Thoughts On Isoko-Urhobo Relations BY REVEREND PROFESSOR OBARO IKIME On the thoughts on Isoko-Urhobo Relations, Reverend Professor Obaro Ikime, Ph.D. Formerly, Head of Department of History and Dean, Faculty of Arts in his write-up about Isoko-Urhobo relations has this and many more to say: I claim that most of the Urhobo and Isoko groups are of Benin origin; that Ewu, Ughelli and Ughienvwe are of Ijo origin; that Evwreni, Igbede, Enwe and Olomu have Igbo connections; that Ephron is of Erohwa (in Isokoland) origin; that Agbon is of Irri (in Isokoland) origin; that the Okpe kingdom and the Okpe group in Isoko are related, the former having migrated from the latter; that Olomoro is of Olomu origin. These views as expressed in the 1960s and 1970s are decidedly simplistic and were based on British Intelligence Reports of the 1930s and my field work of 1961-1963. Can we deduce anything from these claims of origin in terms of Isoko-Urhobo relations? Before we answer that question, let us take a look at what two Urhobo scholars have said about the origin of the Agbon, Uvwie, Okpe – those groups that I had indicated are linked to Isoko groups in origin, and about Evwreni and Olomu origins. According to Professor Onigu Otite, the eponymous ancestor of the Agbon was called Agbon. He goes on: “He was believed to be a son of Ukonurhoro, an Urhobo migrant from Udo…. Agbon had a long migratory history through Kwale, settling at one time in Enhwe and Erhivwi (Irri) in Isoko Division from where he moved to a settlement called Utokori, near Ughweru, then to Olomu, and finally, through the present Ughelle territory of Ighwreko and Ekiugbo to found the town of Agbon (Otorho r’Agbon).” What does Otite mean by “an Urhobo migrant from Udo?” That Agbon’s father was already Urhobo before he left Udo, which I understand to mean Benin? When he says Agbon settled at Enhwe and Irri in Isokoland, are we to understand that these places already existed as such before the coming of Agbon? These are only a few of the kind of questions that confront anyone dealing with traditions of origin. iskopko nigerdeltavanguard/thoughts-on-isoko-urhobo-relations/
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 20:30:01 +0000
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