From Chuks Onuoha, Umuahia
All roads lead to Camp Neya Carnival Village, Igbere in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, as indigenes showcase the rich cultural heritage of the land at the Igbere Cultural Carnival taking place there today.
With the theme “Celebration of our Heritage” the cultural extravaganza’s mission is towards creating a platform for the promotion and celebration of Igbere cultural heritage, in a carnival atmosphere, as a way of enhancing the tourism potentials of Igbere clan/
The event is sponsored by the Orji Uzor Kalu Foundation. Chairman of the carnival, Ezeogo Jones Udeogu, defined culture as a system of living, peculiar to a people, which is transmitted from generation to generation for peaceful co-existence and development of the people.
Disclosing that: “The people will today gather in this ambient environment to reinvent our cultural heritage. That is to say that we are gathered here to see, appreciate, preserve and pass on to younger generations the arts, dances and literature of Igbere.”
He explained that Igbere is an amalgam of 13 cultures of a single ancestry. “Oral tradition has it that Ebiri Okomoko, the father of Igbere had three wives who produced communities with cultures that helped them to maintain law order and peaceful co-existence between them and others. Apart from culture, the clan holds in common other things like Iri Ndi, Inu Ndi, Ili Madu, Ilu Nwami which are peculiar to each community.”