Idoma

THE SYMBOLIC DEATH OF MONARCHS IN THE PROCESS OF INSTALLATION OF A NEW KING IN IDOMA LAND

The institution of the Ocheship, monarchy among the Idoma is rooted in their society and it goes back to the mist of time. It originated from the biological idea of the father of the family written large on the political page.

Among the Idoma, the Oche was and is still the highest officer within the kindred and although the lineage elders in the Ojila, council of state were and still are collectively higher than he, yet they are not so individually

According to findings, among the Idoma evidence further shows that the Ocheship is deeply rooted in religion. Thus, the Oche is both the king and the religious head of the community.

In the Idoma view, the Oche reigns but does not rule. He assumed office by an act of symbolic death.

By dying the Oche severed his connections with his immediate family and lineage and became a partial father to all. By his ritual death, the Oche was supposed to lose his personal identity and all obligations that he might have owed to others in the society.

He, the Oche, assumes office by an act of symbolic death to his family and lineage attachments. He is hidden for fourteen days. During this time many ceremonies are performed on his behalf, in his absence. Finally his compound is sacked. He loses all his belongings to the society as a whole. An ancestral mask performs “ opening Path to the Grave” ceremony for him. Alekwu lowe he kilo... he becomes the general son of the land. He becomes king owing no property of his own; but as a king he owns the whole land and its citizens..

The climax of the installation of the Oche: is the symbolic burial of the new monarch . He is dressed like a corpse, laid in state, and undergoes all the rigorous ritual preceding the burial. He is then resurrected, a spirit among mortals... endowed with all the wisdom and attributes of the ancestors, no longer subject to hunger, thirst, or greed.

The Idoma Oche is thus hedged with divinity. He was and still is regarded as being quite distinct from normal beings. This goes to explains why there were elaborate procedures which hid the mortal humanity of these kings from the public.

In the Idoma worldview, Owoicho, God is transcendental, all excelling, supreme. He is also looked upon as Owo no fie owodudu, omniscent. But since He is too physically removed from the world, there most be an intermediary. It is the Oche who is therefore invested with god-like qualities and made the ruler of the community. Evidence indicates that the Oche was the priest-chief of nearly all the cults in the community.

The Idoma religion consisted of three essential elements. The first was the OWOICHO (the Supreme God), the second AJE (the outstanding earth), and the third ALEKWU (ancestral spirits). Although the Owoicho was recognized as the creative supernatural force, yet because of the physical distance between the Idoma and God, the people thought it necessary to look for a substitute which acted as an intermediary between them and the Supreme Being. This intermediary was the AJE through which God transmitted his force. In time, aje became sacred to the Idoma. In some Idoma traditions , aje is considered more important than God. It is so important that Idoma religious belief that each kindred group established an earth shrine within its ojila (kindred playground).

The chief priest of the aje was the Oche. In this capacity he is referred to as the adalekwu (father of the dead).

In Idoma belief, the dead members of the kindred group were paradoxically alive. In other words, death in the corporeal sense did not remove the dead from kindred membership as such. Rather, certain classes of the ancestors were considered vital and living members of the community. Consequently, they were endowed with certain rights and responsibilities. The Oche, in his priestly role, was considered a vital link between the alekwu and the living community.

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