The Choirmaster (4)

Can anyone put on a mask, rub the charcoal and pretend to be an ekpo? Definitely, not in Annang land. Where someone is suspected of doing that, an initiate would approach him and communicate. Not a mouth-to-mouth chat but by signs and symbols. He could scribble on the ground, jump to the side of the path and pluck a leaf or more and position them in special ways the other person would need to interpret. Failure to respond appropriately could lead to fatal consequences. The ekpo means of communication was known as 'Nsibidi' and it was the best kept secret of the cult. Not even the 'akwa ekpo' passed it down to his son, the choirmaster.

Apart from the ekpo masquerade, the other plays in Annang land were: ekong, uta, abang, utu-ekpe and mbede Annang. The ekong players wore raffia masks, sang with a device hidden in their masks and which sounded like the call of a raven, ekong ebuk ayop, which they derived their name from. They preceded the ekpo masquerade as their season tallied with that of the melon and corn. They attacked non-initiates with balls of melon and baked balls of red mud. In their outing which occurred on special days of the week just like the ekpo masquerade, they paraded the paths of the village and sang from house to house where they were invited. Basically, they attacked non-initiates from going to the farm and fetching water from the streams.

Members of the uta group didn't wear masks, played multiple instruments like the drums, gongs and blew the horns. They sang over anything and everything. No topic to them was sacred. If you're told you should take your uta and blow it elsewhere, an Annang person definitely knows what that means. It connotes that you're too noisy and don't seem to treat certain things with the importance they deserve.

Ekong was for males, especially young adults as running was a vital part of it, and so also was uta. Abang was a play for females who sang and played their drums and ended every song with the blow of the whistle. They had strips of cloths or ndam around their waists and sizable strips of cloths veiling their breasts. (In the past, when a woman's breast was no different from a well-shaped nose or well-plaited hair, the abang dancers were bare-breasted.) They had rows of beads on their necks and ankles and their hair was finely plaited. They drew different patterns on their bodies with white or red chalk. Their leader, in the past,  carried a basket filled with the image of a god.

Utu-ekpe means spider. The play had a mystical aura to it as its high point was the riding of a motorcycle on a tightrope.

Mbede Annang, the last but not the least, was a cultural play which the members were all adults, wore no masks, played all instruments known to the Annang folks and they were not afraid of touching any adult themes. Their dancers wore shorts. Every end of their song was with a beat that sounded like a staccato and the bare parts of the bodies of the dancers did a massive wriggle to it. The dance and the songs attracted a large audience to the group but the men tended to be all the time attacking the women. The Annang women came up with their own group and named it, 'Mbede Iban Annang'. As the men sang about the cheating housewife, the women sang about the man who had a face like he knew nothing but wouldn't let you sleep at night. The men sang about the improvident housewife, the women replied: 'You burn money to cook a good soup.'  The Iban (women) and iden (men) of Mbede Annang thrived alongside each other and the Annang folks were glad to listen to them.

Back to the ekpo masquerade, the origin seemed to be rooted in warfare. Their arms and the shielding of young people and women for a stretch of days in a week pointed to one thing - this could likely had happened in a situation of war were the clan was at the risk of attack from enemy clan or troops and the men were all out to ward off the threat. Then, it became a tradition for avarice was rife and war wouldn't cease soon and so it was pertinent, as old warrior would die, that a new one is trained to replace him. Maybe or maybe not, but it seems that was how the ekpo masquerade tradition became established in Annang land.