Rites and Rituals of ‘ibe-ugwu’ as the Gateway to Womanhood in Igboland: The Ukawu Example

In all the manifestations of culture across the globe, there exist practices which celebrate life circle transitions especially from birth until the termination of human life. One of such practices is the rite of passage. One of such rites of passage is the 'ibe-ugwu' (circumcision) among the Ukawu people of Ebonyi State, Southeast Nigeria. 'Ibe-ugwu' witness the preparation and equipping of females adolescents to assume the roles of wives, mothers, and women in the society. It is the contention of this work, that the continued neglect of such cultural heritage is one of the major reasons for seeming African Igbo loss of identity, moral decadence and social vices amongst her youths today. The work advocates for a revival of such African Igbo cultural heritage. It further provides more exposition of an African Igbo culture to the wider audience and additional literature on culture, religion and law in Igboland. This research makes use of documental and interview methods of data gathering while deploying the sociological (structural functionalist) approach in its data analysis.