UMUOKPU: A TRADITIONAL INSTITUTION IN ACHI, ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The ?m??kp? Igbo in Igbo cultural group is one of the most organized, peaceful and endowed women groups in Nigeria. It is also a recognition of the womanhood in the Igbo worldview. As individuals and as a group, the contributions of women as farmers, civil workers and managers of human welfare are central to the ability of households, communities and nation to tackle the challenges of poverty and conflicts. A society that ignores women or relegates them to the background does so at its peril. It is to be noted, however, that the ?m??kp? Igbo like other women groups from other nations suffer from decreased access to resources and paternalistic domination. However, their traditional and modern contributions make them to be no “pushovers” in the political, economic, religious and social life of the nation. Their roles in these areas are acknowledged. Their developmental efforts are remarkable in the families, communities and the church. In families and communities, their reconciliatory roles are unsurpassed in support of their husbands, and the empowerment of rural women since they appreciate that empowerment is essential for a new world order and essential to finding solutions to many conflicts. To achieve this, an environment for peace has to be created. As an organized group, they have established goals and strategies to pursue peace. The research studied the roles ?m??kp? as agents of reconciliation, social stability, moral and ethical orientation, and vanguards of development in pre-colonial and post-colonial modern Igbo land of Africa. Emile Durkheim’s social control theory is applied as a theoretical tool for the analysis. Secondary method, oral interviews, and person-to-person interaction were used.