(pop. 1953 - 2~69; 1963 - 2,390).
By DR.CHRISTOPHER.G.
OKOJIE, OFR, DSc (Hon)
It will
serve a useful purpose to remember right at the onset that there are two parts
to every Esan district: the royal family and the common people. They were quite distinct, for nearly
all the ancient ruling houses came from Benin City or its suburbs. The head of
the ruling houses was and still is, the ONOJIE, who with his family, servants
and brothers inhabited EGUARE, the administrative CAPITAL of the district.
Another important thing an enquirer must take notice of is the use of the word
BROTHER by Esan people. It can mean anything from a male blood relation to a
very good friend. Secondly OBA's SON can mean a BINI and, in fact, it was
recently, a common thing for any Bini, outside the city, to describe himself as
the OBA's SON!
HISTORY:
But for Idumobo (pop. 349) Ujiegba should
have been the youngest member of the Southwest Federation of Ebelle, Ogwa,
Ewossa, Ugun and Ujiogba. When Ikeakhe the Unlucky was the Onojie of Ekpoma,
his own junior brother called Izegbo seduced one of his many wives, since as
the Onojie's close brother he had a ready access to the harem. According to Esan
custom the penalty for this was death, but since the Onojie was law and in this
case he could not exert the maximum penalty, he decreed that Izegbo be banished
from Ekpoma. The young man with a few of his possessions left Ekpoma with their
most junior brother as his only companion; At Ukpoke, even this precious
companion was denied him on the pretext that Ekpoma could not afford to lose
two such brothers at once. This younger brother stayed behind to found a
quarter at IGUISI.
Poor Izegbo carried on and had to live on his
wits; he interested himself in magic and herbs, and as he wandered on he soon
became proficient in the art of healing. He trekked on gathering up the lingo
of oracle-men and the awe-inspiring oafishness of herbalists, until by the time
he got to Benin City, he was the perfect picture of the great Native Doctor!
Within a few months the new great witch
doctor from Esan was as busy as a bee, and soon he amassed wealth, a look at
which made him nostalgic: he very much wanted to return to Esan to show his
brother what he had made of himself. At last he left the City with thirty-one
slaves all loaded with property. During the long trek back they rested at a
spot which fascinated him, so much so, that he decided to stay and be a master
as his unforgiving brother was way back home. Where he made his first cottage became
IDUMOBO, the very first settlement in Ujioba. Though later more numerous and
more assertive settlers came to rest authority from Izegbo's co-founders many
of whom were slaves, the village of Idumobo as its name implies, till this day,
is famous in the art of healing.
When Izegbo died, his heir ILEH or OWUZAH,
carried on his father's profession, many cured and grateful patients remaining
to swell the population of the cottage. The renowned Izebhijie who was famous
in Esan and Benin during the reign of Oba Ovanranwen, was the seventh son of
Ileh. This family can be traced down to the ORDIAS of Ekpoma today as it is
interesting that one of Izegbo's descendants is still in the medical clinic and
has in the fifty been running the Mental Hospital, Yaba, now known as
Psychiatric Hospital; he is Chief Abraham Alegbezehu Ordia who was later a
pride to Nigeria and Africa as President of Supreme Council Sports in Africa.
As history continues to repeat itself, his son and heir I Idahosa Ordia, is
proving himself a renowned Neurosurgeon at Harvard the United States of America
- a veritable Chip of Ileh or Izebhijie block
2. EGUARE
(Pop. 1953):
Was founded .shortly, after the death of Oba
Osemwede, one whose sons, called Orua being the founder.
3.
IDUMUOGO (178):
The founders came from different places; a
majority came from Ekpoma and Urhohi. Idumesi quarter came from Ujagben.
4. UKPATO
(331):
Here is the traditional home of the Iyasele
and the Ezomo Ujiogba. A majority of the founding fathers came from Ogwashi
(Ogwasl Uku).
5.
IDUMUOWELE (172)
The founders came from Owele in Urhobo area.
6. UKPOKE is really an extension from Eguare
and received its native because of its position on a hill.
The name Ujiogba which came to cover the new
settlement included Izegbo's, followed the end of the war between Orua's domain
and the Bini. This war, which was more of slave raids by Binis, scattered the
people under Orua to Ogwashi, Ujagben, Okhuesan etc. but when peace rerun many
of those who had left began finding their way back home, the meet point being
where the present Eguare is now. When some began to demonstrate that they
should return to the ancestral Ijie, others answered JE OLE G FO (Jiogba!) (Let
all assemble first). By the time they had all assembler a large number to be
able to resist the Binis should they return, many put up fairly solid houses
and found it impossible to move to their original ancestral home, which today
is marked by ALU ORUA.
PRESENT
ONOJIE:
The present ruler of Ujiogba is William
Ebegbamen Ighodalo II had been sitting on the Ujogba throne since the 28th of
January, 1949. I had his education at the Catholic School, Ubiaja and Uromi.
Leaving school in 1944, he became a teacher at Ujiogba Catholic School in 1945.
Here relinquished his appointment when his father Ighodalo I died on the 21st
December, 1948. After the full burial ceremonies he became the Onojie of Ujiogba
on the 28th of January, 1949 and in the year A.D. 1993 he is still waxing
strong and effectively on the Ujiogba throne. I have never seen Ighodalo II
raise his voice, he allows the many vociferous young men that abound in his
domain to have all their say and quietly asserts himself.
III
KINGMAKERS:
The elders of Eguare - the Princes form the
Ujiogba Kingmakers.
IV
INSTALLAnON:
After the burial ceremonies, the actual
installation according to Esan custom is performed by the Oniha and the Ikoto
or Osukhure.
NOTE:
On Sunday, 6th October, 1985, His Royal
Highness William E. Ighodalo n came with Chief Matthew Osajedo Eimufia to say
"The elders bad discovered three more earlier Enijie - they are
immediately following ORUA in the order of UARIERE.
OKUDU and
IHIMIRE followed by
OGBEBO"
My reaction was the Onojie himself, a very
intelligent and calculating ruler led the elders who tutored me in 1952 and
gave me the genealogical tree of Ujiogba. It is true most informers do add IJIEKHIJIE
- meaning "and all forgotten names". Today's elders were senior
Egbonughele in 1952 when I collected my materials. While wondering what would
make them remember three more names of rulers after thirty-three years, I am recording
the three names outside the original tree for researchers.
VI
COMMENTS:
Ogbebor had just become the Onojie when the
Amahor War broken out in its final fury: That was about 1849.
Right from Orua's time succession had been
quite smooth until the death of Oribhabo. He bad two sons of which EKEMEOJIE
was the first and heir, while ADEGBE was the second. The heir's mother was
quite poor and came from a lowly family; on the contrary Adegbe was surrounded
with wealthy men of affluence and had a most vocal mother's family. As soon as Ekemeojie
wanted to begin the burial ceremonies of his father which was his right to
perform, he was challenged by Adegbe who felt that his senior brother would
make anything but a respectable Onojie. A bitter strife followed and from this
the influential young man Adegbe emerged victorious. Thus the line shifted from
the senior to the junior while the! Kingmakers looked on helplessly. They were
so helpless that they accepted the vital burial ceremonies from the victor and
Adedge was duly installed Onojie.
The over-riding importance of Law 4 of
Succession) dealt the Ekemeojie line a lethal blow: succession had passed
irrevocably from Ekemeojie to Adegbe. Thus it was an exercise in futility when
the Ekemeojie family raised this matter in 1985 and in my minutes under Emu I
had written 'verb sap!' . . . to
warn Emu Kingmakers over the original arrangement they were making with Prince
Orukpe when the heir Prince Augustine Imasiemoji Ojealekhe's where about could
not be ascertained.
