REED EMPIER

I've been seeing news about the Akwa Ibom State government arresting Ekpo masquerades, a cultural symbol as old as the Ibibio people themselves.

But it made me ask one simple question:

If Ekpo must be arrested, then what exactly is Father Christmas?

Strip away the foreign packaging and commercial smiles, Father Christmas is also a masquerade: costumed, masked, and performing publicly during a festive season.

Yet last I checked, Christmas and Father Christmas are not indigenous to Africa, not even to Akwa Ibom.
So if Ekpo, an original cultural heritage, is a “nuisance”

I’m patiently waiting to see the governor arrest Santa Claus too.

Because sometimes, the real masquerade isn’t the one dancing in the village square, it’s the society ashamed of its own identity.

©️ ~ Emmanuel Ozioma Iwuegbu

U are a lady
No education
No handwork(skills)
& U said you're ready for marriage, what are u going there to do?