PREAMBLE:
Several people and groups have written about us, the Itsekiri people, and our kings and kingdom, the Warri kingdom. These include written accounts of Europeans who interacted with us over several centuries ago and some others who wrote what they learnt about us. This latter group includes some who were of the academia and did so as part of their scholarly contributions to learning.
Others wrote as Itsekiri people and did so also in order to inform as well as preserve the facts of our history for posterity and continuous learning.
In all of these, no one account ever claimed to tell the entire story of our history in every detail. There has, in fact, never been an historical account of any people in their entirety and no accounts of any people can ever be claimed to achieve that. This is more so as it is indisputable that history is a moving story which grows with the inevitable addition of any passing moment. By tomorrow, what we are doing here today will invariably become part of history in its ever-growing trend.
The account we hereby presenting, does not claim to be the entire story of WARRI KINGDOM. It is only to outline the salient highlights of the history to enable us to appreciate how it came, what it has been from inception to the point we see at present. It is hoped that enough would have been expressed from this presentation to provide that appreciation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We begin with an acknowledgement of the Center of Niger Delta Studies (CENDS) of Delta State University (DELSU) Abraka for providing the forum for this colloquium at which this and other presentations are made to promote and disseminate what we shall learn and know about the kingdoms of the Niger-Delta.
We acknowledge several of our forebears who passed on the information they received on these matters before they left us. We acknowledge the others who committed their knowledge to writing so that what we know and pass on about our history is no longer only what is received by oral tradition.
We also acknowledge his Majesty, Ogaime Ikenwoli, the Olu of Warri, who is the repository of the collective history and culture of the Itsekiri people and the overlord of their land. This presentation is made with his authorization, thus giving it the stamp and credence of the Warri kingdom.
INTRODUCTION
Perhaps in only a few exceptional cases, if they are ever known to exist, the historical norm is that the people precede their king and, by extension, their kingdom. That being the case, WARRI KINGDOM could not have been otherwise. This presentation will therefore highlight the PEOPLE first because they did indeed precede their kings and kingdom. The Itseriki people existed before they had a king.
Thereafter, we shall focus on the king, his advent, the kingdom and its significance. Of course, the people are there all the time as well shall see. We shall see the kingdom in its progression, on its own and until it became part of Nigeria, right from inception.
It is hoped that enough would be seen in this presentation to appreciate the outlook of Warri Kingdom and its role in the complex enterprise of building the Nigerian nation state. It is hoped too that at least some aspects of this presentation would whet the appetite of those who may be interested in delving deeper into any aspects of our history. Such ones are assured of a great deal of historical records both in Nigeria and abroad, especially in European archives, from which they can garner interesting data.
THE ITSEKIRI PEOPLE
The History of the formation of the Itsekiri people has been quite sketchy in certain respects, mainly because it came about very long before there were ever records. There are, however, verifiable facts which have been passed on by way of oral tradition which have been subsequently recorded for our learning.
What has been established is that in distant past, out of memory, some Yoruba groups of people, Nupe groups, and Igala groups, came at different times to constitute the core of the Itseriki people. They also include some people from present day Benin Republic, one of whom was named Abome, who could have been from a place with that name till date in that country.
Although we do not know for certain given the foundational base of the language, about which we will say more later in this address, we assume that the Yoruba group would have been the first to arrive. The time lapse and sequence of subsequent arrivals we also do not know, but we have had it well established that they all came quite a long time after the ethnic nationality had been established. We shall highlight them also later in this presentation. What is both interesting and instructive is that these groups of people all came when they did, not to create an extension of their previous group or ethnic identities, but to fuse into a new one. This is both in terms of language and culture as we shall see later.
THE PEOPLE ARE ITSEKIRI, THEIR LANGUAGE IS ITSEKIRI AND THEIR LAND IS IWERE
Of all those who came to form the Itsekiri people, none of them was Itsekiri where they came from, whether the Yoruba, the Nupe or the Igala. They came and established the Itsekiri ethnic nationality. We will yet address the language and that will be much later.
We do not know how and at what point the ethnic name Itsekiri came about. There had been the claim or assumption by some that there was a man called Itsekiri in Irigbo (Ode-Itsekiri) who lived in the fifteen century and that it was his name that was given to the ethnic nationality. But Itsekiri people had existed as such for generations before his own forebears and then himself was born. That being so, it can only be that that gentleman was named with the name of the ethnic nationality, which is not unusual but very common, as many examples abound of this practice.
It should therefore suffice to say that the people have been Itsekiri from time immemorial, are still so till date and will remain Itsekiri for all time, by the grace of God whose blessings surround us – that is the meaning of the word “Itsekiri” – God’s blessings surround us. We shall continue to be so in perpetuity.
THE ITSEKIRI LANGUAGE
The Itsekiri language can be described as yorubanoid, but it is not a Yoruba dialect. It is understandable that the Yoruba element is there in view of the Yoruba stock that is part of the formation of the people. Given what has been observed over the years, the language is likely to have developed from an admixture of the languages of the various groups that formed the ethnic nationality. It is easy to see traces of Igala apart from Yoruba in the language.
More research still has to be done as some other interesting discoveries have been identified in recent times. The Oworo people of Kogi also have linguistics affinities with the Itsekiri language. So also is the language of the Ibo people north of Delta State.
Something that is also unique is that the Itsekiri language has no dialect. All Itsekiri people speak and understand the language in the same way. There are neither variants in words and their meaning nor in structure or accent. All Itsekiri people speak in exactly the same way.
THEIR LAND IS IWERE – SAME AS WARRI
The homeland of the Itsekiri people was called ALE-IWERE, that is Iwereland. It is an area of about 1500 square miles. Pa J.O.S. Ayomike, as part of his contribution in “A FOCUS ON THE ITSEKIRI”, describes it in these words:
“From earlier geographers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, whose maps are available, an area marked as Awyri, Wari or Ouere is shown. Most historians, foreign and Nigerian alike, have described the Itsekiri homeland as bounded on the northwest by Ondo, North by Benin, East by Urhobo and in the South by Ijaw” (page xxviii).
I will only need to add that it is bounded on the South-south by the Atlantic Ocean. We will pause on the land at this point and return to it later in the more appropriate place in the historical sequence as enunciated in this presentation. We shall therefore now proceed to the kingdom era.
THE WARRI KINGDOM
Growth is a cardinal attribute of the presence of life. Any living culture must therefore experience growth. The kind and extent of growth depends, however, on what is fed to it. This thought should please be held in constant view as we relate the progression of our history in the varied accounts that follow.
The kingdom began when, in 1480 AD, the then crown prince of Benin arrived with his retinue and the paraphernalia of royalty and presented himself. We have no record of how he presented himself, but judging from what followed, he was accepted as the first Olu of Warri. He had come with seventy first sons of the seventy chiefs of Benin and they were also accepted as the first set of chiefs of the now Warri kingdom.
They were the next group of people that joined the Itsekiri people as fellow citizens. They did not come in conquest, neither did the prince come as a Duke of Benin Kingdom. He reigned as Ginuwa, the Olu of Warri, with no external allegiance whatsoever. He was not a vassal but the king of Itsekiri people to whom he owed allegiance. It was on the basis of our dictum: IGBO MINI, MINI, IGBO, meaning that the people belong to the king and the king belongs to the people – THE ITSEKIRI PEOPLE.
Perhaps it should be stated at this point that prior to that time and since then, the Itsekiri people whose land is Iwereland (ALE-IWERE) which has since become known as Warri, have never been part of any other kingdom or empire and no other king has ever reigned over them except their own king – their Olu.
It bears reiteration that the king did not come in conquest. He did not impose himself either. He offered himself and the royal institution and he was voluntarily accepted on that score along with the sons of the chiefs who became chiefs of Warri kingdom from then on.
The Itsekiri people chose what to accept with or without modifications as they saw fit. For instance, in Benin (Edo) the Iyase (read Iyatsere for the Itsekiri) is the foremost chief followed by the Ologbosere but in Warri Kingdom the order of precedence is the reverse whereby the Ologbotsere is before the Iyatsere. This is only one among other things that remained different between the two kingdoms.
By 1480AD when they joined the Itsekiri people and became a kingdom, the Itsekiri language had been set. That explains why Edo Language is not in large measure in the Itsekiri language. It is only in royalty and chieftaincy matters that Benin/Edo words and terminologies are in our language.
There are also clear distinctions in our traditions and culture, including our cuisine and dress code that set the two apart from each other. Our folklores also have differences which are not only between Itsekiri and Edo but with other ethnic nationalities as well.
The next groups that came, that is after the advent of the king and his retinue, was the Benin search troops who were dispatched to locate and bring back the crown prince and the sons of the chiefs. This was at the instance of the chiefs back home in Benin who were not privy to the reason for their departure from Benin. It was a well kept secret between the king and his son, the crown prince.
What they met on finally arriving in Iwere (Warri) made them prefer to stay and become Itsekiri people as well. Their head was Ekpenede and they settled in Okere in Iwereland. They also got assimilated.
BROADENED WORLDVIEW AND CIVILIZATION
The kingdom continued to grow as the people were continually open to the chances and factors of growth as they arose. Fifteen (15) other kings reigned in uninterrupted succession which spanned a period of 368 years from 1480 to 1848. As this era progressed, so did the Iwere kingdom grow in the development of governance and further refinement of social and economic values. The accomplished Pa JOS Ayomike captures this succinctly thus:
“Soon after the kingdom was founded, by an act of God, Europeans – i.e. the Portugese, Spaniards, French and Dutch in succession – visited the kingdom and opened up missionary, trade and diplomatic relations with it. Thus, for more than 300 years, the new kingdom blossomed into an island of civilization rooted in the Enlightenment Period in Europe from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century. This state of affairs continued throughout the nineteenth century when trade in palm produce replaced the slave trade” (1bid Page xxvii).
As our exposure to a wider worldview progressed, so also, we made adjustments to our culture and tradition to attain higher values.
Christianity was accepted by the eighth Olu, Atorongboye, who reigned from 1596 to 1625. He was educated, baptized with the name Sabastian. He sent his crown Prince to Portugal where he studied in the University of Coimbra. He returned later to succeed his father and was crowned Atuwatse. He was Atuwatse I and reigned from 1523-1643. His baptismal name was Dom Domingos. He was the one who made the silver crown with the cross of Jesus Christ on top of it to proclaim that his kingdom was under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. That is still our crown today.
Another reform he brought was stopping female circumcision which we used to practice like our neigbors. This negative cultural/traditional practice was stopped about four hundred years ago in Warri Kingdom. He introduced the Golden Robe of the Order of Christ as part of the royal regalia. This was along with other royal accessories which our kings have been using till date.
His son, Omonigheren, who was baptized with the name Antonio Domingos reigned from 1643-1654. He wrote a letter dated November 20, 1652 showing it was from Oery City of Santo Augustino, to Pope Innocent X (1690-1655) asking him to send missionaries to work in his kingdom.
The first church in the kingdom was built in Ode Itsekiri (Big Warri) from 1690 to 1692 during the reign of Olu of Abejoye, the 10th Olu who reigned from 1674 to 1700. He was baptized as Mathias Ludivico. The church was designed by Reverend Fr. Pattazio (Pottazio).
Sometimes in May of this year (2019), His Lordship the Catholic Bishop of Warri Diocese, the very Rev. John Okeoghene, led a group of Catholic Faithfuls to unveil the Madonna grotto in celebration of the first mass on the site of the first church in Ode-Itsekiri, which he duly recognized as the very first church in what has since become Nigeria. The Olu of Warri had earlier reallocated the specific site for the restoration of the landmark church.
There is also the record that as far back as year 1644, Itsekiri people were literate in Portuguese and were very eager to read and write as they demanded much ink and paper for that purpose from the Portuguese traders. It is little wonder therefore that the Itsekiri language became enriched and enlarged with many Portuguese words that have remained in the mainstream of the language till date.
All these brought a great deal of refinement in our customs and traditions. One cannot go into many details but suffice it to say that these refinements are there in our marriage and funerals rites. The king and the chiefs also wear their respective regalia at different levels and a great deal of Christian symbolism is evident in them. There are as well several other areas which the limited time for this presentation cannot accommodate. Several materials and books abound from which more important information and knowledge may be gleaned.
THE INTERREGNUM (1848-1836)
At the end of the reign of the sixteenth Olu, IKENGBUWA, in 1848, all attempts to have a successor failed. Even though our succession provision and processes were very simple and straight forward, serial untimely deaths and other factors made it impossible to have a new king.
As this situation continued without any solution in sight, it was agreed to resort to having a Governor (Gofine) as a stop-gap measure until we could have a new king. The first Governor was Diare whose tenure was from 1851-1869. He was followed by Chaninomi whose tenure was from 1870 to 1879. After him was Olomu from 1880 to 1883. His son, Nana who succeeded him in 1884 was the one who fought with the British in 1894. That war ended our era of governors in lieu of the king and the British took over the kingdom and added it to Lagos colony which was already in their hold.
The British then appointed Chief Dore Numa as a paramount Chief to oversee the kingdom under them. He was later to become the paramount ruler for the Warri province which the British assembled along with other provinces to form the Southern Protectorate in 1900. The provinces were created in the 1920s and the Warri province consisted of divisions i.e. Western Ijaw, Aboh, Eastern Urhobo and Jekri-Sobo Divisions. As a prelude to the amalgamation of 1914, the following account is noteworthy:
“Lugard’s decision to inaugurate the indirect rule led him to choose five first class traditional rulers – The Sultan of Sokoto, Emir of Kano, Alaafin of Oyo, Dore Numa of Warri and Henshaw of Calabar – to advise on the set up….” (page xxixibid).
The demise of Dore Numa in 1932 intensified the demand of the Itsekiri to have their king back in place. Finally, Ginuwa II was crowned as the seventeenth Olu on February 07, 1936. We have since had Erejuwa II as the eighteenth Olu, Atuwase II as the nineteenth, and now Ogiame Ikenwoli as the 20th Olu of Warri.
SINCE BECOMING PART OF NIGERIA
Since becoming part of Nigeria, we have contributed immensely towards the building of the Nigerian nation state. Many notable Itsekiri people have served this purpose in various ways. We have the likes of James Thomas, an industrialist, Asifor Egbe, the first Itsekiri lawyer who was called to the English bar in 1925, Degbeyin Edukugho, his son, Chief Reece Edukugho, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, Nigeria’s first Minister of Finance, Mr. H.A. Ejueyichie, once a colonial District Officer in Northern Nigeria and later Secretary of the Federal Governement, Mr. Alison A. Ayida, another Secretary of the Federal Government, Prof. Oritsejolomi Thomas, the first African plastic surgeon and later Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. (Mrs.) Grace Alele-Williams, first African lady with a PhD. in Mathematics and university Vice-Chancellor, Ambassador Leslie O. Harriman, Permanent Representative at the United Nations and Chairman Committee Against Apartheid, Chief O. N. Rewane who, along Chief E.N. Begho, Founded the Hussey College Warri, Chief Arthur E. Prest, one-time Central Minister of Communications in pre-independence Nigeria. There are several others who need not be listed here but are among those who contributed their utmost to build Nigeria.
The Warri kingdom which has since been spilt from the then Warri Division is now present-day Warri North, Warri South and Warri South-West Local Government Areas and yields over 30% of the hydrocarbon from Delta State to the National wealth of the country. We regretfully find that we have kept being given the wrong end of the stick by the powers that be in terms of commensurate returns to to redress the degradation of the environment of our homeland by the exploration and exploitation activities particularly of the oil and gas industry.
CONCLUSION
By the grace of God, we know who we are and appreciate God’s blessings which encompass us, for that is the meaning of Itsekiri. Our homeland is IWERE which has been recorded serially in history as OURE, AWYRE, OUERE and finally WARRI.
We thank you for your attention.
[Editor’s Note: This paper has been lightly edited by the editors of this Blog but no facts whatsoever have been altered]
