Traditional African Festival Theatre and Children’s Agitation: Ogene Nkirika Festival of Nkwessi in Oguta LGA, Imo State, Nigeria

It could be right to assert that some African festival theatres have not recognised the significance and strategic roles of children. The adult participants dominate the whole processes, giving children less prominent roles, which relegate them to mere passive audience. This has led to agitations, loss of interest and discontinuity in many cultures in Africa. Cultural festivals embody the belief system and general philosophy of a people, which could be handed over from generation to generation through inclusive practice. Suffice it to say that, it is in the middle childhood and early adulthood that the search for identity and respect for traditional values are inculcated. Using the observational, historical and analytical methods, this paper focuses on the place of children in Ogene Nkirika festival of Nkwessi community in Oguta Local Government Area (LGA) of Imo State, Nigeria. Ogene Nkirika (mock new yam festival) marks the commencement of the new yam cultural activities. It is the children’s version of the Omere Ife (New Yam festival). Hence, children in the community are clamouring for inclusion into the main festival. Findings have shown that many children have drifted from the core values of African cultures for lack of inclusion. The paper views that this lack of inclusion of children will continually dampen the sustenance of African cultures and values. It concludes and recommends that children should rather be integral part of the main festival, and not restricted to a fragment of it, as is the case of Ogene Nkirika.