05/03/2017
*UZOIYI FESTIVAL: A SYNTHESIS OF RITUAL AND THEATRE*
*INTRODUCTION*
The relationship between ritual and theatre in traditional African festivals has always been a subject of controversy among Nigerian and indeed Western scholars.
Basically, there are two groups which hold divergent views on the subject. Emmanuel Obiechina will call them the Evolutionists and the Relativists.
The first group holds the opinion that African dramatic performances are not fit to be called drama. Ruth Finnegan, an ardent member of the Evolutionists is of the opinion that African theatrical performances are undramatic because they lack linguistic content, plot, represented interaction of several characters and specialised scenery. This view is borne out of the misconception that every dramatic type, irrespective of where it is rooted should be in accordance with what is obtainable in Europe. In other words, Ruth Finnegan, an European faults African performance because it deviates from Aristotelian action that is whole and complete, with a beginning, a middle and an end.
In his contribution to the understanding of ritual - theatre relationship in African traditional performances, Echeruo, a renowned academic sees African traditional performances from the point of view of Europeans which necessitates his saying that African drama is "absorbed in ritual action and the mythos is subsumed in ritual." Echeruo suggests that Igbo people should emulate Greeks by expanding ritual into life and giving that life a secular base. He belongs to the Evolutionists.
Ola Rotimi on the other hand accepts that drama is an imitation of action and has edification and entertainment as its ultimate aim. He goes further to opine that "ritual displays that reveal in their style evidences of imitation, enlightenment or entertainment can be said to be drama" irrespective of whether it loses its efficacy or not. Rotimi is of the Relativists.
Ossie Enekwe who is well grounded in traditional African theatre avers that ritual can be transformed into theatre..." when ritual is displayed for the entertainment of strangers. In this case, it is theatre for the strangers, while it may remain ritual for the performers. Ritual can be transformed into theatre within a context of social disruption, when rituals are proscribed or lose their efficacy, or when an invading power looks at them as entertainment."
Uzoiyi Festival therefore should be seen in this context.
Taking a closer look at ritual, it is a formalised kind of behaviour performed to achieve a desired goal. This presupposes that, it should be efficacious.
Ritual could be religious or secular. Ossie Enekwe believes that while religious ritual shows the existence of the supernatural world through the display of efforts to activate it, secular ritual shows by symbolising the existence of social relationships or ideas or values which are inherently invisible most of the time.
*WHAT IS UZOIYI FESTIVAL*
Uzoiyi Festival from time immemorial is heavily rooted in traditional religious belief. Ikenga Metuh feels that "African Religion is part and parcel of the whole fabric of African cultural life. Religious phenomena are thus closely interwoven with social, psychological and moral dimension."
He goes further to assert that " The invisible world of spirits and the visible world shade into and mutually influence each other. Man is at the centre of the universe of dynamic beings and forces that impinge on his life and being."
Against this backdrop Uzoiyi is celebrated. Thus, the Festival is a fusion of ritual and histrionics.
The annual event is dedicated to Idemmili, a river goddess that inhabits Ideakpulu stream.
Umuoji people in the early times were predominantly farmers. Thus the centrality of adequate and well distributed rainfall for the well-being of their crops and good harvest cannot be overemphasized. Their belief in the supernatural powers of the river goddess in ensuring adequate rainfall for a farming season necessitated the celebration of the Festival. The goddess is appeased by way of sacrifice so as to ensure adequate rainfall. The natives start farming after the Festival with the expectation of adequate rainfall having had the goddess appeased.
In so many years gone by, Uzoiyi Festival was only a female affair since the Festival had to do with the appeasement of a goddess. Uzoiyi Festival was then an equivalent of "Mothering Sunday" in the Christian Church today.
At that time, men normally paid respect to their in - laws by way of giving them gifts such as cloths, yam, cassava, cooking utensils among others.
Be that as it may, men began to participate more actively when masquerade display was incorporated into it.
It is very imperative to state that from the outset, Uzoiyi was not a masquerade display Festival.
According to Joseph Nwokeke Obadike of Abor village and Ogbuefi Onwudili of Umuoma village all in Umuoji, Uzoiyi emerged as a synthesis of ritual and theatre after Onyekulufa, a mid - night masquerade from Ideoma village threw a challenge to Ilechukwu Nnaebue who had aversion for things men of virility were known for. The man detested tree climbing. On that particular night, Onyekulufa sang satirically, challenging Nnaebue that on the event of his climbing a palm tree and cutting down a palm head, he, Onyekulufa would bare himself under the sunlight (Igba ifienu).
Unexpectedly, Nnaebue did that which was unexpected of him by climbing a palm tree and cutting down a palm head to everyone's amazement. As a result, Onyekulufa bared himself in fulfilment of his pledge which was unprecedented.
Incidentally, Onyekulufa's appearance in the day time coincided with Uzoiyi Festival.
The following year, Onyekulufa threw a similar challenge to a man called Okoye Okaluide who responded appropriately as Nnaebue did. Of course, Onyekulufa also bared himself like he did the previous year on the day of Uzoiyi Festival.
As time went on, Dianokwu village borrowed a leaf from Ideoma and started featuring their own Onyekulufa. Amoji village saw the emergence of Onyekulufa masquerade in the day time as a good innovation. They copied this, followed by Aguma village and a stream of other villages in Umuoji. People started enjoying this performance, hence its incorporation as part of Uzoiyi Festival.
Umuoji, having seen something good in this made a law that stipulated the rotational hosting of the Festival by each of the villages in the town. The law equally demanded the villages to host a variety of masquerades as the featuring of only type of masquerade had become monotonous. As it were, monotony kills interest.
That law gave birth to a variety of masquerades that appear during Uzoiyi Festival today. The host village made sure that it consulted Rainmakers in order to forestall rainfall during the masquerade display. Violation of that attracted a fine of fifty pounds to the erring village.
After a while, the rotational hosting of the Festival was stopped. The masquerades were to be featured at Oye and Nkwo Umuoji. This later practice was however faulted because it was to the disadvantage of the visitors who formed the greater percentage of the audience. The visitors gathered at Nkwo in a year and only to come back there the following year oblivious that the masquerade display would be held at Oye for the year.
That challenge made Umuoji seek a more centralised place for the Festival and subsequently, Oye Umuoji was chosen to feature the masquerades. This was put into effect in 1972 by Umuoji Improvement Union. Uzoiyi began to be held there annually until Royal Brothers Club, Umuoji built a stadium in the Community. Uzoiyi Festival has been held there till date.
*RITUALISTIC CONTENT OF THE FESTIVAL*
Before the masquerade display, propitiatory sacrifices of various kinds are made to Idemmili to appease her for the people's various short - comings and to ask for an adequate rainfall during the planting season.
According to J. Omosade Awolalu and P. Adelumo, "Sacrifice is the act of offering the life of an animal or person or some object to some divine power or powers. It forms an essential part of every religious ceremony and it is fundamental to worship. Sacrifice is primarily a means of contact or communion between the divine and man. It seems the best way through which man maintains an established relationship between himself and objects of worship. It is valued as the most effective means employed by man to cause the divinity to be interested in human affairs. Right relationship with the divinity, as well as his favour will be secured by giving him his dues."
There is a cultic functionary who performs the sacrifices and rituals associated with the Festival. He is known as Isi Idemmili ( Priest of Idemmili ). He is charged with the responsibility of performing rituals and sacrifices at Idemmili shrine, located at Umuoma village.
Umuoma village is endowed with the responsibility of producing the Idemmili Priest. It has ritual authority to Ideakpulu river which habits Idemmili more than other villages in Umuoji.
To buttress this fact, Ogbuefi Onwudili revealed that in the distant past, Oma, an Umuoma man and Dimonyia of Dimboko village were on a hunting expedition. Deep inside the thick forest, Dimonyia discovered a tree ( ukwu ubulu ) which bears succulent fruits. Dimonyia ate of the fruit and gave some to Oma to eat. Oma who found it very tasty pleaded with Dimonyia that they jointly own the tree which Dimonyia refused with vehemence.
As they proceeded further into the forest, Oma discovered a stream. Upon the discovery, he cleared the surrounding bush, drank from the stream and found it pleasant. He drew Dimonyia's attention to the stream. He, in turn drank of it and found the water good. He thereafter begged Oma that they own the stream together which Oma bluntly refused as a way of retaliation over Dimonyia's refusal to allow joint ownership of the ubulu tree.
Ever since, Oma's lineage has been responsible to ministering to the river goddess of Ideakpulu stream.
To demonstrate their ritual superiority over other villages, Isi Idemmili performs the ritual of covering the stream with a tender palm frond ( Igechi mmili ) on the Friday preceding Uzoiyi. While the stream remains closed nobody, no matter his social status is allowed to bath in or fetch water from the stream.
This is done, partly to give the goddess leave to rest and to show that an Umuoma man was the first person to discover the stream. The stream remains closed until Saturday morning when it is thrown open again to Public.
*UZOIYI FESTIVAL AS THEATRE*
According to Ossie Enekwe, "actor, space and audience are three quintessential conditions that govern theatre.' This implies that there must be actors, space to act on and an audience to watch before a performance is qualified to be termed theatre. The actors are consciously playing for the entertainment of the audience.
Drama and theatre when compared with other arts such as music, painting and architecture reveal something that distinguishes them from other arts. This is their mimetic quality. They are temporal and true to life. Theatre is interpretative, and also a synthesis of other dramatic and theatrical elements into a unified whole."
African traditional theatre is total because it combines many art forms - music, poetry, dance, acting, miming, masking, painting, singing, dialogue among others.
Uzoiyi Festival which is paradigmatic of an African theatre employs all these facets of art to bring out an organic performance.
The masked actors that feature during the Festival as Ugonna Nnabuenyi will say are often symbolic of abstract ideas relating to human values, such as poverty, beauty, riches or ideas relating to family life - marriage, childhood, youth and old age.
*CHALLENGE*
The Festival became synthesised with theatre between the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century.As at then, Umuoji people were all virtually practising Traditional African Religion. Everyone looked forward to the Festival with frenzy.
The embracing of Christianity by the people and the subsequent aggressive and massive assault on some aspects of our culture, particularly starting from the 90s by some Christians nearly sounded death knell for the Festival. The annual event which has suffered sustained brutal attacks from Christians of all shades has been able to survive the attacks through the cultural renaissance championed by the Umuoji Improvement Union, Nigeria.
The focus is no longer on the ritualistic aspect of Uzoiyi, but on the theatrical part which has the potentials of being elevated to tourist attraction.
Uzoiyi I dare to say can stamp Umuoji on the map of the world if properly packaged and sold to Corporate Bodies for sponsorship. It will open up a window of opportunities for the people of Umuoji, Anambra State and the entire country.
In the final analysis, to accommodate the interest of Ndi Umuoji who feel lethargic associating with the Festival in order not to undermine their religious beliefs, Umuoji should completely pull out the theatrical aspect of the event subsumed in ritual so that it can stand on its own.
*Ezekwesili* J. Chukwuemeka Rems Mgbemena *MNIPR*
