THE HISTORY OF AWKA TOWN

AWKA ANAMBRA STATE 

 The territory known as Awka has been inhabited by man for several centuries.Awka is the capital of Anambra state with an estimated population of 301,657 as of 2006 census. Awka is one of the oldest settlements in Igobland
established at the centre of the Nri civilisation which produced the earliest documented Bronze works in sub-Sahara Africa around 800AD and was the cradle of Igbo civilisation.

 In the 1930s, stone tools were discovered in the area which belong to the Neolithic stage of human development. It is largely because of the antiquity of man in this area that the "CORE" Awka people do not have any memory of migration from outside the Awka area; they claim hat they have been there from the beginning of time. These first Awka people lived on the banks of the OGWUGWU stream in what is now the NKWELLE ward/village in Awka. How they got there,who their migratory leaders were,whence they came,are ll lost in the haze of remote history. We do know that these earliest people consisted of three kin groups, URUERI,AMAENYIANA,and OKOP and all were collectively called the IFITEANA. "IFITEANA" roughly translated into(people who sprouted from the earth).

The IFITEANA people were mostly farmers,hunters, and skilled iron workers. However big-game hunting constituted a very important sector of their economy. The Elephant was their most priced game, its tusk was a very valuable article of trade.

The deity of the Ifiteana people was known as OKIKA-NA-UBE or OKANUBE meaning ( the god pre-eminent with the spare),and the ifiteana were known as UMU-OKANUBE meaning (worshippers of okanube) which eventually became shortened to UMU-OKA and eventually OKA and its anglicised version AWKA.

The deity (okanube) according to the myths of their people, was a supernatural being who came from the sky and taught the ifiteana people of old the arts of working iron and medicine making. He was basically a hunting god and the myths says he showed the people how to hunt with iron spare(ube) lanced with medicine, hence his name.

The Elephant tusk called OKIKE was the symbol of the god okanube. Every Awka compound had this import ritual symbol kept in the family chapel cum reception hall called(the obu). In the fifth month of every Awka year,(that is towards the beginning of the dry season when hunting started) the okike was venerated and the people asked their god okanube for a fruitful hunting season.

In the hollow of the sacred Elephant tusk,the people stored their hunting medicine. They smeared the medicine on their hunting spares before they set out for the bush. This medicine was of two types;

The OTOLO type, which caused the hunted animal(usually elephant) to pass diarrhoea stool, until it died of dehydration and weakness; and 

The ADA-NGENE type which aroused great thirst for water in the hunted animal.The animal would then seek foe a watering hole, but would die once it tasted water.

Awka was once a hunt of elephant, a part of the town is still called AMA-ENYI(elephant pond) where the elephants used to gather to drink and slack their thirst. Over-hunting rendered the poor animals virtually extinct even before the coming of the British colonialism. T he last elephant seen in the area was killed in 1970 by three hunters using the ada-ngene medicine.

As elephants became scarce, the god okanube became less and less important until people stopped worshipping him altogether. When okanube declined in popularity,another god rose to take his place as the most prominent god of the Awka people.

                                         ORIGIN OF IMO-OKA

IMO-OKA FESTIVAL

 The name of the god was IMO-OKA. According to oral history, a young Awka girl named Nomeh fell seriously ill. Her kinsmen brought doctors from neighbouring town,Umuezeukwu to treat her.Unfortunately,Nomeh died.(umuezeukwu does not exist today Awka wiped the town out in a war following the death of Nomeh). She was buried on the grounds that later became imo-oka shrine. After a few years, the dead girl began to haunt her kinsmen. Children died prematurely. Awka people believed the spirit of Nomeh was angry because her life was cut short, and she never got children of her own. To calm her angry spirit and ward off her wrath, her kinsmen hired a team of powerful medicine men from Idoma land (called Akpotos by Awka people). The Idoma medicine men prepared a charm for Awka called Akwali omumu umu-oka(i.e a charm for the procreation of Awka people). The charm was buried on Nomeh`s grave. In time,the charm grew in potency and became so powerful that the people began to revere it as a god in its own right. They called this new god Akwli umu-oka or simply IMO-OKA. Till date, Awka animist still regard Imo-oka as the great protector of the town.

The Imo-oka carnival(called the egwu Imo-oka) marks the beginning of the Awka native year, and is practically the only pagan celebration in Awka that has survived to the present day.

The Imo-oka is a two weeks festival of masquerades and dances held in May at the beginning of the farming season. The festival starts with Awka people visiting the community of umuoka with masquerades and ends with a visit to the Imo-oka stream on the final day which is heralded by a heavy rain that fall in the late afternoon. 

There are four major events performed during the festival, the EDE-MMUO, OGWU-OGHUGHA, EGWU OPU-EKE and IMO-OKA. Egwu opu-eke is a rich cultural dance preformed by female worshippers of Imo-oka shrine which includes priestesses and ordinary women alike decorated in colourful costume dancing in the market square in honour of the deity controlling the shrine.

The Imo-oka festival showcases a variety of masquerades(mmanwu) from the sinister ones which flog spectators to friendly ones which sings or dance.