Hon Chief Ben Durugbor set to establish Oghu Cultural Academy.
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A former Chairman of Njaba Local Government Council Imo State and a high profile community leader and cultural revivalist, Hon Chief Ben Durugbor has concluded plans to establish an institution to preserve the cultural heritage of Umuaka, especially the Oghu cultural festival. Chief Durugbor who is the village head of Umuojukwu Ugbele and an Oghu Elder (Onye Isi Oghu) in Ugbele Akah, disclosed this in a chat with the American correspondent of Umuaka Times where chief he has been for the last few months on a private visit..
The proposed Oghu Cultural Academy according to Chief Durugbor will be a reference point, not only in Umuaka community but in other towns in Igboland where Oghu festival is celebrated. The academy when completed will also colloborate with institutions like the Imo State Council for Arts and Culture, Nollywood and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO on how best to project the Oghu cultural heritage and further create both local and international platforms which will not only promote the Oghu culture but also go further to institutionalize Umuaka community globally.
From facts Umuaka Times gathered from Chief Durugbor, lessons on Oghu dancing skills, playing of Oghu musical instruments, singing of Oghu songs (Abu Oghu) will take prominence in the academy. These lectures according to Chief Durugbor are being planned to last for a period of two months before the celebration of the festival so as to enable new graduate oghu instrumentalists, dancers and abu oghu singers to have an ample opportunity to display their skills during the festival celebrations.
Oghu costumes, songs, videos and historical documents will be made available at the academy. The academy will have different departments, such as training department, media and research department, events and organization department, galleria, faith based and diplomatic services department and more. Trainees in this academy will be receiving their lessons totally free of charge while the academy will generate funds through other sources.
While discussing with the Umuaka Times correspondent in America, Chief Durugbor disclosed further that his resolve to carry out this “radical and out of the box” intervention on Oghu festival is to make sure that the festival does not die a natural death in the nearest future.
He used the opportunity and called upon other Akahlites who have similar ideas on how to preserve “this festival, which is the only culture handed over to us by our forefathers” to come up with their ideas.
Already some prominent Akalites who have got wind of the news have already shown their excitements. While commenting on this development and its benefits, Chief Goddy Amadike, the President-General of Umuaka Conference of Presidents-General described the project as commendable and appealed to Chief Durugbor to handle the project with caution. “What Chief Ben Durugbor plans to do is quite commendable. I am in support of anything that will preserve our cultural heritage especially Oghu festival.” Still speaking on the subject, Chief Amadike expressed some sort of reservations over the project. Hear him. “However, as an ardent custodian and a foremost Ogbuluo, I may not support ‘imeru oghu’ in any form, or possibly dancing oghu after the laid down season as handed to us by our forefathers. So I wonder what happens to the proposed academy after oghu season!”
Chief Albert Okunwa, the 2019 Umuaka Times Cultural Ambassador of the Year who is known for being the first Akalite to take the famous Oghu festival to the United States, described the Chief Ben Durugbor Oghu Cultural Academy as a laudable project and a good idea. He went on to tell Umuaka Times that when Chief Durugbor starts the project fully and displays his ideas on the sustainability of the academy, “it is at that time that we will involve other people to make it materialize into an unstoppable reality.” He thanked Chief Durugbor for being the first Akalite to come up with the systematic institutionalization of Oghu festival.
