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Ohaffia Masquerader in Okwanku Performance, Akanu Village

Image Masquerades
Performer in white-faced wooden mask and raffia fringe, Okwanku masquerade, Akanu village
Masked performer in the Okwanku masquerade, Akanu village, Cross River area, 1932-1938. Jones Collection, MAA Cambridge.

Close-up view of an Ohaffia Igbo masquerader during the Okwanku performance in Akanu village. The wooden face mask displays a high forehead, slit eyes, elongated nose and mouth, all coated with white pigment. Long raffia strands form a fringe around the mask and hang over the performer’s chest. Spectators appear in soft focus behind. According to Jones, Okwanku masqueraders enacted a comic drama in which the character Dibia poisoned and revived the Rain Driver. The mask type, known as Otili, was carved in the Cross River style that blended Igbo and Ibibio ideas.

Community Notes

Onyeka Nwokike

Apr 19, 2026

Specialists known as rain-pushers are often paid to keep rain away from significant events like weddings, according to the BBC. This aligns with G.I. Jones's observation that the region focused on specialists who could drive rain away rather than rain-makers, a detail preserved by MAA Cambridge.

Onyeka Nwokike

Apr 19, 2026

The mask featured in the Okwanku performance is known as the Otili mask. According to documentation from MAA Cambridge, this mask was carved in the Cross River style, which integrated both Igbo and Ibibio artistic concepts and encompassed the production of both plain wooden and skin-covered masks.

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