Creator, propagator, exponent and legend of afan media, Chief Umobuarie Igberaese commenced his career on the afan in Esan, Nigeria, in 1912 at the age of ten. He died on December 10, 2001.Afan is enjoyed by kings, lords, warriors, nobles, aristocrats, plebeans, widows, orphans, slaves as well as the literate and the non-literate.
He was described by David Umobuarie - banker, lecturer and author of Black Justice - as "...a compendium of Esan culture, tradition and usages...."
In 1922, at the age of ten, Chief Umobuarie Igberaese learnt to play the afan; an instrument he made famous for professional story telling and entertainment. Thereafter, he transformed it to a legendary art which has become a rallying point amongst the people of Esan in the West African sub region.
Umobuarie was born in 1912. He started his career on the afan ten years later. His father, Igberaese, lived in his ancestral home Idoa, Ekpoma, with his wife, Enemare, who had given birth to four male children who did not survive. Each child had died as soon as it was weaned. Although soothsayers had predicted relief, the matter soon became unbearable. Consequently, when Enemare became pregnant again, she travelled to Idunwele village on the instruction of her mother-in-law. The latter, being a native of Idunwele in Ewu had warned Enemare against the danger of remaining in Idoa with that pregnancy.
There, in Idunwele-Ewu, Enemare stayed in the household of her mother in-law’s uncle, Ubene, who was then the village Chief Priest. It was in this household in 1912that a male child was born to the Igberaese’s. The child was named Umobuarie, which means “Death has nothing to take from here”.
Incidentally, Chief Umobuarie Igberaese was an only child who later became an orphan. His father died before he was born while his mother followed suit immediately after childbirth. Therefore, he was under the care and supervision of Ubene and his family. Consequently, Umobuarie became a sojourner in Idunwele by reason of his birth.
Therefore, since he did not have the opportunity of experiencing any formal education, his medium of communication was Esan. In spite of that, afan music was greatly demanded for by recording studios.
Your blog is appropriately titled "afan media". For the first time, we have an exact description of the afan. The years you spent with Baba were not wasted after all. Your interest on the afan has been consistently steady. I think the lack of continuity of the afan, which we were all concerned about is no longer an issue because the afan, through this blog, lives on. Your studies at Bournemouth University are clearly evident in your pursuit to reawaken the unique arts of the afan.
ReplyDeleteWe here in Aylesbury shall be marking the xmas eve with the 'afan concert' Its a birth of a new era all together!
ReplyDeleteInsert a taste of the music here
ReplyDeleteJay
I knew Pa Umuobuarie personally. When i went to Idunwele-Ewu, my home town, for the fisrt time in 1986, I would walk around the Idunwele Primary school and the street beside it, not merely to see the landscape but to have a glimpse of the home of arguably one of Euws greatest legends, Pa. Umuebuarie. And I also took interest in his lifelong accompanist, Pa. Egbele the Golden voice. And after a jolly walk seeing the old man and admiring his charm and parsonage, I go home a fulfilled young man. The man was simply a genuis; a comet that runs the sky once in a thousand years. Again, I am proud to have originated from Ewu where the great artist and several other ingenuos personages also originated from. The history of Ewu cannogt be truly written without many pages telling the creative exploits of Pa Umuebuarie who invented his own genre of music. I salute you AB for your thoughfulness in creating this blog. We shall do our best to promte Ewu in our little way always.
ReplyDeleteI first met Chief Umobuarie Igberaese when he played Afan by invitation in an Ekpoma village. I was impressed by his knowledge and use of African idioms, songs, names, folklore and stories to convey life long lessons. When I went to Bible School for my secondary education at Ewu years later, I was fortunate to meet and hear him on several occasions. He was a simple and approachable person yet full of sophistication, integrity and wisdom. When I was doing my PhD decades later in USA, he was one of the great African thinkers that shaped my admiration for African culture and values as well as my thought processes. So, yes, I share the sentiment with others that he lives on in many of us. Rest in peace, Pa!
ReplyDeleteS. Aigbe