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The people of Enugwu Adazi-Enu community in Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State have celebrated their age-long annual New Yam festival with agricultural revolution and enhanced food productivity as its main focus.
During the ceremony, which took place at the community’s village square on Sunday, there were deliberate and aggressive efforts by the monarch, chiefs, young men and women, including the elderly to eradicate hunger and ensure food availability and sustainability through agricultural revival and consciousness among the teeming youths of the community.
South-East PUNCH gathered that the New Yam festival, known as ‘Iri-ji ohu,’ is a revered celebration that promotes Igbo cultural heritage and weaves together spiritual and cultural significance, reinforcing the people’s connection to their heritage, community and the divine.
In the region, only the monarch of a town has the right to celebrate the new yam festival first before the other people, after which every other member of the community would begin to celebrate.
Speaking with journalists during the celebration, the Chairman of Enugwu Adazi-Enu and a member of the cabinet of Igwe-in-council, Sir Jideofor Okongwu, disclosed that the traditional ruler of the community, His Royal Highness, Igwe Alphonsus Okpaluechelu, has already flagged off the festival, which he said he attended.
Okongwu, who is a lawyer, expressed fears that the youths were fast abandoning agriculture for white-collar jobs, a situation he said would lead to looming hunger and food crisis if deliberate measures are not in place to check the menace.
He informed that the community, through the festival, is driving massive agricultural revival among the youths to reawaken their agricultural consciousness to tackle the looming food crisis amidst increasing prices of food commodities.
He added that the focus of the festival, beyond dancing and merrymaking, is basically to encourage the youths to make a U-turn and embrace agriculture to improve food production to eradicate hunger, as well as a means to promote Igbo cultural heritage.
He said, “Without the celebration of New Yam in Igboland, nobody should be authorised to eat new yam. Many people have this erroneous belief that it is ‘idol worshipping,’ there is nothing like idol worshipping in the celebration of new yam.”
“We observe that many youths have abandoned agriculture and to avert the looming danger this portends, we are using this celebration to urge all the youths to make a U-turn and embrace agriculture to improve food production to eradicate hunger as well as a way to promote Igbo cultural heritage.
“Only the monarch of the town has the right to celebrate yam festival first before other members of the community, and other villagers will begin to celebrate after the monarch. As a member of the cabinet of the Igwe-in-council, our monarch has performed the celebration in which all of us were there.
“So, other village quarters have started their celebration and today, my village is celebrating its own. What we are doing is a continuation of what our monarch has done. The New Yam festival in Igboland is a tradition and a sign of time for harvesting of crops cultivated in the farm, Igbo regard yam as the king of other foods.
“The increasing wave of hardship in the country amidst rising prices of food commodities had prompted the community to embark on reviving agricultural activities in the area as done in the olden days.
Also lending his voice, the President-General of Adazi-Enu Town Union, Chief Emmanuel Ejidike, highlighted the benefits of celebrating the New Yam festival to include peace, progress, love and unity among the people, noting that the Adazi-Enu community is predominantly farmers.
He said, “The New Yam festival is a significant cultural celebration in Igbo land. The essence of the festival includes expressing gratitude to the gods, ancestors, and the earth for the harvest.
“It is the celebration of Igbo traditions, customs, and identity, community bonding, strengthening social ties, unity, and cooperation among community members, honouring the gods of fertility, agriculture and prosperity and feasting and merriment, sharing food, drinks, and joy with family, friends and community.”
Similarly, a community leader, Chief Odira Nnamdi, affirmed that the New Yam festival is Igbo Cultural heritage which their forefathers also celebrated and which cannot be abolished.
Other prominent chiefs and Ndichies of the town, Chief Joseph Chizue, Chief Chike Okongwu, chairman of the Lagos branch of Adazi-Enu town Union, Chief Chukwuneke Ezeugonna, and High Chief Emeka Onwuyalu, in their various testimonies, insisted that the New Yam festival is not idol worshipping, but cultural entertainment.
The high point of the event included the display of various masquerades, different cultural dance groups, and refreshments amongst others.
Recall that the governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, had during last year’s celebration, advocated a joint celebration of the New Yam festival to foster unity among Ndịgbo across the South-East.
The governor said that celebrating the ‘Iri Ji Festival’ in unison would show the world that the Igbos have a wonderful culture, pointing out that it was the first time every local government in the state came together to celebrate.
He assured that the festival would be mainstreamed to be celebrated every year while expressing optimism that subsequent ones would be greater.
