Chief Dennis Eje Onoja expresses no small delight as he recalls old memories of the harmonious relationship which has existed between his people of Ai-Aroga community in Owukpa district of Ogbadigbo Local Government Area in Benue State, and the people of Obollo-Eke in Enugu state, who share a common border.
His very small Idoma village which is not quite a mile to the next Igbo community have everything in common except dialectical differences , arising from the fact that one speaks Idoma ,while the other belongs to the Igbo language.
Truly, for a novice, it would be hard to demarcate the thin line between the Idoma and Igbo communities at the fringes of Benue, Enugu and Ebonyi states, considering the loads of mixing evident in these locations.
The climate which is an average temperature reminds any visitor that he or she is neither in the sultry air of the north or completely in the wet south savannah region of the country, especially with the typical grassland forest which characterize the vicinity.
While many villages in Owukpa kingdom and Orokam districts of Ogabdigbo local government area border the Igbos of Enugu state, the people of Agila, as well as part of Igumale districts in Ado local government area of Benue state, are bordered by the neighbouring Ebonyi and Enugu states respectively.
Basically, the people have shared a lot in common just more than the margin or geographical closeness to each other, long before and after the Nigerian civil war. The peculiarities abound in inseparable relationships built among the natives over the centuries, except for simulated barrier spelt out between them as a result of geopolitical division.
Although, the Agila natives and their neighbouring Ngbo communities in Ohaukwu local government area of Ebonyi state, lost their peace at some point, and have been at each other’s throat ever since following perennial border disputes, however, those of Owukpa in the estimation of Chief Onoja have continued to enjoy harmonious relationship.
“In many decades of co-habiting together with the Igbos at this rural backwater of the border, it feels so good. Everyone goes around cheerfully, be it markets or farms,” Onoja enthused.
Apart from doing things together, both communities of Owukpa and Obollo unarguably have the best palm wine.My hired motorcycle rider stated in a pidgin English as he waved his both hands to illustrate that the many palm trees dotting the lonely dusty path between the villages, were perhaps the finest in the entire South-East region.
The people found around the area share a lot of familiar names and even speak each others tongue fluently for purposes of communication, but none of the languages dominates as a primary means of communication.
According to Chief Onoja, from time immemorial, many other communities of Ogwurute, Ai-Aroga, Itabono in Owukpa among others and Orokam districts, share a walk able distance border between the Igbos of Obollo-Eke, Amala, Ikem and Obollo-Afor in Enugu State.
“We also bear the same names such as Ugwu, Chukwu, Enyanu, Ada, Ngozi Onyekachi, Okute, among others, and there are huge cultural similarities. There are so many intermarriages with the Igbos at the border here. The Igbo people are well-behaved. We understand and speak Igbo very well, just like they also understand and speak Idoma. Besides, we buy and sell at the same markets such as the Ukwo-Owukpa and Obollo-Eke,” he said.
Onoja, a retired headmaster also noted that the two tribes at the neigbouring border have some universal way of life which is depicted in their masquerades’, dances, attires, cuisines and beliefs, just as there are semblances of traditional titles.
As a matter of fact, Onoja’s paternal grandmother, Une, is an Igbo woman from Ikem, and he speaks both languages fluently as he boasted of enjoying genuine friendship with relatives of the Igbo ethnic stock.
For Victor Amuta Oche whose grandmother is also Igbo from Unwura in the adjoining community of Enugu state, there has been a bundle of natural love flowing effortlessly between both tribes through marriages, social and commercial activities carried out in the area.
“I must confess that the Igbos have proven to be good neighbours over the years. We identify with each other during major ceremonies. My village, Ai-Aroga here borders one of Obollo-Eke. We have similar market days and names; like my surname, Amuta, Nwaka, Onuche, Eze, Eje,” Oche added.
Interestingly, Oche who says his middle name, “Amuta” is an Igbo coinage posited that the tribes are different, even though those of them (Idoma) at the border lines look Igbo and marry Igbos.
He opined that there were no distinguishable similarities between the Idoma dialect and that of the Igbos however, because there are no proofs of akin ancestry, adding that whatever similarities that can be observed were due to cultural exchanges between both tribes.
While in the eyes of Benjamin Eje, also a youth from Ai-Aroga, both tribes have through cultural evolution influenced each other, which informs why they celebrate new yam festival just like their neigbouring community, even as farming, which is the major occupation of the people, has been practised in the same method.
According to him, even the surname, Eje, is an adulteration of the Igbo version of Eze, as he explained further that a clear depiction of these customs and traditions include the Igbo people’s visual art, music and dance forms, as well as their attire and cuisine which is similar to that of the Idomas of the region.
For instance, Chief Onoja elucidated that the celebration of the new yam festival which is done mostly in September every year, has become popular among the Idoma and Igbos within the vicinity before anyone from these communities would begin to feed his family with the crop.
It was learnt that because of their various interactions with subgroups, the variety of their culture is heightened further, as the Idomas along these borders practice the age group tradition inherited from the Igbo, just as both tribes have established beliefs in reincarnation.
It is, therefore, not uncommon for the people who hold the belief to reincarnate into families that they were part of while alive, either by marriages or friendship, although the Idoma kingdom generally believes that before a relative dies, he or she seldom gives clues of who they will reincarnate as in the family.
To such extent, once a child is born, he or she is believed to give signs of whom they are reincarnations of. This can be through behaviour, physical traits and statements by the child or a diviner would help in detecting who the child is a reincarnation of, which goes to strengthen the ties between the Igbos and their Idoma counterparts.
Despite the influx of Christianity, Chief Onoja said they still share the same Masquerades such as the “Akatapa”, but the others, he said are now fast vanishing due to changing trends inspired by westernization among the people.
Nonetheless, he maintained that the attires of the Igbo which generally are made of unique African fabrics and originally admirable to the simply with ornaments such as beads worn around the waist, hand or neck are also common dressing between the both tribes.
In both cultures along the border line, the yam serves as a staple food. During the separate festivals, yam is eaten throughout the communities as a mark of celebration. Yam tubers are shown off by individuals as a sign of a successful farming season.
In other ceremonial occasions these days, rice has replaced yam, while other indigenous foods include cassava, garri, beans, maize and plantains, vegetable soups or stews ,are typical meals among the people just as palm wine is a popular traditional alcoholic beverage for people in the region.
Mrs. Enyawu Abah did not differ from the rest in her opinion about the Igbos, as she enthusiastically posited “we buy and sell in the same market and we have lived harmoniously. I know how to dance both Idoma and Igbo dances.”
Corroborating her, Ameh Edwin from Ejaa-Itabono in Owukpa and Ameh John, a commercial motorcyclist who transports people on market days between the two neigbouring communities, agreed that the relationship, despite differences in language has been a rosy one.
In the case of Ado communities which share a maximum of 18 kilometers boundary with the Ebonyi state, with Igumale bordering Ihamufu while also part of Agila kingdom borders Ihamufu in Enugu state, and the large chunk shouldering three of Ngbo neighborhood of Umuogudu-Akpu, Ekwashi and Ukwuagba in Ohaukwu local government area of Ebonyi state, things have no doubt fallen apart.
Chief Otse Otokpa recalled that before the civil war, the relationship between the Agila people in Benue and Ngbo communities of Ebonyi states, was very cordial, but that was severed as the area has since become a theater of war, deepened by border conflicts, so much so that many lives had been lost to the crisis over the years.
“Conflicts on border issues has stalled our relationship. We have done things in common and still have a lot in common despite the misunderstanding,” he explained.
For instance, Otokpa noted that the Odaburu dance of the Agila kindred originated from the Igbos, while the new yam festival which is annually celebrated in both communities before now, was a war festival meant to commemorate victorious outings, adding however that, “there is a little margin between us now in celebration of the festival.”
He said commercial activities were before carried out in the same markets just as their farming methods have remained the same, as women from both sides of the divide continue to plant water yams, melon, vegetables besides the heaps of their husbands yam farms.
According to him, the Agila people still go to Nkala and Ihamufu markets, but don’t go to Ugbor market, stressing that despite the constraints, there are glaring similarities in names and chiefdom titles as well as dressing.
He said that the paramount ruler of Ezanfu, headquarters of Ohaukwu local government, Chief Eze Agbo whom he met over three years ago, did not only combine an Idoma name of Agbo, but also holds the traditional title common to the Idoma people known as, “Ogaba Idu.”
Otokpa said it was believed that the title could have emanated with the migration of Izza-Agu (meaning Izza-in-bush) who became an enlarged clan among the Agila people, explaining that it was popularly considered that the Izzas who are originally Igbo but afterwards settled in the present location, made possible by one district head of the Agila kingdom whose mother hailed from the Izzas and had brought them to stay with his people.
“We assumed that the local chief, known as Chief Omerigwe Omuha was the one who transferred the title of “Agaba-Idu” to his people, who are now referred to as, “Ogaba-Idu,” he said.
Meanwhile, a common feature about the Agila chiefdom which differentiates them from other chiefs in the whole of Idoma land but related to the Igbos is noted in the peculiarity of their caps, Otokpa stated, adding that similar names between his people and their Igbo neigbours were not anything uncommon.
Specially, the names such as; Omerigwe, Uba, Agu, Okawanyi, Okorie, Ogbuefi and so on are commonly borne by both neighbouring tribes ,even as hunting expedition are done in similar manner.
“If not for conflict, we should remain one indivisible entity. This is because we have similar age grouping, a very strong socio-cultural organization maintained under a distinguished leadership. We pray that government would be able to solve our differences ,so that our relationship with the Igbos becomes normal again,” Otokpa opined.
He suggested to government to make a deliberate effort to make the Idoma tribes of Ekile, Ijigban, Ulayi, Igumale and Agila districts , which have continued to exist with their respective Igbo neighbours of Effium, Ishieke, Ngbo, Nkalaha and Eha Amufu on a shaky relationship, realize the beauty of their shared culture with a free mindset ,while interpersonal visits and attendance to festivals should be encouraged.
According to him, the communities have a lot in common in terms of marriage, festivals, music, dance, names, food, ancestral worship and a host of others, noting that the languages are completely different except for Utokon which is inside Idoma speaking Ado local government ,but speaks same language with Effium people of Ebonyi state.
“I don’t know how that came about because the Utokon people are not even at the border line, yet they speak same dialect as the Igbo Effium people,” Otokpa concluded
