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Global Travels:
Ila Oso Uzuakoli
By Obi. O. Akwani
MGV Editor
December is a festive month in Nigeria. It is the month of the major Christian festival of Christmas. There is also a major Muslim festival that falls within the same period. In some parts of the country, important traditional festivals also take place within this period. And because Christmas is so close to the new year, it makes for a long stretch of holidays for most workers. A combination of these festivities and so many public holidays bunched so close together makes the end of December a favorite period for traveling. It is also a season of considerable expense for Nigerians. Just as in the West, parents usually buy long promised gifts for their children and for each other. Friends and members of the extended family are remembered with gifts as well. People seize the opportunity of the long holidays to travel home to their ancestral villages or to other agreed gathering point of the extended family. The feasting during this period is considerable. There are no traditional meats for the Christmas period. Depending on the means available people may slaughter one or more cows, a goat or ram or a pig. Fowls such as chickens and turkey are also used.
One of the important festivals of this period is a colorful ceremony held in Eastern Nigeria, in the Bende Local Government area of
Abia State. Today it is known as the Ila Oso Uzuakoli. The Ila Oso
ceremony is by no means exclusive to the people of the college town of Uzuakoli. Legend has it that
Ila Oso began in a center of origin called Ezera centuries ago. Ezera today is a town about 15 miles northeast of Uzuakoli. The people of Ezera had decided then to pay their kin, in the expanding Imenyi clan, a solidarity visit. Their journey began from the Isuikwuato area to
Ahaba, to Akoli, to Lodu and surrounding areas before culminating in Uzuakoli. In every village or settlement the visitation was marked with a procession through the town center or village square by the visiting entourage and their supporters. Thereafter, the original event was remembered in an annual
ceremony called Ila Oso. In all these places, Ila Oso is either still practiced or is remembered in lore. However, Only in Uzuakoli did it endure into the modern era as a
major biannual event that attracts visitors from as far afield as Europe and America.
The Ila Oso Uzuakoli survives as a colorful trooping of the ages, beginning from toddlers of about two to six years of age, to children from 7 to 12 years, to teens of several grades, unmarried young men and women of various grades, married young adults, the middle aged and senior citizens. Each groups has its role to play and its pride to display. Nowhere else has the ceremony grown into these significant proportions. Only in Uzuakoli has it grown to such majestic dimensions.
Like other major events in this region, such as the New Yam or Iri ji festival and the ceremonies of the secret society of men, the
Ila Oso is used as a marker of the annual cycle. The Ila Oso ceremonies may not begin before the native
astronomers have confirmed the right celestial signs. The sighting of the right signs helps set the date for
Ikwo Oso -- the commencement of the Ila Oso ceremonies.
This year, 2007, Ikwo Oso happened on December 2. On that day, the Oso leaders in Eluama officially declared the commencement of the Ila Oso festivities. The different age grades were then informed of what was expected of them and allotted their places in the great procession. All the different groups now retreat to learn and practice the songs they would use during the
procession.
The first Oso, by the Eluama people, took place eight days later on December 10. They did the
Iho Ozu - taking their processions of dancing, singing, fireworks and other displays through the main square of each of the other four villages that make-up Uzuakoli. Each of the other villages did their own Ila Oso in four day intervals following that first one by Eluama. The final day of Ila Oso, which is called Oso Nguge, was on December 27. Again the Eluama people led the festivities by going around Uzuakoli through the main square of the other villages. That procession began in the morning by about 10 am and ended at Eke Ogbiti, Eluama around 2 pm. The other villages then prepare and converge on Eke Ogbiti with their own processions. This begins around three pm and goes on till sundown.
The Oso Nguge is a highly competitive thing. The Eluama village and the Amamba people have their different mascots, the elephant and the lion (leopard) respectively. The arrival of these mascots is the highpoint of the evening Oso. As much as possible, the elephant and the lion avoid appearing at the same time. If they did, events may threaten to get out of hand. The greatest excitement happens when the Amamba lion appears and runs through the square. The mascot is not a live animal, but a leopard skin spread on a mast and carried aloft in the case of the Amamba "lion" and a small sculpted elephant for Eluama. As soon as the "elephant" appears, the "lion" withdraws and
Ila Oso is over.
The Ila Oso ceremonies are vibrant colorful events. Some of the most beautiful maidens make their public appearance at this time and the men show their pride; all dressed in elegantly colorful ceremonial attires.
Ila Oso is a beautiful thing to behold.
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