A Composite Report
Of
THIRD ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF
URHOBO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
London, United Kingdom, November
1-3, 2002
By Peter P. Ekeh, Ph.D.
Chair, Urhobo Historical Society
The Third
Annual Conference of Urhobo Historical Society was held in London, United
Kingdom, November 1-3, 2002, at two venues in
close proximity of each other in New Cross area of Southeast
London. London
is home to the largest fragment of the Urhobo Diaspora, outside of Nigeria.
Most Urhobos in London
live in the Southeast. The first venue of the Conference was at Goddis
Restaurant at 126 New Cross Road.
Its proprietor, Mr. Godwin Oghenede, was the Hospitality Officer of
the UK
and Belgium Organizing Committee that worked closely with the
Conference and Communiqué Committee in North
America in preparing for the Conference. The second venue
of the Conference was
nearby at Goldsmiths College of London University.
Opening
Cocktail Reception at Goddis Restaurant
Friday November 1, 2002, 8:00-10:30
The
Opening Cocktail Reception was a memorable event that brought together
strong Urhobo leadership from inside Nigeria,
from the host London
community as well as an enthusiastic delegation from Belgium,
and from North America. It also featured
age and youth, with men and women in their 60s and 70s mixing with
members of a younger generation of Urhobos. The chair of the occasion
was Olorogun
Felix Ibru, first civilian Governor of Delta State. He was introduced
by
Chief Johnson Barovbe, a Lagos-based businessman, proprietor of WestminsterCollege, Lagos,
and a former distinguished President of Urhobo Social Club, Lagos.
Chief Barovbe praised the mission and work of Urhobo Historical
Society, predicting that it would become a major force in Urhobo
affairs. The esteemed Special Guest of Honour of the Conference, who
was featured at the Opening Reception, was Mr. D. A. Obiomah of Warri,
author of several books that
have chronicled the struggle of his people of Agbarha-Warri for their
natural
rights and for justice for Agbarha community as indigenous owners of
the
City of Warri. Mr.
Obiomah
enjoys a large reputation in Urhobo history as our first D.O. (District
Officer)
during colonial times. He was introduced by Professor Frank Ukoli,
reputed
to be Urhobo’s first Ph.D. holder and Urhobo’s first university
professor,
who was also the founding Vice Chancellor of Delta State University,
Abraka.
Several men and women from the London
community – including Chief Moses Uwejeya, Chief Francis Ogbomo, Chief
C. O. Onomijega, and Chief Wilfred Dedevwo -- were introduced. Chief
Johnson Barovbe specially introduced Chief Emmanuel Evue, a Lagos-based
fish business man who had traveled to London
for the Conference.
There was an
insightful introduction of Members of the Editorial and Management
Committee, which has managed the affairs of Urhobo Historical Society
in North America, by Professor Ajovi
Scott-Emuakpor, and of members
of the UK & Belgium Organizing Committee by Mr. S. S. Obruche. This
exercise was intriguing because many in the audience sought out the
origins
and hometowns of these people who were presented as servants of Urhobo
history
and culture. Many elders were particularly fascinated by the prominent
presence
of the Conference Chair, Professor Isaac James Mowoe, first grandson of
the legendary Mukoro Mowoe, who is hailed in Urhobo history as our
premier
nationalist. Also specially introduced was Professor Perkins Foss, an
American
scholar who was fully attired in Urhobo chiefly regalia and whose
daring
odova (praise name) is oyibo r’edjo. Professor Foss is
an
historian of Urhobo art and culture.
Following generous Urhobo traditional welcoming presentation
of kola, drinks, and money by Mr. S. S. Obruche and his colleagues of
the UK & Belgium Organizing Committee, eloquently narrated in
fluent Urhobo by Mr. Ejiro Ughwujabo, a Deputy Head Teacher in a LondonCatholicSecondary
School, three addresses were read. In his
measured and dignified speech, Olorogun Felix Ibru proclaimed his pride
as an Urhobo man, declaring that his patriotism for Nigeria
is only enhanced, never diminished, by his robust love for Urhobo
culture and his service to Urhobo people. In his dramatized and poetic
address,
Mr. D. A. Obiomah showed why he is loved by the Urhobo. He exalted
Urhobo
culture of nurturing and veneration of the bride in elaborate
ceremonies
in traditional Urhobo culture.A fighter for the
rights
of his native and indigenous Agbarha-Warri community, Obiomah called on
the British to tell the truth on the “Protection Treaty” that British
colonial
agents signed with the Chiefs and Elders of Agbarha on March 14, 1893 in which it
was made clear that they owned Warri lands. Both Olorogun Felix Ibru
and Mr. Daniel Obiomah praised the work and commitments of Urhobo
Historical Society and urged the Society to continue in its important
work.
In his
address, Professor Peter Ekeh, Chair of Urhobo Historical Society,
thanked various people who have worked with the Society in its service
to Urhobo history and culture. Citing several areas of the work of
Urhobo Historical Society, including its flagship web site called
URHOBO WAADO, Professor Ekeh said
he and his colleagues in Urhobo Historical Society had come to London
to
challenge the Urhobo Community in the United Kingdom and our people at
home
inside Nigeria to join in a brigade of service to Urhobo people
by
promoting and protecting Urhobo history and culture. He contended that
it
is a responsibility that required the employment of many Urhobo
volunteers
because much remained to be done in the demanding need to protect and
enhance
Urhobo history and culture.
Presentation
of Academic Papers at GoldsmithsCollege
Saturday, November 2, 2002
The entire
span of the day on Saturday,
November 2, 2002 was devoted to academic perspectives that
highlighted Urhobo history and culture and that also challenged the
Urhobo present and future. It all began with a fascinating presentation
of the art history
of the Urhobo by an American scholar of Urhobo culture, Professor
Perkins
Foss, bearing a delicate title of “Images of Fear, Protection,
Beauty:
Urhobo Art and Culture." His command of the Urhobo
language
was fully appreciated by the audience. Among the many portraits of
Urhobo
chieftains that Foss presented was that of Chief Erhiaghanoma Oyovwikefe of Orhokpokpo, Agbarho, whose
two grandsons [Edirin and Henry Erhiaghanoma] served as members of the
Editorial and Management Committee, North America,
and the UK & Belgium Organizing Committee, and were present at the
Conference. The last portrait from the large collage of Urhobo art
forms displayed by Perkins Foss was that of Chief Ughwanogho of Orogun,
whose son, Chief P. A. Wanogho, happens to be a major leader in the
Urhobo community in London.
Subsequent presenters of papers consistently referred to this first
presentation as a point of departure in the evaluation of living Urhobo
culture.
The second
session featured a masterful display of academic prowess mixed with
concern for
ordinary people by a retired University of Ibadan Professor of
parasitology
who has become a traditional Urhobo chief. But Professor Olorogun Frank
Ukoli
is not a passive recipient of a shallow honour of chieftaincy. On the
contrary, his paper [“Beyond Social and Political Issues in
Urhoboland”] and his presentation show his displeasure in the way
Urhobo communities are being run down. He is unhappy at the banal
display of wealth at wedding and funeral ceremonies that are
threatening to maim genuine Urhobo culture. He canvasses for revisions
in the ways of the elite that will enhance the lives of the people.
From the point of view of Urhobo Historical Society, Olorogun Frank
Ukoli’s passions and commitments show that he is a genuine servant of
Urhobo history and culture in our best understanding of that mantra.
The third
paper [“Title to Land in Warri
–The Itsekiri and Agbassa Claims”] came
from Dr.
Emmanuel Urhobo, heir of the legendary G. M. Urhobo who founded God's
Kingdom
Society in 1934. Dr. Urhobo practices law in Warri and is a leader of
the
Agbarha-Warri community in fighting against attempts to deprive his
people
of their heritage. He argued that Urhobos not only built Warri but
indeed
own much of the city and should be sensitive about any attempts to
cheat
fellow Urhobos of their political and legal rights. He traced the
doctrine of overlordship in colonial times to internal Itsekiri
disputes between Ugborodo Itsekiri and the British colonial Political
Agent, Chief Dore Numa, which was subsequently wrongly applied to
Urhobo disputes with Dore Numa. He called for the proper education of
Urhobo lawyers on Warri land matters because
many of these lawyers appear not to understand the origins and wrongs
of
the doctrine of overlordship in colonial times; nor do they seem to
appreciate the fact that the doctrine of overlordship has long been
overthrown in subsequent judicial pronouncements.
Dr. Emmanuel
Urhobo was followed by Wilson Ometan, of the BBC London, who proudly
introduced himself as an Uvwie man with roots stretching to Okpe. His
presentation
of his paper ["Urhobos and
Nigerian
Politics: The Travails of Marginalization and Racism"] was a spirited description
of the
attributes of the Urhobo people and an advocacy of the employment of
their
toughness and resilience to resist various attempts to marginalize them
and
their culture.
The
Dredging of the Lower Niger and the
Environment of the Niger
Delta
Dr. Amy
Emerhi, an Ughelli native and Nigerian Director of Port Harcourt-based
International Association for Impact Assessment, made a short but
powerful presentation on the dangers facing Urhobo and the Niger Delta
from the planned dredging of the lower Niger
for the sake of meeting the navigation needs of northern ports on
the Niger.
Dr. Emerhi complained that this dredging was being planned without any
contribution from those in the Niger Delta whose lives and means of
livelihood
will be severely impacted and most probably ruined. She further
complained
of the indifference of public officials from the Niger Delta, including
Urhobos, who have done nothing to avert these dangers. In the
discussion
that ensued, many conference participants, including Professor Peter
Ekeh
and Professor Frank Ukoli, warned of the grave dangers that will occur
if
Atlantic waters are forced into our lands because of the navigation
needs
of oil companies and northern states. Our agriculture and fishing
industry
will be ruined. There may be uncontrolled floods.
Goodwill
Message from Urhobo National Assembly
A goodwill
message from Urhobo National Assembly was delivered by its Secretary,
Mr. Godwin Etakibuebu, who is Chairman of Focus Computer Systems
Limited, Lagos. Mr.
Etakibuebu urged Urhobo Historical Society to continue in its work
of service for Urhobo history and culture. He then read a letter
addressed to the Third Annual Conference of Urhobo Historical Society
from Urhobo National Assembly. Signed by Senator D. O. Dafinone and
Justice V. E. Ovie-Whiskey, the letter commends the efforts of Urhobo
Historical Society in its work in the service of Urhobo history and
culture. The letter says, inter
alia:
Yours is an elite society and as such
you must always see yourselves individually as members of the think
thank that will work out situation for many problems that are
threatening the corporate survival of the Urhobo nation. That is what a
good historical society can do. That is what your society is doing. In
prosecuting this onerous assignment you can always count on our full
support. For it is our avowed and dedicated mandate to work for the
elimination of those obstacles that deny the Urhobo people both
political and economic enablement.
Keynote
Address ["The Place of Urhobo College in Urhobo History"]
By Professor David
Okpako, University
of Ibadan
The hallmark
presentation of the Third Annual Conference, chaired by its Special
Guest of Honour,
Mr. D. A. Obiomah, was a keynote address titled "The Place of Urhobo College in Urhobo History" by one of the most distinguished alumni
of Urhobo College. David Okpako has been a Professor of
Pharmacology at the University of Ibadan for several decades. He was a
pioneering student of Urhobo College from which he graduated in 1954. He
has been the unofficial historian of Urhobo College. It was he who compiled a moving
memorial for
Chief Daniel Okumagba when the former Urhobo College Tutor died on Thursday,
July 27, 2000. A
native of Ohwahwa in Ughievwen, David Okpako has another distinction.
He is
a custodian of Udje songs. Indeed, he sang one of those songs during
his keynote
address.
The central theme of Professor David
Okpako’s keynote address was the role of Urhobo Progress Union in
conceiving, founding, and then managing a community secondary school
that was like no other one in Africa during
colonial times and thereafter. Its two founding graduate teachers, M.
G. Ejaife and E. N. Igho, were trained by Urhobo Progress Union during
the difficult war-ravaged years of the 1940s. They were Urhobo’s first
graduates. Despite its ownership by Urhobo Progress Union, the policies
that controlled Urhobo
College were
liberal in terms of its recruitment of teachers and students. Professor
Okpako noted that two beneficiaries of such policies, Mr. S. J. Okudu
and Professor Tekena Tamuno, both Ijaws, were trained for Urhobo
College.
They later played major roles in the history of the University of Ibadan as
Registrar and Vice Chancellor. Professor Okpako cited a number of
students of Urhobo
College from
other ethnic groups (Itsekiri, Benin,
Ishan, Igbo, and Yoruba) who developed themselves into important
personalities in various professions in Nigeria.
Okpako’s lecture featured the brilliance and achievements of his
classmate and fellow Urhoboman, Professor Matthew Scott-Emuakpor of
the University of Ibadan,
who was Nigeria’s
first geneticist. In Professor David Okpako’s estimation, the strength
of the education that Mr. M. G. Ejaife and other teachers of Urhobo
College imparted
to their students was the trust that they could overcome great odds.
Professor David Okpako did not see the
role of Urhobo Progress Union as a matter for the past alone. On the
contrary, he urged the expansion of the role of the UPU in the sphere
of education of the Urhobo people and promotion of Urhobo scholarship
for the benefit of
Urhobo history and culture. First, he queried the current policy of
Urhobo Progress Union that excluded Urhobo
College from
UPU’s development goals. He urged that if other private agencies get
back their schools from the Delta State Government, then UPU should
seriously consider reclaiming Urhobo
College.
More boldly, Professor Okpako urges that Urhobos should honour Chief
Mukoro Mowoe, whose foresight gave birth to Urhobo
College,
by building
a Mukoro Mowoe University. Such an Urhobo university should
strive
to develop Urhobo culture and language as a major reason for its
existence.
Open Session [“On Urhobo
Self-Education on
Issues
of Warri
Lands and Delta
State Capital”] at Goldsmiths
College, Sunday, November 3, 2002
A short early morning session
conducted by
Professor Peter Ekeh, Chair of Urhobo Historical Society, and featuring
Mr.
D.A. Obiomah, Special Guest of Honour of UHS Third Annual Conference,
focused
on the need for self-education by Urhobos on issues that affect Urhobo
futures
and interests. Two such issues were highlighted. First, on Warri lands
and
ownership of Warri, Professor Ekeh confessed that he was not aware of
the
history and intricacies of Warri lands until Urhobo Historical Society
engaged
this issue. He said that he imagined that many Urhobos have not
bothered to
study this matter as an issue affecting all Urhobos. Mr. D. A. Obiomah
expressed
the hope that Urhobos would stay engaged on the problems raised by
disputes
on the ownership of Warri. He thanked Urhobo Historical Society for its
attention
to the history of Warri and for giving an opportunity to three
prominent
Agbarha-Warri men – D.A. Obiomah, Dr. Emmanuel Urhobo, and Professor
Frank
Ukoli – to play central roles in the UHS Third Annual Conference. In
the
matter of Delta State Capital, Professor Ekeh called attention to the
publication
in Urhobo Voice [October 28, 2002] by Urhobo Historical Society
in
which specific legislative measures were recommended for relocating
branches
of the State Government to the Old Delta Province until constitutional
revisions
will allow the transfer of the State Capital from Asaba to the Old
Delta
Province. Mr. D. A. Obiomah commended such measures, saying that
examples from various other nations show that it can be done. Several
interventions from the audience expressed the need for self-education
by Urhobos on issues that affect their futures and their destiny.
A Women's Roundtable
Discussion [“Role of Women in Urhobo History and Culture”] at GoldsmithsCollege, Sunday,
November 3, 2002
Chair: Mrs.
L. O. Obiomah, Warri, Delta
State, Nigeria.Participants:
Helen Ekeh, Ph.D., Buffalo, New York,
USA; Chief (Mrs.) Agnes Ukueku, London,
United Kingdom;
Mrs. G. Emonigho Aghoghovbia, London,
United Kingdom; and Mrs. Comfort Ogbomo, London,
United Kingdom.
This last
session of the Conference was also its most electrifying. Issues that
were raised ranged far and wide, touching on various aspects of Urhobo
culture. The
achievements of Urhobo women in professions, especially in recent
decades,
were noted. In the end, two issues were most controversial. The
roundtable
discussants were ranged on both sides of the practice of female
circumcision.
There was greater consensus on the matter of the difficulties facing
Diaspora
Urhobo children and youth in their attempt to learn and speak Urhobo
language.
Many conference participants took responsibility for their children's
failure
to speak Urhobo. They all urged that steps must be taken to stem the
dangerous tide of loss of the ability to speak Urhobo by our children
and youth.
Some of the discussants bemoaned the fact that most children growing up
in such Urhobo cities as Warri and Sapele cannot speak Urhobo. They
denounced
the danger of replacing Urhobo with pidgin English.
A major
contribution on an existing machinery for advancing and systematizing
written and spoken Urhobo was made in this session. Mr. S. S. Obruche
said that it was important, indeed critical, that the Urhobo Language
Vetting Committee, whose current chair is Reverend Joseph Oghenekaro,
be helped to grow and to be involved in attempts to streamline
different dialects of Urhobo language into a mainstream form that will
be available for Urhobo Diaspora mothers and others in their efforts to
retain Urhobo language. Mr. Obruche promised to make available more
information on the organization of Urhobo Language Vetting Committee for
publication in the web sites of Urhobo Historical Society.
Virtually
every member of the audience wanted to join in these issues. Many did.
At the
end we all ran out of time.
At 1:00 p.m., Professor Isaac James
Mowoe, Conference
Chair, declared the Conference as concluded. He then invited
participants to move from GoldsmithsCollege
to Goddis Restaurant for the 2002 Annual General Meeting.
Annual
General Meeting of Urhobo Historical Society at Goddis Restaurant
Sunday, November 3, 2002
The
meeting was presided over by the Chair of Urhobo Historical Society,
Professor Peter Ekeh, who explained that the Annual General Meeting
exercises supreme authority in the affairs of Urhobo Historical
Society. The meeting was
well attended by the Urhobo community in the United
Kingdom and Europe
and by three key Urhobos from Nigeria:
Mr. & Mrs. D.A. Obiomah and Chief Johnson Barovbe. Attendance from
the ranks of the Editorial and Management Committee of UHS included its
Secretary, Mr. Andrew Edevbie; the Conference Chair, Professor Isaac
James Mowoe; Edirin Erhiaghanoma, UHS Treasurer; and Dr. Aruegodore
Oyiborhoro, author of the popular “Urhobo Names and Their Meanings” in
our Web site URHOBO WAADO. There was an
important presence of Urhobo elders and Urhobo youth from the London
Urhobo community. Women were not only present in significant numbers;
their participation in the discussions was forceful and influenced
major decisions.
The
Annual General Meeting discussed many weighty matters and took
far-reaching decisions. The most noteworthy of these are as follows:
(i) Venue of the Fourth Annual Conference
and Meeting of Urhobo Historical Society, 2003. The Annual General Meeting acceded
to the
request of the London Urhobo community to host the Fourth Annual
Conference in London
in the first weekend of November, 2003. The General Meeting directed
that the possibility of
holding the Fifth Annual Conference, 2004, in Nigeria
should be strongly pursued.
(ii) Urhobo Historical Society Endowment Fund. The Annual General Meeting accepted a
recommendation from the Editorial and Management Committee for the
establishment of Urhobo Historical Society Endowment Fund. Its goal is
to fund the activities of Urhobo Historical Society and to promote and
sponsor research and documentation of Urhobo history and culture. The
Annual General Meeting authorized the establishment
of such an endowment and then proceeded to set up an Exploratory
Committee
that will work to set it up.
(iii) UHS Service Awards. The Annual General Meeting accepted
a recommendation
from the Editorial and Management Committee for the establishment of UHS
Service Awards that will (a) honour distinguished Urhobos
who
have passed away and who were known to have served aspects of Urhobo
history
and culture with dedication and (b) reward living Urhobos and others
who
have served Urhobo history and culture in ways that reflect the
life-long works and commitments of those for whom the UHS Service
Awards are named. The Annual General Meeting authorized five UHS
Service awards: (a) Chief Mukoro Mowoe Service Award; (b) Omorohwovo
Okoro Co-Leadership Service Award; (c) Agbontaren Udih Diaspora Service
Award; (d) M. G. Ejaife Education Service Award; and (e) Adogbeji
Salubi Urhobo History Service Award. The Annual General Meeting then
set up an Awards Committee to structure these awards for future years.
(iv) Editorial and Management Committee and UK &
Europe Coordinating Committee. The Annual General Meeting authorized the
reconstitution of the Editorial and Management Committee that looks
after the affairs of Urhobo Historical Society. It then set up a UK
and Europe Coordinating Committee that will work with the Editorial and
Management Committee to look after the affairs of UHS in Europe.
In addition, the Annual General Meeting authorized Chief Johnson
Barovbe to explore the possibility of setting up a Nigerian
Coordinating Committee of Urhobo Historical Society.
The
Annual General Meeting concluded its business on an emotional note as
Chief Johnson Barovbe led participants in singing Urhobo Anthem, Orere
R’ Ijesa.
Some
Concluding Observations
For
those of us who have conducted the affairs of Urhobo Historical Society
from its inauguration on August
28, 1999, to the present time, the London Conference marked
a
turning point in the progress of the Society. This is so for several
reasons.
First, there was an extraordinary blending of age in the ceremonies and
discussions that marked the three days of the conference. Men and women
in their sixties and seventies interacted with youth and middle-aged
Urhobos and exchanged ideas across the barriers of age. Second, women’s
presence and participation at the Conference were forceful and made
important difference in the outcome of the Conference. Third, the
academic pretensions of the planned conference were chastened into
compromise with the harsh realities of the actual needs of Diaspora
Urhobos who were coping with the cultural problems of living outside
the Urhobo homeland. Mothers cried for help in the upbringing of their
children so that their offspring will retain Urhobo language and
culture. Elderly Urhobos cried for the use of Urhobo language as a
medium for transacting the business of the Conference, because they
feared that Urhobo language was
being denied its dignity. What emerged at the end was praxis of Urhobo
culture
and history in which academic ideals were blended with the practical
cultural
needs of Urhobo families living in the Diaspora.
When
all the academic sessions are considered alongside the Opening Cocktail
Reception and the Annual General Meeting, one important theme seems to
emerge
at the forefront. It is the survival of Urhobo language and
culture
and the survival of the physical environment of Urhobo lands.
Beginning
with the impassioned opening address by the Special Guest of Honour of
the
Conference, Mr. D.A. Obiomah, through the presentation of their papers
and
topics by Professor Frank Ukoli, Dr. Emmanuel Urhobo, Dr. Amy Emerhi,
and
Mr. Wilson Ometan, there were expressed and implicit fears that our
culture
and our lands will be threatened with extinction unless we fight for
their
survival. The nuanced reflections of the keynote address by Professor
David
Okpako and the vociferous complaints from the Women’s Roundtable on the
obvious dangers facing Urhobo children in the Diaspora craved the
survival of Urhobo culture and indeed our physical space. It is a theme
that we cannot ignore. It is a theme that future conferences of Urhobo
Historical Society will do well to address directly.
Peter P. Ekeh, Ph.D.
StateUniversity of New York
at Buffalo
November 10, 2002
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