On Sunday, 14 May 2000 at 08:00:00 UTC+1, + + wrote:

Nosakhare IDUBOR,

I suspect you have a vested interest in this matter. You are not the only one. Within the past six months, you lot have found an "Edoid" meaning for virtually every Igbo word from Onitsha to Okoro and Igbo itself. One Edo chap- Akpata or whatever he

called himself went to an Igbo gathering in Lagos sometime ago and asked whether the Western Igbo were Igbo or Igbo speaking! He knows the answer he got from the western Igbo themselves. Why the new obsession with Igbo?

There is only one explanation for this: empire impulse. Take it from me my dear chap, it won't happen beyond Abudu. So cast your imperious nostalgic sight towards the Ovia coastal plains where the Egbesu and Meinbutu boys are waiting for you. As for

Igboland...agala aga!

God save us from "Edoid" neo-expansionism.
Mz Ani.
On Sat, 13 May 2000 12:44:17 nosakhare IDUBOR wrote:

Let4s I forget please send any complain you may have to the webmaster and >tell him or her of how the story was used to distabilize Igboland after the >war and you can go further to lecture them of their true history.
Idubor

Subject: Re: The History of the Ika People
Date: Sat, 13 May 2000 04:05:32 -0700

If you wish to allow any credibility for your piece, please do not refer to
the geriatric woman called kay Williamson. This woman was hired durin the >>war to destabilise Igboland by setting up every dialect as a separate >>language. According to her, Ezza, Izii, Ikwo, Eda, Ohafia, Item, Ikwerre, >>Ibani, Abriba etc are separate languages not Igbo. She even went further to
write textbooks on them. All of these are now in the trash bin.

Mz Ani.

--

On Sat, 13 May 2000 09:50:15 nosakhare IDUBOR wrote:

culled from the Ika people,s website


The Ika language has about 240,000 speakers in Delta state, Nigeria(1991 >> >census). They occupy a
land area of 117.45 square kilometres, the boundary between the Edo and >> >Delta State.

Geographically, Ika north east and Ika south local government areasoccupy >> >the north-west of
Delta state (see Map 1). They share common borderswith Edo State.
Linguistically, In the west of
the Ika speakers are theEdo speakers, North are the Ishan speakers, East >>are
the Aniocha
languagespeakers and in the south is the Ukwuani speakers.

The name or term Ika is a cultural category. The language group thathas >>been
so far referred to
as Ika has not always been known by the nameIka. The name Ika was >>introduced
in the early part
of the twentieth centuryas an uniting name or political identity for all >>the
clans that speak
thislanguage .

However, Forde and Jones (1967), in their work, used the term Ika fora >>wider
group which
includes the present Ika group. They referred to theinland parts of the >>four
groups that make up
the western Igbo group (Aniocha,Oshimili, Ika and Ukwuani) found in >>present
Delta State away
from the shoresof the river Niger as Ika. The remaining members of these >> >groups that areon the
shores of the river Niger were referred to as Riverain Ibo. Fordeand >>Jones
(1967) classified the
present Ika group as Northern Ika alongwith Aniocha and Oshimili except >>for
the towns on the
shores of the riverNiger such as Asaba. The Ukwuani group was considered >> >Southern Ikaexcept
for towns on the shores of the river Niger such as Aboh and Ossissaand
Ashaka.

Today, Ika refers only to the group that is found in Ika North eastand >>Ika
South local government
areas. This group consist of eleven clans.The Ika group do not have any >> >shared physical
characteristics distinguishingthem from other groups or tribes. They >>speak a
common language
known asthe Ika language, except for Ozara, Alisor and Alilehan which >>speak
Ozaralanguage. Ika
language is regard as a cluster of dialects (Williamson 1968).This is
similar to the Igbo language
which is also a cluster of dialects.There are however, no significant
differences between these
dialects butfor slight phonological and lexical differences.

In emphasising the relationship between the clans of Ika, Obuseh (TheOwe >>of
Agbor) recounts
Agbor legend that has it that all the founders ofthe Ika clans were >>related
by blood. The first Obi
of Agbor Igbudu fearingfor his security sent his children, apart from >>Owuwu
who was later
crownedthe Obi of Agbor after him, to settle at places some distances >>from
Agborto form out
posts against enemies. One of his children named Ika , wassent south as >> >protection against the
Aboh people and founded Otolokpo clan, another son, Ede, was sent east >>and
founded Umunede .
This according tothe legend was how all the clans were founded.

Politically, it is held by the chiefs of Agbor clan that all the clansof >> >what is now referred to as Ika
were part of what was called the AgborKingdom. This kingdom was ruled by >>the
Obi of Agbor
with other clans asvassal states ruled by chiefs or perhaps kings that >>were
subordinate tothe Obi
of Agbor. It was claimed that the break-up of this kingdom happenedin the >> >early part of the
twentieth century when the colonial administratorsgranted autonomy to the >> >other clans by
recognising their leaders as Kingsof equal status as that of Agbor .

The Abavo and Owa clans have rejected this version. They claim thatthey >>have
never been a part
of the Agbor Kingdom (Informant 2, 1999)).However, there is evidence that >> >some Kings of
Agbor, at various times,had married several wives from other clans like >>the
Ute, Mbiri and
Akumaziclans. Whether these clans have been a part of the Agbor kingdom >>or
not,it is certain that
there had existed an uniting bond that had always heldthem together.

Agbor history in the early twentieth century has accounted forsituations >> >were one of the regents ,
Ekeze (1929-34), wives families fromother clans such as Akumazi were >>given
lands to settle in
parts of an existing village, Ihogbe, giving birth to new quarters in the >> >village.

There are other instances where immigrants from other clans or >>ethnicgroups
like Ishan, Edo,
were given lands to settle away from the existingvillages resulting in a >>new
village being born. The
Igbo people migratedto the Ika area during this period for economic >>reasons
especially at atime
when rubber latex was an important export that is mostly found inthe >>delta
region of which Ika is a
part.

There are also villages that were founded by people from Agbor who >>movedfar
way from Agbor
for Agricultural purposes. For instance the villageof Ekuku-Agbor that is >> >located in the far south of
Ika south local governmentsurrounded by villages of the Abavo clan and >>Owa
clans and those of
theUkwuani speaking group, was one of such villages. There have been no >> >knownaccounts of
wars between them even during the turbulent period of Nigerianhistory >>(slave
raids) in the 18th
and 19th centuries.

This uniting bond, on the other hand, between these various clans maybe >> >intricately linked to the
common ancestry of their various Obis or kings.According to Forde and >>Jones
(1967: 48):

The various communities were engaged in wars with Benin, to which
themajority finally submitted,
receiving titles and rulers from Benin.


Various accounts of Origin
The origin of the Ika people is still controversial. Much is shroudedin >> >myths and legends. There
are, however, three main versions of originof the Ika people being >>proposed
by oral tradition and
by modern historians.The first is that a group from Benin founded Agbor, >> >while the second claimis
that Ika people were once a part of the Benin empire and the third
versionstates there there was a
group of people with Igbo origin who where therebefore the group from >>Benin.

Isichei (1976:51-54), citing oral tradition, stated that Agbor was >>foundedby
a group of migrants
from Benin (Edo speaking group) who were led bya man called Chima. Some >>of
these migrants,
according to legend, settledin the present location of Agbor while >>others
moved on to other
areaswhich now make up the western Igbo groups in Nigeria.

According to Osae and Nwabara (1977:104-105), the Benin kingdom
onceexpanded, by conquest,
to encompass most of the present western Igbo townssuch as Agbor, >>Ubulu-Uku,
Isele-Uku,
Asaba and Onitsha. In this version,Agbor may have existed as an >>independent
state within the
Benin Empire.However, Agbor people believe that Kime (Chima) was the >>second
son of
Dein(1270-1307 AD).

A third version, similar to the second, shared by Jones and Mulhall(see >>Osae
and Nwabara 1977:
139). This version states the possibility thatthe present location may >>have
been occupied by a
group of Igbo origin.According to Osae and Nwabara, Igbo people are a >>group
that had their
originin Nri-Awka and Isuama areas who later spread North towards Niger >> >Stateand west
towards parts of Benin and Warri provinces

The Ika clans, villages and quarters (Idumu)
As in most part of Nigeria, an Ika village is geographically >>identifiable.It
consists of residential
areas and a considerably vast farming area.Ika clans are made up of >>villages
and villages are
made up of several quartersknown as Idumu. Apart from modern government >> >records of village
boundaries,in most cases, village boundaries are marked historically by >> >certain naturalmarker like
trees, hills, rivers, etc.

The eleven clans of Ika:
1. Agbor clan
2. Owa clan,
3. Abavo clan,
4. Ute-Okpu clan,
5. Ute-Ogbeje clan
6. Umunede clan, 7. Akumazi clan,
8. Igbodo clan,
9. Otolokpo clan,
10. Mbiri clan,
11. Idumuesah clan.


Agbor
Agbor is and has always been the largest of the Ika clan. It was themost >> >politically and militarily
powerful of all the Ika clans and thisperhaps is due to its size. Of the >> >eleven clans above, Agbor
and Abavoclans make up Ika south local government while the rest make up >>Ika
Northeast local
government. Agbor clan consists of twenty- four villages:

1. Ogbemudein
2. Ihogbe
3. Obiolihe
4. Ihaikpen
5. Ogbeisore
6. Ogbeisogban
7. Agbamuse/Oruru
8. Alifekede
9. Omumu
10. Alisor
11. Alilehan
12. Alizomor
13. Ozanogogo (Ozara) i. Alisimien
14. Ewuru
15. Idumu-Oza
16. Aliokpu
17. Alihami
18. Aliagwai
19. Agbor-nta
20. Alihagwu
21. Oki
22. Ekuku-Agbor
23. Emuhun
24. Boji-Boji Agbor


These twenty-four villages made up the old Agbor kingdom now known >>asAgbor
clan. The
villages of Alisor, Alilehan and Ozanogogo are not Ikaspeaking. They >>speak
an Edoid language
known, especially to the Ika speakers,as Oza or Ozara.

It is claimed that the village of Agbor-nta was the original >>headquartersof
the old Agbor kingdom
several centuries before Christ (Obuseh n.d). However, the first king to >>be
accounted for was
Dein (1270-1307) . Thisis also controversial since the king of Agbor is >> >traditionally called
Deinunless one assume that the title must have started from the first
(accountedfor) king of
Agbor. The headquarters of Agbor has been moved several timesuntil the
recent in 1935 to
Ime-obi (Anonymous, 1998:19). The reasonsfor the movement of the
headquarters several times
has been given as farmingconvenience and wars of succession. Since the >>old
Agbor kingdom had
alwaysfaced threats from the old Bini kingdom, it is also possible that >>the
securityof the
headquarters from external invaders was an important considerationin the >> >constant relocations of
the headquarters. One recorded instanceof such threats could be seen in >>the
planned attack in
1897 on Agbor byBenin (See Asiwaju1986).

Abavo

Abavo clan, also known as Awuu, comprises of five villages:

1. Ogbe-Obi (Abavo Central),
2. Azuowa (made up of four quarters: Ekwueze, Ekwuoma, Okpe, Oyoko),
3. Udomi,
4. Igbogili,
5. Obi-Ayima.

Abavo oral historians claim that their founding father, Awu, had
migrateddirectly from Edo
(Amokwu and Jegbefume, n.d). Forde and Jones (1967) foundno tradition of >> >Bini (Edo) origin. In
the account they gathered on thefounder of Abavo, they learnt that Awu >>who
had the title of Eze
(meaningking in Igbo) was himself from a place called Awu (perhaps the
accountwas stating the
obvious that Awu was from Abavo).

According to Abavo legend, their founding father was originally >>fromBenin.
He escaped from Bini
kingdom around the 15th or 16th century toavoid being sacrificed and >>later
settled at Abavo
(Amokwu and Jegbefume,n.d).


Owa and Ute-Okpu and the otherClans

According to Forde and Jones (1967: 47) and Isichei (1983), Owa hasits
origin in Nri, Northern
Igbo. Owa Oyibu is the political center ofthe Owa clan. According to >>Fordes
and Jones (1967) the
founder of Owa wasOdogu son of Ijie of Ute-Okpu while the other villages >> >found in Owa clanare
derived from Benin or other Agbor groups.

The founder of Ute-Okpu, according to Fordes and Jones, came from >>Benin.Also
they, Ute-Okpu
people, claim to have come from the Igbo side of theNiger.

Its is clear that there is a complication in the origin of Owa clanas
presented by Forde and Jones
since if Ijie the father of Odogu is fromUte-Okpu, a village that has its >> >origin in Benin, it then
would mean thatOdogu is from Benin. On the other hand, Ute-Okpu, >>according
to Forde andJones
(1967), seemed to claim two sources of origin: Benin and Igbo.

However, there is a possibility that Owa was existing before Odogu whomay >> >have had his origin
from Benin was imposed on the Owa people as, orwas made, their leader. It

is

not unusual for
most Nigerian clans to tracethe origin of their clan to their king s >>origin.
The first King is
alwaysconsidered as founding father of the clan even if some of these >>kings
emergedor were
imposed on them long after the founding of the clan. For instancethe >>history
of Benin is always
traced to the first Oba of Benin, Oranmiyan,who himself was from the >>Yoruba
town of Ife (see
Bradbury 1973). This,however, does not mean that the people of Benin are >> >certainly from
Ifethemselves. Likewise, the Ika clans think of their history in
dynasticterms.

Ute-Ogbeje, Akumazi, Umunede, Igbodo and Mbiri claim the founders oftheir >> >clans to have come
from Benin (Fordes and Jones 1967: 47). Idumu-Esa,on the other hand claim >> >origin from Ishan


References

A short history of Abavo. Unpublished.

A brief history of Agbor kingdom. In Agbor Day 98. Andlaunching of a >>N5
Million
Development Fund. Agbor Development committee(1998).

Amokwu, G & Jegbefume, H. (1969) History of Abavo Town.
Unpublishedmanuscript.

Forde, D. & Jones, G. (1967). The Ibo and Ibiobio-speaking Peoplesof
South-Eastern Nigeria.
London: Stone & Cox Ltd.

Isichei, E. (1983) A history of Nigeria. London: Longman.

Isichei, E, (1976) A history of the Igbo people. London: The >>Macmillanpress
LTD.

Obuseh, J.B. (n.d) Agbor Kingdom. Unpublished.

Osae, T, and Nwabara, S. (1977). A short history of West Africa.
London:Hodder and Stoughton.


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Agbor consists of 23 villages and a metropolis called Orogodo (Boji-Boji). The villages are as
follow: (i) Ogbemudein, (ii) Ihaikpen, (iii) Ogbeisore, (iv) Ihogbe, (v) Alifekede, (vi)Omumu, (vii)
Alisor, (viii) Alilehan,(ix) Alisor, (x) Ewuru, (xi) Alisimien, (xii) Aliokpu (xiii) Idumu-Oza, (xiv)
Obielihe, (xv) Ogbeisogban, (xvi) Alizomo, (xvii) Ozanogogo (Ozzara), (xviii) Ekuku Agbor, (xix)
Alihami, (xx) Alihagwu, (xxi) Oki, (xxii) Emuhun, (xxiii) Boji-Boji Agbor.

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