Mazi chimaobi kanu na asi iyi ndewo. Nda aga iyi mere? I L♥√ع My Arochukwu so much. Flight booked, coming back this Xmas, miss My hometown so much. One love mazis, umu-mazis and adamazis. God bless Aro

Nice pictures!!! I will like to know more about the Aros and their culture. . . I can see they dont have the tradition of the Ozo red Hat. Odumchi,what does "odo" or "ozo" mean in your dialect. I am thinking it means another. Again,do you have "OZO" chieftaincy title in Aro ?

DrugDoc:

Very good pictures, but to more serious issues.  I understand the Aro played the prominent role in spreading the slave trade in Igbo land.  The wealth and land gained by the prior generations still benefit Aros to this day.  Now that Aros are hopefully educated and enlightened, any plans to apologize for the roles of their priests and ancestors in the slave trade?  It would really start the healing of Ndigbo.

i heard such stories too. Is it really true?

chimaobikanu:

Mazi chimaobi kanu, nwa avo agbagwu nsi-egbe na asi iyi ndewo. Nda aga iyi mere? I L♥√ع My Arochukwu so much. Flight booked, coming back this Xmas, miss My hometown so much. One love mazis, umu-mazis and adamazis. God bless Aro

Mazi ndewonnuo! Ibu ezigbo nwa Aro, suwa okwu anyi!

NRI PRIEST:

Nice pictures!!! I will like to know more about the Aros and their culture. . . I can see they dont have the tradition of the Ozo red Hat. Odumchi,what does "odo" or "ozo" mean in your dialect. I am thinking it means another. Again,do you have "OZO" chieftaincy title in Aro ?

Thanks."Odo" means "another". Usually for things that are said with a "z" we use "d". For example "nmiri na
Edo".

And no we don't have ozo or nze. We have ekpe. Ekpe is a very prestigious society in Arochukwu. Once someone enters the ekpe society, they can wear the "okpu ekpe" which is the black/white. Ekpe society members are honored and have a special place at social gatherings.

They are the only ones who are allowed to wear the black and white "okpu ekpe" hats and the nsibidi wrappers as you can see the man in the ekpe photo wearing. They also wear that large knot around the neck. If a non-ekpe member wears any of these things, They will be fined by the community and brought for questioning. Also when an ekpe society member dies, he is rewarded with an ekpe masquerade and okonko dance at his burial ceremony.
As for the other red "mboko" hats anyone could wear them.

If there are any other questions youd like to ask, I'd be glad to answer them

yommysomguy:

i heard such stories too. Is it really true?

Yes, he's right. Arochukwu played a large role in the slave trade, but they didn't sell any if their own people.

Okoooooooooooo.ó ngeni ihe na adi m agaaaa.süng mbokõ.ekpe nna nna m bara aba.mu nwe bu nwa mazi kanu,m bu onye obinkita.inyi ó ma alota kwa december eh? .obi atugbuo la m ebe a.

Komedy:

Okoooooooooooo.ó ngeni ihe na adi m agaaaa.süng mbokõ.ekpe nna nna m bara aba.mu nwe bu nwa mazi kanu,m bu onye obinkita.inyi ó ma alota kwa december eh? .obi atugbuo la m ebe a.

Nwa ebe anyi, Ndewoooo. Aro nmara nma ukwuuu. Asi na odi na ikem, mgara isi ka mgbala ogom ga biri. Mka lara ulo mgbe adii anya, Ikeji tokwara uto. Chai, asi na wo emechie ekpo. . .

Odumchi,this is all good for the eyes,but let me ask you;dont you guys wear the famous Igbo beads as worn by the Onitsha people? And what about the feathers? The regalia looks nice but it could have looked more rich if they were beads and feathers!!
I want to know more about the EKPE society. Is it a masqurade with members or is it a chieftaincy title group like Nze na Ozo ?

Yes we wear beads like all other Igbo people but the practice of putting feathers in hats isn't common, atleast in the mboko hats. Ekpe isn't a chieftancy title, rather a masquerade society. In Aro, we don't have chieftancy titles like "ozo" or "nze". In fact, we don't have any chieftaincy titles at all.

With Ekpe, it is a very exclusive society. It's members wore special attire, danced the ekpe masquerade, and also danced the okonko masquerade which is a very dangerous masquerade. Despite the fact that it isn't a chieftancy title, an ekpe member would enjoy similar rights as an nze such as the right to special attire, a special place in social gatherings, and a large role traditionally in the community. However, Arochukwu isn't the only community with Ekpe. Arondizuogu in Imo state and Arochukwu share joint Ekpe societies so if one becomes an Ekpe member in one community, he will also be in the other.

The Efiks, some Ibibio groups and I think the Ngwa also have Ekpe.

Someone asked the same question I had on nye ya. Well done oo.

Yeah, I actually asked that question because I recognized the word. We too use it in Ngwa; nnye. . . and also, seeing as to how Odumchi was toggling between "ozo" and "odo", I began to wonder if he was simply incorporating vocabulary from various lects (for example, Ngwa, when he said "nnye" and "odo". But, since I do not like to assume, I decided to ask, so that he would be the one to tell me.

Odumchi, which one is more prominent in Arochukwu, "nwuuye" or "nnye"?

odumchi:

The Efiks, some Ibibio groups and I think the Ngwa also have Ekpe.

There are two very different kinds of Ekpe in Ngwa. One is a festival, that occurs as part of the yearly Ngwa cultural calendar, and the other is an importation by Aro people. That one is Okonko, which is locally called Ekpe Aro.

@Chineyem,Nnye is more prominent and what an average Aro man would use.Never heard my dad use "Nwunye" for my mom.

ifyalways:

@Chineyem,Nnye is more prominent and what an average Aro man would use.Never heard my dad use "Nwunye" for my mom.

Oh okay. Thank you, Ify. I meela.

Yeah, Ify is right.

You know concerning Ekpe, when I was a small child, I once ran into the Okonko meeting hall in my village when the ekpe members were having a meeting. All of the members grew furious and started to chase me around but luckily I escaped. Lol. They pardoned me because I was a small child.

@Odumchi,Is this okonko masquerade same as okonko age grade?If my memory serves me right,okonko age grade is only open for the aged say 80 and above,is that right please?

Odumchi,gini bu omu aro and what does it signify or represent?

@ Ify

Honestly, I dont know what the Okonko age grade is and I dont think its related to the Okonko masquerade. I think Chinenye will be better fit to answer your question regarding Okonk age grade.

Also, the Okonko masquerade is a very dangerous and solemn masquerade. It is only worn by Ekpe members during special ocassions and is dangerous in that it is notorious for whipping people, and the wearer also loses control of himself. Unfortunately, I oculdnt find a picture of it for you.

Omu Aro is the universal emblem/wrapper of all Aro people. It is the cloth in the photos. The gun and sword represent the strength of the kingdom, the hands represent the unity of the people, the eagles represents pride, and the crowns represent our Eze.

Umu nnem, good to know that there are Umu Aro Okeigbo in this land! This Mazi is from Nde Elekwa na Nde Okwara in Atani. So very happy to meet my people online. Ndewo nu. Ori ihe Ori Ihe,

^Ori ihe ori ihe . . .that's a new good one.Gini ka o putara,Nwa mazi?

@Odumchi,Dalu.I thought it was something like a physical omu,shame on me;it was on my bridal list and I believe every other Aro bride.

Ify ibu nwa ali anyi

To the best of my knowledge, Okonko is only a society/organization. Men, the elderly, as well as boys could be initiated into Okonko. I don't know of an Okonko age-grade.

^Ok.Thanks ChinenyeN.

Odumchi Odogwu.

Also, Ori ihe Ori ihe is a salutation given to women since they eat alot.

Chinenye, I've been meaning to ask you, is your Username full Chinenyenwa?

No problem, Ify.

Odumchi, I've never thought about it, really. The username is has always been just arbitrary to me. I wanted a capital letter that would balance out the C, and so I chose N, simply because it looked nice and it closed out the vowel 'e'. . . but now that I think about it, you could be right. After all my name actually is Chinenyenwa.

Oh I see.

Ekpe

Ikpirikpi ogu

nke onwa kwan?

Some more ekpe pictures

more

HRH, Eze Ibom Isii of Arochukwu.

Ekpo masquerade. Inum Iyaga