Is Abagworo a typical Oguta name, and what does it mean?

OdenigboAroli:


There are more Ossai in Ukwuani than anywhere else in southern Nigeria.

There are many Ossai in Enugu North senatorial zone, ie Nsukka area. Enugu Ezike mainly.

Ossai is not of Bini origin.

Igboid:


There are many Ossai in Enugu North senatorial zone, ie Nsukka area. Enugu Ezike mainly.

Ossai is not of Bini origin.

I was fascinated the day I met one Ossai from Enugu. What's the meaning of Enugu Ossai?

Abagworo:
I was fascinated the day I met one Ossai from Enugu. What's the meaning of Enugu Ossai?

Don't know. A variant of Ossai in contagious Nsukka area is Ohai. I had a class mate in secondary school at Enugu city with this Ohai as surname, a very good friend, he is from Nsukka area too. The people answer both names.

I asked a colleague from Enugu-Ezike with Ossai as surname, the meaning of the name, he told me that neither him nor his father knows, but that many in his town answer the name.

On further digging, I found out that Enugu Ezike claims Bini origin too in addition to Igalla, Idoma and wait for it, NUPE influence ( The Adukwu family) as well as core Nshi Now how about that for diversity.

Enugu North senatorial district is the most mixed and diverse part of Igboland, not Anioma.

You have communities in Enugu North senatorial district claiming Igala, Idoma, Nri, Awka, Bini, Nupe origins, with traditional surnames from these groups to prove it.

Concerning "Ossai", we may be looking at two different names that happen to sound alike.

I saw a list of Ukwuani names where Ossai (written as 'Osai' in the list) was explained as "He chose me". Now in Ukwuani, 's' replaces 'r/h'. Thus 'oru/ohu' (slave) becomes 'osu' in Ukwuani; 'iru/ihu' (front) becomes 'isu'; 'ora/oha' (public) becomes 'osa'. 'Ra/ha' (choose --- as in ralu ife, 'pick/choose something) becomes 'sa'.

The list also has another name written as Ossai, which it didn't explain but simply said was the name of a deity. I'll come back to the deity Ossai, but it seems that two similar sounding names met in Ukwuani and became confused one with the other so that an Ossai may not know whether his name means "He chose me" or whether he was named for the deity.

Coming to the Nsukka "Ossai", I am 90% positive this is an adaptation of an Igala name. Igala people bear the name "Ochayi". There is a tendency for Igala 'ch' to become 's' in Igbo and vice versa. Thus Igala would call Asaba "Achaba". Igala words like Achogwa and Achadu become Asogwa and Asadu in Igboland.

In that vein, Ochayi becomes Osayi in Igboland/Nsukka. I've come across old books where the name in Nsukka was actually written as Osayi. Ossai is probably only a 'funkified' way of writing it.

Returning to "Ossai" the deity in Ukwuani, it may be interesting to point out that in Osomala there is (or was) a deity called Ossai Anaja Oboli which was said to have come from Igala. This was probably the same deity that penetrated Ukwuani. Thus, it would appear that the Igala "Ochayi" also reached Ukwuani (as Ossai) and accounts for the second meaning of the name Ossai/Osai.

AjaanaOka:
Concerning "Ossai", we may be looking at two different names that happen to sound alike.

I saw a list of Ukwuani names where Ossai (written as 'Osai' in the list) was explained as "He chose me". Now in Ukwuani, 's' replaces 'r/h'. Thus 'oru/ohu' (slave) becomes 'osu' in Ukwuani; 'iru/ihu' (front) becomes 'isu'; 'ora/oha' (public) becomes 'osa'. 'Ra/ha' (choose --- as in ralu ife, 'pick/choose something) becomes 'sa'.

The list also has another name written as Ossai, which it didn't explain but simply said was the name of a deity. I'll come back to the deity Ossai, but it seems that two similar sounding names met in Ukwuani and became confused one with the other so that an Ossai may not know whether his name means "He chose me" or whether he was named for the deity.

Coming to the Nsukka "Ossai", I am 90% positive this is an adaptation of an Igala name. Igala people bear the name "Ochayi". There is a tendency for Igala 'ch' to become 's' in Igbo and vice versa. Thus Igala would call Asaba "Achaba". Igala words like Achogwa and Achadu become Asogwa and Asadu in Igboland.

In that vein, Ochayi becomes Osayi in Igboland/Nsukka. I've come across old books where the name in Nsukka was actually written as Osayi. Ossai is probably only a 'funkified' way of writing it.

Returning to "Ossai" the deity in Ukwuani, it may be interesting to point out that in Osomala there is (or was) a deity called Ossai Anaja Oboli which was said to have come from Igala. This was probably the same deity that penetrated Ukwuani. Thus, it would appear that the Igala "Ochayi" also reached Ukwuani (as Ossai) and accounts for the second meaning of the name Ossai/Osai.

Interesting.

Igboid:


Don't know. A variant of Ossai in contagious Nsukka area is Ohai. I had a class mate in secondary school at Enugu city with this Ohai as surname, a very good friend, he is from Nsukka area too. The people answer both names.

I asked a colleague from Enugu-Ezike with Ossai as surname, the meaning of the name, he told me that neither him nor his father knows, but that many in his town answer the name.

On further digging, I found out that Enugu Ezike claims Bini origin too in addition to Igalla, Idoma and wait for it, NUPE influence ( The Adukwu family) as well as core Nshi Now how about that for diversity.

Enugu North senatorial district is the most mixed and diverse part of Igboland, not Anioma.

You have communities in Enugu North senatorial district claiming Igala, Idoma, Nri, Awka, Bini, Nupe origins, with traditional surnames from these groups to prove it.

Funny, Enugu Ezike people are actually descended from Enugwu-ukwu people of Anambra state. During EU festivals, Enugu Ezike people often send a representative to represent them. Their true origin lies in EU, however, they may have had recent settlers in their land but it doesn't in anyway change their actual origin.

bigfrancis21:


Funny, Enugu Ezike people are actually descended from Enugwu-ukwu people of Anambra state. During EU festivals, Enugu Ezike people often send a representative to represent them. Their true origin lies in EU, however, they may have had recent settlers in their land but it doesn't in anyway change their actual origin.

No.

Enugu Ezike people believed they migrated from ancient Bini, passed through Asaba- to Enugwu ukwu- to Aguleri, to Igala country and finally settled at their final location.

And that they picked up people along the way. So some Enugu Ezike people might be of Enugu Ukwu origin, but not majority of the community.

Atleast, that's their recent origin story, which could have been doctored anyway.

Do you have older colonial documents on Enugu Ezike?

*smh*

This Bini ancestry fad. Even Aguleri is beginning to claim origin from Iduu (Benin). Seen some literature making that claim.

Anyway, the Intelligence Report on Enugu-Ezike which was written as long ago as 1934 still exists, and it does not say a single word about Benin.

AjaanaOka:
*smh*

This Bini ancestry fad. Even Aguleri is beginning to claim origin from Iduu (Benin). Seen some literature making that claim.

Anyway, the Intelligence Report on Enugu-Ezike which was written as long ago as 1934 still exists, and it does not say a single word about Benin.

Good a thing you are here.

Please can you help me ascertain this claim of Nri priests performing some role during the coronation of Bini kings in the past.


"In addition to all I have said in support of Nri origin of Ezechime is Jeffery M. D. W. The Oreli Mask' Nigerian Field, Vol. 10, 1941, pp 140 - 142. He noted that Nri people were performing certain ritual functions at the installation of a New Oba of Benin".

I saw the above somewhere, how true is it.

AjaanaOka:
*smh*

This Bini ancestry fad. Even Aguleri is beginning to claim origin from Iduu (Benin). Seen some literature making that claim.

Anyway, the Intelligence Report on Enugu-Ezike which was written as long ago as 1934 still exists, and it does not say a single word about Benin.

I was just exactly going to say the same thing. It seems every town now ddesires to claim 'bini ancestry'. It's become the fashionable thing of our time for Igbo cllans to claim 'bini ancestry' even when such claims were not present before. Even Ikwerre, known to be descendants from Arochukwu, have doctored a bini ancestry for their claim. The Ogba people and Ekpeye have long done theirs.

@Igboid When my aged paternal grandmother and dad told me of our Enugwu-ukwu hisstorry and that of Enugu-Ezike, she did not mention Bini history whatsoever. It is even recorded that in 1935, people from Enugu-Ezike went to bear witness in Enugwu-ukwu during a land dispute settlement. The ties between EU and EE have been there. The elders often tend to know the true history compared to young ones who have access to the internet to doctor claims as they so wish. I went to school in UNN, met several people from Enugu Ezike and not one of them, not one, mentioned being from Bini whatsoever. Or maybe they just didn't know. Aguleri is starting to join the bandwagon too.

My advise would be to take such claims of Bini origin with a grain of salt. Just because it is on the internet doesn't necessarily mean it's true.

Igboid:


Good a thing you are here.

Please can you help me ascertain this claim of Nri priests performing some role during the coronation of Bini kings in the past.


"In addition to all I have said in support of Nri origin of Ezechime is Jeffery M. D. W. The Oreli Mask' Nigerian Field, Vol. 10, 1941, pp 140 - 142. He noted that Nri people were performing certain ritual functions at the installation of a New Oba of Benin".

I saw the above somewhere, how true is it.

I have not read Jeffreys' paper in its complete form, but i've read the relevant parts quoted in other books. I'll attempt to repeat what Jeffreys wrote from memory, since I don't have my books with me.

Jeffreys wrote that an Nri man was present during the coronation of an Oba. He also wrote that a formal message was not sent to the Nri by Benin, but that " a travelling Nri man was roped in."

Now Jeffreys didn't write that the Nri crowned the Bini Oba. He only stated that an Nri priest was present at the ceremonies. It is also noteworthy to mark that he said that there was no formal notification sent to Nri people. This would imply that the role the Nri priest played in the coronation ceremonies was perhaps not an official one.

In any case, we may never get a balanced account of Nri-Benin relations as Bini traditions do not make any direct reference to Nri; and as Jeffreys is the only writer who said anything about Nri playing any roles in Bini Oba's coronation [Although in 1910, Northcote Thomas wrote that the then Eze-Nri Obalike told him that Idu was one of the places subject to him.]

In my opinion, Nri ritualists most probably knew of and travelled to Benin City, but we don't have a clear picture of what exactly they did there.

OdenigboAroli:


Didn't make sense either. His definition doesn't even correlate with the name. Can't make sense of it. "Na eje ama ana eze" doesn't even mean "they go to be the indigenous kings".
Didn't make sense to me.

I thought Njemanze just meant the 'gait or demeanour like that of an nze titled man', a well polished man, as in 'Nje mma nze', or the journeys they used to take for the ikpu aru rituals. There are also people who answer 'Ijemanze'.

Everyone wants to come from Bini,lol. Especially those folks that don't where they migrated from to join igbos.
Thank you,i'm ok with my core Igbo ancestry.

Names like Arisa,Ohuji,Ibam etc. There are many of them.

Let this thread continue!!!

Interpret these names
Idigo
Okudo
Igwilo

What is the meaning of Enugu names like Egbo, Agbo, Nsude, Ujam? Anybody?