Igbo Ukwu unreported
By MAURICE ARCHIBONG
Thursday,
October 18, 2007
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•Replica
of Igbo Ukwu roped pot at Nat. Museum Igbo Ukwu.
PHOTOS: MAURICE ARCHIBONG
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Many towns have landed on the world map through culture.
The Osun State town of Ile-Ife and the Edo State capital,
Benin City, are just two examples. Other settlements, which
have been pushed to the world scene by ancient artefacts include
the Cross River State Village of Alok, by Ikom Monoliths,
and the southern Kaduna State hamlet called Nok, through her
terra cotta pieces.
Similarly, the Anambra State town of Igbo Ukwu was launched
on the world map by the art of the ancient inhabitants of
that area. Thus, owing to the artistic prowess of the settlers
in ancient Igbo Ukwu, this town is one of Nigeria’s
most famous lands.
Talk about Igbo Ukwu and images of an exquisite roped pot
fills the imagination.
Aside the famous roped pot, there are numerous other bronze
objects, including the spiral snake, pedestals, pendants,
bowls, ornate staff head and skull of a leopard, among many
pieces of antiquity that are not as celebrated as the roped
pot.
Such are the finishing of each of these unique artefacts that
one is left convinced that they couldn’t have come from
empty heads and lazy bones.
Aside each artefact’s beauty, the age of these pieces
of antiquity point to the fact that certain African communities
were civilized more than 1, 000 years before the arrival of
the white man, and that our ancient forebear also had advanced
technologies of some form. Take their bronze casting technique,
for example. This was done through cire perdue or lost wax
method and the finishing are living evidence of dedication,
discipline and talent.
Where is Igbo Ukwu?
Igbo Ukwu is part of Aguata Local Government Area (LGA) of
Anambra State. The town comprises dozens of villages, which
were decades ago grouped into three quarters for administrative
convenience. Obiuno in the South West, Ihite, in the eastern
parts and Ngo to the north, make up the three quarters of
this town, which lies a little over an hour’s drive
from Onitsha. Travelling in a minibus, the fare from Onitsha
to Igbo Ukwu is N150 and the journey would take the tourist
through Nkpor, Umuoji, Ojoto, Nnobi, Awka Etiti and Ichida.
The route throws up beautiful churches such as Saint Alphonsus,
Nkpor and Mater Amabilis, among many others on the way.
The towns between Onitsha and Igbo Ukwu are very close with
some, such as Ichida and Awka Etiti, virtually overlapping
with one another. Unfortunately, the horrible state of the
road makes the trip drag on for more than an hour, whereas
the distance is probably barely 40km.
More curios from Igbo Ukwu
However, there is more to Igbo Ukwu than the pieces of exquisite
artefacts that were produced here a millennium ago. Sources
say that Igbo Ukwu shares something with Ile-Ile: Aside being
home to ancient art masterpieces, which point to inherent
civilization, Igbo Ukwu is also believed to be the Garden
of Eden of the Igbo race. This perhaps explains the flurry
by various cultural agencies to maintain a presence here.
Igbo Ukwu is one of very few towns in Nigeria that boasts
two museums. The first such repository in this town is Anambra
State Museum, which was established by the Anambra State Government
during the tenure of Governor Chukwuemeka Ezeife, close to
20 years ago. Anambra State Museum stands along Nnewi-Ekwulobia
Road, which was in an appalling state during our visit. Sources
said the road was undergoing rehabilitation but none could
tell when motorists would enjoy a reprieve from the bumpy
ride everyone suffers plying this route. The Paramount Ruler
of Igbo Ukwu, HRH Igwe (Dr.) Martin Nwafor Eze, Idu II, lamented
that the Nnewi-Ekwulobia road last saw serious attempt at
rehabilitation during the colonial era.
Aside Anambra Museum, the National Commission for Museums
and Monuments (NCMM) had also opened an outpost in Igbo Ukwu
in 2004. The NCMM station stands within Ihite Quarters, along
Ezinifite Road in Umudege Village.
Apart from two museums, Igbo Ukwu also holds an outpost of
the National Gallery of Art (NGA) along Umudege-Ekwulumili
Road and a National Yam House, an initiative of the Nigerian
Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) in Etiti Village. Moreover,
a National Craft Centre, another brainchild of the Otunba
Olusegun Runsewe-led NTDC, is also under construction at Ekwulumili,
neighbouring Igbo Ukwu. Furthermore, on September 20, 2007
Otunba Runsewe, the indefatigable Director General of the
rejuvenated NTDC was physically present in Igbo Ukwu for the
foundation-stone laying ceremony of the permanent site of
the national tourism development body at Isuofia village.
Welcome to Igbo Ukwu, where it is taboo to kill or eat a python
(Eke). Consequently, Eke the royal python is free to roam
about and visit people’s home without invitation.
What is more, this species of snake often swallows locals’
chicken, goat and other livestock without trammels. In deed,
Eke enjoys something of a deity’s status in Igbo Ukwu.
If motorists come across the animal crossing the road, all
vehicles pull to a halt, every one is at a standstill and
no automobile moves until this serpent has successfully dragged
its long body out of their way. And should one kill Eke inadvertently,
elaborate cleansing rituals must be carried out to ward off
severe repercussions. Thus, perhaps, in return for the inhabitants’
reverence for it, no royal python has ever attacked any human
being in this town, we gathered.
Igbo Ukwu may be one of the most important Nigerian towns
but how many of us know that this settlement went by a different
name until barely 70 years ago. For centuries, even more than
a millennium, this town was known simply as Igbo. In the 1930s,
however, the word Ukwu (Great/Greater) was added to save aborigines
of Igbo Town from further flogging and harassment by colonial
authorities, who felt natives were up to some pranks by ascribing
to their town, the generic name of the entire Igbo nation.
It is also similarly interesting that in this Igbo town, the
title of World Spokesman (Onu n’ekwulu ora) of Igbo
Ukwu went to a white man, Professor Thurstan Shaw, on December
23, 1972. Prof Shaw, Commander of the British Empire (C.B.E),
ostensibly earned his Igbo title. He was the one that brought
Igbo Ukwu’s priceless antiquities to universal attention
through his excavations and subsequent publications, such
as Unearthing Igbo Ukwu: Archaeological discoveries in Eastern
Nigeria, issued in Ibadan by the Oxford University Press in
1977.
Shaw was a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Ibadan
from 1963 to 1974, though his first port of call in West Africa
seems to be Ghana, where he touched down in 1937.
But, who really are the people of Igbo Ukwu, nay Igbos? Mazi
Okafouzu Ugochukwu, Secretary of a socio-cultural organization
called Mbido Igbo, which translates as Origin of the Igbo,
says Igbo people are descendants of Jabbokigbo, who hailed
from the Middle East. With consuming passion and infectious
enthusiasm, Mr. Ugochukwu took us through countless hypotheses.
Such is this man’s devotion to his new love that the
graduate of mass communication, who said he’d never
really had time to practice, has to his name, several books
on various subjects about his race.
Death of a shrine
Until 2006, Igbo Ukwu had a thriving shrine that was several
centuries old, but during our latest visit, we discovered
this community, widely held up as the Eden of the Igbo race
had lost its shrine. The shrine did not simply vanish; it
was set ablaze by some Christian extremists. Igbo Ukwu may
be the Ile-Ife of the Igbo race but that did not count to
those natives that went and torched the community shrine last
year. And what did the traditional institution do? "Who
could any thing," was one respondent’s rhetoric
response.
In fact, it didn’t come as a surprise that no one in
the institution supposed to protect indigenous beliefs could
do anything: The paramount ruler of Igbo Ukwu, HRH Igwe Martins
Nwafor Eze, is a Christian. This Igwe, whose title is Idu
II, is a devout member of the Salvation Army. That mission
of Christian Soldiers berthed at Igbo Ukwu in the 1920s, according
to this royal father, who added that most members of his kindred
belong to that denomination.
But were those that set Igbo Ukwu shrine on fire aware that
Religious Freedom is a Fundamental Human Right? We put this
question to Idu II, who had this to say: "In our system
today, the members of certain religious sects are wont to
attribute the source of misfortune to one’s relations.
To make money, some of such people claim to have exorcised
some demon by pretending to excavate this and that. Nonetheless,
we are working hard to maintain the peace."
The tourist would find a massive church complex belonging
to the Salvation Army nearing completion along Nnewi-Ekwulobia
road. Interestingly, the Salvation Army came to Igbo Ukwu
after the Roman Catholic Mission (RCM) and the Anglican Communion
were already firmly established in this town. Sources say
Eze Nwosu went in 1914 to Nnobi, near Onitsha, to bring the
RCM to this Igbo heartland.
The conversion to Christianity has virtually put a stop to
polygamy in Igbo Ukwu, but to really grasp the extent to which
the Christian faith thrives in this land, the traveller simply
needs to take a walk to a junction near Nkwo market, where
Nnewi-Ekwulobia Road makes a perpendicular with Akukwa Avenue
leading to the road to Obiuno Quarters.
This junction of Nnewi-Ekwulobia and Akukwa Avenue, along
which Vacco International Hotel stands, bears numerous signboards
pointing to the plenitude of places of worship in Igbo Ukwu.
At this spot, we saw several signboards announcing the presence
of two Catholic Churches, Saint Michael’s and Saint
Patrick, apart from two other parishes namely, Our Lady of
Fatima and Saint Martin in Igbo Ukwu. Other Christian Missions,
whose signs stand at this junction include the Anglican Communion,
Christ Holy Church Int., Zion Sacred Hill Temple of Divine
Ministry and Assemblies of God Church as well as the Godian
Religion Ministry, located opposite Igbo Ukwu Town Hall.
Igbo Ukwu Art
Igbo Ukwu art features elaborate design, decorations and realistic
depictions of animals, especially Eke the royal python and
insects. Apparently, the ancient sculptors of Igbo Ukwu didn’t
subscribe to Art pour d’art or art for art’s sake,
for many of their objects had utilitarian functions. Some
were receptacles for religious rituals, while some served
as ornaments or fittings for ceremonial regalia and so on.
Unfortunately, the beauty and excellence of Igbo Ukwu Antiquities
also make these objects the target of cultural property looters
and traffickers.
Thus, like Benin, Esie, Ile-Ife, Ikom, Nok and other antiquity
hubs across Nigeria, Igbo Ukwu artefacts face constant threat
of theft. In fact, we gathered that there were two such incidents
at the local Anambra State Museum last year alone. In their
first attempt, criminal elements stole some objects but the
authorities did not worry too much, as these were replicas.
However, it would appear that the first burglary was a dress
rehearsal, for that museum eventually lost many original pieces,
when some robbers returned for a second helping. These thieves
dealt the authorities a telling blow during that second strike,
where, in a night operation, they carted away several original
objects including a wooden face mask, believed to be a shrine
piece.
Professor Shaw discovered the first of the now famous Igbo
Ukwu Art objects accidentally in 1938 during excavations.
However, between 1959 and 1964, three sites, Igbo Isaiah (Storehouse
of ritual objects), Igbo Richard (Burial Chamber of an important
person) and Igbo Jonah (Disposal pit) were also uncovered.
Some of these ancient artefacts are older than 1, 000 years,
going by scientific records from radiocarbon dating exercises.
In fact, some of these antiquities’ origins go as far
back as the 9th century, which hints at the possibility that
the earliest workers of copper and its alloys in West Africa
were the inhabitants of ancient Igbo Ukwu, according to Prince
Enyi Samuel Imebuogu, Curator-in-Charge of National Museum,
Igbo Ukwu.
Where did we go wrong?
If ancient Igbo Ukwu people could produce these unique and
outstanding works, how come successive Nigerian leaders so
crudely exhibited a lack of basic understanding of the importance
of electricity to any society?
The epileptic nature of power supply across Nigeria over the
years point to cerebral vacuity on the part of national leaders,
for lack of electricity in a nation is akin to a man going
to farm on an empty stomach. Yet, in about 30 years or so,
it was only the Generals Muhammadu Buhari and Tunde Idiagbon-led
regime that made a sincere attempt to put this darkness that
trails Nigeria behind us. From antiquities dug out of Nok,
Alok, Ile-Ife, Benin, Igbo Ukwu and elsewhere, our ancestors
ostensibly used their heads. So, why were so many contemporary
leaders unable to provide an amenity as simple as electricity,
which is taken for granted in a normal society?
The same question applies to the state of roads in many parts
of Nigeria, especially in the Eastern areas. One of the worst
roads in Nigeria is the Nnewi-Ekwuluobia Road, which passes
through Igbo Ukwu. And one could not help but shudder at the
thought of what impression the state of Nigeria’s infrastructure
leaves on the minds of foreign scholars that visit Igbo Ukwu,
Alok, Benin et cetera on research or for tourism. Aside the
federal authorities, the Anambra State Government as well
as Aguata LGA ought to do something urgently about the terrible
state or Igbo Ukwu’s road network, too. Unfortunately,
with the chaos unleashed on Anambra from their erstwhile Abuja-based
detractors, the state government apparently had enough on
its hands just coping with criminal elements, arsonists and
touts teleguided from outside.
Guide to National Museum Igbo Ukwu
Open from 9am till 4pm, Monday to Friday, National Museum
Igbo Ukwu is one of the Community Museums established by the
NCMM in 2003. Admission to this repository is free, according
to the Curator-in-Charge of this museum, which is located
around Km 4, Ezinifite Road. National Museum Igbo Ukwu is
one of the stations of the NCMM with a functional gallery
or bays. The NCMM boasts no fewer than 37 outposts but roughly
50 per cent of these have a display area. Unfortunately, owing
to crippling power outages, visitors often cannot enjoy a
tour of many of such galleries.
On a more positive note, however, due to the simple but effective
design of the display area, which benefits tremendously from
natural illumination, it was possible for us to tour the gallery
of NCMM Igbo Ukwu, even without electricity. National Museum
Igbo Ukwu was eventually launched on April 21, 2004 and its
display includes pictorial and physical objects that were
part of the opening exposition titled The place of Visual
Arts in Igbo Ukwu Culture.
Although this museum is housed in a rented building, Travels
gathered from reliable sources that this has not cost the
NCMM a dime over the years. Eager to lure many institutions
to their town, the Igbo Ukwu community has been responsible
for the rental to date. In fact, the construction of the storey
building was not yet completed, when the community took over
the structure, rounded up the shell phase, installed finishing
and moved the National Museum into the house.
According to this curator-in-charge, a permanent site had
later been acquired for this NCMM station. That estate, Imebuogu
revealed, covers 11 plot of land and stands roughly 1km further
down Ezinifite road. Imebuogu added that construction of the
gallery section at this permanent site has reached lintel
level and that all of these had been achieved through community
effort. However, it would appear that the NCMM is at last
preparing to take over the funding of the project, going by
information that the Abuja-based headquarters of the NCMM
sent architects that came to assess the extent of work done
and what it would cost to bring the building to functional
level soonest.
The gallery of National Museum Igbo Ukwu holds items reflecting
the political, religious, social and economic life of the
locals. These include a replica of the world famous roped
pot, paraphernalia of an Ozo title holder as well as picture
of a chief with special facial scarifications, bronze bangles
(one-lake), flute (odu), elephant tusk, Mpi-Atu, buffalo horn
for drinking palm wine, carried around by the title holder
or Ichie gburi-ichi, whenever he went.
A history of money in Nigerian, from the days, when cowry
shells served as currency, through British Bank for West Africa
currency era to old naira coins and notes as well as notes
issued by Central Bank of the ill-fated Republic of Biafra.
There are also objects reflecting traditional occupation,
such as palm wine tapping, where the man works with his Mma
Nkwu, (climbing rope), Ebele Mmanya (Calabash), Oba Mmanya,
gourd and so on. Also on display are ritual pots, used for
sacrifices, into which palm wine, kola nut, cowry shells et
cetera were usually poured or dumped as well as Map of Igbo
Ukwu, Portraits of HRH Igwe (Dr.) Martin Ezeh – Idu
II; the Queen Ego B. Ezeh-Ocheze; Ichie and Lolo Ezeugonna
Ezeifeka, among others.
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