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The Nanka community
in the Orumba North Local Government area of Anambra State, has
observed its annual Oririji (New Yam) festival, with a grand finale,
held on August 21. It was the highlight of the three-day festival, held
at the Isigwunwagu Central School Field, Ifite Nanka.

The 2010 edition
drew the Ozuzu Nanka (Sons and daughters of the town) who travelled
from far and near to their ancestral home and joined the regent of
Nanka, Igwe G.N Ofomata to commemorate yet another fruitful harvest.

The festival had
earlier kicked off with the Iriji Igwe celebration on Friday, August
20, at the palace of the Igwe Ofomata. Usually held a day before the
New Yam festival, Iriji Igwe is set aside for the traditional ruler to
mark his own version of the event, usually seen as the dress rehearsal
for the grand finale. The Iriji Igwe attracts a lot of attention, as
all the chiefs and titled men in Nanka are expected to be in
attendance. This year’s event was a grand celebration during which the
Igwe took the opportunity to honour Nanka indigenes who have been
making the town proud in different fields of endeavour.

The grand finale of
Oririji Nanka 2010, held the following day, Saturday, was a success
despite the fact that rain started falling early on the big day. Some
apprehension greeted the heavy rains that started at eight in the
morning. But as providence would have it, about noon when people were
expected to start trooping from their homes to the assembly ground, the
rain had stopped.

The first slice

The ceremony got
underway with heavy drumming and dancing, heralding the arrival of the
seven villages of Nanka. Each village usually turns up every year with
at least one Igba (traditional) dance group. Each of the villages –
Agbiligba, Enugwu, Ifite, Umudala, Amako, Ubahu and Etti – tries to
outdo the others in adding colour and gaiety to the festival. The air
abuzz with heavy drumming and dancing, festival goers danced their fill
before the arrival of the Igwe himself.

Starting the
official activities, the master of ceremony for the day welcomed the
special guests, including Polycap Emenike, Peter Chinedu and chair of
the occasion, Kofi Obijiofo – all prominent names among the Nanka
people.

With the arrival of
the Igwe, other aspects of the ceremony took off, starting with a
prayer of thanksgiving for the new harvest year. Then there was the
breaking and sharing of the kola-nut, followed by the main event of the
day: the cutting of the New Yam. This involved the ritual cutting of a
piece of roast yam, a task performed by the Igwe himself in the
presence of Ozuzu Nanka. In days gone by, gods and goddesses were
invoked to be part of the cutting and eating of the first slices of New
Yam, but this is no longer so. The prayer is now done in the Christian
mode, to choruses of ‘Amen’ from the gathering. The king then cuts the
yam and eats the first slice. This represents the very first tasting of
the New Yam in the Nanka community, as no indigene of the town is
expected to have eaten it before this time. After the Igwe’s first
taste, leaders of each of the Nanka villages would come forward (in
order of superiority) to pick a slice on behalf of their territories.

Erosion control

With the new Yam
cut and eaten, this year’s gathering settled down to wine and dine as
speeches were made at the high table. First to speak was the Igwe, who
reminded his people of the challenge posed by the heavy incidence of
erosion in Nanka town. He urged all the villages to help implement the
erosion control measures that have been introduced in the area.

Others echoed the
Igwe’s concerns. One indigene, who donated a number of melina saplings
for planting in the many active Nanka erosion sites, blamed the neglect
by successive administrations for the continuing problem. He stated
that the nursery he donated had cost him a lot of money, but reflected
that it is infinitesimal compared to what is needed to check Nanka
erosion, the largest in West Africa.

“The truth facing
us today is that if care is not taken, Nanka will eventually go extinct
if government does not help us. All our efforts to check this erosion
are still a far cry from what is needed,” he said. According to locals,
the federal and state governments’ approach to this point has been to
provide relief materials for fresh erosion slides, forgetting about the
need to find a long-term solution.

“Government needs
to know that we the sons and daughters of Nanka are hard working
people. We do not need relief materials. We need government to address
the erosion problem headlong,” one said.

In his remarks,
Damian Okoye, chair of the socio-cultural group, Nanka Patriotic Union,
noted that the Federal Government’s Ecological Fund has continued to be
disbursed and expended annually “without a dime being committed to
Nanka erosion.”

He further said,
“We are beginning now to understand that past visits and promises of
‘doing something’ by government officials since 1960 were scam. This is
in spite of the fact that Nanka remains the mother of the monstrous
environmental degradation in south east Nigeria for the past 100 years.”

He reiterated that
Nanka people no longer welcome relief materials. “We are fed up with
relief materials. We demand practical solution. We demand reversal of
this criminal neglect.”

The event ended with recognition and awards given various
individuals for their contributions towards the development of Nanka
town, after which the drums boomed again and the dancing resumed. Soon,
masquerades came out to delight the crowd.