Waawa

TheWaawaclan of NorthernIgboland, also referred to asNdi Waawa, Wawa People, are a unique sub-group of theIgbo peopleinEnuguandEbonyi State,Nigeria, consisting of several communities, who all speak a unique dialect ofIgbocalledWaawa.  The most notable among these are the Agbaja and Ngwo which consist of peoples between the wooded lands ofAwka(capital ofAnambra State) to the rocky valleys ofEnugu(capital ofEnugu State). The Agbaja are made up of communities in present-dayNgwo clan, Udi,Ezeagu,Umulokpa,Igbo-Etiti,[Enugu East]] Local Government Areas. Other notable parts of the Waawa clan includeNkanu,Nsukka, Abia (not be confused with people fromAbia State),Nike,Agbani,Owo, and other communities inEnugu State. The Waawa are most notably associated with Chief Onyeama's people fromEke, who was the paramount ruler of Agbaja in the early 20th century.
Onyeamawas born circa 1870s, the youngest of the ten children of Özö Omulu Onwusi, a polygamous titled man of means, and an only son of his mother – Chinazungwa Ijeonyeabo of nearby Ebe community. At 7, his father initiated him into the masquerade society. A puberty rite of passage, this showed the promise of the young man. Onyeama's father died thereafter. His mother also died, probably killed for poisoning a man who had threatened her son Onyeama with violence.
Brought up by his half-brother, Amadiezeoha Nwankwo-Onwusi, Onyeama worked hard and made his mark in business. He traveled to famous Aro-controlled trading centers, includingAbiriba,Arochukwu,Arondizuogu,Bende,Oguta, Uburu, etc. When British rule reached Eke in 1908, Onyeama was rich enough to buy his way into the Ozo title society and to marry a local beauty, Afia Nwirediagu, and later Gwachi Ebue.
Slowly but surely, Onyeama got the colonists to award him the “Warrant Chiefdom” of Eke. He took power and defined it. Onyeama saw himself as an absolute ruler whose authority could not be easily flouted.But the King of Onitsha, Obi Okosi I, also reigned. No Igbo king questioned the might of the supreme monarch of Onitsha, let alone supposedly “lesser chiefs” from the north.
Onyeama signaled quite early that the reign of theObi of Onitshawas history turned upside down, because he considered the entire monarchy ofOnitshaa sub-colonial setup of recent immigrants from the Benin Kingdom. If anything, he (Onyeama) was in the league of theOba of BeninorOoni of Ife, the Yoruba monarch. This set the stage for a looming showdown between the kings of the northeast Igbo (called the Wawa) and southwest Igbo (called the Ijekeebé).
And so it was that at the gathering of Igbo kings in 1928, all major kings and chiefs in the old Onitsha province (including Enugu) and beyond assembled in Enugu to welcome Captain W. Buchanan-Smith, the recently appointed lieutenant-governor of southern Nigeria provinces. The Obi naturally occupied the highestseat of honorreserved for the supposed traditional ruler of Igbo nation. When Onyeama came in later with his entourage of security men, chiefs and Igbanküda drummers, he was outraged by the Obi's assumed position of supreme authority in his domain.
Onyeama ordered the immediate removal of the powerful King of Onitsha. A scene ensued with the District Officer trying to placate Onyeama. Furiously, as legend has it, he uttered, “Wa” (the local lingo for “No”); for emphasis and as a mark of immutability, he stated: “Wa–wa!” [Never!] He turned and decreed to the colonial officers: “If that man is still occupying that seat when I come back, the leopard will eat him.”Onyeama got his way and prevailed as the greatest king in town!
Considered an upstart by those who have had longer socioeconomic intercourse with the British, Onyeama did not make himself many friends. A record was waxed in the 1930s accusing him of burying an unfaithful wife alive! A court order forced the German company that waxed the slanderous record to withdraw it from circulation. This and other image-destructive stories of absolute tyranny, wife-snatching and even murder have never really removed from the legend of Onyeama. His people looked at him with mixture of awe and admiration. His secret police (made up of handpicked, local wrestling champions) struck so much fear into both chiefs and commoners that generations still respect the might of this great king.
The currenttraditional rulerOfOma-Ekeis Igwe Harold Chinwendu Onuoha, Eze-Oha I.
Amongst the Waawa people there is a lot of cultural diversity, and each locality can be identified by their unique style of music and cultural dance.
Some styles by region include:
One of the most important vegetables in Waawa cuisine and in the Igbo culture in general is the yam tuber. This is considered the Igbo staple crop and has been dedicated deities such as Njoku Ji, the yam god. Igbo cuisine includes other vegetables such as Pumpkin seed, used to make a soup called Egusi, Bitter leaf which is made into a soup and Okra, of which its name stems from the Igbo language.
The Waawa people eatfufuor poundedyam, which is known locally asutarawith a variety of unique soups e.g.ohé-ede, made withcocoyam,ohé-nsalaandohé-onugbumade withbitterleaf.
Aside from than the commonIgbofoods, traditional Waawa food includes a series of dishes referred to asagworo-agwo. Many of these dishes are made withtapiocaorcassava, such asabacha, which is known locally asokotoinUdi, andjigboin other areas of Waawaland. It is eaten withugbawhich is known in this part of the country asakpaka. Cassava is also made intoighu, which are larger flakes of the vegetable, prepared likeabacha.
All kinds ofbeandishes are native and unique to the Waawa, such asagbugbu(fiofio),achicha,akidiandokpa(which is a popularstreet foodsimilar tomoin moinbut made withbambara bean).Okpa di okumeaningThe okpa is hot, is a phrase quintessential to Enugu. All of these traditional dishes are available infast-foodjoints within the Enugu metropolis.
Each Waawa community has a distinct dialect of Igbo, which are somewhat related to each other but quite different from CentralIgbo language
TheNsukkavariety is notably quite different to the rest as it said to take influence from the Northern borders ofBenue State, it bears many similarities with NorthernEbonyi Statedialects, notably tending towards theesound in place of 'a'andhin place off. For example, the wordaka, which means hand in Igbo is pronouncedekain theNsukkaregion. Likewise the wordafo, which means stomach inIgboLanguageis pronouncedehoinNsukkadialect. This linguistic region covers more than justNsukkaLocal Government Areabut a large part of Northern Waawaland. In the Nkanu kingdom/region of the Waawa Nation, the 'mgbochiume mkpi'gh, is added to f whereas the f is silent during pronunciation. During pronunciation, the beginning and ending vowels are heard whereas the rest of the other alphabets{at the centre of the word} are dead silent and transformed into air when the word is pronounced such as efa-eghfa(by drawing in air as the mouth is opened i.e. breathing in and closing the mouth as the air is released i.e. breathing out).