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By Young Erhiurhoro, Warri
The annual and popular Ohworhu cultural festival of the Unenurhie people in Evwreni kingdom, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State was recently celebrated with a call on the state government to invest more on cultural festivals across the state.
Despite the health and economic effects placed on the people by the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic, the joy of dinning and winning together as people of one community, and with invited friends and visitors, was part of the attraction, as mammoth crowds from neigbouring communities gathered to catch a glimpse of this year’s cultural celebration held on September 16, 2020.
Speaking to newsmen at the arena, during the masquerade dance, president general of Unenurhie community, Mr. Peter Maison, said, “Unenurhie is a peace-loving community. We are happy that God saved us all to witness yet another Ohworhu cultural festival in this community despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Let me tell our people here at home and those abroad that the celebration of the Ohworhu cultural festival, to my understanding, is not to worship idols but a time to come together as one community to dance, eat and drink with members of our families and friends. This insinuations, or wrong interpretation, by Christians and pastors in this community, that we are worshipping idols is gradually wiping away our cultural festivals, not only in this community but in other parts of Urhobo and Isoko ethnic groups in Delta State.
“If the Delta State government, especially the ministry of Culture and Tourism refuses to do something now, within the next few years, all our cultural festivals would have gone into extinction,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the traditional chiefs (Inugbedjor), the chief drummer of the cultural display, Dr. Johnson Abrucha, who also doubles as the community deputy speaker (Akpohor), added that government should invest more on cultural festivals across the country.
“I want to call on the Delta State government to invest more on cultural festivals in the state. With modern technology and innovation, cultural festivals if they are well organized and managed with the support of the state government, they can general huge income to the treasury of the state and to such communities. The state ministry of culture and tourism should come up with innovative policies driven by modern technology in the film and entertainment industry to bring our cultural festivals to international standard. Let our people try to emulate the Yorubas and the Igbos in this country. We are not better Christians than these two ethnic groups in the country, yet they never toy with their culture and tradition when it comes to celebration of cultural festivals in their various communities.”
In the same vein, the community youth chairman, Mr. Friday Diamond, and the defense minister (Olotu’Rode) of the community, Comr. Moneyard Edjere, solicited for support from the private sector to key into the vision of taking the community’s cultural festival to a higher level of becoming a national or world class festival like the Argungun fishing festival in Kebbi State.
The youth chairman however argued that, “all these years, the Nigerian government has packed her eggs in one basket by neglecting every other sector of the economy like agriculture and the entertainment industry and focused only on oil and gas as the economic main stay of the country. And now that the basket fell, all the eggs broke at once. Therefore, my little advice to our government, as a youth leader in my community is for the Nigerian government to diversify the economy by investing hugely in our cultural festivals.”
The Ohworhu cultural festival of the Unenurhie people is a masquerade dance organized every year to bring peace and prosperity to the people as their tradition demands. And also used as a break period to prepare for the next farming season as the community is virtually agrarian.
The entire community as at the time of filing in this report was bubbling with different cultural and sports activities like football competition amongst the different streets, cultural displays by the female folk, storytelling by the elders, visitations to family heads and distinguished personalities in the community and other cultural activities. The cultural festival would last for two weeks.
