The Ezumezu Festival my culture my heritage: A Tale of the Igbere Kingdom in Abia State Nigeria

The Culture and tradition of a people as it is said in Africa is their identity. Today I am going to be talking about one of the strongest cultures of the Igbos from Igbere in Abia state. I titled this “The Ezumezu Festival my culture my heritage” because without culture the identity of a people is lost. I chose this part of my culture to elaborate on today because during the pre-colonial era this is the oldest way by which the Igbere people delegate power from the top which is the king to the last person in the community. As a matter of fact, with this culture in place decision making is not solely on the hands of the King and the mere fact that separation of power has been a part of pre-colonial Igbere kingdom makes it special.

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BACKGROUND

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Before the Colonial era the Igbere people used age grade system to govern and pass information to the masses. The age grade Is the grouping of individual within the same age bracket into association. This grouping is done yearly, people in there late 20s and early 30s are grouped and called a name that name given to them becomes the name of their age grade. The age grades in the community are the ones that most times ratify the decision of the king in other words the king consults the different age grades before taking a major decision.

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It is also through this age grades that taxes are collected, the major defense of the community in terms of warriors are gotten, also social works like clearing of farm roads, building public toilets, sweeping civil centers, harvesting of a collective palm plantation is achieved.
At the end of each year the oldest age grade normally in their 60s retires (this is called Igbotonma meaning literally dropping of the cutlass) and this is symbolized by this age carrying hoes and cutlass and dropping them on the festival day. This exempt them from any form of tax, community activity as they are seen to have retired from active duty. On that same day a new age grade of youths in their late 20s and early 30s is born this is known as Izarafa. This is the major event that takes place on the Ezumezu festival day.

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UZUMEZU FESTIVAL AS AT TODAY

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During the colonial era a lot of Igbere sons and daughter began to move out of Igbere in search of greener pastures and to manage the age grades became a challenge this gave birth to the Igbere welfare union (IWU) this are now the people that manage the age grade. In every location where Igbere people are found the welfare union is established and this welfare union all report to the central council of Igbere kingdom.

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The Ezumezu festival is now held every 3 years.it is now a three days event where the first two days are used for general gathering at a central place (recently the Igbere secondary school is used) where meetings are held on the third day the igbotonma rights are then carried out. Each age grade sits in their canopy and the oldest retire while a new one is inaugurated. The individuals in the retiring age grade hold a small feast in their respective compounds where friends and family come to celebrate with them and give them gifts.
It is a joy to behold one day I will also retire honorably from community activities but before then I will give my best to the Igbere Kingdom as I await that day. The EZUMEZU festival my culture my heritage.

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I am still your host Ijele…………

STAY SHARP