AtaniWarrior:
Obong Okon Ita was the Ibibio clan that occupied the present day Arochukwu area before the arrival of Igbo and Akpa-Ekoi settlers. Obot Okon Ita (present day Obinkita village) was the seat of government of the Obong Okon Ita clan.

What is the meaning of the name Obong Okon Ita?

What is the meaning of the name Obot Okon Ita?

nsiba:
.

Obong Okon Ita isn't a clan but the Chief of the Ibibio tribe in Ibom present day Arrochukwu and environs.
Was betrayed by his half brother, slaves and settlers.
Obong means Chief
Obot can be said to a hill, rock mountain

RedboneSmith:
Is it possible that instead of Obong Okon Ita, the place was called Obio Okon Ita?

AtaniWarrior:

Good question. That makes sense too. I was also thinking about the possibility of Ibom being the original name of the Ibibio-Efik clan that lived in the entire area known as present day Arochukwu. The present day Ibom village in Arochukwu might have kept the name of the indigenous clan.

I’m not sure. Unfortunately, we will never know because of the lack of written records. We can make very educated guesses though lol

AtaniWarrior:
I initially thought that the name of the Ibibio clan was Obong Okon Ita because of this article:

https://www.aronewsonline.com/?p=651

RedboneSmith:


The reason I thought obio is because I was told obio means town in Ibibio. And "the town of Okon Ita" makes more sense to me than "Chief Okon Ita" as the name of a settlement. Plus Obio Okon Ita looks closer to Obinkita than Obong Okon Ita.

You're probably right on the Ibom thing. You have any idea what the word means in Ibibio? Ubom means beach in Igbo. Wonder if the word is related to Ibom.

RedboneSmith:


Yes, that's the name in practically all the literature. I just think it's an odd name for a town. Kind of like an Igbo village answering Eze Ndubuisi instead of Ụmụ Eze Ndubuisi or Ndi Eze Ndubuisi.

nsiba:

Obong Okon Ita isn't a clan but the Chief of the Ibibio tribe in Ibom present day Arrochukwu and environs.
Was betrayed by his half brother, slaves and settlers.
Obong means Chief
Obot can be said to a hill, rock mountain

ekpehay:
Obong Okon Ita married an Igbo woman in order to bring peace btw them during the conflict.. she bore a son
the Igbo refers to him as ulu Okon (translate to Okon second child) in Igbo.
After the death of Obong Okon Ita the prince allied with the Igbos along with the Akpa people and rebelled against his brother.
Unfortunately for him, he died before the war ended.
interesting Arochukwum is a multi ethnic society, comprising the Igbos, the Akpa people whom they asked for help and Ibibios ( would had been the soldiers and followers of the rebel prince)
Inokon is a corrupt form of ulu okon by Ibibios, they used that to refer to the Ibibios that were in Obot Okon Ita (now Obinkita) after the conquest and sometimes the Arochukwu as a whole..
they class as Inokon clan.