It was a festive moment on Saturday the 18th of October, 2014 as Kalaoko community in the Khana Local Government of Rivers State was filled up with dignitaries from all walks of life to witness the Yaa (initiation to adulthood) ceremony in Ogoniland.
Yaa is the preparation of youngmen as warriors who possess excellent leadership qualities and an unquestionable character. It is believed in Ogoniland that Yaa is a rite of passage into adulthood.
During the process of traditional initiation, young men are placed under the supervision of te-yaa (initiation father) who takes them through the period of time to perform rites in all the ancestral shrines of the community.
During this period, the candidates are fed on rich diet, they learn to share everything in common and they are exposed to the secret treasures including the historical landmarks, myths and symbols of the Ogoniland. The instructions given to the candidates are comprehensive, covering all aspects of life of Ogoniland.
Yaa is a cherished cultural heritage of the Ogoni people, if you as a man has not performed this great rites or undergone the process, there are some prohibited places in Ogoniland that you cannot be admitted as a true son of the land. It is a cultural in Ogoniland that has resisted the power of modern way of life.
Yaa tradition requires participants to dance half naked round the community during the initiation. In this process, the chiefs, elders and old men are invited, many sacrifices and rituals are performed and libation are poured to the ancestors to acknowledged initiation of young men and to guard external negative influence in the future.
Speaking with The Newswriter shortly after the yaa celebration, HRH Mene Benson D. Y. Nwiyor, Mene Buah Kalaoko revealed that Yaa is an initiation of young men into adulthood, adding that for the period of their initiation into adulthood, they are to stay without having a carnal knowledge of a woman, stressing that the participants can only sit with fellow initiated men.
Speaking further, he said there are some community in Ogoni that if you have not been initiated as a man, you are not buried at home when you die or cannot take over your father’s throne as a royal son from a royal home.
HRH Nwiyor maintained that Yaa initiation encourages participants to be decent and responsible Ogoni men, adding that men that have passed through Yaa process are not controversial, they stand for and represent the truth.
On his opinion concerning the political matter in Rivers State, HRH Nwiyor revealed that the Ogonis have been so patience with the political seat in Rivers State, that it is the turn of the Ogonis to walk to the Brick House unopposed.
Speaking with the te-yaa (Yaa father), Chief AkpoBari Nwiyor, who is also a lecturer with the Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori, “Yaa gives you a class with attendant social responsibility. You are a warrior .As you cut plantains round the community, the crowd sing and praise the warrior. In situations of supernatural needs, the person who has done yaa can intercede and the ancestors will listen because he is a KABAARI. Yaa is a positive initiation into manhood.
Yaa also fortifies and insulates you against external negative forces through the stage of spiritual baptism. It also endows you with wisdom, intelligence and a sense of direction in the spirit world, which the elders believe, is the basis of proper conduct, success, and right actions in d natural world.
Adding that, “when a yaa man draws a line on the ground, a non-yaa man does not dare cross the line. As the yaa man performs the ceremony, he is libating for peace, health and wealth of the community. He appeases the gods and when he comes out, he is richer in traditional knowledge. During the period, the yaa man prays fervently that nobody dies in his family else he is disqualified until the next yaa season after appeasing the gods.
Yaa has no negative social & religious impact but it depends on the perception of the people”.
Chief AkpoBari concluded that the Yaa ceremony is meant to prepares young men for leadership & for life. By the yaa teaching and discipline, it inculcates the attitude of hardwork self-discipline, integrity, credibility, sound morality and respect for service of human life and human world. ###
Edith Nse Friday
