RAYMOND OZOJI reports
It was a moment of splendor, conviviality and a showcase of the rich cultural heritage and ancestry of Amawbia people in Awka-South Local Government Area of Anambra State, last weekend at the Okpalaigwe square Amawbia, as the community was agog with her annual Eziokpalaigwe cultural festival heralding the farming season.
The grand occasion which was attended by the Deputy Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly and member representing Awka-South 2 state constituency Rt. Hon. Ozo Chukwuma Pius Okoye (Ozonkpuluobi Amawbia), Nze na Ozo title holders and a host of other very distinguished personalities, featured distribution of yam seedlings, cocoa yam seedlings and other farm implements to various age grades while the traditional ruler of the community His Royal Highness Ozo Uchenna Okonkwo, prayed to God for a successful planting season and also grant them bountiful harvest after cultivations.
Igwe Uchenna Okonkwo who was recently issued Certificate of Recognition by Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, was apparently elated with the mammoth crowd in attendance, as he recalled that Amawbia community gathered to celebrate the Eziokpalaigwe festival after a long while.
He said that his emergence as the traditional ruler of Amawbia has come to fill the vacuum of the last Okpalaigwe who joined his ancestors in 2021. He said that what he will do is to make sure that Amawbia community is second to none.
Igwe Okonkwo maintained that the 2026 Eziokpalaigwe cultural festival was an eloquent reminder of how Amawbia people celebrated it many decades ago, stressing that the mammoth crowd is a justification that the culture and ancestral heritage of Ndi-Amawbia is coming back alive. That the occasion marked a significant progress in the community.
The monarch who disclosed that his coronation ceremony is scheduled to take place on the 9th of May this year, recalled with hindsight that the colonial masters came to Amawbia community in 1921 but ever since, there has not been any meaningful infrastructural developments in the area.
He however stated that the community is expecting a lot from the Soludo administration in terms of infrastructures and social amenities.
Meanwhile Deputy Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ozo Chukwuma Pius Okoye ( Ozonkpuluobi Amawbia), who is an illustrious son of Amawbia community, in his few remarks, noted that Eziokpalaigwe cultural festival is an important festival which brings Amawbia people at home and in the diaspora together under one convivial atmosphere.
Okoye said that Amawbia community is on the rise especially with the election of a new traditional ruler in the person of His Royal Highness Ozo Uchenna Okonkwo. He said that the emergence of a monarch for the community was a good omen because he believes that Amawbia will henceforth move to greater heights as evident in the just concluded 2026 annual Eziokpalaigwe cultural festival.
The President-General of Amawbia Town Union (ATU) Nze Chukwuka Odumodu (Akalanze Amawbia), said Amawbia is a peaceful community and they love one another as practically demonstrated in the Eziokpalaigwe cultural festival.
The Amawbia community Eziokpalaigwe cultural festival also featured masquerade carnival and esoteric traditional dance displays by the traditional ruler His Royal Highness Ozo Uchenna Okonkwo and Nze na Ozo title holders.
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