(pop. 1953 - 1,164; 1963 - 1,517)
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
Ukhun and Idoa are two districts on the northern
escarpment of the Esan Plateau; they are truly Esan Communities. All round the
Esan country are border villages and by virtue of their geography are bifid,
with their custom being infringed upon by the customs of their non-Esan
neighbours and so cannot be entirely Esan. Examples of such villages are ERHA, AMA,
AWAIN, UJAGBE, UKHUN and IDOA. Erha had been excised from Esan to join
Ivbiosakon, now Owan; Ujagbe, Ama and Awain since 1895 came under the present
Etsako and were all in the old Kukuruku
Division.
Ukhun and Idoa have two reasons for their custom being a
bit different from that of the rest of Esan:-
(a) Geography and
(b) History.
(a) Geography:
As said above these Communities must have adjacent
communities which might be different in ethnicity, religion etc. Intermarriage,
farming, some annual ' celebrations etc could bring a-culturation. In addition
these northern border communities are situated in savannah areas, open and
easily accessible to marauders.
During the Nupe invasions called Nupe or Bida War of 1847
- 1850, most of these Northern Esan villages bore the brunt of the attacks and
were sacked. Further inland were the thick impenetrable, wild animal infested jungles
in which even dare devil Nupes themselves feared head hunters! Tsetse flies
made it impossible for their horses to survive.
Most of the Communities fled and took refuge in the then Kukuruku
Division and only began returning when Nupe domination came to an end after the
Royal Niger Company, round about 1885, that is after nearly fifty years of
separation, The survivors and their off springs came back all mixed up in their
custom , religion and organisation. The Nupes who had gained full control over
most of what was then Kukuruk Division had converted the people into Islam, got
them to pay tribute in slaves, money, guineacorn etc. What kept the returnees
together had been the Esan language and tribal marks. The original ruling
families were lost and the only way to exercise discipline was through our old
respect for elders - this leading to gerontocracy; the oldest men in the
Community exercised authority over the Community. As each Community grew, many
quarters developed and whoever was the oldest became the Community leader and
on his death, the next oldest took over, often the next one came from another
quarter.
"The characteristic independent political unit of
Esan society is the Chiefdom ruled over by a hereditary Chief- Onojie or
Onoje", wrote R.E. Bradbury, adding "that the only exception being
Ujagbe and Idua which are single independent villages and Awain a group of four
villages, all without hereditary Chiefs. "
One can therefore understand how this difference came
about and so realize that what they are practicing is alien to Esan.
II. . UKHUN consists
of ten quarters:-
1. 'Uwen-Okolo which is first among Ukhun components
2. Uwen-Ogbeta
3. Uwen-Ijiekhine
4. Ogbuj~
5. Afaken
6. Ebhoigben
7. Ebbeyen
8. Oderie
9. Uwen-Itun
10. Okede
The first three - Uwen -
Okolo, Uwen- Ogbeta and Uwen - Ijiekhine form the one Rulig House of Oba.
Succession is gerontocratic, the title going to the oldest man in the three
quarter kindred. When an Onojie' dies his children have up to three months to
perform the burial rites of their' father before a successor is installed. The
installation is performed by Ogbuje - the custom arising from the fact that
this quarter used to be part of the Oba Ruling House. An incumbent from this
quarter had no male issue and his daughter married into the Uwen-Okolo quarter.
When her father died she correctly performed the burial ceremonies of her
father in her husband's place where she took all paraphernalia of Onojieship. This
robbed Ogbuje of the right to inheritance and in compensation, installation of
new Onojie became theirs.
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*1. R.E. Bradbury. The Benin Kingdom and the Edo Speaking
peoples of South-Western Nigeria: P. 67: 1957.
Despite the gerontocratic nature of succession, Ukhun has
had its Enijie since the British arrival in Esan, It was at the beginning
attached to Ekpoma but in 1909 the Onojie of Ukhun elected to go with Ewu and
his people started attending Irrua Native Court.
The original ancestral site is marked by the Ukeguale Oba
in Uwen-Okolo and up till today, is maintained by and is the meeting place for
all Ukhun.
