụo anyị na-agba n’ụkwụ ma ọ bụ ụkwụ nkịtị anyị na-agba. Ihe ndi a bụ omenala Igbo.

Ihe oriri Igbo na-eri bụkwa omenala Igbo: ụkwa, akị, akpụ, garị, ụtara, azụ ndụ, azụ ọkpọ, sungu, okporoko, ayịya, mangala, anụ ewu, anụ nchị, ọkụkọ Igbo na ọkụkọ agịrịkọlchọ, anụ nama, anụ ele, anụ awala, anụ ọgazị, akwa ọgazị na akwa ọkụkọ, kanda, isi ewu ngwọngwọ pepesupu, ofe olugbu, ofe ụgụ, ofe ọhara, ofe nsara, ofe ọkwụrụ, aṅara, ọjị, ose ọjị, ube, ọpọpọ, akị, akwụ, ụdara, kashu, mmịmị, ụkpaka/ụgba, achịkwụagba, bụ omenala Igbo.

Ọfọ na ogu bụ ekpere anyị na Chineke Igbo ji ekwurịkọta okwu, ma ndị nna nna anyị ha ma ndị nne nne anyị ha bụ ndị anyị na-agọ ọfọ ka ha were ọfọ anyị che Chukwu ụmụ Igbo n’ihu kwa ụbọchị nile. Ihe nile Igbo na-atụ n’aka na nke ha na-ese na akwụkwọ, na nke ha na-akpụ dị ka ụzụ na ite, bụ omenala Igbo. Ihe ndị a bụ ihe jikọrọ ụmụ Igbo bụ Igbo ọnụ. Ha nwere ebe a na-amụta ihe ndị bụ ụmụ Igbo kwesiri ịna-eme na ihe a na-asọ nsọ. Ezi na ụlọ bụ ụlọ akwụkwọ anyị nọ site na akụkọ ifo, ka anyị na amụta ihe bụ omenala Igbo na ihe bụ omenaelu. Na mbara ka ọha na eze na-agbakọ were ma iwu ihe ala na-asọ nsọ, na otu a ga-esi rie onye mere ihe ala na-asọ nsọ nha. A na-ada onye merụrụ ala Igbo nha. A na-eri onye ahụ iwu, iji me ka ọ ghara ime ya ọzọ.
Igbo na-eti mmanwụ were eje iri ndị dara iwu obodo nra! Ndị na-ese okwu nwere usoro ndị okenye họpụtara ha ji emezi ya bụ okwu, na onye ukwu na onye nta ga-eme n’ude. Ndị okenye nwere ụzọ ha si ekpebi ikpe ka udo dị na-erighị ngo. Maka na o metụta imi, o metụtala ọnụ. Nwanyị na di ya na-ese okwu, ndị okenye mara onye ikpe mara, marakwa ụzọ ha ga-esi tinye okwu ahụ ọnụ ka di na nwunye ya laa be ha ga birikwa n’udo.
Ndị na-azọ ala, ndị okenye nwere osisi ogirishi e ji amata okere ala. Ha bakwa agba aka ebe onye nwe ya bụ ala, na onye na-akọ ji na-ede na yabụ ala. Ha makwa ndị ha na ha gbara obi/ ha makwa ndị ha na ha na-akpa okere ala.
Ihe ndị a na-eme ka esemụ okwu ghara ịba ka ọnya bara mmadụ na ọkpa na-anaghị ala ala. A nakwa agba ndị mmadụ iyi ma ha na-esi agụgọ na ihe ekwuru abụghị ka o siri me.
E nwekwara usoro e ji alụ di na nwayị n’omenala Igbo. Ịgba njụ, ịpa mmanya ngwụọ na ọjị, ka jụa ese nwanyị nwoke chọrọ ịlụ. E nwere ụzọ ịpa mmanya. E nwere abọ ji ole eji alụ nwanyị. E nwekwara ụzọ e si ele ọmụgwụọ ma nwanyị mụọ nwa. E nwere usoro e si aga mgba erụ. E nwere ụzọ e si amụ ọlụ aka, na afọ ole onye na-amụ ọlụ aka ga-anọ tupu e duo ya ụlọ, ka ọ gazịa zụba ahịa nke ya. E nwekwara ụzọ e si agwa onye onye ya nwụrụ okwu maka ka aghara ili ozu abụo. A na-ezipụ ndị okenye mara ihe ka ha je ya bụ ozi.
Igbo nwekwara ụzọ e si akwa ozu. Igbo nwekwara oge nwanyị na-erumkpe kwesiri irucha mkpe. Ọ dịghị ihe kọrọ akọ n’omenala Igbo. Igbo kwetara na ihe ọ ga-abụ e me gị ọ gaghị adị gị mma, ka ị gharakwa ime ya onye ọzọ.
Omenala Igbo gbagidere ụkwụ n’eziokwu, egbe bere ugo bere nke sị na ibe ya agaghị ebe ka nku kwa ya n’ike. Omenala Igbo bụ eziokwu bụ ndụ. Ụmụ Igbo bụ ụmụ Chukwu, kpọm kwem! Ị kwere na nke a?

Source: Prince Martin Uchechukwu on Facebook

All About Eziowelle great Son, Cardinal Arinze as He Celebrated 50 years as a Bishop in 2015

Cardinal Arinze: Celebrating 50 years as a Bishop
By Emmanuel Ojeifo.

I grew up as a little boy hearing so much about Cardinal Francis Arinze, the second Nigerian bishop so elevated to the distinguished rank of the most senior churchmen in the Catholic world. The first was Dominic Cardinal Ekandem who was made a Cardinal in 1976 by Pope Paul VI. Cardinal Ekandem was born in 1917 in Ibiono, and became a priest of Calabar in 1947. He was the first black Catholic Bishop of West Africa and the youngest in all of Africa at the time, having been made bishop in 1954 at 37. He eventually became the first Catholic bishop of Abuja in 1981, after the creation of the new Federal Capital Territory in 1976, where he worked tirelessly for the spread of the Gospel. He died on 24 November 1995 and his remains interred in the Catholic Pro-Cathedral of Our Lady Queen of Nigeria, Garki.

When Arinze was made a Cardinal on May 25, 1985, I had 13 more days left to stay in my mother’s womb. I was born on June 7, 1985, so I grew up hearing so much about this great prelate who was bringing honour and glory to fatherland. Arinze was born in the famous town of Eziowelle in Eastern Nigeria on November 1, 1932. As a convert from African Traditional Religion (ATR), Father Michael Tansi baptized him on his ninth birthday in 1941. Through the effort of Cardinal Arinze, Pope John Paul II beatified the pious Father Tansi during his second visit to Nigeria in March 1998.
Arinze’s desire to be a Catholic priest was initially opposed by his father, but seeing his zeal and determination he encouraged him. His parents later became Christians too. Arinze studied Philosophy at All Hallows Seminary in Onitsha, and went on to study Theology in Rome. He was ordained a priest in Rome on November 23, 1958 and earned his doctorate in sacred theology with full distinction in 1960, at the age of 28. His doctoral thesis was on “Ibo Sacrifice as an Introduction to the Catechesis of the Holy Mass.” This later became a much-referenced book, Sacrifice in Ibo Religion published in 1970. On his return to Nigeria, Arinze taught philosophy, logic and liturgy at Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu, from where he was appointed regional secretary for Catholic Education in the whole of Eastern Nigeria. He had earlier earned a Diploma in Education from the London Institute of Education in 1964.
When he was made a bishop in August 1965 at the age of 32 he was the youngest Roman Catholic bishop in the world. He was coadjutor to the Archbishop of Onitsha at the time. He attended the final session of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, the single largest gathering of church leaders in the 20th century, along with the 45-year-old Karol Wojtyla, Archbishop of Krakow, who went on to become Pope John Paul II. After the death of Charles Heerey, the Irish missionary Archbishop of Onitsha, Arinze became Archbishop of Onitsha in June 1967, thus becoming the first native African to head his diocese. He had scarcely settled into his new office when the Nigerian Civil War broke out. As a result of the war he had to flee Onitsha and to live as a refugee in Adazi and later in Amichi, for the three years of the war. However, in spite of his refugee status, he worked tirelessly for refugees, displaced persons, the sick and the hungry, offering support to priests and religious, and giving hope to his people. With the help of foreign missionaries, he supervised what one relief worker called “the most effective and efficient distributions of relief materials in history”. He was only 38 years old at the time the war ended in 1970, and continued to live through the aftermath of the war with his people.

Obviously impressed by Arinze’s stellar accomplishments at a time of national crisis, Pope John Paul II in 1979 called Arinze to Rome and made him the head of the Vatican Secretariat for Non-Christians, which later became the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. It was in this office that Arinze became a global celebrity, touring the world and forging bonds of peace, unity and goodwill with people of all faiths. On 25 May 1985, Pope John Paul II handed the red biretta to Francis Arinze at a public consistory in Rome, well attended by many people from Onitsha and the whole of Eastern Nigeria. Arinze worked tirelessly as the Catholic Church’s paragon of interfaith dialogue from 1979 until 2002 when Pope John Paul II tapped him to head the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, thus making him the fourth highest ranking figure in the Catholic Church.
As a right-hand man of John Paul II, a prolific writer and articulate public speaker, Cardinal Arinze enjoyed great renown in a Church that commandeered 1.2 billion members across the globe. At the 2005 conclave that produced Pope Benedict XVI, many people expected to witness the making of the first black pope. Such is the portrait of a man who has brought fame, honour and glory to Nigeria. He is without doubt the greatest living Nigerian Catholic superstar prelate. Even though he has been in Rome since 1979, Arinze has never been cut off from his Eziowelle culture and traditions. When I visited his cardinalatial apartment in Rome in July 2014 I saw first-hand the greatness and the humility, the intelligence and the versatility of one of the living legends of Catholic faith and history in the 21st century. As he celebrates half a century of being a Bishop, we can only wish him health and strength.
I don’t know how many million Catholics there are in Nigeria, but very few of us will enjoy the full range of spiritual, intellectual, literary and linguistic gifts that God has bestowed upon Francis Cardinal Arinze.

Written by; Emmanuel Ojeifo 2015.

The Negative Impact Of High handed Traditional Marriages In Igbo Land by Chichi fidel Otti-Onuko

"...Are you trying to sell your daughter to us? Please she is too expensive, we certainly would get someone cheaper out there". This was the response which a potential son-in-law gave to his supposedly father in law whose daughter's hands were gradually been customised by wrinkles as she was already in her late thirties. It should be noted that at this point in time, the parents are probably careless about the inner affectionate craving of their daughters but rather pursue their personal interest which is largely based on financial returns.

I have always had this feeling that the average Igbo man, feels that he is investing (just as in a business enterprise) in his daughters which he hopes to make huge profit from, when the business matures. It is even more laughable to know that these ladies are sometimes graded based on educational qualifications.
When a struggling young man finally agrees to take up the task to get married, he is faced with the demand of ensuring that he attends to every item on the various lists which are presented to further meet the interest of the lady's grandparents, parents, siblings, extended family members and sometimes those family friends who would always claim to have had a hand in the growth and developmental stages of the lady's life; these ones, I can call the "we were there when she was given birth to and we saw her group up committee".

As this is very common in the Igbo land, it is most recently still being experienced in certain families in certain villages in certain states.
I once had a girlfriend from Mbano part of Imo State, who will always remind me that I will have to clean the chair I will seat on when I come for introduction with the sum of three million naira simply because she is the only daughter and I will also constantly remind her that menopause is a respecter of no woman and that she should pollinate while her nectar is still juicy and flowers still bright and shiny in order to avoid placing a vacancy which will read, "Husband needed", someday.
This brings about late marriages, it kills true love, she may end up marrying the wrong person and it may even reduce the level of respect which the lady may get from her man who may likely get mixed feelings whenever the thought of the financial hurdle he had to overcome in "purchasing" her, comes up.
It is also important to note that a dress may be too expensive and may still not get the required fitting even after much tailoring. More so, the positive energy which is put into expressing the love and affection by two young lovers may just be squashed by the negative impact of the high cost of getting her to say "Yes, I do" as placed by her immediate and extended families.

Written by Chichi fidel Otti-Onuko.

Impact Of Osu System To Oba Community by Ogechukwu Nwakor

Osu is an igbo word for "outcast" It is a word used to describe a person dedicated to a deity. Onubogu J. (1988:20) stated that Osu is a person completely dedicated to an idol who by implications deprived of fundamental Human Rights, and social political and religious right of people.
Traditionally there are two classes of people in Igboland the “Nwadiala and Osu.” Nwadiala literally means "sons of the soil" they are free born and they are the masters. While Osu are the slaves, strangers, the outcast and untouchable. No one harms, marries or interacts with an Osu. They can only marry themselves. Historically, Osu system started during the slave trade era.

Men who couldn't fight off kidnappers, those who felt insecure and weak or didn't want to lose their family members to kidnappers who sell victims to human traffickers or the white slave dealers resort to dedicating their families to some powerful deities.

In my community when Osu woman marries a man that is not Osu, the community automatically incorporate the man to the Osu linage. This has caused a lot of havoc between the Osu and Nwadiala, thereby making it very impossible for an Osu person to marry a Nwadiala. As a result, Osu is only able to marry an Osu. With passage of time, Osu people multiplied because all the children born of their descendants became Osu automatically. The Osu system has really affected a lot of people in marriage. A girl may see someone she loves, and before you know it parents will start tracing the family of the man to know if he is Osu or not. In the olden days Osu members are not allowed to dance, drink, hold hands, associate or have sexual relations with Nwadiala. They are not allowed to break kola-nuts at meetings. No Osu can pour libation or pray to gods on behalf of a freeborn at community gathering. It is believed that such prayers will bring calamity and misfortune. In conclusion I pray that they will abolished this issue of Osu because it’s really affecting the life of people in many communities in Igboland.

ALSO Read => Obi of Onitsha Advocates End To OSU Caste System.