Ebonyi Group Warns Against Politicising Ezza New Yam Festival, Urges Respect For Tradition
A socio-cultural organisation, the Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-Cultural in the Diaspora (AEISCID), has cautioned against what it described as attempts to politicise the annual Okeaku (New Yam) Festival of the Ezza Ezekuna people, urging individuals and groups to respect established cultural traditions. In a statement signed on Saturday by its President, Ambassador Paschal Oluchukwu, the group expressed concerns over it called a departure from the customary process of fixing and celebrating the festival, which it said traditionally marks the beginning of a new calendar year for the Ezza nation. AEISCID alleged that a gathering organised on June 30, 2026, at the ancestral Okpoku Ezekuna (Nchionu) ground by a group identified as “Ezza Elites” was held without the guidance or approval of recognised traditional custodians of Ezza cultural heritage. According to the association, while every group has the constitutional right to peaceful assembly and freedom of ass...