By Umar Isah
The era of hiding behind religion to colonize indigenous land and culture is over. Our people are now educated, exposed, and brave enough to separate Islam as a religion from Igala as a culture. We know the difference. And we will not surrender one for the other.
Most of those loudly condemning the celebration of Ibegwu are not true Igala by blood. Trace their roots. Dig into their ancestry. You will find that many of them cannot point to a single Ibegwu ritual performed in their lineage. Because as a core Igala man, you must have witnessed one or two of your grandparents performing Ibegwu. It is in our veins. It is in our memory. It is in our history.
I speak from experience. I met my late grandfather, Muhammed Opaluwa of Òmédò Anyigba, performing Ibegwu on Anyigba Ibegwu day. He was a Muslim, yet he honored his heritage. He always used a fowl instead of a cock, because Arebi, his mother, hailed from Anyigba while his father hailed from Ankpa. That made Anyigba his maternal home, and he respected its customs. That was Islam coexisting with Igala identity, not Islam erasing Igala identity.
So telling me today to condemn what my grandfather, a good, upright Muslim was doing, just because of your Jihad agenda, is telling me my education is a waste. I am not among those you can brainwash with religion for your selfish agenda. My eyes are open. My roots are deep.
This is the major reason Hausa/Fulani removed History from our school curriculum. They feared the day our people would understand real Islam versus the dogmatism that was injected into it for political and territorial conquest. They knew that once we understood that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ never told Arabs to abandon their language, dress, or tribal identity, we would fight back against this cultural imperialism disguised as piety.
The hypocrisy is loud: These same people never abandoned their culture. Fulani still do sharo, Hausa still do hawan sallah and kalankuwa. They keep their heritage intact. But they make it a religious duty to condemn ours. They baptize their own culture as “Islamic” and demonize ours as “pagan.”
Let me ask you: How many of these people condemning Ibegwu are condemning the activities of Boko Haram and bandits ravaging our communities? You will never see them post against Fulani bandits killing Igala farmers. You will never see them call for prayer against kidnappers in Kogi East. But they are the first to jump on Facebook to condemn Ibegwu, Ocho, and every Igala heritage. Their silence on banditry is loud. Their noise on culture is louder. We see the agenda.
So here is my stand, without fear or favor: Do your own Islam in your tribal and cultural ways and allow Igala people to do their own Islam in their own tribal and cultural ways. The Turk practices Islam as a Turk. The Malay practices Islam as a Malay. The Hausa practices Islam as a Hausa. The Igala will practice Islam as an Igala. We will not import Arab tribalism and call it Sunnah. We will not erase Aré-Ané and replace it with Medina.
And to those who have already appointed themselves gatekeepers of Paradise: If you see any Igala man in hellfire tomorrow, close your eyes and pass. Don’t judge us. Qur’an 6:57, The judgment is Allah’s alone.” James 4:12, “Who are you to judge your neighbor?”
Igala culture is not haram. Ignorance is.
Ibegwu is not shirk. Hypocrisy is. The era of deceit is over. Améné Alachi.