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THE NATION SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 2014
Travel&Tourism with OKORIE UGURU (e-mail: Promenade@thenationonline.ng) Tel:08056516881 *LEISURE*ADVENTURE*FITNESS*NEWS*
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When Uturu celebrated Igbo heritage
in Abia State is currently noted more as a university community, but it is a town that is stepped in history with rich culture that dates back to hundreds of years. It also has beautiful landscape with undulating hills Uturu has also been a destination for archeologists. In 1977, a group of archaeologists discovered signs of the habitation of early, middle and late Stone Age Homo erectus in the caves. However, all these endowments were relegated to the background last December TURU
as the people trooped out in large number for the Igbo Uturu carnival. The carnival is unique in itself as it is devoted to the celebration of Ndi Igbo, and as such, it has a deep cultural inclination. This year, the carnival was celebrated in honour of Chief Sab Ejimofor. A display of its inclination towards exposing the cultural elements of the people in a very profound manner was the
•President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Igariwey cutting the tape to declare the carnival open
setting itself which was entirely made of local materials creatively put together. In this wise, the locally woven mats and straw hats which are part of the cultural symbolism of the people of Uturu featured prominently alongside native calabashes, clay pots and cups and other forms of art and craft. Even in the area of communication, it was purely that of an Igbo affair by all the speakers that mounted the rostrum at the various events to deliver speeches or lead programmes. The founder of the carnival, Ibe said: ''The major aim of the carnival is to explore the potency of the carnival to weld apparently disparate cultures to create cultural unity, social harmony and strength on the one hand, while on the flip side, it is to checkmate the move towards ethnocentrism which leads to racial prejudice, discrimination and other social ills.'' Thus, this was what informed the choice of this year's theme: 'Ibu anyi danda' (Resilience, the indomitable spirit of Ndi Igbo), an evocation of the consciousness of Igbo cultural unity and to influence national cultural unity. In retrospect, Ibe, who is also the Chancellor of Gregory University, Uturu, described the four-day celebration as a huge success. The choice of the theme, according to him, was not only to pay homage to Chief Sam Ejiomofor who rose
from rags to riches through the dint of hard work and resilience, but also to every Igbo man who has achieved a lot in his various enterprises and engagements in life as such achievements came through resilience and surmounting of life threatening obstacles. The presence of the President-General of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, Chief Gary Enwo Igariwey, he said, boosted the appeal of the carnival.
The major aim of the carnival is to explore the potency of the carnival to weld apparently disparate cultures to create cultural unity, social harmony and strength on the one hand, while on the flip side, it is to checkmate the move towards ethnocentrism which leads to racial prejudice, discrimination and other social ills