In this post, platinumtimes.ng explores the rich culture, traditions, origin and beliefs of the Ibibio people of Akwa-Ibom State.
The Ibibio people are found in Southern Nigeria and the largest ethnic group in Akwa-Ibom State and fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria with a population of over 10 million people.
They predominate Akwa-Ibom, Cross River and some parts of Abia State. They share close relatons with the Annang, Efik and Oron people.
Location
The Ibibio people occupy the southern part of Nigeria sharing boundaries with the Ijaw to the Southwest, the Igbos to the northwest and the Efiks to the North.
The two vegetation belt which cuts across the Ibibio land is the mangrove swamp forest and the rain forest. They predominate Akwa-Ibom State in Nigeria and have a control over the political affairs of the State.
Origin
The Ibibio people are known to be the earliest inhabitants of the south eastern Nigeria.
It is estimated that they arrived at their present home around 7000 B.C.
In spite of the historical account, it is not clear when the Ibibio arrived at state.
According to some scholars, they might have come from the central Benue valley, particularly, the Jukun influence in the old Calabar at some historical time period.
Another history is the wide-spread use of the manila, a popular currency used by the Jukuns. Coupled with this is the Jukun southern drive to the coast which appears to have been recently compared with the formation of Akwa Ibom settlements in their present location.
Evidence has proved that then original homeland of the Ibibio people is from the Usak Edet (Isangele) in Cameroon which now forms a part of a small tribe in the Kumba Division in Cameroon.
Language
The Ibibio language is old as the people themselves, dating back centuries ago and classified under the Benue-Congo sub-family which in turn belongs to the Niger-Congo family, one of the largest families of knguages in Africa, according to Greenberg’s (1963) classification.
Still, under this genetic classification Ibibio belongs to the Lower Cross group, a group of closely related languages to which Efik and Annang, with which Ibibio forms a cluster of dialects.
Economy
Agriculture is a common occupation among the Ibibio people. They equally engage in fishing, hunting, weaving, carving among others.
They are also well grounded into modern economy as professionals and technocrats in Industries, government Ministeries a parastatals.
The Ibibio people recognizes four distinct types of land; farmland (ekpene), residential land(ndon), akai( forest or sacred lands) and ndua(swamp) which is usually covered by raffia trees used for palm wine.
Belief system
The Ibibio belief and worship the supreme God(Abasi Ibom).
God is supreme and limitless, creator(obot), God of justice(Abasi unen) and hHe lives in the sky as no shrine is big enough to contain him.
They believe that all social relations are regulated by God for instance, for In-laws there is Abasi ukod, for grandchildren there is Abasi Ayeyin, for the elders there is Abasi Akwawo and so on.
The name of the supreme God is first mentioned before the deitties and ancestors when pouring libations.
They also belief in the life after death, obot(nature), Essien emana(destiny) and in magic and witchcraft. Christianity was later introduced by the early missionaries and many Ibibio sons and daughters were converted to Christianity.
Presently, Christianity dominates the Ibibio land but there are still a fraction of people who still involve in traditional practices.
Festivals
The Ibibios are known to possess a rich cultural heritage, their festivals include; General, Vocational, Agrarian and Ancestral Festivals.
The general ones are, Nsit Ubium biannual aquatic festival known as Mbre Mmong (involves rituals to a shrine), Usoro Mboppo (celebration of women’s completion of the fattening room, and Usoro Ekoon (festival of masquerades).
The vocational include; Usoro Ita (hunting festival), Usoro Idiong (traditional medicine festival), and Usoro Isong Enyang (water regatta festival).
Agrarian festivals include; Usoro Usuuk Udia (new yam), Usoro Ikong (melon), Usoro Idio (clearing farmlands), and Ekoon Ndaara Akpakpa (corn festival).
The ancestral festivals are; Usoro Ekong (celebration of heroes), Ndap Ekpo/Ukappa Ison Ekpo (celebration of spirits), Atara Ukwa (for deities), Usoro Eduwad/Obodom Enyong (celebration of spears), Usoro Abasi (feast of the Gods), Ikot Eyo (rites of passage, initiations and coronations).
These festivals are usually accompanied by music and traditional dance performances by various cultural groups.
Marriage
In the past it was seen as an offence for a young girl to get pregnant before marriage.
The girl who retained chastity until marriage was greatly respected in the society. The marriage was initiated by the groom’s parent after having secretly investigated the history behind the girl’s family if there were any positive are negative reports about them.
Hardwork, good character and good parental background was also a criteria for marriage.
The stages in marriage commenced with the first round of investigating by the groom’s people before the knocking of door(mbup or nkoñ udók).
The next round of investigations would be done by the bride’s family after the door knocking stage.
When both families are satisfied, the groom’s family would be invited and given an elaborate list of items to be given to the bride’s family on a specific day that would be convenient.
The bride price is paid to the bride’s family with the father taking the largri share before the the actual marriage (Usóró ndó).
After marriage, the wife is integrated into the husband’s lineage and becomes a member of the husband’s family with full rights of participation in whatever happens in the family. She is also buried there on the event of death.
Traditions
Certain traditions practiced in Ibibio land are; the fattening room practice which is done to prepare a girl for womanhood and wife duties.
She is confined to a room and fed with food for a certain period, during this time she is also taught by an elderly woman about certain etiquettes about womanhood and how to be a good wife to her husband.
Another practice in the Ibibio land is the marriage ofca dead girlfriend. It is in the culture of the Ibibio people for a man to marry a corpse especially that of a girl that is not married to but lives with him in the same house and performs the duty of a wife.
Her death is believed to be as a result of natural causes and the guy is expected to perform her marriage rites upon her death before the girl’s parents can give their consent for her burial.
Ekpo nkawo is also a tradition practiced in Ibibio land.
This is believed to be an ancient spirit which rains misfortunes on the family of a woman who engages in extramarital Affairs. The result is often disastrous and sometimes leads to death of the husband or wife.
Another tradition practiced in some parts of Ibibio land is making good sacrifices to a deity on behalf of the first daughter before she is married ( awa- adià awa-odiók).
If this is not done, the first daughter remains unmarried and her mother is not permitted to receive any gifts from her spouse or else it will bring about repercussions.
Cuisines
Known globally a people who are very rich when it comes to food and is measured to none in this aspect.
Their popular dishes are afang soup, which is an important dish in Ibibio and must be made available in traditional marriages, edikang ikong (vegetable soup), afere atama (atama soup), editan soup and ubo(okra soup with plenty vegetable in it).
Secret Societies
Different tools are used to cub crime and disorder in Ibibio land.
Among them are; ekpo society which is seen as a masquerade for entertainment and also a judicial agent to protect it’s people from potential attackers.
They are mostly seen between the month of June to December and many activities like farming, hunting, shopping are prohibited on the days which they are out. This society is only open to the males and not females.
The Obon society is also used as a tool to checkmate vices in Ibibio land.
Its strong enticing traditional musical prowess and popular acceptability, openly executes its mandates with musical procession and popular participation by members which comprises children, youth, adults and brave elderly women, another secret society is the Ivan Using(women of the land).