"In case you haven't noticed it, that's the real Isi Agụ with LEOPARD � head and full image on it and NOT the one with Isi Ọdụm (Lion �). That's what Peter Òbí is wearing there.

What the Ìgbò call “Agụ” is Leopard � and NEVER lion �!"

This IGBO Hat Is Called OKPU-AGU (Leopard Hat). It Is Much More Older Than The Red Cap. Many Modern IGBO People Don't Know The Intrinsic Value Of This Hat, And Its Various Meanings. The Tail Of This Hat Contains Various Meanings, Depending On How You Position Them. And Depending On How You Are Wearing Them, Only An NZE Or OZO Would Know The Ritual Meanings. But Now That We Are In UGA ANWU, It Is Okay To Enlighten You Guys On What They Mean So That You'll Start Wearing Them PROPER.

When You Wear The Hat With The Tail Facing Back, It Means That Something Is Wrong, Somebody Died, Your Life Is Facing UGA AZI. Things Are Moving Backwards For You. When You Wear The Tail Forward, It Means That You Are Going Somewhere Very Important. You Are With An IKENGA ODUMIJE. Your Life Is Moving Straight Forward, No Turning Back. When You Wear The Tail Facing Either Left Or Right, Like Shown In the one Peter Obi wearing,It Means That You Are In A Good Mood. You Are At A Wedding Or A Celebration Event. You Have So Much To Thank For. You Are Well Balanced.

Now That You Guys Know The Mysteries Of The OKPU-AGU, Be Very Conscious On How You Wear Them. And Respect The Rituals. Please always share our post to educate others, and invite and recommend your friends to like and follow our page.

I noticed that there are still most of our people who is still refering Agu as a lion. Now hear this:

Agu is the leopard.

Agu is the Leopard (although also used to refer to other Pantheras especially Odum - Lion), “The okpu Agụ” or “Leopard hat” is a knit wool cap of black, white, & red. While the caps were striped rather than spotted, the design was said to represent the patterns on the skin of Leopards.

In earlier times the colour red could only be worn by men who had taken heads, and the caps were said to be dyed with the blood of the enemy warriors. The visual references of the Leopard hat and cutlass sheath are trappings of a more immediate identification between war dancer and Leopard, which is fully realized by Leopard-like bodily comportment in the dance itself.
When Ohafia people offer aesthetic evaluation of dancers, their bodily movements are often favorably compared to those of Leopards. The notion that the greatest warriors are able to become Leopards, or at least in some bodily sense acquire the strength, agility, and poise of these great animal, is common throughout the Cross River region (Oyono River). This is more an aesthetic assessment than it is a “belief.”

The Leopard embodies power that is both wild and refined. It is the quality of movement itself, as exquisitely graceful as it is lethal, that constitutes the identification between warrior and Leopard. Thus, the feline poise of the war dancer does not merely symbolize the power of the Leopard. It is an embodiment of that power, immediately present and undeniably manifest.

Photo: The child of an Ohafia Dibia (Doctor).

Source: Dancing Histories: Heuristic Ethnography with the Ohafia Igbo