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IKELI IFE RITE IN ANIOMA NATION

IKELI IFE RITE IN ANIOMA NATION

Emeka Esogbue

Here is the age-long tradition of the Anioma peopl
e on focus. 

It is the "Ikeli Ife" rite in which beneficiaries, mostly old men, titled men, clan representatives or youths depending on the nature of Ikeli Ife usually gather within an agreed location that could be Ogwa or home of the Diokpa to receive their portion of a given item. 

Usually, a communal goat or cow is slaughtered, and once slaughtered, shared pieces of meat are natively put on plantain leaves from which individuals pick their portion by seniority. 

On a lighter side, this is where you hear the biggest forms of grammar from our Diokpas. Some make it a mixture of English and Igbo, which we lightly call 'Engili-Igbo' while others especially the 'Oluoyibo' returnees demonstrate the biggest forms of 'adjectivial grammar' to talk their 'opponents' to submission. 

Lest I forget, it does not take long for disputes to break out in which arguers narrate the histories of 'opponents'. Still, no one angrily walks away in the heat of the  display to reject his portion else the sledge hammer of "traditional justice" applies immediately. 

Foreigners may be surprised at the creation of the scenarios but not the indigenes. They know and see this with understanding. It is just one of those lighthearted dramas that keep our aged fathers going. 

It is for this reason, our people say 'Odinani adi agwuu agwu'.

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