ELEME CULTURE IN PERSPECTIVES
BEING AN INVITED PAPER
PRESENTED BY CHIEF OSARO OLLORWI AT THE ELEME CULTURAL HERITAGE EXPO 2015
ORGANIZED BY THE ELEME ARTS AND CULTURE IN COLLABORATION WITH INSIDE ELEME
NEWSPAPER WITH THE THEME “CULTURE AS A
TOOL FOR THE UNIFICATION OF ELEME PEOPLE” AT THE ϽTͻͻ ELEME SECRETARIAT,
OGALE ON 31ST DECEMBER, 2015
What is culture?
Definitions of culture are as many
as there are anthropologists. But, all definitions would emphasize
approximately the same things – that culture is shared, transmitted through
learning and helps shape behaviour and beliefs.
Culture
is of concern to all people. However, while our earliest ancestors relied more
on biological adaptation, culture now shapes humanity to a much larger extent.
It remains the pivot upon which civilization/humanity revolves. The traditions
that binds a defined set of people becomes the matrix in which future
developments are anchored and depending on the relative level of attachment, a
person grows to become a product of the regulatory forces of his native
culture. That is how the Ogonis differ from Eleme, Hausa from Ibo etc.
Culture in its simplest form
is “a society’s shared and socially transmitted ideas, values and
perceptions, which are used to make sense of experience and generate behavior
and are reflected in that behavior”.
Characteristics of Culture
Culture Exists in the minds of
people.
Culture Varies considerably.
Although cultures differ in some
respects, they resemble one another.
Once learned culture tends to
persist and gradually change over time.
Nobody is culture free.
However, there are variations within
a given culture.
Functions of Culture
Communicate with others.
Makes it possible to anticipate
actions of others.
Standards to distinguish right from
wrong; safe/dangerous situation or condition
Provide knowledge & skills for
meeting sustenance needs.
Identification with society &
community.
(The foregoing is explained in
detail below vis-à-vis Eleme culture).
Values and Beliefs as Elements of Culture
Values are a culture’s standard for
discerning what is good and just in society.
Values are deeply embedded and
critical for transmitting and teaching a culture’s beliefs. Beliefs are the
tenets or convictions that people hold to be true.
Individuals
in a society have specific beliefs, but they also share collective values. To
illustrate the difference, the real Eleme man prides himself as belonging to a
culture that abhors stealing and witchcraft and that anyone who works hard
enough will be successful and wealthy. Underlying this belief is the Eleme
value that wealth is good and important.
Values
help shape a society by suggesting what is good and bad, beautiful and ugly,
sought or avoided. Consider the value the culture of Eleme places upon the
present generation of youths. Children represent innocence and purity, while a
youthful adult appearance signifies sexuality. Shaped by this value,
individuals spend millions of naira each year on cosmetic products and
surgeries to look young and beautiful. The present generation of Eleme also has
an individualistic culture, meaning people place a high value on individuality
and independence. In past, our culture was collectivist, meaning the welfare of
the group and group relationships were a primary value.
Living
up to a culture’s values can be difficult. It’s easy to value good health, but
it’s hard to quit smoking. Marital monogamy is valued, but many spouses engage
in infidelity. Cultural diversity and equal opportunities for all people are
valued in Nigeria, yet the country’s highest political offices have been
dominated by Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba. Values often suggest how people should
behave, but they don’t accurately reflect how people do behave.
Values
portray an ideal culture, the standards society would like to embrace and live
up to. But ideal culture differs from real culture, the way society actually
is, based on what occurs and exists. In an ideal culture, there would be no
traffic accidents, murders, poverty, or ethnic tension. But in real culture, police
officers, lawmakers, educators, and social workers constantly strive to prevent
or repair those accidents, crimes, and injustices. Our teenagers are encouraged
to value celibacy.
However,
the number of unplanned pregnancies among teens reveals that not only is the
ideal hard to live up to, but that the value alone is not enough to spare
teenagers from the potential consequences of having sex.
Reward and Sanction
One way societies strive to put
values into action is through rewards, sanctions, and punishments. When people
observe the norms of society and uphold its values, they are often rewarded. A
boy who helps an elderly woman board a bus may receive a smile and a “thank
you.” A business manager who raises profit margins may receive a quarterly bonus.
People sanction certain behaviors by giving their support, approval, or
permission, or by instilling formal actions of disapproval and non-support.
Sanctions are a form of social control, a way to encourage conformity to
cultural norms. Sometimes people conform to norms in anticipation or
expectation of positive sanctions: good grades, for instance, may mean praise
from parents and teachers.
When
people go against a society’s values, they are punished. A boy who shoves an
elderly woman aside to board the bus first may receive frowns or even a
scolding from other passengers. A business manager who drives away customers
will likely be fired. Breaking norms and rejecting values can lead to cultural
sanctions such as earning a negative label—lazy, no-good bum—or to legal
sanctions such as traffic tickets, fines, or imprisonment.
Dynamism of Value
Values are not static; they vary
across time and between groups as people evaluate, debate, and change
collective societal beliefs. Values also vary from culture to culture. For
example, cultures differ in their values about what kinds of physical closeness
are appropriate in public. It’s rare to see two male friends or coworkers
holding hands in the Nigeria where that behavior often symbolizes romantic
feelings. But in the U.S today, and many nations, masculine physical intimacy
is considered natural in public. A simple gesture, such as hand-holding,
carries great symbolic differences across cultures.
Norms
So far, the examples have described
how people are expected to behave in certain situations—for example, when
buying food or boarding a bus. These examples describe the visible and
invisible rules of conduct through which societies are structured, or what
sociologists call norms. Norms define how to behave in accordance with what a
society has defined as good, right, and important, and most members of the
society adhere to them.
Formal norms are established, written rules. They are
behaviors worked out and agreed upon in order to suit and serve the most
people. Laws are formal norms, but so are employee manuals, college entrance
exam requirements, and “no running” signs at swimming pools.
Eleme
Eleme is one of
Nigeria’s 250 ethnic nationalities and is made up of two districts namely:
Nchia and Odido, ten federating clans and over one hundred and eleven
communities and several villages. Among the 400 languages recorded in the book
“Studies in Nigerian Languages” Eleme
Language features at No. 96. Eleme is distinctively shown as “one of the twenty major ethnic groups in
Eastern Nigeria with its language, culture, and social order quite different
and distinguished from those of their immediate neighbours”. The territory
is known as Eleme; the people are called Eleme; the language is Eleme.
Food
Eleme
main food crop is yam (Esaa). This is supplemented with
Cassava (Ojaku, Ojakpo), which can be made into Nja Garri (Garri), Nja
Ojaku (Foofoo/Loiloi), Pipini ojaku (Tapioka slice
cassava), mbiri (grinded cassava flavoured with ripe plaintain, a sort of
moimoi but richer and costly than ordinary moimoi), Cocoyam (Edente
(Etoo Eleme), Etoo Akara, Echuru, Etoo Mmi – these can be cooked and
eaten as obaa etoo or be pounded with enough palm oil and eaten with
looloo mbalo as nja etoo).
Plantain
(Obinͻͻ),
can be eaten fried or boiled. It can also be pounded into omu or be grinded and
mixed with cassava, fired and eaten as Pankek). Three-leave yam (Ochu are of two
varieties: Ochu Eleme and Joebi), Vegetable e.g., fluted
pumpkin (Nsogũ), Pepper (Okofe(e)), – all of which are grown
for family use only and not for sale outside the community.
In other words, the
staple foods that are customarily eaten by Eleme people are yams, cassava,
cocoyam, plantain, three-leave yam, etc. The manner in which these foods are
prepared and served makes the difference. Eleme yams are of different species
and each has its particular use. They include: Ngwe, Ↄyᴐᴐ, Ↄkԑlԑmԑ, Chindonya, Dᴐkara,
Mkpányi, Aka-Mkpányi, Okikaenu, etc. they are served
sliced (Obaa Esaa) or pounded into eyarayara nja esaa or ͻtãrã
nja esaa and eaten with the appropriate soup.
Other notable Eleme
yams are Eburaale and Kᴐrᴐkᴐtᴐ, which are cultivated
mainly by women and are mostly prepared into Esuri ( yam pourage) and
eaten.
There are three types
of soup with cultural values in Eleme. These are Looloo Mbalo, Ebͻri
Mbalo, and Ͻkwͻi Nsogũ. Each type of soup requires particular types of
fish to go with, and they are meant for different occasions.
Looloo
Mbalo is usually cooked with njijoii (snapper), nda (shynose), obui
(catfish), ekoko (skate), ͻmεε (barracuda), and ekokoabura (shark) among other ingredients. Looloo mbalo is mostly served with nja
esaa (pounded yam).
Ebͻri
Mbalo is Eleme soup thickened with adε-mkpͻͻ (cowpea). It is
known generally as native soup and may be prepared with dried fish and/or meat
along other necessary condiments.
Ͻkwͻi
Nsogũ entails the preparation of enough fresh pumpkin
leaves, boiled and carefully grinded in mortal. The ingredients include mgboro, esͻrͻ ͻbani, dried meat, and one of the following types of fish – nda, ekoko, obui, eboakpina or ekokoabura. This type of soup is
preferred during rainy season when fresh pumpkin leaves are abundant.
The ideal Eleme
housewife knows the temperament of her husband and selects the type of soup she
offers him to sustain and promote his love and good health.
Regulation of Behaviours
The behavior of Eleme indigenes groomed within the locality
is regulated by the belief in the continued presence of the ancestors of each
family as well as existence of deities endowed with supernatural powers. The
average Eleme person will readily made confession when interrogated on issues
for which he/she had knowledge or participation to avoid society’s rejection if
the matter goes to the level of swearing before a deity or in its name.
Eleme Traditional Dressing
Eleme culture regulates the type and manner of dressing that
suits different occasions. That accounts for the prescription of different
dressings for both sexes at any given occasion and this promotes decency and
morality among the people of Eleme. Eleme culture forbids a man dressing like a
woman; while a woman must not dress like a man.
A spinster, except during a group customary ceremony, is not
expected to tie two wrappers round her waist at the same time. O’ura Osuãa is
the preserve of married women only. A widow who remains unmarried is precluded
from tying her wrapper to reach down lower than her knees.
A bachelor in the process of marrying is expected to tie his
wrapper in the manner called Ojibi Osuãa
and this must not be knotted on the right side of his waist.
For members of the Chieftaincy Cadre and related title
holders an outfit of Jumper, hat and
walking stick with appropriate loincloth is the requirement. But a titled chief must always tie Njiri, whether plain or designed.
Folktales and Story Telling
Stories and songs are instrumental in retaining languages
and culture. Eleme folktales are particularly entertaining as they usually
include a song with which the listener joins in. Stories are usually told in
the evening to entertain adults and children alike. In addition to original
songs, there is a rich culture for original composition of hymns – written and
performed.
Arts and Crafts
Eleme
people were once efficient craftsmen and women who produced mortals, pestles,
drums, facemasks and masquerades, ladles, combs, chairs, boxes, among others.
To meet their needs the Eleme people also produce clay pots, weave baskets,
mats, etc. Painting is done mainly as a body decoration during festivals like
wrestling, marriage, and ekpete dance.
Music
Traditional music in Eleme was developed out of the desire to transmit information. Singing and drumming were also developed for different types of occasions and ceremonies. Music is also essential parts of the Eleme culture.
Eleme
cultural music includes:
1.
Mkpaa
Ekoro
2. Mkpaa Egͻni
3. Egelege
4. Ogolo
5. Ngelenge
6. Esͻ Mba
7. Esͻ Akε
8. Esͻ Ngwe
9. Esͻ Okea Ebiε
10. Kukunεnε
11. Ebͻni
12. Ogolo Ejԑ
13. Ogolo Akԑ
14. Kprikpԑ
Ø Mkpaa Ekoro – This is a dance music in which men
demonstrate their bravery and/or affluence. It is as old as Eleme.
Ø Mpkaa Egͻni – It dates back to 1840 and remains a
major talking drum of Eleme. Expert drummers use it to sing praises, encourage
skills and bravery. Mkpaa Egͻni is the premier drum that is entirely indigenous
to Eleme. It is customarily used for chieftaincy installation ceremonies and
for yam title ceremonies. The burial of any traditional title holder is
incomplete without mkpaa egͻni.
Ø Egelege– This is a talking drum whose drummers
are versatile and is used to convey a lot of information that remains people of
the past thus gingers them into wrestling or warns about the consequences of an
individual’s intended actions. Wrestling is the most popular sport in Eleme and
egelege remains the special music for wrestling.
Ø Ogolo– This is a local xylophone played as
major dance music during celebrations. There are three major drummers, each
handling 4, 7, or 3 of the wooden instruments. There are other drummers that
handle the Ogũ, Okpo, and Ekere.
Ø Ngelenge– Ngelenge has similar setting like
Ogolo. The distinguishing feature between Ogolo, Ngelenge and other forms of
Eleme traditional music is that while the songs related to Ogolo and Ngelenge
are rendered entirely through drumming, the songs associated with Egelege, Esͻ
Mba, Esͻ Ngwe, and Esͻ Okea Ebiε are rendered by designated singers.
Ø Esͻ Mba – Esͻ mba is a musical group whose
membership is confined to married women and widows. There are always Esͻ Mba
groups in every Eleme clan or town and the group consists of two efficient
singers and a concerted membership. Their instruments are “Egbe”, “Ekere”, and
“Nsisaa”. Their songs related to matrimonial problems and their solutions and
are inspiring. Esͻ mba is also used to exposed immorality and control social
behaviour among women folks.
Ø Esͻ Okeaεbiε – Esͻ okeaεbiε is rendered by a
designated singer and is concerned with revealing whatever offence that was
committed in secret. Because Esͻ Okeaεbiε convened a lot of information
concerning evil deeds or deviant behaviours of individuals and families, it
acted as, “social or cultural means by which systematic and relatively consistent
restrains are imposed upon individual behaviour and by which people are motivated
to adhere to traditions and patterns of behaviour that are important to the
smooth functioning of a group or society”.
Ø Esͻ Akε – This consists of songs specially
designed to encourage wrestlers. There is the lead singer and another person
who sings an undertone to support him as well as maintaining the Ekere that provides the rhythm.
Ø Esͻ Ngwe – This is another set of songs that
relate to farming of yams and/or agriculture and the glory of acquiring the
highly esteemed Eleme Yam Titles of Aachu, Obo, Obεrε Obo, Otaa Obo, and
Achuete. Esͻ Ngwe is known to have given much encouragement to individuals who
ordinarily were not inclined to taking any of these titles, as it made them
reflect on their ancestors and proceed to taking two or more Yam Titles.
Ø Kukunεnε,
Ebͻni and
Ogolo Ejԑ – These are ancient music
played by warriors or secret cults in Eleme. They can be played at any time or
day especially during emergency or community threat; or at midnight and only
members of the cults concern participates. A lot of secrecy is associated with
them but they ginger their members into action. They are played mostly during
funeral ceremonies of members or during their meetings or initiations.
Ø Esᴐ Eduduu, Kprikpԑ and Ogolo Akԑ – These are music of
warriors, community defenders (Oku Ejԑ) and wrestling champions.
Dance
Eleme Dance refers to
the dance of Eleme people. Eleme dances
teaches social patterns and values; and help people work, mature, praise, or
criticize members of the community while celebrating festivals and funerals,
competing, reciting history, proverbs, and poetry as well as to encounter the
gods.
Musical Instrument
Eleme musical
instruments include: musical pot, gong, flute, horn, wooden drum, split wooden
drum, egbe, nsisaa, okpo, ogu, ogela, ekere, and so on which produce sounds by
hitting, shaking, beating, blowing in the air, and rubbing them against
another.
Few
Eleme dances worthy of mention include:
1. Eje
Ekpete - This is a common dance among the Eleme women folks.
2. Eje
piopiopioo – It is the girls that dance piopiopioo. The style is exciting,
percussive footwork danced bear footed at a particular temple on whistle,
fiddle or mouth music. That is beating ones heels, toes, and feet in as many
ways as possible and imaginable, keeping time with the rhythms of the music in
reel and jig time.
3. Eje
Alikirijã – There are many styles of alikirijã dance that can be demonstrated.
The style has never been prescribed, except dancing steps neat and close to the
floor. Many alikirijã dancers have their own individual style and steps they
like to do to particular tunes.
4. Eje
Agala- Dance for the boys and girls.
5. Eje
Mbᴐkᴐ/Ngelem – Wedding dance for new brides.
6. Tamkpe
Eje – Dance for both male and female irrespective of age.
7. Okeri
Eje This is the most popular dance step in Eleme. It is
waist dance that is performed by both men and women. Okeri Eje dance step has
been perfected in Eleme that both men and women use it to dance all types of
music.
8. Eje
Echῑi Osila This is first daughter dance. In Eleme,
every first daughter is entitled to this dance (as of right), and it is the
only dance in which the dancer’s legs never touches the ground. The new bride,
who must be first daughter, is usually dressed in a mountain of expensive
cloths arranged in concentric circles round her waist. She will put on her
legs/ankles heavy bracelets (abarachwa), heavy coral beads round
her neck and both wrists, together with a ceremonial staff with white
handkerchief tied on top of it. She also wears short skirt with her body
exposed, carried on the shoulder of an able bodied young man, and she dances
the ngelem
music to and from the market, hailed all along by jubilating crowd of
admirals.
Let it be stated
here that Eleme traditional music and dance and accompanying activities are now
on the decline because the generation of expert singers, drummers, wrestlers,
and so on has given way to another generation of footballers, disco dancers and
cultural alienators.
Traditional Festivals
Eleme
traditional festivals include:
Agba Esaa– This is the
ceremonial conferment of graded traditional yam titles of Aachu, Obo, Obere
Obo, Otaa Obo, Achuete, and Ewoachunsin. These degrees conferred on recipient
certain rights, privileges and honours, and are recognized throughout the Eleme
country.
Agba Esun –Agba Esun (or
New Yam Festival) is celebrated to express gratitude to the ancestors and to
the living elders. The sacrifice known as “Ↄtԑbԑ Enu” is
offered annually, usually in October, in the belief that the ancestors who have
transformed to spirits upon their death are still very much around, seeing
everything they are doing and trying on their part to guide and protect them;
and who labored to cut the virgin forest and gradually reduced them to farm
lands desired the first fruits. The sacrificial offering usually consists of
one cradle (now basin) of good yams, drink, fish, fowl, or goat and other
condiments.
Ogbo Nja– This is a
cultural festival for children and new brides where parents, husbands,
mothers-in-law, and fathers-in-law present gifts to their children, new brides
and relatives; where children make new friends and eat happily and freely from
community to community; and where women in their best and newest dresses sing,
dance and rejoice for being hardworking, healthy and sensible enough to sustain
the growth of their children throughout the year.
Ogbo nja is
celebrated between the 13th and 20th of July annually
depending on the position of the moon and traditional weekday known as Ͻkͻͻ.
Ogbonja festival is celebrated for two consecutive days. Day one known as Ͻkͻͻ Ͻbibai
Etoo is for women while the next day called Mma Agba Okundo is for men.
Agba
Nkikεε – This
festival is celebrated annually on Ochu within the second week of March in
honour of Nkikεε, the Earth goddess, and to mark the beginning of the planting
season. Five days thereafter, precisely on the next Ochu another related
ceremony called “Agba Etenchi” is marked, again to inform all and sundry of the
commencement of the year’s farming season. Although only the initiated elders
(Oku Nkpͻrͻ and Oku Nyoa) are involved in both festivals, it is used to
communicate the beginning of a farming season, which resulted in both the young
and old participating actively in farm work.
Obira Asã – This
is lovers’ festival or celebration day; a sort of Valentine Day. It is also the
final day for wrestling competitions across Eleme.
Ͻla Mba
– This is Eleme’s wedding festival day. It was previously celebrated once a
year, in June.
Other
festivals worthy of mention are: Agba
Mba, Agba Okundo, Oɂe Akε, and Agba
Obibai Etoo.
Masks and Masquerades
Masks and masquerades
are important elements of culture. In Eleme masks and masquerades are generally
called Owu. Most owu are named after their bearers. However, there are
few outstanding masks and masquerades in Elemeviz:
1.
Ebᴐni
2.
Ete Okolaa
3.
Nkͻnkͻ
4.
Ogolo Kurukuru
5.
Akparaloloo
6.
Dededede Ebiri
Marriage
Marriage
is a highly respected institution in Eleme culture. The Eleme culture
recognizes marriage as a union between man and woman in holy matrimony. To the
people of Eleme, marriage is not only the coming together of man and woman in
holy matrimony but, also a union of two families and two people for mutual
benefits. The Eleme culture promotes polygamy and encourages intra Eleme
marriage. An Eleme man is expected to marry Eleme woman as first wife and is
then free to marry from any other tribe or ethnic nationality. Because the
culture frowns at Eleme man marrying first wife from outside, it accords no
marriage recognition to those who do so, and they are exempted from
participating in several cultural activities including taking of yam titles,
admission into Ogbo Nkporon and conferment of traditional chieftaincy titles. This
once cherished tradition has been bastardized. Do not ask me how and why
because we all know it.
Greetings
Greetings remain an
important aspect of culture. Greeting is regarded as a sign of good behavior.
It is expected that children greet their parents, teachers, and elders whenever
and anywhere they see them. Eleme has no special way and manner of greeting.
Although, the mode of greetings in Eleme has changed over the years, perhaps
proving that culture is dynamic, this has been highly influenced by the English
Language and tailored in that direction of our colonial masters. To my mind, Ade
Ageta (Good Morning), Nnyimԑ Eɂera (purported to mean,
Good Afternoon) and Mmuji Abã (Good Evening) are acceptable manner of greeting
which should be adopted by all in keeping with changing times.
Conclusion
We
have demonstrated that Eleme has a rich cultural heritage and that Eleme people
are known by their dressing, language, behavior pattern and have music and
dances for various occasions and festivals.
References:
Gutkind,
P & Waterman, P., (ed) “A Science of Social Control”, in
African Social Studies, London: Heinemann, 1977
Jennings,
J. D. &Adanson Hoebel, (ed) “Readings in Anthropology”, New York:
McGraw Hill, 1972.
Ngofa,
O. O., “Eleme Tradition,” Rescue Publications, Ogale-Eleme, 1994.
Osaro
Ollorwi, “Community Policing & Crime Prevention in Pre-Colonial Eleme Issues
& Perspectives” Port Harcourt, 2009
Osaro
Ollorwi, www.ollorwi.com.ng
Ottenberg,
Simon & Phoebe, (ed) “Cultures & Societies of Africa”, New
York: Random House, 1969
Chief
Osaro Ollorwi
08036694027
