As Globacom takes Ofala to the global stage

As a young boy, I desired to “know masquerade”. In local parlance, it is called “Ima Mmonwu”. An average Igbo man who has come of age knows what this entails. It is an initiation into the secrets or myths surrounding the spirit beings. Such initiation means you are no longer a boy but a full-grown man, and that you can no longer fear or run away from masqueraders. You can even sit down with elders to watch any of their restricted performances.

The day I was initiated was when I got to understand how the spirit beings speak in guttural voices and how they usually emerge like ants from some holes in the forest. Women are not supposed to know this! Unfortunately, civilisation appears to have killed this ancient culture of ours.