KOKORI-OKPARA ORIGIN AND MIGRATION PART 6

However, the point that Agbon and his descendants got to Agbon town is not certain. Except to accept that Agbon was given birth to in Uzere and not one of Urhobo migrants from Benin as claimed by chief M. P. Okumagba and others. The idea is that, Agbon being a homo sapiens subject to the natural order of young and growing old, could not have still been strong enough to lead his descendants all the way from Benin down through Erhowa, Irri, Utokori, Olomu, Ehwen, Ukwuani, Evwreni, Ighwreku and finally to Agbon town. The fact that, they sojourned in these places shows that they might have spent years before they got to Agbon town. Thus, Agbon, if actually he was one of the Urhobos who emigrated from Benin might have died on his way, but his descendants pushed on. The implication of the above accounts for inter-group relations, particularly as they relate to Okpara and Kokori relationship in the pre-colonial period is discernible. The common traditions and accountsof origin and migration held by the Okpara and Kokori people emphasize descent from common lineages and patrileneages which were children of founders who were related by blood. What J. G. Nkem Oyekpe says of the West Niger Igbo is also true of Kokori and Okpara people. -The common traditions of origin, common experience of migrations and ancestral and genealogical affinities are of central importance in understanding theunity and intermingling of the groups- 54. The common oral history of the groups in question was functional and instrumental in shaping relations between them. In fact the cordiality which characterized their relations, as we shall see, in the next chapter, was to a large extent a reflection and manifestation of the oral history emphasizing common origins. ENDNOTES 1. As quoted in interview with O. Patrick Usiemure, 40 years, Geographer, at Warri, on 15/6/2005 2. -The Urhobo-, http://www.Nigeriannation.com/EthnicGroups/Urhobos.asp, 7 June, 2005 3. Interview with Okpegboro Ovwoma, 77 years, Farmer, at Kokori, on 12/6/2005. 4. S. J. Odje, Kokori People, Ancient and Modern, (Nigeria:np, 1995) pp. 1-2. 5. Odje, P.I. 6. Ovwoma, Interview cited 7. Interview with O. Johnson Umude 50 years, seargeant (rtd), at Okpara, on 11/7/2005. 8. Interview with U. Esquire Veronica 58 years, Teacher, at Okpara, 12/7/2005. 9. Umude, Interview cited. 10. Interview with D. Peter Esquire, 48 years, business man, at Warri on 15/6/2005 11. Esquire, Interview cited. 12. Interview with Ojo Umude, 60 years, farmer, at Okpara, on 12/7/2005. 13. J. A. Atanda, -The Historian and the problem of Origins of peoples in Nigerian Society-, in J. F. Ade Ajayi et. al.(eds), Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, Vol. 10,No, 3, December, 1980, p. 63. 14. R. A. I. Ogbobine, The Urhobo People and their Land Tenure, (np:np, 1977), P.40 15. Interview with S. A. Ofua, 65 years, Urhobo first Orator, at Oviore, on 11/7/2005. 16. Onajite Igere Adjara and Andy Omokri, Urhobo Kingdoms, Political and Social System, (Nigeria: Textflow, 1997), pp.73. 17. Ovwoma, Interview cited.. 18. Onigu Otite, -Agbon- in OniguOtite (ed.) The Urhobo People,(Ibadan: Shamson C.I. Ltd., 2003), p.11 19. P. Peter Ekeh, -In Search of Ediod Cultural History-, 11/7/1999, http://www.waado.or/organisation/uHs/Debates/UrhoboBeninRelations/Ekeh-Rejionder.html, 6 March 2005. 20. Ovwoma, interview cited. 21. Obaro Ikime, Niger Delta Rivalry: Itsekiri-Urhobo Relations and European Presence, 1884-1936, (London:Longman, 1969), P. xvii 22. Ofua, interview cited. 23. M. P. Okumagba, A Short History of Urhobo, (np:kris and pat, nd.) p. 23. 24. Adjara and Omokri, P. 72 25. Nowamagbe Omigui, -Urhobo and the Edo Era-, http://www.Urhobo-World.org/Edo-Urhobo%20Relationspage.htm, 15 June, 2005. 26. Ekeh, Cited above. 27. -Urhobo Information,-, http://www.ethnonet-africa-org/data/Nigeria/biblo.html, 7 July 2005. 28. Ade Obayemi, -The Yoruba and Edo-Speaking Peoples and their Neighbours before 1600-,inAde Ajayiand Micheal Ajayi Crowder (eds.), History of West Africa Vol. One, 2nd edition, (London: Longman, 1976), P. 262. 29. A. E. Afigbo, -The Benin Mirage and History of South Central Nigeria…- Nigeria Magazine, No. 137, 1981, P. 20. 30. Okumagba, p. 30. 31. Ekeh, Cited above. 32. Ekeh, Cited above. 33. Ekeh, Cited above. 34. Otite, p.11 35. Otite, Pp. 12 -13 36. Otite,P. 24 37. Quoted by Okumagba, p. 38. Otite, p. 11 39. Otite, P.25 40. -Urhobo Information-, Cited above 41. Otite, P. 17 42. Otite, p. 17 43. Odje, Pp. 9- 11 44. Interview with S. J. Odje, 80 years, ex-chairman of Ethiope Local Government Council, Kokori. 45. Interview with E. O. Benedict, 45 years, History Teacher, at Isiokolo, on 11/7/2005. 46. Odje, p. 48 47. Ofua, Interview cited 48. Odje, pp. 12-14 49. Quoted by Odje, p. 15 50. Quoted by Otite,p. 99 51. Interview with Dominic Okagbare Orhoro, 84 years, Agriculturist, at Okpara, on 18 July, 2005. 52. Umude, Interview Cited 53. Odje, p. 22.TO BE CONTINUED.....