By: Ike Philip Abiagom
His Royal Majesty, Asagba Prof Epiphany Azinge, SAN, OON, FNIALS,the traditional ruler of Asaba kingdom,has said the age-long new yam festival of his community has lost its value.
HRM Azinge, who was speaking when the Publisher of Asaba Quays and son of the soil , Comrade Nnamdi Odiwe, visited him ahead of the celebration of his new yam festival, said the beauty of the festival was in celebrating it with one’s own harvest, which was no longer the case.
Asagba noted that new yam festival in Asaba had become merely a symbolic or spiritual event, and not the reality of contemporary time, stressing that celebrating new yam festival in a community where only about one or two percent of the people farmed was totally out of place.
“If we are talking about the time past when our people were predominantly farmers and harvested their yams I can understand and relate with it. But what we have now doesn’t add up. Let’s tell ourselves the truth, it doesn’t. We have to reawaken our people, else all that we do will end up being spiritual, symbolic, but there must be some reality to it.
“Notable rich people of the past in the community were known for the massive bans of yam they had from their harvest and the livestock they kept. All that has gone into the dustbin of history as far as Asaba is concerned.
“We don’t farm, we don’t engage in fishing, which means that urbanization has taken a toll on Asaba as the state capital. We have a lot of work to do to change the narrative because we cannot continue to dwell on our distant past. Spiritually, yes; symbolically, yes, but we shouldn’t be talking about bountiful harvest because there’s nothing to harvest.
“All it boils down to is that the gods of our ancestors are benevolent and kind to us in many dimensions, and that’s what we should be celebrating and not new yam festival because there’s no yam to harvest. So, in the broader sense, we are celebrating the bountiful blessings of God to our land, not just harvest.
“Our new yam festival should not continue to be a yearly ritual that ends up in nothingness. So, the motivating factor should be how we can go back to the farm. As leaders that should be our direction; that school be our focus, to bring back the lost glory of this town and get our people in the path of agrarian revolution so that we can truly celebrate our new yam festival”, the Asaba Monarch emphasized.
The Asagba thanked his guest and subject for the visit and for his invaluable contributions to the development of the community, assuring him that he would be duly recognized and appreciated at the appropriate time.
Earlier in the remarks, Nnamdi Odiwe said he led members of his family and friends to the palace to see the King ahead of the celebration of his new yam festival.
Odiwe commended Asagba Prof Azinge for all he had done since ascending the throne to launch Asaba to reckoning and global recognition, especially in the area of tourism.
He pledged that he would continue to support the vision and mission of His Royal Majesty for the greater good of Asaba, its people and all other residents of the community.
