Obi-Udo Traditional Group was formed to promote and sustain Igbo culture and tradition. It is a well-established fact that lots of young people including the youths cannot communicate in Igbo Language, and do not understand the practice guiding breaking of Kola nut in Igbo land, customs, food and dressing of the Igbo people in Lagos state.
So, Obi-Udo group considers it very imperative to educate people on the areas they do not understand, and in order to encourage Ndi Igbo to join the group, they have decided to make their requirements simple.
Meanwhile, the leader of the group, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezurike Nwarupuoaku, will receive Obi Ndi Igbo title from Eze (Dr) C. C. Nwokedi on his second new yam festival in September 2023.
In this interview with the Unique Model Magazine, the leader and some members give more insight into the activities of the group.
Can you introduce yourself, please?
My name is Chief Chukwuemeka Ezurike Nwarupuoaku N’ Umuobom, Ideato South in Imo State, the leader of Obi-Udo Traditional Group in Kudebe Estate, Lagos State.
There are many Igbo groups in Lagos state already, why forming Obi-Udo group and when was it formed?
It was formed last year January 2022, when I was in the village. In 2021, our Nze in the village called me and said he wanted me to be crowned as Nze, and I asked, Nze at my age? He said yes! All my brothers said that I should take the title. I told him I would have to travel to Lagos and get back to him, and since then, I was running away from traditional things, but in 2022 my brother from Enugu came to Lagos and called me, that he brought Kola nut. I went to meet him, and he asked me to break the Kola nut, I broke it and started eating the Kola nut.
As we were eating the Kola nut, someone came in and bought some drinks; another person came in with more drinks, who is also our member till today. He said, he liked the way we were breaking Kola nuts and that we should not forget Igbo culture, we have to be doing it every Sunday. That was how we started it every Sunday. One day, we were breaking and taking Kola nut, somebody said I should give our gathering a name, and I named it Obi – Udo, and that is the name we are today.
We did not waste time, we had our six months celebration, Eze Dr. C. C. Nwokedi, Eze Ndi Igbo Ijedodo and Ijegun communities invited us and we responded, he asked how we started Igbo culture without notifying him? He said, it should be called Obi – Udo traditional group led by me, and since then, we progressing till today.
Today, we killed a goat to appreciate the Almighty God that gave us life from year to year with good health. In Christmas, we will also kill another goat to thank God, for keeping us throughout the year. On January, we will still kill another goat to request for God’s protection and blessings for the New Year. We are here to promote undiluted Igbo culture and tradition of Ndi Igbo.
We use Kola nut to pray for blessing and protection from Almighty God. A man of culture is always careful because he calls God and spirits, which a Christian cannot compare with because of the altitude of most Christians, why? If a man of culture offends the spirits, the spirits will attack him almost immediately.
So, that is how I became the leader of the group, and since then, the people I am leading respects me. We are preparing for Eze C. C. Nwokedi’s new yam festival in September, 2023, he will install me as Obi of Ijegun.
Tell Ndi Igbo that tradition and culture is very important, they should not forget it. If I do bad, I will receive bad, if I do good, I will receive good. Eke day is always my best day in Obi-Udo.
I break special Kola nut in Obi-Udo in Eke day, so today is Eke, I greet all the whole world, and say our tradition cannot die. I want those that know tradition to support the group, people should remove hands from evil. Good things open doors, while bad things close doors, a clean hand prospers and it might look as if the person is doing evil or using charms, it’s only God that is blessing the person.
How do you rate the performance of Eze C. C. Nwokedi, as many organizations continue to honour him with awards and accolades?
Eze Nwokedi is a powerful man; all he is doing is by the grace of God. He leads by example and that is why people that come across recognizes his value and continue to associate with him. Because a man is recognized by what he does, within one year he was crowned Eze Ndi Igbo of Ijegun and Ijedodo, he was also crowned Chairman of Ndi Eze in Lagos State and awards from different organizations are coming to him because of his integrity and philanthropic gestures. He is our father and we are his children, very soon, I will be Obi under his kingdom. I love him and I always pray for him to continue to shine.
We are promoting our culture and tradition, Chief Collins Nwosu
In a related development, the Onowo of Obi –Udo also spoke to the unique model magazine and below is the excerpt:
Sir, can you introduce yourself and what are you doing here today?
My name is Chief Collins Nwosu, Nzuchukwugoro n’ Ihi-Ala, Anambra, Onowu Obi –Udo, what we are doing here today is culture of Igbo. We said our culture cannot die, everything is channeling towards English life, making our children not to know where they come from. That is why we insist that our tradition cannot die. We started it in Kudibi in January last year, I came from the village, the chairman called me that I should come for us to break Kola nut, I came and saw how people gathered, I came nearer and it was Kola nut breaking, I followed others and started coming with drinks, we continued like a child’s play and after six months, we discovered it has become a group.
We thank God after six months, and December we did end of the year. This year, we had killed a goat to thank God for his kindness from January to June; none of our members and their families are wanted. We thank God and continue to thank him to continue to help us, bless us to continue to overcome hardship of the country. May God continue to lead our going out and coming in.
What are the basic requirements for joining Obi-Udo?
We don’t ask much, we only ask for a bottle of Schnapps, alligator pepper, One Kola nut with N2,000.00 for registration, because it is not a club.
Do you admit a non Igbo person?
A non-Igbo person might not be admitted because he cannot speak or understand our communications; the method of communication is strictly Igbo language. The Delta man among us understands Igbo very well. That is why we admitted him; we cannot welcome Hausa or Yoruba man.
Why?
Because our culture with them is not the same, we don’t want to admit somebody that cannot speak Igbo or understand our culture.
We are like father and son, Elder Omeudo
Can you introduce yourself and the group’s mission?
My name is Chief Omeudo, elder, Obi-Udo, Ugochukwu, the only elder in the group. I am a member of Obi –Udo Cultural organization, in-conjunction with Eze Ndi Igbo Eze C. C. Nwokedi, Eze Ndi Igbo Ijedodo and Ijegun. We Obi –Udo, we are branch of the palace of Udo-Chukwu, we are born in Udo-Chukwu, we exist in part of Kudebu, and American street is our headquarters.
When did you people form this group?
Why we formed this group is first to maintain Igbo culture and tradition. Secondly, we understand that since palace of Eze C. C. Nwokedi is a bit far from us, we said it is necessary for Eze Nwokedi to have an eye on what is happening in this place, Obi –Udo is like an eye which Nwokedi uses to see in American to Owo-Rotimi and others.
What are the requirements for admitting new members?
In this group, any person that does not speak Igbo, I believe it will not be easy for him to belong because this is formed to gather Ndi Igbo and to maintain our culture and tradition, listen to the cry of one another and gather Ndi Igbo in Lagos state.
However, whoever that wants to join us, we don’t demand much, let whoever wants to join us come and we will tell him our requirements.
What is your relationship with Igbo Speaking Community in Lagos state?
A lot of us here are members of Igbo-Speaking Community because Igbo -Speaking Community gave birth to us, Eze Nwokedi we are mentioning is the chairman Igbo-Speaking Community and he supports us, so we stay with Igbo-Speaking Community like father and son.
Some people will say what you are doing is fetish, what is your take?
I always tell Igbos around that we are not fetish, what we are doing is not a secret cult, what we are doing here is for the progress of Ndi Igbo, our culture, progress of Ndigbo in Lagos state. We are like the tap root of a tree, where Igbo gather, a son of Ndi Igbo is supposed to join us, so that when he needs our support, we will support him.
We Practice Undiluted Igbo Culture-Obozie, member of Obi-Udo
Can you tell us your name?
My name is Odinaka Chukwu Obozie, I am from Mkpor in Idemili area of Anambra State.
What are the benefits of joining this group?
My joining the traditional group made me to understand much about Igbo tradition and culture.
Most people believe that tradition is fetish, do you share this belief?
To my understanding, culture is not fetish, all we are doing here, we are open, you can see us in open place, people are seeing us, when I was in the secondary school, when they asked us three types of religion we have in Nigeria, we were told, tradition, Islamic and Christianity. Some people called tradition paganism, but that is not true. So these are the different ways people talk to God. Everybody has the right to choose how he will communicate to God. We are only praying to almighty God. There’s nothing fetish, we come here and pray, use our Kola nut do it the normal way. I call Chukwuobioma because he is God that protect and bless us.
No God can do what Almighty God is doing, we practice undiluted Igbo culture, that is why I joined and remain with the group.