By Grâçia Ada Obi
The community of Abagana in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria, is set for its annual Ede-Aroh festival, a significant cultural event.
The Eze of Aroh Abagana, Chief Dr. Paul Anaeto in an exclusive chat with Grâçia Ada Obi, said Abagana Women believes that if sowing and harvesting of yam which is reserved for the males are celebrated, sowing and harvesting of cocoyam which is reserved for the female should also be celebrated.
Women of Abagana bring some of their harvested cocoyams during the festival to the deity in an expression of their happiness for its protection and direction during the farming season.
Getting ready for successful Ede-Aroh festival demands a lot, the chief priest of Aroh deity offers sacrifice for the protection of the Aroh people all through the period of the cultural festival.
Secondly, the gods has given him good health and ability to perform his cultural duties well. Prior to the take-off of the two days cultural festival, dangerous masquerades visit the chief priest of Aroh deity in the night between 12 am to 3 am to ascertain if the deity has permitted them to go ahead with the cultural festival.
Speaking with a prominent traditional person Chukwuneke Igirigi1 of Abagana who emphasized, the role of the female deity as a place where the truth reside.
“We have a kind of judicial system here too where the truth comes out in the court”
However, some masquerade performs in the day time at the market square just as others worship the gods at Aroh shrine.
Masquerades from communities of Abagana perform a 2-day flogging contest (flog me, I flog you) during the cultural festival, people from the neighbouring towns come around in their masses to this festival.
The event ll take place on 29 (Afor) and 30 (Nkwo) December at the Afor market square.
