Ungwar, an Igala community in the Ankpa Local Government Area of Kogi State, was agog on Saturday as the residents celebrated Ogani, a controversial festival once derided as “pagan” but now fiercely defended by its custodians as an Islamic heritage.
From dawn till dusk, clouds of white powder and heavy drumbeats took over the air as men in tight colourful wrappers, covered from waist to knees and chest to ankles, danced wildly, rhythmically stamping the ground with their feet. Children joined gleefully. Elderly men and women in different costumes and with faces powdered like war generals cheered them on.
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Gunshots of local powder echoed into the afternoon air as the crowd grew so charged that a lone masquerade was summoned to control the swelling procession — but even he was overwhelmed.
Ogani not idolatry
Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES, Abdulkarim Yahaya, the seventh Onuh (leader) of Ogani, said the festival does not feature fetish practices.
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“We don’t make animal sacrifices—not goat, ram or fowl,” he said. “What we do is recite the Qur’an from beginning to end inside the first mosque in Igala land, located at Ungwar Ogebe. After that, the celebration begins. Ogani is not idolatry. It is a celebration borne out of Islam.”
According to Mr Yahaya, the festival was founded by Ali Agaba, a Hausa Muslim who migrated from Kano to Ankpa centuries ago and introduced Islam to the Igala people.
“The founder of Ogani brought Islam to Igala land,” Mr Yahaya stressed.
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Ali Agaba — The man who stopped a river
Idris Tijani, the secretary of the Ogani Organising Committee, recalled a widely told legend.
“When Agaba arrived in Ankpa, the Onu Ankpa (traditional ruler) asked what he could do. He said, ‘I pray, and God answers.’ The king challenged him to stop a river that was threatening the town. Agaba prayed for three days — and on the third day, the river dried up.”
Impressed, the ruler gifted him a wife, and Agaba established what locals describe as the first mosque in Igala land, located in Ungwar Ogebe, Mr Tijani said.
Since then, Ogani has been held annually in Rabiu Awwal, the month of Prophet Muhammad’s birth.
We worship with the Qur’an, not idols
Festival activities begin inside the first mosque in Igala land, where clerics recite the Qur’an in full for divine protection over travellers returning from cities and the diaspora for the celebrations.
Instead of slaughtering animals, biscuits are bought and shared as sadaka (alms).
One central symbol — the Akpata — is often mistaken for an idol. It is simply a log of wood wrapped in cloth carried through the community.
“We didn’t kill or bury anybody inside it. It symbolises carrying away evil and throwing it out,” said Mr Yahaya. This year’s Akpata was draped in red, which leaders said signifies a warning against “fetish intentions”.
Women, backbone of Ogani festival
Women play a central but less-talked-about role. Two elderly women, Rabi and Hajaratu Hashimi, spoke with this reporter:
“We inherited this festival from our forefathers. Young and old females participate actively. Tomorrow (Sunday), over 10 women’s groups will come out to dance. We also cook for our husbands to serve their visitors. This ground (referring to the area surrounding the first mosque in Igala land) is called Alu Akapshi. If you come here with a burden and pray, God answers.”
From Violence to Revival: Clerics divided over participation
Several people this reporter interviewed recalled that Ogani once became violent when modernised with parades and rival youth groups. But under Mr Yahaya’s leadership, the festival was reportedly restored to its original, non-confrontational form.
However, while some Muslims embrace the Ogani, others denounce it.
Mohammed Abubakar, an Islamic preacher from the first ruling Ungwar family, argued that its critics were misinformed.
“Those condemning it do so out of ignorance. Ogani started as a gathering where our forefather preached Islam, offered zikiri (praise chants), and fed the rich and poor. Even the word Ogani comes from the Hausa language: Gane — meaning ‘to understand’.”
However, Samuel Adejoh, a pastor of Dunamis Church in Ankpa, warned Christians to stay off the festival.
“It is culture, not Christianity. Though it may be harmless, fights used to break out in the past. I don’t condemn it, but I advise Christians against participating in it. Because normally, this Organi festival is handled mainly by the Muslims from Ungwar. You can’t see any Christians among them – they are all Muslims.”
Diaspora return and global ambition
Many participants travelled from Abuja, Lagos and even abroad to attend. Abdullahi Halims, the deputy leader of the House of Representatives and representative for Ankpa/Omala/Olamaboro constituency, was among dignitaries who flew in for the event.
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“I left all engagements in Abuja to be here. Ogani is already international. We have showcased it in Europe — in Paris and across West Africa. What you see here today is just a retreat.”
Mr Halims spoke about plans to expand the festival. “We want Ogani to compete with Calabar Carnival and Osun-Osogbo. Other prominent sons and I are working together to develop it. Very soon, sponsors will be lining up for this festival.”
More Than a Festival — A claim to identity
In Ungwar Ankpa, Ogani is more than entertainment. It is a statement of identity and Islamic legacy.
As dusk settled over Ungwar Ankpa and the last echoes of drumming faded into the night, what lingered was not controversy but community. Whether born of Qur’anic devotion or cultural nostalgia, Ogani remains a bridge between the past and the present — binding the old who remember its origins and the young who dance to its rhythm. In a time when many festivals are dying from neglect or distortion, Ankpa’s Ogani stands defiantly alive, evolving on its own terms. And as long as its people keep returning home — wrapping themselves in powder, wrappers and memory — the heartbeat of Ogani will continue to rise yearly, loud enough for the world to hear.
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