The Anioma People - A History Lesson in Five Minutes (by Bolaji Aluko)
Bolaji
October 31, 2009
The Anioma People - A History Lesson in Five Minutes (by Bolaji Aluko)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
QUOTE
The dialects of Anioma can adequately be grouped into
- Ukwuani (mostly spoken by the Ndokwa and Ukwuani),
- Enu-Ani (Ibusa, Ogwashi-Uku, Asaba, parts of Igbodo, Ilah, Isseles, Idumujes, Onichas etc),
- Ika (Agbor, Umunede, Owas etc) and
- Aboh (spoken mostly by the Aboh and the communities around it).
However, there is no doubt that all the Anioma towns and communities understand and speak a form of the Ibo language effectively. It is also informative to point out that there are Anioma people in Edo state of Nigeria (Igbanke), Anambra state (Onitsha, Ozobulu, Obosi, Oraifite) Imo state (Oguta), Rivers state (Ndoni, Ogba) amongst several others.
UNQUOTE
QUOTE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anioma
Anioma, commonly referred to as Delta Igbo, are a subgroup of the Igbo comprising towns and communities located in Delta State, South-South region of Nigeria. Dr Emmanuel Uduagha has been the Executive Governor of the State since 2007. The Anioma people for administration purposes are referred to as Delta North thus contrasting the Delta Central and Delta South densely inhabited by the Urhobo, Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko, the other ethnic groups inhabiting the State. The Anioma region has a total population of 1,114,055. The population figure quoted here does not include those of Anioma communities located outside Delta state. These include Ukwani, Enu-ani, Ika (Agbor), and Aboh.
A small Ika population can be found in neighboring Edo State specifically in Igbanke, Oza and Ekpon. The term Anioma is an acronym derived from the four original local governments i.e. (A) for Aniocha, (N) for Ndokwa, (I) for Ika, (O) for Oshimili, M and A are common denominators found in the four original local governments. The coinage was made by the founding father, Chief Dennis Osadebay in 1951 and has since remained the preferred indigenous name by which the people collectively refer to themselves. Thus, A-N-I-O-M-A. Sentimentally, there are also Anioma people in Anambra State i.e. Onitsha, Ogbaru, Oba, Akwukwu Obosi, Ozobulu, Oraifite. Some are in Imo State i.e. Oguta, Rivers State i.e. Ndoni, Ogba. Anioma people who had one destiny prior to the coming of the Europeans were balkanized after they lost the Ekumeku War of resistance against the British imperialism in 1914 after 31 years of fighting.
UNQUOTE
Anioma Territory in Nigeria
Anioma Local Governments of Delta State (9 out of 25 LGAs)
|
S/N |
Anioma LG |
Headquarters |
|
1 |
Aniocha North |
Issele-Uku |
|
2 |
Aniocha South |
Ogwashi-Uku |
|
3 |
Ika South |
Agbor |
|
4 |
Ika North-East |
Owa Oyibu |
|
5 |
Ndokwa East |
Aboh |
|
6 |
Ndokwa West |
Kwale |
|
7 |
Oshimili North |
Akwukwu-Igbo |
|
8 |
Oshimili South |
Asaba |
|
9 |
Ukwuani |
Obiaruku |
Some Anioma towns and communities (in alphabetical order):
Abah, Abala Anikoko, Abavo, Abi, Abodei, Aboh, Adai, Adonta, Afor, Agbor, Akakpan-Isumpe, Ankara, Akoku, Akuku-Akumazi, Akumazi-Umuocha, Akwuku-Igbo, Alasime, Alidinma, Alihagu, Amai, Anakwa, Anifekide, Aninwalo, Aninwama-Jeta, Aniofu, Aniogo, Anioma, Anuregu, Anwai, Asaba, Asaba-Ase, Asaba-Ubulu, Ashaka, Ashama, Atuma, Atuma-Iga, Azagba-Ogwashi, Ebedi, Ebu, Edo-Ogwashi, Egbudu-Akah, Egbudu-Ogwashi, Ejeme-Agbor, Ejeme-Aniogo, Ejeme-Unor, Ekpecho, Ekpon, Ekwuemusana, Emu, Emuhu, Etua Etiti, Etua Ukpo, Ewulu, Ezi, Eziokpor, Ezionum, Ibodoni, Ibrode, Ibusa, Idumuesah, Idumuje-Ugboko, Idumuje-Unor, Idumu-Ogo, Igbanke, Igbodo, Igbuku, Illah, Isa-Ogwashi, Iselegu, Isheagu, Isikiti-Ishiagu, Issele-Azagba, Issele-Mkpitime, Issele-Uku, Isumpe, Kwale, Mbiri, Ndemiri, Ndokwa, Nkpolenyi, Nsukwa, Obeti, Obi Anyima, Obi Umutu, Obi, Obiaruku, Obikwele, Obinumba, Obior, Obodo-Eti, Obomkpa, Ogbe, Ogode, Ogume, Ogwashi-Uku, Oko Anala, Oko/Ogbele, Oko-Amakom, Okotomi, Okpa, Okpanam, Okwe, Oligbo, Oligbo, Olor-Usisa, Olu-Odu, Omaja, Onicha Olona, Onicha-Ugbo, Onicha-Uku, Onitsha-Ukwuani, Onogbokor, Onuseti, Onya, Oolor-Ogwashi, Otolokpo, Otulu, Owa Nta, Owa-Abi, Owa-Alero, Owa-Ofie, Owa-Oyibo, Owerri-Olubor, Ubulubu, Ubulu-Okiti, Ubulu-Okiti, Ubulu-Ukwu, Ubulu-Unor, Udumeje, Ugboba, Ugbodu, Ugbolu, Ugiliamai, Ukala-Okpunor, Ukala-Okwute, Ukwuani, Ukwunzu, Ukwu-Oba, Umuabu, Umu-Ebu Adonishaka, Umukwem, Umukwota, Umunede, Umuolu, Umute, Umutu, Unor, Unor, Unuaja, Ushie, Usisa, Utagba-Ogbe, Utagba-Unor, Utchi, Ute Aru, Ute Enugu, Utegbeje, Ute-Okpu, Utuoku.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Tidbits of Anioma History: The Backdrop
ANIOMA NU.
Thank you all for the numerous contributions we have been receiving from all of you. Bear in mind that we have well over a thousand emails in our e-list and you are one of those who receive this communiqué from us. Our responses are therefore geared towards satisfying the feedbacks we get from you. So far, it has been very positive and encouraging and one of the requests we have been getting is a hunger to talk about the Anioma people, their history, culture as well as current developments in the area.
Please note that I am not an expert on our history but what I have done is research and borrow heavily from individual writers to keep you informed. One such writer is Emeka Esogbue from Ibusa. Today, we will give some basic information about the Anioma area of Delta State and then talk about the history and founding of the various towns and villages. Please remember that most of the narratives are from oral tradition and we are aware that there will be counter narratives and that is quite okay. There are usually several sources when it comes to something that happened long ago because that is the nature of such issues. We should all bear in mind that the purpose of this communication is not to start any controversy but to educate and inform our people. If anyone has any other version to add to this narrative it will be welcome and we will gladly keep everyone informed also. Having got that out of the way, let us talk about the various local government areas, the towns and communities.
There are twenty five local government areas in Delta State and the nine below make up the Anioma area:
i) Aniocha North
ii) Aniocha South
iii) Ika south
iv) Ika North-East
v) Ndokwa East
vi) Ndokwa West
vii) Oshimili North
viii) Oshimili South
ix) Ukwuani
Anioma Towns
These are some of the towns and communities in Anioma and if your town or community is not mentioned here, we apologize and will appreciate it if you contact us to make the correction:
Abah, Abala Anikoko, Abavo, Abi, Abodei, Aboh, Adai, Adonta, Afor, Agbor, Akakpan-Isumpe, Ankara, Akoku, Akuku-Akumazi, Akumazi-Umuocha, Akwuku-Igbo, Alasime, Alidinma, Alihagu, Amai, Anakwa, Anifekide, Aninwalo, Aninwama-Jeta, Aniofu, Aniogo, Anioma, Anuregu, Anwai, Asaba, Asaba-Ase, Asaba-Ubulu, Ashaka, Ashama, Atuma, Atuma-Iga, Azagba-Ogwashi, Ebedi, Ebu, Edo-Ogwashi, Egbudu-Akah, Egbudu-Ogwashi, Ejeme-Agbor, Ejeme-Aniogo, Ejeme-Unor,
Ekpecho, Ekpon, Ekwuemusana, Emu, Emuhu, Etua Etiti, Etua Ukpo, Ewulu, Ezi, Eziokpor, Ezionum, Ibodoni, Ibrode, Ibusa, Idumuesah, Idumuje-Ugboko, Idumuje-Unor, Idumu-Ogo, Igbanke, Igbodo, Igbuku, Illah, Isa-Ogwashi, Iselegu, Isheagu, Isikiti-Ishiagu, Issele-Azagba, Issele-Mkpitime, Issele-Uku, Isumpe, Kwale, Mbiri, Ndemiri, Ndokwa, Nkpolenyi, Nsukwa, Obeti, Obi Anyima, Obi Umutu, Obi, Obiaruku, Obikwele, Obinumba, Obior, Obodo-Eti, Obomkpa, Ogbe, Ogode, Ogume, Ogwashi-Uku, Oko Anala, Oko/Ogbele, Oko-Amakom, Okotomi, Okpa, Okpanam, Okwe, Oligbo, Oligbo, Olor-Usisa, Olu-Odu, Omaja, Onicha Olona, Onicha-Ugbo, Onicha-Uku, Onitsha-Ukwuani, Onogbokor, Onuseti, Onya, Oolor-Ogwashi, Otolokpo, Otulu, Owa Nta, Owa-Abi, Owa-Alero, Owa-Ofie, Owa-Oyibo, Owerri-Olubor, Ubulubu, Ubulu-Okiti, Ubulu-Okiti, Ubulu-Ukwu, Ubulu-Unor, Udumeje, Ugboba, Ugbodu, Ugbolu, Ugiliamai, Ukala-Okpunor, Ukala-Okwute, Ukwuani, Ukwunzu, Ukwu-Oba, Umuabu, Umu-Ebu Adonishaka, Umukwem, Umukwota, Umunede, Umuolu, Umute, Umutu, Unor, Unor, Unuaja, Ushie, Usisa, Utagba-Ogbe, Utagba-Unor, Utchi, Ute Aru, Ute Enugu, Utegbeje, Ute-Okpu, Utuoku.
Location
The Anioma as a group are located in the West Basin of the River Niger in the present South-south, Delta state, Nigeria. Anioma beautifully runs from Ubulubu to Ebu. Anioma is often referred to as Delta North within the state of Delta. Anioma is bounded to the East by Anambra state; to the southeast by lmo and Rivers States; to the south by Bayelsa State; to the southwest by the lsoko ethnic group; to the west by the Urhobo ethnic group; to the northwest by Edo State and the north by Kogi State.
It is important to note that Anioma people trace their origins from several surrounding areas. Our history can be traced to the Bini where Ezechima was said to have migrated from, founding areas like Onitsha (now in the South-East), Issele-Uku, Onicha-Ugbo, Idumuje-Ugboko, Onicha-Olona and others alike. Towns such as Ibusa and Ogwashi-Uku have large communities that can trace their origins to the Igbo from Nshi (Nri) and there are communities such as Ebu that have significant settlements from the igalla.
Dialects
The dialects of Anioma can adequately be grouped into Ukwuani (mostly spoken by the Ndokwa and Ukwuani), Enu-Ani (Ibusa, Ogwashi-Uku, Asaba, parts of Igbodo, Ilah, Isseles, Idumujes, Onichas etc), Ika (Agbor, Umunede, Owas etc) and Aboh (spoken mostly by the Aboh and the communities around it) however, there is no doubt that all the Anioma towns and communities understand and speak a form of the Ibo language effectively. It is also informative to point out that there are Anioma people in Edo state of Nigeria (Igbanke), Anambra state (Onitsha, Ozobulu, Obosi, Oraifite) Imo state (Oguta), Rivers state (Ndoni, Ogba) amongst several others.
Next time, we will delve into the origins of particular towns and communities and we will very much welcome your contributions. Do not forget visit our website at http://www.anioma.org/ to learn more about us, our goals, aspirations and updates on issues that affect Aniomas. Keep yourself informed about the upcoming Anioma World Economic Congress (AWEC) next year in Washington DC/Maryland in the month of July, 2010. Send your contributions to us via email at aniomau...@gmail.com
Remain Blessed.
Uche Honnah
National President
Anioma Association USA, Inc.
Website: http://www.anioma.org/
The Anioma People of Nigeria
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The idea of an Anioma Association is an off-shoot of the "Anioma Movement," which was an effort to create a separate province for our people. Anioma Association, USA, Inc. was established on May 24, 1997, and provides an alternative forum to congregate and socialize. The goal of the association is to create a forum and a channel through which Anioma people in the United States can speak with one voice on issues affecting them here and at home. To be in a position to put our resources together to help our people at home and abroad. To contribute through our combined talents to the development of Anioma.
One needs to look at the colonial map of the area, and there sits "Anioma" wedged between Ubulubu and Ebu. The modern "Anioma" derives its name from the four geopolitical and cultural quadrants of Aniocha, Ndokwa, Ika and Oshimili. This coinage was made by no other than the founding father of "Anioma State Movement," the late Chief Dennis Osadebay of blessed memory. A people are defined by their culture, history and geography. More importantly, a people are defined by how they perceive themselves. In effect, a people are who they say they are. History notes that Anioma people comprise individuals of diverse origins, who over centuries and due to "culture contact" or cultural cross-pollination, have developed a unique culture quite distinct from those of their immediate surrounding neighbors. Located at the crossroads of very diverse influences, Anioma has developed a syncretic culture rich in varied contributions. Anioma people inhabit areas west of the lower Niger River, in today's constituted Delta State. From the perspectives of Nigeria's geopolitical matrix, Anioma is squarely within the south-south zone. In today's political dispensation, Anioma is designated as Delta North Senatorial District. To the east, Anioma is bounded by Anambra State; to the southeast by lmo and Rivers States; to the south by Bayelsa State; to the southwest by lsoko ethnic group; to the west, by Urhobo ethnic group; to the northwest by Edo State and the north by Kogi State. There are very few Nigerian communities that are so contiguous to so many immediate neighbors as Anioma. In spite of these contiguities to so many states and ethnic groups, Anioma people are united by cultural homogeneity and value consensus about their universe of experience. In 1951, political awakening was brought to Anioma people following years of neglect. Honorable Chief Dennis Osadebay (Oshimili); Honorable F.H.Utomi (Aniocha); Honorable Obi of Akumazi (Ika); Honorable Frank Oputa Ututu (Ndokwa) and Honorable Oki (Ndokwa) jointly moved a motion in the then Western House of Assembly to seek "a separate province" for our people, who hitherto had been balkanized and merged with Benin and Warri provinces by the colonialists. This merger was neither by referendum, choice nor by consent but by force. Even though Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his Action Group government had disallowed the creation of such a separate province, the movement for that self-determination has continued to this day. The record will show that no segment of the Nigerian society has had a longer demand for state creation than Anioma. However, the vagaries of politics have prevailed and the demand for the creation of Anioma State has remained unfulfilled. The struggle continues. Confronted by the failure of successive regimes to create Anioma State and by the paradoxical dicta of human social relations, Anioma people have endeavored to create a community, which sees itself as an organic whole dependent upon an integrated set of relationships with unique and distinguishable identity. Events of the distant past and indeed, of the recent past, namely, the Ekumuku wars, Colonization, Christianization, Westernization and the Nigeria-Biafra war, have conspired, as it were, to shape the consciousness of Anioma people. While not succumbing to introversion, Anioma people have seen remarkable distinctness in their behavior and overall worldview from those of their immediate neighbors. Anioma identity has become a treasure that must be guarded and defended because identity is a value for which people in history are willing to make sacrifices. Wars have been fought and are still being fought to preserve the identity of people. People refuse to be subsumed under someone else's worldview. Anioma people have for generations refused and indeed objected to the transposition of other people's interpretive categories on Anioma culture. Our forbears in Anioma fought the Ekumeku wars because they refused to be dominated by outsiders. They fought against the attempts by the Royal Niger Company and their British collaborators to desecrate the sanctity of their culture, appropriate their God-given wealth and dominate their trade and subjugate them. They fought against Benin expansionist proclivity. In short, they fought and defended their Anioma ethnic identity with whatever power they could muster. Ethnic identity exists because individuals include among their repertoire of social roles one or more culturally defined uniqueness. The conscious sense on the part of an individual that he/she belongs to a given collectivity is the basic building block of identity. Our Anioma ethnic identity derives from our common set of symbols and cognitions shared by our people. Aniocha, Ndokwa, lka and Oshimili, share the same cultural space and delimited physical geography. They dress alike. They dance alike. They use the same musical instruments. They speak the same or similar languages. They show the same deference to their elders and women. They respect character and integrity. They are not exploitative. Money is not everything, character is everything. In short, they have the same worldview. Our Anioma ethnic identity is cultural self-definition and philosophical affirmation of our self-determination as a people who see themselves at the crossroads of the contemporary Nigerian state. Anioma provides for us the physical and cultural space that define the necessary locus of our highest fulfillment as a people. Anioma does not seek to define its personality or identity simply as an antithesis of everything around it. However, one point must be made immutably clear to any questioner: no Anioma person wishes to be recast in a mould that is not Anioma. We must emphasize unequivocally, that only Anioma can provide us an essential part of our historical consciousness, and also an index to the universal psychic character of our identity. Only Anioma can communicate a sense of history to us. Granted that legend, folklore and history point to our diverse origin, over time our forbears were able to create a culture that is uniquely Anioma, hence no Aniocha person, Ndokwa person, Ika person nor Oshimill person, sees one another as strangers. Anioma people do not need to look elsewhere for inspiration and identity. Anioma is not and can never be an extension of another group. This is why for several decades its people have attempted to rid themselves of their psychic frustrations of marginality and neglect by clamoring for the creation of Anioma State. There is a strong sense of community and commonality between and among our people. There is shared neglect by the powers that be. There is shared suffering. There is shared poverty. Who can forget the torture and torments experienced by our people during the Nigeria-Biafra war? Our people still suffer from the haunting memories of that war. During that war, our people experienced macabre brutality delivered with breathless vapidity. Who can forget the Asaba massacre? Who can forget the Isheagu massacre? We shall not forget. Our children shall not forget. Nigeria must not forget. Since the end of that tragic war, it seems as if Anioma area still belongs to another age. Development as commonly understood is not just elusive but non- existent. The basic structure of inequality, inequity and iniquity has persisted despite many marginal adjustments in Nigeria's political terminology, dispensation and practice. Aniomaland remains in the throes of decay and decomposition. Our roads have fallen into inexcusable disrepair. Our primary and secondary school buildings are so dilapidated that they provide habitation to lizards and goats at night and pupils in the daytime. The schools lack basic science facilities. How can our children compete in this new millennium without scientific knowledge? The few hospitals we have lack basic amenities and so they are dysfunctional. Our people struggle daily against the triumvirate problems of poverty, ignorance and disease. What is more, politics seems to fall at the outer fringes of our people's life space. Many communities are without electricity and potable water. The evidence in Aniomaland, as recently as August/September 2000, draws a compelling portrait of a people oscillating between despair and unimagined possibilities. The atmosphere conveys with disturbing vividness, hopelessness and helplessness. Aniomaland pulsates with anxiety and unfulfilled expectations. Our people seem trapped by the synchronicity of time, place and fortune. Some of our seemingly able men and women appear overwhelmed by uncertainties and larger improbabilities about their future. Others are left awash in lethargy and despondency. Our agitated youths feel that competition for place and preferment, has left ethnicity in the center of public cognition of political struggle in Delta State. So, many of them are teetering between aimlessness and anger. There is, indeed, a compelling immediacy for us Anioma indigenes in the United States and elsewhere to act in order to stave off the growing dissonance of the public life of our people. The truth remains that Anioma is one of the least developed areas in Nigeria. It is a strange irony that Anioma sons and daughters have served Nigeria with distinction in various fields of human and intellectual endeavors, yet basic amenities are lacking in their homeland. These facts, notwithstanding, Anioma people wish to uphold, celebrate and elicit from Nigerians and other people, deference and devotion to the claims of their culture and history. There is now in Anioma, hue and cry for credible and dynamic leadership, Anioma people worldwide cannot afford to pass their time in vacuous inactivity. We must endeavor to narrow the widening horizons of parochial loyalties that undermine our unitedness, thus impeding our attempts to assist in the development of our homeland. United and committed, we are sure to fulfill the chiliastic expectations that the founding of Anioma Association, USA, Inc. has aroused in our people at home and abroad. We should replace our rampant individualism, which has had corrosive effect on our Anioma society, with an ethic of collective responsibility.
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Mobolaji ALUKO
Collins:
Is partially found in Tony Eluemunor's response below:So what is your purpose (or vice) this time,
Chief Bolaji?
Collins.
Dear Collins Ezrbuihe/AlukoFrom Aluko's post:
"Anioma people who had one destiny
> prior to the coming of the Europeans were balkanized after
> they lost the Ekumeku War of resistance against the British
> imperialism in 1914 after 31 years of fighting".
> UNQUOTE
>
My reaction: I opened and read ALuko's post early in the morning and felt an oomph; it reminded me of my Anioma people - mighty; fiercely independent and we are proud of our proud inheritance - before we bowed down - after three DECADEs of resistance against the British imperialists (“the morning of the Occident in Africa was painted in Crimson for those who landed on our shores were white and mad†; the late Senegalese, Shiek Hamidou Kane in the novel, Ambigous Adventure). My people bore a brunt of the invaders' madness. I know the story for briefly my secondary school, St. Anthony's, Ubulu-Uku was renamed Ekumeuku Grammer School. I also know about the Ojie Nwobi (son of the king, Prince really) praise song that is now a dirge in all Anioma area (about an Ubulu-Uku warrior or better still, commander, who fell in that Ekumeku war) just as many of my Yourba brethren know the Ijjala praise songs). And whenever I hear it, I remember the bravery of my forebears,
immense bravery, and remarkable bravery replicated or exhibited again and again across the entire African continent, whether against Western invaders of Arab slavers. Yet, it ended up as wasted bravery. What enabled the whites to sally forth from their own little corner of the globe and to conquer the rest of us? Learning.
And why did they come?
Answer: For the control of the world's resources.
And are we today fully engaged in the struggle to get a fare share for our people?
No.
That is why all the squabbles about ethnicity should end. We are all co-victims now and our war demands a united effort to enable this Black Queen, Nigeria, to arise and take her rightful place.
Yet, I speak the same Igbo language with some brethrens across the Niger; and there must be MIGHTY reason for the close affinity among those who speak that language. We agree, disagree, shout, even fight, but we are family. With them the Anioma have suffered the same fate (pogrom, fought together in a war, but now live in a state with other ethnic groups. We are moving on with our Midwest Region and Bendel state legacy; we would wish other Nigerians to join us as we advance to a stage where ethnicity recedes and our common nationality defines and unites us all. Nigeria is worth being proud off; and if it is not worthy of our pride now, we should make her worthy of our pride. We each have a role to play; if only debilitating ethnicity and other ills will allow us, for must build the country one big family.
Personally I have no use for a small country; I like my country big and strong.
And I hereby plead that the ethnic wars in this forum cease forthwith - No Victor No Vanquished again.
Thanks.
Tony Eluemunor.
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com; naijap...@yahoogroups.com; nigeriaw...@yahoogroups.com; ni...@yahoogroups.com; omo...@yahoogroups.com; alu...@gmail.comFrom: alu...@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:09:50 +0000
Subject: [NaijaPolitics] The Anioma People - A History Lesson in Five Minutes (by Bolaji Aluko)
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