|
Urhobo Historical Society |
Mosogar, Omene, Ekeh and Urhobo History
By O. J. Enitame
Effurun,
Published in The Urhobo Voice, May 26, 2008
edition.
THE Urhobo Community,
Was Ekeh right in his worry? Chief Joe
Omene, the President-General of
Mosogar Development Union, feels he was
wrong. In his reaction, published on the front page of
The Urhobo Voice, May 12, 2008,
Omene left the issues and focused on Prof.
Ekeh.
Omene
said: �The man was not a good story teller� because �the word
Mosogar and the word Idjerhe are not the
same.� Neither Omene, the
Mosogar people, nor the Idjerhe people can
comment on the rising list of Ivie. This is because they are
interested parties in this matter. It will take other Urhobo people,
the UHS is a part, to say whether the large number has value or
not.
Is the Number of Ivie Growing in Urhobo?
There is the �Avwraka one� hanging in the
air. The time may come when there would no longer be an Ovie of
Abraka title. There is, already, an
Ovie of Oruarivie-Abraka. That
future would have a separate Ovie of
Umiaghwa-Abraka title. A single
Ovie of Abraka title would die out
to make way for two Ivie. That matter is in the
Physical Developments in Mosogar
One would have ignored him but for his distortion of history, in the
bargain, while disagreeing with Prof. Ekeh. That was not all.
Omene shot deliberately, without
provocation, an arrow at Idjerhe. How? He taunted the Idjerhe people
that �those who have the means should form a body to create employment
that would develop Jesse in order to create employment for the youths,
instead of dissipating energy on the creation of
The Idjerhe people are not envious of
Mosogar people. Ekeh did not bother about
the massive infrastructural development in
Mosogar. Let�s underline one statement
from Ekeh�s paper, which
Omene sidetracked. It said: �Urhobo
history and culture were severely violated in what appears to be the
uncontested act of �creating� an Urhobo �kingdom� by
Alleged Mosogar People Coming Directly
from Agbarha-Otor
Omene
said ��Jesse and Mosogar came together
because the white man joined them together for administrative
convenience.� The colonialists did not put Idjerhe and
Mosogar together. The colonialists
penetrated Urhobo land in the 1890s. Idjerhe Clan existed before their
arrival. They also had meetings every 18-days
at Otorho-Idjerhe, which
Mosogar people attended, based on
representations from the outer units including
Mosogar. The colonialists wrapped up what
was in existence based on the same history
Mosogar people confirmed to them. The
colonialists did not create Idjerhe Clan. They listed and accepted
what they met to work with.
If the ancestors of the Omenes were to
wake up from the grave, they would be surprised at the �modern�
history of Mosogar. The claim that
Mosogar came, independently, from
Agbarha-Otor is false. It is a tale made
in the 2nd half of the 20th century. It started in the 1950s but
documented in 1964 when Mosogar people
made �sole claim� in court to what ought to be the Clan�s common
wealth. It won at the Sapele court but
lost at the Supreme Court (SC), as reported at ANLR, 1972, 2nd
edition, Vol: 224-232.
Omene should please read the
SC�s findings and compare them with the
�modern� history of Mosogar. Depending
with whom Mosogar has a case, its history
shifts. Omene knows there are court cases
to show Mosogar�s galloping history. Leave
it there but if he argues this, one will show, publicly, such cases.
There are two Intelligence Reports (IRs)
on Idjerhe. These are (a) RJD Fremin 1931,
especially pars. 16, 18-20, 35, 54, 57; and (b) RG
Biddulph 1937, in particular, pars. 8, 19,
25-26. Mosogar is denying, today, its past
in those 2 IRs. But if one searches deep, there is independent IR
outside Idjerhe to show that the
Omenes are busy fabricating history. How?
Neither Mosogar people nor Idjerhe people
were at Agbarha-Otor in the 1930s to tell
the Agbarha-Otor people what to put in
Ughelli�s IRs.
There are 3 known IRs on the larger
Ughelli (Ogelle) clan made up of Ogor,
Agbarha,
Ughelli and
Orogun Clans. These are: P.V. Main, 1928;
D.P. Stanfield, 1931; and E.R. Chadwick, 1932. None of the three
IRs recorded
Mosogar�s autonomous migration from
Agbarha-Otor. Under �further Migrations
from Agbassah-Otor� at par. 33, Stanfield
said:
�At an unknown date the founder of the Jesse Clan, (now in
The Agbarha-Otor people gave this
independent history. They also approximated when Idjerhe and
Oghara people left but we know that
Idjerhe eponymous founder left before the
Oghara people.
Mosogar
was not listed in Ughelli�s
IRs.
Mosgar had no known separate founder from
other Idjerhe people. Why? All
Mosogar villages grew from distant
farmlands from Otorho-Idjerhe.
Mosogar falls into what researchers and
historians call indirect occupations. How did R.E. Bradbury describe
such settlements as Mosogar? In his book:
The Benin Kingdom and the Edo-Speaking Peoples of South-Western
Nigeria, 1957:129, he said they are:
�� Villages and hamlets formed by progressive proliferation from an
original parent community.�
Otorho-Idjerhe is Mosogar�s parent home and not
Agbarha-Otor. The
Omenes may get away with
bastardisation of history but it does not
matter. These and some other shadows, to be shown shortly, are what
Ibori and his friends in
Mosogar did not want to face at a
commission of Inquiry, hence they avoided it.
The Civilian Attempt at Clan Creation
When the Olorogun F.O.
Ibru�s Government (1992-93) wanted to
create seven Clans in Delta state, it set up the Justice M.C.U.
Odita Commission of Inquiry, 1993, to
examine the agitations. It was announced at 8 p.m. news (Delta TV,
Warri) on October 9, 1993. It had not been
sworn-in to commence work when the Sanni
Abacha Government struck, November 17,
1993. The matter died there. The
Ibru administration had the decency and
intention to consult all stakeholders through
Odita. Compare
Ibori.
It is just as well that the same Ibru is
the current President-General of Urhobo Progress Union (UPU). So when
Omene was rejoicing over
Ibru�s statement that so far
�requirements� were met in
Mosogar�s creation, it is something else.
It is not only Mosogar people that are
watching Olorgun
Ibru�s comment. Other Urhobo people and,
indeed, Deltans are also alert. History
waits and would document it.
The Military Example at Clan Creation
When the Ibrahim
Kefas Government, also in Delta State, got
request for the splitting of Avwraka Clan,
it set up the L.S. Nwafili commission of
Inquiry, 1995. The commission collected oral and written evidence from
both sides and recommended the separation of
Avwrka.
Urhobo traditional rulers. under the
auspices of the Orodje of
Okpe,
Orhorho 1,
mobilised the Southern Delta Traditional
Rulers Forum along with some Urhobo Ivie and went to
Asaba.
That Forum halted Kefas, hence the
white Paper N0.
1 of 1996 rejected the splitting of
Avwraka. It does not matter the situation
the Avwraka matter fell into, later, as
discussed above. If the Orodje were
to come back today, he would congratulate Ekeh for his action and the
stand he has taken on Mosogar. I have not
expressed an opinion. I am saying that only outsiders can have a clear
and unbiased view in what is occurring in Idjerhe and
Mosogar.
The Uncontested �Act� of Creating
Mosogar �kingdom�
Since the Omenes
are falsifying history, you can never tell how they would, tomorrow,
put the actual creation of
Mosogar into that
history. The outsiders need the facts
before the Omenes start twisting or
polishing them. It was announced on September 28, 2006. It was a
surprise to many people. The member representing
Ethiope west in Delta State House of
Assembly (DSHA), Hon. A.O. Akpomiemie,
later moved a motion that Government�s act was irregular. The House
saw reason and referred the matter to the committee on LG chieftaincy
affairs, presided over by Hon. Ovie Agas,
for evidence and public hearing. All of a sudden, unseen hands made
the House suspend its own rules and
stopped the Agas Committee.
Ibori had in a letter dated October 30,
2006, turned his announcement to a bill and passed it to the DSHA.
After it had restrained its own committee, the full House read the
bill for the second time on 22nd November 2006. Six days later,
November 28, it passed the Bill. With the rush and non-hearing, it was
clear that both the DSHA and Ibori did not
want to listen to the Idjerhe people. A suit (HCH/50/2006) was filed
at the Oghara High Court (OHC) to restrain
Governor Ibori not to attend to any Bill
from the House on the creation. Justice D.C.
Maidoh of the OHC signed the order on
November 20, 2006. It was served, thereafter, at the Government house,
Asaba.
Ibori ignored and flouted that court order
and signed Mosogar Clan into existence on
December 6, 2006. Outsiders would be right to wonder why the
traditional and developmental leadership in Idjerhe, between late
December 2006 and January 2007, withdrew that case from court.
Future Rifts
Mosogar
requires, by the developmental pace shown by
Omene, more than swimming pools and a big
palace. Wealth creation there is high. It would need to care for the
travel desires of the many rich people there. By the time
Mosogar finishes with rejoicing over
how Ibori �dealt� with Idjerhe, land might
become scarce; it would come for land expansion at the �border� with
Idjerhe. Sure. It may be settled with the blood of people. But the
Iboris would have gone under, not to hear
the cries of people. These would have been issues a commission of
Inquiry should look at before making recommendations.
Conclusion
Omene
should have addressed the issues raised by the Urhobo Historical
Society instead of attacking the person of Prof. P. P. Ekeh. For the
glory of Chief Omene, I remind him that in
the timetable of the Heavenly Father, the 101 storey-building in