The Drum, the Fire and the Dancing Spirits in Egi Community, Ogba

Several accounts about what the drum symbolizes in the African culture and African traditional religions have been written. The essence of the drum cut across entertainment, literature communication, therapy and spirituality etc. However, my lived experience of how a belief in the spirituality and the healing effect of the drum shaped a people’s reality was during my brief stay in Ogba.

I had been posted to a community secondary school in Obite, a village in Ogba/Egbema area of Rivers state, Nigeria, for my compulsory one year national youth service. The first air that touched me as I reported to my place of primary assignment in Ogba conveyed a feeling of a healing wound.

Ogba had seen worse days due to the high incidence of cultism and political crisis in the region. However, the crisis has reportedly subsided due to the proliferation of alternative security groups who use unorthodox approaches to combat crimes across most parts of the region.

Ogba is one of three towns that form the Ogba/Egbema/Ndonni local government also known as Onelga in Rivers state. Onelga land area is estimated between 950 and 1,620 sqkm. The region comprises many small villages and towns including; Omoku, where Onelga’s headquarter is situated, Egi, Erema, Akabuka, Obite, Obidi, Obogu etc.

Ogba villages and towns are characterized by a strong afinal bond and the region is known for its large deposit of crude oil which is largely tapped by the federal government and the multinational oil companies in the country. Current records shows that Onelga is the highest producer of crude oil in Rivers state and second in Nigeria.

Apart from its rich oil well, Ogba also has a good earth and modest weather condition favourable to Agricultural endeavours. And there is a magnificent interconnection of rivers, streams and swamps where the natives go to collect fishes and other sea foods. Almost every household has a cassava farm on which subsistence is largely dependent. The average Ogba child is well thought in the art and science of processing garri and preparing fufu, locally known as loiloi. The common food is Okazi leaf soup which the natives savour with each handful of a morsel of garri or loiloi.

The Egi clans and natives of Ogba are one of the few peoples in the Niger-Delta region who probably still live in the primordial past. Dissolutely unwilling to let go of the brilliance of their primitive construct to the incursion and wiles of modernity, the natives hold in high esteem their culture and guard very jealously their customs. For some of us who had come from the west and from the far north of the country, life in Egi could not be thought of as lacking in African ancestral heritage and spiritual essence.

One of my most cherished experiences in Ogba was the sight of the cultural exhibition of the natives during the Egwu Ogba. Egwu Ogba is an annual new yam festival held around August to celebrate peace and new harvest. The Egwu Ogba is a period the natives hold in high esteem and celebrate their ancestors and the proceeds of their communal labour exchange.

A cardinal ritual of the festival is the liting and throwing of the fire. The fire symbolizes peace, and it is believed that only a person sanctified as clean or a saint could be allowed to carry the fire during the festival. Before the D-day, some rituals must have been performed to appease the gods and to finalize the actual date of the festival. At the eve of the festival (abali ukugwu) everyone gathers at the hest of their compound to throw a light party until the following morning. This should set the mood for the D-day.

During the fire ritual, incantations and invocations are made to the gods so as the fire is burning all the evils and witches in the village burn along with the fire. After this rendition, the people sing and rally round the village, and then go to the cemetery at the back of the village to throw the fire.

The fire ritual is followed by masquerade rendition as well as dancing and wrestling contest which is considered to be usually dangerous. However, it is believed that the drummers present at the games play a significant role in protecting the lives of the athletes. It is thought that the drummers would normally tie chickens around their drums so as they are drumming and as the competition becomes stiffer no body gets to hurt or die.

The village king (Uchunha) with his council of chiefs appear in their regalia with their daughters in-law covering them with umbrella. Everybody sings, dance and merry as there are enough yam, fish stew and palm wine to relish.