Masquerades in Africa: The Ebu Wonder

Abstract

This paper studies the socio-cultural organizations in the African milieu with emphasis on the masquerade institution using the Ebu Wonder Masquerade Cult in Ebu community of Delta State, Nigeria, as a veritable example. In the African context, masquerades are believed to be ancestors who had returned from the world of the dead to the land of the living in order to watch over their loved ones. However, some believe that not all masquerades are spirits; they are only stage-managed by fun seeking individuals just for entertainment during festivities especially in the 21^st century. It is on this premise that this study embarks on examining the origin, development and the nature of the Ebu Wonder Masquerade in the midst of the fact that distortion has crept into the institution due to supposed modernization. This it will do by employing the narrative and descriptive historical methods to analyse the data gathered from both primary (oral interview) within the subject area and secondary sources available on the subject. Thus, it was discovered that the Ebu Wonder Masquerade originated from the Igalaland, Middle belt of Nigeria, and has spiritual dynamics. This is such that before it performs, spiritual activities have to be carried out by its chief priest. More significantly, the masquerade appears to be a piece of cloth or mat on the floor before performance, but becomes as high as 50 feet during performance, and returns to its former state after performance.

Keywords: Ebu, Masquerade, Wonder, Origin, Cult.