Ukwata: The metamorphosis of a rich cultural heritage

By Gloria Ikibah

Ndokwa West is a Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Kwale. It has an area of 816 km² and a population of over 149,325 at the 2006 census.

Ndokwa, like any other ethnic group in Nigeria, has her culture, norms and social values which are expressed in annual festivals.

The Ukwata festival is the major feast of the Abbi people of Delta State of Nigeria. It is an important annual festival which is usually celebrated in the month of February.

The festival marks the end of the year's farming activities and ushers in another farming year and other activities. During the period of festivities, people do not engage in farming as they remain at home and enjoy themselves and make merriment.

From the day the festival date is fixed, yam tubers are harvested and stored in barns till after the festival when new farm are made as part of the new farming year's activities.

It is the right of the Okpala-Uku (the traditional ruler) or the Uko-Okpala (the Regent) as the case may be to fix and announce the date of the festival. This is done by summoning the elders (Ikpala), chiefs (Inotu), Oyiwa and the Otu-Ole age grades to a meeting in his palace, on a particular Eke-Nta Market Day. It is in this meeting that the duration and date for the festival is decided. The duration is usually either 17 days ("OGE-ISE") or 25 days ("OGE-ESA"). Once a date and duration has been agreed upon, it is first announced in the Palace and later in the town.

Agha-Ukwata begins the social aspect of the festival; it is usually a one-day package of fun and fun, featuring mock war performances of groups of young men from each of the two sections of the community, Ebilije and Ikosa.   The groups dance along the village square bearing mock dane guns, blunt wooden machetes and spears, chanting real traditional war songs and displaying like real warriors.  Side attractions of the Agha-Ukwata include the “odogogwu” and the “Nmanwu” masquerade dances of the boys and young men of the village.  Ladies and young girls, in their groups, also contribute to the fun as some of them dress like country clowns and court jesters to amuse spectators.  This scenario continues till dusk when youths, in their groups, retire to All-Night Disco (in modern times) and the elderly retire to make merry in their houses, some till dawn.

After the Agha-Ukwata on Afor, the following day is Nkwo (native market day), it is called Nkwo-Nde-Ebiai (the strangers’ day) because it is wholly dedicated to receiving and entertaining strangers who have come to share in the festival.  Not much public entertainment is made on this day because almost every household is busy receiving and entertaining its strangers.

After Nkwo-Nde-Ebiai, the next day is Eke (native market day) which is the real Ukwata day. Nine days before this day, the Otu-Olile Age group would have withdrawn from society and retired to camp (Uno Ukwata) to practise the ukwata dance, groom the potential ukwata artiste and prepare the ukwata bowl (Abo Ukwata) which is a flat wooden object carved round and shallow; with two handles in front of it.  The bowl is covered with a piece of white cloth and decorated with Nzu (riverside white chalk or kaolin) and strings of knotted fresh palm-fronts.

A white life eagle-symbolic of the bowl is provided by the Otu-Olile Age group every year. The Climax of events of this Eke day is the public performance of the Ukwata dance by the young man who had been groomed in the camp (Uno-Ukwata) to carry the ukwata bowl.  The dance lasts the whole day, carrying the jubilant crowd of ukwata enthusiasts wherever it goes. From their camp, the ukwata troupe proceeds first to the palace to pay homage to His Royal Highness, the Ezemu of Emu Kingdom, then to the Okpala-Uku of Emu, from where it comes to “Obi-Ogwa” to display for Chiefs (Onotus) before it goes public, to visit individual personalities, as it likes.

Another very interesting aspect of the Ukwata festival is the Maiden Outing Ceremony. This time, all the young girls who were circumcise within one lunar month to the day of proclamation of Ukwata, perform the traditional outing ceremony, known as “Ipu-Olile. The procession begins at about 5pm but does not in any way disturb the Ukwata dance. Rather, it heightens jubilation and adds grace and colour to the festival.

The maiden performing the ceremony is lavishly dressed in rich apparel, wearing on her head, the prestigious traditional women’s ceremonial black hair-do (Akpa-Ntu) artistically woven with small ornamental coral beads (Esu-Kilikili). On her neck are looped strings of bigger coral beads (Ugbala-Aka and Nkpulu-Esu) hanging down to her navel, with lockets of coral beads to match. Her ears, fingers and wrists are bedecked with glittering gold rings and bangles to match her gorgeous outfit.

Her maids (Umu-Ufie, mostly four girls) are smartly dressed in the traditional bare-body outfit with fanciful silk head ties and scarves tied on their waists. Looped strings of small ornamental coral beads (Ugbala-Aka) hang from their shoulders, across their breasts, reaching down to their ankles. Their bare-bodies (front and back) are decorated with patterns drawn with cam wood (Ufie) and “Ulie”.

Most prominent in the maids’ outfit is the “Ego-Isi” which they carry on their heads like crown with long bright ostrich feathers flying on top. Ego-Isi is an art work made from perforated gourds – well-cut and trimmed to sit on the maid’s head without falling. It is tightly covered round with strings of big cowry shells (Ego-Mgbadamgbu) and decorated with cam wood (Ufie).

Led with dance and fanfare, the maiden and her maids emerge from their dressing room and proceed to do the traditional outing procession, which takes them to

The Ukwuata Dancer carrying the Ukwuata (a white eagle seat on some local craft) dances to the public square and back to their place. The merriment that follows after the procession on the Eke day ends the social aspect of the Ukwata festival.

The religious aspect of the festival begins on the following Olie (native market day) with rituals and the worship of the gods by members of the community. Most prominent of the events of this period is the traditional homage (Ifo-Ibu) which sons-in-law pay to their fathers-in-law.

The homage consists of ten sizeable yam tubers, fish, drinks and kolanuts. The wife carries these materials to members of her family on the day of their ancestral worship and receives the blessing of the officiating head of her family.

It is a serious breach of marriage obligation for a son-in-law not to pay the annual homage to his father-in-law. For expediency sake, all aspects of Ifo-Ibu have been monetize so that sons-in-laws who live abroad can use money to pay their Homage.

The most interesting feature of the religious aspect of the Ukwata festival is the Egwu Igba and Ukele dancers, which feature towards the end of the festival.

The masquerades dress in unique costumes bearing designs of fish and the marine colours of aquatic animals like the Crocodile, Alligator and Iguana; their outfits and dance pattern suggest their aquatic origin and that the dance is a dance of mermaids.

The famous “Elisi-Ugbo” dance of Aboh people which features at the Oje-festival is a modified replica of the Olu masquerade dance of Anayma people of whom their legend says that one of their fishermen captured the dance from mermaids. Through long association, social interaction and culture-mix, it is probable that Emu acquired Olu dance from Aboh who on the other hand, must have copied it from Anyama.

“Ogonya” and “Echinel” are Emu river-goddesses of virginity, purity and fertility. So that their appearance at the end of the Ukwata festival is not only to entertain people but also to purify the land and restore her fertility for the on-coming farming season which Ukwata presages.

Ukwata festival ends after seventeen days with the ritual ceremony of Ich-Nmo which takes place early in the morning. Women make bon-fires at the village square “to excise evil spirits which they believe had come to share in the festivity”. Then, they carry the fire-brands to the burial-ground (Amuzo) where they drop them, and return to their houses.

By this ritual, they believe that they have driven evil spirits back to their abode, the spirit world.