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A STUDY OF IDIGO ROYAL DYNASTY AND OVALA ROYAL FESTIVAL IN AGULERI AND ITS’ TOURISM IMPLICATIONS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page: – – – – – – – – – – i
Approval Page: – – – – – – – – – ii
Certification Page: – – – – – – – – – iii
Dedication: – – – – – – – – – – iv
Acknowledgment: – – – – – – – – – v
List of Plates: – – – – – – – – – – vi
List of figures: – – – – – – – – – – vii
Table of Content: – – – – – – – – – ix
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION – – – – – – 1
- Introduction – – – – – – – – – 1
- Statement Of the Problem – – – – – – – – 2
- Objectives Of the Study – – – – – – – – 3
- Research Methods – – – – – – – – 4
- Significance Of the Study – – – – – – – – 5
- Limitations Of the Study – – – – – – – – 6
- scope of the study – – – – – – – – – 7
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW – – – – – 8
2.1 Theoretical Literature – – – – – – – – 8
2.2 Empirical Literature – – – – – – – – 11
2.3 Theoretical Orientation – – – – – – – – 21
CHAPTER THREE: BACKGROUND INFORMATION – – – 24
3.1 Geographical location of Aguleri – – – – – – – 24
3.2 History and Origin of Aguleri – – – – – – – 27
3.3 Climate and vegetation of Aguleri – – – – – – 28
3.4 The Life and People of Aguleri – – – – – – – 30
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS – – 34
4.1 DATA PRESENTATION – – – – – – – 34
4.1.1 Aguleri before Idigo Royal Dynasty – – – – – – 34
4.1.2 The Emergence of Idigo Royal Dynasty – – – – – 36
- Eze Idigo: Onyekaomeli Idigo (1840-1900) – – – – 37
- Eze Idigo I – – – – – – – – – 38
- Eze Idigo II – – – – – – – – – 39
- Eze Idigo III – – – – – – – – 41
- Eze Idigo IV – – – – – – – – 42
4.1.3 The Features of Idigo Royal Dynasty – – – – – – 43
- Palace Ground and Ancient Palace Buildings – – – – 43
- Ikolo – – – – – – – – – 44
- Isabanka – – – – – – – – – 46
- Mkpu (Palace Gate House) – – – – – – 48
- Okanga Royal Drum – – – – – – – 48
4.1. 4 Origin of Ovala Festival in Aguleri – – – – – – 50
Ovala Events and Activities in Aguleri – – – – – 51
4.2 DATA ANALYSIS – – – – – – – – 56
4.2.1 Significance of the Research to Tourism Development – – – 56
4.2.2 The Impact of Modernity and Change to Idigo Dynasty and Ovala Festival in Aguleri
– – – – – – – – – – – 57
4.3 Impacts of Idigo Dynasty and Ovala Festival in Aguleri – – – – 61
4.4 Sustainability of Idigo Royal Dynasty and Ovala Royal Festival in Aguleri – 71
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION – – – – 75
5.1 Summary – – – – – – – – – – 75
5.2 Conclusion – – – – – – – – – 79
Bibliography – – – – – – – – – – 80
Appendix I – – – – – – – – – – 86
Appendix II – – – – – – – – – – 87
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The importance of Idigo Royal Dynasty and the famous Ovala festival as the cornerstone and the foundation upon which the tourism of Aguleri Kingdom based cannot be over-emphasized. These attributes of cultural tourism has fascinated and attracted the minds of tourists (both local and international) that visit Aguleri for adventure, culture, history, archaeology and direct interaction with the local people.
Aguleri was known to be the food basket of Anambra state. Incidentally, the ancient kingdom grew into a palatable tourism destination that offers a unique and a high-end cultural experience to a high volume of tourists. A dynasty is referred to as a sequence or an era, during which a family reigned, as well as the events, trends and artefacts of that period. A dynasty is royal depending upon the chief title borne by its rulers. The quest to visit and explore the Idigo Royal Dynasty, the ancient and the oldest surviving dynasty in Anambra state with a diversified culture and ancient architecture have transformed Aguleri into a crowded and a palatable tourism destination.
According to Aguleri tradition, the word “Ovala” is a royal festival. It is believed by the tradition that Ovala festival is synonymous to the Idigo Dynasty. Although, it has today come to be known as the most popular royal festival and celebration among Igbo traditional rulers (Eze or Igwe) which attracts large volume of tourists. The origin of Ovala royal festival dates back to the life and times of Ogbuanyinya OnyekaomeluIdigo who was the founder of Idigo Royal Dynasty (Isaac-Ogugua, 2004). Ovala festival is an annual feast that has attained the status of the greatest feast of the time in Aguleri kingdom and the entire Igboland at large. The hospitality of Aguleri people and the unique features of Idigo Dynasty have impressed guests/tourists greatly that they visit Aguleri in their numbers from all walks of life during the time of the annual Ovala royal festival. The system of cultural relics of Idigo dynasty and the famous Ovala festival are no doubt enough foundations for establishing the image of Aguleri kingdom as a national cultural/heritage tourism centre. Tourists are absolutely attracted by the constructional styles and activities of Idigo dynasty (EzeIdigo) and the Ovala royal festival which are both ancient and luxurious. The features of Idigo Dynasty and the famous Ovala festival in Aguleri, Anambra state forms the central focus of this research.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The writer is rather happy than being scared by the choice of this research topic. This is because friends and course mates have tried to put him off the topic with all sort of discouraging words. Even some Agulerians who does not know the touristic value (tourism significance) of both the Idigo Royal Dynasty and the famous Ovala festival were directly or indirectly against this research topic.
Festivals have been seen as an essential part of people’s life. They have a function of providing a good vehicle to strengthen a community. Given the enormous importance of festivals to the growth and sustainable development, more and more communities in Igboland hold festivals and events with the aim of improving the communities’ images, attracting visitors and investment as well as stimulating urban development and boosting local economy as a whole.
More so, it must be noted that Aguleri Kingdom is rapidly becoming a palatable destination for tourist looking for a unique experience. The major drivers of these great volumes of tourists are the Idigo Royal Dynasty and the famous Ovala festival. These rich cultural relics make Aguleri to be enlisted as one of the leaders in Anambra tourism industry. Studies have shown that the twin cultural heritages have been embraced as a form of diversifying the economy of Aguleri and Anambra state at large through local and international tourism. The purpose of holding the Ovala festival in Aguleri is to manifest the characteristics of the Idigo dynasty and, promote cultural exchange, and embody the idea of constructing Aguleri as the “home of Igboland”. More so, for Idigo Royal Dynasty and the famous Ovala festival to have made Aguleri a tourism haven, very little is known about the consolidation and reign of Idigo Royal Dynasty, its features which includes the famous Ovala festival as well as the significance in the nation’s tourism development. However, whether the dynasty is well preserved and conserved and its place in face of westernization and modernity has become the important research subject.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
Cultural/heritage tourism is fast growing a niche in Aguleri in particular and Anambra state in general. This market is stimulated by the Idigo Royal Dynasty and the famous Ovala festival which have attracted a large number of domestic and international tourists, and by the increasing availability of infrastructures. Therefore, from the broad goals to the specific objectives, this study is geared towards the following.
- To study and understand the historical emergence of Idigo Royal Dynasty and Ovala festival in Aguleri.
- To examine the features of Idigo Royal Dynasty and the activities of the Ovala festival in Aguleri.
- To enumerate significance Idigo Royal Dynasty and Ovala festival in tourism development.
- To finally make recommendations on how to package and project the Idigo Royal Dynasty as the oldest surviving dynasty in Anambra state and Ovala festival as the most significant and most colourful cultural and traditional fiesta in Igboland.
1.4 RESEARCH METHODS
The major source of information for this research work was basically ethnographic study. According to Hornby et al (1965), ethnographic study is the scientific study/description of the race of mankind. It is used to describe the ways of life and environment of the people as it relates to tourism. Following the methods of Aremu (2001), the primary methods/techniques of ethnographic research applied in this study includes the participant observation and key informant interview.
The former involve observing and recording as much information that seems important as possible and participating in as many relevant activities as opportunities affords. The relevance of this research method is to record accurately whatever information that may be required by the researcher (Aremu, 2001). The later was interview with people who are knowledgeable about the culture or history and the general physical environment of the people and the area under study and is interested in talking about it (Aremu, 2001).
Secondly, the researcher consulted available literatures on the related topic of research. Information from relevant magazines (Ikolo), seminar papers, articles, journals, newspapers as well as published and unpublished materials of authors proved invaluable in the course of this research.
Finally, photographic documentation was used to bring into lime light the activities and features of both Idigo dynasty and Ovala celebrations.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH
This study is justified on the basis that the growth and promotion of Idigo dynasty and Ovala festival as tourism market may provide several benefits to Aguleri as tourism destination and the entire nation in general. Students and institutions of higher learning will find this research work important as it will add to the literature of tourism. In a special way, students of tourism and other related area of study will find this research very essential as it will provide a frame work for further research. To tourists and the general public, the research will provide an insight into cultural heritage of Aguleri Kingdom. Government, interested investors and stakeholders in tourism industry will also value this work as it will provide a plan with which the attractions and potentials could be sustainably packaged and projected.
Furthermore, this study contributes to the body of knowledge in tourism impacts and sustainability of Idigo Dynasty and Ovala festival in Aguleri. The findings should strengthen knowledge about relationship between Idigo Dynasty and Ovala festival.
1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
A research of this kind cannot be without limitation. This is because of less available literature in the area of study with respect to this very topic of study. The researcher found it a little uneasy having been faced with the problem of royalty as the Igwe refused some interview. Some of the natives that were selected for interview demanded pay for them to release information. Most of the aged respondents were not fluent in English language. They prefer using their local language which took time to translate.
Another obstacle in the course of this research is finance. As a royal person, the Igwe himself exhibited “come today, come tomorrow” syndrome. This made the research work to take longer than it was supposed to.
Time factor also affected the success of this research work. Time is the scarcest commodity, even scarcer than money (Onuigbo, 2001). For you can replace lost money, increase or decrease the quantity, earn or steal or even create it, (if you choose) but not so with time. Time is always 24hours per diem. However, the delay in given out the information by the Igwe constituted a problem to this research. These limitations strengthen the reason why most Agulerians were not in support of this particular research.
Nevertheless, the research was comprehensively conducted and presented in this prospect. It is hoped that these limitations would suggest and encourage additional directions and guidelines for future study.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH
The study focused on the Idigo dynasty and Ovala festival in Aguleri, Anambra East Local Government Area. The rationale behind the selection was based on their long-standing history of Idigo dynasty and Ovala festival. Thus, the area was intensively studied and information useful for the purpose of this study were obtained and systematically analyzed.
A STUDY OF IDIGO ROYAL DYNASTY AND OVALA ROYAL FESTIVAL IN AGULERI AND ITS’ TOURISM IMPLICATIONS
