When history beckons-ijaw in warri

Title: The Ijaw in Warri – A study in Ethnography

Author: J.O.S Ayomike

No. of pages: 146

Reviewer: Edozie Udeze

Who owns the land? Does any piece of land ever exist in a vacuum? Or

put more succinctly, is there ever any settlement anywhere in the

world where you do not have the original owners of the place? These

are the recurrent issues raised in this book – The Ijaw in Warri.

Written by J. O. S. Ayomike, a seasoned author and an authority in the

Niger-Delta history, the book is simply and precisely a work based on

the fact that the piece of land known as Warri today has been an

ancestral home of the Itsekiris.

This is a study in ethnography, showing with facts, evidences and

figures that Warri had been and will continue to be the original home

to the Itsekiris. This is why Ayomike noted that this issue is the

homeland of the Itsekiri. "Each nationality, that is, an ethnic group,

in a given polity has a homeland; others live in it with them and it

is known by all and sundry as the group's homeland… Therefore, this

book, like its forerunner, seeks to describe the Itsekiri people in

relation to their neighbour – and this time, the Ijaw – and show their

symbiotic relationship."

Quoting relevant sources and documents and based on oral accounts

where it is imperative Ayomike clearly stated at what point the Ijaw

converged in Warri to become bona fide members of the society. It is

not to be argued further who owns the land. It should not be a matter

of dispute, because even based on the pattern of settlement, even

previous census carried out in Nigeria, the Itsekiri have been known

and proved to be the rightful owners of Warriland.

In chapter one entitled: The Ijaw and Itsekiri Homeland, the author

quoted what he referred to as the authoritative sources to back his

story and clear the air on this matter. "The position of the Ijaw

within the homeland of the Itsekiri has been aptly described by Dr. P.

C. Lloyd in his work on the Itsekiri people in these words. "The

Administrative Unit known as the Warri Division of Delta Province,

whose area is 1,520 square miles is approximately co-terminus with the

territory of the Itsekiri though it includes groups of Ijaw

settlements in the extreme north and south…"

Sources such as this are replete with historical facts and presented

by world-acclaimed historians like J. C. Anene, J. F. A. Ade-Ajayi,

John Hatch and more, who relied on water-tight evidences to situate

facts. Even though the Ijaws have been more in population and

scattered in more areas in the Niger Delta, other historical

happenings in the area tended to necessitate their closer movement

towards the Itsekiri portions of the land.

On page 23, it is clearly stated thus: "The principal peoples of the

Delta are the Itsekiri and the coastal dwelling Sobo in the west, the

Ijo in the centre, the coastal Ibibio and the Efik of old Calabar who

live in the eastern Delta. The Ijo, Ibibio and Efik have many similar

institutions. But the Itsekiri who founded the Kingdom of Warri in the

Western Delta do not really resemble the central and Eastern Delta

peoples. In fact, the Itsekiri of Warri have much more in common with

the Edo of Benin and their Yoruba neighbours."

Also quoting Professor Obaro Ikimi, renowned world historian and

activist, it says: "The Itsekiri inhabit the North-western extremity

of the Niger Delta… Their neighbours are the Bini to the north, the

Ijo to the south, the Urbobo to the east and the Yoruba of Ondo

Province to the northwest… Itsekiriland is watered by three large

rivers, the Benin, the Escravos and the Forcados."

In his own account too, K. B. C. Onwubiko, one of Nigeria's foremost

historians stated: "Thus arose such city-states as Warri and Sapele

inhabited by the Itsekiri and Urhobo… Bonny for example had its

trading empire along the Imo River hinterland, Kalabari along the

Sombreiro River interior; and the Itsekiri Kingdom with its capital as

Warri controlled the Benin River hinterland."

Evidently, Ayomike resorted to these historical elements so as to give

the public an authentic proof to show who the original owners have

been. This book arose essentially due to the nagging dispute over who

owns the land. For many years, wars had raged on among the many tribes

in Warri over this matter. And so when Ayomike chose to dwell on the

issue, his intentions were made clearer and more distinctive.

This is why each chapter delved into those knotty issues that have

disturbed the flow of harmony in the region. This is why this book is

one to be taken with seriousness. The facts are there to show history

as it really is."