OWHO D’ ISHI N’ AGO ONWE EYA: THE OKUNANO SYMBOL OF FAIRNESS & JUSTICE

Ofor or Owho in Okunano Osagwede dialect is an allegorical personification of the moral force in Okunano and all over igboland. And like the latin “Iustitia”   or the female blindfolded symbol of justice, her attributes is the oshishi-owho stick.

In the whole of igboland, Owho is the sacred symbol of truth, royal authority, justice, law and administrative power. It primarily bestows upon the holder/bearer (person or persons in possession) the right to offer sacrifice - rituals, prayer, oath taking, pronouncing of judgement, deliberating policy/policies within the family, clan or community and also for invoking blessings or curses.

Sometimes and at some other quarters in Igboland, the Owho may be made from bronze, brass or stick and symbolizes a family or clan or community's authority and can only be handled by those who are authorized or entitled to touch or wield it. It is revered by the family or clan and treated as heirlooms - passing from generation to generation.

The Owho is carried by selected Igbo elderly men - notably patrilineage priests, kings, Onye-ishzi and some masquerades typifying authority, right to command, legal administrative powers, leadership conferment or power bestowed by the gods.

The Owho also serves as a symbol of power and authority for office holders and titled men, or a sacred family icon. Owho represents the collective power of the ancestors, gods and the truths given by “Okikekeruihe” (The Creator) to a person. The Owho also symbolizes the link between the living elder of the family or ruling authority and their ancestors.

However, in Okunano Osagwede, the Owho is an Omni-present force and this is made manifest in the peoples way of life with regards to morals, conduct and justification of disputes, quarrels amongst friends or neighbours, hence the expression “owho du ishi na ago onwe eya”. With this it is believed that the law of the Creator is immutable. Break it to your own peril!

It is common to witness scenes in Okunano, where quarrels or disputes are settled by making certain gestures like grabbing a handful of sand or removing their footwear’s to stand on the bare ground to make pronouncements that they believe to be correct as a way of proofing their cases and many at times such disputes are settled on that note.

Our forbearers believed that the “Owho” as a symbol of Justice swings in the Omni-Present and Omni-Science will of the creator and that at the pronouncement or adherence to this belief alone justice is prevailed and always delivered as witnessed from many assertions and historic anecdotes that were proffered us in the course of this research.

Even when it seems at times that the answers to the prayers or “igoshi-owho” by certain persons and at certain instances were delayed. The manifestations or such delayed answers is reverberated in the after-life or is reincarnated from one generation to another.

Often times, some persons seeking wisdom or guidance from the mediums, which are available in abundance to us in Okunano are quite conversant with the fact that some causes of pains and penury of which some people pass through nowadays are retributive and reincarnated from the past.

The igoshi-owho or prayer as practiced in Okunanoland swings in the law of creation to mete out to everyone according to his or her deeds. This form of prayers is still practiced even by some so-called practitioners of the alien religions howbeit ignorantly or by act of habit of such a back-sliding adherent.

The Igoshi-Owho or prayer in Okunano is still very potent and for the Okunano Osagwede man who swings in consonance with this conviction it transcends any other form of prayer. It conveys an enormous responsibility; purity and freedom on the one who prays accordingly, in that you dare not touch the Owho stick or pray in accordance with this belief if you are not standing aright.

For some of us who may want to undermine this act, take a good look around you, ask questions, a lot of why’s and How’s of the act of Igoshi-Owho, this act of igoshi-owho like the potent prayers of any other belief or religion that vibrates in the laws of the creator grinds constantly and slowly but it grinds exceedingly well.

©CHIEGEONU AGA September 2019