THE IGUE FESTIVAL OF THE ANCIENT CITY OF BENIN
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Igue festival ushers in the new year for every
Edo-speaking man before the incursion of the white man into our life. Igue emhasizes
the " the ritual of Head worship " by every Edo-speaking man. It takes place
during this time of year. The Yorubas shares this notion with the Edo people.
Bolaji Idowu in his book OLODUMARE , described it this way: " Ori is the word
for the physical head. To the Yoruba, however, the physical , visible Ori is
a symbol of Ori-Inu--the internal head, or the inner person. And this is the
very essence of personality. In the belief of the Yoruba, it this ori that rules
, controls and guides the life and activities of the person.........Ori in its
totality is an object of worship.
 There are two reasons for this. First, as it is essence of personality , it must be kept in good condition so that it may be well with the person. Secondly, one must be on good terms with it, so that it may favour one." Describing an offering to the Ori, Idowu wrote: " To make an offering to the ori, the physical ori is the common emblem. Kola-nuts, fish, fowl, or animal victim may be offered. A piece of the kola-nut is stuck on the fore head " while the blood of the fowl or animal is smeared on it." Ori means UHUNMWUN in Edo alnguage. When you substitute Ori with Uhunmwun, you are looking at Edo man's belief about his head. To the Edo man, it is the head that takes you through life journey. The head must be good to perform this life's journey.
Interwoven with this, is the belief of the Edos
in EHI-his second self-" The spiritual self that guides and protect the temporal
self." Igue Festival is also the time the Oba and some chiefs are involved in
AGWE ( fasting ). We do not know how fasting came into Edo man's religious life.
But it does takes place and the Oba goes into seclussion, not to be seen by
visitors. It may have been a christian/muslim influnce more than 500 years ago.
It could have started on its own. When the Oba and his chiefs break the fast,
they are ready to perform UGIE ERHA OBA-A ceremony honoring the oba's ancestors.
The Edos believe in ancestral worship and everybody joins the Oba in Ugie Erha
Oba. The Edo man's belief, is in no way different from that of the Jews, when
they call on the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. The
ceremony of the worship of the head-the real IGUE, of the reigning Oba takes
place openly at this festival. This is followed by that of the princes and princesses.
This is rounded with up Ugie Edohia and Ugie Ewere three days later.
The Enogies and any traditional ruler in the ancient
kingdom, fixes their own dates in their respective domain after Ugie Ewere.
It is important to note that, it is this central point of the festival that
the christians and some muslims have consistently tried to undermine. If they
understood that their Holy Books emphazised that man is created in the image
of God, they would have understood the Edo man's belief. There are no shrine,
and no artifacts. It is nothing but an attempt by the Edo man to thank OSANOBUWA-OSANUDAZI-OGHENE-OGHODUA
also identified as the creator God, the alpha and the Omega, the unmoved mover
for GUIDING " the MAN " through the vicissitudes of life.
The Edos do not use the Gregorian calendar when
calculating the year. We use the moons. From the Igue festival of 1896, you
can understand what it meant. The massacre of British troops at UGBINE on January
4th 1897, took place at the height of the festival of the year-1896. It is necessary
at this point to explaln the meaning of the word UGIE. It simply means FESTIVAL.
You can now understand that the Igue festival is made up of many festivals.
Before Ugie Edohia and Ugie Ewere comes Ugie Iron. This is a celebratory reenacments
of the conflicts between the Oba of Benin and the seven hereditary chiefs-the
UZAMAS. The royalist were triumphant. Other historical incidents of the life
of the Edos, such as the drowning of Oba Ehengbuda and the assasination of an
Iyase of Benin on the directives of an Oba of Benin. The Ugie Iron -festival
used to be separated from other festivals by 4 to 14 days. This is Edo history
being taught publicly though songs and reenactments. One hundred years ago,
we had no school. We did not develop the art of writing. We wrote our history
in reenactments, songs, carvings and bronzes.
 
The present day Igue festival is a shadow of its
former glory. Between 1897 and 1914, it was not celebrated. Oba Ovonramwen was
entombed by human security network of the British agent, Sir Ralph Moor at Calabar.
At this time in 1899, Iyase OKIZI was the defacto Oba of Benin and not Chief
Agho Obaseki. General Ologbose have been captured and executed by the Biritish
soldiers. The guerrilla warfare led by General Ologbose had lost steam after
the battle of Okemue. The crown Prince Aiguobasimwin, later Oba Eweka II, was
on the run with his own military batallion. The Esans (Ishan) were still resisting
British rule especailly Irrua and Uromi. The Enogie of Uromi had made it known
to the British Resident that, he had not sufficiently explained to him, what
they have done to Oba Ovonramwen.
Iyase Okizi, was an Edo patriot and soldier, who
organised the defence of Ekiti land against the Ibadans. At
his defence in 1897 trial after Benin fell, he was more concerned with yoruba
soldiers fighting on the side of the British. Some of these soldiers he had
trained in the art of warfare while he was in Yoruba land. He did not deny his
involment in the massacre of 1897. In fact, he gave the order to General Ologbose,
to use all means possble to prevent the white man, from making it to Benin through
Ughoton. When the British soldiers showed their faces, he gave the order to
attack. Since he was not physically on the scene of battle, the British agent
could not convict him. On him then rested the organisation of a civil administration.
He became the leader of the the Native Administration. He started building a
new palace for himself, having been told Oba Ovonramwen was not coming back.
He soon got involved in a running battle with other chiefs especially the royalist
and the Briitish agents. He died suddenly in his sleep in the early days of
1900 without spending one night in his new palace.
Igue festival came back with the restoration of
the monarchy in 1914. Chief Agho Obaseki, the right hand man of Oba Ovonramwen
was now the Iyase of Benin. The christians quickly moved in on both of them.
Chief Agho was converted to christianity. Oba Eweka II refused to celebrate
Igue festival of 1916/17. Then Influenza epidemic struck in 1918 in the after
math of the WORLD WAR 1. Thousands of Edo-speaking people died as a result of
the epidemic. The Edos blamed it on the non-observance of Igue festival. Law
and order almost broke down in Benin City as the common man went rioting. The
Governor had to send troops down to Benin to restore order. The Governor was
furious and was bent on punishing Oba Eweka II for causing such a disturbance.
A Commission of Inquiry was set up ostensibly aimed at Oba Eweka II. At the
hearing, Oba Eweka II turned the table on the British Administration. He laid
the blame of non-observance of Igue Festival on the three people:
a) The Resident for supporting and encouraging Chief Agho Obaseki to convert to christianity b) The christians for converting his Iyase-the Prime Minister. c) Chief Agho Obaseki for converting to an alien faith while holding on the most highest traditional office in Edo land. " I can not celebrate Igue Festival without my Iyase. When you took my Iyase away, you took Igue festival with him," Oba Eweka II was reported to have told the Commission of Inquiry. The Commission, in view of other complaints, many of them false, recommended that Chief Agho Obaseki be stripped of his titles and office. It was leaked to the old man, who had gathered a lot enemies since 1897, when Oba Ovonramwen was taken into captivity from chief Agho Obaseki's house. The very night the report left Benin enroute to the Governor in Lagos, Chief Agho Obaseki died. THAT IS THE POWER OF IGUE FESTIVAL ON THE EDO PEOPLE. The present format of Igue festival is very different from that of 1896. The Igue itself-where the Oba perform the head worshipping ritual used to be hidden from the public. When the Christians and the enemies of the mornachy continued to accused Oba of Eweka II of human sacrifices, he decided to open it to the public. Some of the walls at Ugha Ozolua were pulled down. Oba Akenzua II reorganised it into a fourteen day period. That is what we have today.
We do not know when Igue festival started. It has
been celebrated continously for the past 500 years We do know that European
travellers and missionaries have written about it from 1600's. According to
Alan Ryder in his book, " Benin and the Europeans", the Spanish Capuchin Missionaries
were in Benin City, on August 10, 1651 and had problem having an audience with
the Oba. They came during the Igue festival of 1651. Here is how Father Felipe
de Hijar's described what he saw: " The chief men of the city who, the natives
say , number more than two thousand , were entering the palace, all wearing
the various costume appropriate to the ceremony. They went in until they filled
the four courtyards of the palace., and as it was now one o'clock and the palace
was crowded and we entered the first court yard. Among those who were watching
us was a venerable old man who, by outward appearance , seemed a veritable St.
Peter. He made a sign that we should follow him. We were amazed because we had
never seen him before that moment, and also because the negroes had always taken
care that we should not see the sacrifices. In the end we went with the old
man from one court yard to another until we reached the last one where, of his
own accord, he told us to stand under the gallery of the courtyard. In the middle
of the gallery we found a table on which lay the scimitars that were used to
decapitate five men and five animals of every species found in that country.
They performed their ceremonies, finished their cries; then the great men started
to dance; and the King with them, making a turn of the courtyard so that they
caught sight of us." The Oba of Benin referred to here is probably Oba Ahenzae
(ca1641-1661A.D), the Oba who refused to see any white man, on the ground that
an oracle had predicted that , a Benin Oba would die in the hands of the white
man. The Spanish Capuchin Missionaries were promptly expelled from Benin City,
for seeing what they were not supposed to have seen. They were dumped at Warrigi
( modern Warri) and warned never to return to Benin City.
The Dutch traders have also left some documents
for us. Alan Ryder again quotes , A Raems writing to H Hertog on October 22
1736. Both of them were members of the Dutch Trading Company based in Benin.
Raems was reported to have " witnessed a parade of Oba's wives, which pleased
him far more than the spectacle of the ceremonies performed for Oba's father
( Ugie-erhoba )" Ugie Erhoba is Edo man's equivalent of a memorial/remembrance
service of the western world. The Oba on the throne at this time is probably
Oba Akenzua I ( ca 1713-1735 A.D) Igue Festival have been here for about a thousand
years. It will be here for many years. It is heart and soul of Edo nationalism.
ISELOGBE EDO!!!
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Wednesday 23 December 2015
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