The Head of the Igbo People in Ghana, Dr Chukwudi Ihenetu, has cancelled the 2020 New Yam Festival and the celebration of the Igbo Day in Ghana.
He explained in a press release, copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, that the cancellation had become necessary due to the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
This had resulted in restrictions on public gatherings, international travels and other related protocols, which has become the new normal.
The Igbo New Yam Festival, annually held in the third week of September, since 2012, attracts a huge number of traditional rulers, cultural ambassadors’ guests, visitors and tourists from around the world.
The core objective of the New Yam Festival, a highly captivating art event, is to propagate Nigerian-Igbo cultural heritage and enshrine their traditional values, create synergy with the Ghanaian culture and sustain family value systems.
The Igbo Community consists of people from five Eastern geographical areas of Nigeria and constitutes the largest number of residents in Ghana.
The release said they were the only Diaspora community with a chief recognised by the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs and inducted by the Ga Traditional Council.
