Ahamefula Ogbu
A pril 4, 2026 broke into our consciousness as if it was a regular day, but it didn’t take long to notice that there were factors that set it apart from others. First, the weather was undecided, fluctuating from the threat of rain to bright and lightly sunny skies. It also birthed a passing rainbow, though fleeting, but almost like a pointer to the colours the day that the celebration would soon usher in.
At the Atan Abam primary school, venue of the festival, event planners had effected the skills of a makeup artist on the face a a beautiful bride on the venue. Overlife-sized banners bearing pictures of past festivals as if to confirm the transition and evolvement of the ceremony. The music stand was like a world-class artist was about performing an event and to ensure that there was no failure or glitch, the DJ blared music at deafening decibels while fashion crazy youths gyrated to the beats.
The field was lined with stands representing all 27 villages that make up Abam Onyerubi as well as stands for clans of common ancestry with Abam, like Ohafia, Edda, Abiriba and Arochukwu. They were all later to make cultural presentations, which added unforgettable colour to the event.
As wide as the Atan Abam square is, visitors and participants at the occasion found it difficult getting parking space. Convoys and individual visitors had to do double parking along Ndi Oji road, Ndi Agwu road and the Igwu road that stretched nearly two kilometres each way. That testifies to the turn out for the event which had almost gone extinct till Unubiko Foundation set up by Chief James Umeh, the Ike Abam and Ike Abia revived it.
Masked security men who accompanied dignitaries and their principals were everywhere, brandishing weapons of different descriptions, while the police in their regular uniforms, soldiers, civil defence, and even Road Safety officials who attended led to a clash of orders due to the traffic snarl that attended the response for the event. It was just the spirit of peace that Abam represents that saw to the no physical clash by the different outfits that graced the occasion. Even with those, they had a hectic day controlling the crowd.
The embrace of the revival needs no narration, as though it started small, it soon blossomed into the carnival it has become.
Each stand and village or Abam kins that attended came with its own cultural troupe for presentation, which, though it took time, made the 2026 edition exceptionally colourful.
Before Chief Umeh dressed to attend the occasion, he, with his entourage, went to the Igwu River which is the pivot upon which the Ekponiboro revolves, as it is a celebration of the wealth the people of Atan Abam made from using the inland waterways to trade from near villages and market centers in Akwa Ibom like Efi Ayong up to Calabar which hosted the biggest conurbation. It was from the river that they loaded agricultural goods and sold at trade forts like Ikot Offiong, Ikot Obioko, Ntundang, Creek town among others. Umeh went to the river and boarded a wooden boat, which was being used for the journey that took them days. He thought boarded a smaller version of it called Epepe whereas the ones that were used to carry heavy goods were known as Okoboro. With Akpara Ogugu (bamboo sticks) used to paddle in depths where the water bed can be reached with the sticks before transiting to Adam (paddles) for deeper portions; he was taken round the Anyim river of Atan Abam. Some of his visitors who could hold their fears joined him in the boats. While some of them sat steady, some out of fear were so visibly shaking that they nearly capsized the boat. At the end, it was a good experience for them while Chief Umeh explained to them that his forebears braced the dangers of the route to accumulate wealth with the Ekponiboro representatives.
Back from the demonstration, he walked back to his mansion and dressed for the occasion. By the time he approached the venue, words had reached the DJ, and they started hailing him and reeling out all his social interventions from scholarships both locally and internationally to building free estates for those adjudged unable to afford their own houses, distribution of food items, schools renovations and provision of boreholes and health institutions.
With beneficiaries thronging the venue, movement became slow while all troupes wanted to display for him. No gainsaying that all the groups that attended went back richer than they came, courtesy of Chief Umeh. He not only provided entertainment for all but also fed everyone.
The Ekponiboro Committee, which planned the event, did a marvelous job as several improvements were noticeable.
After the performance of the invitees, the sun, which had brightened the day, had started showing signs of fatigue with weakened rays and as if in a telepathic communication, the signature tune of Ekponiboro sounded in the distance. Every other troupe scrambled to leave the arena as it doesn’t share space with any other masquerade or performer. It is usually armed with a schimitter which while happy and not facing any challenge, sheaths in its scabbard. It soon appeared in the horizon with shouts of appreciation of its multi-coloured apparel.
It made its way into the field, offered greetings to elders, made boasts of how he married his two beautiful women whose faces are engraved on the head of the masquerade from his wrestling prowess. Then the demonstration of the harsh conditions under which the journey was undertaken, as sometimes their boats would capsize with all the goods. Though each contingent had divers that usually go to the bottom of the river to retrieve as many items as they could to mitigate such losses.
While some paddle, others were armed with axes and cutlasses with which they cleared the route, in case trees fell across their route to obstruct movement or when the underbelly of the boat hooks on to an obstacle, they would send men underwater to free it from such.
Also, the feeding style is not the same as a man relaxing on his dining table, food is cooked on board and eaten in a hurry to make the journey in the required number of days to meet the market, especially the white merchants who patronised them.
An addition to the 2026 celebration was the demonstration of trading with white men when most of them weren’t literate in English. They employed interpreters who sometimes misrepresented what the white man said. That sometimes cut into their gains or enriched the middlemen.
After the sterling performance of the Ekponiboro, Chief Umeh mounted the rostrum, with a designer paddle in his hand, beaming with satisfaction for a successful outing. He thanked everyone who attended and as usual, announced largesse for each group.
The highlight of the occasion was when he announced that his foundation, which placed all students from Atan Abam on scholarship up to PhD level, was being extended to all 27 villages in Abam. The applause was roaringly deafening with some openly wondering how he had such a heart of gold. Thereafter, the music and other entertainment stretched into the night and expectations became rife of when the next edition and what it holds for the people will arrive.
Leave a comment