Ofala festival has received an award of excellence in culture by the Federal Government.
The award was made at the just-ended First United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Global Conference on linking tourism, culture, and the creative industries as pathways to recovery and inclusive development. The event was held in Lagos.
The award is in recognition of the outstanding and excellent contributions of the Ofala festival to the development and preservation of Nigeria’s cultural heritage.
The Ofala is an annual ceremony practiced by Igbo, particularly the indigenes of Onitsha, Umueri, Umuoji and other neighboring communities such as Aguleri, Nnewi and Ukpo in Dunukofia Local Government Area, Anambra State. It serves as a rites of renewal of the king or Igwe or Obi.
In Onitsha, the Ofala is the high point of the people’s ceremonial cycle. The display of royal dances, tributes, parades and music running over two days, with the Obi of Onitsha as the celebrant of the spectacle is rooted in deep spirituality. It is an occasion for the monarch to fulfill certain obligations.
The Ofala is primarily a celebration by the monarch and his subjects of the former’s annual emergence from seclusion, during which period the he has successfully negotiated the fortunes of the kingdom. It is also a re-enactment of the joy which the monarch shared with his subjects, at the discovery that yam is nontoxic, and a valuable source of food.
The award was presented by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and UNWTO Secretary General, Mr Zurab Pololikashvili to the Obi of Onitsha, His Majesty Nnaemeka Achebe at a gala night and command performance during the conference.
On the award, the Obi conveyed the appreciation of the Onitsha community to the Federal Government and the UNWTO. According to him, “this recognition added to the endorsement of the Ofala by the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, as a major Nigerian festival, has further enhanced our goals of attracting considerable national, West African, and international attention to the Ofala and getting the festival to attain the status of a major event in the Nigerian, and by extension in the West African cultural/tourism calendar’’.
The Obi added that ‘’this honour will serve as a boost to our plans of bringing the world to Onitsha to experience our rich cultural heritage and enhance the growth and development of our community’’.
Whilst not losing its essence as an annual traditional and ritual obligation, the extent of the Ofala has been broadened. An international art exhibition (Oreze), a youths’ carnival (Ofala carnival), and a marathon (Onitsha City Marathon) which has been approved by the relevant national and international athletic bodies are now part of the Ofala.
