David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
The Igbo cultural heritage has received a major boost in Anambra State with the dedication of the Rojenny Games Villages by Obi Martha Dunkwu, Omu of Okpanam and Anioma Kingdom of Delta State.
The spiritual leader of Anioma Kingdom was at the games village in Oba, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State for the consecration of the Ogilisi shrine trees planted by Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, proprietor of the sports and entertainment complex and holder of the Ogilisi Igbo chieftaincy title.
Ogilisi, in Igbo land, is a symbolic tree used for cleansing of all forms of abominations in the land and elsewhere. It is also used for purification, boundary adjustment or land demarcation which all parties are compelled to obey, to avoid attracting the wrath of the ancestors.
Ezeonwuka had planted the Ogilisi trees to form a purifying shrine shortly after his conferment of the chieftaincy title of Ogilisi Igbo, few years ago by the late traditional ruler of Nri, Igwe Obidiegwu Onyesoh, during one of his annual Igu-Aro cultural festivals in his palace at Nri, Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra state.
Daily Sun recalled that Ezeonwuka had received the chieftaincy from cradle of the Igbo, alongside the then leader of Movement for Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike.
Having planted the Ogilisi trees at a strategic corner of the Rojenny Games Village, to reflect his chieftaincy of Ogilisi Igbo, Ezeonwuka nurtured the trees to prominence to form a dwelling shrine for the ancestors and consequently invited the Omu of Anioma who is deeply rooted in Igbo tradition and culture, to come and consecrate them, put them into spiritual use and transform the place into a conversation arena between the ancestors and the living, for the good of humanity.
Performing the ceremony shortly after being conducted round the facilities inside the games village, including the football stadium, tartan tracks, lawn tennis courts, the swimming pool, the nite club, the shrine, the mosque, church and the zoo where both pythons and other animals were kept, Dunkwu invoked the ancestors to accept the trees as trees of life for Ndigbo.
Holding native kolanuts, alligator pepper and a bottle of hot drink, the Omu Anioma offered fervent prayers with a call on the ancestors and forefathers to unite Ndigbo and never allow the Igbo culture and tradition fritter away.
She advised Igbo sons and daughters venturing into businesses of any kind to first of all come to the Ogilisi shrine, which she directed should be adorned with white cloth as a mark of purity and pray to the ancestors with kola nuts, alligator pepper and a bottle of hot drink to guide and guard them to success.
She, however, warned that managers of the Ogilisi shrine should not demand money or anything from those coming to the shrine to pray but on the condition that as soon as they succeed in their business set up after the prayers, they must come back to the shrine and pay homage by way of thanksgiving to the ancestors.
Ezeonwuka lamented that the advent of pentecostal churches has relegated the revered Igbo culture as several self-acclaimed men of God now use God’s name to extort the vulnerable ones.
Ezeonwuka attributed the current reduction in crime rate in Igbo land to the symbolic funeral ceremony performed by Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State at the inception of his administration for the repose of the souls of all those who died during the civil war, as well as those who died fighting for the restoration or actualization of Biafra. He added that before then, their souls had been wondering restlessly until they were given the befitting burial.
The Ogilisi Igbo also advised youths to work hard and redouble their efforts towards making life more meaningful to themselves, adding that it is only when they work hard that God would bless them and not when they rely on the Biblical injunction which says: “Give us this day, our daily bread”, since according to him, “God is not a food vendor as to continue to give every lazy person his or her daily bread.”