Urhobo Historical Society
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J. O. S. Ayomike’s Doctored Writings on the History of Warri and
the Western Niger Delta
By Oke Sikere
[From Urhobo Voice, Vol. 7, No. 224, November 24, 2003]
I WISH to respond to J.O.S. Ayomike's article titled "Before We Lay to Rest the Corpse of 'British Treaties with Urhobo
Communities in Warri District'"
and published in the Vanguard Newspaper of Tuesday, October 21, 2003 . I
am a member of a group that has been studying Itsekiri publications. We
have a collection of Ayomike’s writings and we are very familiar
with his methods. To do justice to the issue at hand, one would have to
digress a little to present Ayomike’s style in order that the reader
could easily understand.
As a writer, Ayomike has been less than honest. He has deliberately
misinterpreted quotations, purposely withholding relevant information from
his readers, in order to achieve a self-serving goal. He belongs to the
category of writers who take for granted that readers from the gullible
public have no time to verify sources. He often makes a flamboyant
reference, and goes ahead to claim that the author says abc, whereas what
the author actually says is xyz.
Samples of Distortion of Original Sources in the Writings of J. O. S.
Ayomike
Ayomike has written many books. Running through all of them is a
continuous flow of deliberate misinformation, tailored towards the
achievement of his self-imposed goals. In his first book, he states the
goal: “Thus the purpose of this work is to portray Warri local
government area as the homeland of Itsekiri people.” (A History of Warri, page ix). In chapter one he quotes Professor P.C. Lloyd. This is what
Professor Lloyd says: “The administrative unit known as the Warri
Division of Delta Province whose area is 1,520 square miles, is
approximately conterminous with the territory of the
Itsekiri…” (The Benin Kingdom, Bradbury and Lloyd, page 172). Every honest scholar knows that what is
approximately conterminous is not totally conterminous. Even when
Professor Lloyd himself indicates in his map the Ijaw and Urhobo
territories in Warri Division, Ayomike has turned a blind eye. He has gone
to town since then, drumming it into the heads of the public that eminent
historians of the calibre of Professor Lloyd have written in support of
the claim that the whole of Warri Division is Itsekiri homeland.
In chapter eight Ayomike makes a case for the “Olu of Warri”
title. Here he had a very credible source at his disposal: William
Moore’s book,
History of Itsekiri. He quoted
eloquently from it in other chapters of his book. William Moore was the
earliest Itsekiri historian. He wrote during the period of interregnum of
88 years when the Itsekiri had no king, so, he could not have been under
pressure to use the wrong title. In addition, he was the spokesman of the
Itsekiri royal family and could not have been ignorant of the correct
title. William Moore used the title “Olu of Itsekiri” more
than twenty times. No where in his book did he use “Olu of
Warri”. Perhaps, a sample would do. “After Ijijen’s (the
Ogbowuru) demise, Irame became the Olu of Itsekiri.” (History of Itsekiri, page 25).
The evidence from William Moore was counter to Ayomike’s goal and he
discarded it. He decided to glean bits and pieces of uninformed
statements, as well as sponsored materials deposited in European archives,
to make his case. Meanwhile, Chief Alfred Rewane himself had earlier
confessed that the archival materials were sponsored. (He who pays the
piper dictates the tune). In the words of Rewane: “In the
1970’s some of us Itsekiri leaders of thought, at considerable
personal expense, commissioned research into Itsekiri history by the
Brazilian-Portuguese academician and specialist in African and European
history, Professor Orlinto, from archives in France, Spain, Portugal,
Italy, the Vatican and Brazil.” (The Title “Olu of
Warri”. The Historic Awolowo Compromise in The Guardian, May 20,
1993, page 31).
In another of his books, Ayomike quotes Jacob Egharevba, a Benin
historian. This is what Egharevba says: “Akengbuwa, the Olu of Jekri
or Itsekiri, quarrelled with the Uwangue of Itsekiri, and expelled him
from Ode-Itsekiri.” (A short History of Benin, page 45). All historians who wrote before 1952 used the title
“Olu of Itsekiri”. Ordinarily, Ayomike would not have ventured
into quoting such a glaring passage, except that the circumstances of the
moment forced him to do so, and this is how he quotes Egharevba:
“Akengbuwa, the Olu… quarrelled with the Uwangue… and
expelled him from Ode-Itsekiri”. (Benin and Warri, Meeting Points in History, page 46).
He would not want his readers, especially Itsekiri youths, to have the
relevant information that the title from ancient times was “Olu of
Itsekiri.”
J. O. S. Ayomike's Falsification of Evidence of Forgery of British
Treaties in the Western Niger Delta
Now, to come to the issue at hand, it is a classical example of
Ayomike’s methods. He merely dropped the name of Professor Obaro
Ikime, and the title of his book,
Merchant Prince of the Niger Delta. Then he went ahead, as usual, to assert that at page 63 of the book,
one Mr. Flint advanced the view that Agbassa treaties were forged. He
began to build a powerful case on this assertion, citing a lot of
irrelevant references to confuse the public. The gullible public, having
read this, would go home with the conclusion that Professor Obaro Ikime,
an eminent scholar, has proved that Agbassa treaties were forged. Haba! It
becomes necessary to present the scenario discussed by Professor Ikime. In
doing so, the relevant words of Ikime, himself, shall be quoted.
First, it should be clearly stated that the Agbassa treaties were not in
dispute at all, since Agbassa was not one of the communities on the
Forcados River. Professor Ikime did not even mention the Agbassa treaties
at all! The treaties in dispute were those of the Ijaw of Burutu and
Ogulaha communities on the Forcados River. The dispute involved two
parties authorized by the British Government to enter into treaties,
namely, the Royal Niger Company (RNC) and the Niger Coast Protectorate
(NCP). From here, one should let Ikime himself tell the rest of the story
by quoting his relevant words.
“Hewett advanced the argument that the Royal Niger
Company’s treaties could not be valid because ‘the native
signatories thereto had no power to enter into them they being subjects
of Nana and included in the Jekri Protection treaty of 1884”
(Professor Obaro Ikime,
Merchant Prince of the Niger Delta, page 61).
“In 1889, Major Claude Macdonald was appointed Special
Commissioner to examine and report on various complaints made against
the Royal Niger Company and its administration” (Ibid, page
62).
“According to Macdonald, the Ijo people told him that they had
never been subjects of Nana, but that the latter was a good
friend” (Ibid, page 62).
“In fairness to Macdonald, it should be recorded that he also held
interviews with Nana himself … Nana failed entirely to show him
that he ever had any right or power over the Ijo” (ibid, page
63).
“John Flint has advanced the view that the Forcados treaties were
forged, his argument being that the ‘marks’ of the signatory
elders were too neat and unsmudged to have been made by illiterates.
While Flint’s opinion might be true, it must be said that his
argument is no conclusive evidence of forgery, for the elders might have
declared their willingness to enter into, and their understanding of the
terms of, the treaty and thereupon empowered the company’s
officials to put down their names and marks” (Ibid, page 63).
Meanwhile, the official position of the British government concerning the
treaties is also stated by Professor Ikime: “The British government
did not, however, consider the matter one of great importance. As Lord
Salisbury, the foreign secretary, noted in a minute, whichever British
authority signed the treaties, the area accrued to the crown” (Ibid,
page 61).
It is clear from the foregoing, that the treaties, as discussed by
Professor Ikime, and the conclusions drawn therefrom, are the direct
opposite of what Ayomike claims. Ayomike should be ignored by all people
of goodwill. He is a man completely consumed by an overwhelming passion
and he has thrown all writing etiquette to the dust in his desire to make
the whole of Warri Division Itsekiri homeland.