IBIB IO
Th e Ibibiolive in the Akwa-I bom/Cross River
re gionof southeaster n Nigeria.Theyhaveinhabi-
te d thisareaof Africa formorethan1, 000ye ars
andpossiblylonger.Accordingto theirtraditions,
theIbi biohavealwaysbelievedin theEkposoci-
etyas oneof themaininstitutionsof statestabil-
ity.Vil lag es areruledby a group of elders whoare
usuallyreferred to asEkpo Ndem Isong.They
share the responsibilities of ru lershipwith the
he adsof familieswhoareusuall y theoldest mem-
be rs of th osefamilies.Whateveris decide d bythe
Ekpo NdemIsongis carriedoutaslawbyth e
Ekpo Society,whoseme mbersactas me ssengers
of theIk an, theancestors.
Orderis maintainedbytheimpartialityof the
Ekposociet y. Becausemembers of thesocietyare
alwaysmaskedwhen carrying ou t theirduties,no
on e kn owsexactlywhich me mber of th e villageis
re sponsiblefor a cer tainac tion.Thisis onlya
technicalissuebecause it canus uallybededuced
who is actingin a certain way,who is notat
ho me,so mustbe onofficialduties,andso forth.
If a personis physic all y punishedby th e Ekpo
society, fearof ret ributio n and,worse, fe arof
theancestors’punishmentkeepth e pe oplefrom
re portingbrutality.
TheIbibio re ly onthe Ekpo society for its
stability.Membershipis opento allIbibio males,
but they ar e normallythe ones who have
att ainedsomewealth.Withoutinfluence,wealth,
or prestige fromso meoccupationor profession,
a person maynotbeableto achievethehighest
ranksin thesociety.
Reli gionamong the Ibi biois aboutpaying
tribute to the village ancestors. A village is
blessed when it remembers the ancest ors,
whereas it is cursedwhen it failsin its ritual
respons ib il ity.Thefailureto honortheancestors
just as they we rehonoredwhile ali veon the
Earthmeansthatthevil lagewillfee l thewrath of
th e ancestors. Fortunes can be won or los t
dependingontheancestors.Onecansaythatif
yo u wanttobe fortunateandyouwant tobe
praised, then youshouldhonor yourmotherand
fatherontheEarthandallyourancestorswhom
yo u donotsee.
In th e Ibibiovillage, the moral head ofthe
societyis thevil lageleader.Hehasritualres pon-
sibilitiesas theguardianof theancestralshrines.
Hemaybea secular leader(i.e.,a businessper-
son,a professional,ora successfulfarmer)who
mayalsohavemoralleadershipbyvirtueof his
membershipin theEkposociety.Withoutmem -
bershipin thisimportantbody,thesecularleader
canno t effectivelyholdleadershipin thevillage.
Therefore,it is essential thatal l leadersseekiniti-
ationintoEkpo.
Abasiis thecreatordeityandAlais th e Earth
deitywhois appeasedthroughtheOgbomcere-
monythat is believedto makechildrenplentiful
andto in creasetheharvest.It is celebratedin the
middleof theyear, every8 daysfor8 weeks,by
eachsectionof a village.Themasksanddecora-
tions makeup much ofthe Ibi bioresponse to
culturalandmoralcrisis.Drumming and music325