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EBU, THE IGALA- SPEAKING COMMUNITY IN ANIOMA

 EBU, THE IGALA- SPEAKING COMMUNITY IN ANIOMA


By Emeka Esogbue


Located in the midst of other Oshimili communities and sharing the same Oshimili North Local Government Area in Delta State with Ibusa, Akwukwu-Igbo, Atuma, Okpanam, and Illah, Ebu is one of the most culturally influenced Anioma communities in existence today. The community, a border town that stands on the road to Benin, is further bordered by Illah and Ezi, among others. 


The Ebu geography of contiguity continues. The people migrated from Idah in today's Kogi State from where they settled in the present Delta State site amid Igbo-speaking Enuani communities of Oshimili extraction. It is historically said that they migrated all the way from Idah to settle in their present location in search of a prime fishing area.


The Igala-speaking Ebu is noted for its agrarian nature due to the fertility of the community in growing food crops, especially rice and yam. Their settlement on the bank of the majestic River Niger is also an added advantage to their occupational needs. It is the access to the River Niger that enables them to engage in fishing. 


What is particularly unique about the people of Ebu is that having settled down amid the Enuani and close to Benin, they never allowed any interference in their original Igala language imported from Idah and have also retained their Igala names and culture. Instead, they are today, affected by bilingualism in which case Igala and Enuani are spoken by them, something also unique about the people. 


Perhaps, only a few people have heard of the name, "ofefele," which is what the people natively call their cultural fabric. Ofefele is simply what other Anioma communities call "Akwa-Ocha." Hence, the Ebu, like their other Enuani and Ika counterparts consider Akwa-Ocha indigenous to them. Beyond this, the people of Ebu have not been able to assimilate a number of the traditions and cultures of the surrounding Enuani people. 


8 quarters make up the Ebu community and they are:


1. Aganike

2. Uchebe

3. Okwuru

4. Ekpenchor

5. Anamaugelo

6. Ugbolo

7. Ogor; and

8. Iyagoshimi


Interestingly too, the Ebu imported from Idah monarchical system of administration and have been able to retain it over the years so Ebu is a Kingdom ruled by Onu Ebu. 


A few years ago, I was in the entourage of the Organization For the Advancement of Anioma Culture (OFAAC), the culture umbrella of the Anioma people that paid an official visit to the Onu of Ebu, and we were lovingly welcomed by the chiefs of the community. The people are hospitable. At this stage, it is impossible to discuss the Ebu community without the mention of Ebu Wonder, a masquerade, natively typical to the Igala nation which Okpanam also shares, and Asaba as Egungun. 


The wonders of Ebu Wonder have been shared in an intellectual article published in Anioma Essence, Integrity Watchdog Magazine, and other mediums alike by Dr. Henry Obi Ajumeze, a Theatre Arts Lecturer with the University of Manchester, United Kingdom who hails from Ibusa, another community in Oshimili North Local Government Area of the state.

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