This is the biggest and most prestigious traditional festival common to every Awka born.
Indiegens travel from far down to their home town Awka for this great occasion which happens once a year.

The celebration attracts personalities from all areas of the state, friends and well wishers of Awka sometimes participate in the celebration



as they witness singing and dancing from assorted masquerades and masquerade men all in the bid to make the occasion colourful.

Some, Particularly Christians are of the opinion that the celebration is satanic and should be scrapped, siting bloodshed, violence and idolatry as one of the reasons to let go of the old Awka tradition, while others see it simply as a means of catching fun ones in a year and also to uphold the Igbo tradition and legacy handed over to us by our forefathers.



What’s your take as an Awka indiegen?? Do you see Imo Awka festival as idolatry and should be scrapped or modified or do you see it as a tradition which must be maintained??





http://www.enzyhub.com/update-on-imo-awka-celebration-in-awka-anambra-state/

it beautiful.

Scrap Egwu Imoka? The last (with the exception of Otite) traditional feast we have left since the other ones died out in the 1970s? Madness. Sheer madness.

I agree that something has to be done about the youth violence that has become synonymous with the feast. You see every boy old enough to leave his mother's house unsupervised (both indigenes and ndu mbana) strutting around with huge canes and tree branches, assaulting people going about their business. Rival boy-groups (I don't want to call them gangs) seize the opportunity to shed blood and even kill.

Tackle the violence. Leave the feast alone. We should be talking about how to recover some of the shine the feast has lost - not about whether it should be scrapped. I hear from people who were around before the war that it used to be quite a spectacle. Nowadays it's just a dull affair.

why can't the mods move this post to front page?

Passing by

O di b'anyi a di na-mba !

#EgwuImokafestival.

#Awkaamaka.

A bu m ezigbo onye Awka n'aso enwe.

#AdaAwka.

#I'mproud2beonyeAwka.

Dis rain shld jus stop biko so dt we wil enjoy dis yr's festival 2 d fullest.

Infact rain or no rain,#EgwuImoka is going on.

IMO, Imoka shld nt be scrapped.

I think dis is our festival (culture) .The only thing 2 be done here is 2 put tight security watch against misconduct during d festive period.It is our tradition and we must nt allow it 2 die. I'm a lady and i luv EgwuImoka Festival.

I am there Life @ Ifite road close 2 Nkwo Amenyi Mkt, b4 d rain started.

I wish I can take pics like this guring our festival. But it's forbidden

Igbo kwenu

okay

kills

When I see masquerades, I see hundreds of thousands of jobs being created!!

I'm not a fan of masquerade

Mana

Where is 'Ijele' masquerade? The only masquerade with prestige.


Igbo Amaka

Seriously the government needs to do more concerning dis festival cos its mostly bloody.. Dis masquerade dem no dey get conscience if dem catch u... U go pay tire till u leave awka.. Dem no send u if u be native doctor for ur village...

the violence, bloodshed and assaulting of people is one thing people frown at concerning dis event.

I go for civilisation...

Imoka don soft nowww....then in 2007 wen I dey hustle admission for unizik, who born u come outside? U go see person wey get beef for u, go use because of Imoka destroy your body wit cane lol .....as a woman, you can't be seen outside "cha-cha"
If you are bout to enter a street then were them masquerades dey gyrate & ur house is located along that street....be sure of 10 HOT STROKES from angry boiz celebrating Imoka on getting to ur crib,lool
#Infact I hear then, men were not allowed to wear jeans to their market on a certain day to avoid being assaulted #IT WAS DEADLY!!! #Good old days @ awka #The festival wosky.

Ojuju

Masquerade go flog ur nyash

Okay and sooooo

heard they killed a pregnant woman during this years imoka... o.p is dt true??

beauty.. dats Wat u call flogging women n men. even old men... just saw some group of jobless boys flog a man old enough to b their father... n hope u mention about d human sacrifice at the end of it all.






SAY NO TO barbaric festivals

Nothing attractive with these pictures..Was expecting to see real celebration and crowd..

I so much love the Igbo culture, tradition and values, but If traditional rulers aren't ready to work with FG in checkmating the violence by hooligans during this festival, then it should be scrapped as it only breeds an avenue for violence, nuisance and extortion by so called Awka youths.

Beautiful masquerades.
How many got a job from building these?

Enzyhub:


This is the biggest and most prestigious traditional festival common to every Awka born.
Indiegens travel from far down to their home town Awka for this great occasion which happens once a year.

The celebration attracts personalities from all areas of the state, friends and well wishers of Awka sometimes participate in the celebration



as they witness singing and dancing from assorted masquerades and masquerade men all in the bid to make the occasion colourful.

Some, Particularly Christians are of the opinion that the celebration is satanic and should be scrapped, siting bloodshed, violence and idolatry as one of the reasons to let go of the old Awka tradition, while others see it simply as a means of catching fun ones in a year and also to uphold the Igbo tradition and legacy handed over to us by our forefathers.



What’s your take as an Awka indiegen?? Do you see Imo Awka festival as idolatry and should be scrapped or modified or do you see it as a tradition which must be maintained??





http://www.enzyhub.com/update-on-imo-awka-celebration-in-awka-anambra-state/

Fun my foot! Fun in hell? Is pure idolatory especially going to pay visit to the shrine. I used to attend it when we were small from Enugu. Pure Christianiy is enough for the igbos. Let them stop these uncivilised traditions. We have better traditions to revived. I hope they are not copying the osun oshogbo festival which in a way is making that part of country more backward. Let them stop reviving that shi*t of culture called imoawka. We have other great cultures and way of life to revive. Any body that participates in imoawka is ignorantly worshipping the devil.Wait oooh, i taught this imoawka don die.

I remember wen I wz in Unizik, I wud always stay indoor due to fear. On two ocassions these masquerades almost flogged me coz I put on trousers. Miss Awka though.

Hmmmm, I see