Men Roles In Igbo Society

In many traditional African societies, such as the Afikpo Igbo, men group and organize in age sets. The younger men are expected to listen to the direction of the elders. The oldest age set has the most power. The men enter the age sets when they turn twenty and the groups cover about three years. However, men within the same age set are treated as equals. The political systems in these communities are highly centralized with all of the lawmaking power resting in the hands of the elders. In other Igbo societies had a system of diffused power where the group as a whole makes the decisions and there was set leadership in power. These communities remained like this until the British colonists set up the system of “native administration.” The British
The only time that they can openly condemn the elders is during the Okumpa plays. The young men in the communities organize the Okumpa plays. The plays allow the young men to tell about all the things that the elders do that they do not agree with. The elders would let the young men let off stream freely and did not punish them. The okumpa was an important factor in maintaining the power structure because it allows the younger men to voice their opinions about the actions of the elders. The main reason that they are able to do this is because in the okumpa plays the young men wear masks. When the men are in the masks they are considered spirit and not the humans that they are. The mask did not give them any power or authority over the elders but they were not seen as the men that wore the masks. In organizing the okumpa plays the young man had complete power. The elders did not interfere in the planning. If the young men did not plan it the plays did not happen that year. After the Okumpa festival is over the powers system put back in place and the young men return to obeying their
It is in their best interest to leave the power structure the way it is. This was an interesting part of the system. Once the elders died they became “bambuta.” However this term is not one the strictly applies to the ancestor. Bambuta refers to the group of people that are older than one person. So everyone’s bambuta is different and just depends on the people would are older than them. So their bambuta can include their older siblings, father, and dead elders. In these societies the ancestors are not seemed as these magical being. They essential just move into a different higher age set, one that is above the group of elder. However because the ancestors and elders can not communicate with one another the living elders are still the decision maker. The ancestors are treated with the same respect that is given to the