The Akwa Ocha Textile

Akwa-Ocha, a popular hand-woven cloth is peculiar to the people of Anioma, meaning the good land in Delta State. Anioma is the Igbo-speaking part of Delta state comprising of Aniocha, Ndokwa, Ika and Oshimili people who are all associated with the Akwa-Ocha fabric. Akwa-Ocha is sometimes called Otogwu, please note that it is the same fabric being referred to.

Akwa-Ocha, which literally means white cloth, is designed and woven for all-purposes but can also be customized to suit particular occasions or people of high social status. It is embellished with motifs and symbols reflective of the people’s religious and social beliefs. These motifs range from mundane to the spiritual, it incorporates plants, animals, man-made objects, geometric shapes, as well as cosmological symbols. Beyond their ordinary function of clothing the wearers, Akwa-Ocha hand-woven fabrics assume other important and symbolic roles. Anioma people use their Akwa-Ocha for most of their occasions believing that it inspires their essence and heritage at their ceremonies.

Akwa Ocha fabrics are readily available in our Lagos, Nigeria fabric warehouse in wide pieces that can be made into outfits for the ceremonies you require them for. When you combine two of our Akwa Ocha pieces, you get a wrapper and the men can equally wear one fabric piece as it is around the waist or neck region to complete their other already existing outfits as seen below.

We have however started encouraging and assisting the men who shop their Akwa Ocha fabrics with us to make outfits that embrace more of the Akwa Ocha material to create regal looks that will showcase the versatility of this outstanding white fabric. This picture below shows an Akwa Ocha outfit we created on request for one of our male fabric shoppers.

Some other parts of Anioma prefer to have other colours such as gold mixed into their Akwa Ocha fabric, just as this woman has done below and this complementary colour is also projected through their blouses, headties, shoes, bags, handfans etc

Since Nigeria is a country with mixed fashion and is undergoing changes at a rapid pace, the importance of Akwa-Ocha has offered some interpretation to the changing social and political landscape in modern Nigeria and this is because anyone who adorns Akwa-Ocha at any ceremony does so primarily as a mode of identity. It also showcases the rich culture of the particular region or ethnic group in Nigeria where the fabric originates from. Apart from giving the wearers an identity, Akwa-Ocha highlights creativity and often makes the individual wearing it stand out in a crowd.

Ubulu-Uku is one of the several communities in Anioma land and the community is believed to have started producing Akwa-Ocha which they did after processing harvested cotton that was widely cultivated in the area. Akwa-Ocha weavers of Ubulu-Uku have not been able to respond to the global fashion consciousness like other indigenous woven fabrics but regardless of this setback, the Akwa-Ocha textile has found its way to other weaving centers in Anioma area. The fabric represents certain aspects of the Anioma culture, however, the process of making it is very tedious. It is a combination of male and female efforts in the sense that the men would go to plant the cotton and do the harvesting and in the evening, you would see the women trying to filter the cotton. With modernisation, the weavers now go to the market to buy ready-made cotton threads in rims.

The culture of purity

Back in the day, not everybody had the privilege of wearing Akwa-Ocha but there is a point it gets to that the Anioma man is supposed to get the fabric as part of his collection. It is essentially an aspect of the  Anioma culture and a statement of their values. The Akwa-Ocha has its own cultural and religious significance in terms of purity. If a man comes to marry an Anioma daughter, her father is expected to have trained her pure before giving her in marriage, she does not go just like that. The father accompanies his daughter to the house of her newly wedded husband with one yard of the Akwa-Ocha fabric. On the couple’s first night, it is expected that some blood drops on the Akwa-Ocha. Eventually, it is with joy that the stained Akwa-Ocha fabric is returned as a testimony that the husband met the  daughter at home. The father would receive it with greater joy and tie the wrapper as he goes out. This is part of their culture of significance, talking about purity. 

There are also stages for when the Anioma man should tie one piece across his shoulder as it is used during some occasions. During burial ceremonies, it is usually a sight to behold the Akwa-Ocha contrasting with the red cap. Red in the sense that it is about royalty and valour. You don’t just wake up and start wearing the red cap!

As young ladies grow up in Anioma, there are certain things expected of them. One of such things is the making of Akwa-Ocha just as a young Anioma man growing up too whom certain things are expected of; he is expected to be able to set traps and catch animals, climb palm trees and cut down bunches of palm nuts because these were seen as achievements. The women should be able to weave the Akwa-Ocha fabric too and if she could not weave, she should be able to buy from those who weave as a gift to her man or husband.

As a treasured item, Akwa-Ocha is among the most important two-dimensional art forms in Nigeria. Traditionally it is not an everyday clothing material, as it is reserved for special occasions and considered as precious gifts for important visitors. Nigeria’s fashion industry started charting a renaissance of the Akwa-Ocha fabric which has seen the fabric featuring beyond cultural looks but now in the corporate and casual space as our team at Bolakoka have expressed here

We daily intensify our efforts at Bolakoka to increase interests in this revered fabric which subsequently improves demand and keeps the women of Anioma land weaving this fabric in constant production. Gone are the days when you have to wait for long weeks or have to travel to Anioma land to purchase this fabric, we have original and properly woven Akwa Ocha fabric stock readily available for immediate delivery when you shop from us here