THE CULTURE OF OBOLLO COMMUNITY, OHULLOR VILLAGE IN UDENU

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ENUGU STATE

Cultural Background of Obollo
The various Obollo communities comprising of Obollo Afor, Obollo Etiti, Obollo Eke, Obollo
Orie and Obollo Nkwo are strategically situated at the regional boundary between the South-East
and North-Central geo-political zones of the country and accordingly providing thorough
passage to the communities of the far North. They are located in Udenu Local Government Area
of Enugu State. Situated at the Northern part of Nsukka, Obollo is bounded on the North by
Enugu Ezike, on the South by Ezimo, on the East by Ikem and on the West by Iheakpu-Obollo
all in Enugu State. Ohullor is a village in Obollo Afor Community. One may best describe
Obollo and Nsukka as a land of hills and valleys thus the usual “Ugwu” in the family names of
many of its indigenes. For instance, Ugwuenegbe hillock with stony valleys geographically
separates Obollo-Afor from Obollo-Etiti and Obollo-Eke.
All the various Obollo communities are seen as historically and culturally related. Nonetheless,
the ancestral relationship that binds Obollo communities is so thick that one may not be wrong if
he describes them as a tree and branches, planted and watered by only one hand. Obollo-Afor is
the tree and Obollo-Orie, Obollo-Etiti, Obollo-Nkwo and Obollo-Eke are all its branches.
Popular oral account of the people states that Nnam Edu who hailed from East-Abakaliki had
three male children who were Olenyi, Otase Enyi and Igwuru Enyi. Olenyi was the father of
Obollo; Otase Enyi fathered Asakwo who also fathered Ikem while Igwuru Enyi fathered Eha
Amufu. When Olenyi grew up he married four wives who bore one male child each for him
amounting to four sons. These four sons were Ezejo who was the eldest; Ekpa Olenyi, the second
son; Ugbabe was the third and Ohullor was the last of his children. The four sons who later grew
up preferred to settle at the four regional ends of the land i.e. north, east, west and south.
However, history also records that the people of Obollo are the direct descendants of the four
children of Olenyi.
Culture of Feasts/Festival
The Feast of Omabe – Echaricha – Oriokpa Masquerade
Omabe
The Ọmabe masquerade is believed to be a pageant from the other world that arrives for a brief
sojourn in Obollo for aesthetic entertainment and with therapeutic purposes, among others.
Before its arrival, it is incumbent on the guardian known as Egbe-ochal to announce in an
esoteric language, understood only by the initiated, a request for kegs (Obele ngala) of palm
wine, goat meat (Ọgbụrụgbụ) and delicacies wrapped in banana leaves (ọkpa) in the next native
week (native week refers to the four market days in Igbo land: Eke, Orie, Afọr and Nkwọ). The
announcement, called Ọmabe ina nri, or demanding of food, is carried out in the night because
Egbe-ochal must not be observed by women. On that day, at midnight, palm wine, food and meat
are offered to the Ọmabe spirit. The banana leaves with which the ọkpa pudding was wrapped
litter the village square, signifying Ọmabe’s acceptance of the ritual. A remarkable thing that
happens in the morning is that these banana leaves are picked up and cooked and the liquid
substance is sieved and imbibed as a drink by the devotees as both anti-poison and antidote.
In the harmattan season, between January and February, on different days it is incumbent on
villages to carry out mgbashuete maa – a ritual of arriving with music. One of the reasons it is
carried out is to bring succour to the depressed and thereby help them to avoid committing
suicide. In performing this ritual, the initiated go to secluded bushes to perform this ritual in the
night. Upon arrival at the place, a fire of some gathered herbs and roots is kindled. The initiated
and devotees form a circle around the burning fire and warm themselves for the task ahead. The
fire also illuminates the place. A ritual is performed with kola-nut, roasted yam, palm oil, a
rooster and palm wine. The radicle of the kola-nut, the blood of a slaughtered rooster and a cup
of palm wine are dropped, spilled and poured on the musical instruments in order to make the
instruments produce good musical sound. Palm oil is used to prepare a dish of roasted yams.
Following this is the playing of a stanza called ayogdi. After this, a procession starts with an
accompanying shout of, ‘Inyόnyόnyό u! Inyόnyόnyόnyόόό uu! Inyόόό u! Inyόόό uu!’ This is a
coded nonlexical term with meaning only understood by the initiated. In this procession, they go
to the village squares, one after another, where devotees and the depressed dance to the sonorous
music. It is a belief in Obollo that Ọmabe music has the capacity to relieve depression and
rekindle hope, thereby averting suicide. The nocturnal forerunner to Ọmabe, called Onyekrinye,
starts moving in the night and carrying out surprises and puzzles, tying a rope from one distant
tree to another and mounting some heavy objects in the middle of various roads. Also, it goes
about shouting the evil committed by some unscrupulous individuals for the hearing of the
community. It castigates, reveals cases of immorality and deviant behaviours and exposes
criminals in society. It is a common saying that the fear of Onyekrinye inspires bad elements in
Obollo to turn over new leaves and become useful to society, hence the proud ascription:
Emedome shi ne banyị [well-behaved persons are from our place].
Echaricha
When the Echaricha masquerade is ready, the lead singer sings praise songs, followed by
choruses from other singers. These praise songs are chosen for their lyrics and relevance to the
performance theatre and are also illustrative of the therapeutic effect of the masquerades. With
these songs, the masquerade is accompanied to various villages, the main theatres of the events,
where it performed to the delight of a large audience. As a ‘pageant’ from the otherworld,
Echaricha Ọmabe is an ‘ultimate spectacle’ whose tightly fitted costume allows it to walk in
calculative steps, at times quickly and swiftly like a duck. This explains why it is referred to as
the swift entity that beat the duck in the waters during a competition. During this movement, it
stretches the left hand frontward, chest out, before moving from one side to the other repeatedly
with gait as it enters into the otobo [the village square], where a crowd is gathered. Its display
includes turning from left to right as it vaults and lands firmly on the ground. This elicits
resounding shouts of iyaaa! From the audience, a sign of confirmation that the performance is
good. Loud applause from the audience serves as validation of the good performance and is also
the criterion and yardstick with which to measure and rank the performance of each Echaricha
Ọmabe and come to an aesthetic consensual evaluation. It is the strict adherence to these criteria
that determines if an Echaricha Ọmabe has performed well or not. The decision to determine a
particular Echaricha that outperforms the others would be taken unanimously by the council of
title holders, arising from the level of ovation during the performance. This would be followed
by the awarding the Echaricha player with a cow for an excellent performance.
The costumes of the Echaricha Ọmabe are produced by traditional artists ‘equipped with the
inspiration and knowledge of a variety of traditional legends, folklore and mythologies’ by the
elders and bought by an individual who has health issues and may have been instructed by a
diviner to do so, in order for the Ọmabe spirit to heal him. Before then, such individuals would
have tied some red and blue strands of cloth called ugere ekwa on an Iroko (Milicia excelsa) or
Ọgbụ (Moraceae) tree serving as the Ọnụ enyanwụ [mouth of the sun] and made a promise that
he would cover Ọmabe, as it were, with costumes. As mentioned earlier, the major function
of Echaricha is to entertain the audience. What distinguishes Echaricha from other masquerades
is its expensive costume made of shimmering buttons; hence, it is referred to as the enyi
vuerk'h [elephant that carries wealth]. Here, an elephant is a metaphor for wealth acquisition.
The features of Echaricha Ọmabe are four long white sticks decorated with many white and
black feathers as the headgear; a woven face with two tiny holes that serve as the eyes; hundreds
of small, round, shimmering, metallic buttons skilfully fastened on black fabric, sewn to be
tightly fitted for elegant performance; and animal skin covered with some white feathers and tied
between the knees and ankles of both legs. The shoulders and elbows are covered with nza ebule.
The elbows and wrists are covered with white stockings. It holds a long knife and its head is tied
with different free-flowing stripes of fabrics with different colours. A long padded animal skin is
attached to its buttocks as the tail. On its feet is a pair of white canvas shoes. Undoubtedly, these
features make it dazzling in appearance and performance.
Oriokpa
The Oriọkpa masquerade’s main costumes are ekpọtọ, a locally woven fabric and feathers. There
are types of Oriọkpa called Ihuojii and Agbenebụba that are identified based on their black
appliqué faces and feathers on their heads; hence, they are referred to as the Ọmabe igwe ebụba,
meaning ‘the masquerade of many feathers’. The Oriọkpa ties a piece of cloth around the waist
and on the elbow (nza eble). The Oriokpa also holds nza and sticks, which it uses to beat people
mercilessly. There is another type of Oriọkpa called Ugwu Udele Asogwa that
combines ekpọtọ with China white as its costumes. Around its head is tied a long strand of blue
cloth called ugere-ekwa. It holds long and short sticks in the left and right hands, respectively.
Between the shoulder and elbow are tied nza eble.
Somehow, the action of the Obollo Oriọkpa masquerade approximates that of the Efik Okpo
masquerade that delights in pursuing adolescent women. This is because while the Ọriọkpa’s
intention is to beat girls for the simple reason that they gossip a lot, and hence it refers to them as
nderure [gossipers], ‘Okpo flirts petulantly, pursuing adolescent female to fulfill its sexual
fantasies – with the adult approval’. The individual who is enacting the Oriọkpa masquerade
feels that if he allows the adolescent woman to look closely at him, she may recognise him and
betray his identity. On sighting an adolescent girl, Oriọkpa would say: Nderure, legde m hee,
olegdem ọgadghke ọngelem [gossiper, just continue looking at me. Look at me as if you are not
looking at me]. This brings joy to the girls who will be running up and down, thereby taking the
ceremony as an opportunity for body exercises and fitness.
The Feast of Onwa Eno
The feast is celebrated by the Obollo and is one of the most important feasts of the year,
calculated for four native days from the first day that the moon appears. This feast is celebrated
at the fourth month of the year. On this occasion, images that embody the dead are made and
worshipped by the people in connection with the people’s belief that the dead demand food and
drink from their loved ones who are still alive. The Onwa Eno feast usually commences on an
Oye (Orie) day and symbolizes a link between the living and the dead in the culture of the
Obollo people.
Feast of Onwa Esaa
It is a feast that takes place beginning from the sixth to the seventh month during which
indigenes have the opportunity to see Akatakpa masquerades ravage the town to beat both men
and women in the town except the aged. Akatakpa masquerades are traditionally known to arm
themselves with long whips in the evening. These masquerades are seen despoiling every corner
of the town while chasing their unsuspecting victims usually with excitements of some sort,
attempting to whip them so that noise prevails while clamours for safety by individuals are
paramount to circumvent the devastating masquerades. Only old men and women are free from
the whisking of these masquerades because of their weakness. The feasts draws to a close on the
last day when the much dreaded masquerades are ushered out of the town ready to reappear in
another four years to come. During the Akatakpa, which provides the people cultural fun and
pleasure, spectators are usually sighted around hundreds of masquerades jubilating and
scampering. These masquerades are often moving around looking for people to appreciate their
culture and either in cash or kind. It is also noticeable to find these masquerades wielding canes
flog people who turn out unfriendly to them.
Marital Infidelity in Obollo
In traditional Igbo society, men’s dominance was total. Women were to be seen but not to be
heard: it was a man’s world. Whether in the day to day governance, economic activities, religion,
among others, women played a peripheral role in the society. A man could marry as many wives
as he wants. The younger wives could be the age mates of his first set of children. Whether the
husband is virile enough to satisfy the innumerable wives is hardly taken into consideration. To
check marital infidelity on the part of the women in this polygamous society, Obollo instituted
the Nna tradition. Nna tradition connotes a spiritual avowal among the Obollo people which
origin is embedded in myth. This tradition is shrouded in some mystery that is spiritual and cultic
and the origin seems mythical. This tradition in question forbids any form of extra-marital
relationship from married women, the men were not counted. This is because the Ndishi in
question were the ancestors who are spirits and men are considered spirits, in ancient Obollo
tradition and Igbo-land at large. This is why they alone can be initiated into the masquerade cult
and masquerade is spirit. If a married woman engages herself in any extra-marital relationship
she must tell her husband. Failure to do this the woman will run mad unless the necessary rituals
and sacrifices were performed. In some parts of Nsukka culture the husband who eats the food
cooked by this wife will die. The food in question here can be natural food or sexual intercourse.
In some parts of Nsukka like Enugu-Ezike, married women cannot give any of her relative
money without the express permission of her husband. Women married into this culture from
other cultural background are forewarned because of the detrimental implications and the
efficacy of this tradition.
It is believed by the people that violation of this tradition attracts the wrath of the gods. It is
believed that failure to observe this result to instant madness. A critical observation here shows
that the male counterpart has no punishment for his own sexual escapade only the women were
punished.
Conclusions
In reviewing the cultural heritage of Obollo people, I’ve emphasized on the rituals and artistic
components through the lens of ethno-aesthetics, therapy and healing. Happily, Obollo
communities are today located in Enugu State, South-Eastern part of the country under the
Nsukka Division but with the wind of agitation blowing the demand for creation of states in
Nigeria or perhaps, additional states for the people of South East, Nigeria, the Obollo
communities began to seek self-autonomy within the Nigerian federation; praying the Federal
Government of Nigeria to grant them Adada State as one of the units of Federal Republic of
Nigeria and make it their permanent home and I am very much in support of the creation of
Adada State as I share the opinion that our location in the proposed Adada State will guarantee
the development of the various Nsukka, Obollo and other communities.