ǪϺỤGWǪ CEREMONIES IN IGBO LAND
Written by
Mazi
Mike Osuji,
Tell;
+2348033865418
Most
of the infant and maternal mortalities occur during the first four weeks of
childbirth due to lack of organized postnatal care systems like the ǪϺỤGWǪ, but with this system in place the
newborn mother and her baby enjoy the privilege of adequate sleep, rest, and
relaxation from tiredness and fatigue, house chores and errands.
As
a room incubation system for a newborn mother and her baby, ǪϺỤGWǪ, makes it possible for relatives and
friends to lend helping hands with house chores such as laundry, cleanings, and
cooking, giving the young mother the opportunity to enjoy unhindered bed-rest
and sleep
The term, ǪϺỤGWǪ, is generally used
to describe the period, activities, and ceremonies customarily observed to mark
the birth of a new-born baby to an Igbo parents. As soon as a baby is born,
customs demand that the father travels to his in-law’s village, to deliver the
good news to his in-law’s family. Usually, the excited man travels with a keg
of palm wine and other gifts tied to his bicycle which is customarily meant for
his father in-law and his wife.
The
man goes with a bottle of baby powder for his mother in-law, signifying a
successful new birth delivery. On receiving the powder, the mother in-law would
yell out shouts of joy and raise a special baby-birth song, having received the
good news.
Her
shouts of joy and songs which percolates the village would attract the
attention of other village women who would join her in the singing and dancing
to welcome the good news of a new birth. Before you know what is happening, the
entire village will be agog with joy and would burst into the mood of dancing
and celebrations with the powder being sprinkled on people’s faces as a sign of
a new
baby
arrival.
Igbo
customs and traditions make it natural for people to receive the news of a new
birth with great excitement and joy. Though, how the news of a new birth is
received differ between the men and the women folk according to the gender of
the baby.
WHY IGBO MEN REACT WITH
CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM AT THE BIRTH OF A GIRL CHILD.
While,
the women might react with equal excitement and welcome at the birth of both
genders, the men would usually react with a more open mind if the gender of the
baby is male, but with a cautious reservation if the gender is that of a
female. While the womenfolk believe and accept that the girl child is equally
as important as the male child, “nwanyi
bu nwa,” the men folk tend to think otherwise due to the Igbo succession
theories hinged on the boy child.
The reason for Igbo men’s discriminatory and cautious optimism at the birth of a female child is based on this theory. This is because the Igbo customs and traditions accord the male child the exclusive rights and privileges to the succession of his father. It is the male child that is permitted to continue the lineage of his father, ancestral and paternal inheritances by marring and bearing children in his father’s house, a privilege the girl child cannot enjoy according to Igbo traditions.
The
girl child is expected to leave her father’s house and be given out in marriage
to a husband for whom she bears her own children and in whose house she is
expected to exert her rights and influences
Igbo
customs and traditions entitles only the boy child to the inheritance of his
father’s landed properties, including economic trees such as palm trees, oil
bean trees, palm wine trees, iroko trees, plantations, and, of course, his
father’s wives, hence, the popular Igbo maxim, “Aham efule”,meaning, my name will never be lost, while the girl child remains
dis-inherited due to gender in-equality according to traditional injunctions.
HOW THE MOTHER IN-LAW IS
INVITED TO THE OMUGWO OF HER DAUGHTER
It
is the exclusive maternal rights of every grandmother to supervise and oversee
the nursing period of her daughter and her new born baby traditionally known as ǪϺỤGWǪ. Igbo traditions
and culture are very emphatic on this right of an Igbo grandmother to undertake
the
ǪϺỤGWǪ
of her own daughter, a right which is bestowed on her exclusively by tradition.
To
invite his mother in-law to the ǪϺỤGWǪ of his wife, a man
will usually present her with cash gifts which gives her the impetus to go
shopping for pepper soup ingredients, such as measures of salt, pepper, baskets
of black fish, stockfish, smoked fish, crawfish and herbs with which she will
proceed for the ǪϺỤGWǪ of her daughter.
The mother in-law
would then relocate to the village and house of her son in-law to kick off the ǪϺỤGWǪ of her daughter which is expected to
last for two months as custom demands. During this period of ǪϺỤGWǪ the nursing mother is expected to
remain indoors, while she is not allowed to engage in any domestic, commercial,
or farming activities as her part is only to eat, sleep, wake and breastfeed
her baby.
Her
mother eventually assumes the exclusive duty of cooking her pepper soup meals,
including the rigorous task of bathing her with hot water at least twice a day.
The mother in-law is expected to massage her entire body daily with hot water,
including the pubic region of her body, as this is meant to flush out blood
clotting which might have occurred during birth, and this excise is expected to
continue on daily basis for two months.
THE BATHING AND CARING OF A
NEW BORN BABY BY MOTHER IN-LAW AS AN INHERENT IGBO CULTURAL PRACTICE
The
bathing and massaging of a new born baby with warm water is an important
exercise of ǪϺỤGWǪ to which the mother in-law must pay
very close attention and in details. Massaging the new born baby with hot water
helps to a large extent in tuning up his veins, arteries and to balance his
muscles, and set his joints.
Though,
the baby’s primary diet is made up of his mother’s breast milk, the mother
in-law continues to give him a well sterilized warm water which is pre-boiled to
serve as a food supplement.
The
mother in-law ensures that her newly born grandchild is properly clothed with
special baby wears, and wrapped in baby shawls making sure that baby’s body
temperature is within acceptable healthy range of body temperatures good enough
for a fragile baby.
The
cry of a new born baby is very significant at birth, especially during the ǪϺỤGWǪ period, because the cry of a baby
determines how healthy or how irritated he is at any given time. This part for
the baby to play is very important to an Igbo nursing mother, as how healthy
the baby’s cries are, goes a long way to tell how fulfilled and assured the
nursing mother can be during the nursing period.
To
ensure that the baby is crying well, the mother in-law can go to the extent of
tossing him up and down when bathing him, to waken him up physically and
spiritually. The gentle slapping of baby’s laps and pinching of his skin can
also help make him to cry to be re-assured of his level of health
EXCLUSIVE PEPPER SOUP DIET
WITH POUNDED YAM IS SERVED ON THE NURSING MOTHER DURING ǪϺỤGWǪ
The
nursing mother is customarily placed on exclusive pepper soup diet with either
pounded yam, or pounded cassava balls for two months before she can go on any
other meals. The pepper soup meals are richly cooked with stockfish known as
“Okporoko”, and other sumptuous condiments such as dry cat-fish known as “Αzunkurunku”,
“mangala fish” and all kinds of eatables to enrich the soup all for the new
mother.
The
pepper soup must be pepperish and served hot as it is meant to facilitate the
healing of internal injuries caused by child birth, and to prevent a possible
protruding stomach of the nursing mother
ǪϺỤGWǪ is indeed not a
period of relaxation, especially for the mother in-law and her team of nannies
if any. This is because she has a lot of attention to pay to details in
ensuring that the environment for mother and child is clinically clean. She is
duty bound to ensure germ –free drinking water for mother and child, by boiling
and sterilizing their drinking water and by maintaining a constant laundry of
their wares, especially the baby napkins.
Though,
the new-born mother and her baby are expected to remain elusive, according the
tenets of the ǪϺỤGWǪ system, visits by relatives, friends
and well-wishers to the newly born are common experiences and are allowed by
Igbo customs and traditions. Visitors normally shower mother and child with
various gifts ranging from baby clothing and cash. Pouring encomiums on the new
born mother and praising God for His precious gift of a baby is common during
visits by relatives and friends.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE OMUGWO
SYSTEM IN IGBO LAND
The
Igbo culture and traditions acknowledge the fact that a newly born mother and
her baby are clinically vulnerable to air and water-borne diseases, and other
dangers that are related to exposures during the early stages of child birth.
Hence, the ǪϺỤGWǪ systems are meant
to protect mother and child as fresh and vulnerable as they are from
unnecessary exposures to the vagaries of nature and the public until they are
physically and spiritually strong enough to face the rather harsh world
outside.
The room
confinement of mother and child for two months during OMUGWO creates
opportunity for them to enjoy adequate rest, and healing is expected to occur
during this period. The young mother is able to recover sufficiently from her
weeks of painful labor, and child birth. She will be mentally, spiritually,
psychologically and physically balanced to face the future and to bring her new
baby up as customs demand of her.
The
maternal and child mortalities which used to be common in the early stages of
childbirth is significantly reduced
THE NAMING CEREMONY OF A
BABY IS THE CLIMAX OF ANY OMUGWO PERIOD.
As
the mother in-law prepares to go home after two months of vigorous mother and child
care, the son-inlaw showers her with gifts of hollandiz wrappers, lace blouses,
gold jewelries, shoes, wrist watches and cash.
The
OMUGWO period culminates into the naming ceremony of the new born baby, which
entails an elaborate event during which mother and child are presented to the
public for the first time. It is on this occasion that the name of the baby
will be revealed by the father usually to the admiration and clapping ovation by
invited guests and relations.
Igbo
names their children according to their experiences in life preceding the
child’s birth. Olden days Igbo named their children after the market days and
some others, after their personal gods, such as “Okafǫ,
after the Afǫ market day; Okorie after Orie market day; Ekemma; after the Eke market day and Osuagwu, after
the personal goddess known as, ‘Agwų”, Agbaraji after
the goddess known as Agbara; Njoku,
after the goddess of Ahianjokuji; Oparaji-first son of the yams
goddess-Ahianjokuji, Adaji-first daughter of Ahianjkuji, goddess of yams
Others
are names given according to one’s wishes in life; examples are, Ahamefule-my
name must not be lost; Nwanyibunwa-the baby girl is a child as well;
Chizobam-Let my god protect me; Other names are given after geographical land
marks and great animals and birds; Names like, Ǫhịɑ-Bush,
Ugwu-hill, Ugochukwu-God’s own eagle, Nwankwo-son of the hawlk, or born on nkwǫ
market day, depending on what the man has in mind for naming his child.
Other
Igbo names indicate indirect talk or answer to ones adversary and rivals within
the family circle and society such as; Chisaraųka-God has answered
my enemy; Onyebuchi-Nobody is God; Enyeribenyem-If my neighbor was given to
give me, she wouldn’t have given to me; Anamelechi-I am waiting on my god not
man; Ǫnųkwube-Let them say for they are
not god. Therefore, every Igbo name has an inherent undertone of emotions,
messages and feelings passionately attached to it.
Some names are symbols and indications of gratitude to God Almighty popularly known as Chukwu, for His generosity protection, and gift of the fruit of the womb. Couples who spend many years after marriage before giving birth are bound to give their children names that tend to point at something. In the Igbo society of today, names like “Chukwuemeka-God has done so well, “Chukwuebuka-God is so great, “Ngozichukwu-God’s blessing, “Anaekperechi-Keep praying to God, Uchechukwu-God’s will;, are common names among the Igbo people.
The
custom allows others, other than the child’s father, to give the baby a name of
their choice or support the name which has already be given by the baby’s
father by dropping coins in a tray as mark of welcome to the new born.
The naming ceremony
always attracts the dishing and serving of the best cuisine and condiments
notable of the Igbo people, such as ofe owerri, ofe olubu, ǫκrǫ, Ụgųͫͣṃẚṇų soups; others are
Ụgba, abacha, nkwobi and ukwa delicacies.
Palm
wine is commonly served during the naming ceremony, being the traditional Igbo
brew. People are meant to eat, drink and make merry during the very climax of ǪϺỤGWǪ ceremonies which also witnesses the
display of cultural dances by the women folk and other musical groups such as “Nkwa
di kwere nwanyi” notable with Oborji women, and “Agbachaa Ekurunwa” cultural
women dance groups unique with the Mbaise tribe.
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