KOKORI-OKPARA ORIGIN AND MIGRATION PART 4

Taking the argument further, he observes that, he was suspicious of the claim to Igbo origin -because of the intervening territory and cultural entity of Ukwuani which is fighting a claim that it was founded by immigrants from across the Niger-. Another version of their counter claim holds that they (Ukwuani) hadbeen in these places long before the Igbos and Urhobos came 33. Traditions of origin of the Urhobo are full of assertions of original dwellers of their settlement. These aboriginals were also seen as Urhobo without known history of migration from another place. But there is no document .ry or archaeological evidence to support this claim. 34. Bradbury cites Hubbard's 1948 suggestion that -the distinctive characteristics of the various Urhobo and Isoko tribes are a result of the super-imposition of Ijaw, Ibo and later Edo immigrants aboriginal strata-who were speaking Edo-type dialects. The aboriginal strata referred to must have been firmlyestablished. For the different -strangers- intervening elements were almost totally assimilated into a -common and distinguishable pool of cultural and organizational forms among all the Urhobos-. The interventionof these alien groups is to be differentiated from suggested societal migrations from a single source in the Edo territory 35. Migration: Professor Onigu Otite has done athorough analysis of various traditions of origins among the Urhobos and drawn the following conclusion. Without archaeological evidence, the four traditions of Urhobo origin have some credibility. The four traditions include that Urhobo came from Ife. According to this tradition, Benin royal family of Ogiso and Urhobo came togetherfrom Ife. Secondly, there are traditions of origin from Sudan and Egypt 35. Arawore says Urhobo first came from Egypt, leaving some oftheir people in the shore of lake Chad, stopped at Ile-Ife, settled permanently among Binis, but were eventually -driven to the swamp of the Niger Delta- 37. the third is tradition linking Urhobo origins to an emigration from an original Edo settlement. And lastly, the claim by some Urhobos that they are autochthonous owners of their territory. 38. The structure of Urhobo ideas and language as well as of their culture and other institutional forms, imply historical links between them, their neighbours, particularly the Western Edo-speaking peoples, in some socio-linguistic groups in some yet undefined areas in the Sudan/Egypt 39. The Urhobo people are linguistically classified as kwa group 40. Westerman and others -classified the kwa group of languages as part of the westernSudanic or the Niger Congo language family- 41. The language of the kwa groups which include Edo, Ijo, Igbo etc. have been shown, through glotochronological calculations to have been separated between 3000 and 6000 years ago. That is to say thegroup to which Edo, Urhobo and Yoruba belong were one society with common language and historical traditions. Greenbery confirms this generic classification. 42. All in all, it should not be forgotten that, the Okpara and Kokori groups, which are our major focus here, lay consistent and recurrent claim to migration from Irri in Isoko. Although, they never claim to be Isoko people turned Agbon people on getting to their present settlements. The Agbon, are descendants of a mancalled Agbon, who left Isoko, andafter sojourning in different places got to the contemporary Isiokolo where he settled 43. Agbon gave birth to four children, probably at Irri. Thus in Irri, the early settlements and relics of Agbon descendants are still found. And in Ughwerun, there still exist relics of Kokori settlement 44. Most secondary sources give the impression that, the four Agbon children, were all males. But there is a counter claim that one of them was a female. Figure1.2. shows Agbon and his supposed family. While a version of Agbon's oral history asserts that, Agbon and his children got to Isiokolo, another version claimthat Agbon did not get to Isiokolo 45. At a material time, Agbon descendants embarked on emigration from Agbon town where they had settled. It was during this period of dispersal that Okpara and kokori groups also left for their present territories 45. Writers like Onigu Otite and Sunday Odje have tried to establish why Agbon children dispersed from Agbon town. Chief Dr. Ofua, the first Orator of Urhobo, said that the phrase Agbon vere, is employed to describe the manner in which Agbon people dispersed from Isiokolo 47. By that phrase it is meant that the people of Agbon did not disperse in a state of peace or in search of greener pasture. Rather, it suggests a situation of commotion, which culminated in eventual dispersal from Agbon town. A war leader called Odeze was ruling over Agbon people, when one Osifo appointed by the oba to be an Ovie over Agbon people arrived Isiokolo. Disaffected over the idea of Osifo being a king over the people, Odeze plotted his killing.TO BE CONTINUED........