09/07/2023
Yesterday, July 8, 2023, was EZZA New Yam festival, which is traditionally celebrated as the first New Yam festival in all Ezza communities across Nigeria. The festival holds a special significance for the EZZA community and is known as the Oke-Aku aka (nne efi oha) Festival.
This festival marks the beginning of a new calendar year for the EZZA people and signifies the end of the planting season, specifically the planting of yam. Yam holds great cultural importance in EZZA land and throughout Igboland, as it is regarded as the most important crop.
The EZZA community, descendants of EZEKUNA and ANYIGO, is one of the largest clans in Igboland even across Nigeria, with twenty-two traditional communities and over 10,000 villages in Ebonyi, Enugu, and Benue states. Their ancestral headquarters is located in ONUEKE, Ezza South LGA of Ebonyi state.
The Oke-Aku Festival is celebrated in all EZZA towns, villages, and homes, with offerings made at the shrine of Ezekuna (Nguji Ozo Ezekuna) in Amana ONUEKE. The shrine, believed to be the grave of Ezekuna, their progenitor, is a place where sacrifices are offered to ensure a prosperous and death-free new year.
According to belief, no one is allowed to harvest, sell, or eat new yam anywhere in Ezza land until the Oke-Aku festival is observed. Failure to adhere to this tradition is said to result in fatal repercussions and unfortunate events within the disobedient person's family. Sacrifices are made to appease the gods and prevent these consequences.
The day before the Orie Oke-Aku festival, known as Eke-Uwhu-Awha-Lunaa-Awha, is designated for making purchases. The night before the feast is considered a holy night, where old things are symbolically driven away, and the new year is welcomed with the beating of drums and shouts of "Ejo-Awha Laaoo!" (unfruitful year has gone).
On the day of the feast, called Ishi-nééwhi-oha (Oke-aku day), a special place is designated in front of each compound to deposit all yam peels, unripened palm kernels, a small chicken, and peppers. This is done to honor family members who died without children (Ejo-maa or bad spirit).
In Ezekuna's compound in Amana, ONUEKE, the elders responsible for looking after Ezekuna's palm farm gather to share the kernel and oil for the year among the descendants of Ezekuna. Representatives from all Ezza communities come to collect their share of the kernels and oil. Upon returning home, these representatives are welcomed by their family members with a Kola plate, old yam, Aku-Nsuaku (kernel), Kola nut, coconut, and meat, marking the beginning of the festival. The representatives then bless their family members and distribute slices of the old yam to their wives, neighbors, and well-wishers. The celebration is initiated by the head of each family, who sits on his okpoku.
