By Peter Anosike & Perpetua Egesimba
igbo under the aegis of Igbo Stakeholders Forum (ISF), Isolo Local Council Development Area, Lagos, recently celebrated their new yam festival. Held at Greenfield Estate, Ago Palace Way, Okota, it was graced by the Commissioner for Land Affairs, Ladi Ajomale, chairman, Isolo LCDA, Samsudeen Olaleye, his deputy, Bayo Olaseji and Hakeem Muniru.
Also in attendance were Eze Uzu Ichida, Anambra State, Eze Ambrose Ubah, the Eze Igbo of Mushin, Eze John Nwosu and Chief Oliver Akubueze among others.
Chairman of ISF, Prince Nixon Okwara, said yam in Igbo land is regarded as the king of crops. He said the festival signifies to the Igbo, the beginning of harvesting season.
He said Igbo use the festival to show appreciation to God Almighty for keeping them alive through out the planting season. They also use the opportunity to pray for good health and protection while they await the next planting season:
“The main reason we are celebrating it outside Igbo land is to acquaint our children who are born in the Diaspora with the culture and tradition of our people.
He disclosed that forum was a child of circumstance: “After the 2015 general elections, the relationship between the Igbo and their host community, the Yoruba, deteriorated considerably. Some well-meaning Igbo men living in Isolo came together to think of a platform that they could use to dialogue with their host community who has been good to them.
“They came up with a chatter of demand, which included government giving the Igbo in the area sense f belonging by constructing the roads in Igbo highly populated areas, giving them employment, political appointments and other things.”
The state chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Henry Ajomale and other leaders of thought adopted the chatter of demand and began to implement them.
“That has led to the Igbo being given two councillorship slots out of the seven in the last council poll. The tenement rate we pay in the area has reduced considerably as part of the demands of the forum. The forum has brought about harmonious relationship between the Igbo and their host community.”
Olaleye described the Igbo living in the council as partners in progress: “They have contributed immensely to the development of the area. I am very proud of the chairman of your forum. Whatever he touches turns to gold. I want to form Okota Stakeholders forum and he is one of the two people that I am going to work with because he is a great mobiliser of men.”
Ajomale commended the harmonious relationship existing between the Igbo and the Yoruba: “The other name for democracy is development. There cannot be development in the absence of peace.”
He appreciated Okwara for his efforts to ensure “there is a platform where the indigenes and non indigenes can sit at a round table to iron out their challenges and move forward. The Igbo would be getting their fair share in the scheme of things in this state.”
The Igbo community in Mushin also gathered to celebrate new yam festival at Bishop Aggey Open Field, Ilasamaja, Lagos, featuring masquerades, cultural displays and traditional delicacies.
Eze Ndigbo I of Mushin Ajina/Odi-Olowo Local Council Development Area, Eze Peter Umeh, Ezechimereze, said: “It is the handwork of God so, every year, the Igbo everywhere they are gather together to celebrate the new yam festival, to thank God for the harvest of that year and to plead with him so that he will assist in the next harvest.
“The festival itself is a blend of different cultural dances, we break kolanut in Igbo language and some other things. From here, most of us that don’t travel back home, the ones that were born and brought up here in Lagos, they don’t know the tradition and culture of our people but as we are doing this here, we are promoting the tradition and culture of the Igbo.
“As we are doing it now, most of them will be learning and emulating it. It is the same way that we are doing it in the south east that we are doing it here.” He said the festival was also an avenue to foster unity among the Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo:
“The Serikis are here too. What it means is that, we have the Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo here. The message is simply one love and one Nigeria. We are united especially here in Lagos State. The Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo are living like brothers here, just like one Nigeria.”
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, who was represented by Oba Adebanjo Adedini, Asoya of Isoya, Ife kingdom, described the festival as unique: “We are here today to show the Igbo that we appreciate their culture and we are very happy to be here. To be honest, what they are doing is very unique and what Yoruba is doing is something hereditary, something that has been in inception for more than 10,000 years.
“We have been doing different festivals in Yoruba land too. So the Igbo according to a book somebody wrote about the Igbo said something about their tradition, just to let everyone know that they have their own culture and tradition as popular as that of the Yoruba.
“With this, my advice is that every other tribe in Nigeria should come together and showcase their own tradition as well like what the Igbo in Mushin to further straighten unity and one Nigeria.”
Seriki Hausawa of Idi-Araba, Alhaji Hassan Abubakar Auyo: “I will say this celebration is my celebration because anything the Igbo are doing, I am always there and I take it as my own. We want peace and unity in Nigeria. All these problems we are having do not make sense, we are one united Nigeria. We should not listen to small boys talk, like the Arewa Youths. You can see we are dinning with the Igbo here today, we are united and we are peace loving people.”