Okpe Union Berates Delta Politicians’ Attitude to Okpe Identity

• Lists Enemies
• Queries Commentators Linking Okpe to Isoko
• Recalls Dispute between Okpe and Itsekiri

Okpe Union on Wednesday expressed shock at the recent assault on the reputation of highly placed figures in the society by some politicians in Delta State.

“Did the betrayers against Okpe Ethnic Identity and survival direct their poorly worded press statement to our Royal Father, Orhue I, Orodje of Okpe, who has defended the distinct ethnic status of Okpe from the very moment he was installed? None of the organizers of the disgraceful political press conference in Orerokpe (apparently to demonstrate to some political quarters that they were working), has contributed a dime to the current Okpe Language Teaching and Learning project actively spearheaded by His Royal Majesty, Orhue I, Orodje of Okpe. They have decided, for the sake of perceived political porridge, attempted to put spanners on the wheel of decades of sacrifices by others, by declaring that Okpe is not a language but a dialect of Urhobo Language without any logical basis.”

The union also praised right thinking men and women for condemning and discrediting the usurpers who dared to impugn the well-established position of the Okpe Nation as a distinct ethnicity and language which our revered monarch, HRM, Orhue I and those before him as well as all Okpe founding fathers always maintained,

“The press conference organized by Isaac Itebu and Robert Onome is one which is a product of infantile thought processes as all patriotic Okpe Nationals would firmly project, protect and defend the Okpe Ethnic Identity, distinct language and her heritage of independent cultural polity. We commend Prof. Kenneth Efakponana Eni of the Niger Delta University, Prof. Evans Akpo, former General Secretary, Okpe Union of North America and Asst. Dean and Lead of Doctor of Strategic Leadership Program, Wayland Baptist University, Plainview, TX, United States, Dr. Charles Efe Okorodudu, Dr. Nathaniel Agbikimi,, Head of the Okpe Bible Translation Project of the Bible Society of Nigeria, Rev. Frank Ekejija, (Founding Secretary, Okpe Union of North America),Mr. Daniel Washi Ogodo, AVM (Rtd) Frank Ajobena, (former Military Administrator of Abia State and Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Okpe People’s Forum, OPF), Elder Moses Akpobasa, former Director General, Nigerian Ministry of Economic planning; and Mr. Akporhene Peter Ukiri (author of Okpe English Dictionary, Chapnik Ltd., 2019) for their rejoinders which trashed the junky Itebu-Onome Press Statement. There were indeed very many Okpe nationals who published rejoinders all of which condemned the press statement by the impersonators, describing it as misguided”, “political chants”, “written to suit a political agenda”, “failed all tests for veracity.” They were unanimous in emphasizing that the Okpe Nation is a distinct Ethnic Nationality and Language which is not under any other ethnic group in the world.”

The union in a statement in Warri shuddered at the sort of behavior or recklessness that would make a former State Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Isaac Itebu to respond that ‘’it is politics they are playing. And there is nothing here that is historical or on merit.

‘’At the venue of the Orerokpe press conference, some Okpe chiefs who saw and heard how the organisers and signatories were rehearsing and reading out from the documents, confronted them and asked them what they thought they were doing. Chief Isaac Itebu was said to have immediately responded (with the others nodding in approval) that _*”it is politics we are playing. There is nothing here that is historical or on merit…”. Indeed, much of the contents of their Press Statement did not deviate from this disgraceful response from the organisers. ‘’

The statement signed by Engr. Francis O. Redemi, 1st Deputy President General, Okpe Union (Worldwide), Mr. Omamurhomu Ayaruja, 2nd Deputy President General, Okpe Union (Worldwide) Dr. Lucky Akpere, 3rd Deputy President General, Okpe Union (Worldwide), Mr. Bernard Adibor, 4th Deputy President General, Okpe Union (Worldwide), Barrister Kingsley Akpederin, General Secretary, Okpe Union (Worldwide) and Barrister Victor Oruno, National Publicity Secretary, Okpe Union (Worldwide) applauded Orhue 1 for his position on Okpe identity.

“In a keynote address delivered on September 1, 2007, by HRM Orhue I, Orodje of Okpe Kingdom at the 3rd Annual Convention of the Okpẹ Union of North America, Held at Marriott Hotel, College Park, Maryland, MD. USA, his HRM said: Okpe is a unique ethnic nationality. It has distinctive roots in ancient history, tradition, culture, custom and language. HRM, Orhue I, went further to commend the then Dr. Igho Natufe who was the founding President of the Okpe Union of North America for helping tremendously to define, sustain and advance the place as well as the interest of Okpe in the comity of Nigerian nationalities.”

It recalled the wrong classification by the British Colonial Government of the Okpe Ethnic Nationality as Urhobo.

“This position has been maintained officially till date by HRM, Orhue I, save for social, cultural and political association with different groups and representatives of the areas which formed the Geopolitical Area designated by the Colonial Government as Urhobo with whom the Okpe Nation and Kingdom had been in alliance and political business, historically; which all responsible commentators understand to be the Urhobo Political Block and not from the perspective of ethnicity. The genuine leaders of Urhobo and other Ethnic nationalities in Delta State and Nigeria understand that HRM Orhue I, Orodje of Okpe, meant that Okpe is not under any other Ethnic Group.”

Madam Grace E. Dinna, National Women Coordinator, Okpe Union (Worldwide), Comrade. Mary O. Pender, National Youths Coordinator, Okpe Union (Worldwide) and Comrade David Ajuja, National Secretary, Okpe Union Youths Wing,(Worldwide) also signed the statement.

The statement emphasized the events of colonial times and the misclassification of Okpe as Urhobo.

“The British Colonial Government of the Warri (later Delta) Province capriciously named and created areas of the then Warri Province which is a combination of today’s Delta Central and Delta South Senatorial District as well as the Ukwuani Area of Delta North Senatorial District into Divisions. After describing the entire area of today’s Delta Central Senatorial District (Urhobo and Okpe ) and the Isoko Area of Delta South Senatorial District as SOBO, it created a SOBO DIVISION (with Urhobo and Isoko people together) with headquarters at Ughelli and the JEKRI-SOBO DIVISION* (combining Okpe, Itsekiri, some Urhobos and some Ijaw territories together) with headquarters in Warri. Various British commentators of the Colonial Era acknowledged that the grouping of different peoples together was mainly for administrative convenience and not on ethnic basis.”

The union decried the current trend in the country where Urhobo and Itsekiri natives have resorted to all forms of deceits to change the narratives.

“Sapele Municipal Council was created separately from any of the Divisions. The Colonial Government of the Warri Province also created Native Authorities which was a level of government closer to the grassroots. For the Okpe and the Urhobo areas nearest to Okpeland, the *Western Urhobo Native Authority* with headquarters at Orerokpe was created. This enhanced the solidarity between the Okpe leaders and Urhobo leaders of the areas closer to Okpeland with the political leadership of the area falling on the shoulders of the then head of the Okpe Nation and Kingdom, *Chief Ayomanor Evwida*, being the Chairman of the Udogun Okpe (Okpe Traditional Council) of the era. Contrary to some reports in some quarters, the meetings presided over by Chief Ayomanor Evwida, which involved Okpe and Urhobo people together, were meetings of the Western Urhobo Native Authority which was created by the Colonial Government of Warri Province. Chief Ayomanor was the President of the Western Urhobo Native Authority. Other meetings in which Chief Ayomanor Evwida presided over or played notable roles in, included joint meetings with UPU, Okpe Union and some leaders of Urhobo Division to plan for the Sapele land case and how to respond to the continued dominance or undue influence on the Government of Warri Province by the Itsekiri Paramount Ruler, Chief Dogho Numa (and later the Olu of Itsekiri/Warri, Ginuwa II) who were placed over other leaders of the province by the Colonial Government; and some other matters of mutual benefit to both the Okpe and the Urhobo people.”

The union reminded Nigerians of the serious dispute began between Okpe and the Itsekiri in the late 1930s because of the claim by the then Paramount leader of the Itsekiris, Chief Dogho Numa, that the Itsekiris owned Sapele.

“The Okpe leaders were therefore uncomfortable with going to Warri which had become enemy territory, to hold Jekri-Sobo Division Council meetings with Itsekiri leaders. This tension led to the Okpe people having two options in mind: to request for an Okpe Division or to request to be removed from the Jekri-Sobo Division and added to Sobo Division. They opted to commence with the latter as the Sapele Area which would form a part of the Okpe Division was being contested by the powerful Itsekiri leader who was very close to the Colonial Government. When the Sapele land case began in court, the Okpe people (represented by the Udogun Okpe and the Okpe Union) were supported by the people of all the other Divisions of Warri Province and especially the Urhobo people, fronted by the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU). After the victory of the Okpe people over the Itsekiris in the Sapele Land Case, the Okpe people formally requested again for the transfer of the Okpe territory to Sobo Division (later amended to Urhobo Division). By 1949, the Colonial Government transferred the Okpe area of the Jekri-Sobo Division as well as most Urhobo areas of the Division to the Urhobo Division with headquarters in Ughelli. The Urhobo Division from 1949 now had the Urhobos, the Okpes and the Isokos in one Division. Around 1952, the Urhobo Division was divided into Eastern Urhobo Distict and Western Urhobo District with headquarters at Ughelli and Orerokpe respectively.”

The Union said Okpe people, supported by HRM, Esezi II, Orodje of Okpe, wrote through the Okpe Union, in 1954 to the Western Regional Government in Ibadan under the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, demanding that the Okpe area of the Urhobo Division be joined with Sapele Municipal Council area to form a separate Okpe Division from the Urhobo Division.

“Though the request was not granted, it made Urhobo leaders then to appreciate that the Okpe people were not prepared to mortgage their distinct ethnic identity. That gave rise to the understanding that Okpe leaders of the Colonial Era took the term Urhobo to have two meanings. The first is a Geopolitical Union of the area that the Colonial Government designated or classified as “Sobo”, a corruption of the word Urhobo; while the second meaning is the people of the Urhobo Language and Ethnicity. This second meaning did not include Okpe people. Okpe people, even before Colonial times, had referred to the *Urhobo* People as *ISIẸHO* or AGBADO. Similarly, the Okpe people called Itsekiri people as IRHOBO, the Ijaws as IHWO, and the Binis as AKA. This is sufficient to determine that the Okpe people had never at any point in their history identified as Urhobo. How Okpe described concepts or materials indigenous to them is also a pointer to their identity. The Okpe people, before the Colonial Era (and up till now), named their indigenous materials and concepts as Okpe; for example, their Palm Kernel Pomade, they describe as AMIVI-OKPE, their black soap as OZA-OKPE, whereas the areas whose language and identity is Urhobo, describe their indigenous materials and concepts with the term Urhobo; for example, ODJA-URHOBO as the *Urhobo Black Soap. The people of Ughelli Kingdom (an example of Urhobo Kingdoms), for instance, never call it ODJA-UGHELLI.”

According to the union, since the Local Government Reforms of 1976, which brought to an end the use of the term Eastern Urhobo and Western Urhobo to name any units of Administration by the government, the Okpe people have gradually done away with the term Urhobo in all communications referring to them.

The union condemned the recent attempt to present a blood connection between Okpe and Isoko.

“Whereas the Urhobo people are said to have begun their series of migrations from the Benin area, particularly Udo by the 11th Century A.D. (during the *Ogiso Dynasty) to the area now known as Urhobo-land, the Okpe people starting from the *father of Okpe, Prince Igboze*, moved with his “household” to a place now called Olomu, around early 16th Century (during the Oba Dynasty). They met some people already settled there and Igboze being of high status established a kingdom among them. Igboze later gave his daughter in marriage to Olomu and the son of that marriage took over the leadership of the place (Olomu) while Okpe (only son of Prince Igboze) and his supporters, moved on to Okpe Ikpere, which is known as Okpe Isoko today, to establish a new kingdom. At the demise of Okpe, his four sons (which form the Four Ruling Houses of Okpe Kingdom today), led by Orhue (the eldest son of Okpe, his brothers being Orhoro, Evbreke and Esezi), moved to secure another area considered by them more vast to establish a larger kingdom. They found this at the Orerokpe area from which the descendants of the four sons of Okpe (described as *ADA-ENE* which means Four Gates – & *Four Ruling Houses) spread to the territories of Sapele and Okpe Local Government Areas of today’s Delta State and beyond, which make up the Okpe Kingdom today. It is therefore embarrassing that the ITEBU-ONOME Press Conference/Press Statement drew inference from the fact that Igboze was buried at Olomu in the migration narrative; to conclude that Okpe people are Urhobos as Olomu is Urhobo. Why did they not draw similar inference from the fact that Okpe was buried in Okpe Isoko, to conclude that the Okpe people are Isokos? It is also important to point out that the vast majority of the said Olomu people have no blood connections with Igboze as there were occupants in the territory of Olomu before Igboze arrived, and also that the connection of a few there with Igboze, was through his daughter, whereas in nearly all parts of Africa, and in all of the Niger Delta, ancestry is paternal. As the ancestry and periods of migration of the Urhobo people and the Okpe people are clearly different, their identities are distinct. It is therefore ridiculous for anyone to claim any substantial ancestral connections between them, and much worse, by the same token, infer that Okpe is Urhobo.”

The union described Okpe and Urhobo languages as distinct languages.

“The Okpe Language has been a subject of research and analyses by the Linguistics Departments of both the University of Ibadan and the Delta State University, Abraka with the conclusion that it is a distinct language of the Edoid Group of Languages which include Edo, Esan, Etsako, Urhobo, Isoko, the Okpe. Both researches concluded that the Okpe Language is not a dialect of any language in the world. The research of the Linguistics Department of the University of Ibadan was sponsored by the late Adane of Okpe, Chief B.T. Owumi. The study came up with Okpe Language texts including an Okpe Language Teacher’s Guide.

The union scolded some Okpe indigenes for taking politics beyond the pale as well as putting an axe to the very foundations of the edifice upon which society stands.

“In Bendel State times, the Okpe Ethnic Nationality was fully recognized as the Okpe Language was used to cast news in the Bendel Broadcasting Service Radio and Television, separate from the Urhobo Language. The various local language entertainment programmes also featured the Okpe Language and Urhobo Language separately. This continued after the creation of Delta State with the two Government Radio and Television stations in Asaba and Warri respectively. Presently, as the local language news of the Delta State Government Broadcasting Stations is no longer in operation, the various local languages educational and entertainment programmes, employ both the Okpe and the Urhobo languages separately. Many senior citizens of Edo in Delta States still remember with nostalgia, how the Bendel State local languages news usually ended with: “And that was the news in EDO”; “… in ESAN”; “… in URHOBO”; “… in ITSEKIRI”; “… in OKPE”; “… in ISOKO”; “… in EZON;*_ etc. How could anyone in Delta State, a smaller Administrative Unit than the then Bendel State, deny the Okpe Ethnic Nationality and Language its due place, when areas that are geographically and demographically smaller than the Okpe Nation, have such full recognition and consequential entitlements? When those doing it are Okpe Nationals, the level of betrayal becomes indeed outrageous.”

Credit: Henry Ovie