IHE TOWN
IHE SHIKEAGUMA
IHE is the third town among the five towns in Ntuegbe. The
father of Ihe is Shikeaguna Ani Ugwu, hence, it is normally called Ihe nwa Shikeaguma by the elders. The name of his wife and where
she came from are no longer known. Shikeaguma and his wife first
settled in a place that became the first family which is today called
Umonwo Udeh family. From this first family. Umuogbe village
gradually emerged and became the first village in Ihe town. When the
sons of Shikeapguma grew up and got their own children, some left
the village and settled in different places altogether. They raised their own
continued. Little by little they continued to growing population and to
further settle in different places. These places where they settled later
became the villages we have today. The first village is Umuogbe(Umuogba), the
second is Uhueze followed by Enugwegu, Amagu, Umushike and
the rest. Whenever the elders from lhe town come together to honour
their grandfather Shikeaguma, the oldest man from Umonwo Udeh
family, the first family in Ihe town, leads them in prayer and offers
sacrifice to the ancestors and Shikeaguma. At present, the man from
this family, who is in charge of Shikeaguma house, is Onyebuchi
Onuma
Ihe town has a major market, Eke, which functions once
every week. People from far and near towns go to buy and sell in this
Eke market day is significant in Ihe. It is a day dedicated to Ani Ihe deity and that is why it is forbiddern to work on the fam on
this day, It is in this market place that Ihe people hold certain
ceremonies together, such as proclaiming the feast of the diiferent
deities in the town. I will discuss more about this later. Some other
activities are held in this market square. An urgent announcemcnt that
demands the attention of lhe people is given by the priest in charge of
Ani Ihe He goes round the market square on Eke day, clapping two
knives together. As he walks round the square he delivers the
message to the people. There are eleven vilages in Ihe and each
Village has a hall in this market square where the menbers of the
Village could gather to drink and chat on the market day and the feast
days. There are several stores, restaurants, and pubs raised by
individuals in this market, for comercial purposes
THE STORY OF EFFO TOWN
The sons of Shikeaguma did not raise The town alone Some
war refugees joined them and they were received and accommodated.
The first group of people that joined Ihe town came from a town
called Effo. This extinct town was situated in a farmland which is
today called Appa, Iying between Ihe, Amoli and Umabi towns. The
Effo people were very huge and tall but they were very hostile set of
people. They were known for superior craftsmanship because they
were the first people in this area that designed different helpful tools
for agriculture and war. Imnplements such as din-guns, gun powder,
hoes, machetes, bows and arrows were first designed by these people
in this area. Nevertheless, they were very cruel and unkind to
strangers. All those who ventured to cross their town were murdered.
They, not only manhandled those who attempted to cross their town
but also ambushed those going to work in the farm. At times they
would also pounce on those working in their farm and deal with
them. Some families lost their lives in this manner. They also used to
enter into the neighbouring towns to lay ambush at the track simply to
shoot and kill those using the track With their locally made guns they
did a lot of havoc to those living in the neighbouring towns. They
terrorized and killed the people living around them without qualms.
As a result, the three most affected towns: Ihe, Amoli and
Umabi in Udi Local Government teamed up, waged war against the
Effo people and defeated them. Their town was torched and so totally
demolished that today only palm trees and thick forests could be
found there. The town is now a farmland called Appa. During the
atack, sone Effo people escaped and ran into the towns of he people
demolishing then and sought amnesty which was granted them. they
settled in those towns and becarne members of the town. Effo people
did not settle in one place like the Arochukwu people. Rather they
integrated themselves in different villages in the town and became
members of the village and the town at large. To that effect one may
find it very difficult to identify any of their progeny. The name, Effo,
is today being used as a curse to somebody who is heartless or one
who has no qualmns of conscience; it denotes barbarism in The town.
UMUARO PEOPLE IN IHE
Umuaro is another group of people that joined the town
There are two versions about the dispersal and integration of
Arochukwu people in some towns in Igboland. The first version
states that a man by name Ekoye Ijoma was sold as slave to
Arochukwu. There in Arochukwu, he raised his head so high,
became famous and wanted to be the king of Arochukwu. He was
honoured in the town and nobody could deny him the kingship but he
Was given conditions by which he would be crowned a king. Among
he requirements and the basic one was to go and get the "skin of
soil and to purchase certain items for the kingship. He provided all
these but they refused to make him a king simply because he wasn't
Onginaly from the town: he was a slave. Sequel to the denial of
kingship to him, he fled to Britain by boat and revealed to them how
the Arochukwu people were buying and selling human beings. He
was able to convince the British that Arochukwu people were slave dealers. As a result the British were infuriated and thus waged war against
Arochukwvu people. In the long run the Arochukwu people
Were overpowered and deleated. As a tesult of this defeat some of the
Arochukwu people fled to dilferent towns including Ihe and got
settled there.
Another version maintains that Arochukwu people in any
town would show that the one who brought then was very strong
and he wanted the Arochukwu people to serve the town as soldiers.
Thus, they came to Ihe town through the effort of Onah and Ijeoma
Egbo. These two men brought Arochukwu people into Ihe town to
show the rest of the people how important and influential they were.
At any rate Umuaro people are in Ihe town up to today and they
participate in every activity going on in Ihe. However, none of them
is free to offer sacrifice directly to the deities in Ihe. Rather, any son
of Shikeaguma will offer that on his or her behalf.
There is a place in Ihe called Ugbo Aja Aro where the TTC
(Teachers Training College), now Special Science School, is located.
This place got the name, Ugbo Aja Aro, because of the fetish which
Umuaro prepared for Ihe people and laid across the road. If by
mistake someone Was aflicted by charm while returning from a
neighbouring town, on crossing this fetish, the charm would be
neutralized. The same thing applied to whoever was coming to Ihe
with charm to harm or kill someone. The site retained the name Ugbo
Aja Aro even though the fetish is no longer effective.
Villages in Ihe and Okunano Village
There are eleven villages that make up lhe town. Though there
are eleven villages, they are grouped into four wards, viz
Enugwoke, Enugwechi, Enugwegu/Okunano and Umuogbe The
villages within Enugwoke ward are Amagu, Umushike. Umanewe, Uhueze, and Umebeke/Umuorji. Enugwechi Ward comprises
Umonyia, Umogodo and Umonwo. Enugwegu and Okunano are two
villages that are grouped into one ward and their names are retained
Finally Umuogbe, the oldest village in Ihe, is a ward of its own.
There is a story behind Okunano village in Ihe. This village
joined the other villages much later. The story is this: Ihe people are
great hunters as well as warriors. During one of their hunting
expeditions, they chanced on a group of people Iiving in an area,
overpowered them and brought them home. The group was stationed
between Umuogbe, Umuorji, Enugwegu and Umonyia. But since the
group was made up of small number of people, some people from the
other villages were drafted to go and join them to form a village.
Thus, Okunano village emerged. The name Okunano means booty
acquired in an outing like war or hunting. But this village is not to be
seen as slaves. To show that this group (village) is a full member of
Ihe community, Ihe people do every thing in common with it like the
celebration of a feast, marriage, burial ceremony and the similar
activities in the town. As already mentioned, some people from the
other villages were asked to join them and become part of them
show that there is no distinction between the village and the rest of the
Villages .
Due to the fact that Ihe people have no place for the caste
system or ohu, some people left their towns of origin, and joined Ihe
community and became full fledged members of Ihe town. To
become an Ihe man, some rituals will be performed by the elders
(Ndi Obinani) and those in charge of various deities in the town.
The first thing to be done is that the incoming person has to declare
his interntion to be a worthy lhe man. He will profess his love for lhe Town publicly wihich pronpted his move to become a member of Ihe.
The elders and priests will receivye him in their midst. To do this a
COW will be killed, its head cut off and taken round the Eke
square on Eke market day by the man himself. As he is walking
market
round the markct with the head of the cow in his hands amidst the
elders and priests, Ihe people will immediately know that someone
has joined them. After this ceremony, the elders and priests share the
rest of the beef customarily but the skull will be kept on the shrine of
Ani Ihe. To welcome him sincerely in their midst, the people of Ihe
shower gifts on him, ranging from food to household property. The
next thing to be done is lo show him a piece of land where he will
build a house. If he is able, he can start erecting a house, if not, the
people wil supply the basic things for building a house and help him
themselves to erect the house. After this, the person becomes a full
nember of Ihe town in everything.
THE MAJOR DEITIES IN IHE
(i) UMUOHA
The first god in Ihe is called Umuoha. He was a great god
who used to talk to the people in those days on what to do and what
to be careful about. The shrine is located on a hill at Umuogbe village
and it is still there today. A feast is observed in honour of this deity
once every year. The celebration of the feast falls on thc seventh
month of the year, that is, February. The feast is not so elaborate as
the other feasts in honour of other gods in the town. Usually, only
the elders observe this feast in order to remember Umnuoha god. First
of all, the elders go to the shrine to offer sacrifices to him and drink
palm wine some of which is poured as libation to the god. Back
home, each of thc clders offer sacrifice at thc hearth of his compound
with palm wine and kola nut.
() ANE IHE
Ani lhe is one of the gods of the town, a major deity for that
matter. This deity was brought all the way Irom Ogugu the
forefathers land. The deity was brought to Ihe in order Lo protect and
guard Ihe people as a whole as well as their properties. His shrine is
located in Eke market square on the land between Okunano and
Umuorji villages. A man from Okunano village, the cldest man from
Nwankwo Okerekc's family, is always the chief priest in charge of
Ot onely Itom Okunano village but from Umuorji village
this deity. The reason for this is that Nwankwo Okereke's family is Umuorji Village owns the land where the deity is located and
therefore, the chief priest must come from this village. There are six
shrines erected for Ani Ihe in this square, but they are not to be seen
as duplicatlon of Ani Ihe into six gods. The six shrines came to be
thus: the first shrine, the main abode of Ani Ihe, is taken charge of by
Nwankwo Okereke's family and being assisted by the family of
Nwikolo Irom Ndiagbo Okunano. Whenever sacrilice was offered to
An lhe, the assistant priest would prepare it. But later, Ani Ihe
requested that another shrine be erected for the assistant priest beside
he main shrine which was caried out without any qualms.
The land in which Ani Ihe is located does not belong to
Umuorji vilage alone, but other villages-
Enugwegu -Own the land together with Umuorji village. After a while
Umonyia village built another shrine by the side of the already
existing two shrines and the eldest man in the village was taking
care of it, Almost at the same time, Enugwegu and Umuorji
villages erected one shrine each in the same square and was taken
charge of by the oldest man in the village. After sometime, Umuogbe,
the oldest village in Ihe, also erected another shrine for the same deity
Umuorji. Umonyia, and
in the same place. Consequently. there are six shrines for one deity--
Ani lhe, Even though there are six shrines and six priests for one deity, Ihe people in general authorized Nwankwo Okereke's family to
be producing the chief priest of Ani Ihe each time while the rest of the
priest assist him, Any sacrifice that concerns Ihe people in
general is offered in the main shrine by the chief priest. But individual sacrifice as well as village offerings are
performed in either of the shrine and the priest in charge of the particular shrine presides over
Sacrificed to the deity to honour him, to thank him for a favour done. One can equally go to him or one
request or the other. Childless couples go to solicit for help for them
to bear children Sick ones are brought bclore himn in prayer to cure
their malady. Many other problems are prescnted to this deity for
solutions. The alfected person(s) could promise a cow, lamb, goat,
gravity of what thc person is asking for
or cockerel, depending on the person's financial ability and the gravity of what the person is asking for.
FEAST IN HONOUR OF ANI Ihe
Ani Ihe is given special honour through festivals.The feast is
for the entire pcople in n the town, men, women and children. it is the
only feast that attracts all Ihe people home for its celebration. No
matter where one is, as long as one is in good health, one must come
home for the festival. It is always the time for mass return. Failure to
return home for the celebration makes the person think that he or she
has missed a lot and the people at home would not be at ease. This is
because failure to come home would mean that something grave has
nnened to the person. I 1s the period of merriment, exchange of
gifts with the in-laws and friends. It is the time when near and distant
friends are invited to come and join in the festival. During the feast all
those who promised sommething o Ani Ihe: goats, cows, lambs or
fowls. try to fulfnll the promise, Ani lhe feast is celebrated once every
Wo years and on the ifth month of the year, that is, December. ltis
celebrated for a period of one month though in stages as follows.
Brewing Special Palm Wine (Ogwudan)
Ani Ihe feast calls for serious preparations. In he year in
which Ani lhe is celebrated, on the 4th month, which is very close to
he time the 5th month will appear, the elders from Okunano village
ng galions of palm wine in Eke square to intimate the entire lhe
People that Ani lhe feast 1s around the corner. That day must be Eke
dy. The elders drink palm wine in anticipation o the feast
The follosing day, Oye, the people in villages and kindred uproot
troes to brew special palm wine for the feast. After three
several weeks the palm trees that have becn
uprooted are trimmed and Prepared in order to produce a special Wine called ogwudani. This
Wine is stronger than the normal palm wine and raffia wine, it is more
intoxicating than any other type of palm wine. A cup of it can make
someone feel dizzy.
Observances in this Festal Period
From the moment the palm trees are uprooted to the close of
the feast, these customs must be strictly observed:
(i) nobody should engage in marriage again. But belore this
time, one can go lo the prospective in-laws with a pot of palm wine
Tor the ceremonial placing of empty pot of wine on the bride's head
When the feast is over other activities associated with mariage can
follow.
house,
(6) there will be no more laying of foundation for a new
(H) if a house is already elevated to the roofing stage, it is not
to continue; even to re-oof an old house in this period is forbidden,
(iv) somebody from Ihe who killed an Ntuegbe person by
mistake must leave the town to a neighbouring town outside Niuegbe
ToWns and the person must remain there throughout the estival
period,
(V) whoever dies within this period is buried without any
Tuneral ite till the feast is over If someone dies on Oye Udene day
Wich IS the holy dav of the feast. the person is locked up in a room.
All will pretend as if nothing has happened until the following day,
when the family members begin to mourm slightiy for the person and
ater bury the corpse uncerenmoniously. The funeral rites are deferred
l the feast is compleely over.
EXPECTING THE FESTIVAL MOON
The actual feast comes on the fifth month. The people are
waiing With great expectations for the festal moon to appear. By
calculation, the elders know the time the moon will appear, hence
they get ready to welcome it. To do this the elders converge in Eke
square to drink palm wine dance and fire gun-shots anticipating the
moonThis ceremony is called Igba Nkwa. The elders do all this to
1ntorm he people that the moon may appear in the evening of that day
which ought to be Eke narket day. The people start to rejoice in
anticipation of the moon.This merry-making will last ill evening of
that daywhea the chief priest of Ani Ihe requests everybody to depart
to their aios hones, In the olden days, the moment they return
home from the market, parents would lock up their children inside the
house. he reason for this is simply to make sure that the children
Would not look up in the sky and see the moon irst. It would be an
atrocity lor that io ihappen. The beliel is that the child that saw the
moon first and pointed at it may incur somc terible illness or other
misfortunes. However, the custonm of locking up children in the room
has died down due to changes in events. Although children are freo
to walk about and behold this festival moon, the custom of no
ooking p and pointing at the moon is still observed It is th
PRURUgRLIeo the chief priest of Ani lhe to see the moon first and alert other people.
The procedure for seeing the moon is this, the prie
Ogbulugbu goddess, from Udeagbala Chime Anioke's family
in Umuorji village is the right person to alert the priest of Ani Ihe
the long expected moon has eventually appeared. He goes fr
Umuorji to Okunano village, a distance of one kilometer, a
customarily inforrm Ani Ihe priest that the moon has appeared.
carry out this job, the Ogbulugbu priest should have seen the moon
nonetheless, and going behind Ani lhe priest's compound, he calls the Ani Ihe priest in mulfled tone, asking him, "Did you look up in
the sky? Did you look upwards?h There are certain actions that
needed to be emphasized here. First, the priest of Ogbulugbu carries
she message to Ant lhe pricst, requesting him to look up in the sky
and behold the moon because Ogbulugbu is the wife of Ani he
Second, when the priest ol Ogbulugbu is calling the Ani Ihe priest to
look up, nobody 1s o say a word in response or repeat the
nformmation further to him, Iike inlorming the priest of Ant Ihe that
someone is calling his attenlion at the backyard, which could be cdone
under nommal circumstances Third, Ogbulugbu priest will not ask
him to look up and see the moon; he is not to call the moon by name
He will simply ask, Did you look up in the sky ? Finally, Ani lhe
pEiest, on hearing the call will not answer a word, rather he will
respond by fiing a gun-shot. The gun-shot will signal the town's
people that the long expected moon has finally appeared. Following
his gun-shot, the entire Ihe people start shouting for joy. Men start
relcasing gun-shots to welcome the moon, The gun-shots and the
shout of joy will perdure all over Ihe town for minutes that may run
into an hour Even though the cry of joy dies down aftera while,
gun-shots perdure intermitlently untul very late in the night. As gun-
Shots are being relcased, sonme ejaculatory prayers are muttered
pecially by the clders, both men and women. They thank the god
1o keeping them alive ill this round of the feast, requesting the god
ohelp thenn and their family to meet the feast again in two years time.
They also ask the god to gIve themn good health and provide for their
this celebration. They finally pray for the safe arrival of
eris nd daughters 1eturning home for the celebration from the
cities where they are working.
The appearance of the moon may fail people's calculation and
anticipation by coming out a day or two before or after the expected
day. If the moon does not appear on the expected Bke market day but
the following day or two days later, then, proclaiming the moon 1s
deferred till next Eke marke t day. Whenever this happens, the people
observe what is call ed looking downwards. That is, all will pretend
as if they have not seen the moon until thc right day comes. Several
years ago, children would be locked up in the rooms until the
appointed day, but today they are always ignored if they happen to
call the attention of the elders to the moon. Whatever the case, when
the moon is proclaimed, it must take the same procedure.
Announcing the Feast and the Day it Will Start
When the moon appears and is customarily welcomed, then
the Eke following the day the moon appeared is the day the feast will
be announced by the priest to the people. On that day, the priestof
Ani Ihe will dress up in a regalia meant for this proclamation. He
dresses like a warrior ready for battle. He walks to Eke square where
the proclamation nomally akes place. He holds the iron scepter, oj
in his right hand while in his left hand, he holdsa wooden staff. He
Will be mnoving in the middle of the square like a warrior charged for
War, strking the iron scepter on ihe ground Irom time to time. He
moves up and down the square four times, and at the end of the
Fourth ime, he discharges a gun-shot. Following the gun-shot, all the
people witnessing the event shout for joy, rejoicing that the feast has
pety aived At this juncture he stands in the midst of the people
ORCes to them that the feast will begin on the third Nkwo day.
There are some beliefs attached to his movement. As the pr
is walking up and down the square, he is not to be disturbed
anybody. Long space will be created for him in the middle of
market down to where Ngwu Onu Eke tree is standing. Nobody is
talk to him before he enters into the proclamation event. To
otherwise is to defile the priest and the person who did that will fa
the ancestors' wrath. Again while wvalking up and down, he must r
fall down. If perchance he stumbles on something and falls down,
Will die instantly and the feast that vear will come to naught. Consequently, every attention IS given to him and prayers are said for
him to complete his mission without any bitch.
Igbanta (Hunting)
Ihe town has eleven villages grouped into iour wards
already mentioned: Umuogbe, Enugwoke, Okunano/Enugwegu
Enugwechi. Each ward takes turn in igbanta which is not hunting
the usual sense but the preliminary part of the feast. The first ward
take turn in this celebration is Umuogbe, the oldest villagein lhe. It
the only village that formed a ward by itself On Eke day lollowing
the day the feast was announced Umuogbc ward will colebrate the
igbanta. The next ward to take tun is Enugwechi on ie neXL Eke
day, then Enugwoke and lastly Okunano/Enugwegu.The last ward
observes its own igbanta on Nkwo day that followvs Enugvoke's
igbanta day. The igbanta is celebrated thus: each ward will prepare
assorted and delicious food early in the morning of that day. Palmn
Wine, ogwudani,. raffia wvine and other types of drinks are arranged.
Ioday, different types of beer, hot and soft drinks are added. Rice,
Lo0, was later introduced as one of the dishes for the feast. Friends
Trom other towns and villages of Ihe are invited by the celebrating
Ward to come and rejoice with them. After feastingg at home, they go
tO Eke square in the afternoon. In the square, it is all joy and merry-
making. Gun-shots are released from time to time in the square. The
first Eke day after all the wards have taken turn in igbanta is the Eke
gbag ba nta, the day when all the wards will celebrate igbanta
ogether. The four wards converge in Eke square to celebrate, enjoy
the feast and rejoice with friends from the othcr towns around, The celebration consists of eating drinking firing gun-shots, dancing and
general merrimnent.
The Feast Day Proper
ATter the general celebration of mgbagba nta, the feast will
COmmence in full swing. It is all ioy in every nook and cranny oi hC.
Fnends are invited fromn the other towns near and far and the guests
may stay for days. The major feast days start from Afor through
Nkwo to Eke which is the climax. On these feast days proper, the
animals to be used like cows and catle are slaughtered collectively, in
communities, in kindred. Each family can prepare other animals such
as goats, sheep, lambs, and fowl for the festival. Tapioca, loofoo,
yam and ice are prepared in large quantities for the ceremony. Jars
and pots of palm wine and raffia wine, assorted beer and soft drinks
as well as hard drinks are provided too. Everybody rejoices,
celebrates and makes merry. Gun-shots are heard from time to ime
from the different villages. All those that made various promises to
Ani lhe fulfill them within this period especially on Eke Ani Ihe day.
Those who pledged cows, lambs, goats or fowl to Ani Ihe for a
favour done or for averting danger, as well as those who made
promises to the god to guard them till the next round of the feast, the
feast being celebrated, all proceed to the abode of Ani Ihe to offer the
sacrifice and fulfill their promises. The oblation is not simply offered
to Ani Ihe on his shrine, rather the priest in charge must be there to
present the offerings to the deity and to kill the oblation meant for the
sacrifice on behalf of the worshippers.mind abbout her husband, and that she does not wish to leave her
father's house to form a family of her own. It could be that she is
being forced to marry the man.
The following day, the new wife will rise very early in the
morning and with the help of her husband's sister, sweep her
husband's compound and those of his relations. The maried people
(both men and women) will be cheering her happily and some will be
giving her gifts of various kinds: money, food items, cooking
utensils, or clothes. From that day, the bride will not go back to her
father's compound until after three weeks, when she and her man
send back the utensils with which they carried food home. The
purpose of this journey is o go and thank the parents-in-law. The
son-in-law from time to time will go to his parents-in-law to help in
farm work, still expressing his happiness that he mnarried their
daughter.
Traditional Wedding Ceremony
After marriage, it will not be prudent for the man to jump
unto his wife the very weck she came into his house. Some weeks
must pass before the man begins to make some advances to her in
terms of sexual union, However, some ceremonies ought to be
performed before the actual sleeping together. The first thing to do
before they begin to sleep together is that the man will buy a grass-
cuter, palm wine and four tubers of yam, which he, together with his
wife, will carry to his mother-in-law. This gesture speaks for itself.
The mother having read the hand writing on the wall, will take her
daughter to her room and relate to her the issues concerning marriage,
and what sex means in marital life. She will advise her daughter in
