IKENGE is an annual warrior festival during which brawn is displayed with communal pride. Ikenge, the iron and war deity, is associated with achievement, heroism, luck, valour and victory. It is the power of a man’s right arm upon which depends success in one’s endeavours. It symbolizes one’s ability to achieve one’s ultimate goal in life. The festival is performed after the planting season, usually in June or July, in commemoration of fallen warriors and heroes who gave their lives or shed their blood in defence of their communities. It is principally a male festival. It is more of a rehearsal of military exercise examining and reviewing defence strategies, assessing the combat readiness of the valiant forces and revealing the people’s reputation as warriors. Constituent villages of a celebrating clan present a troop each of able-bodied men brandishing all forms of traditional weapons and perform war dances in turns in the village market square, accompanied by drumbeats, war songs, chants and cries. Members of the troupe dance in pairs in rhythmic, vibrating and earth quaking dance steps that could be heard and felt several metres away. The pulse of the ogene ikenge music, a hot-blooded genre, arouses one’s military instincts. Mock battles are staged with celebrants charging against one another and clanging machetes [ikpo nma] which produce red sparks in the air. Gunshots are fired into the air. Nowadays, children add their innovation by firing locally made toy guns fueled by match sticks, some of which sound like real firearms.Ikenge is a display of the military prowess of the community, a repertoire demonstration of war tactics employed in the defence of the community. The Eze Ogene, the charismatic leader of the ogene or uwai dance troupe, wearing a colourful skirt (ibalaga) ringed with small bells on his waist, a beautifully woven or braided crown (Okpu Eze Ogene), sometimes feathered, on his head and a cut-immune amulet (egba) on both upper arms, bears a horse tail in one hand and a bold machete or sword on the other. The woven crown and colourful ibalaga are symbols of authority, dignity and royalty while the horsetail and machete represent coercion and force. Two similarly dressed dancers except for the crown and horsetail, flank him. The troupe following behind is made up of young men bearing machetes or ferociously waving green leaves, reminiscent of Shakespearan scene in Macbeth of Birnam woods moving to Dusinane. The waving of the green leaves signifies victory and the turbulence that befalls forests during war. The Eze Ogene stages the warrior dance, a musical dance drama, illustrating in live graphics his military prowess, skills and agility in an imaginary struggle or duel between him and his opponent at war and how he ultimately defeats and conquers him. Dance speaks without voice or words. It says things that can never be fully expressed or communicated by the spoken or written word. The rhythmic body movement of the Eze Ogene, the suggestive gestures, his telling facial expressions and his artistic dance steps tell more than words can do. The message of the ukele drums directs the tempo of the dance steps as he dances forward (advancing or attacking), sideways (watching out, dodging a missile or weapon), backwards (retreating) and forward again. A smile of victory spreads across his lips as he dances forward, sometimes on one foot, to announce and attribute his victory to the support of the Inotu title holders gathered before him, who all this while had been watching, commenting, assessing and nodding at every step and gesture, recalling the great military feats of the community. The frenzy of the dance springs spectators from their seats to shower generous gifts of money on the ogene dancers and join in the dance. The surging crowd of spectators has to be kept in order (isha ogbo) by whip-wielding linesmen to enable the martial dancers perform distinctively and uninterrupted. The deployment the legs in Ikenge dance step is reminiscent of Zulu Inkatha war dance step of South Africa.The Ochu masquerade performs during this festival. It is a ferocious masquerade of feathered crown reminiscent of Red Indian war bonnet with small amulets worn by the masquerader whose face is adorned with charcoal or soot and covered with a thin veil. He wears a soot-blackened-skirt. His waist is ringed with charms, rattles (iba) and small jingling bells. He also wears protective charms (egba) on his upper arms. It is believed that the charms confer on him immunity from machete cuts and gunshots. He wields such weapons as gun, machete or spear. The Ochu is like an Oliver Twist, always asking for more, never satisfied. He is known to eat and cry of hunger simultaneously (ochu neli n’akwa). He loots wares, especially food items, in the market, is pursued and releases them to the owners on payment of ransom, a mock performance of the looting and vandalism that go on in war time. He preserves monetary gifts and ransom in the hollow in his feathered crown. In traditional Ukwuani society, only the Ochu masquerade is legitimately recognized to poach on people’s wares and releases same on payment of a near insignificant ransome. The practice is a mock performance of commemorative of the violence, insecurity and deprivation that accompany wars in pre-colonial times. The truth of this historical fact is further underscored by the fact that Ochu masquerade is named after the Ukwuani word for killing, murder or manslaughter, ochu. The masquerade features only during Ikenge festival, a martial feast commemorative of ancient wars of the community and in memory of its heroes. The seeming extortion of Ochu is therefore grounded in history as a custom of exceptional circumstances when society is bedeviled with chaos and disorder. It is not intended to legitimize extortion as an acceptable way of life.
That is why an Ukwuani adage says, Onye ezhimadu e kpu ochu, a good citizen does not adorn the Ochu masquerade! Some communities organize wrestling contests while others stage-perform immunity from machete cuts (ikpo nma) with occasional but rare accidents. Ikenge festival may appear bizarre to an outsider, what with war chants, brandishing of weapons and machete immunity cuts but it is a normal, acceptable way of life to the people. Like most other festivals, the ancestors are worshipped and protection is sought from Ikenge, the deity of war and achievement. Every family has its ikenge made of carved wood but some people regard their occupational tools as their ikenge, much as the Yoruba regard every piece of occupational metal as their ogun. There is usually a lot of wining and dining. A day or two later, depending on the community, ritual wreaths are laid in honour of past clan warriors like Idiage Ogoli, field commander of Utagba-uno forces, Utagba-uno’s most famed warrior who led the clan in the 18th Century Agha Ashaka that led to the establishment of the offshoot clan of Utagba-ogbe and Odagwe nwa Izagbo Ogoli of Onicha-Ukwuani saved the clan from vassal-dom to the dreaded King of Aboh (Eze Ebor), by Otu Igbu who do a blood-cleansing obeisance (Iwa awuwa; Inwu olie) to the spirit of their victims amidst screams of lawoko as part of the closing ceremony of the Ikenge festival. This in some communities is followed by ilua uke, a spiritual exorcism of evil spirits from the community.In Obiaruku, Ikenge feast is a hybrid of Ukwatta festival, a military training of youths on martial logistics in isolated barracks or camps far removed from the community, Uwai Ikenge festival, a public display of the traditional martial arts of the community and Anwulu a la, a mock social carnival depicting the bedlam that befalls a society at war.Ikenge festival in Utagba-uno commemorates Agha Ashaka amongst other wars. Oral tradition has it that Agha Ashaka was a reprisal measure by Utagba-uno against invading Ase riverine peoples – apparently Aboh troops because only Aboh had the sea power and long reach for such invasion – who came by canoes up the Ase River to incessantly plunder the rich harvests of Utagba. The war merely took the name Agha Ashaka because the battles occurred near Ashaka. Having traced the invaders’ route to the west-bank of Ase river near Ashaka, five of the seven Utagba villages, save Etua .and Ikilibi, resolved to send troops. Word got to Emu and Onicha-Ukwuani about the invasion. Volunteer mercenaries from the latter set out in aid of Utagba while Emu, set up a military detachment on her Ashaka / Ushie border in anticipation of attack. The war witnessed heavy reliance on charms. General Idiage Ogoli of the Utagba forces was renowned to be versed in charms, backed by Ada Ogolime of Ogbe Isuani Isumpe and the Ejine of Umusam. The invaders suffered severe casualties and never returned again. The war resulted in the establishment of a new clan, Utagba-ogbe, by the soldiers of the five participant Utagba villages as a buffer between Utagba-uno and the Ase river bank peoples, and the expansion of Emu to Emu-Ebendo, the camp of the Emu forces. Till date, ritual wreaths are laid during Ikenge festival to his honour and memory and that of his gallant forces.In Onicha-Ukwuani, Ikenge commemorates the war of liberation from Aboh amongst other wars. Legend has it that at one stage in its history, Onicha Ukwuani clan came under the vassaldom of Obi of Aboh (Eze Ebo). The Aboh kingdom was the most powerful kingdom in the entire area that later became known as Niger Delta in the 18th Century and its influence spread far and wide. It held sway on the lower Niger and its adjoining tributaries and creeks. It is not certain how long this vassaldom lasted but, while it did, the reign of the dreaded King of Aboh ushered in an eerie period of oppression that exacted the payment of staggering tributes from Onicha-Ukwuani and the excision of a tooth annually from the mouth of the Okpala-uku. All the villages of Onicha-Ukwuani contributed tributes of yams and livestock which the Okpala-uku would surrender to the monarch of Aboh. The distance from Aboh and the fact that Onicha-Ukwuani was not directly accessible by river ensured that Aboh’s emissaries came only annually by war canoes up the Ase River and completed the journey to Onicha-Ukwuani by land. Sometime about the mid 18th Century, a young, emergent warrior scion of Ozah family of Umu-Ngulu quarter named Odagwe nwa Izagbo Ogoli started to question why the Okpala-uku of Onicha-Ukwuani, who was then of Umu-Ngulu extraction, should lose a tooth to the Aboh Monarch’s emissaries. He enlisted the assistance of a few compatriots, notably Odogwu and Ulele Aju-Egwa both of Ugiliamai to lay an ambush on the Aboh emissaries. Odagwe and his men killed four of the five delegates of horror and torture of the Aboh monarch and buried them in a standing position. They planted a silk cotton tree on the spot marking their grave at the Nkwo market square which became known as Akpu Odagwe, a national monument to the clan, after which a primary school was named centuries later, in 1973. The fifth delegate had his fingers, toes and ears cut off and was sent back to tell his king that his sovereignty over Onicha-Ukwuani had been brought to an end. Aboh declared war on Onicha-Ukwuani but Odagwe, marshalling Onicha-Ukwuani armed forces, was more than a match, what with the spiritual assistance of his crippled brother, Ikede, who was versed in charms. The war lasted several years. Aboh sent a beautiful lady to seduce Odagwe to reveal the source of his seemingly supernatural strength. The beauty of Aboh women was legendary and, after an initial refusal and hoodwinking, Odagwe finally succumbed and divulged his secret: he was forbidden from seeing less than three months old babies, new brooms and new clay cooking pots that had not sat on a fire. The Aboh spy leaked this information to her people who, in a subsequent battle, hurled these items at their adversary. On seeing the sacrilege, Generalissimo Odagwe slumped to the ground and the enemy forces charged at him for the final onslaught. Onicha-Ukwuani’s army was demoralized at the sight of their General slumping. Like a deus ex machina, Ikede, the cripple, who had always remained home to fuel charms that made his brother invincible in battle, appeared on his feet in the battlefield to rescue and carry Odagwe to safety. The sight of a known cripple not expected in a battlefield appearing on his feet to rescue a famed warrior defeated in such peculiar circumstances buoyed Onicha-Ukwuani’s army and the remnant of the defeated enemy Aboh troops fled in disarray. This history of war, intrigue and betrayal is reminiscent of the biblical story of Samson. Odagwe escaped death at the frontlines but he never recovered his strength. To his honour and memory his people lay ritual wreaths at Akpu Odagwe in Nkwo Square every Ikenge festival. Okwa Egiliga in his work on Ugiliamai (supra) is of the opinion that Odogwu of Ugiliamai led the coup against Aboh. If this was true, the grave of Aboh’s emissaries would not have been named after Odagwe. The priesthood of Akpu Odagwe shrine is hereditary between Odogwu and Odagwe descendants. This author’s paternal uncle, late Chief James Odagwe Obuse performed the annual laying of wreath every Ikenge festival until his death in 2004. The Aboh monarch was so miffed by this defeat that he was said to have adopted the deities subscribed to by Odagwe, Ngulu. Ossai-Ngulu and Orji-Ngulu deities, into the corpus of Aboh deities.Though Ikenge festival is catholic among Ukwuani people it is not celebrated contemporaneously in all the clans. It would seem that each clan celebrates it on its official market day in the market-square. Ikenge offers incontrovertible evidence of a common historical ancestry and brotherhood among the Ukwuani people and a relic of unrecorded history of inter tribal wars. THE RELEVANCE OF UWAI IKENGEEgwu Uwai is the official music of Ikenge festival. It is also known as Egwu Ukele or Egwu Oma. It is a hot blooded genre of Ukwuani music in the class of martial music, a highly developed warrior tradition expressed in ritual dance drama enacted in honour of past and present clan warriors. It is regarded as the king of all genres of music because it is never fading and ever in vogue. All other genres of music come and go, fading with the times but Uwai is ever enduring. It prepares and educates youths in martial arts for the defence of the community and expresses Ukwuani’s notion of strength, valour, war and victory. The intricate deployment of legs in Egwu Oma is quite reminiscent of Zulu Inkatha war dance. The flute (opi) howls the kweke emergency alarm and the praises of past and present warriors to urge or spur the dancers to heroism. The ukele talking drums highlight the tension of the imminent danger of war and the immediacy or promptness of action to the forces. The message of the ukele drums directs the tempo of Eze Uwai’s dance steps. Aside from the collective significance of Uwai Ikenge in Ukwuani land, it also represents the individual’s own battles or struggles in the quest for achieving greatness and success in life. That is why Ikenge is the power of a man’s right hand. The sound of Ukele drums of Uwai dance swells the pride and glows the mind of every Ukwuani citizen. Its rhythm is naturally ingrained as if it forms part of their umbilical chord. It vibrates in the pulse of the veins of celebrants, re-enacting their history by connecting them with the past, thus collapsing the ephemeral divide between the past and present. The dancers for a moment become one with their ancestors by reliving history in Uwai dance steps. Uwai creates a nexus that melts the individual and the collective, the past and the present into one beautiful whole from which emerges a greater social form and identity.The fact that inter-tribal wars which Ikenge celebrates are now a thing of the past has not denied the festival or the dance its currency or significance. Rather, Uwai dance survives and has proven to be more definitive and vital than war itself, the putative practice celebrated. Modern indices of success, achievement and bravery such as earning an academic degree, building a house, winning a contest, purchase of a car and success in business have emerged to supplant human skulls or heads of ferocious wild game in hunting as prize of victory in wars.The celebration of Ikenge in Ukwuani land is identification with the spirit and ethics of the clans. For citizens sojourning outside the clan, it is a reaffirmation of identity, a restatement of the oath allegiance to the clan, a celebration of patriotism untainted by influences of modernization, urbanization, foreign religion and education. Ikenge festival may appear bizarre to an outsider, what with war chants, brandishing of weapons and machete immunity cuts but it is a normal, acceptable way of life to Ukwuani people. Every family has its ikenge made of carved wood but some people regard their occupational tools as their ikenge, There is usually a lot of wining and dining.