Iwaji Uwae
Celebrating the King of Crops in Mgbidi
Mgbidi like every other Igbo community has been farming since time immemorial. Among all farm produce, yam is revered as the “King of Crops.” Each year, at the close of the farming season, the people of Mgbidi honour the god of yam (Njoku Ji) with a special ceremony called Iwaji Uwae.
The Ancestral Calendar and Sequence of Ceremonies
In Mgbidi’s ancestral calendar, Iwaji takes place in the seventh month of the Igbo calendar. The order of celebrations is as follows:
2. Amorji: Hold hers four days after that of Ezinifite.
3. Ezinese and Ezineri: Hold theirs on the fifth ancestral week, each in their own chosen locations. Ezinese comprises of Ofelite, Uwakpu, Isiyi, Agbonato-Ogba, Ogwugwu, Isiuga and Ugwunato-Ogba, while Ezineri is Amorji, Eziama, Ududa, Enugwuife, and Ogwumgbidi.
4. Eziama (Enugu Ugo): Eziama is the last to hold a sectional Iwaji before the general festival comes up.
5. General Yam Festival (Ifuafhia Ji): Mgbid holds her Iwaji at Okpo Uwae for the entire Mgbidi-Uwae community.
Other notable events that happen alongside
During Iwaji season, all newly married couples’ families that particular year honour their in-laws with cooked foods and gifts known as Ikwa Ngwa Afia (nri ozi oku). This ritual, also called idu uno (establishing her in a new home), this practice allows brides’ families to formally settle their daughters into marriage.
Village Gatherings
On the day of the general new yam festival (Ifuafhia Ji) at Okpo Uwae, each village remains at its own gathering point (odu afia), yet visitors from any village are welcome to join in the festivities.
Morning Ritual
The Iwaji ceremony is performed at dawn to express gratitude for a successful season. The ritual comes in stages which are as follows:
- Roasting of yam tubers and mixing with red palm oil.
- Then, it is time to visit the cash-crop plantation (e.g., palm, bitter kola, or oil‐bean trees) locations.
- At the base of each cash-crop tree, the celebrants pour the yam–oil mixture onto the ground as an offering.
- And finally, the celebrants say prayers for better harvest in the years to come and while giving thanks to God through Njoku Ji for the abundance of the harvest being celebrated.
No other form of sacrifice is involved, as this simple act of roasted yam and oil suffices to honour the yam deity is enough.
