It was an atmosphere of culture as Ndi'Igbo in the Federal capital territory (FCT), Abuja, recently celebrated the newly introduced Annual Igbo Children's day for language and culture, IFMA INITIATIVE (Igbo ga adi foundation) a non governmental organization seeking to revive and sustain the Igbo language and culture introduced and hosted the event which took place at the City Park, Wuse 2 Abuja, on the 31st of October 2013.
The ceremony recorded a large turn out of children from various schools, which also enjoyed the presence of many icons of Igbo land including traditional rulers, governors and politicians.
It was fun watching children entertain guests in mother tongue, playing various native games such as NCHO, UGA, PROVERBS etc, remarkably there was an on the spot cook show of Igbo native delicacies. The children evoked memories of long forgotten Igbo identities.
Speaking at the event, Chief Dr. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu MFR said he was greatly impressed that a ceremony such as this came at the time it was needed most. He traced how it all started with him as a lover of Igbo race during the outbreak of the Civil War as a student of University of Nigeria Nsukka.
He fought to ensure that the Igbo race is preserved. Iwuanyanwu pleaded that November 16, the birthday of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, should be adopted as the world Igbo day, he commended Ikechukwu Okafor for initiating and hosting such a laudable annual celebration which is for the good and future of Ndi'Igbo.
Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife CON applauded the initiative and described the yearly ceremony as a history making ceremony, which would stand as a legacy for the coming generations.
He blamed parents and schools for encouraging the dying language and culture of Ndi'Igbo.
Host and Initiator of the ceremony, Mr Ikechukwu Okafor, thanked those who supportted the project for the love of the Igbo race. "The future of Igbo race is in our hands, the sustainability of the Igbo language and identity is our collective responsibility.
"It is sad that we have allowed the white man's culture to swallow ours, our language is suffering dearly as over 80 percent of our children can no longer speak Igbo language let alone write it. It is a worrisome development and a big challenge for Ndi'Igbo Okafor said.
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