Ihe Shikeaguma

 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