Dee ND,
There are about four recognized greeting chants in Igbere.
The first one is the Traditional chant of the Igbere community.
The second one is the Igbere Welfare Union Chant.
The third one is the first level of the compound chant. The fourth one is the village Union or compound union chant.
The first chant is a Customary practice deeply embedded and rooted in the social life of all the communities under the Cross Rivers historical classification of Igbos.
The Cross Rivers Igbos are:
- Arochukwu
- Ututu
- Ihechiowa
- Abam
- Ohafia
- Abiriba
- Bende
- Edda
- Afikpo
- Amasiri
- Akaeze
- Item
- Igbere
- Alayi
- Ugwueke
- Ezeukwu
- Nkporo
- Ozuakoli
- Ozuitem
- Umuhu
- Umuimenyi
All these communities as listed above chant the same way.
What is common to their chant is “… Kwenu” or Kwonu .
Ebiri Kwonu is our Igbere native chant but the Ezumezu Chant was introduced at a meeting of the Igbere Welfare Union.
Ebiri Kwonu is in the heart of all Igbere people. The Ezumezu chant is mostly done at the meeting of the Igbere Welfare Union.
Both chants are not forced on anyone and no one is compelled to Chant either of them.
My only concern is that while the Igbere Aborigines and Sons of the soil are mostly attached to the Customary chant of Ebiri Kwonu,
Ebiri Kaa nu
Ebiri Nma nmanu
Cheche che Ebiri Haaam or Heem,
Migragrants to Igbere or those who have a weak Igbere root but a strong participation in the Igbere Welfare Union support the Ezumezu Chant, while Igbere Natives support the Customary chant.
In the gathering of the Igbere people, what you chant is entirely your choice. It is voluntary. The other level of chants is both at the compound or village level.
In view of the above, I do not think that there can be a resolution on that.
On a lighter note and to butress my point that one is free to chant as led only by himself, I had an uncle who was considering Church life. He was used to chanting Ebiri Kwonu and Ezumezu. That particular day while in the gathering of mostly Christians he was called out to give the vote of thanks.
Others had been given the opportunity to make one speech or another proceeded by the Christian chant of ” Praise the lord,
Halleluya”
He stood forward to the center of the event, took the microphone and started chanting
” che che che che, Ebiri ….”
At that point he remembered he was not in his traditional domain where “Kwonu” would have been most appropriate, so he quickly entered the Christian mode and came out with “Praise God”.
So bikonu,
Che che che Ebiri Praise the Lord
Halleluya.