Mr Agidigbi:

You guys will not just let this Edo-OKORO go on sabbathical, eh? You have written the correct history of Okoro and how it got to Ibo land and other lands. It merely shows the power and the influence of the ancient Benin Empire, in what is today called southern Nigeria and West Africa.
 

OKORO is an Edo word for PRINCE. Among the royal family, we seldom call ourselves our first names. The older ones simply call the younger ones, Okoro. The same goes for those within the same age group. Any time I call on my cousins or brothers, I simply say O.K, shortened for Okoro. My mother never called me by my first name before she died. It was always Okoro. When I call on older members of the family in Benin, from my hideout in America, they simply call me Okoro. An Edo man living in and around Benin knows that an Edo Prince is called Okoro. Even as a teenager roaming the corners of Edo land looking for fun, ( in Esan land, Afemai and Owan ), the older folks called me Okoro and not by my first name.

The seeming decline in the use of Okoro by Edo-speaking people in describing an Edo Prince came with western sophistication, especially among the youths. The appearance of Okoro in Ibo calendar, shows the level of the cultural domination that Benin had over neighbouring groups in those days. You need to go to AFIKPO in the Ibo land, to see the influence of Edo language on the Ibo people living in the area. You will be surprised to hear words like EWOBI-a fool/idiot, OFINGBO-palm oil, etc., rolling out of their mouths.

Greetings everybody

Okoro ( Ademola ) Iyi-Eweka.