Yam is the most prominent crop in the social-cultural life of Ndigbo. Yam is the most staple food of the Igbos, and the importance attributed to yam in Igboland dates back to Igbos religious belief in the supreme deity (Ahiajioku) who is regarded as the goddess of productivity.
Put literally, Ahia-ji Oku means “Ahia” (hard work, industry, trade); “Ji” (results in, brings); “Oku”(wealth, riches). Therefore, Ahia-ji Oku means “Hard work brings wealth”. This is epitomised by the fact that yam largely constituted wealth in the early traditional Igbo society and affluence is measured by the size of people’s yam barn and large household.
Yam is considered to be the king of all farm plants in Igbo land because it guaranteed the survival of Igbo race from starvation. According to history, the Eze Nri (Ancestral father of Ndigbo) was faced with the dilemma of how to address a hunger situation faced by his household that he took the drastic decision of killing his eldest son, cutting his body into small pieces and burying them. Strangely, yam tendrils were observed to have grown at the very spots where the dismembered parts of the body were buried after five months. Six months later, Eze Nri dug up large yams from his son’s grave. He cooked it and found it sweet, and he thanked the gods for the provision of yam. The cultivation yam and thanksgiving to the gods continued from then till today.
Iri ji (New yam festival) plays an important role in the lives and culture of the Igbo people. It is a cultural feast and an annual harvest festival by Ndigbo held at the end of the rainy season in various Igbo communities. It is a time of thanksgiving to the gods for making the farm yields possible and a time to pray for good yields for the next planting season. It is a highly captivating social-cultural colourful event with multiple side attractions and spectacle (dance, masquerade, fashion etc) by Igbo community to mark the end of the planting season to appreciate those who contributed to a bountiful harvest.
The preparation for the great Iri Iji Ohu festival in Igbo land is marked by the sighting of the new moon in the month of August, but the time and mode of celebration vary from community to community from early August to October each year. The first processes of the Iri Iji Ohu festival is the Iwa Ji (cutting of the yam) ceremony. Traditionally, this ceremony involves the offering the new yam to the deities and ancestors by the oldest man in the community, the king or an eminent title holder who are believed to be mediators between the ancestors and gods of the land in appreciation to God (Chukwu Okike) for his protection and kindness in seeing the community through the farming periods to a bountiful harvest. After this prayer of thanksgiving, comes the cutting and eating of the new yam, first, by the same elders, followed by others. It is worthy to note that this ceremony has now been modernised to accommodate Christian values.
Another important process of the Iri Ji Ohu festival which is no longer practiced is the traditional ritual body cleaning (imacha ahu). This is a purification ritual for preparing children to partake in the eating and celebrating of the new yam. It entails gathering children together for counselling about the importance of Ahiajoku, yam productivity and its diverse gender sensitivity, social and cultural values. The process involves laying some ogirishi (newbouldia laevis) leaves and omu (young palm tendril) on the ground to create a ritual space and contact with the earth and Ahiajoku for the purpose of washing and protecting the body. Then, each child is required to stand in front of this ritual ground and the ritual expert renders powerful incantation or prayer while passing around the head and throat of the child with a spiritual material, and requesting the child to spit out saliva on the ground. Across the body, the expert also softly brushes spiritual materials as he prays for the good health of the child and for the child to be fit to eat the new yam and celebrate the occasion peacefully.
Prior to the day of the Iri Ji festival, all old yams from the previous year’s are consumed or discarded. On the Iri Ji day, only dishes of yam are served as the festival is symbolic of the abundance of yam produce. The oldest man or the traditional ruler is normally the first person to eat the new yam and thereafter every other person can eat. Roasted yams and red oily sauce or “Upo” in Ancient Nkwerre Kingdom are used in a New Yam Festival ceremony as it is the ancient way of eating yam tuber. Celebrating the New yam festival features energetic men’s, women’s and children’s cultural dance troupes, traditional wrestling, fashion display, role reversals, Igbo masquerade jamboree, football matches, drinking of palm wine, folklores, commensality and reciprocity all of which are synonymous with the Igbo life and culture. The festival is important to the social-cultural and economic life of Ndigbo because:
- It marks the end of a yam farming cycle and the beginning of another
- It is a time of thanksgiving to the gods for making the farm yields possible, while praying for good yields for the next season
- It marks the commencement of the eating of new yam as Ndigbo are not expected to eat new yam before this celebration.
- It justifies the three aspect of Igbo worldview of been pragmatic, Religious and Appreciative
- It is a time of inspiring and impacting the survival trait of Ndigbo that Hard work brings wealth.
- It is a time of communal celebration and a day of family and friends re-union as invitation to the festival is open to all and sundry – friends, neighbours, kin relations, acquaintances, in-laws
- It is a time of community development, sanitization and sensitisation as funds are raised for community development.
- A cultural display and promotion
The new yam festival is no longer restricted to the Igbo villages. It now celebrated in the Diaspora so long as there is a high chief to bless the yam and the Igbo residents bring yam samples including rich cultural dances etc. It is an event that every Igbo son and daughter should endeavour to witness, maka ana esi n’ulo mara nma wee puwa ama. The ancient Kingdom of Nkwerre Opiaegbe invites you to the 20th Iri Ji festival of the Eshi of Nkwerre on the 26th August 2017.
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