In Gyadina, an Abuja community within the Abuja Municipal Area Council, the annual New Yam Festival is more than a celebration of harvest. It is a cultural bridge connecting the younger generation to the farming traditions, values and identity of the Igbo people.
The sound of cultural music and traditional songs filled the air in Gydina last Sunday as members of the Igbo Community Assembly (ICA) gathered to celebrate one of the most significant festivals in Igbo cultural life, the New Yam Festival, or Iriji, and Ekuson Nw’Ogbunka, Our Managing Editor witnessed it all. Excerpts.
For the members of the community and their guests, it was an occasion to relax, celebrate and enjoy themselves. But beneath the music, songs and entertainment was a deeper message: the determination to preserve a tradition that has survived generations.
At the centre of the celebration was the traditional breaking of the new yam by the Igbo traditional ruler in Gydina, Chief Peter Nwachukwu (the Ugwumba Ndigbo).
As he performed the ceremony, Nwachukwu thanked God for allowing the Igbo community to witness another harvest season and prayed for the wellbeing and prosperity of the people.
For him, however, Iriji is not simply a festival, it is a reminder of where the people came from.
A festival rooted in farming
Traditionally, the New Yam Festival comes after the farming and harvesting season. It marks the period when farmers can celebrate the fruits of their labour and present the first harvest of the season.
Nwachukwu explained that the practice reflects the historical relationship between the Igbo people and agriculture.
“The symbol signifies that we Igbos are farmers. We are great farmers,” he said.
That identity, he added, should not be allowed to disappear under the pressures of modern life.
The annual celebration, therefore, becomes a cultural classroom of sorts — a place where younger members of the community can see, hear and experience traditions that might otherwise become distant from their everyday lives.
“We don’t want our culture to go by. We continue revisiting it every year so that our youths can learn to know our culture better,” the traditional ruler said.
Keeping the younger generation connected
Across many communities, traditional festivals are increasingly being used to reconnect younger people with their cultural roots.
For the Gydina Igbo community, the New Yam Festival provides such an opportunity. The songs, music, ceremony and breaking of the new yam collectively communicate a message about identity, communal life, gratitude and the value attached to hard work.
Nwachukwu urged Igbo people to remain hardworking and reconnect with the agricultural traditions of their forefathers. His message is particularly significant at a time when agriculture remains central to discussions about food production, employment and economic development.
Concern over farmers’ challenges
Beyond culture, the traditional ruler used the occasion to draw attention to the challenges confronting Nigerian farmers.
Nwachukwu argued that government support for farmers had not been sufficient and expressed particular concern about the continuing difficulties associated with farmer-herder conflicts.
He maintained that farmers require stronger institutional support and better protection if agriculture is to receive the attention necessary for increased production.
His comments added an economic dimension to what was otherwise a cultural celebration. The new yam being displayed and broken at the festival was not merely food; it represented the product of agricultural labour and the reward for a season of farming.
More than entertainment
As the celebration continued with cultural music, songs and other activities, guests enjoyed the festivities.
But the message from Gydina was larger than the entertainment.
The community’s celebration demonstrated how cultural festivals can serve several purposes at once, preserving tradition, strengthening community bonds, honouring the harvest and teaching younger generations about their roots.
For Chief Nwachukwu, keeping Iriji alive is ultimately about ensuring that the cultural memory of the Igbo people survives from one generation to another.
And so, in Gydina, the breaking of the new yam once again became a celebration not only of harvest, but also of identity, heritage and continuity.
