YOU CANNOT SIMPLY BURY THEM LIKE THAT

By Cornelius Chiedozie Ozeh



From the Beginning
That is how Aguleri does it. They are buried together in a given period of the year, and their burial is solemn and ceremonial in recognition of their status. They are men of valour, wheels of progress, bastions of justice, models of dignity, and figures of prosperity. They are not buried like the ordinary man, those Unoka-calibre. No, you cannot simply bury them like that!
These group of men in Aguleri are the princes of the kingdom, full-fledged sons of the kingly ancestor, Eri. They have the complete bona-fides of a typical Eri son - heroic, truthful, spiritual, assiduous, prosperous, grateful, unstinting, assertive, reliable, incorruptible, compassionate, and team player. They are soldierly in content and character. Just like the burial of a valiant soldier involves twenty-one gun salute, guards of honour, draping of the flag on the casket, the burial of these initiated group of men in Aguleri have similar pomp, similar pageantry. They are not given ordinary burial. You cannot simply bury them like that.
Ndi Ogbuevi, and Ndi Ogbuanyinya are not buried like every other person. They are holders of the Aguleri version of Ozo title. Ndi Ogbuevi are higher than the high while Ndi Ogbuanyinya are the highest in their ranks. The burial of the titled men of Aguleri that passed on to the great beyond is done annually within a period set apart for it by the ancient kingdom of Aguleri, the period of “Akwamozu Oba”.

Akwamozu Oba in Aguleri
This is usually done between January and February every year within a period of sixteen market days. The communities in the ancient kingdom of Aguleri: Ugwu na Adegbe, Ivite, Igboezunu, and Amaeze take their respective turns on the Oye market days within the sixteen days period to bury their own titled men. The urban Amaeze Aguleri is conventionally the last to take their turn after the traditional Aguleri tripod-communities.
Ndi Ojiana Aguleri is the body that organises and regulates Akwamozu Oba in Aguleri. They sit at a village square of the community that is burying their titled men, especially at the village square of the eldest among the titled men being buried, and that is actually the venue where all other families that are burying their titled relation would take the items required of them for the burial.
Each of the concerned families are required to bring twenty-four big tubers of yam, and twenty-four presentable kola nuts. The significance of yam in the ceremony is that it is a time-honoured symbol of prosperity. The titled men are hardworking, and as such, they are wealthy. The heap of yams presented to the Ndi Ojiana is thus a sheer show of wealth which the departed titled man left behind. At the end of the funeral, the yams are shared according to communities in Aguleri, and in each of the community, according to age, from the eldest to the extent the yams could serve.
While Ndi Ojiana sat at the village square receiving the requirements from the concerned families, they are treated to archetypical Uvio music. The percussion emanating from the twin giant wooden gongs, and a pair of rattles sing praises to the titled men, both the living and the dead. The family of the departed, especially the sons of the titled man also dance to the Uvio music as part of the rituals for the burial of their titled father.

The Backstop
There are exceptional cases in which a departed titled man could be buried outside the period of Akwamozu Oba. The cases include circumstances or choice of the family concerned. In such cases, the defaulting family is required to pay a charge big enough to serve as deterrence but lenient enough for flexibility; a charge for the inconvenience the extra-ordinary Akwamozu Oba might have caused Ndi Ichie and Ndi Ojiana Aguleri that would sit at the village square to perform the customary rites.  In the whole, the culture of Akwamozu Oba in Aguleri ensures standard in the burial ceremony of the titled men of the ancient kingdom. It ensures that they are not buried like an “oveke.” You cannot just bury them like that.