By James igiri
Igede Agba celebration is an annual celebration by the Igede people of Benue State, North Central Nigeria, to mark the end of the planting season and the beginning of the harvest season. It is celebrated annually within the first five days of September every year particularly on the first Ihigilie market day in the month of September.
Its celebration goes beyond the rituals of eating and drinking, and the display of the rich cultural heritage of the Igede people to such other ideals of communal living such as hospitality, forgiveness and reconciliation as well as the promotion of the Igede values of chastity, honesty, integrity, enterprise and creativity.
Its celebration began in the 50s when educated elites of Igede extraction saw the need for an event that will serve as the rallying point for all Igedes, both at home and in the diaspora, during which the promotion of cultural values, as enunciated above, could be achieved.
Akpang deity is an imported deity or god which the Igede people brought as a response to a need to curb infant mortality that was rampant in Igede land characteristic of the medieval era in which development was at its lowest ebb and to curb the burgeoning social ills that were permeating the development takeoff stage of the Igede society.
During this period, infants were dying in droves to diseases like malaria, meningitis , measles, whooping cough and preterm births which were ostensibly because of lack of access to quality health care. This was erroneously blamed on witchcraft activities and so to stem the tide, Akpang deity was brought to fight the witches and wizards that were 'killing' the young ones.
Every family, kindred and clan had(still have) representatives in the Akpang council. It is not clear where specifically it was brought from. Various communities have different versions of the places and times where and when Akpang deity was brought from. This is not in contention and not our focus in this piece.
AKPANG DEITY AND IGEDE AGBA CELEBRATION.
There is no nexus between Akpang deity and Igede Agba celebration. This may sound controversial and confusing to those who are not grounded in Igede history and culture.
There is a widely held misconception about Igede Agba celebration being a fetish, Voodooist and idolatrous practice. Nothing can be farther from the truth! Like the people of Israel in Bible days who celebrated several festivals such as the Passover (Deut. 16 1-2), the feast of the Unleavened bread (Ex. 16:15), Feast of the Harvest (Ex. 16:16) and many others, Igede Agba is celebrated by the Igede people in appreciation to God for granting them a bountiful harvest for the previous planting season and to pray for greater measure of blessings for the coming cropping season.
Akpang deity did not come with Igede People from Ora, Owan Local government area of Delta State. It was only acquired after their settlement in the present location as a means of protection against evil doers.
WHAT SEEMS TO BE A NEXUS BETWEEN AKPANG AND IGEDE AGBA.
There seems to be a nexus between Igede Agba and Akpang Deity because, yam, which is the chief crop (doubtful if it still is) in Igede land coincidentally has its general harvest tied to the Akpang deity. This was with a view to ensuring food security for all and sundry in Igede land.
There was no general platform to make rules, as it were, but because, Akpang was a revered deity in olden days, it became a veritable platform to pass such resolution that nobody should eat yam until the Akpang Priest announces so. Again, there is a contradiction to this as this does not enjoy universal application throughout Igede land. There is no uniformity in dates for yams to be eaten. And those who broke this law are not punished in any way by the gods or man as they are rather treated as pariahs and deviants by the people. Nothing more!
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.
My grandfather was a Chief Priest of Akpang deity and we, his grandchildren, learnt a lot under his tutelage. Basically, yam eating has no ritual in Akpang!
The cleansing for the taboos and sins committed by people in the course of the year is done this period as a prelude to Igede Agba Celebration. Such sins like incest, adultery, theft, bearing false witnesses or inciting brothers against each other are grievous offences for which the Akpang deity needs to be appeased before going into the new cropping season so as not to prevent bountiful harvest.
The only thing I have seen and heard from him was to carry water in a calabash and pray asking his ancestors to bless, protect, preserve and provide for him and his children. He will afterwards pour the water on the ground to where his ancestors were. Pastors are doing this today!
Again, my father was a Pastor of Methodist Church denomination and until he breathed his last we were celebrating Igede Agba and I have never seen where he poured libations or sacrificed anything to any god, be it Akpang or any other rather, he will harvest his yam close to Igede Agba day but will not eat until he has gone to Church with the biggest of his harvest to offer and pray to God.
When he returned, he would share yams to the less privileged, the aged and disabled people in our locality before he would settle down to eat whatever was left of the harvest. This became unbroken yearly ritual in my family.
We, his children, having had contacts with other denominations in our sojourn outside our shores, questioned his fidelity to God and Exodus 16: 16 was a handy reference.
He explained to us that, Igede People had hitherto no knowledge of God Almighty but like every society, there must be a system of belief and mode of worship and that Akpang deity worshipping epitomized the embodied belief in the existence of God. Throughout his 71 years stay on earth, he had neither respected nor observed any rules set by Akpand deity worshippers. He was considered a deviant.
THE FORCE OF ACCULTURATION.
The force of acculturation is the strongest force in our contemporary world. From fashion, music, art, eating to modes of celebrating newborns, deaths and contracting marriages etc. Cultural diffusion has displaced cherished Igede cultural values. One and easiest way of doing this is through evangelization.
Most Pastors who say Igede Agba celebration is Voodooist and fetish have never taken time to understudy it. They preach based on their limited knowledge of cultural practices all around the world. But because Igede adherents themselves do not have the luxury of time to inquire, they accepted the Voodooist perspective of their GOs and Pastors.
As pointed out, Christianity as a colonial force and heritage has vitiated the celebration of Igede Agba celebration basically on the grounds of ignorance and inferiority complex of Igede indigenes who are supposed to hold their culture and identity sacrosanct.
The sanctimonious lifestyle of Igede Christians is the reason for the diminishing cultural values of the Igede people.
The vices and social ills that were hitherto unheard of in our clime have crept into the land and bizarre occurrences are witnessed every day even within Christians dominated settlements.
CLOSING REMARKS:
Even though Igede Agba is an age long practice of the Igede people, it has come to be associated with myriad of controversies. The controversies and misgivings are fueled by the force of acculturation, colonization and Christianity which thrive on the ignorance and inferiority mentality of the Igede natives who have had a problem of forging an acceptable identity in the comity of Nations. This is the greatest undoing of the present generation of Igede people as Igede language and cultural values are facing the risk of extinction if nothing is urgently done.
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING FETISH AND VOODOOIST ABOUT IGEDE AGBA CELEBRATION.
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