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Ifeoma Ogunnupe, Okiki Iyanu

7 of 7, the TVC's drink bar game show hosted the Duke Of Shomolu ' Joseph Edgar' . It is an Episode to watch. Keep checking this space for links to the show and more.

CHRITMAS LIKE NO OTHER...PART 2

So the second burial on the 26th of December turned out successful.

On the eve of the burial, we had some minutes stint with our noble cultural dance " Okwereaku Alija dance" .

In the days of my father, you can't be too big to run down to the arena once you hear the sound of Our Royal Alija Dance troupe.
it doesn't matter if your wife's waist was as flat as a slate board , she must shake it to the best of her ability and atleast to her husband's admiration, oh yeah! 'Hips never lie' was actually the 'form' of Alija dance. you shake your buttocks...a little to the left, a little to the right...if the heave is in sink with the beat , you are sure stealing the show.

Forming a circle, i recall, was an unrehearsed ussual happening, the umuada( maidens) jumps in wagging their waist and the men joins the fray in wreckless abandon, you would hear songs like 'O biara ile anyi pacharakwa anya eeh, egwu na eme anyi obioma eeeh!( If you have come to watch us be careful, our dance makes us happy). Oyo meeee! Amiwa!!( this one i still don't understand the meaning but sure moves the crowd)

Alija Okwereaku dance was more than an intoxicant! , much more than colorado. ma*****na or Skunk. Right after the dance (expecially the once we played into the night, fathers and mothers would retire to' Za Oza rooms' , don't ask me what they retired to? because the philosopher in me refused to 'wonder', in that direction... only that the numbers of children in Okwereaku family continued to multiply

Okwereaku Alija dance, The Official royal dance for my royal family brought an undiluted socio- cultural flavour, became a healing peel to the sick, i remember falling ill as a child, ( i hate to fall ill) but on this fateful day, i was bedridden, and Apparently miserable about it. I had been indoors all day, t i didnt realize it had gotten dark outside, in my overwhelmed sickly state, i heard the sound of Alija. it was so sublime but yet so alluring. i could hear the crown bell sound as if the ringer was joyfully giving certification to the synchrony of every instruments. Suddenly my weak feet began to gather strength. I dragged myself to the arena and began to shake my tinny little waist to the beat, my little effort faced adverse charade from drums of migraine, but i was not to be discouraged. I was determined to enjoy the ease of the moment, i weaved my near rigid hips right and left .. faster than ever and then , hot swet broke out . It wasn't until after the dance, i realised my sisters were watching and on standby to catch my frayed little body if i collapsed, Thank God that never happened and i never retired to that sick bed.

back to track, on this eve of the second burial on the 26th, i approached the dance arena with so much excitement, i approached the arena like a faithful husband who has just been informed that his beautiful wife who has been away for 7 market weeks is back from the land of her birth, With a heavily charged groin he must rise in welcome of his wife. Such, was the zest i applied to get to the arena that night. God bless the young ones they were keenly struggling to put up a good show, Okwereaku Alija Dance has never been a show to struggle with, it was our way of life...our worldview incapsulated in our dance. it was not a duty , it was a rythmic in*******se, a product from chemistry of souls. There was no struggles, it was effortless...

That night I was tending to domestics in my house but quickly dumped the clothes i was washing when i head the sound of Alija. i ran out to the set arena and low and behold they were all lads. it took me quite some seconds to realise i was alone with them and no person of my age bracket was in the arena except for a senior cousin who also came back from Lagos . it was really disappointing but hey, who cares? so i quickly shelved the thought and tried to concentrate on the bliss of the beat , then i noticed the intermitent discordance in some simulations. i wanted to stop dancing, but it suddenly occurred i could dance alija without a single instrument played. I have the rythm in my head and so i switched to the one in my head and danced out my heart. i was determined not to allow anybody spoil my reggae with their makkosa.
That very night, I didnt see all i craved for , the things that made Okwereaku troupe different... that intoxication ...joy...bond...they were all missing except the resilient effort of my younger brothers who i must commend for even trying to stand where we sat still.

It suddenly occurred to me that in search of greener pastures, we have abandoned our identity, we have neglected the things that held us together. We can't be bigger than this things that binds us

Culture is life, it is only a fool who thinks we should abandon things that made us happy, gave us our identity. Things that were pure in themselves.

Do have a happy 2021 culture- full experience . Thank you.