VIDEO: Amazing Sights & Sounds of the Ekpechor Wonder Ebu aka Ebu Wonder



One of the great benefits of being a researcher is that you get to travel around very often. Over the last 4 years I've had the rare privileged of visiting almost every state in Nigeria, working on one research fieldwork or another. Sometime in 2013, I had the opportunity of attending a funeral in Issele-Ukwu, Delta state. Interestingly, the revered elder who was being committed to mother earth was a huge fan of the Ekpechor Wonder from Ebu land also known as Ebu Wonder. As part of the funeral activities his children decided to pay him a befitting tribute by inviting his favourite Ekpechor cultural troupe to grace the occasion. It was truly a sight to behold!! See video clip below.




First of, who are the people of Ebu, where is Ebu, and what is Ebu Wonder all about?
  1. The people of Ebu land are located in Oshimili North LGA of Delta State Nigeria.
  2. Curiously, the people of Ebu speak Igala as their native language, as opposed to the predominant Delta-Ibo (anioma or enuani) dialect spoken in the region; although they also understand and speak the general enuani dialect. They were said to have migrated from Igala land in Kogi state a long time ago.


    * In fact I witnessed an interesting discussion between one of the son-in-laws of the deceased (who’s from Igala) and the group from Ebu. The guy conversed with the group in plain Igala language for about 10 minutes and Ebu people seemed very excited to have seen their brother from Igala land.
  3. The Ekpechor Wonder Ebu, popularly referred to as the Ebu Wonder, is a famous masquerade used for entertainment.
    4.
  4. The Ebu Wonder is exclusively for the people of Ebu land who speaks Ebu language (a variant of Igala) from Osimini North local government of delta state.
  5.  It is carried about in red boxes by men (entertainers), who normally wear red and white or red and black.
  6. They sing and chant with their drums and when they do so the cloths in cloth in the box form into a shape (like the Igunu masquerade of Badagry) and begins to grow tall into a very tall stage of over 20 feet.
  7.  It is also the chant that can bring it down and if the chants stop it cannot come down.
  8. Although it is said to be exclusively for entertainment, the perception mostly is that there are some spiritual, occultic or magical aspects added to the stunt. You really cannot tell if a human being is inside or some spiritual manipulation is involved.
I have looked through the internet and found no single video clip of the Ebu Wonder masquerade in action. You may wonder why I have kept this clip to myself for almost 3 years, but I guess there’s time for everything, and I think the time to share this is now. This rare footage of the Ebu Wonder masquerade in action was captured using my mobile phone and I hope you find it interesting.

 Please feel free to share the link and be kind to leave a comment.

 God bless!!



Comments

  1. Morgan22 February 2016 at 23:08

    wander indeed:the traditional values of our great nation could be revived again when people like Dr Bell Ihua has taking it as a project. Bringing our tradition,culture and customs together,therefore we support you as a people and urge the state and federal government to support such projects(research) that tells the African stories.

    As they say in Nigeria " well done Dr. Bell".



    ReplyDelete
  2. kweneojo faith emina8 November 2018 at 11:17

    Am very proud to be a daughter of Ebu kingdom,God bless our land.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REFLECTIONS FROM ABIDJAN

Image
REFLECTIONS FROM ABIDJAN - 12 th January, 2018   A few years ago, I took a decision to deeply explore the African continent, one that has been in the news overtime for the good, bad and ugly. As a social researcher, I consider myself one of the few privileged Nigerians to have had the opportunity of visiting or working in every state in the country; and I thought it was time I extended my reach. I wanted to have a firsthand feel of the countries, people, language, food, culture, arts, music, night life and all that make up this beautiful continent. I also wanted to expose my children to the continent from a very tender age, and shape their thinking to see themselves more as global citizens and Africans called to be a blessing to the world. I have always been a firm believer in Africa and the ability of her people to change the face of the continent without any form of external influence. So far, we’re making progress on the decision and still counting. Fast f...
Read more

Ten Points from Ten Months: Reflections from NIPSS By Bell Ihua

Image
  This article was first published in Premium Times Wednesday 1 February, 2023 Upon completing my PhD studies over a decade ago, I decided not to undertake any training course that would span over one week. One to five days course? Okay! Anything more? Count me out. This was because I was mentally drained! The academic rigour , mental intensity and lonely journey of the PhD had left me brain-fagged. Luckily, I bagged a faculty position almost immediately and delved straight into the academia. I was happy to carry on with teaching, researching, publishing, conference attendance and community service; but to attend capacity building sessions scheduled to last more than 5 days, at a time? Definitely not for me! Fast-forward to February 2022, when by the sheer grace of God and providence of the Presidency, I got nominated to attend the Senior Executive Course 44, 2022 at the prestigious National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, outskirt of Jos the capital of P...
Read more