Published via Ecency

Good day everyone.
Le me share my experience as someone who lives in another place far away from my town.Note that, Nigeria is a multi ethnic country. The three major ethnic groups are The Hausa from the northern parts of the country,Igbo from the south eastern part,and Yoruba from the south western part.

Well, I reside in the eastern part of the country and I can't even speak or understand the igbo language.Well, back to the main gist.

Today makes exactly three days since I went to the local market in my area to buy yam and I didn't see even a single tuber of yam to buy.

I was kind of surprised,so I had to ask one elderly man who was sitting in his shop the reasons I can't find yam.And he told me and I was amazed.

He told me that today, the Ishiagu people of Ebonyi state are joyfully preparing for the arrival of new yams , to celebrate the New Yam Festival ( ikeji) tomorrow being 12/08/2026.

On Nkwo osusu day; The festivities kick off with vibrant song filling the air with joyful melodies that mark the end of the farming season.
And a such, all the remaining old yams are being kept out of sight during this festival.

Following the morning's musical celebration, everyone heads to their farms to harvest the new yam, with each family expected to complete their harvest by evening.

As night descends, the town gathers for a grand feast. This is also when the three Umu Njoku priests, who have been in seclusion, emerge to perform a sacred ritual in the market. They seek to identify the village that has produced the largest yam, believed to be favored by Njokuji.

The ritual is followed by the "Abali Njọkọ feast," where people come together to celebrate with friends and family. The traditional meal features freshly harvested maize cooked with coconut, accompanied by old yam with vegetables. Notably, there's a taboo on eating new yam on Nkwọ ọsusu day because of the new yam festival celebration in view.