ANAM PEOPLE'S WEBSITE

As you all very well know, I am not a lecturer and as such, this paper is not an Inaugural Lecture or a Seminar Paper. What I have tried to highlight in this address is to tell our young ones and friends here, what they ought to know concerning the Meaning and Significance of the yearly Otite Anam Festival. May I therefore crave the gracious indulgence of this august gathering to oblige me with the favour of your very esteemed audience. 1.        The Meaning of Otite This five-letter-word “Otite” in Anam is the synonym for “Iwa ji” ceremony elsewhere in Igboland which is popularly referred to as “The New Yam Festival”. The origin of Otite in Anam is as ancient as the evolution or fusion of the entity called Anam town or clan as some people may choose to call it. It is a yearly festival celebrated simultaneously in all the eight villages of Anam namely: Iyiorah, Mmiata, Oroma-Etiti, Umudora, Umuenwelum, Umueze, Umuikwu and Umuoba (i.e. going by the alphabetical order listin

Anam is a town in Anambra West Local Government Area of Anambra State in Nigeria and comprises of eight distinct communities: Iyiora, Mmiata, Oroma-Etiti, Umudora, Umuenwelum, Umueze, Umuikwu and Umuoba. Each of these communities can be made reference to in an independent manner with “Anam” as suffix, for example, “Umuikwu Anam”. There are also some parts of a couple of these communities that can be found in Anambra East L.G.A like the Umuoba Anam that is one of the three major communities that make up the town, Otuocha, which is the Headquarters of Anambra East L.G.A, with the other two being Aguleri and Umuleri. There is also a small part of Mmiata Anam referred to as “Mmiata Ovianwagbo” or Mmiata II attached to the Aguleri side of Otuocha. Anam can further be subdivided into Ezi-Anam and Ifite-Anam; the communities that make up Ezi-Anam include Oroma-Etiti, Umudora, Umuenwelum and Umuikwu while those of Ifite-Anam are Iyiora, Mmiata, Umueze and Umuoba. Anam is surrounded by water