A speech delivered by His Eminence Dr Eberechukwu Oji, Eze Aro of Aro Kingdom at the Eke Ekpe Ikeji Aro 2024
Umu Aro,
Our Esteemed Elders,
Our Beloved Women and Youths of Arochukwu,
Our Distinguished Guests Both Far and Near.
Today, as we gather again under the benevolent grace of our heavenly father to celebrate the Ikeji Aro festival, a vital time for new yam celebration and tradition that binds us all as Umu Aro together.
I’m filled with immense pride, joy, and hope. We are here to witness a new dawn in the history of Arochukwu. A renaissance that seeks to revitalise our cultural heritage, foster unity among our people, and empower our youths for a brighter future. As we all know, Ikeji Aro is very special, a most significant festival celebrated annually to mark the harvest of new yam in the Aro Kingdom.
We usually celebrate it in September every year thanking God and our ancestors for bountiful harvest, blessings marking the end of the farming season, and welcoming the dawn of a new farming year. I’m most privileged and delighted to officially host this my inaugural and first Ikeji Aro festival since I ascended the throne of my forefathers.
Today, as we celebrate the Ikeji Aro 2024. We are not only marking the beginning of a new Aro year, but we are also embracing the bond of the new Aro Renaissance in all ramifications. The Aro people have an enviable legacy that stretches back centuries. A legacy forged in the principle of history is shaped by our traditions, customs, and our values. Our ancestors were renowned for their wisdom, their courage, and their entrepreneurial spirit. They built a kingdom that was a model of prosperity, peace, unity, cultural exchange, and brotherliness in and around the Eastern region.
However, over time, the winds of change have eroded some of the foundations upon which our heritage rests. We have witnessed a gradual erosion of our cultural practice, a decline in our language both spoken and written, a disconect between the younger generations and the wisdom of our elders and a loss of our traditional practices that preserved the lives of our people through the centuries.
It is time now to regain our space in the sun, to regain our heritage, to rediscover the essence of our Aroness. To rekindle the spirit of unity that once characterises our community. The Aro Renaissance is a movement to which I’m calling all Umu Aro home and abroad and in the diaspora community to join. This movement seeks to achieve goals earlier enumerated. It is a call to action, a reasonable call to all Aro people to come together to celebrate our shared identity and forge a glorious future.
Let us not forget that culture is more than the beauty of our dance, the rhythm of our drums, or the splendour of our attire. Culture is the embodiment of our values, our shared values which include respect for our elders, respect for constituted authority, honour to whom honour is due, communal service, integrity, hardworking and eschewing everything evil. These are the pillars upon which the Aro nation had to be built and these are the principles that will empower us all including our youths, to lead in every sphere of life where we find ourselves with purpose, candour, courage, charisma and vision that is uniquely Aro.
Yes, the Aro Renaissance is a cardinal commitment to empower our youths, which we are doing today. They are the future of our Kingdom, the torch bearers of our tradition and we must provide them with the necessary tools and opportunities to shine and to succeed by engaging them in cultural activities and exchanges with other communities, educating them in both historical and modern educational information, and leadership development. We are invested in their future and ensuring the continuity by heritage. We must, of necessity, prepare them so that we can hand over the baton to them when the time comes. Through our unique mentorship programs, our festivals such as this great Ikeji festival, our traditional arts, our cultural education, our food, attire, language, sights, and sounds in our community, we shall be empowering our youths to take charge in who they are. To have their unique Aro identity.
We call on all our elders to pass down the wisdom of the ages, teach our youths the customs, practices, and the values that have shaped this great kingdom. This is our time as a kingdom. It is our moment in the sun and we must make the most out of it. This is our heritage, and with this, we can forge a future where our tradition thrives alongside the demands of modern-day leanings.
The Aro Renaissance is not just about cultural revival, preserving the past, celebrating the present, but also about redefining what it means to be Aro in the future. This, in essence, is an engine for economic empowerment, cultural rediscovery, science, technology, and development. As we promote our culture, we unlock a vast potential for tourism, arts, crafts, innovation, and technology.
We want to build around and in Aro industrial parks, tourism centers, medical tourism and alliance that will attract people from all over the world to come and visit Aro not just during our celebrations but all through the year. The craft of our ancestors, the storytelling of our Elders, the beauty of sacred sites including the waterfalls, ivuchukwu, and all the tourism sites in our Kingdom, will be duly developed, communicated, and marketed to the world so that the world will come and see.
All these are responses waiting to be tapped for economic and social development, and we must do our parts.
My dear youths, let us embrace entrepreneurship through diverse engagement that we will be facilitating for you in this renaissance whether it is through formal education or scholarship opportunities, agricultural training for running a lucrative agri-businesses and other farming techniques, vocational and craftmanship in carpentry, tailoring, welding, plumbing, AI, computer and the blue economy and all self development enterprise in the emerging information technology economy of the current century.
We want to encourage all youths to make the most of the opportunities that are abound including financial literacy, business planning for startups and small and medium scale enterprises, sport development, athletics, football, traditional beings, environmental sustainability training for environmental protection and recycling for developing eco friendly businesses, creative arts, film making workshops, entrepreneurship through partnership with local businesses, health and wellness exposure, mental health and hygiene and youth empowerment opportunities as we have started today. The list is endless, and the opportunities are boundless.
We want to encourage all our youths to reposition themselves to tap into these opportunities, make the most out of these opportunities, and put themselves in the global mark. We shall be supporting you. I charge each and everyone of us, Aro sons and daughters, guests, friends, well wishers and lovers of the kingdom, our youths, elders, leaders, community members alike to take ownership of this evolving Aro renaissance.
Let us build on the foundation of our culture, strengthen our bonds of unity, and empower our youths to rise to the challenges and opportunities of the future.
In the spirit of Ikeji Aro 2024, we celebrate the harvest of our land and the harvest of our shared unity, wisdom, and strength. Together, we can create an Aro that is united and prosperous, for which all Aro sons and daughters will be proud of.
As we celebrate, may the God of heaven and earth, may the God of our ancestors continue to bless us with abundance of farm produce and other produce in the years to come. May we never lack showers of rainfall for bountiful harvest. May the earth never turn against us, and may we be alive to celebrate next years Ikeji.
Long live Arochukwu Kingdom.
Long live Aro Sons and Daughters
Long live Abia State
Long live everyone that has come
May God bless all of us in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
