This summer, though seemingly short, is turning out to be one of the best summers in our community in Canada. You will also notice that we have fewer scheduled activities but the few that are scheduled are action packed. The Ikwuano Umuahia Association Iriji was a delight to watch. The kids made the ceremony very entertaining. Take a look at some of the video highlights.

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What was regrettably missing was the actual custom procedures of the Iriji in  Ikwuano umuahia. We expected to learn the history of Iriji not only in Umuahia but also in Abia state in general. Though this is an adapted version of the Iriji festival in Nigeria, the organizers placed some bits of cooked yam in white foils prepared with stock fish. It was our understanding that Umuahia people love stock fish. You could see that some of the stockfish in the plate were bigger than the yam slices.

We are hoping that the next year Ikwuano Iriji festivities will recount the  history of new yam festival in Umuahia and a little of background on roles of  our ancestors in the bountiful harvest  of the yam produce. These are very important information for our young kids.

The event was well attended by members of the Igbo Union community in Toronto.