The 2025 annual Iri-ji cultural festival of Ihitte Mbieri autonomous community in Mbaitoli Local Government Area took place last Saturday September 27, 2025 at St Benignus Catholic Church, Ihitte Mbieri with massive turnout of the people from all walks of life.
The event was well attended by traditional rulers in the state, top government functionaries both elected and appointed, including the members representing Mbaitoli state constituency in the Imo State House of Assembly, Hon innocent Ikpamezie, the former member that represented Mbaitoli in the state legislature, Hon Okey onyekanma, former Imo APC Chairman, Hon Chief Marcelinus Nlemigbo, and the Commissioner for Lands Imo State, Barr Enyinnaya Onuegbu among others.
Speaking on the occasion, the traditional ruler of Ihitte Mbieri autonomous community, HRH Eze Vitalis U Achilike (Ihieri 2 of Ihitte Mbieri autonomous community) identified yam as a very important life saver, an economic sustainer, father of the family and income earner, the head of all crops and asset which every wealthy man must have a barn, pointing out that the festival was inherited from their forefathers and is not fetish unlike in the olden days.
The royal father also encouraged Ihitte Mbieri people in particular and Igbo people in general to go back to their roots, embrace their culture and not let it die, regretting that igbo land used to be an embodiment of culture, and urged them to come up, revive and uphold their cultural heritage because according to him, “People have used religion to wash away culture, they should go back to their ancient roots”.
He stressed the need for parents to teach their children how to farm to have food in abundance and for financial Independence, urging them also to endeavour to transfer their culture to them for its sustenance.
While performing the Iwaji (cutting of the yarn), Eze Achilike wished his subjects long life, good health, prosperity, fruitfulness and bountiful harvest.
In his address on the occasion, the President General, Ihitte Mbieri Town Union, Hon Austin Tochukwu Egejuru identified Ihitte Mbieri as well structured, richly endowed and politically sophisticated community, adding that the result of their hard work as a team paid off and that was why they had the opportunity to gather for the festival to recreate new memories of love to give thanks to the Almighty God for bountiful harvests, to share new bonds of friendship and brotherhood with their brothers and sisters, to network with friends and associates and to celebrate the values and culture that unites them as a people.
Hon Egejuru revealed that this year’s event was not only historic, it was epochal as it is the maiden Iri-ji festival since the ascension of HRH Eze V U Achilike to the throne of his ancestors.
He commended the gallant security operatives in collaboration with security agencies for their exploits and gallantry, adding that they have no doubt reduced the incidence of kidnapping and other forms of criminality in Ihitte Mbieri, according to him, “It takes the community nothing less than four million every month to service and sustain our security architecture, all thanks to our diaspora brothers and sisters who make sacrifices of footing the security bills on a monthly base. But for this sacrifice, stories of security breaches would have been the order of the day”.
On infrastructure, the PG was proud to say that God has blessed the community with a breed of young and patriotic sons who are ready to deny themselves personal pleasures to better the lots of the community including Chief Jude Egeonu and Hon Chief Collins Ugorji, thanking also his boss and benefactor, Rt Hon Henry Nwawuba, the Executive Secretary of the National Assembly Library Trust Fund for the renovation of the Ihitte Mbieri Health Centre, building of open market stalls at Eke Ihitte, facilitation of a transformer and a water scheme at indus
