Traditional Beliefs: Umu-Okwayi Of Ndi-Ibe.

I am an Igbo guy and hails from Ndi-Ibe village in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State. My people observed plenty of traditions in the past but thanks to Christianity for life would have been something else. Today I will be sharing one of the traditional beliefs of my people which will be the Umu-Okwayi, my people worshipped Umu-Okwayi for quite a long time.

The Umu-Okwayi Of Ndi-Ibe was like the gods worshipped by the Ndi-Ibe people and is believed to be the owner of all the waters (rivers and streams) in the land. All the rivers and streams of the village were named after Umu-Okwayi. We have:

• Ekele Okwayi.
• Ife Okwayi.
• Okwayi Uzor Oba. E.t.c.

During the days this deity was worshipped women took turns to cook for the deity, and any woman who is in charge of cooking for the deity does not put on shirt, she just tie wrapper, until she's done serving the deity. Umu-Okwayi was known to be very strong and active and failure to comply to it's demands does not go unpunished.

Source

Fishing in Ndi-Ibe is prohibited for the fishes in the river as well belongs to Umu-Okwayi and you dare not kill it, an amazing fact about these fishes is that they have white chalk round their eyes just like the native doctors we see in movies, despite the fact that these fishes are inside water, the white chalk does not wash off neither does it fade away.

They normally offer sacrifices to Umu-Okwayi at the beginning of the ember month (September), to ask for the deity's continuous protection. Christianity stepped in and the worship of Umu-Okwayi faded away slowly.

Till date fishing is not allowed in my village because of the Beliefs from the past that the fishes belongs to Umu-Okwayi.