Written by Emameh Gabriel (Last update July 31, 2022)
Unlike other cultural festivals in Afamai land, the Idai Echie festival of the Okpella people in Edo State has remarkable peculiarities that are deeply rooted in the people’s history and genealogy. EMAMEH GABRIEL writes
Down in the far northern part of Edo State, every 20-25 years, one peculiar event always captures the attention of visitors in Okpella. Men, both old and young, troop in from all parts of Nigeria and the world to be initiated. The question of religion does not arise as it has become a major yardstick to separate the wheat from the chaff.
In a colourful and spectacular fashion, these men, both old and young, dressed in white regalia, walk in procession, with wooden sticks in their hands, chanting and dancing ancestral songs in celebration of their Okpella identity.
The solemn rhythmic chants, the immaculate garb and the procession, all in celebration of their identity and heritage as true descendants of their Okpella progenitor are also memorial of their migration from the Ancient Benin Kingdom. It is the closest modern day re-enactment of the biblical Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and their grand entry into the Promised Land.
The Idai Echie Festival also doubles as male adolescent initiation festival into adulthood. As the young men called Umars (meaning the world), descend the undulating hills after performing the rites of initiation into the most significant age group (Echie Otu), in front of them stands an adult with a horse tail. He is the otaru, the chief priest and custodian of the festival. After the initiation, the umars are identified the true and pure breeds of Okpella.
The most significant part of the exercise is that it is a vehicle with which the Okpellas revalidate their Okpella ancestry and family tree. One by one, everyone’s family tree is traced in a bid to validate their indigeneity. It is a rite of identification of the true Okpellas.
The ceremony marking the ascension rites to the hills for the initiation mark the ‘Ida Echie’ festival. To every true born of Okpella, the Ida Echie is the most significant and unifying festival in the kingdom, and occupies a pride of place in the kingdom.
Unlike other festivals in other parts of the Edo speaking communities that are celebrated annually, Ida Echie Festival comes once in every 20-25 years contingent upon a series of considerations, however, the last, which was observed in 2016 had only 19 years interval from the previous one of 1997.
Echie in Okpella means rock. Echie Otu is the ancestral rock of Okpella, ascended by those certified as qualified in keeping the tradition. They are male indigenes who by established traditional standards, have risen to the Okhoroya Age Grade, the benchmark for identification and initiation. During the initiation rite, each participant would correctly mention at least, three of his ancestors in an ascending order. This is aimed at ascertaining that all such persons have root with Okpea, the founder of Okpella Kingdom who migrated from Benin at about 1481.
To avoid any form of embarrassment, all participants are always expected to do a thorough research on their genealogy before the festival day. These persons are also expected to answer questions from traditional historians whose duty is to authenticate the veracity or otherwise of information about the genealogical claims made by participants.
This must be because there were reported cases of people beaten to the point of death and subsequently banished out of Okpella Kingdom because they could not trace their root to Okpella. These persons, till today are referred to as Iguma (in plural form) or Oguma (in singular)
The origin of the festival and practice can be traced to Ikpea, the son of Ikpomaza, founder of Okpella Kingdom who was believed to have instituted the festival in commemoration of his father. To some twists, Ida Echie has assumed a legislative vehicle in the administration of Okpella Kingdom.
In today’s Okpella, it creates a rendezvous on which new customary laws are made or amended and sometimes existing practices believed to be out of date with today civilization are discarded.
Speaking with WEEKEND LEADERSHIP, the present Otaru and custodian of Otu Echie festival, Chief Victor Odabor, said, “What we have today is a reform from the past to a new order. Our duty is to ensure that we make laws that conform to modern social practices and do away with those once that are rather seen as archaic. For instance, some of the laws we met that forbid women from remaining in their husbands’ home after death have been done away with. Women can now live in their late husbands’ house, eat and enjoy what the man left behind for them and their children.”
He also added that, ‘‘There was also the case of accident victims who were not given proper burial rites because those days it was believed that Okpellans do not die of accident and as such, accident victims were not allowed to be buried at home and those who died such death are booted down to the grave without coffin, no matter the status of such person in the society.”
While the ascension day to the mountain could be one of excitement for those who descended successfully and their families, on the other hand, it is a day of gloom for those with faulty genealogical backgrounds.
According to Chief Richard David, spokesperson of Okpella Traditional Council “It is a day when the chaff are neatly separated from the wheat. It is a day of weeping and gnashing of teeth by some family members and a day of lamentation by some women for marrying the wrong husbands. It is a gloomy day for days for such people. In fact, it could lead to self-exile because where would they put their faces in the land. People had to even relocate as a result.”
In the olden days, those who climbed the ancestral rock for initiation, but failed to trace their origin to an Okpellan parent would not come back. They would be beaten to death for impersonation, while the lucky ones would go into self- exile because of the shame and embarrassment of impersonation.
Another peculiar thing about this festival is that, the Otaru (the chief priest) does not preside over the festival twice in his life time. After presenting one age grade, he should die before another age grade is presented in the kingdom. This is why it takes about two decade’s interval to celebrate the festival. Even if the Otaru does not die, another Otaru is picked for another Ida Echie. In the olden days, if an Otaru lived up to time the next age grade is to be named; he would be sent to exile where he would remain till he dies.
Asked what he thinks about such law that forbids one Otaru from naming two age groups, Chief Odabor (Otaru) said such is thing of the past today.
In his words: ‘‘I think what is obtained today is quite different from what it was before. Though we reserve the right to protect our customs and traditions, when civilizations comes knocking, you have no choice but to embrace it. Those days, it was forbidden to see my predecessor but today we both attend meetings and do things together for the interest of the community.
However, it is not every qualified Okpella who live to observe the tradition. Why? This is because no two brothers of the same mother in the same age grade can observe the Ida Ichie festival. The younger one must wait for his elder brother to be initiated and have to wait for another interval before he could be granted the right to take part. This may take such person up to fifty years and in most cases, he may not live to witness what every true blood of Okpella had wished for.
Another peculiarity of the Ida Echie is the challenge of tracing the traditional iron gong and a native chalk of the kingdom in the forest. These items are usually cast into the forest during the previous festival, and would have spent over 20 years in the forest where they were abandoned. If this is not found before citing the ninth moon (November), it could delay the date of the festival for more years, until they are found. To find them, however, oracles are consulted and they direct the search.
The rituals of Idai Echie festival are performed at night under the moon. This time, strangers are always advised to stay out of the community during the two active nights when rituals are carried out. Though the restriction has been eased for non-indigenes, they can by no means visit the ancestral rock. Photographs are not allowed to be taken at the ancestral shrine, the venue of initiation, and it is also a taboo to speak any dialect or language order than Okpella at the shrine.
Refusal by any indigene to partake in the identification and other rituals of the festival according to Chief David, would directly be interpreted to mean that such person has no ancestral link with Ikpomaza, the founder of Okpella.
"There was also the case of accident victims who were not given proper burial rites because those days it was believed that Okpellans do not die of accident and as such, accident victims were not allowed to be buried at home and those who died such death are booted down to the grave without coffin no matter the status of such person in the society’’, he added.
Asked what he thinks about such law that forbids one Otaru from naming two age groups, he said it is thing of the past that such practice is dying naturally. In his words: ‘‘I think what is obtained today is quite different from what it was before. Though we reserve the right to protect our customs and traditions, when civilizations comes knocking, you have no choice but embrace it. Those days, it was forbidden to see my predecessor but today we both attend meetings and do things together for the interest of the community.
Don’t also forget for example, that those days those a failed the test to prove they original Okpella at our ancestral rock were not only disgrace, there were rumour that some were beaten to death. But today, you can’t do that because the law will defiantly take its course, that is the beauty of civilization.”
It is instructive to note that there are other rituals performed before the commencement of the Ida Echie festival. One of such is to trace a traditional iron gong and a native chalk in the forest. These items which were cast-off into a forest during the previous one may have spent over 20 years where no one can easily
During this period, there are other initiation rites done without any form of fetish, the last age group officially hands over traditional drum to the next group to be initiated. The exercise is then followed by a series of traditional gun salutes, demonstration of the prowess and abilities which facile their defence of the kingdom during their times, payment of levies, clearing of different foot-paths to be used on the final day with the aide of other junior grades.
The rituals of Idai Echie festival are performed at night under the moon. This time, strangers are always advised to stay out of the community during the two active nights when rituals are carried out, though this trend has changed but that does not permit such people a visit to the ancestral rock. Curious about this, Leadership SUNDAY finds out that the purpose of this aspect of the festival, according to Chief David, ‘‘is to give strong moral teeth to its significance in the society’’.
Oral interviews have it that the exact dates of institution of the Idai Echie festival still remain unravelled but from the last five Idai Echie festivals. It would be assumed chronologically that it is celebrated in every 25 years. For example, we have the following years: Eghaumah- 1928, Akhinekhoumah- 1952, Umaghele 1973, Egbenumah 1997 and Igielefoumah- 2016.
Although the complex cultural considerations of the practice tend to make it quite difficult a task for citizens while some may be unfortunate to perform the rites in their lifetime in spite of their age, the significant of the Idai Echie festival can be appreciated in the soci-cultural configuration of Okpella clan. Refusal by any citizens, according to Chief David, to perform the rites merely on the basis of religion, could easily be interpreted to mean that such person has no ancestral link with IKPOMAZA, the founder of Okpella.
This belief is tied to the fact that the major religions in the world today have enormous traces of genealogical history in their scriptures, thus no decent Okpellan citizen can therefore afford to miss the opportunity to be identified as a true son of the land.
