Umuezechime in Anioma: History and Identity Factor Resolved By Emeka Esogbue

Umuezechime in Anioma: History and Identity Factor Resolved

By Emeka Esogbue

Introduction

Although the Anioma peopling the West Bank of the Niger River Basin have often been categorized as a people that wholesomely trace their origin to only one particular ethnic group of Nigeria by writers of history and other researchers from outside the Anioma region, numerous historical evidences drawn from the oral and written sources, and migration theories of the people confirm their heterogeneous origins. Evidently, all the peoples that now comprise the “Anioma” area originated from different ethnic groups of the Nigerian nation.  

The above is confirmed by Osia (2012:6) who wrote:

“History notes that the Anioma people trace their origins to various communities within Nigeria: Edo, Igala, Yoruba and Igbo. No history has proved these ancestries otherwise…”

Esogbue (2015:14) further admitted that:

“there is always tendency for researchers to an extent to assign the whole of Anioma to a particular existing ethnic group in the country, not taking into consideration the heterogeneousness of the people and the different primary, secondary and tertiary migrations which led to the foundations of the different settlements that now make up the region”.

He had earlier posited that:

 “Over the time too, there have been claims and counter-claims on the origins of the Anioma people within the socio-ethnic category of Nigeria”.

Whereas the Anioma people have preserved their origins in their myths and traditions, writers of their history especially the non-Anioma have often stirred controversies with their foundations.

Indeed, an Ubulu-Uku Professor of History, Mordi (2017:1), while reporting Bradbury, cited in Afigbo (1990:8) was emphatic that:

“Pre-colonial Nigerian communities preserved these fundamental developments in myths, which are subject to diverse interpretations. Their understanding and appreciation thus demands that the dynamics which produce and modify them be placed in their contexts from which they cannot be detached”.

Nonetheless, since this work is about Benin factor in Anioma, the discourse will narrow down to Ezechime, being one of the historical figures and progenitors of some of the more important settlements of the Anioma, a people under discussion. There is no doubt that Ezechime has been made to present one of the most controversial accounts in the history of any known human settlement as there are different blocs from several fronts with conflicting depictions of what they perceive to be the origin of the people.

What has hastened the controversy trailing the account is that non-Anioma indigenes that are not grounded in the history of the area or have not conducted deeper researches into the people’s past have for claims of ethnic identity joined in writing the history of the people. They consequently rely less on both oral and written sources, historical methods and critical analysis while utilizing more logic and ordinary reasons to reach their judgments.

Who was Ezechime?

The question that a writer wishing to dig deep into the Ezechime subject is who is Ezechime? Generally speaking, Ezechime is the historical figure traditionally reputed to be the founder of a number of settlements that exist in today’s Aniomaland.

 “Chima and his wife embarked on this journey associated with dreadful encounters and battles but eventually arrived in Obior they finally settled under an “Ukpali” tree where and pitched their tent. Here they had children amongst who were Ukpali, Onicha, Oligbo and Eziuzo. These children equally they had grand-children. It was in the search of fertile farmland and economic boost that these children founded towns such as Onicha-Olona, Onicha-Ugbo, Onicha-Ukwu, Issele-Ukwu, Issele-Mkpitime, Issele-Azagba, Ezi, Obomkpa and Onicha Mmili (Onitsha)”. Esogbue (2015:37)

Settlements founded by Ezechime

The settlements believed to be founded by Ezechime are:

1.    Obior (where he was believed to have eventually settled down with his family)

2.    Issele-Uku

3.    Issele-Mkpitime

4.    Issele Azagba

5.    Obomkpa

6.    Onicha-Ukwu

7.    Onicha-Olona

8.    Onicha-Ugbo

9.    Onicha Ado n’Idu (Onitsha in present Anambra State)

10. Ezi (believed to be founded by his youngest daughter)

The Ezechime schools of thought

Proponents of the first school of thought mostly comprise settlements founded by Ezechime. They hold that he was of Benin origin. The oral account usually presented by these settlements is that Edo expansion eastward accounted for the foundation of Ezechime communities as they exist today.

The wave of movements according to their legends was led by Ezechime, a wealthy Benin Prince who was escaping persecution. All the Ezechime communities without exception support this oral tradition. The second but lesser account mostly derived from logic is shared by Igbo proponents who hold that Ezechime was an Igbo migrant from Nri who had earlier taken flight to Benin and was now returning to his Igbo ancestral home. By extension, this version claims that he was a successful Igbo trader only captured and kept in custody in the palace of the Oba of Benin.

One known Agbor oral tradition holds that Chime originally hailed from Alisimien-Agbor, from where he moved to Benin. It was from Benin according to this oral tradition that he returned to Agbor as a wealthy man. Further accounts on this, claimed that with the wealth acquired from his stopover while in Benin, he attempted to overthrow Adigwe who was the Dein of Agbor. Not taking this attempt lightly, Agbor rose against his impunity and crushed him. It is this defeat that re-enacts in the royal festival of Osiezi celebrated by the people of Agbor.

Talbot (1969), who was not Bini, Igbo or Anioma identified Ezechime as a Benin fugitive who founded Ezechime clans. He affirmed:

“Two families appear to have left Benin at the same time, one of which settled at Agbor, while the other went on to Obior, whence some continued to Onicha Ugbo and others at a later date to Onicha Olona”.

In essence, Talbot went narrated that:

“Of the same Obior family came also the ancestors of Ezi, Obonga (Obomkpa), Onicha-Mmili (Onitsha) and Onicha-Oko (Onicha-Uku) near Iselle”.  

The Ezechime Oral Accounts

Two factors are to be observed:

1.    Oral traditions of all the Ezechime communities hold that their community was founded by Ezechime

2.    Oral traditions of all the Ezechime communities hold that the same Ezechime was of Benin origin and migrated from Benin

Having noted that the oral traditions of Ezechime communities align with the two observations already noted above, only the oral traditions of Obior, Onicha-Ado and Onicha-Olona would be discussed to buttress this argument.   

Obior

The community’s legend holds that on arrival, Ezechime supplanted the Ovior Dynasty and established his own reign. Relying on The Pointer Newspaper publication, Ezechime fell in love with the first daughter of the Oba of Benin but what followed that was unfavourable to him and his wife. This would compel them to decide on a search for a new home outside Benin hence the eastward migration.

Onicha-Ado (Onitsha)

As regards this community, Okeke (2012) stated that:

 “Onitsha was known as Ado N’idu by citizens who departed from the vicinity of the Kingdom of Benin (near what is now Agbor), after a violent dispute with the Oba of Benin that can be tentatively dated to the early 1500s”.

The information made available on Chuks Okeke’s blog further added:

 “…the Onitsha, led by one Chima eventually crossed the Niger River and settled on the east bank in their current location”.  

In a similar manner, Onicha-Olona, another Ezechime settlement holds that the settlement was founded in the 15^th c by a Benin Prince called Ugbehe.

Other accounts to prove Ezechime’s Bini ancestry

To support the Onitsha Benin claim is the below account:

"Thus, in tracing my paternal lineage, I could say that both parents of my father are direct descendants of Eze Chima. As for me, I can trace my paternal ancestry in this wise: I am the first son of Chukwuemeka, who was the third child and first son of Azikiwe, who was the second son of Molokwu, who was the third son of Ozomaocha, who was the second son of Inosi Onira, who was the fourth son of Dei, the second son of Eze Chima, the founder of Onitsha”. Azikiwe (1970:4)

In establishing further declaration, Azikiwe wrote:

"I can trace my maternal ancestry thus: I am the first son of Nwanonaku Rachel Chinwe Ogbenyeanu (Aghadiuno) Azikiwe, who was third daughter of Aghadiuno Ajie, the fifth son of Onowu Agbani, first daughter of Obi Udokwu, the son who descended from five Kings of Onitsha. Five of these rulers of Onitsha were direct lineal descendants of Eze Chima, who led his warrior adventurers when they left Benin to establish the Onitsha city state in about 1748 AD."

Azikiwe (1970:5) provides further information on the meaning of Onitsha:

 "One day I asked her (grandmother) the meaning of the word “Onitsha”. She explained that it had historical significance. The terminology meant one who despised another. It is a contraction of two words, Onini to despise, and Ncha meaning others. So that the two words when joined together mean one who despises others. Then I asked her why we despised others. She patted me on the back and told me that it was due to our aristocratic background and tradition. I insisted that she should explain to me the basis of this supercilious social attitude. She told me that we despised others because we descended from the Royal House of Benin and so regarded ourselves as the superiors of other tribes who had no royal blood in their veins....."

Finally, Azikiwe would confirm the Ezechime Benin ancestry when he emphasized:   

"I continued to belabor my grandmother to tell me more of the history and origins of the Onitsha people. She narrated that many many years ago, there lived at Idu (Benin) a great Oba who had many children. Due to a power struggle regarding the right of precedence among princes of the blood and other altercations, there was a civil war in Benin. One day, the supporters of one of the princes insulted and assaulted Queen Asije, the mother of of the Oba of Benin, who was accused of having trespassed on their farmland. Enraged at this evidence of indiscipline and lawlessness, the Oba ordered his war chief and brother, Gbunwala Asije to apprehend and punish the insurgents. In the attempt to penalise them, Chima, the ultimate founder of the Onitsha city-state, a prince of the blood in his own right, led the recalcitrants against his Uncle, Gbunwala. This intensified the civil war which rent the kingdom of Benin in two and led to the founding of Onitsha Ado N'Idu....... ..."

"As the great trek from Benin progressed, some did not have the stout heart of the pioneer-warrior, and decided to settle at different places, known today as Onitsha -Ugbo, Onitsha-Olona, Onitsha-Mili, Obior, Issele Ukwu, Ossomari, Aboh, etc...".

In a response left on his website, Philip Emeagwali explained the following to buttress his argument of Benin as Ezechima ancestral background:

“First, the Onitsha version of the Igbo language is distinct: it still contains numerous words from the Yoruba, Edo and Igalla languages. In 1967, I was told that the oldest man in Onitsha could speak "old Onitsha language" which none could understand.

Again, the Yorubas/Edos immigrated in the mid-1500s, as they fled the slave raiders. The Igbos and Igallas traders immigrated circa 200 years ago. Today, 95 percent of Onitshans were not even born near Onitsha. Hence, only the descendants of the old Onicha immigrants known as Ume Eze Chima could aspire to become the Obi of Onitsha”.

“Second, your argument that "Chima" is an Igbo name is not sufficient proof that Eze Chima is Igbo. Please remember that Chima's contemporaries include Cristóbal Colón, the Spanish explorer that was renamed "Cristoforo Colombo" by Italians and "Christopher Columbus" by Anglo-Saxons. Spanish speakers often insist on calling me the more familiar "Felipe" or Spanish for "Philip." Since words such as Chima, Onitsha and Ado were not written down, they are certainly corruptions of Edo/Yoruba words”.

Obi Issele-Uku’s visit to Onitsha

Recently, the Obi of Onitsha, HRM Agbogidi Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe played host to the Obi of Issele-Uku, HRM Obi Agbogidi Nduka (MNSE) and the visit was historic among the children of Ezechime.

In that visit, the Obi of Onitsha affirmed that he and the Obi of Issele-Uku would continue to champion the course of bringing all Ezechime children together.

On whether Onitsha is Ezechime, the Obi ardently said:

“Every Onitsha person understands his source of existence. We are children of Ezechime”.

The Obi also revealed that during the reign of Obi Henry Ezeagwuna, the late Obi of Issele-Uku, Onitsha was meeting with other Ezechime communities under the umbrella of Ezechime Kingdoms.

 Ezechime: Benin or Igbo?

Certain factors observable from this work have greatly demonstrated Ezechime to be of Benin background as held by the generality of settlements founded by him. Below are the arguments:

(i)            The name factor: “Eze Chime” or “Eze Chima” etymologically means “King Chime” or “King Chima” in Igbo language yet he was never at any time the Oba of Benin. If he was not the Oba, how could he have left Benin with the prefix of a monarch so translated in Igbo? Indeed, it is worthy that his birth name was “Ikime”, a name by which he was correctly known in Benin. Eze Chime was only a nickname he assumed following his successful supplanting of Ovio Dynasty and consequently his leadership of that kingdom. He was only later nicknamed “Ezechime” by the surrounding Igbo-speaking people.

(ii)          Frequent raids: The frequent raids organized by Oba Esigie to capture Ezechime and return him back to Benin were known to Anioma settlements as “Aya Idu”. It was doubtful how much willingness, time and resources Oba Esigie would have invested to go after a fleeing Igbo captive or trader. The frequent raids with so much resources invested by the monarch in going after Ezechime only suggested that he was an important Benin Prince.

(iii)         The Edo names that Ezechime’s wives and children bore: Names that Ezechime christened his children such as Ukpali, Oligbo etc were rather Edo names.

(iv)         Names borne by communities founded by Ezechime: Names borne by communities founded by Ezechime are Edo names. Such names as Obomkpa, Issele-Ukwu, Issele-Mkpitime, Olona etc incontrovertibly confirm Ezechime’s Benin background.

(v)          Festivals of the communities founded by him: Core festivals of these communities are all of Benin origin. One of this is the Igue Festival. In fact, the very first festival celebrated by him upon his exit from Benin is Ogbanigbe Festival which is Bini in nature.

(vi)         Myths and legends of Ezechime communities: All the myths and legends and altogether, the oral sources of Umuezechime clans up to Onitsha consistently maintain Benin to be their homestead, an argument also supported by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe in his autography, “My Odyssey”, subtitled, "My Genealogy and Nativity" and published in 1970 by Spectrum Books.

Most importantly, a people are who they say they are a reason any study of a people must take cognizance of their oral tradition.

Published in Anioma Essence Magazine

Vol 9 No 1 2018