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Forty students and faculty members from Morehouse College Glee Club in Atlanta, United States of America, USA, on Wednesday took Igbo names and declared their ancestry to the Igbos of South East Nigeria.
At an official naming ceremony held at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the students narrated how they traced their Igbo ancestral roots through DNA tests, which they described as reaching.
The traditional ruler of Ibagwa-Aka community in Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area of Enugu State, HRH, Igwe Hyacinth Eze, who performed the ceremony in conjunction with the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, expressed happiness over the reunion of the Igbo-Americans with their ancestral brothers.
The monarch said he was also happy because of the spiritual, cultural and economic exchanges which would happen as a result of the reunion, adding that he is willing to provide lands for those that are willing to live in his community.
Speaking during the ceremony, the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Enugu State chapter, Prof. Fredrick Eze, said the reunion would help in the development of Igbo communities.
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However, the Public Affairs Officer, United States Consulate General, Lagos, Stephen Ibelli, said the Club came to Nigeria to mark the 50th anniversary of its first visit to Nigeria in 1972.
He equally explained that the Club would tour Abuja, Enugu and Lagos States to strengthen US-Nigeria cultural ties through music, arts and film.
