Okenyi Kenechi
The Eze Igbu Upata III of Upata Kingdom, Ahoada East Local Government Area, Rivers State, HRM Eze Felix Enene Otuwarikpo, has said the culture and traditional heritage of the people are their pride.
The Upata monarch said culture and tradition should be exploited for conflict resolution options to promote peace and security in the Nigerian society.
The Eze Igbu Upata stressed the need for people to respect African culture and tradition, which he said has been used to promote peace and security right from the pre-colonial era.
Declaring open the Upata Forklore day, in preparation for the forthcoming Ogwu Ekpeye festival said that “It has been a known fact that the culture and traditions of Upata are so rich, that if properly funded, would see the Kingdom become a tourist destination and create numerous job opportunities for the teeming youths, and would yield so much return on investment for investors.
According to him, “The glory of Upata lies in its unfettered adherence to its rich culture and traditions. One of the imperative cultures of Upata, is the Ogwu festival, which is one of the most respected heritage in the ancient Igbu Upata Kingdom.”
Saying the people were committed to preserving their cultural heritage despite influx of foreign culture which has eroded the culture of some Kingdoms, the Eze stressed that “we are willing to project these traditions to the world.”
He said there was need to create, add value and importance to the festival with modernization and globalization, informing that “we will strive towards achieving that goal, especially by targeting the youth with specialized programs that will be put in place in future as the festival is attended by people of all ages and race.”
The monarch informed that the festival period is loaded with minor and major traditional events. Majority of these traditional activities of the festival are “not popularized and publicized,” listing the traditional activities to include “uchi agbala, udu adanwo, ukho ele” which he said, are significant traditional activities that highlights the Ogwu Ekpeye festival.
He pointed out that things started to change with the coming of the Colonialists and modern civilization, which has resulted in the anti-social behaviour prevalent among the people.
Eze Igbu Upata III while commending his people for coming out in support of the preservation of the traditional heritage, however, advised against paying lip service to culture and tradition because “these activities pull crowd from far and wide to experience the festival. I will support any plan that will promote the culture and traditions of the people.”
