THE CHOICE OF IHYIGILE AS IGEDE AGBA DAY.
IHYIGILE market is the first day of Igede traditional week. Igede traditional week is made up of five days. The days are Ihyigile, Ihyoo, Ihyobila, Ihyejwo and Ihyoku in order of their occurrence.
Igede Agba, also known as Igede Day or Igede New Yam Festival, is a socio-cultural festival of Igede people world-wide. It is a festival that mark the cultural hegemony and unification of Igede people. It also marks the importance Igede people assigned to farming of yams. Yam to an Igede man is the king of all crops. A person is called and known as OGIREJI when you have plenty yams only and not when you have other crops even in abundance.
September is the month of the year that yam farmers commence farming activities. September is called Ochwu or Oya Oharwiye in Igede. Igede Agba is celebrated on the first Ihyigile market of every September. The choice of Ihyigile is in line with the fact that it is the first day of Igede traditional week and the choice of September is for the fact that it begins the new farming season for yam farmers.
Igede Agba day is the moment of joys and merriment and not evil as no shrine is erected to bow to. A day that rain must drop in Igede land as a proof of the visitation of God of peace in life of His people. As a quests, if we do not know where we are going, we must know where we are coming from. Our culture is our identity, pride, inheritance and our wealth, please, do yourself good to patronizing it. Igede must be great!
HAPPY IGEDE AGBA CELEBRATION.
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