By Chudi Okoye, Stella Nzekwe and Ken Chukwudi
The 2020 edition of the traditional Awka festival, Egwu Imoka, has commenced. Day 1 of the three-day carnival, a cardinal event in Awka cultural calendar, took place as planned on May 25, 2020.
There had been some uncertainty in the lead up to the commencement of the event. The Anambra State government had, on May 10, issued an order suspending Egwu Imoka 2020, along with other cultural events in the state, on account of the growing menace of coronavirus contagion in the state. The state government issued the suspension order as Anambra State, which went for a stretch of time without an active case of coronavirus, began to record new cases. The Anambra State Police Command also issued a statement stipulating to a full enforcement of the government order.
Notwithstanding the government’s suspension order, the custodians and planners of the Awka heritage event, following apparent oracular consultation with with Imoka, the Awka deity which is honored with the event, had insisted that the event would be held, albeit with sensitivity to government rules on physical distancing and social restraint.
With the virtual stand-off, it was unclear how the Egwu Imoka 2020 event would unfold. Day 1 of the festival provides a clue.
Awka Times reporters who monitored the Day 1 events report a mixed outcome. Day 1 of Egwu Imoka consists in a mission called Osonogba Umuokpu, a contingent of humans and masquerades despatched to the non-contiguous Awka village of Umuokpu to deliver a message inviting the village to the upcoming Egwu Imoka event. Usually it is a boisterous procession snarling southwestwards from main Awka town to Umokpu village, with assemblies of merrymaking gathered all over the town and along the stretches to Umuokpu.
Initial frontline reporting by Awka Times suggests a determined but muted observance of the opening event. The emissary to Umuokpu was duly despatched, including men, masquerade and motorcade. Pockets of participants came out, gathered in isolated spots around Awka, in proud and assertive jollity to mark the event. Awka Times reporters observed some conscious attempt to follow the government’s guidelines relating to the coronavirus pandemic. But in many spots the ascending spirit of the event simply overwhelmed the gathered revelers and any observance of the rules was done with scarce
