Okponsi Festival in Amaokpala Town: A Hermeneutical Approach

Abstract

Culture arguably is the way of life of a people and therefore, man as a social being is a product of culture. Amaokpala is an agrarian community and is blessed with a rich cultural and traditional heritage, that has been transmitted through oral traditions from generation to generation. Okponsi is an annual festival and obviously the most prominent and popular festival in Amaokpala, even to this day. The apparent misinterpretation cum misrepresentation of this all-important cultural practice by some religious zealots, non-indegenes, and non-initiates, etc, motivated this research. Okponsi is a four days festival characterized by the following features-preparation, izu-ufolo, agu-mmanwu, okobolo, iya, mmanwu, mgbako-mmanwu, oso-mmanwu and inu-mmanwu. The methodology of this research is hermeneutics and analysis in order to unravel the ontological, axiological, sociological, religious and ethical implications of this festival. The findings of this research are multifaceted and thus encompass all the aforementioned implications and more. Summarily, Okponsi should be sustained as a rich cultural heritage of a unique African community, while allowing modifications where necessary in view of current realities.