One
Where it All Started
Nights after nights, as we gathered by the fire, in cages; our hands and feet bound in fetters and shackles, we listened with grief, stories our parents told us of how we got to where we are now- the dungeons of slavery. They were sorrowful folklores of how peaceful we lived in the brotherhood of family and communal life, before we were ripped of our freedom. As I lay on my sick bed, well-stricken with age, my life passing away each day, I remember with mixed feelings, life in this turbulent period in history.
Our forebears used to live in the ancient Nri kingdom, the oldest kingdom in Nigeria , in the Awka area. It was founded in about 900 AD in North-central Igbo land. The Nsukka-Awka-orlu axis is said to be the oldest area of Igbo settlement and therefore homeland of the Igbo people. This ancient kingdom is still considered the cradle of Igbo culture. The Nri people are children of the historical and mythical divine king, Eri( founder of Aguleri of the Umueri clan in the Anambra river valley). It was a center of spirituality, tradition, learning and commerce.
Yearly sacrifices, like the Iriji ohuru, new yam festivals, which is also known by other names like Iwa-ji were observed on chosen market days to celebrate Ahiajioku, the god of agricultural increase. These occasions attracted people from the neighboring villages, as well as big cities, and also united the kingdom. They also carried out spiritual rites aimed at cleansing the land of evil spirits, and warding off the invasion of these spirits. Some of these rites were carried out to cleanse those who offended Aja-ana, the earth goddess. The Nri people also believed in reincarnation. They believed dead people could come back to life, as babies, and that some evil spirits existed as newly born babies, trees, streams and rivers. Twin births were therefore regarded as Alu, a taboo, hence such babies are usually sent to the evil forest and left to die, in order to cleanse the land, and prevent the wrath of the gods. They thus believed in gods, goddesses, and deities, like; Ayanwu, the sun god, Igwekaala, god of the sky, Amadioha, and Kamalu, gods of thunder and lightning; others included Ikenga, god of fortune and industry, and Agwunsi, the god of divination and healing. These gods had shrines and laws, headed and interpreted by the Dibia, chief priest of the village. The Nri people also had high moral values; young girls were encouraged to remain virgins until marriage. Virginity was every maidens pride, and breaking it before marriage, an abomination.
More so, the Nri people were agents of peace and harmony, whose influence stretched beyond the Igbo land. Their influence in neighboring lands was especially in southern Igala land and Benin Kingdom in the 12th to 15th centuries. As great travelers, they were also business people involved in long distant Trans- Saharan trade. The development and sophistication of this civilization is evident in the bronze castings found in Igbo Ukwu, an area of Nri influence. The Nri people also engaged in farming, hunting and local craftsmanship. They married and conducted marriages in their typical peaceful state as they enjoyed the vast vegetation and fertility, nature blessed them with. The large acres of land, numerous palm trees, Iroko and mahogamy trees, bread fruits, Ukwa and Ube trees, were evidence of nature’s love for the Nris. The land was also a center of commerce, and other villages came to trade with them. There was also a very peaceful and strong relationship between the Nris and the Benins , until the 15th century, when the Benin kingdom became a threat to them, under the leadership of a powerful monarch. This period began a historical evolution in the existence of the Nri kingdom. But my memories did not begin as I sat in the cold cages of slavery in the Benin kingdom. They began years later, as I lay sickly on my hospital bed, comparing the present situation of Nigeria , to its situation centuries ago, when I was a child.
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