Arochukwu’s Ikeji festival unfolds across several carefully ordered days, each devoted to a particular section of the community and expressed through movement, costume, sound, and public gathering. Among these days, Nkwo Ekpe Ibom stands out for its intensity and focus. It is the day associated with the Ibom Isii section and centred in the village square of Ibom village, where performance becomes a public statement of history, discipline, and belonging.
Rather than presenting Ikeji as a single spectacle, Nkwo Ekpe Ibom reveals how the festival operates as a sequence of roles and responsibilities. Hosting, receiving guests, and performing before a wide audience all become ways of expressing position within the wider Arochukwu community.
Nkwo Ekpe Ibom and the Ibom Isii section
Nkwo Ekpe Ibom is marked by the visible presence of Ibom Isii. The main gathering takes place in the Ibom village square, which becomes the stage for performances and formal receptions. Leaders from other sections of Arochukwu attend as guests, reinforcing the civic tone of the day and turning celebration into a form of public encounter.
The day is also linked to long standing narratives that associate Ibom Isii with defence and warrior reputation. These histories are not presented as literal warfare but as remembered identity, expressed through festival performance rather than conflict. Ikeji allows such memory to surface in symbolic and embodied form.
EXPLORE NOW: Biographies & Cultural Icons of Nigeria
Wrestling and the discipline of the body
One of the most distinctive features of Nkwo Ekpe Ibom is wrestling, mgbá. It appears only on this day during the Ikeji cycle. Wrestling is explained locally as an older method of preparing young men for endurance, strength, and control, qualities associated with earlier warrior ideals.
Even today, the presence of wrestling shapes the mood of the day. It establishes a context where physical power is expected but regulated, setting the tone for the masquerades that follow.
Nwékpé and its place among the villages
Each of the six Ibom Isii villages presents a dance or masquerade genre on Nkwo Ekpe Ibom. Among these, Nwékpé is the most frequently chosen and the most visually striking. Its repeated appearance has made it one of the best known masquerades associated with Ikeji.
Nwékpé is linked to age grades and youth participation. It operates within clear boundaries, yet its performance carries an intensity that commands attention. This balance between regulation and release is central to its appeal.
Costume, objects, and sound
The appearance of Nwékpé is precise and consistent. The masquerader wears a tight off white bodysuit trimmed with raffia frills. In the hands is either a machete or a broom, objects that signal both authority and everyday action. A live cock may be tied at the waist, adding movement and tension to the display.
Chains made from dried oil bean seeds are attached to the legs. With each step, turn, and sudden charge, they produce sharp rhythmic sounds that merge with drums and shouted responses from the crowd. The most arresting feature is the headdress, a lifelike carved human head worn above the masquerader’s own. It is deliberately human in appearance, immediately readable from a distance, even as the performer’s identity remains concealed.
Restraint as part of the performance
Nwékpé is never left entirely free. The masquerader is tied by a rope or chain to one or two attendants whose role is to restrain sudden surges forward or aggressive movements. Their struggle to control the dancer is part of what the audience watches.
This restraint does not weaken the performance. Instead, it frames the energy, making the tension visible. The crowd sees not only movement but the effort required to keep that movement within accepted limits.
Announcement and entourage
Before Nwékpé enters the square, two young men carrying large, colourful flags announce its arrival. Behind them comes an entourage that includes drummers and players of claves. Unlike other masquerades in Arochukwu, Nwékpé is followed by a mixed gender group, widening participation and signalling its connection to youth culture and public excitement.
The followers do more than accompany the mask. Their presence shapes the rhythm of the event and draws the wider community into the performance space.
From Nkwo Ekpe Ibom to the main masquerade day
Nkwo Ekpe Ibom is followed by Èké Ekpe, the principal masquerade day of the Ikeji festival. On that day, each of Arochukwu’s nineteen villages brings one dance or masquerade to Amaikpe Square, a communal space held collectively by all villages.
Amaikpe Square carries deep historical weight. It is associated with judgement, punishment, and communal decision making. When masquerades perform there, they do so in a space already charged with memory. The transition from the Ibom village square to Amaikpe marks a shift from section focused display to collective representation.
EXPLORE NOW: Democratic Nigeria
Identity carried through Nwékpé
Within this broader festival structure, Nwékpé functions as a strong expression of Ibom Isii identity. It has been described locally as central to Ibom Isii presence within Arochukwu, with traditions holding that possession of Nwékpé was once treated as a condition for joining the wider community.
Through costume, movement, sound, and controlled confrontation, Nwékpé turns identity into something visible and immediate. It is not only watched, it is felt in the body of the dancer, the strain of the handlers, and the reaction of the crowd.
Author’s Note
Nkwo Ekpe Ibom reveals how Ikeji transforms memory into movement and discipline into celebration. Nwékpé stands at the centre of that process, announcing youth presence, section pride, and inherited reputation through a performance that is never fully released and never fully restrained. The mask’s power lies in that tension, showing how a community can display strength in public while still keeping it bound to shared rules.
References
Bentor, Eli. Warrior Masking, Youth Culture, and Gender Roles, Masks and History in Aro Ikeji Festival. African Arts, vol. 52, no. 2, Summer 2019.
Bentor, Eli. Challenges to Rural Festivals with the Return to Democratic Rule in Southeastern Nigeria. African Arts, vol. 38, no. 4, Winter 2005.
