abraka00:
I agree with u 100%. He was more of a regent not completely a king. Was he Nana of a town(Warri) or Nana of a tribe(itsekiri)? Remember a regent performs the fuctions of a king when there is a lull.I will continue to educate u.In case of next time,know ur line of argument. Just know that the title of olu of Warri will be reverted to that of Olu of itsekiri at the demise of this present Olu.Have a nice day.

since 1952 when his grand father was king nutin changed na u wan change am after 63yrs?.. mornachs rule a place.. thats y we don't have names like emir of hausa or ovie of urhobo... so eat ur humble pie ok

onuwaje:

Nana was never a king o

Nana was never a king,yes! Orodje of Okpe and not Orodje of Sapele, Ohinoyi of Igbira and not Ohinoyi of Okene, Etsu Nupe and not Etsu Bida.

abraka00:
Nana was never a king,yes! Orodje of Okpe and not Orodje of Sapele, Ohinoyi of Igbira and not Ohinoyi of Okene, Etsu Nupe and not Etsu Bida.

of course I knw..

onuwaje:

I now understand ur person. You think all notherners are Hausas?Kai! In Kogi state for instance, we have the Igbiras and Igalas just as we have the Urhobos in Delta.In Niger State, we have the Nupe people. If in Urhobo land we dont have Ovie of Urhobo,that does not mean you dont have Etsu Nupe or Ohinoyi of Igbira.You better read wide and travel wide. This will make u a better person.

onuwaje:
of course I knw..

You knew? Why did u say nothing like king of tribe but king of place?

abraka00:
You knew? Why did u say nothing like king of tribe but king of place?

the few places where u av mornachs named after d tribe is because (I think).. d name of the tribe is d name of the place (like oba of benin)

abraka00:
You knew? Why did u say nothing like king of tribe but king of place?

The meaning of that statement is.. kings rule over people who come from a place..

U can call him olu of itsekiri no doubt.. he's the olu of the itsekiri but where do Itsekiris come from

onuwaje:
the few places where u av mornachs named after d tribe is because (I think).. d name of the tribe is d name of the place (like oba of benin)

Where I come from, we have The Ovie of Abraka(place). Thank God u said'I think'. Okpe for instance is a nation just like Itsekiri. In Okpe land, Sapele, Orerokpe,Aghalokpe and many others form the Okpe nation.The title was Olu of itsekiri. It was Awolowo that chose to Punish the Urhobos for alligning with northerners.

abraka00:
Where I come from, we have The Ovie of Abraka(place). Thank God u said'I think'. Okpe for instance is a nation just like Itsekiri. In Okpe land, Sapele, Orerokpe,Aghalokpe and many others form the Okpe nation.The title was Olu of itsekiri. It was Awolowo that chose to Punish the Urhobos for alligning with northerners.

If u read ur archives well... u will notice that the old warri district covers from the present day warri township we knw today and expands up to areas we knw as urhobo and isoko nation today... i'll try to scan d old map and upload here for clarification purposes so you can see why this is still causing issues till date.
When awolowo made the declaration back in 1952.. a normal urhobo man would see it as blatant nonsense (I don't blame anybody for that cos everybody wants to protect his/her land from foreign mornachs/ruler)..

The issue here is that most urhobo people today think that awolowo wanted the itsekiri to dominate the urhobos( I don't knw what his motives were) but the crises resulted because the itsekiri agitated for an olu of warri which is the traditional base of itsekiri. But unfortunately as at 1952.. the old warri district as at den covers the urhobo lands den (it was done by d british)

I av read journals from the itsekiri bloc and urhobo blocs concerning issues about the title (olu of warri or itsekiri)
The hatred today is because we didn't go indept as to wat were the other factors that caused this conflict..
If u need d journals from urhobo writers I can share. But for fair judgement I wud advise u to read from both tribes den draw ur conclusion
Thankss

[quote author=onuwaje post=30902056]
The fact is that in a bit to resolve the conflict in Warri during Ibori's era, all parties agreed that the title of Olu of Warri be reverted to Olu of Itsekiri. Though, it will take effect after the demise of this present Olu .

[quote author=abraka00 post=30906627][/quote]hw come u r d first person I'm hearing this?? The title was nt the issue dat led to d crisis and do u av fact? If yes pls share

onuwaje:
hw come u r d first person I'm hearing this?? The title was nt the issue dat led to d crisis and do u av fact? If yes pls share

It was a major cause of the crises.The first step was the creation of two kindoms in Warri for the Urhobos namly Agbara Warri and Agbassa Warri(not too sure about the name of the second).I am far away from home, I would have presented more facts.

onuwaje:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warri_Crisis

Remember I used the word 'crises' not 'crisis'. The siting of the loca govt. hqr in Ogidiggben was one of the crises in Warri.That was between the Ijaws and Itsekiris. The Urhobos are in Warri south and not Warri south west nor Warri north.

abraka00:
Remember I used the word 'crises' not 'crisis'. The siting of the loca govt. hqr in Ogidiggben was one of the crises in Warri.That was between the Ijaws and Itsekiris. The Urhobos are in Warri south and not Warri south west nor Warri north.

what I was trying to clarify is u saying that the Itsekiris agreed that the name of a mornach will b changed when he died
What I want to understand is
1.when was this agreement madee?
2.who and who made this agreement
3.was it made public?

Pls answer with credible sources pls.. thanks

Hmm, so sad that i wasnt able to join this thread from the begining.
But as a guy born and bred in Warri (though am not from Delta state). I can say that the Itsekiris actually own the 'historical Warri area'. But the truth is that the definition of Warri in the 1900 and the definition of warri today are very different.
Warri Metropolitan area has come to cover other places as Uvwie LGA (Effurun) and some parts of Udu LGA.

Infact Warri south & Uvwie LGAs are the 2 major Lgas that account for Warri metropolitan population.
Warri south LGA has slightly more Itsekiri communities than Urhobo and Ijaws, while Uvwie LGA on the other hand is over 90% owned by Urhobos with fewer itsekiris.

If u talk of whole population of Warri urban area, it is very clear that Urhobos dominate both the general population and the indigenous population.
But if u talk of Warri area proper (historical Warri area) which is much of Warri south LGA, Itsekiris then have to dominate the indigenous population, but i dont think they can dominate the general overall population.

In summary, the truth is that Warri as a city today belongs to all the 3 tribes (Urhobo, Ijaws n Itsekiris).

onuwaje:

It was made public.That was during Ibori's regime.It will take effect at the demise of this present Olu. Presently I am far away from Delta so I cant for now easily lay my hands on relevant materials with ease. I understood what u are saying but I promise to find a way to get these materials.

abraka00:
It was made public.That was during Ibori's regime.It will take effect at the demise of this present Olu. Presently I am far away from Delta so I cant for now easily lay my hands on relevant materials with ease. I understood what u are saying but I promise to find a way to get these materials.

I doubt ur claim...

[quote author=abraka00 post=30890538][/quote] u cant twist itsekiri history nana was never a king but a machant cheif.a middle man to d british who later fought dem durin d 88yrs interugum

Lucky4real28:
No tribe own warri in My opinion, just some parts are own by different tribe like the op mentioned, I am urhobo and i am from warri and my grand father said his grand father is from warri aswell.

hw can u say no one own warri? like king solomon decision on both women on d child. itsekiri can never say no one own warri. but somtime urhobo and ijaws will say so. if urhobo own warri. wat is d meanin of warri in urhobo lang? ur fore fathers were mere settlers in warri

abraka00:
Where I come from, we have The Ovie of Abraka(place). Thank God u said'I think'. Okpe for instance is a nation just like Itsekiri. In Okpe land, Sapele, Orerokpe,Aghalokpe and many others form the Okpe nation.The title was Olu of itsekiri. It was Awolowo that chose to Punish the Urhobos for alligning with northerners.

cnt u see u re bias? so re u sayin d itsekiri doaent ve a kindom. for ur information a king title bears d name of d land nt tribe unless d name of the tribe is same wit d land e.g benin

abraka00:
I speak authoritatively. Warri belongs to the Urhobos as pronounced by the supreme court. Again, the title 'olu of warri' will cease to exist after the reign of this present olu. It shall be reverted to 'olu of itsekiri'.

which supreme court, is it urhobo supreme court? even d British and Portuguese will tell u dat they met itsekiri as warri owner nt urhobo or ijaw. if u guys own warri hw com u pple dnt ve king in warri until okumagba era wen he try to impose king in okere which is an itsekiri community. while olu of warri as been 536yrs.

jolo26:
which supreme court, is it urhobo supreme court? even d British and Portuguese will tell u dat they met itsekiri as warri owner nt urhobo or ijaw. if u guys own warri hw com u pple dnt ve king in warri until okumagba era wen he try to impose king in okere which is an itsekiri community. while olu of warri as been 536yrs.

The Urhobos have never claimed to own Warri at any point in time. They have always maintained that there are some places/lands in Warri that they have been occupying for a long time. Those places are Okere and Agbassa. Other than that, Urhobos do not claim the entirety of Warri. It is the itsekiris that assume such.

Carlmax:


U just said it all, it's the simple truth, forget about where d oil wells are located, the urhobos have never fought for a village that isn't clearly theirs. if you remove Uvwie, Okere-Urhobo and agbasa, what U have is a very tiny piece of land and swamps. people call the whole city warri this days, but a little while ago everybody knows that Effurun is different from warri.

i want to tell u dis if i build a house, dat make me d landlord and i give some rooms out to u dat make u a tennant. no matter how long u live in my house be it thousand yrs u remain a tennant to me. d agbassas re tenant to itsekiri also d urhobos in idimi usobo infact all usobo enclave in warri. so hw can u separate ur rooms frm d coumpound? itsekiri dnt tell u effurun is warri infact neigbhous same lifestyle nd less popular to warri( IWERRE)KINGDOM.

jolo26:
i want to tell u dis if i build a house, dat make me d landlord and i give some rooms out to u dat make u a tennant. no matter how long u live in my house be it thousand yrs u remain a tennant to me. d agbassas re tenant to itsekiri also d urhobos in idimi usobo infact all usobo enclave in warri. so hw can u separate ur rooms frm d coumpound? itsekiri dnt tell u effurun is warri infact neigbhous same lifestyle nd less popular to warri( IWERRE)KINGDOM.

Whether Itsekiris agree that Effurun is not part of Warri or not, d truth is that almost the whole world see and classifiy Effurun (Uvwie) as part of the larger Warri urban area.
If u remove the entirety of Uvwie LGA from Warri urban area, warri would be a smaller city just like the size of Asaba, Sapele or Ughelli. It would seize it's status from being the largest city in Delta state.

[quote author=literarymathy post=30753366]Many of you have heard about Warri in Delta State. It is a very popular place and one of the most well known areas of Southern Nigeria. Warri is a fast growing megacity filled with so many potentials and so many people. It is like a small Nigeria of its own. Warri is the unofficial capital of Delta State as well as its economic hub. It is a well known fact that politics dictated the relocation of Delta State's capital city to the current Anioma town of Asaba. This act prompted a lot of sentiments from all corners but what has been done has been done. I wish to present you all with some facts about this oil city that should be known and also address its origins and theories about its ownership.

- Warri was a major hub for trading as far back as the 15th centuries when Portuguese traders arrived its shores.

- Warri is occupied by three main ethnic groups: the Ijaws, the Itsekiris and the Urhobos. Each of these ethnic nationalities claim original ownership of Warri and each may as well be right. However, this issue will be treated later on.

- Warri was the headquarters of the colonial Delta province and has always served useful functions as a hub for all the nearby ethnic groups.

- The FIRST NIGERIAN to ever go to a university was Antonio Dom Domingo who graduated from Coimbra University in Portugal in 1611. He was a Warri Itsekiri man.

- Modern day Warri is made up of three local government areas; Warri South LGA which is dominated by the Urhobos of Okere and Agbassa and the Itsekiris, Warri South West which is dominated by Ijaws and Itsekiris and Warri North which is mainly dominated by the Itsekiris with Ijaws as well. These LGAs are all in Delta South Senatorial District. They share this district together with the Isokos.

- Warri was a major slave hub during the transatlantic slave trade that lasted for over 400 years. Itsekiri chiefs and monarchs were partners with European slave traders and they imported slaves to be shipped to North America, South America, Europe and the West Indies.

- The name "Warri" was coined by a Portuguese explorer and has no origin with the Itsekiri titular name of "Iwere". This is a historical fact. Furthermore, other names of places in the Warri Axis such as "Forcados" were also colonial coinages.

- The Agbassa (Agbara-Ame) People of Warri South Local Government Area were migrants to Warri from their home town of Agbarha-Otor just like the Idjerhe(Jesse) and Oghara people of Ethiope West. The Itsekiri people of Warri are also migrants. Their documented history shows that most of them migrated from Ijebu and Ilaje(Yoruba conclaves) and were placed together as one people under the reign of Ginuwa, an exiled Benin prince who took refuge at Ode-Itsekiri, the ancestral home of the Itsekiri people. The Ijaws are quite older in Warri. However, history documents that they were also migrants from the hinterland of the Niger Delta when the old Edo people came to their current land in the Pre-Ogiso era. So if any tribe can lay claim to Warri (based on original occupation), it will be the Ijaw people. However, it is known that the Ijaws, prior to the Kaiama declaration, were less concerned with territorial holds. There were passive in old Warri. In reality, Warri is no man's land .

- In Pre-colonial times, it was fashionable for the tribes occupying Warri to inter-marry. In fact, there are a few Warri indigenes without any mixed Itsekiri, Urhobo or Ijaw ancestry.

- In pre-colonial and colonial times, there was a marked division of territory in Warri. The Ijaws occupied the islands and shores in the Warri South West Axis, the Itsekiris occupied the islands and mainlands close to the coastal areas in Warri South and North while the Urhobos occupied the hinterland with the exception of Okere-Urhobo and Agbassa urhobo who occupied coastal regions.

- Due to the fact said above, the Itsekiris had the privileged advantage of meeting the Europeans first and trading with them. There were open and eager to learn the European way of life. They eventually monopolised trade with the Europeans and other ethnic groups went through the Itsekiris in other to gain access to the Europeans.

- When colonisation started officially, the Itsekiris were much more favoured by the British. This brought about envy and jealousy by the other tribes occupying Warri. The Itsekiris became colonial court clerks and judges, they were interpreters, they were agents, they were virtually everything embodying the indirect rule system. Bad blood was developed.

- When the colonial NCNC and the Action Group party was formed, the Itsekiris embraced the AG while the Urhobos embraced NCNC. Awolowo punished the Urhobos for this by placing the Itsekiri monarch above all the Urhobo monarchs. Awo also changed the traditional title of the Olu of Itsekiri to the Olu of Warri and moved their traditional island of Ode-Itsekiri to mainland Warri. This led to a series of protests by the Urhobos and Ijaws. This period also marked the beginning of Urhobo nationalism led by the great Mukoro Mowoe, M.G. Ejaife and others. However, the change was already gazetted and little could be done about it. Another bad blood was spilt.

- With the discovery of Oil in the Warri region, another trouble started for the people of this region. Most of the oil wells in this region were presumably in Itsekiri land. However, Ijaw and Urhobo land has its large share of these oil wells. The Olu of Itsekiri, in a bid to monopolise the oil wells, decided to impose lordship over all lands in Warri since his title is the Olu of Warri and there's an etymological link between Warri and "Iwerre", an Itsekiri word. This led to a series of court cases which lasted for decades until a particular court ruling that stated unequivocally the the Olu of Warri is a mere titular appellation and his over-lord's powers are limited to Itsekiri traditional homesteads. This brought relative peace to Warri.

- With the coming of oil companies such as Shell, Chevron, NNPC and others, the Itsekiris presented themselves as pitiable minorities that were oppressed by their big brothers in Warri. Employment was monopolised to Itsekiris, so also with development, scholarship, etc. Urhobo and Ijaw lands became desolate like the proverbial "wasteland" of T. S. Eliot, the British poet. Ironically, the areas of Warri that are shared by the tribes were never developed by these companies due the influence of the Itsekiris. Even the airport in Warri now was fought against by the Itsekiris for their own reasons. More bad blood was spilt again...

- The heightened tension came when the Delta State government decided to situate the headquarters of Warri-South West LGA in an Itsekiri land, bypassing the proposed Ijaw land of Ogbe-Ijoh. This led to a series of violent clashes now known as the Warri Crisis that lasted for years. It was only the Urhobos that were somewhat neutral in this clash. Relative peace was regained when the headquarters was shifted to the proposed Ogbe-Ijoh land of the Ijaws.

- Warri is currently enjoying a very delicate peace among the tribes. However, this peace can change at any given moment if any tribe engages in any actions not sanctioned by the other tribes.

- The Itsekiris are currently seeking for their own state with capital at Warri. Before now, they sought to be placed together with Edo state in a contraption known as "EDOWA" or to be connected with Ondo state. It is even presumed that they had political roles played in the situation of the Delta State capital at Asaba and not Warri, the true heart of Delta. This is because they believed that the Urhobos will gain more from this rather than themselves.


The above facts have been presented as objectively as possible. I am not from Warri. These facts beg the question, who TRULY owns Warri City? Is it the Ijaws, Urhobos, Itsekiris, all of them or none of them? Judging from the above facts, please answer the question.

p.s. I am not claiming to be an authority in Urhobo-Ijaw-Itsekiri relationship and history. I am only trying to educate others. So if you have a point to add, or a correction to be made, please state it. This thread is not for ethnic rivalry or the likes. It is for the truth. [ my question for u, were did u read dat warri has notin to do wit d itsekiri word iwere? its clear to d world dat itsekiris trade wit d european. we gave dem d name of our land as iwere but u should nt expect a white man to pronounce a black man name d way it should originally b prononce rather they pronounce it d way it seem right to dem eg werre( english man )ouwerre( potuguess man )luk at d case of benin d original name is ile ibinu but they pronounce nd document it benin. d supreme law courts in nig. as declare both usobo and ijaws as tenant in warri y cnt they accept it? nd let peace reign. read obaro ikimi and salubi (both re urobo men) history bout warri they did nt denies dat warri is an adulterated name of iwere.NOTE.a white man doesnt prononce warri d way we black prononce it.base on sound and consonant black pronance it worri .while d english man say werri which sounr closely to IWERE. TNX

dennismukoro:
urhobo occupies 80% of warri south which is the biggest. follow by itsekiris of 20%

dat mean u re confuse. nw listen 80% percent of urobo in warri today re nt frm any usobo communities in warri. i once ask an usobo boy in warri agueing bout dis topic were is mum and dad came frm he said effurun and udu respectively i den ask him were his perent own in d warri? if u say 80% urobo 20% itsekiri wat bout d ijaw? u pple just talk without proof. go to court and defend urself

zeezboy:

none in warri north! Few in warri south! Buh if u remove d issue of metropolice, warri ll b 2 small 2b found 4rm d map of delta state!

do u knw dat orugbo. omadino. big warri and some riverine itsekiri communities re part of warri south?

zeezboy:

if u want 2 talk abat warri metropolis, jst 4get abat d itsekiris cos d urhobos occupies over 60% of warri metropolis!

if they re 60% as u claim re they all frm d warri. urhobo re too irritating wit land claim. show ur evident in court dat u guys own warri.? hw could usobo( eru) own warri because dem don dey open eye.

dennismukoro:
URHOBOS HAVE OVER 7 COMMUNITIES IN WARRI NAMELY AGBASSA, IGBUDU,EDJEBA,OGUNU,OKERE URHOBO, ODUMUSOBO,IYARA ETC MORE THAN THE ITSEKIRI

wen as iyara i grew up become a community? dis usobos make God help una iyara is a road name.okere is itsekiri community were urobo ve a settlement.. it idimi usobo not okere urobo. d term okere urobo is use to describe d usobo(eru) livin in okere

zeezboy:

no! Buh i cannot call warri a metropolis without adding uvwie 2 it!

i beg u no go fail exam ooo uvwie is anoder l.g.a entirely frm warri and its nt warri.listen ovie of uvwie nt ovie of warri. olu of warri. two land entirely

dennismukoro:
MAYBE TYPO ERRO I MEANT WARRI SOUTH WHICH IS THE BIGGEST AND THE MOST DEVELOPED.

urobo ve 10 l.g.a u guys shuld go nd develop ur land to make it luke like warri.make una leave our warri for us. greedinees dey kill. pple hate itsekiri but we dey prosper dey go.