[From the archives]
Recently, there have been misleading statements in national newspapers and elsewhere on the official title of the Warri Monarch by persons who are either uninformed or deliberately mischievous about the Olu’s correct title. Perhaps not surprisingly among the uninformed are to be found some Itsekiri young men and women in the professions, academia, business and public service. Some of these young people, anxious to know the fact, would at a social occasion call one aside and quietly ask; “Uncle, is it true that prior to 1952, the Olu was called Olu of Itsekiri, and it was Papa Awolowo, then Premier of the old Western Region, who changed the title to Olu of Warri?”
Among the monolithic Itsekiri people, education of the younger generation on their past, their customs and traditions is a continuous process of socialization. In the past, it used to be a pleasure and indeed a duty for the elders to play the role of teacher and leader in this matter. Regrettably, there have been severe constraints on the elders playing that role arising from events in Itsekiri land since the coronation on 2nd May, 1987 of the incumbent monarch, Ogiame Atuwatse II, Olu of Warri.
However, in deference to pressure from the younger generation who are anxious to learn more about their past in order to fully appreciate the present, and also to set the records straight on the role played by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the matter of the Olu’s title, I have decided to issue this statement for the education of our young ones and for the enlightenment of the public at large.
HISTORICAL RECORDS
It was Professor Saburi Biobaku, as Chairman of the Yoruba Historical Research, whose “Odu” volume 4 is substantially devoted to the Itsekiri, who said that the history of the Warri monarchy and the Itsekiri people is one of the best documented in Nigeria, beginning from the great Yoruba migrants of the 12th century.
But the history of the Warri monarchy itself began when, according to Jacob Eghareve, the Benin Historian, the Benin Prince, Iginua, who later became Ginuwa I, Olu of Warri, was mandated by his father, Oba Olua (about 1473), to go and found a Kingdom in, and reign over, the riverine areas. Hence the Olu is called “Ogiame”, which in Edo means “the King who reigns over river lands.” Ginuwa I founded the Warri Kingdom in 1480.
Thanks to the impeccable records kept by early European explorers, missionaries and traders who came to West Africa and interacted with the people, including the Olu and the Itsekiri people, it had long been recognized and acknowledged that the official title of the Warri Monarch, from the founding of the Warri Kingdom in 1480, has always been Olu of Warri. There is abundant documentary evidence that in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Olu had been known and referred to as the Olu of Warri, “Warri” being the Kingdom over which the Olu reigned.
The word “Warri” derives from “Iwere,” the name by which the Itsekiri call their homeland. “Omiwere” or “Oma-Iwere,” meaning the son or daughter of “Iwere” land, is the generic name for all Itsekiris. Iwere is the land and not the people.
Through the ages, the various Europeans with whom the Itsekiri interacted had employed varying corrupt versions of Warri and Omiwere, like “Oywere” and “Oere” in their writings but among them can be found “Warri” by Captain John Adams in 1823 and again “Warri” in 1841 by the British Consul, John Beecroft. John Adams and John Beecroft wrote during the reign of Olu Akengbuwa (1795-1848), the last Olu before the interregnum of 1848-1936, and therefore, the immediate predecessor of Ginuwa II (1936-1949).
The following historical facts are all in support of the antiquity and authenticity of the title of “Olu of Warri”.
In 1607 the King of Portugal made a decree in which reference was made to the “King of Warri” and to “Prince Domingos”, son of the King of Warri. The Prince’s Itsekiri name was Eyeomasan. His father, Olu Atorongboye (6th Olu of Warri, 1597-1625) was the first Olu to be baptized (as Sebastian). Prince Eyeomasan, on being baptized, was given the name Dom Domingos. He reigned as Atuwatse I (7th Olu of Warri, 1625-1643).
One John Barbot, a Dutchman, writing in the 17th Century about Warri, said: “The capital town Oywere, which gives its name to the whole country lies in River Forcados…”In 1682 Father Jerome Merolla da Sorrento wrote:
“Two Capuchin Missionaries together with Father Bonaventura da Firanze having just set foot in the Kingdom of Ouuerri (Warri). They were very courteously received by the king.”
P.A. Talbot wrote at page 320 of his book titled “The Peoples of Southern Nigeria”, 1651. “According to Urbanus Cerri, the King of Warri wrote to Pope Innocent X asking him to send him missionaries for his own good and that of his subjects.”
A Frenchman known as Captain Lancolphe writing in the 18th century made references to the “Olu of Warri” and said that in recognition of the trade potentials of both Benin and Warri Kingdoms the King of France Louis XVI on 27th of May 1756 granted a charter to a company known as the Compagnie d’Oywere et Benin (Company of Warri and Benin). This was before and similar to the Royal Nigeria Company which had its charter from the British monarch.
CHANGE TO “OLU OF ITSEKIRI”
When Ginuwa II was about to be installed in 1936, after an interregnum of 88 years, official references were to “Olu of Warri”. However, at a stage before the coronation, the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), under the leadership of Chief Mukoro Mowoe, forced the hands of the colonial administration to change the title to “Olu of Itsekiri” with the argument that the entire Urhobo Division might be assumed to be under the suzerainty of the Olu since the Urhobo Division was part of the then Warri Province.
The change was an exception to the general rule. No ruler anywhere in the world, whether King or Oba or Sheikh or Emir or Obi is known by the name of his tribe; his title always derives from the name of the territory over which he reigns. The Itsekiris, therefore, did not take kindly to this preposterous exception. Indeed, the misnomer and injustice did not escape the notice of important Nigerian leaders and personalities of that era who were neither Itsekiri nor Urhobo. For example, His Excellency the Rt. Honourable Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Owelle of Onitsha, who later became the national leader of the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), first indigenous Governor-General and President of Nigeria, but who was then a newspaper publisher, commented on the subject-matter in his “West African Pilot” newspaper of 14th May, 1940 as follows:
“His Highness Ginuwa II is Olu of the Itsekiri-speaking people, who live on Itsekiri land on a section of Warri Township. If the matter is discussed in detail, it will be found that a definite title is necessary in which case, the Olu of Warri seems to be most historical and correct. When we speak of the Oba of Lagos we refer to the Paramount Native Ruler of Lagos Township, although Lagos is peopled mainly by Yoruba-speaking peoples and Lagos is part of Yoruba land. So too, in the case of His Highness Ginuwa II, the Olu of Warri is the paramount Native Ruler of Warri, although Warri Township is peopled mainly by the Itsekiri-speaking people and Warri is part of Itsekiri land”.
HISTORIC AWOLOWO COMPROMISE
So, in due course, in 1952, after a bloody riot and an inquiry relating thereto, justice was done and the misnomer of Olu of Itsekiri was rightly corrected to Olu of Warri, in keeping with the historical facts, common sense and logic. At the same time, the name “Warri Province” was changed to “Delta Province” to allay the alleged fears of the Urhobo, thus confining the name Warri to the Itsekiri Administrative Division.
The highly meticulous, impartial and masterly way in which the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, as leader of government business in the old Western Region handled the matter may be briefly recounted. He invited the Itsekiri and Urhobo leaders to Ibadan to present their case for and against the Olu being called Olu of Warri. The erudite jurist and diplomat, the late Chief M. E. R. Okorodudu, presented the Itsekiri case which was based on well documented historical facts and common sense, while the highly respected late Chief the Hon. P. K. Tabiowo spoke on behalf of the Urhobo delegation.
Chief Awolowo asked the Urhobos if they agreed that it would be a misnomer to have the “Oba of Edos” instead of “Oba of Benin”, “Oni of Yorubas” instead of “Oni of Ife”, “King of English” instead of “King of England”, “Shehu of Kanuris” instead of “Shehu of Bornu,” or “Emir of Hausas” instead of Emir of Kano”. Chief Tabiowo, who did not traverse the historical facts presented by Chief Okorodudu, replied that the Urhobos were deeply concerned that the title “Olu of Warri”, in the context of the then Warri Province comprising Warri Division and the Urhobo, Isoko, Ijaw and Ndokwa Administrative Divisions, might be misconstrued to mean that the Olu was the titular head not only of Warri Division but also of the other ethnic groups within their own Divisions.
Thereupon, Chief Okorodudu suggested a compromise that the name Warri Province should be changed to Delta Province (thus confining the name Warri, the Olu’s domain for centuries, to the Itsekiri Administrative Division) and that the Olu’s title should remain “Olu of Warri’. This compromise was accepted by both the Urhobo Delegation and the Government and it has remained the position to this day.
In Contemporary times, Itsekiri leaders of Thought saw the need for thorough research into, and detailed documentation of, the history of the Itsekiri monarchy and the Itsekiri people, especially in pre-colonial times, the idea being to complement and analyze extant material, thus making our modest contribution to the history and civilization of Nigeria and the black race.
Some of the material may be briefly mentioned.
At the beginning of the second half of this century, publication began under the auspices of the Portuguese Ministry of Colonial Affairs of a series of volumes – Monumenta Missionaria Africana – designed to provide a comprehensive documentary record of Portuguese missionary and related activities in Africa from the 15th to the 18th century. The editor was Padre Antonio Brasio.
Volume 5 of the Monumenta Missionaria Africana is devoted extensively to Dom Domingos, son of the “King of Warri’. It is important to note that, without exception, the Olu was referred to throughout in the volume as the ‘King of Warri,’ not King of Itsekiri.
There is also the research into Itsekiri history by Professor A. F. C, Ryder, a European, who was Professor of History at the University Ibadan and a contemporary of the late Professor Kenneth Dike, which has provided us with a most illuminating account of the life and times of Dom Domingos, son of the ‘King of Warri,’ in Portugal from 1600-1610. I intend to publish Professor Ryder’s material in due course.
Finally, there is the work of Professor P. C. Lloyd, a former Research Lecturer at the University of Ibadan who of late, became Professor of History at Sussex University, England. His work was on the Portuguese in Warri and their influence in Itsekiri culture.
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, the Vatican and Brazil. The research led to the discovery and collation of the vast material and information on the Itsekiri, including their conduct of international relations.
Professor Orlinto’s research and other materials mentioned above proved to be of immense assistance to Itsekiri leaders in their articulation of the Itsekiri position during the agitation for the creation of more states in Nigeria between 1974 and 1976. This was particularly so in their Representation dated 2nd April 1975 titled: “The Stand of the Itsekiri People in the matter of the Creation of States,” made to the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, and their subsequent Representation dated 10th February 1976 titled: “Legal and Historical Facts About Warri,” made to the late General Murtala Muhammed.
But the invaluable contribution of Professor Orlinto’s research material of our history will be more deeply appreciated when two of his works now in our possession are published. They are:
1) The Quest for Dom Domingos, Prince of Warri; and
2) The Romance of Dom Domingos.
Then, Nigerians will be proud to know that the first African south of the Sahara known to have graduated from a European University was a Nigerian, a Prince of Warri called Eyeomasan, who became famous in history by this aristocratic title and baptismal name of Dom Domingos.
[ORIGINAL SIGNED BY A.O. REWANE]
