FACEKUERADE

Abstract

This essay theorizes the Ebira mask practices using the Ekuechi festival of Ebira Tao of central Nigeria. The study is essentially a field work engagement involving participatory observation in the Ekuechi festival performances, recording of these events and oral interviews. The core of this theorization is located around the dual transformation and doubling essence of maskless characters conceived and perceived as masquerades. It is from this phenomenon that we evolved the Facekuerade notion which is meant to capture the non-masked masquerade types, which abound in Ebira masquerade repertory and some other Nigerian and African cultures. From nomenclature to paradigm, the facekuerade notion is derived from the Ebira concept of Eku (the domain of the dead and masquerade), the Ekuechi event and the general understanding of the masquerade motif. Through this understanding, the paper identifies the generic and conceptual distinction between masked and unmasked characters otherwise bound together as masquerades. Consequently, facequerade is, in this paper, recognized as a motif for the purpose of classifying unmasked masquerade characters. The essay concludes by anticipating the Facekuerade concept as theatre because of its performative essence with vibrant ritual process.

Keywords:

• Facekuerade
• masquerade
• Ebira-Ekuechi
• transformation duality
• Eku'rahu
• character doubling
• ritual process
• festival performance

Notes

1. The information on these unmasked masquerade types are both a product of our field research and discussions with the indigenes of these areas.

2. Still a product of our findings as a result of our interaction with some Igbos and Idomas.

3. NAK Lokoprof: 301 Annual Kabba Province, 1952. This is in contradiction with Adinoyi-Ojo's (1996, p. 30) unreferenced claim that puts it at about 80 square kilometres north-east and south-west of the confluence of rivers Niger and Benue. Picton's (1974) map that he refers us to does not present this detail. I therefore opted for the colonial record.

4. Over the years, the name of this people are variously spelt as ‘Igbira’, ‘Igbirra’, ‘Ibira’ or ‘Egbira’ until 1974 when it was formally corrected and gazetted to read ‘Ebira’ by the then Kwara State Government. This development was the fallout of the ‘comments at the general conference’ of Ebira People Association (EPA) ‘held at Okene in December 1973’ which also led to IPA (Igbirra People Association) ‘changing to EPA’ (Ibrahim 2000, p. 39). It is this new form that is adopted in this study. However, the former varieties of spellings are retained in quoted passages. Wherever they occur they refer to the same people.

5. NAK Lokoprof 64/1923 ‘Trading Communities at Ajaokuta – Complaint Against’. The British Cotton Growers Association (BCGA) seemed to enjoy the Colonial Administration's support to exercise monopoly over cotton trade in northern provinces, but this monopoly was questioned and rejected by Ebira Native Authority.

6. NAK Prof 14 Kabba Province Report, September 1909.

7. See also NAK Lokoprof 24 Kabba Reports, 1916.

8. For more information on Ori please see Picton (1989, pp. 78–79).

9. Onokus are women born under very special circumstances. Whenever an Onoku is born, whether at home or at the maternity, a multitude of small hymenopterous insects such as soldier ants (ijija) or snakes appear mysteriously around the mother and the child to welcome her arrival They are predestined and super-human. Onoku gives spiritual support to masquerades by prescribing some sacrifices and rites to be observed to avert imminent danger. For more information on Onoku please see Picton (1997, pp. 362–364).

10. According to Osadebe (1981, p. 46), citing Henderson (1972, p. 351), nng-mmanwu (mother of the incarnate dead) are women so inducted because they had raised successful sons. This is done only after they have passed menopause. In spite of this, these ‘mothers’ were not permitted to embody or escort the ancestral figures, except to observe the preparation of the figures in the okwulc mmuo (secret room of the dead).

11. Eku, when used without any further qualification means ‘heaven’. Qualified as Eku'oyiza (good heaven) is to lay further emphasize on blissfulness of heaven or to anticipate a comparative distinction with Eku'ira (hell fire).

12. Only death in venerable old age, as a grand parent with a streek of wondrous achievements qualifies one to wear the toga of Ohi'ku (ancestor) in'eku (in the world of the dead). Such deaths are usually celebrated with pride, pump and pageantry including the staging of Ekuechi performance, if a male. Any other form of death violates this concept in the understanding of Ebira.

13. Please read Picton (1992) for detailed information on Ozu. Our understanding of Ozu as ‘destiny’, a word Picton completely avoided in his explanation of Ozu derive from the confidence expressed and positive steps Ebira take once it is known that the desires and wishes of one's Ozu is positive. If for instance one's Ozu wished to be very rich in his/her next coming, (the parents of such a child would take practical steps to assist the actualization of this wish by ensuring, for example, that one goes to school). Not that this really matters in the final determination of the Ozu's wishes, but the anxiety to see the fulfilment of the good package propel parents to take practical steps in positive direction within the understanding that ‘heaven helps those who help themselves’. Picton's position that ‘A baby is not born with Ozu’ (1992, p. 72) is also to be contended. If Ozu is destiny and the deceased that comes on a person's head, the African concept of unbroken continuity among the Dead, the living and the unborn suggests that these issues, regarding Ozu, must have been perfected and finished before a child is born. The divination process of locating Ozu of a child/person is not factored by the diviner during the ritual process, rather it is a search for that which already exists but not visible to ordinary understanding. Odewale's destiny as dramatized in Ola Rotimi's The Gods are not to Blame is not manufactured by Baba Fakunle but foretold as the child's destiny at birth. By Ebira understanding, there is no strict regulation on when a child's Ozu must be located – at birth or at adulthood, the choice is elastic. It is an optional exercise too especially in modern times, as some parents may not bother at all.

14. At Ekuechi performances, ‘“strong women are there only you don't see them” … so likewise are the dead’ (Picton 1988, p. 75). Beyond these, those behind locked doors in various homes are mostly awake monitoring the performance from within. These people constitute a form of audience too.

15. For instance, whoever performs the Lasere masquerade (in Ede, Osun State of Nigeria) never lives to see the next year. This information was supplied by Mr Tayo Arinde of the University of Ilorin.