AWA: Legends & Heritage

SETTING AGENDA FOR A NEW AWA Okey Okoli Emmanuel EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, Awa Legends and Heritage Magazine Historians tell us that the world is evolving generationally. Put in another way, generations come and go - each emerging generation getting more refined and more sophisticated in form and beauty. The Bible book of Daniel captured this more aptly in a pictorial form in the vision of King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2). According to Bible scholars, God gave Nebuchadnezzar a load down of generations of earthly kingdoms using human image: Head of fine gold, chest & arm of silver, belly of bronze, legs of iron, and toes of mixture of iron & clay. Looking at the image above you notice a steady increase in quality, mordernisation and beauty - from toes of clay to head of pure gold. Compare this with the crude generation of premodal man (covering his nakedness with leaves, wondering in caves and bushes, and feeding on raw animal flesh) to a modern man using ceramics to dispose e...

AWA LEGENDS & HERITAGE FESTIVAL G reat events are awaited with great expectations. Like big masquerades, their appearance is announced days ahead. And the the large number of spectators count their fingers as the days draw by. The actors are not left in this preparations. Every necessary factor required to make the D-day worthwhile is attended to. For the Awa Legends and Heritage Festival coming up in December 29, 2018, preparations are on top gear by the characters involved. The arena is set for action. The numerous guests expected that day are assured of a memorable event they will live to remember the rest of their lives. And to the Legends and host of Awanians, the dancing floor is thirsting for rhythmic steps. Highlights of the event include Rhythm of Honour, Dance of Honour, Award of Honour, Magazine Presentation and Launch, Pomp and Pageantry. With the state of the preparations, one is sure that on that day, O GA-ARA KA NJA! From: Okey Okoli-Emmanuel Cha...

Awa Celebrates at the Arena Cheers! Hugs!  Pleasantries  – THE HALLMARK OF GREAT EVENTS Uncommon happiness awaits Awanians at the Arena! Happiness. Great Gandhi of India has this to say about happiness: Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. Certainly happiness is guaranteed at the on-coming gathering at the Awa Arena come December 29, 2018. A lot of things are going to fall into pleasant places – all in harmony. There shall be thrills and cheers at the arena as Awa indigenes, our friends and well wishers gather to dance the Dance of Honour! The epoch gathering shall bring us together in a mood that shall define our brotherhood as a people with common descent. Yes, oral tradition has it that Awadike, the founder of Awa town started off the journey of procreation with his first two sons – Ezi and Ifite. In the words of Late Chief Reuben Uzoigwe, Awa is 100% homogenous – one common father, one tradition, one lif...

CELEBRATING GREAT AWANIANS G reat feats often call for celebrations. It is either an individual feels highly excited and decides to beckon on friends to join him in the celebration. A community as a whole can as well call up a celebration to mark happy moments. Awa is a community known for celebrations. Traditional festivals (especially new yam and harvest festivals), child birth, funerals (especially passage rites of great achievers), etc are moments of celebrations in Awa. To day, the news of the hour in Awa is an epoch celebration loading to explode (as my big brother – Ndubisi Obikeze described it). It is a season aptly captioned by the organisers as Rhythm of Honour. It is indeed a day of honour – not just for a few persons but the entire Awanians. It is a day to do a dance of a lifetime.  Rhythm of honour shall throw Awa agog as we shall roll out the drums and throw rhythmic dancing steps. It shall be a day of Onye agbaghi n’okpa, okwee n’isi. No...

AKWARI OMUMU: The ancient AWA tradition that must not be ignored The saying will always be true: If a man does not know when the rain started beating him, he cannot know when it stops. Suffix it to say that whoever fails to dig out his past will certainly pay for it. My good friend and brother, Chuks (Chukwuma Okeke of Ajango village), had one of the most beautiful child dedication and Nkuputa Nnwa ceremonies last weekend (July 29 th ). It is always lovely to be in a feast hosted by a jolly good friend. Yes, Chuk’s event yesterday showed me that this amiable Awa guy is a jolly good friend. The class and quantum of friends, well wishers and business associates that attended the event said it all. Above, Ndi-Awa in their numbers were present to cheer with their beloved that decided to expresses a heart of gratitude to the Almighty who blessed his young family with a bouncing baby boy. Indeed, our Awa tradition has from the time immemorial recognised that children ar...

WHY WE SHOULD CELEBRATE Abraham J. Heschel, a Polish -born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians was quoted in The Wisdom of the Heschel of saying, “People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation. To be entertained is a passive state--it is to receive pleasure afforded by an amusing act or a spectacle.... Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one's actions. ” Behind the thin lines of the above quote are the reasons why Ndi-Awa and her legends shall be celebrated. Looking back in time, a few decades ago, one would agree that of a truth, a number of our sons and daughters have achieved great feats in their careers such that it is proper to say, well done! – agu nnaa bia nara aka! This is more so when these great Awanians have applied their hard earned resour...