2022 Juneteenth: Attah Igala ‘Worldwide’ Congratulates African-Americans, Commended Them For Upholding Igala Culture

The supreme ruler of the Ancient and Great Igala Kingdom of Nigeria, HRM Agabaidu (Dr) Mathew Alaji Opaluwa Oguche Akpa, has congratulated all Americans of African origin as the marked their emancipation day tagged Juneteenth Celebration on June 19, every year.

The revered king also commended those who used the same period to remember and honour their ancestors yearly, adding that “Blessings of ancestors are greater than those of living human beings.”

His Majesty described the celebration of the ancestors there in the USA as the replica of the Egwu Royal festival of Attah Igala and many clans of Igala Kingdom across Nigeria who practice the tradition, as many Igala people were forcefully taken from North Central, southeast and even Southsouth Nigeria in those days to America and other places, and that all these Igala Communities within and outside Kogi state still celebrate the same ancestral or Egwu festival. He therefore encouraged all to maintain the practice to preserve their Igala Cultural Heritage.

He specifically congratulated the Igala Kingdom of USA; the indigenous Igala people of USA headed by Chief Edibo Idih Abba Nizar  for this year’s Juneteenth celebration and for their recently celebrated Ocho festival in Charleston. He therefore urged the African-Americans who are of Igala origin that are yet to reconnect with his palace and the Kingdom to do so, adding that “knowing where you are from is knowing where are you going”.

President Joe Biden signed into law a bill declaring June 19, also known as “Juneteenth,” a federal holiday. Marking the official end of slavery in Texas, Juneteenth is now also a Colorado state holiday after Governor Jared Polis signed it into law earlier in the year.