LIFE & HISTORY OF ELDER NNAJI NWA NNAJI (OKANA)
LIFE AND HISTORY OF ELDER NNAJI NWA NNAJI (A.K.A. OKANA)
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(1933-2014) |
Elder Nnaji nwa Nnaji was born in
the year 1933. He was the eldest of the seven sons of Nnaji nwa Ebe (also
called Obaru) and the grandson of Ebe nwa Achi of Umu Uzu nwa Agu family line
in Umuodumu, Umuonojah Umulesha Nkalaha. As was the custom for children to be
called after their relatives, Nnaji was named after his maternal grandfather,
Nnaji nwa Alu of Umuomechime, Amaezegba Nkalaha. His mother was late Mrs. Nneze
nwa Nnaji, a moral activist and a midwife till her death.
Nnaji grew up under the tutelage of his
paternal grandfather, Ebe nwa Achi. During these years, Nnaji acquired the
unquantifiable knowledge about the history and tradition of Nkalaha. The
knowledge he acquired these days with Ebe nwa Achi cannot be underscored to
have based only on tradition. He also acquired some aspects of western
civilization and its politics, since Ebe nwa Achi had contacts with the
colonial masters in his days.
In 1939 Ebe nwa Achi died and the traditional
eldest title fell on the shoulder of Nnaji nwa Ebe, Nnaji returned to his
father. At the death of his father in 1964, Nnaji became the traditional eldest
of the community (which had remained the reserve of the descendants of Ofu, the eldest son of Onojah) and lives in the same house where his ancestors had
lived. There he dwelt till death. From that year he asserted the role of a
father (Duhu) to the rest of the brothers and exercised it as satisfactory as
his father had in his days. The simplicity of his lifestyle and uprightness
have done much to inculcate to us all that for us to live longer we must be
truthful and upright.
Nnaji's Social Life and the Sense of Brotherhood
As one who had embraced the sense of
brotherhood and oneness among brethren from his father and grandfather, Nnaji
is bent towards working for the peace of his people. He shouldered the care
meant for his younger ones together with those of his cousin brother’s
siblings. To foster this sense of brotherhood, he allowed Ebe nwa Ebe to live
with Alu nwa Alu in the days when his brother Eze Ebe was undergoing an
educational training in Imo state. Nnaji does not attach much importance on
materialism at the expense of life, whether his own life or that of the people
around him.
As a social activist, Nnaji himself is easy
going, pleasure loving and amorous, more fond of society of boon. Generally,
Nnaji is a friend of children. He is a lover of peace and he was prepared to
invest his time and money to see that peace reigns among people around him. His
peace loving attitude is seen expressed in the way he stood in between people
having some misunderstanding. This can be seen in his attitude, two times
towards resolving the prevailing misunderstanding existing among Umuoyide
family members.
This he did on three occasions. One was in his residence;
another was at the family town hall and the third attempt was at Ufu-Ukpa Nnaji
nwa Aja. His refusal to appear on the fourth attempt was because the matter was
taken outside the family. In his opinion, a matter that concerns the family is
not supposed to be taken outside the family. It was this same pursuit of peace
and unity that had taken him alongside few other elders to the office of the
governor of Enugu state in 1992, during the war with Ngbo. He never exempt ed himself whenever the peace of the community was threatened.
Nnaji's Roles in Preserving Nkalaha Tradition
His active role during the 2002 religious
crisis in Nkalaha was significant. An act which set him in rile with the
traditionalist, as they threatened to excommunicate him in the traditional
matters. But this could not hold any water. He stood on a more realistic ground
that civilization does not compete tradition except when the advocates of the
concepts have allowed fanaticism to overrule them. Does this attitude appear to
mean his zeal for the tradition is fading away? The answer is no.
Stressing his contributions to the survival
of Nkalaha tradition, one may not be required to go far to be informed. In
Onojah Epic, Nnaji is described as “the embodiment of Nkalaha culture and
tradition in their oral form.” He is so described because, as a custodian of
culture, he embodies the history of the community in a way that he is the most
viable source of the history among the elders living.
The tradition rested on
his shoulder as the Ugbo of the community. Over this he had been called several
names such as Okana, Eze new Oha, Duhu Anyi, Nna Anyiukwu, Onye idzi etc. all
these names depict his height in the community’s tradition. This status equally
indicates that he had fulfilled all that are required traditionally for
attaining such height.
Nnaji's Opinion About Religion
Asking questions about his zeal over the
religion of his fathers, the answer will be yes. As a child born into the
traditional African society, Nnaji underwent through the series of initiations
needed of him as unto other children. He had led many religious protocols as
the head of some shrines during ritual processes as an Atama. Some of the
shrines he headed their ritual protocols were strictly designed that their
Atama position can only be inherited by virtue of one’s age. On this hand, it
is pertinent to state here that Nnaji lost his father the day he went to
represent him in the meeting of Umuobeye Omebe cult.
Coming home as the
Onye-idzi Ngburu, he remains next in command in the order of priesthood of Ebe
and Alu shrines. His commitment to the survival of the shrines after the civil
war exposed him to the acts of the ancestors. During the war, the shrine stead
was destroyed and the contents thereof. This gave Igwe, the then priest, a lot
of concern. But Nnaji singlehandedly reinstalled the shrine and performed the
ritual required for the restoration. As the restorer, he embodies the shrine as
the only living person who can tell the content of the shrine, what to do to
destroy it and what to do to put it back in its place.
Looking into his views about other religions,
Nnaji has been of the opinion that everyone is free to belong to whatever
religion he feels allows his freedom most and solves his problems. This was the
more reason behind his acceptance of the food offered to him by Eze Ebe and
Chukwudi Odo during the new yam festival at the aftermath of the 2002 religious
crisis in the community. A single act which provoked the traditionalists to
excommunicating him from partaking in traditional matters.
Nnaji believes in
the supremacy of the almighty God whom he called Chineke (God the creator),
who he believes manifests His power in different ways. He also believes that
this sovereign God can easily be approached through the traditional ways of
worship since its acts is more empirical compared to the more delayed process
of the church people.
Conclusion
Generally, Nnaji is easy going and does not
set values more on frivolities. He is a care giver who does not withhold his
last amount when another is in need. His heart of acceptance is as wide as that
of children. This common passion which had often times been misconstrued as
weak point had also been abused by many beneficiaries of the benevolence. This
can be blamed for the influx of strangers in Umuodumu. All these did not obtain
in the days of his predecessors.
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