March 2011, Ohafia community, Abia State, Nigeria. In conversation with 'Eze' Emmanuel Ume L. Imaga - Ezieogo of Elu Ohafia, and Udumaeze of Ohafia, and therefore a custodian of the local heritage - he confirms that Ékpè is one of the core institutions in Ohafia. Udumaeze is the Clan Head of the 26 villages comprising Ohafia.
In Miller's Voice of the Leopard (2009), he noted that “Without such diacritics, Roman spellings of Èfìk words would be either ambiguous (out of context) or meaningless. One would be unable to distinguish . . . the Ékpè leopard club of the Cross River region, from the Èkpè religious ritual among neighboring Ìgbo of Ngwa, Umuahia and Owerri (Amankulor 1972).” Here the Eze articulates the distinction between Ékpè society Èkpè dance.
22 июн 2024
