The New Yam festival, also known as ‘Iri-ji ohu,’ is a highly admired celebration that promotes the Igbo cultural heritage and entwines together spiritual and cultural significance, reinforcing the people’s connection to their heritage, community.
The ceremony took place at Anaocha Local Government of Anambra State on Sunday at the community’s village square, where the people of Enugwu Adazi-Enu community celebrated their age-long annual New Yam festival with agricultural development and enhanced food productivity as its main focus.
In the course of the ceremony, there were deliberate and aggressive efforts to ensure food availability and sustainability.
In the order, only the monarch of a town is permitted to celebrate the new yam festival first, afterwards, every other member of the community would begin to celebrate.
As the celebration went on, a member of the cabinet of Igwe-in-council of Enugwu Adazi-Enu, Sir Jideofor Okongwu, announced that the traditional ruler of the community, His Royal Highness, Igwe Alphonsus Okpaluechelu, has already flagged off the festival, which he claimed he was in attendance.
A Lawyer from the community Barr Okongwu, expressed his fears that the youths were fast abandoning agriculture for white-collar jobs mentioning that the community, through the festival, is driving great agricultural revival amongst the youths of the community to reposition a positive mindset to their agricultural consciousness to tackle food crisis amidst increasing prices of food commodities.
He added that the focus of the festival, is beyond dancing and celebration, but it’s also to encourage the youths to make a positive diversion and embrace agriculture to promote Igbo cultural heritage as well as improve food production so as to eradicate hunger.
He also stated that, “Without the celebration of New Yam in Igboland, no one is authorized to eat new yam. Some persons believe that it is ‘idol worshipping’, but there is nothing like idol worshipping in the celebration of new yam”.
The climax of the event consisted of different cultural dance groups, display of masquerades, and refreshments amongst others.
The Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, during last year’s celebration, advocated a joint celebration of the New Yam festival to breed unity among Ndịgbo across the South-East.
The governor said that celebrating the ‘Iri Ji Festival’ in oneness, will show the world that the Igbos have a beautiful culture, implying that it was the first time every local government in the state came together to celebrate. He also guaranteed the people that the festival will be celebrated every year moving forward.
