By Ikenna Nwokedi

The Directorate of Igbo Village and Centre for African Civilisation (IVACAC), Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Entertainment and Tourism, Anambra State has held the 2023 edition of Iri Ji UNIZIK Festival.

The event which was held at Faculty of Arts Arena, UNIZIK on Friday, 15th September 2023 was under the chairmanship of Prof. Joseph Brian Adinma.

In his address, UNIZIK Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Charles Esimone, FAS stated that the Iri Ji Festival is one aspect of Igbo culture that has survived the onslaught of modernity but with the advent of Christianity, the aspect of offering the new yam to the gods, deities and ancestors in the Iri Ji Festival has changed. The Vice-Chancellor stated that the spiritual aspect of gratitude to God for his blessings of the new yam harvest and his numerous other blessings must be sustained in and through our diverse religious practices and must be submerged in the conviviality of the festival.

Prof. Esimone commended the Director of IVACAC, Very Rev. Fr. Prof. Bonachristus Umeogu and his team for unrelenting efforts to lift the operations to higher pedestals. He said IVACAC started on a comparatively low note of an Iri Ji Festival and gradually climbed to a partnership with the Anambra State Ministry of Culture, Entertainment and Tourism and this year's event included the Anambra State Ministry of Health and the office of the Special Adviser to Anambra State Governor on indigenous Medicine and Herbal Practice which all birthed the UNIZIK Centre for Traditional Medicine to be domiciled at the University Medical Centre which was commissioned as well as the unveiling of Usekwu Igbo.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Joseph Brian Adinma described the New Yam festival in Igbo land as the king of all festivals which requires thanksgiving to God for a successful farming season. Prof. Adinma pointed out that yams in Igbo land are not only used for food, commerce and sacrifice but also play a symbolic role in healing process.

Earlier on the Director, Igbo Village and Centre for African Civilisation (IVACAC), Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Very Rev. Fr. Prof. Bonachristus Umeogu revealed that yam is a starchy tuber with pricky, ropy, creepy or climbing stem used for food, commerce, sacrifice and healing in Igbo tradition. 

Fr. Umeogu noted that yam is not only an igbo affair but almost all continents of the world have yams in their respective traditions. The scholar averred that Igbo yams probably came from the tropical and subtropical rainforests in the heart of Africa whose antiquity fades into mythic origin of yams in Igbo tradition.

The Director of IVACAC mentioned that the cultivation of yams in Igbo world begins in Onwa olu which normally comes between the ending of March and the last weeks of April which is the beginning of rainy season. He opined that yams are harvested in Onwa Ifejioku, after which some are staked and others are used for the New Yam festival.

The Director pointed out that it must be observed that between the planting of old yams and the harvesting of new yams comes the period of ilu olu ji or irucha ji when the yam crop is nurtured to grow well against the nematodes, fungi, potyvirus, weeds, pests, insects and animals that attack or eat the yam crop because such attacks at times make the green leaves and ropy yam stems turn from green to yellow or even dry up long before the harvest time.

On his part, Anambra State Commissioner for Culture, Entertainment and Tourism, Hon. Don Onyenji commended the IVACAC for preserving and fostering igboness through her programmes and activities. Onyenji stated that the cultural values of Ndi Igbo is being eroded as a result of westernization. The Commissioner affirmed that the relationship between town and gown will ensure that the cultural norms and values are maintained and transcended from generation to generation.

In his vote of thanks, The Deputy Director of IVACAC, Dr. Kanayo Nwadialor acknowledged and appreciated the efforts of everyone who contributed in one way or the other in the institution and establishment of the Directorate of IVACAC at UNIZIK. The scholar informed that the Centre is designed to be a strong rallying point for the exchange of ideas between the University intellectual community and makers of Igbo History and African Civilization to enable the promotion of Igbo Culture and African Civilization.

The Deputy Director noted that part of the mandate of the Directorate is to organize an annual iri ji Unizik festival. He thanked everyone for remaining patriotic and committed to the Igbo course with special reference to the 2023 iri ji festival of UNIZIK.

Other guests who expressed their views on the occasion are Hon. Dr. Adam Obidike, Anambra State Commissioner for Health; Hon. Dr. Daniel Ekene Ejie, Operations Manager, Anambra State Indigenous Medicine and Herbal Practice; Dr. Chinasa Charity Ezea, a scholar in the Department of Pharmacognosy and Traditional Medicine, UNIZIK.

Highpoints of the occasion was the commissioning of the UNIZIK Centre for Traditional Medicine at the University Medical Centre, unveiling of Usekwu Kitchen, cutting of the roasted yams and traditional music displays to spice up the occasion.