LIFE & HISTORY OF ELDER NNAJI NWA NNAJI (OKANA)

LIFE AND HISTORY OF ELDER NNAJI NWA NNAJI (A.K.A. OKANA)

(1933-2014)

Elder Nnaji nwa Nnaji was born in the year 1933. He was the eldest of the seven sons of Nnaji nwa Ebe (also called Obaru) and the grandson of Ebe nwa Achi of Umu Uzu nwa Agu family line in Umuodumu, Umuonojah Umulesha Nkalaha. As was the custom for children to be called after their relatives, Nnaji was named after his maternal grandfather, Nnaji nwa Alu of Umuomechime, Amaezegba Nkalaha. His mother was late Mrs. Nneze nwa Nnaji, a moral activist and a midwife till her death.

Nnaji grew up under the tutelage of his paternal grandfather, Ebe nwa Achi. During these years, Nnaji acquired the unquantifiable knowledge about the history and tradition of Nkalaha. The knowledge he acquired these days with Ebe nwa Achi cannot be underscored to have based only on tradition. He also acquired some aspects of western civilization and its politics, since Ebe nwa Achi had contacts with the colonial masters in his days.

In 1939 Ebe nwa Achi died and the traditional eldest title fell on the shoulder of Nnaji nwa Ebe, Nnaji returned to his father. At the death of his father in 1964, Nnaji became the traditional eldest of the community (which had remained the reserve of the descendants of Ofu, the eldest son of Onojah) and lives in the same house where his ancestors had lived. There he dwelt till death. From that year he asserted the role of a father (Duhu) to the rest of the brothers and exercised it as satisfactory as his father had in his days. The simplicity of his lifestyle and uprightness have done much to inculcate to us all that for us to live longer we must be truthful and upright.


Nnaji's Social Life and the Sense of Brotherhood

As one who had embraced the sense of brotherhood and oneness among brethren from his father and grandfather, Nnaji is bent towards working for the peace of his people. He shouldered the care meant for his younger ones together with those of his cousin brother’s siblings. To foster this sense of brotherhood, he allowed Ebe nwa Ebe to live with Alu nwa Alu in the days when his brother Eze Ebe was undergoing an educational training in Imo state. Nnaji does not attach much importance on materialism at the expense of life, whether his own life or that of the people around him.

As a social activist, Nnaji himself is easy going, pleasure loving and amorous, more fond of society of boon. Generally, Nnaji is a friend of children. He is a lover of peace and he was prepared to invest his time and money to see that peace reigns among people around him. His peace loving attitude is seen expressed in the way he stood in between people having some misunderstanding. This can be seen in his attitude, two times towards resolving the prevailing misunderstanding existing among Umuoyide family members. 

This he did on three occasions. One was in his residence; another was at the family town hall and the third attempt was at Ufu-Ukpa Nnaji nwa Aja. His refusal to appear on the fourth attempt was because the matter was taken outside the family. In his opinion, a matter that concerns the family is not supposed to be taken outside the family. It was this same pursuit of peace and unity that had taken him alongside few other elders to the office of the governor of Enugu state in 1992, during the war with Ngbo. He never exempt ed himself whenever the peace of the community was threatened.


Nnaji's Roles in Preserving Nkalaha Tradition

His active role during the 2002 religious crisis in Nkalaha was significant. An act which set him in rile with the traditionalist, as they threatened to excommunicate him in the traditional matters. But this could not hold any water. He stood on a more realistic ground that civilization does not compete tradition except when the advocates of the concepts have allowed fanaticism to overrule them. Does this attitude appear to mean his zeal for the tradition is fading away? The answer is no.

Stressing his contributions to the survival of Nkalaha tradition, one may not be required to go far to be informed. In Onojah Epic, Nnaji is described as “the embodiment of Nkalaha culture and tradition in their oral form.” He is so described because, as a custodian of culture, he embodies the history of the community in a way that he is the most viable source of the history among the elders living. 

The tradition rested on his shoulder as the Ugbo of the community. Over this he had been called several names such as Okana, Eze new Oha, Duhu Anyi, Nna Anyiukwu, Onye idzi etc. all these names depict his height in the community’s tradition. This status equally indicates that he had fulfilled all that are required traditionally for attaining such height.


Nnaji's Opinion About Religion

Asking questions about his zeal over the religion of his fathers, the answer will be yes. As a child born into the traditional African society, Nnaji underwent through the series of initiations needed of him as unto other children. He had led many religious protocols as the head of some shrines during ritual processes as an Atama. Some of the shrines he headed their ritual protocols were strictly designed that their Atama position can only be inherited by virtue of one’s age. On this hand, it is pertinent to state here that Nnaji lost his father the day he went to represent him in the meeting of Umuobeye Omebe cult. 

Coming home as the Onye-idzi Ngburu, he remains next in command in the order of priesthood of Ebe and Alu shrines. His commitment to the survival of the shrines after the civil war exposed him to the acts of the ancestors. During the war, the shrine stead was destroyed and the contents thereof. This gave Igwe, the then priest, a lot of concern. But Nnaji singlehandedly reinstalled the shrine and performed the ritual required for the restoration. As the restorer, he embodies the shrine as the only living person who can tell the content of the shrine, what to do to destroy it and what to do to put it back in its place.

Looking into his views about other religions, Nnaji has been of the opinion that everyone is free to belong to whatever religion he feels allows his freedom most and solves his problems. This was the more reason behind his acceptance of the food offered to him by Eze Ebe and Chukwudi Odo during the new yam festival at the aftermath of the 2002 religious crisis in the community. A single act which provoked the traditionalists to excommunicating him from partaking in traditional matters. 

Nnaji believes in the supremacy of the almighty God whom he called Chineke (God the creator), who he believes manifests His power in different ways. He also believes that this sovereign God can easily be approached through the traditional ways of worship since its acts is more empirical compared to the more delayed process of the church people.


Conclusion

Generally, Nnaji is easy going and does not set values more on frivolities. He is a care giver who does not withhold his last amount when another is in need. His heart of acceptance is as wide as that of children. This common passion which had often times been misconstrued as weak point had also been abused by many beneficiaries of the benevolence. This can be blamed for the influx of strangers in Umuodumu. All these did not obtain in the days of his predecessors.


Nnaji is blessed with four sons and seven daughters. Among these is the prolific writer and researcher, Onyeji Nnaji; of course, youngest of the sons. Nneze Nnaji, whose picture is shown above is Nnaji's first daughter. He was also survived by four out of his supposed six brothers, many cousins, grandchildren and nephews. Nnaji remained the Ugbo, Okana and the eldest in staff till 14th February, 2014, the day he joined his ancestors and was buried at the part of the compound marked for people in his traditional position. 







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