Hausa History

Pre Colonial History

The Hausa cultures, which as early as the 7th century A.D were smelting iron ore, arose in what is today northwestern and north central Nigeria, to Bornu’s west. Hausa represents a place (Hausaland), a people (the Hausas), a language and a culture that spans multiple West African Nations, with a heavier concentration in Northern, Nigeria. The origin of these cultures, however, is a mystery.
Hausas exist in  Benin Numbers unknown, in Burkina Faso 500, Cameroon 23,500, Ghana unknown, Niger 5,000,000, Nigeria 28,525,000, Sudan418,000 and Togo 9600.

BAYAJIDDA – The Beginning
Legend has it that Bayajidda (Hausa: Bàyā̀jiddà) the founder of Hausaland came from Baghdad, travelling across the Sahara, and arrived in the Kanem-Bornu Empire, where he married a local princess.
Popular legend has it that, Bayajidda was prince of Baghdad (the capital of Iraq) and son of King Abdullahi, but he was exiled from his home town after Queen Zidam, also known as Zigawa, conquered the city. Once he left Baghdad, he traveled across Africa with numerous warriors and arrived in Borno. In Borno he assisted the ‘Mai’(ruler of Borno) to defeat the surrounding pagans. In appreciation, the  Mai gave Bayajidda his daughter called ‘Maghira’in marriage.
Bayajidda later left Borno and eventually settled with his wife, Maghira, at a settlement called Garun gabas or Biram in Hadejia, since she could not continue with the harzadous journey as a result of pregnancy. She later gave birth to a son who became the chief of the town.
            Meanwhile, Bayajidda continued his journey westwards and arrived at Dala hill in Kano which was then occupied by pagan blacksmiths known as Ábagiyawa’. He stayed briefly before moving northwards and finally arriving at the city of Daura in the night. He lodged in the house of an old woman called ‘Ayana’. When he asked the old woman for water to give his horse. She told him that water was not available except on Fridays because of the menace of a snake in the well. Undaunted, Bayajidda borrowed a calabash and asked for the way to the well. When he put the calabash inside the well the snake seized it. He however, pulled the snake out and cut its head with a knife, drew the water he needed and returned to his lodge.
(Note: Kusugu well is located in the ancient city of Daura. According to historical accounts, the well is associated with the establishment of Daura town in the 7^th century and the formation of Sarauta system in hausaland. In the ancient times, the well was the only source of water for the people of Daura, but it harboured a dangerous snake which only allowed people to fetch water from the well on Fridays. The snake was called ‘Sarki’ or simply ‘Ki’ which means ‘refuse’ or ‘reject’.)
            The following morning, the people of the town became amazed when they found the body of the snake beside the well. News of the event reached Daurama, the ruler of the town. She sent two of her senior officials, Kaura and Galadima to investigate the situation and report back their findings. At the well, the Galadima apparently afraid, could not go near, but the more courageous Kaura went up to the beheaded  snake, touched it and confirmed that it was really dead. He reported this to the Queen who promptly appointed him the Commander-in-chief of her Armed Forces.
            After the appointment of Kaura, the Queen ordered to see the man who killed the snake so that she could redeem her pledge to give half of the town to anyone who rid the town of the menace. The order attracted false claims by many ambitious men, who were quickly exposed when asked to show the head of the snake. Eventually, the old woman who hosted Bayajidda remembered her visitor’s request for water. She narrated the event to the Queen and remarked that Bayajidda had watered his horse the previous night. The Queen promptly summoned Bayajidda who convinced her that he killed the snake by presenting its head in a wrapped cloth. When the Queen became satisfied, she offered Bayajidda half of the town in appreciation. But he replied that he would rather marry her. The Queen accepted this and the they were married. Bayajidda moved to the palace and soon afterwards, the people began to call the Queen’s house ‘Gidan Makashin Sarki’ (The house of the man who killed the Snake). According to some sources, this is the origin of ‘Sarki’ the Hausa word for Chief. (Note: “Kusugu” well now reserved for history and the sword are still intact and can be seen by tourists in present day Daura Local Government Area of Kastina State.)
            The royal couple lived together for many years without a child because it was against the custom of the people of Daura for their queens to marry. Daurama made a compromise with Bayajidda and said she would only have sexual intercourse with him later; because of this, she gave him a concubine named Bagwariya. (according to the oral palace version of the legend, Daurama gave him Bagwariya because she wanted to break her "queenly vow to remain a virgin," but had to undergo rituals to do so.)
Bagwariya had a son fathered by Bayajidda and she named him Karap da Gari, or Karbagari which means "he snatched the town" in Hausa. This worried Daurama, and when she had a son of her own (also fathered by Bayajidda), she named him Bawo which means "give it back".
            Bawo gave birth to six children. The first was Kazaure who succeeded him as the Sarki (Chief) of Daura. The second was Kumayo who became the first Sarki of Katsina. The third was Gunguma who became the first Sark of Zazzau (in Kaduna). The fourth was Duma who became the first Sarki of Gobir. The fifth was Bagauda who became the first Sarki of Kano. The sixth was Zamnakogi who became the first Sarki of Rano. Bayajidda’a son by Maghira, hid wife from Borno became the first Sarki of Biram. These Kingdoms founded by the legitimate descendents of Bayajidda are known as the seven Hausa states (Hausa Bakwai).
            According to some versions of the story, Bawo’s brother Karbo gari is also credited with seven sons, who established the Chiefdoms of Zamfara, Nupe, Gwari, Yauri, Katanga, Kebbi and Jukun (in Taraba). These seven states are referred to as ‘Banza Bakwai’ (the false seven) because they were founded by the illegitimate decedents of Bayajidda through his concubine.
The rise of the Hausa states occurred between 500 and 700 A.D., but it was not until 1200 that they really began to control the region. The history of the area is intricately tied to Islam and the Fulani who wrested political power from the Hausa in the early 1800s through a series of holy wars.
Leadership in the early Hausa states was based on ancestry. Those who could trace their relations back to Bayajidda were considered royal. With the introduction of Islam, many Hausa rulers adopted this new religion while at the same time honoring traditional ways. This position allowed the elite to benefit from the advantages of both systems.

 

Left: Map of Nigeria's main linguistic groups, as of 1979 (Hausa and Fulani are in yellow). Right: Map of present day Nigeria.

Since the beginning of Hausa history, the seven states of Hausaland divided up production and labor activities in accordance with their location and natural resources. Kano and Rano were known as the "Chiefs of Indigo." Cotton grew readily in the great plains of these states, and they became the primary producers of cloth, weaving and dying it before sending it off in caravans to the other states within Hausaland and to extensive regions beyond. Biram was the original seat of government, while Zaria supplied labor and was known as the "Chief of Slaves." Katsina and Daura were the "Chiefs of the Market," as their geographical location accorded them direct acccess to the caravans coming across the desert from the north. Gobir, located in the west, was the "Chief of War" and was mainly responsible for protecting the empire from the invasive Kingdoms of Ghana and Songhai.
There was an Islamic presence in Hausaland as early as the 11th century. According to tradition, Islam was brought to Hausa territory by Muhommad Al-Maghili, an Islamic cleric, teacher, and missionary, who came from Bornu toward the end of the 15th century. Early Islamization proceeded peacefully, mainly at the hands of prophets, pilgrims, and merchants. In the early days the number of individuals who accepted Islam was small, and among those who did, it was usually practiced along with traditional Hausa religious beliefs. In many cases, the ruling elite were the first to convert to Islam. It was not until the early 1800s that the Fulani began to put pressure on the Hausa to undergo large scale conversion. Through a series of holy wars (jihads) the northern part of what is today Nigeria was unified in the name of Islam under the auspices of the Fulani empire

Shaihu Usman Dan Fodio – Fulani Takeover
The seven city-states developed as strong trading centers, typically surrounded by a wall and with an economy based on intensive farming, cattle raring, craft making, and later slave trading. In each Hausa state, a monarch, probably elected, ruled over a network of feudal lords, most of whom had embraced Islam by the 14th century. The states maintained persistent rivalries, which at times made them easy prey to the expansion of Bornu and other kingdoms.
 
-Current map of the Fulani coverage of West Africa- 
A perhaps greater, if more subtle, threat to the Hausa kingdoms was the immigration of Fulani pastoralists, who came from the west to make a home in the Nigerian savanna and who permeated large areas of Hausa land over several centuries. In 1804 a Fulani scholar, Usuman dan Fodio, declared a jihad (holy war) against the Hausa states, whose rulers he condemned for allowing Islamic practices to deteriorate. Local Fulani leaders, motivated by both spiritual and local political concerns, received Usuman’s blessing to overthrow the Hausa rulers. With their superior cavalry and cohesion, the Fulani overthrew the Hausa rulers and also conquered areas beyond Hausa land, including Adamawa to the east and Nupe and Ilorin to the south.
After the war, a loose federation of 30 emirates emerged, each recognizing the supremacy of the sultan of Sokoto, located in what is now far northwestern Nigeria. The first sultan of Sokoto was Usuman. After Usuman died in 1817, he was succeeded by his son, Muhammad Bello. Militarily and commercially powerful, the Sokoto caliphate dominated the region throughout the 19th century.

Shaihu Usman dan Fodio (Arabic: Ø¹Ø«Ù…ان بن فودي ØŒ عثمان دان فوديو‎), born Usuman É“ii Foduye, (also referred to as Shaikh Usman Ibn Fodio, Shehu Uthman Dan Fuduye, or Shehu Usman dan Fodio, 1754–1817) was the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1809. A religious teacher, writer and Islamic promoter, Dan Fodio was one of a class of urbanized ethnic Fulani living in the Hausa States in what is today northern Nigeria. A teacher of the Maliki school of law and the Qadiriyyah order of Sufism, he lived in the city-state of Gobir (present day Nasarawa) until 1802 when, motivated by his reformist ideas and under increased repression by local authorities, he led his followers into exile. This exile began a political and social revolution which spread from Gobir throughout modern Nigeria and Cameroon, and was echoed in an ethnicly Fula-led Jihad movement across West Africa. Dan Fodio declined much of the pomp of rulership, and while developing contacts with religious reformists and Jihad leaders across Africa, he soon passed actual leadership of the Sokoto state to his son, Muhammed Bello.

Dan Fodio wrote more than a hundred books concerning religion, government,culture and society. He developed a critique of existing African Muslim elites for what he saw as their greed, paganism, or violation of the standards of Sharia law, and heavy taxation. He encouraged literacy and scholarship, including for women, and several of his daughters emerged as scholars and writers. His writings and sayings continue to be much quoted today, and is often affectionately referred to as Shehu in Nigeria. Some followers consider dan Fodio to have been a Mujaddid, a divinely inspired "reformer of Islam".^[2]
Dan Fodio's uprising is a major episode of a movement described as the Fulani (Peul) hegemonies in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It followed the jihads successfully waged in Fuuta-Ɓundu, Fuuta-Jalon andFuuta-Tooro between 1650 and 1750, which led to the creation of those three islamic states. In his turn, Shehu inspired a number of later West African jihads, including those of Masina Empire founderSeku Amadu, Toucouleur Empire founder El Hadj Umar Tall (who married one of dan Fodio's granddaughters), and Adamawa Emirate founder Modibo Adama.

Training

Dan Fodio' was well-educated in classical Islamic science, philosophy and theology and became a revered religious thinker. His teacher, Jibril ibn 'Umar, argued that it was the duty and within the power of religious movements to establish the ideal society free from oppression and vice. His teacher was a North African Muslim alim who gave his apprentice a broader perspective of the Muslim reformist ideas in other parts of the Muslim world. Dan Fodio used his influence to secure approval to create a religious community in his hometown of Degel that would, dan Fodio hoped, be a model town. He stayed there for 20 years, writing, teaching and preaching.
In 1802, the ruler of Gobir and one of dan Fodio's students, Yunfa turned against him, revoking Degel's autonomy and attempting to assassinate dan Fodio. Dan Fodio and his followers fled into the western grasslands of Gudu (present day Niger State) where they turned for help to the local Fulani nomads. In his book Tanbih al-ikhwan ’ala ahwal al-Sudan (“Concerning the Government of Our Country and Neighboring Countries in the Sudan”) Usman wrote: “The government of a country is the government of its king without question. If the king is a Muslim, his land is Muslim; if he is an Unbeliever, his land is a land of Unbelievers. In these circumstances it is obligatory for anyone to leave it for another country”.^[3] Usman did exactly this when he left Gobir in 1802. After that, Yunfa turned for aid to the other leaders of the Hausa states, warning them that dan Fodio could trigger a widespread jihad.^[4]

The Fulani War

Usman dan Fodio was proclaimed Amir al-Muminin or Commander of the Faithful in Gudu. This made him political as well as religious leader, giving him the authority to declare and pursue a jihad, raise an army and become its commander. A widespread uprising began in Hausaland. This uprising was largely composed of the Fulani, who held a powerful military advantage with their cavalry. It was also widely supported by the Hausa peasantry who felt over-taxed and oppressed by their rulers. Usuman started the jihad against Gobir in 1804.
The Fulani communication during the war was carried along trade routes and rivers draining to the Niger-Benue valley, as well as the delta and the lagoons. The call for jihad did not only reach other Hausa states such as Kano, Katsina and Zaria but also Borno, Gombe, Adamawa, Nupe and Ilorin. These were all places with major or minor groups of Fulani alims.

After only a few short years of the Fulani War, dan Fodio found himself in command of the largest state in Africa, the Fulani Empire. His son Muhammed Bello and his brother Abdullahi carried out the jihad and took care of the administration. Dan Fodio worked to establish an efficient government grounded in Islamic law. After 1811, Usman retired and continued writing about the righteous conduct of the Muslim belief. After his death in 1817, his son, Muhammed Bello, succeeded his as amir al-mu’mininand became the ruler of the Sokoto Caliphate, which was the biggest state south of the Sahara at that time. Usman’s brother Abdullahi was given the title emir of Gwandu, and he was placed in charge of the Western Emirates, Nupe and Ilorin. Thus, all Hausa states, parts of Nupe, Ilorin and Fulani outposts in Bauchi and Adamawa were all ruled by a single politico-religious system. From the time of Usman dan Fodio there were twelve caliphs, until the British conquest at the beginning of the twentieth century.
   

IKOGOSI WARM SPRING

Ikogosi warm spring is located in Ekiti west Local Government area of Ekiti state Nigeria in a valley from the surrounding hills at the warm spring. The Vegetation at the spring which is highly thick forest with natural and rich vegetation that is closely maintained and protected from arbitrary deforestation. The area covered by the spring is about 31.38 and it is highly protected from erosion by tall and evergreen trees. The trees also serve as a sort of canopy under which tourists could stay during the dry season and sunny days. The undulating topography of the area and the symmetry of the surrounding hills add more to the aesthetic beauty of the spring.

Historically, there has being many version concerning the history of the spring and one of such version is that both springs (Warm and Cold) were wives of the same husband who turned to springs water in the wake of rift and rivalry between them. The hot and ill-tempered first wife believed to have turned to the popular warm spring while the cool-tempered second wife turned to cold spring water. The husband became the undulating hills that encompass the springs. It is well established that some of the Villagers still worship the springs as their deities.

Another version of the history has it that a hunter discovered the spring during his hunting expedition. After that the people of the community then discovered that the warm water is therapeutic and that it cures many diseases. That made them to start worshipping the water and it continued till 1960s when the late Nigerian educator and author Tai Solarin heard about the spring and he brought his student to the site for a tour. After the tour Tai Solarin started publicizing about the warm spring before Rev. MacGee of Baptist church arrived to build student camp near the area. It was Rev. Macgee who built a chapel which is the conference hall and the hostels which is now the camp chalets at the resort.

The scientific proof could not be wished away in favour of the traditional belief. The possible and plausible scientific explanation is that the deeper a body of water goes underground, the hotter it becomes and if by chance it is forced back to the surface through some earth fault, the temperature will be relatively high.

The Baptist mission in the early 50s established a youth and conference centre and other conveniences on a hill adjacent to the warm spring area. This started attracting different people from far and near, even foreigner started visiting the centre as nature demands. At the wake of 1978 however, the Ondo State acquired this popular tourist centre from Baptist Mission. A few infrastructures were put in place by this Mission before the resort centre was acquired from them by the State government, but after the acquisition of the centre, however, both the federal and the state government has now focused attention on how to develop the centre to a modern tourist resort.

The warm and cold spring of Ikogosi flow parallel, and meet somewhere to form a confluence, with each maintaining its thermal quality. The warm spring has a temperature of 70^o c at the source and 37^oc after meeting a cold spring. The meeting point of the warm and cold spring is a unique attraction to tourist. Adding to natural beauty, there is a tree and a palm growing from the same source at the meeting point area of the warm and cold springs.

The history and people of Abiriba

The Abiriba people are part of the Agunaguna sub-tribe of the main Ekoi group. They are part of the larger Yakurr group that can also be traced up to Ikom and other parts of the upper Cross River basin. The present Yakor (Yakurr) Local Government Area of Cross River State includes Ugep, Agunanguna, Nko, Usukpam (Urukpam) Ubaghara and others. In these areas are such other settlements as Ebiribara, Ebom-Ebiriba et cetera. As a matter of fact, the Ebom-Ebiribas in Yakor simply changed their name to Ebom because the present Abiriba (Ebiriba) was virtually eclipsing them such that even mails meant for them found their way into Abiriba of Abia State.

From events and available data, the Abiribas were said to have crossed the river at Usukpam, hence they are often referred to as Usukpam-Etete, a nostalgic name for the ancient home. Usukpam as called by the natives there now is part of Akpaa-Erei clan of the larger Ena Clan. The Abiriba lived here for long when they left mainland Ena-Uda under the leadership of Nnachi-Oken, hence the nomenclature, Ebiriba Enachi-Oken.
From here they traveled through Okon-Ohafia and settled at Udara-Ebuo, a stretch of land between Amekpu-Ohafia and Okagwe-Ohafia. This long sojourn in the present day Ohafia area explained the numerous relationships between this area of Ohafia and Abiriba.
Equally the Abiriba-Ena royalty have affinity with Akanu Ohafia. Nnachi Oken died at Udara Ebuo and Ntagha continued the journey to Uranta where much later he died. After the demise of Ntagha, Igbokwu became the leader. From here, Udara-Ebuo, the Abiribas now led by Igbokwu passed by Nkwu-ebu (Nkwebi) Ohafia to Urata near Oboro en-route Ozu-Abam. From here, they moved right (north) and found their way into Ihe and Agboha about 1700. These two communities are near the present Binyam village in Abiriba. Agboha up till this day is referred to as Agboha-Igbokwu, after the leader Igbokwu. This date of arrival is well estimated from later recorded events of early Europian visitors and estimating backwards from the number of Abiriba kings remembered in our history.

The Abiribas lived for long at Ihe from where they fanned out to establish the present day Abiriba villages and city. They developed Agboha and built a big market there. Because of their expertise in blacksmithing, mechantilism, weaving, craftmanship in ivory et cetera, Abiriba attracted marketers from neighbouring villages all the way to Ozuitem, Uzuakoli, Ahaba-Imenyi, Item and others.
After several years of sojourn at Agboha, the royal group moved to the part of Umueso village called Amelunta today. The compounds that make up Amelunta are Ndi Ekpe (the main royal compound), Ndi Ezema and Ndi e'Mbaeku. The Kings that ruled Abiriba and from Ndi Ekpe, Amelunta were Ekpe, Itu, Uduka Oko (Uduka uku), Egbara uku and others. One of the sons of the royalty, Oko Uduka, alias Okonta Ogba-enwo (Oko the monkey shooter) in later years in his hunting expeditions located the valley after Isi-Olara and thought it was a natural fortress and also attracted by the waters moved the royal compound there while retaining while retaining the majority of the royalty at Ndi Ekpe. This new royal compound is today known as Ndi Oko-ogo, that is, the people of the home of Oko.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ABIRIBA AND OHAFIA

For over 200 years, the people of Ohafia and Abiriba have shared a common
boundary. Yet, they have shared diametrically opposite world-views. While
the one lived in a pre-colonial world where the love of military glory was a
consuming passion, the other was a wealthy black smith and a long distance
traveller. To date, they have maintained two parallel lines: while the one
loves education, the other loves business

OHAFIA and Abiriba, two communities located in the northern part of Abia
State, are like twins separated by a few kilometres of expanse of land. But,
even as they share a common boundary, one sharply contrasts the other in so
many ways. Sometimes, nature, in its infinite wisdom, helped in scripting
what has come to make one distinct from the other. As the saying goes in the
two communities, it takes only a trained eye to see the difference.
Yet, Ohafia and Abiriba share certain fundamental practices in common. It
appears that after over 200 years of living close to each other, they could
not help sharing some practices, one being the matrilineal system, in which
a woman inherits property from her father's home. 

Another common feature is the age-grade system. Over the years, the system
has become a vehicle for development, more especially in Abiriba, where all
projects in the area are associated with one age grade or the other. There
is an inexplicable sense of mission among succeeding generations to take up
projects in the community that will surpass the performance of their
predecessors.
Beyond that, the Ohafia and Abiriba people have maintained their
distinctness, and a stranger who understands the rules can easily separate
one from the other. The dialects of Igbo language spoken in both areas vary
in a way. While the Ohafia man rebukes a mischievous child by saying: "Ifula
nwantaa!"the Abiriba man says: "Kalaa nwantoo!".

The Abiriba man says,
Iwo, for anger, while his Ohafia counterpart says, Iwe. Husband is Ji, in
Abiriba, and di, in Ohafia. To say, 'Look at it', in Ohafia, they say Le ya,
and Kala ya in Abiriba

Nature has also played a part in it, if the contrasting topographies of the
two communities are taken into consideration. Unlike Ohafia, which is on a
plain land, Abiriba is clustered over an undulating hilly outlay, and
boundaries demarcating villages are hardly seen. Some of the exotic
architectural designs that can be found in Nigeria dot the hilltops, giving
the community the name, 'Small London'. 

Abiriba is a community of shrewd businessmen. The Abiriba man loves and
follows the whiff of money to wherever it takes him, and no matter the risk
involved. Over time, the quest for wealth has led him through thick and
thin, to have business links traversing the entire West Africa, with
tentacles stretching as far as Europe, America and the Far East.
Abiriba is a specialist trading community and one of the wealthiest
communities in Igboland. A striking feature of trade and industry in Aba is
the prominent role played by Abiriba people. Unlike Nnewi, in Anambra State,
where businessmen have located the bulk of their industries at home, the
Abiriba man has practically no industry in his land.

In all of these, the Abiriba man has one shortcoming: he did not embrace
formal education when his neighbour, the Ohafia man, did and, so, the first
generation of Abiriba businessmen was largely illiterate. To the Abiriba
man, it was money before any other thing. But, in recent times, education
has become vital to him. Somewhere along the line, he seemed to have
realised that he may have all the money, but that without education, he may
not know how to control or reinvest it.

It took the Abiriba man a long time to realise the importance of education

Today  Abiriba community boasts of wealthy traders and
industrialists.

Halemson Beach Resort

Halemson Beach Resort is located in Ikaare Island Satellite Town Lagos state Nigeria about 1hr 30minutes boat cruise from Victoria Island and 10minutes boat cruise from Satellite Town waterside with MTN Resort to its left and First Bank of Nigeria’s Resort to its right as its neighboring private resorts an exclusive beach over-viewing the Atlantic Ocean on the Nigerian coastline in Lagos.

 Halemson Beach Resort is a tourist haven, with a vision to create a new dimension in Nigeria’s leisure, tourism and hospitality sectors tapping Nigeria’s vast natural endowments; Rich blend of Nigerian natural private beach Island, leisure boat cruises and seafood cuisines within Lagos State, the commercial hub of Nigeria.

Their services are tailored to meet the specific needs of the individual or group. They can be confined to meet the creative demands or the liveliness and excitement that the fun seekers crave.

Facilities at the resort include Restaurant/bar, Accommodation, Recreation, and local attraction etc.

Restaurant/bar serves both continental and African meals which make the Tourist and visitors to the resort chose the type of meal which they prefer to be served.

Accommodation at the resort is simple and comfortable for the enjoyment of the tourist and visitors. Each room is built in such a way that it will accommodate two persons per room with treated nets for health precaution. 

The recreational facilities include both the indoor which are as follows badminton, tale tennis, Ludo, play cards, chess, monopoly and darts. While the outdoor games are basketball, volleyball, football, and golf bunker.

The Lagos lagoon provides the resort a wide expanse of water for fishing, canoeing, water skiing, boating and water games while adjacent Atlantic Ocean has a very slow and smooth gradient for surfing.

Biography of Late General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu (Ikemba Nnewi)

PERSONAL PROFILE

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu was born on November 4, 1933 at Zungeru in northern Nigeria to Sir Louis Phillippe Odumegwu Ojukwu, a businessman from Nnewi in southeastern Nigeria. Sir Louis was into transport business; he made a wise use of the business boom during the Second World War to become one of the richest men in Nigeria when he passed in 1966. So it could be rightly said that Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu was born into wealth.                        

Emeka, as he was fondly called, began his educational career in Kings College, Lagos in southwestern Nigeria. He got into trouble by participating in anti-colonial demonstrations with such seniors as Anthony Enahoro. At 13, his father sent him overseas to Great Britain to study at Epsom College, England. He left Epsom at 18 for Lincoln College, Oxford. At Oxford University, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in modern history. After graduate studies, he retuned to colonial Nigeria. This was in 1956.

Expected to take his father's business, he instead joined the civil service in Eastern Nigeria as an Administrative Officer at Udi, in present-day Enugu State, where he was exposed to the beauty of Waawaland.  In 1957, within months of working with the colonial civil service, he left and joined the military as one of the first and few university graduates to join the army: O. Olutoye (1956); C. Odumegwu-Ojukwu (1957), E. A. Ifeajuna and C. O. Rotimi (1960), and A. Ademoyega (1962). In his case, he joined as an infantry recruit  because the colonial officers would not let him into the officer corps, no thanks to his father's pulling of strings to keep him out of the army. But no one lights a candle and puts it under the bed. Odumegwu-Ojukwu soon got his way and went on to undergo required military training in Ghana and later back in England.

CAREER

Officer Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s popular background and sound education guaranteed his promotion to higher ranks. Besides, as at 1956, the Nigerian  Military Forces had 250 officers and only 15 were Nigerians. There were 6,400 other ranks, of which 336 were British. It is not surprising that he is N/29 and that the army found in valuable training resources in the young man. (W. U. Bassey was N/1, while JTU Aguiyi-Ironsi was N/2; the first Nigerian to be commissioned as an officer, Lieutenant L. V. Ugboma, left in 1948) Odumegwu-Ojukwu has an understandably fast rise in the military, eventually becoming the Quartermaster General.

Ojukwu came into national prominence upon his appointment as military governor in 1966 and his actions thereafter. A military coup against the civilian Nigerian federal government in January 1966 and a counter coup in July 1966 by different military factions, perceived to be ethnic coups, resulted in pogroms in Northern Nigeria in which Igbos were predominantly killed. Ojukwu who was not an active participant in either coup was appointed the military governor of Nigeria's Eastern region in January 1966 by General Aguyi Ironsi.

In 1967, great challenges confronted the Igbos of Nigeria with the coup d’etat of 15 January 1966 led by Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu who was widely considered to be an outstanding progressive and was buried with full military honours when killed by those he fought against. His coup d’etat was triggered by political lawlessness, and uncontrolled looting and lacing in the streets of Western Nigeria. Unfortunately the Sarduana of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello; the Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Tafawa Balewa; the Premier of the Western Region,Chief Ladoke Akintola and the Finance Minister, Chief Festus Okotie Eboh (among others including military officers) were killed in the process. The pogrom of Igbos followed in Northern Nigeria beginning in July 1966.Eventually, then Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu declared Biafra's Independence on 30 May 1967. (Biafra- 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970).

He took part in talks to seek an end to the hostilities by seeking peace with the then Nigerian military leadership, headed by General Yakubu Gowon (Nigeria's head of state following the July 1966 counter coup).  

Colonel Odumegwu-Ojukwu never lost faith in a peaceful solution of the crises, even though citizens of Eastern Nigeria were so traumatized they generally wanted nothing more to do with their fellow citizens-turned-killers. Yet he persisted on the path of peace. First, he insisted that the military hierarchy must be preserved; in which case, Brigadier Ogundipe should take over leadership, not Colonel Gowon. But Ogundipe no longer had the stomach to deal with a riotous army; he was easily convinced to step out and into the Nigerian High Commission in London. On September 29, the final phase of the planned Pogrom was executed, marked by its brutal bestiality. Still, while coping with the mass return of maimed and bruised brethrens from the North and West, Odumegwu-Ojukwu persevered; even when it had become obvious to his people that the basis for unity had been irreparably eroded, he still talked with whomever would listen. He never lost faith in seizing the moment to fashion out a lasting legacy for generations yet unborn.

And so they ended up in Aburi, Ghana on January 4, 1967 for a peace conference hosted by General Joseph Ankrah. The brilliance of Colonel Odumegwu-Ojukwu was apparent throughout the talk. He succeeded in convincing his colleagues to sign off on what became known as “Aburi Accord.” Just when everyone thought that Nigeria was back on the path of peace, Colonel Gowon reneged and proceeded to split the Eastern Region unilaterally into three states on May 27, 1967! Three days later on May 30, 1967 and based on the mandate of the Eastern Nigerian Constituent Assembly, Colonel Odumegwu-Ojukwu declared Eastern Nigeria a sovereign state to be known as BIAFRA:

On July 6, 1967, Gowon declared war and attacked Biafra. And the Nigeria-Biafra War ensued. It was an international war, NOT a "civil war"; Biafra was already a sovereign state.  Besides, there was nothing civil about wars.  This war was  most brutal and even barbaric.  For 30 bloody months, the war raged on. Now General Odumegwu-Ojukwu knew that the odds against the new republic was overwhelming, but he preferred to fight for what is right and defend the sovereignty of Biafra against what was obviously an illegitimate regime of General Yakubu Gowon. The unholy Anglo-Soviet alliance, using rogue Egyptian mercenaries fresh from the war with Israel, pounded Biafra and Biafrans with armaments big and small, including the use of hunger as a weapon of war – which resulted in the ravaging kwashiorkor.

Biafra lasted for 30 eventful months during which a potential, indigenous African superpower almost emerged. But the forces against Biafra were enormous. On January 9, 1970, General Odumegwu-Ojukwu handed over power to his second in command, Chief of General Staff Major-General Philip Effiong (now late), and left for Côte d’Ivoire, where  President Felix Houphöet-Boigny -- who had recognized Biafra on May 14, 1968 -- granted him political asylum.

By January 12, 1970, Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo -- who was hell-bent on capturing the Biafra leader alive, so as not to make him martyr and to avoid continued conflict, he claimed -- had to deal with General Effiong. Obasanjo accepted the instruments of cessation of hostilities in Owerri. These were ratified at a formal ceremony in Lagos, presided over by General Gowon. Obasanjo went on to become the head of state, following the assassination of General Murtala Muhammed on Friday, February 13, 1976. On October 1, 1979, Obasanjo stepped down for an elected regime.

After 13 years in exile, the Federal Government of Nigeria under President Shehu Aliyu Usman Shagari granted an official pardon to Odumegwu-Ojukwu and opened the road for a triumphant return in 1982. The people of Nnewi gave him the now very famous title of “Ikemba” (Power of the people), while the entire Igbo nation called him “Dikedioramma” (Beloved hero). He was indeed a beloved hero.

General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu is a quintessential Igbo man: proud, ambitious, and intelligent... even arrogant, as many would accuse. Here is a young man who at 33 had the fate of a nation thrust onto him, and he did not disappoint. He is a rare gem, the unconquered spirit of the Igbo personified. It is not surprising albeit ironic that in 2003 the Igbo once again turned to the same person, who had led them in a war to get out of Nigeria’s gyre, to lead them in a political battle back to Nigeria's now-centralized center in Abuja.

The political foray ended in the now called "4/19" fiasco, a complete corruption of the electoral process. In the aftermath of the rigged elections, Odumegwu-Ojukwu teamed up with other parties, including General Muhammadu Buhari, who had jailed him, to fight the result of the reelection of President Obasanjo in the courts of law. This latest fight still drags on, and the patience of the people is running on low.

Following the sudden success of the 26 August sit-at-home protest by the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), the Federal Government of Nigeria took a harder look at the organization. First, the Attorney General declared the action treasonable. Many legal experts disagreed. The Vice President weighed in and condemned the media for giving the group publicity!

Ikemba Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s open support for MASSOB did not sit well with the federal government presided over by the man who thought he had ended Biafra for ever.  Through its State Security Services (SSS) it sought to haul in Ikemba for questioning. At first, it appeared as a routine invitation to Abuja, the federal capital territory. But events soon took a turn for the worse.  In a press conference at his home in Enugu, capital of the southeast region, Odumegwu-Ojukwu revealed that the Feds were after him and the founder/leader of MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike. He revealed that the SSS had sent him a one-way economy air ticket for the one-hour flight to Abuja. The SSS was quick to counter that the Ikemba must show up for a chat, calling his stance cheap blackmail and labeling him a coward. Odumegwu-Ojukwu and his supporters were quick to remind Nigeria of the many politically motivated murders that remain unsolved. They posit that if the SSS wanted to chat with the Ikemba, they could do so

in Enugu or go to court and obtain an arrest warrant. Then again, what would be the charges? For exercising his fundamental right of free speech

But that was the jaw-jaw part. The fact remain that the SSS wanted to interrogate the Biafra hero and that the Biafra leader would not bulge. In fact, Odumgwu-Ojukwu reminded the media that former heads of state Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida had refused to appear before the Oputa Panel of human rights violation and the heavens did not fall.   The question on everyone’s lip was: Who wants the Ikemba killed? Why is the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) being subjected to such disrespect from a retired colonel (head of SSS) whose boss (the President) was Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s junior in the Nigerian army?

What next? The SSS waited for him to make his annual trip to the United States for medical checkup. On Tuesday, night of November 16, 2004, on Zik's 100th birthday (posthumous, that is), the SSS seized his passport at Murtala Muhammed International Airport. And so began another phase in endless saga of Emeka vs. State, a rebel with a cause versus a state looking for direction.

AFTER BIAFRA

As a committed democrat, every single day under an un-elected government hurts him. The citizens of this country are mature enough to make their own choices, just as they have the right to make their own mistakes".

Ojukwu had played a significant role in Nigeria's return to democracy since 1999 (the fourth Republic). He had contested as presidential candidate of his party, All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA)for the last three of the four elections. Until his illness, he remained the party leader. The party was in control of two states in and largely influential amongst the igbo ethnic area of Nigeria

FAMILY

Odumegwu-Ojukwu is married to a beauty-full Waawa woman, Bianca Onoh, the Nigerian 1989 Miss Inter-Continental Pageant. He was the presidential candidate of APGA in 2003 presidential elections.  He still maintains primary residence in Enugu.

Odemegwu Ojukwu and Wife bianca

DEATH

On 26 November 2011, Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu died in the United Kingdom after a brief illness, aged 78. The Nigerian army accorded him the highest military accolade and conducted funeral parade for him in Abuja, Nigeria on 27 February the day his body was flown back to Nigeria from London before his burial on Friday, 2 March 2012. He was buried in a newly built mausoleum in his compound at Nnewi. Before his final internment, he had about the most unique and elaborate weeklong funeral ceremonies in Nigeria besides Chief Obafemi Awolowo, whereby his body was carried around the five Eastern states, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, including the nation's capital, Abuja. Memorial services and public events were also held in his honour in several places across Nigeria, including Lagos and Niger state his birthplace.

                farewell the irriplaceble hero of Igbo land and Nigeria, your memories will never be erased!

Urhobo People and Culture

Urhobois a group that belong the people whose written history is largely undocumented. There is almost an absence of European record in their history. The early European were preoccupied with economic interest on the coastal communities. However, in 1505, Pereira observed that in the hinterland beyond the Forcados River, lived the Subou or Sobo a name that is corrected to Urhobo in 1938. It is significant to note that the traditions of origin of the various Urhobo groups do not contain any specific reference to their ancestor other than that ' we are or we know are Urhobo' . The history of  Urhobo people generally began from Edo territory where the ancient town of Udo and Benin City are currently located. At the end of the Ogiso dynasty, many Urhobo and Edo-groups left Udo in different directions, each at its own pace, in search of more peaceful territories. It was natural that in those compelling circumstances, peace loving and less powerful Edo-groups had to leave the territory to seek fortunes in less populated but more economically resourceful territories.

Historically, Urhobo people's origin is rooted in their oral tradition.They believe in migration from Aka -present day Edo territory. Although all 22 kingdoms have distinct dialects and traditions that reflect slight variation in origin and migratory patterns, there is a universal Urhobo language.

GEOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND OF URHOBOLAND AND PEOPLE

Continent: Africa    Region: West Africa    Area: Western Niger Delta
Area: 5000 Square Kilometers Climate: Humid subequatorial
Natural Vegetation: Rain and swamp forest. A significant percentage of which has been destroyed by pollution and other petroleum related activities. 

Natural Resources: Urhobo people left  their Petroleum and Natural Gas  under separate leaders in different directions to find white colar jobs in different governmental organization. When some of the emigrant left Benin, they found in their destinations in Urhobo territory some Edo-speaking settlers. Each 22 socio-political unit was called a "clan" by earlier writers especially by British Colonial Officers in their various intelligence/assessment reports. The word Urhobo is used to describe the Urhobo group

Traditions among the Urhobo are replete with assertions of original dwellers and owners of their territory. These tradition is without documentary or archaeological evidience.The distinctive characteristics of the various Urhobo and Isoko tribes are a result of the super imposition of Ijaw, Ibo and later Edo immigration upon on aboriginal strata already speaking Edo-type dialects'  

Population: 2.0 - 2.5 million people in Nigeria while allowing for the absorption of immigrants and their language as well as for the impact of routes and group sojourns on the history of the Urhobo. Linguistic evidence provides a strong principle for integrating and validating other traditions of Urhobo origin. The absence of archaeological and prehistoric evidence give credibility to the above traditions of Urhobo origin. The structure of Urhobo ideas and language as well as their culture and other institutional forms imply historical links between them and their neighbours, particularly the Edo-speaking peoples, and other socio-linguistic groups in some yet undefined areas in the Sudan/Egypt

Main Towns: Abraka, Effurun, Sapele, Ughelli, Warri
Main Rivers: Distributaries of River Niger including Kiabodo, Ethiope and Warri 

Urhobo has always strived to maintain good relations with her neighbors from the North-East is Ndokwa, to the South-East is Isoko, to the North is Bini, the West is Itsekiri and the South is Ijaw's. All of them share a common origin according to tradition.

The 22 clans of Urhobo with their cultural headquarters and official administrative affiliations are shown on the Table below.

Urhobo 22 Kingdoms And Headquarters
As Well As Official Administrative Affiliations
(Local Government Areas [LGA]) As of 2004 

KINGDOM	HEADQUARTERS	L. G. A
Agbarrha-Ame	Otovwodo-Agbarha	WarriSouth
Agbarha-Otor	Agbarha-Otor	UghelliNorth
Agbarho	Orho-Agbarho	UghelliNorth
Agbon	Isiokoro	EthiopeEast
Arhavwarien	Arhavwarien	UghelliSouth
Avwaraka	Otorho-Avwaraka	EtthiopeEast
Effuruntor	Effuruntor	UghelliSouth
Evwreni	Evwreni	UghelliNorth
Eghwu	Otorho-Eghwu	UghelliSouth
Idjerhe	Idjerhe	EthiopeWest
Oghara	Ogharefe	EthiopeWest
Ogor	Otogor	UghelliNorth
Okere-Urhobo	Okere	WarriSouth
Okparabe	Okparabe	UghelliSouth
Okpe	Orerekpo	Okpe&Sapele
Okpe	Otorere-Olomu	UghelliSouth
Orogun	Orogun	UghelliNorth
Udu	Otor-Udu	Udu
Oghele	Otovwodo	UghelliNorth
Ughievwien	Otughievwien	UghlliSouth
Ughwerun	Otughweru	UghelliNorth
Uvwie	Effurun	Uvwie

PEOPLE

The Urhobo people is located in the present Delta State of Nigeria. They occupy the southern portion of the Benin lowland and the floodplains and swamps of the petroleum-rich Niger delta. With a population of some two million people, the Urhobo people are the 5th largest ethnic group in Nigeria and constitute the largest single ethnic group in Delta State. Their population density in Urhoboland is about 660 persons per square kilometer.

In traditional African political organization, the Urhobo people consists of twenty-two autonomous republics or "Kingdoms" with a common ancestral origin. The Kingdoms are: Agbarha, Agbarha-Ame (Agbassa), Agbarho, Agbon, Arhavwarien, Avwraka, Eghwu, Ephron-oto, Evwreni, Idjerhe, Oghara, Ogor, Okere, Okparabe, Okpe, Olomu, Orogun, Udu, Ughelli, Ughievwen, Ughwerun, and Uvwie. The earliest political system in Urhoboland is a mixture of the kingship system and the rule by elders. Depending on the clan and the system of administration, the king or clan head is called the Ovie or Orodje or Osuivie, Okobaro, Okpako or Okpara-Uku and such title may be hereditary in some clans.
The discovery of petroleum in Urhoboland in the 1960s has been a mixed blessing. While the oil has enriched the modern Nigeria nationstate, it has hardly benefited Urhoboland and people. It has also brought about massive ecological devastation which has, in turn, hampered the Urhobo traditional occupations of farming and fishing. This has resulted in the neglect of agriculture and mass emigration of our people to urban areas and to other rural areas, especially Benin and Yoruba lands of western Nigeria, where hundreds of Urhobo villages could be found. Today, the Urhobo migrant farmers in these villages form the backbone of the food production in those areas.

Like many people of the world, the Urhobo people are undergoing a cultural and political renaissance. The need for the various Urhobo people to assert their nationhood and to preserve their culture led to the creation of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) in 1931. Similar realties of the modern world led to the formation of The Urhobo National Association (TUNA) in 1993 as an umbrella organization of the over 10,000 Urhobo people resident in North America. In 1999, TUNA was split into two factions called TUNA and UPUNA due to internal administrative problems. However, in the year 2003, TUNA and UPUNA reunified after a reunification meeting convened by Urhobo Association in Chicago and Environs. The reunified national body adopted a new name called Urhobo Nation Association of North America (UNANA).

Though the Urhobo people speak a universal Urhobo language, some clans speak different dialects which may not be understood by other Urhobo people. Urhobo culture is unique and distinct from other Nigerian cultures. The beliefs of the Urhobo people are based on spiritual forces which govern the harmony of the universe and their culture is characterized by strong extended family ties, respect for elders, and taboos against stealing, incest, murder, dishonesty and so on. Many Urhobo customs have influenced other ethnic groups around them just as it has been influenced by them also through cultural interaction and inter-marriages. These ethnic groups around Urhobland include: Ijaw, Itsekiri, Isoko, Bini, and kwale.

CULTURE

The Urhobos live very close to and sometimes on the surface of the Niger river. As such, most of their histories, mythologies, and philosophies are water-related. They have an annual fishing festival that includes masquerades, fishing, swimming contests, and dancing. There is also an annual, two-day, Ohworu festival in the southern part of the Urhobo area at which the Ohworhu water spirit and the Eravwe Oganga are displayed. The king in an Urhobo clan or kingdom is called the Ovie. His wife the queen is called Ovieya and his children Ọmọ Ovie (child of the king also known as prince and princes). Nowadays, these names are also given to children without royal heritage by their parents. A number of Urhobo sub-groups have other titles other than Ovie, for example, the Okpe called their traditional ruler Orogie and Olomu called theirs Ohworode and Okere-Urhobo theirs Orosuen.

MARRIGES

Marriage is the union between man and woman which is culturally and morally acceptable in a society. Before marriage in Urhobo culture is said to be properly contracted, prayer's must be offered to the ancestors(Erivwin) and God(Oghene). The marriage ritual known as Udi Arhovwaje takes place in the ancestral home of the girl or a patrilineal relation of the girl as agreed by the family.

On an agreed day, the fiance goes with his relatives and friends to the fiancee's father's home carrying drinks, salt,kolanut and things required from him by the girls family for the marriage ceremony. It is on that day that the girl's parents give their formal approval to the marriage and pour the gin brought by the fiance as libation to the father's ancestors to bless them with health, children and wealth. It is only after this marriage rites that the husband can claim a refund of money (bride price) if the marriage breaks down. It is believed that the ancestors were witness to the marriage. It is only the physical body that is sent to her husband in the marriage, her Erhi(spirit double) remain in family home. This explains why she is brought back to her family home when she dies. In the ancestral home of the man, the wife is welcomed into the family by the eldest member of the family.Here she was expected to confess all her love affairs during and after her betrothal to her husband (if any) and she can now be absolved from all her wrong doings. Henceforth, she becomes a full member of her husband's family and is now protected by the Erivwin. This rites symbolizes an agreement between the wife and Erivwin. If the wife later proves unfaithful she will be punished by the supernatural(Erivwin) and this is believed to be the reason why married Urhobo women are very faithful to their husbands.

ARTS EXHIBITION

Where Gods and Mortals Meet: Continuity and Renewal in Urhobo Art is the first comprehensive presentation of the arts of the Urhobo peoples of Nigeria, whose experience in today's Africa is emblematic of a rapidly changing world. The exhibition is organized into sections that consider the forms and underlying aesthetic values of Urhobo society: personal images that offer protection and advancement; images of women at various stages of life; masquerade arts; and at the grandest level, communal shrine art, awesome in scale and form. Integral to the exhibition are works by contemporary Urhobo artist Bruce Onobrakpeya. Inspired by his traditional culture, his art offers a particularly poignant perspective on Urhobo traditional art.

As the title of the exhibition suggests, Urhobo ceremonies, masquerades and sculpture establish realms for gods and mortals to meet. Their continuity and renewal in a contemporary context extend their relevance to the present day and project them into the future.This exhibition is organized by the Museum for African Art and curated by Perkins Foss.The exhibition has been made possible through grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Urhobo calendar

Urhobo Okpo (week) is made up of four days which regulates market cycles, religious worship, marriages and other community life. The four day's of the Urhobo week are:Edewo,Ediruo,Eduhre,Edebi. In Urhobo mythology, Edewo and Eduhre are sacred days to divinities, spirits and ancestors. Most market days are held on these days, ancestors are venerated on Edewo. Most traditional religious rituals are held on Eduhre.

Divinities(spirits) are believed to be very active in the farmlands and forests on Edewo and Eduhre. Therefore, farmers in most Urhobo communities rarely go to farm so as not to disturb the spirits. The twelve months of the Urhobo calender year are equally significant.

• Ovuikpe -----------------January
• Ava ------------------------February
• Arha ----------------------March
• Ane -----------------------April
• Arhiori -------------------May
• Asa -----------------------June
• Eghwre ------------------July
• Orianre -------------------August
• Urhiori -------------------September
• Ehwe --------------------October
• Ushovo ------------------November
• Ururuowe' ---------------December

Most of the annual festivals are held during the months of Asa,Eghwre,Orianre and Urhiori because these are the months of crop harvest and farming activities is at its lowest. Most farmers are free to partake in festivities. These are also periods to honour the spiritual forces that brought good harvest and the gods of the land. Religion controls life style in traditional communities in Urhoboland.

Food

As with most tribes in Nigeria, a certain food is considered to belong to or originate from a particular tribe as in pounded yam and egusi soup from the Igbos, Eba and Ogbono soup (sometimes referred to as Ogbolo soup by people of Esan or Etsakor descent). For the Urhobos there are two foods considered Urhobo in nature. They are: Ukhodo (a yam and unripe plantain dish sometimes cooked with lemon grass and potash) and Starch (actual name of this staple is not often used) Ogwho soup (palm oil soup). The starch is made from cassava plant. It is heated and stirred into a thick mound with palm oil added to give the starch its unique orange-yellow colour. The Ogwho soup is composed of smoked or dried fish, unique spices, potash and oil palm juice. Other palm nut oil soups include amiedi pr banga, which is also eaten with starch and or garri. Banga soup is also a delicacy made from palm kernel.

Population

There are approximately 1,000,000 Urhobo people.Some sources put the number at approximately 1.5 million.

Religion

The main focus of Urhobo traditional religion are the adoration of Oghene (Almighty God) the supreme deity and recognition of Edjo and Erhan (divinities). Some of these divinities could be regarded as personified attributes of Oghene. The veneration of ancestors, believe in diverse spirits, apart from those of the major divinities and the ancestors. The Urhobo also worship God with Orhen (white chalk). If an Urhobo feels oppressed by someone, he appeals to Oghene,who he believe to be an impartial judge, to adjudicate between him and his opponent. Urhobo divinities can be classified into four main categories, which probably coincide with the historical development of the people. These are guidian divinities, war divinities, prosperity divinities and fertility and ethical divinities. It should boe noted that the fundamental factor and manifestation of all divinites in Urhobo religion is Oghene.

Erivwin which is the cult of ancestors and predecessors (Esemo and Iniemo) is another important element in Urhobo belief system. The dead are believed to be living and are looked upon as active members of the family and watch over the affair of the living members of their family. Urhobos believe in the duality of man, i.e. that man consists of two beings:

• Physical body - Ugboma
• Spiritual body - Erhi

It is the Erhi (spirit man) that declares man's destiny and controls the self realization of man's destiny before he incarnate into this world. Erhi also controls the total well being(Ufuoma) of the man.Oghene(GOD) is like a constitutional Monarch who set his seal on the path of destiny set by a man's spirit (Erhi).

In the spirit world (Erivwin) man's destiny is ratified and sealed. In the final journey of the spirit man(Erhi) after transition, the Urhobo believe the physical body (Ugboma) decays while the spirit man (Erhi) is indestructible and goes back to join s the ancestors in the spirit realm. The elaborate and symbolic burial rites are meant to prepare the departed Erhi for happy re-union with the ancestors in the spirit world.

However, the influence of western civilization and Christianity is fast becoming an acceptable religion in most Urhobo communities. Epha divination, similar to the Yoruba Ifá and practiced by many West African ethnic groups, is practised with strings of cowries. Urhobos also practice Christianity, with many belonging toCatholic and new evangelical denominations. There are 1,261 ejo (deities), including the one-handed, one-legged mirror-holding whirlwind-god Aziza.