Umunoha is a town in southeastern Nigeria near the city of Owerri . It is an Igbo town. Umunoha is south of Eziama Obiato and Afara communities; and is North and Northeast of Ogbaku , Azara Obiato and Ejemekwuru communities; and is north and northwest of Ifakala and Afara communities. It is served by the great east-west road, the Port-Harcourt-Lagos Highway . Umunoha is about thirteen kilometers from Owerri, the Imo State capital. It is a small, compact but thickly populated community with a projected 1997 population of twenty-five thousand people.
21-413: Umunoha is known for certain traditions and culture, such as Igwekala shrine, Orie-Amaigwe market, and Mmanwu masquerade. Umunoha's famous Igwekala shrine is a jungle that covers over 100 acres of land near the center of Umunoha. Igwekala is renowned for its healing powers, and people come from all over the continent to receive healing and recover their health. This is also an economical source for some of
42-510: A consistent commonality. In the past masquerades also bore judicial, social regulatory, and even policing powers, however though these functions have decreased in modern times. The word "Mmanwu" in Igbo means "spirits of the dead". It is the combination of two Igbo words "mmuo" or "maa" which means spirit and "onwu" which means death. This refers to the purpose behind Mmanwu which is to create physical representations of spirits and ancestors through
63-594: Is a traditional masquerade of the Igbo people of Southeastern Nigeria . They are performed only by males in exclusive secret societies and involve the use of elaborate, colorful costumes that are meant to invoke ancestral spirits. Masquerade traditions have a varied range of purposes that span from performing elements of epic drama derived from community cosmology and lore, ushering in new months and seasons, honoring totems and ancestral spirits, enactments of parables or myths, with entertainment and community building serving as
84-424: Is limited to male participants and there are strict rules governing how each gender interacts with the masquerade. Men are solely responsible for the creation, care, and use of the masks. The induction of members into mask-making societies serves as a male rite of passage in some Igbo societies. Since men are masqueraders, they are buried within their homes so their spirits may be close to their families and return to
105-673: Is performed not only to protect the village, but also when there is going to be a punishment or execution of a criminal Mmanwu is a way for Igbo people to regulate and discipline members of their society. Mmanwu will work alongside the Igbo community's political assembly, often stepping into action when the political assembly has reached a stalemate in a certain issue. They work to execute pre-determined and long-standing social norms, often using symbolic messaging. One example of this comes from an interview Bess Reed held with an Igbo woman. The woman discusses how after she complained to prominent members of her community about stolen mangos from her tree,
126-484: Is required by tradition to be initiated into a masquerade cult at puberty, and become an Otigba as they are called. The female children also join the culture, but their membership known as Erere is not as serious as the male children. A male child of Umunoha initiation into Mmanwu signifies and authenticates the child as an Okechi son, or "Diala Okechi" as they hail and greet each other, meaning real son of Umunoha. The town's creation myth usually, but not always, claims it
147-458: Is well attended by buyers from neighboring towns and all over Imo State , and Nigeria at large. While they have other small markets in their various villages, like Eke-Ibile, Nkwo-obuu, Ahia ututu (umuokparaihe or ahia okirida), and Nkwo-Okoturu. The market sells a vast variety of products. Umunoha also has a famous cultural masquerade known as Mmanwu. Every male child of Umunoha born in Nigeria
168-663: The indigenes [ fr ] and the native doctors who tend the shrine. They are known as "Mbranigwe", meaning members of the Igwekala cult. Igwekala was combed by the British during Colonial times, and was combed again by the Nigerian Army during the Nigerian Civil war (Biafran Genocide, 1966 - 1970). Umunoha has a notable market known as Orie-Amaigwe. This market meets every eight days from 5am to 8pm, and
189-694: The Igwebuike Kingdom (A collection of communities in Mbaitoli before the creation of local governments). The third-generation ruler and leader of the royal family, HRH, Late Christopher Nlemchukwu Egbuchulam, Eze Nnoha II of Umunoha who was buried in November 2018, was once the Surveyor-General of Imo State. He left that post to become King, succeeding his father. The present heir to the throne, his eldest son Engineer Chukwuma prepared with
210-572: The Köppen-Geiger classification and is designated as Am. According to the information available, the average annual temperature in Umuoha is 25.9 °C (78.6 °F). Here, there is roughly 2412 mm (95.0 inches) of precipitation per year. List of villages in Imo State 5°37′N 6°59′E / 5.617°N 6.983°E / 5.617; 6.983 Mmanwu Mmanwu //
231-477: The Mmanwu marked her mango tree overnight with fresh palm leaves and no thievery occurred thereafter. The Mmanwu is a salient example of an informal organization . The second group of invisible masquerades is agu mmuno (leopard spirit). In these masquerades, horrible screaming sounds are produced to create fear. This third category is "strictly used for dance entertainment" (Oyeneke 22). The Mmanwu practice
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#1732801596768252-462: The Mmanwu so closely enforce. The local instruments used in these depictions are integral to the spiritual intention of the stories and the actual masks themselves include a great deal of artistic drama. It has been argued that this has been the most resilient type of Mmanwu since the others have sometimes lost prominence with changing social institutions and structures. Ceremonial Mmanwu has even been incorporated into other religious celebrations such as
273-414: The adornment of the masks. The visible masquerades are meant for the public. They often are more entertaining. Masks used offer a visually appeal for their shapes and forms. In these visual masquerades, performances of harassment, music, dance, and parodies are acted out (Oyeneke 25). These dramatic performances often depict stories of daily life with a moralistic bent that highlights the social norms that
294-413: The earthly world from time to time to offer spiritual advice (Chiene 10). Conversely, women are prohibited from touching the masks or even understanding the spiritual meaning behind the mask. Women are able to observe the ceremony and many do so, but they are careful to keep their distance. Both genders work to maintain the secrecy surrounding the ceremony, as it is forbidden to share the process outside of
315-402: The hearts of those not initiated into their society. The invisible masquerades can be broken down into three groups, achikwu ocha/ojii , agu mmuno , and ogbagu . The achikwu ocha (white) masquerade acts as village surveillance. The "entertainment" activities include "singing, joking, and dancing" (Oyeneke 22). Achikwu ojii (black) is the other side of the achikwu ocha masquerade. This
336-484: The inclusion of Mmanwu in Igbo Christmas and Easter parades. The invisible masquerades take place at night. Sound is the main tool for them. The masquerader uses his voice to scream so it may be heard throughout the village. The masks used are usually fierce looking and their interpretation is only fully understood by the society members. These invisible masquerades call upon a silent village to strike fear in
357-519: The present Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State , and settled in Umunoha, having decisively defeated the original Isu settlers, who resisted him fiercely. He dispersed the Isu, seized their land, and distributed it among his children according to seniority as follows: Duru, his first son, became the progenitor of the present Umuduru village; Okparaoma, Duru's younger brother from the same mother and
378-402: The present Umumbara village. Later the area so divided and effectively occupied was renamed Umunoha. Here is a case where consanguineal relationship is a sine qua non for citizenship. From the beginning of the history of Umunoha to the present, the town has been ruled by the royal family of Egbuchulam Chimezie of Okwaraihekuna Obakpu, dating as far back as Colonial time(1800s) when they ruled
399-451: The rest of the royal family for his coronation in November 2019 to become the fourth-generation traditional ruler. Tradition and law of the land demand mourning for the dead king for one year. The weather in this city is tropical. Umuoha experiences notable precipitation levels for the bulk of the months in a given year. There is, however, just a small time frame that is characterised by aridity. The predominant climate in this area falls under
420-413: The third child, the progenitor of the present Umuokparaoma village. Okparafor, the fourth child and third son from a different mother, the progenitor of the present Umuokparafor village; Durundom, Duru's only sister and Nnoha's second child whom he refused to give out in marriage, remained at home and begat the present Umudurundom village; and Mbara, brother of Okparafor and Nnoha's fifth and last child begat
441-574: Was founded by a common ancestor, who begat several children to whom he allocated areas on which to settle. These areas eventually became villages, according to the tradition of the origin of Umunoha, an autonomous community in Mbaitoli Local Government Area (LGA) in Imo State . According to tradition, a sort of warlord called Nnoha Okechi with vague Aro ancestry, but certainly a peripatetic individual, migrated from Ozuzu in
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