Post by Udeh Maduabuchi (@UdehMaduabuchi)

THE BLESSING HIDDEN IN THE MORNING BROOM
As Our Fathers in Ngwo Taught Us

My people,

In Ngwo, where pine trees breathe cold air over the hills, our fathers did not start the day by checking phones. They started it by HONOURING LIFE.

You woke, greeted your father and mother: _“Ụtụtụ ọma nna m na nne m, good morning all.”_ You washed your face. You took the chewing stick and cleaned your teeth the old way. Then you reached for the Azịza — that long native broom for sweeping the compound. With bare feet on cool earth, you swept.

Our elders did not call it ordinary work. They called it a SACRED RITUAL — a welcoming of the new day that connects community, spirituality, and daily renewal in Igbo culture. Dirt was never just dust to them. It was heaviness. It was the path sickness and bad spirits used to enter a home.

That is why they left us *PROVERBS* to remember:

“Nwata kwochaa aka ya, o soro okenye rie ihe” — A child who washes his hands clean can dine with elders/kings.

Washing in the morning was not only water on the skin. It was washing pride away. Sweeping was not only clearing sand. Our people even had a saying: “Bilie ka m zaa ụlọ”— “Arise that I may sweep the house,” meaning a place must be made clean and worthy before good things can stay.

What follows the child, the youth, the family that keeps this DAILY SWEEPING?

1. *HEALTH and the LAND*: When you sweep, you chase away mosquitoes, snakes, and stagnant air. The trash our fathers gathered, they burnt or carried to the farmland, and it became manure for the next planting. 'ALA', the earth goddess of Ngwo, recognizes a child who feeds her, and she returns the favour with yam, cassava, and beans in due season.

2. *RESPECT and LONG LIFE*: A boy or girl who rises to sweep before the sun is high has already told his parents, “I have listening ears.” The gods of our land do not turn their backs on a respectful hand. That is why elders say: the hand that sweeps in humility is the hand 'Chi' lifts up.

3. *DISCIPLINE*: The broom teaches work without complaint. It kills laziness early. Our fathers believed, _“Ututu na-ama onye nwe ya”_ — “Morning shows the character of the day.” A home swept at dawn rarely scatters in confusion by noon.

4. *PEACE in the COMPOUND*: A clean yard invites good visitors and keeps quarrels outside the gate. A wife is judged by her sweep, and a husband finds rest when he steps into order. Ancestors passing by see cleanliness, and they sit. They bless, they protect.

5. *OPEN DOORS and FAVOUR*: 'Chi' does not dwell in filth. When you lift dust every morning, you are telling your personal god, “I am ready.” And when you honour elders first, heaven honours you back. Doors for work, for marriage, for promotion — they open quietly to the consistent sweeper.

So, my brothers and sisters do not let city life steal this from us. Do not let the plastic brush and the noisy machine replace the wisdom of the Azịza.

Tomorrow, greet your parents, wash your face, chew the stick, and sweep. Sweep more than sand — sweep away pride, sweep away spiritual cobwebs, sweep away the laziness trying to settle in your blood.

A clean compound is a prayer ground. A child who sweeps daily is a child building a nation.

May Ngwo stand, may our homes stay clean, may the blessings our forefathers spoke over the morning broom follow you all the days of your life. Amen 🙏

Akuamia n’Ngwo

0 likes · 0 comments · 0 shares