By Victor Nwegede, Abakaliki.
Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru of Ebonyi State has cautioned his kinsmen against cultural erosion and political divisions, warning that the abandonment of ancestral values and communal bonds could undermine the identity and future of the Izhi people.
Nwifuru spoke during the weekend at Amagu, the ancestral home of Izhi Nnodo, during the grand finale of the 2026 Izhi New Yam (Ojiji) Festival, where he urged elders, traditional rulers, youths and religious leaders to take deliberate steps to preserve the clan’s cultural heritage.
The governor particularly condemned the indiscriminate sale of ancestral lands, family compounds and burial grounds, describing such properties as repositories of the history, identity and collective memory of the people.
He said continued disposal of ancestral properties could eventually make the people strangers in their own homeland.
“I have seen situations where people sell not only family lands but even the burial grounds and ancestral compounds of their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers.
“Such actions are regrettable because they disregard the sacrifices and struggles through which our ancestors secured these lands,” Nwifuru said this in his Izhi dialect.
The governor urged the people to preserve the values handed down by their forebears, including respect for elders and traditional institutions, dignity of labour, hard work, peace, unity and communal responsibility.
He also cautioned against the erroneous conflation of religion with legitimate cultural traditions, saying the two could coexist where cultural practices did not promote violence, criminality or harmful rituals.
“Many have confused religion for tradition and have failed to locate the difference between the two. There is sharp demarcation between the two and they do not conflict and clash in their operations,” he said.
Nwifuru called for greater collaboration between religious institutions and traditional authorities to ensure that the people did not lose their cultural identity in the process of embracing modernity and religious convictions.
He said cultural festivals such as Ojiji remained important platforms for transmitting the history and values of the people from one generation to another.
The governor also warned against allowing political differences, particularly ahead of the 2027 general elections, to fracture the unity of the clan.
According to him, political contests are temporary, while the ancestral relationships and communal bonds among the people are enduring.
“Political contests will come and go, but our ancestral bonds and collective destiny will remain,” he said.
Nwifuru urged politicians and their supporters to pursue their ambitions peacefully and issue-based, warning against violence, intimidation, threats and inflammatory rhetoric.
He also cautioned against using social media to escalate political disagreements, urging those with legitimate grievances to seek redress through appropriate channels.
The governor, who is also the political leader of the All Progressives Congress in the state, subsequently urged his kinsmen to support the party’s candidates in the 2027 elections.
He expressed confidence that the APC would retain its electoral dominance in Ebonyi, saying the party was determined to secure victory across the various elective positions.
Nwifuru also defended the performance of his administration, saying the government had completed more than 500 kilometres of roads across the state’s 13 local government areas.
“We have completed more than 500 kilometres of roads across the 13 LGAs. We have done roads connecting other states with span bridges,” he said.
He appealed to citizens to assess the administration’s performance objectively rather than relying on what he described as politically motivated narratives circulating on social media.
Earlier, Chairman of the Ojiji Izhi cultural event, Edward Nkwagu, said the festival was designed to preserve the virtues of good morals, sincerity, forthrightness, industry, justice, equity and fairness handed down by the ancestors.
Nkwagu, however, expressed concern over the erosion of traditional values among youths, which he attributed partly to modernity and Western influences.
He called for renewed efforts by community leaders, parents and other stakeholders to reconnect the younger generation with the cultural values and work ethic of their forebears.
The festival attracted traditional rulers, community leaders, political stakeholders, youths, women and other sons and daughters of Izhi, who gathered to celebrate the new yam harvest and reaffirm their commitment to the preservation of their cultural heritage.
