Andre Uweh:

^^^Owa in my own part of Igboland means east (Owa anyanwu). Owa could have meant east from Benin. But this is just my personal assumption.
Like Abagworo stated earlier, The Igbo groups East of Benin acquired from the Edos the aristocracy pattern of Bini. But before this, what you had in those areas were Nri culture and that exist till date.
Lets go back to the 1997 centenary of the Bini occupation. In 1997 the year of this anniversary, N.T.A did interview the sole survivor of the sack of Oba's palace. Am not sure if he is still alive now, the man spoke in Igbo. He was 8 years when the sack happened.
This goes a long way to show that Ndigbo were in Benin even till the sack of Bini in 1897.
Those who left Bini and moved eastwards are Igbo people.

That man wasn't the "sole survivor" of the 1897 sack of the palace; he was apparently the only person alive by 1997 that was in the palace at the time, though.

Anyway, I acknowledged that Owa is a word in multiple Nigerian languages. My point was that Mbatuku's suggestion that there was no Benin migration eastward is not that likely considering that there are peripheral Edo communities in/near Ika areas to this day.

And if we take the likely story that the name Agbor is derived from "Agbon" (meaning "the world", or "life" as was emphasized here and elsewhere by actual Delta Igbos, we don't find an Igbo root for that name, although Agbor is clearly Igbo today, which is suggestive of something more in line with what Egharevba claimed and what bokohalal mentioned with regard to that song about Udo, Edo, and "Eka" (although the possibility exists that they were "Benin cultured Igbos" (as Abagworo put it) that chose an Edo word only because of influence, not because they were ethnically Edo).

I don't know what the word for "east" is in Ika or in the Owa dialect, but I wouldn't be surprised if Owa doesn't have a tradition that the name refers to the east.

PhysicsQED:

That man wasn't the "sole survivor" of the 1897 sack of the palace; he was apparently the only person alive by 1997 that was in the palace at the time, though.

Anyway, I acknowledged that Owa is a word in multiple Nigerian languages. My point was that Mbatuku's suggestion that there was no Benin migration eastward is not that likely considering that there are peripheral Edo communities in/near Ika areas to this day.

And if we take the likely story that the name Agbor is derived from "Agbon" (meaning "the world", or "life" as was emphasized here and elsewhere by actual Delta Igbos, we don't find an Igbo root for that name, although Agbor is clearly Igbo today, which is suggestive of something more in line with what Egharevba claimed and what bokohalal mentioned with regard to that song about Udo, Edo, and "Eka" (although the possibility exists that they were "Benin cultured Igbos" (as Abagworo put it) that chose an Edo word only because of influence, not because they were ethnically Edo).

I don't know what the word for "east" is in Ika or in the Owa dialect, but I wouldn't be surprised if Owa doesn't have a tradition that the name refers to the east.

I'm still sticking to my claim of minimal migration of Bini people into Anioma territory as settlers. Apart from Oza nagogo, what other Anioma communities are Edos?

mbatuku2:

I'm still sticking to my claim of minimal migration of Bini people into Anioma territory as settlers. Apart from Oza nagogo, what other Anioma communities are Edos?

Alisor and Alilehan

I didn't say there was large scale migration. I'm saying there may have been founding elements in some places that were either ethnically Edo or just Edo-speaking/Edo-influenced.

.

tpia@:

my grandpa was about 17 or 20 when benin was sacked, but i dont know where exactly he was at the time.

@ Tpia
Doesn't that mean you should be in your 70s?

@ General
I'm guessing that the Nri social structure which is said to have been replaced by the Edo kind in Ikaland is characterized by a community ruled by a priest-king and a council of elders whereas the Edo version is ruled by an powerful monarchial type figure?

Owa is an igbo word,even in the heart of igboland,in ezeagu LGA of enugu state,we have a town called Owa imezi.

pazienza:

Owa is an igbo word,even in the heart of igboland,in ezeagu LGA of enugu state,we have a town called Owa imezi.

One thing about single words is that they are shared between even very diverse languages and with the same meaning in some instances. Look at Kiswahili that says "mi na " "me and"(English) "mi na " is also Igbo. Oduduwa is also an Igbo name just like Odua, Owa, Agbo,Ola, Chiluba,Orlu and Chimere. Those names are almost in different parts of the world. Japan, Zambia, Uganda and Eastern Europe.


It is only Owa people that can tell where their own owah comes from.

Odumchi

i could be in my 70s but i have about four years to go.

PhysicsQED:


The Ikegobo cult or "cult of the hand" in Benin is very likely to be from Ikenga. The Western Igbo immigrants may have brought that with them.

I also read recently that the Igbo four market-day calendar system(afo, eke, orie and nkwo) was also adopted by the Edos. How extensive is it's use?

tpia@:

Odumchi

i could be in my 70s but i have about four years to go.

Never knew you were an elder. I always pictured you much younger lol. You learn new things everyday.

yes you do

mbatuku2:

I also read recently that the Igbo four market-day calendar system(afo, eke, orie and nkwo) was also adopted by the Edos. How extensive is it's use?

Perhaps it was. It was used in Benin in pre-colonial times, although an eight day system was also adopted or developed. Then of course, the current European 7 day system we all use today became prominent.

PhysicsQED:

Perhaps it was. It was used in Benin in pre-colonial times, although an eight day system was also adopted or developed. Then of course, the current European 7 day system we all use today became prominent.

It's quite interesting it was used in pre-colonial times, but the 4 days/week calendar is still very alive in Igboland but limited to dictating market day, despite the advent of the Gregorian calendar.

1. there can be no mono-casuality in the history of a people , you have to look at several issues ranging from culture, language,dance and religion to know where they come from and it is only a people that can tell you who they are and as an owa man , i know we call ourselves ika and not igbo.
2. from overwelming evidence we know that owa first came from benin ,before others like the ute-okpu, igbo,and others came, infact we as owa people know that owa was founded by adagba and his followers from ekhoha in ovia local govt,of benin , near okada town. that is why one of the most ancient greetings of owa people is owa adagba ni ikoha - which means owa whose ancestors migrated from ekhoha, having said this we also have other edoic greetings such as lavbieze 0r laiweze , laiwe and liye this are still greetings still in use till today in benin areas.
3. having said this i want to say that owa was not founded by edogun/odogun from ute-okpu as many people like to say , but that odogun met people in owa communities ,but waht he did was to amalgamate all these communities into a single kingdom where he became the first king of this unified kingdom.
4. prior to odoguns coming the king of owa resided in ofien or owa-ofien ,it was after odogun conquered him that he moved the headquarters to owa- oyibu.
5. when odogun arrived oyibu , he met with an established community that had a market in imen oyibu and oyibu was governed by a man called edo aigbedion,and according to history oyibu was founded by a man called oyibu from benin and later other ishan migrants came, then ute people and ukwuani people came to reside in the various villages.
6. owa is made up of many villages and towns and each this people know where their ancestors migrated from , and we operate a strict community that knows their land and village boundary and knows the type of chiefthancy title they can take.
7. owa operates three type of chieftancy system which are 1. ohaime idumu-village chief,2. ohaime- ogbe- town chiefs and ohaime ogua- palace titles , with some of the chiefs being hereditory.
8. owa is a heterogeneous kingdom with people coming from different places and we know each town and village by their migrations which is well recorded.
9. all owa people know that ofien town and people are the first set of people to settle in owa kingdom, and that is why today they crown the obi of owa as they have the title called oliha-ovia.
10. for clarification i will give the list of vilages and towns making up owa kingdom in delta ,but we still have some owa in edo state.


1. OWA- OYIBU TOWN- HEADQUARTER OF OWA KINGDOM WHERE THE OBI LIVES/COMES FROM.

1. idumuezomor village
2. idah
3.ikokogbe
4. ogbe onicha
5. idumuzugbo
6.ogbeohune
this are the six royal villages in owa kingdom and it was founded around 11th century
7. idumusuma
8. idumugbo
9. imenoyibu
10. idumuogin
11.idumuagh
------------------------- owa- oyibu migrated from benin/ishan, ukwuani/uteokpu
2. OWA ALIZOMOR
12. idumu-ose
13. ileme
14. idumu-ogbe
15.idumu ozah
16. iru
alizomor was founded around 12th century by people from iru iguaza in edo ,before the arrival of ozomor from ute who took over the land ,so some of this people moved back to iru in iguaza after ozomor took over their land .then we have the ute migrants.
3. OWA-OFIEN
17. AGIDI
18. idumutufu
19.idumu odague
20.idumugbo
21.ogbodu
22. ogbeohune
23. idumuozala
24.imen ofien
25. idumu uwaya
26. idumu ekeobi
27. idumu eki
ofien was founded around 7th century by adagba and his followers from benin ,this is the most ancient of owa towns
4. OWA- ALERO
28. alugba
29.idumu ebor
30.idumugbala
31.idumuhia
32.idum ogbekwu
33.alegwe
34. alegwe uku
35.aliogbeje
36.idumu ogbe
37.aliefor
38.idumozoge
39.aloye
40.amika
the core founder of owa alero was omi eborwise a royal prince from agbor who founded idumu ebor, and later people from ute ogbeje fonded alegwe, and utagba from ukwuani and otolokpo people founded alugba and ishan people also came there with ute-okpu people.

5. OWA- EKEI
41. IKEKE
42. amuda
43.ogbe onicha
44.idumuebor
45.ogbe OHUNE
from owa history , this is the second group of people that came to owa after adagba, ekei people were led from benin by a warrior called ugbasogun and they came around 9th century.
6. OWANTA
46. OKWUE
47 .EDIE
48 osimi
49. owanta uku
owanta people migrated from ute-ogbeje an ika town led by a man called okwue he founded okwue village , while people from okpe in abavo led by a man called osimi founded osimi village,and edie a man from ute-okpu founded edie village.

7. BOJIBOJI OWA - this is the urban centre of owa kingdom and one of the commercial centres of delta state and ika nation,it was initially owned by owanta people ,but you can find all nigerian ethnic group there, infact the igbo, hausa and yoruba have lived their for over a 100 years.
8. OWA ALIDINMA=
50. OGBE- OWA
51. OGBE UKWUANI
THIS Town was fonded by izoghor and isibor about 500 years ago , they were from owa oyibu , and later ukwuani people came there and ishan people ,because it has boundaries with ukwani and urhonigbe.
finally one thing has to be noted even in each idumu or village as they are they are still divided into three ,this was done to determine which lineage you are from like in ogbeohune in owa oyibu they are divided into idumu- ojezua, idumu omor and ewoh, which shows the descendants of ojezua, omo and ewoh.
the complexities of owa kingdom or any ika kingdom cannot be known if you are not ika or if you do not live there , any write up or book on owa or ika history cannot cover these complexities.
for further reading , you can read ndiowa and her monarch, this is the only book right now that covers further aspect of owa history,but it still did not do enough, you can also read ika -land and history by ika group , and ika by chief onyekpeze also ,.

some researchers have said owa has a dual migratory pattern one being from benin and another from igbo land this was what 1913 ,british intelligent report said , and in 1933 , simpson intelligence report on owa also said this as owa retained both benin and igbo patterns.
some elders believe odogun came from nri , while others say he came from benin.
our owa modern scholars have also said that owa has dual mode of benin and igbo cultures ,but that their findings show that the benin culture is more ancient in owa than the igbo .that was their conclusion in the most recent book published on owa kingdom in 1999 titled ndiowa and her monarch , this was presented to the obi of owa when he celebrated 50 th anniversary on the throne that year , and these group of researchers were commissioned by owa stake holders forum to dig into owa history,and they were made up of elders , priests , members of the royal family and 5 professors of owa origin.

@agbotaen. From what you wrote earlier, the Obi has the final say in Owa and he has told us who they are and where their Obiship came from. He has also written clearly how they were influenced by not only Benin, but other cultures bounding them. Linguistically, Ika is a separate dialect in the Igbo dialect cluster. The Ikoha itself might have been Igbos, Esan or Edos too that settled in Benin territory and left after having a problem with Benin people.

1.ekhoha is still existing in benin,near okada it is a bini settlement and owa ofien people still maintain contact with them.
2.when odogun arrived owa oyibu he conquered their leader called edo aigbedion and he was bini
3.the style of kingship adopted by odogun was bini-uselu style.+s

4. from the names of edogun/odogun,ozomor,ogbeje and igbedigi they were children of ijue of ute,all these names were edo names.
5.our obi wrote books on owa,one of which is development in owa-in it he talked about owa being a link between nri,ika and edo culture,he was also interviewed in ika land and people he talked about owa migrating from nri and benin.the reason why owa stake holders forum,and many elders comisioned scholars to research owa history was that they disagreed with many things written in th

many owa people were not too comfortable with what our obi wrote on owa history,they felt he was influenced by prof.owunjeogu. so they asked a team to write and they came out with ndiowa and her monarch,1999+s.

many owa people were not too comfortable with what our obi wrote on owa history,they felt he was influenced by prof.owunjeogu. so they asked a team to write and they came out with ndiowa and her monarch,1999+s.

agbotaen:

many owa people were not too comfortable with what our obi wrote on owa history,they felt he was influenced by prof.owunjeogu. so they asked a team to write and they came out with ndiowa and her monarch,1999+s.

Why are Bini people not comfortable with Oba Erediuwa's account of Bini history?. The Oba of Bini and the Obi of Owa has written accounts of origin of their people as handed over to them from generation to generation. Believe me, the Gods are wise.
By the way, any evidence to prove that Ndiowa are not happy with what the Obi wrote?.

@Andre. I have heard severally from non-Nigerians about how stubborn we can be during arguments. We never concede even when the evidence is too glaring.
I do not expect Solomon "Mgbojume" to accept a glaring truth.

Linguist have come to study Ika language and could not link it in any way to Edo. They could not even get as much difference as to declare it a distinct language. They only accepted that the mutual intelligibility is reduced to around 80% which is usually so in boundary communities of different ethnic groups as a result of influence. Ika was grouped as a separate dialect in Igbo.

Historically, the custodian of Ika culture is the traditional ruler. He has said that their roots are firmly Nri in Anambra and accepted influence from Benin and other cultures. He did not deny some families being from Benin but he made it clear that they were already settled as Nri community before those people arrived.

I for once am not a party to forcing ethnicity on anyone but it bothers me when someone desperately denies his roots as a reason. Agbotaen can safely say, even though I speak Igbo and our Obi believes we are of Igbo descent, I prefer being Ika without Igbo attached.

That way, we all go and respect each others views.

Abagworo:

@Andre. I have heard severally from non-Nigerians about how stubborn we can be during arguments. We never concede even when the evidence is too glaring.
I do not expect Solomon "Mgbojume" to accept a glaring truth.

Linguist have come to study Ika language and could not link it in any way to Edo. They could not even get as much difference as to declare it a distinct language. They only accepted that the mutual intelligibility is reduced to around 80% which is usually so in boundary communities of different ethnic groups as a result of influence. Ika was grouped as a separate dialect in Igbo.

Historically, the custodian of Ika culture is the traditional ruler. He has said that their roots are firmly Nri in Anambra and accepted influence from Benin and other cultures. He did not deny some families being from Benin but he made it clear that they were already settled as Nri community before those people arrived.

I for once am not a party to forcing ethnicity on anyone but it bothers me when someone desperately denies his roots as a reason. Agbotaen can safely say, even though I speak Igbo and our Obi believes we are of Igbo descent, I prefer being Ika without Igbo attached.

That way, we all go and respect each others views.

May your days be long.

PhysicsQED:


The Ikegobo cult or "cult of the hand" in Benin is very likely to be from Ikenga. The Western Igbo immigrants may have brought that with them.





As for the rest of your discussion with Abagworo, I agree with the general sentiment, but maybe not the specifics. You are possibly underestimating the spread of Edo culture. There are pure Edo settlements like Oza nogogo and Alilehan that are only a stone's throw away from Agbor. Yes there was probably Igbo migration both ways, but its really unlikely that there were no actual ethnic Bini migrations whatsoever.


As for the Owa issue, one possible reason a person (such as Agbontaen) might have difficulty accepting the story is because owa is a basic Edo (Bini) word which means house and there is a pure Edo community called Owa (now named Evbuobanosa) in Orhionmwon LGA in Edo state. It should therefore be pretty easy to see why Agbontaen could claim that although they received later elements from other cultures, their basic foundation was from Benin. I read a more complex derivation of Owa from Ute Okpu in one of the earlier debates here, and it's entirely possible, but perhaps not as convincing. But I think "Owa" is a word in multiple Nigerian languages, not just Edo, anyway.

You aren't the only ones making such arguments, though. Nowadays Ogho is called Owo, although as Chief Ashara (the Owo historian) and even the current Olowo of Owo attested to, the original name was Ogho (which is actually a non-Yoruba word (the "gh" sound, called the "voiced velar fricative" by linguists, is completely alien to Yoruba and is only found in areas of Edo influence such as Ogho/Owo and Ilaje) and just so happens to be a pure Bini word which means respect). Of course today, Owo is considered wholly Yoruba in origin and any Edo influence is chalked up to Oba Ewuare or Oba Ozolua's conquests and expansion, not to an early Edo element in the founding population. Chief Egharevba, and of course, the Binis in general, believed the exact opposite however.

"Owo" means the same thing in Yoruba. The gh factor is not an indicator of Benin influence, because areas like the Kabba in the far northern parts of Yorubaland also use it. It's actually a geographic trend. Eastern Yorubas have the "gh" sound (ogho is money in many Eastern dialects), Central Yorubas eliminate both the gh and w sound (eeo is money in Ekiti Dialect), and Northwest Yorubas, Oyo dialect have replaced "gh" with w. (Owo is money in Oyo Dialect).

Linguists divide Yoruba into Northwest, Southeastern, and Central Dialects, as well as Northeastern and Southwestern. Even though the Southeastern area was heavily influenced by Benin, the gh sound is found in the Northeast, which was not an area of Benin influence.

The difficulty is that the predominant Yoruba dialect of today is the Oyo variety, which is known as the "most innovating," meaning that some of the consonants of proto-Yoruba (gh and gw) have been done away with, and the vowel system has also been simplified from proto-Yoruba.

i guess you know that the obi of owa is not a member of ohaneze ndigbo , because he knows like the majority of his subject that we are ika people and there is no notable owa man that belongs to an igbo ethnic group . i just laugh at many igbo people in their funny arguement as per the history of owa , you just like seing one side.
2. the british having studied owa said we have both edo patterns and igbo patterns, but from oral history and names of our founders and the researches done we know that it was bini that founded owa , because if you look at the names of our core founders you will see mainly benin names, or is edogun/ odogun , igbedigi, ozomor, ojezua igbo names names ?
3. our language is called ika and not igbo , we speak ika and we recognise it as a seperate language ,and our culture too is different ,that is why we have set up our own socio-cultural group called ogua /onu ika , to speak for ika people , majority of ika do not belong to ohaneze ndigbo or any igbo ethnic meetings , because we believe we are ikas and they cannot speak for us.
4. i know quite well that this present obi of owa ,dr. efeizomor is one of the people that worked against biafra /igbo agenda in ika land , because of our peoples believe that we are ika , and muritala made his home in owa and was giving a title during the war as ojeba of owa kingdom , by this same obi.
5. the highest socio- cultural group in owa kingdom is the owa stake holders forum, heade by justice ehiwarrior, and in 1999 ,when our obi was to complete 50 years on the throne , all owa elders commissioned 5 professors of owa origin, including prince nduka obaigbena, prince usiade, prince obaze ,chief aigbobu, and elders of owa to dig into our history and they came out with a book ,presented to the obi and sold ,where they said owa first migrated from ekhoha in bini ,before odogun came and the findings show that benin came first before others , this is the book being sold on the internet and in the royal palace of owa .and on www.ndiowa.com.
6. up till today our language still retains very numerous edo words and sentences and also contains igbo ,plus other languages and we know our language is ika .and it is seperate from any other language,either igbo or bini .
7. i am a bonafide owa citizen and even a son of owa royalty,as my ancestors were kings and princes of owa kingdom , my father having hailed from from obi igbedigi no gidigan , as prince omigie ,was a son of igbedidi .of idimu ezomor village in owa.my full names are solomon omojie mgbejume -omigie, and my grand father was mgbejume osunhon omigie. my name is not mgbojume as written by one forumite.
8. benin festivals in owa include igue, ikaba, ogbanigbe, ohunweden, olokun, ugbose, ibiewere-ewere, uje, while we also have some similar igbo festivals like iwagi, and ikenga.
9. i bet any forumite here that there are no notable ika kings/chiefs or citizens that belong to ohaneze ndigbo, the reason is that these men and women believe they are ika peopl.
10. right now we have just changed our ika ethnic leader ,as chief fortune ebie a man in his late 70s and who was the first nigerian to become the head of surveyors in nigeria has just handed over to sunday osifoh.
we have have come of age and no reversal of our history can change us , our people took a stand in 1930,where they said ika is seperate from any other ethnic group in nigeria ,and in 1967,the majority of our people rejected being igbo and going along with igbo, so i dont see how it will work.

1. may be you should also ask the obi of owa why his name is efeizomor ? and why his father was called oboh efeizomor? and his grand father called ikokoh obaigbena ,and his great grand father called okundaiye ,? i guess you know this are all bini names .
2. in owa kingdom there are many royal families that are stake holders in the owa kingdom and my lineage happens to be one of them and you know why ? i am a descendant of obi igbedigi no gidigan the second obi of owa-13th century.

3. if owa obiship is from nri ,why did edogun/odogun the first king of owa and my ancestor the second king of owa adopt benin -obaship style with three levels of chieftancy called ohaime ?
4. why did all of igbedigis children bear bini names like omigie,ojezua, agbontaen, owviagbon, osagie, ogbebor, omo , buzugbe ?
5. in owa kingdom the highest chieftancy title is called the ihama and this is given to the oldest male within the six royal villages of owa ,and my relatives have held this title several in our history.the holders of these title and several other elders are called the ihogbe- these are guilds of royal and elders who hold the history of owa kingdom and they also transmit it in terms of stories, traditions and also record deaths and birhts in the royal families.
6.from available history of ute -okpu kingdom where odogun the first king of owa came from we heard that when their father obi ijue of ute died , he was succeded by okpu,when okpu died he was succeeded by ohue , when ohue died esama became king and after him oro became king and after him ila became king of ute. most of this names reflect benin heritage ,and even in ute the kingship adopted was benin style , also it should be noted that ijue is also a benin name and he was said to be the first obi of ute.
7. we also note that ijue was said to have fathered these children - edogun/odogun, ozomor,ogbeje, igbedigin and okpu all these names are benin names and i wondered what made an nri man to give all this benin names to himself and his children ?
8. for those historians and people who claim owa was founded by odogun from ute , who where the people that opposed him from becoming the king of a unified owa ? where did they come from ? and if he was the first person that inhabited owa why did the oba of benin wade into the dispute and made odogun king while he made ofien the oliha ovia that crowns the obi of owa .
9. while no one is faulting the issue of igbo migrations into owa , all family names , oral history points to benin as the place of the first inhabitants and founders of owa kingdom and indeed ika land.
10. but we do believe that when a black man and a white woman has children they are called half cast or mulatto , we believe we are ika people independent of any known ethnic group,this stance was first documented in 1930 by our forefathers who made that stand and it has nothing to do with the civil war as some people would often say , in any way ika was not part of the civil troubles and we did not suffer devastation as suffered by some , so there is nothing to hide .
11. the majority of ika people trace their history to different areas some to nri, some to benin, ora ,ndokwa and even yoruba , but the fact is that for hundreds of years the ika ethnic group have been solidified and that is who we are.
12. this is the reason the majority of ika people do not belong to any other ethnic group meetings that onu/ogua ika with the exception of our joinning anioma .
.

@Andre. I have heard severally from non-Nigerians about how stubborn we can be during arguments. We never concede even when the evidence is too glaring.
I do not expect Solomon "Mgbojume" to accept a glaring truth.

Linguist have come to study Ika language and could not link it in any way to Edo. They could not even get as much difference as to declare it a distinct language. They only accepted that the mutual intelligibility is reduced to around 80% which is usually so in boundary communities of different ethnic groups as a result of influence. Ika was grouped as a separate dialect in Igbo.

Historically, the custodian of Ika culture is the traditional ruler. He has said that their roots are firmly Nri in Anambra and accepted influence from Benin and other cultures. He did not deny some families being from Benin but he made it clear that they were already settled as Nri community before those people arrived.

I for once am not a party to forcing ethnicity on anyone but it bothers me when someone desperately denies his roots as a reason. Agbotaen can safely say, even though I speak Igbo and our Obi believes we are of Igbo descent, I prefer being Ika without Igbo attached.

That way, we all go and respect each others views.[quote][/quote]

our obi did not at any time say owa was from nri , all he said was that owa has pattern of migration from both nri and benin , and that was what british intelligence report says of owa ,but i know you igbo propagandist what you like doing is to take only statements and phrases from any ones speech that favours your arguement , but you know what the obi of owa is not a member of ohaneze ndigbo and he is a firm believer in ika ethnic cause ,that is why you cannever see any owa notable person in igbo meetings,and this same obi was one of the people that made the federal troops to defeat biafra in ika land , that was why biafra declared that they should kill him,and muritala made his base in owa and umunede. the latest most comprehensive book about owa history written by a commitee of five owa professors, elders,chiefs and citizens is called ndiowa and her monach , please go and read it ,it was published in 1999 at owa royal palace and it tells about how our ancestors came from ikoha in benin,and ishan,and founded owa ,in a place called owa-ofien led by adagba
and ugbasogun,before edogun/odogun came from ute kingdom and ruled a unified owa and later how others like the igbos ,ndokwa and others from agbor etc. came .
this book is still sold in the palace of obi of owa. in this book you will see that different owa towns and villages migrated from different places,and that owa is a heterogenous community welded together by the warrior king odogun into a single entity called owa.so we know where we come from.
owa people are not claiming to be benin ,but we are also neither igbos ,but of ika ethnic group.which we are happy to defend.
i keep asking this question to igbo propagandist that how come there is no obi in the 11 kingdom of ika in delta that is a member of ohaneze ndigbo? while the obi of ogwashi -uku , asaba and illa and others attend ohaneze meetings ,infact the obi of asaba is one of the major royal fathers in ohaneze, while dein of agbor,obi of owa, abavo and others in ika do not belong , the answer is that our obis in ika do not believe they are igbos and they do not believe in igbo ideology , they know they are ika and they should propagate ika world views.
we do not denie the link between ika and igbo, so also we cannot denied the link between ika and benin,
ebon ihian wu ebon eeee, ndi idu wu ebon ika , ika le igbo wu agbon ohu.---------ones family is his family ,benins and ika are brothers , while ika and igbo are also one family.
we are a link between two major ethnic groups, the benin and igbo, but we are neither of this we are simply ika.

please my name is not mgbojume ,because you igbo propagandist know how to spoil and mis spell peoples names its mgbejume ,and i bet that you do not know the meanings, my full names are solomon omojie,ehiabor mgbejume omigie, as omigie is our ancestral name.

Odogun is a corrupted form of odogwu; If you think its not then tell me what Odogun means.

Physics, Owa has a meaning in my Idenmili dialect too! Owa means way in Umuoji,Idenmili dialect... My mother will always say "owa nmili". Just because Owa has a meaning in benin doesnt mean much. Agbor also has meaning in. Umuoji,Idenmili dialect; Agbor means lineage in my Idenmili dialect. Agbotean can deny all he want but the first settlers in Owa were Nri Igbos even before the reign of the Benin kingdom!

ika is a nasalised language ,and the name of the first king that ruled a united owa kingdom was edogun or odogun,this is corroborated by owa and ute kingdoms were he was said to have come from ,so today we say edogun or odogun ,but as language is evolving many people to day say odogun ,but we do not call him odogwu as most igbos say.edogun -means a benin warlord from the word edo and ogun -war,but it can certainly have other meanings in igbo or other language,but also look at this facts ,his father the obi of ute-okpu was called ijue(a bini name) and odoguns brothers were named
1. ozomor
2. ogbeje
3.igbedigin
this are all bini names ,and when odogun left ute after fighting as a war leader for the oba of benin and returning ,after which he conquered other bini and ishan people who founded owa-oyibu ,he captured their ruler edo aigbedion and established him self ruler there ,his brother ozomor was said to have also conquered people who migrated from iru-iguaza in edo to found or name the place owa -alizomor ,so when he died his children were named 1. ille or idumu ille,2. ogbe, and ose-this were also bini names.
i am not saying there is no igbo migration into owa kingdom ,but i also say it was not directly into owa , it came via ute ,and other aniocha communities into owa ,as i do believe that before odogun came from ute ,the ute society has had a mixed migration of igbo and edo ,so all this affected owa kingdom , but from our tradition the first group of people in owa kingdom were bini,and ishan people migrating from ikoha in ovia local govt in benin to found owa,and after others followed like the igbo people ,and today i have absolute believe that we are ika people and we are not igbo and we are not bini.
our culture today as owa people borrows heavily from benin and a little from igbo ,while our language also borrows much from igbo and some percentage from benin,this has given us unique way of life as owa and ika people.
what are our culture ?
1. our family names are 80 percent bini/ishan
2. our kingship is adopted from bini
3. our chieftancy is taken from benin as we have three kinds of chiefs called ohaime -palace, town and hereditory chiefs from father to son, this concept is foreign to igbos and they will not be able to understand.
4. our methods of marriage, sharing of properties in owa kingdom are mainly chosen from bini
5. our towns are divided into ebon(kindred), idumu(village) and town( ogbe) just like in bini
6.we had traditional marks called igu in owa ,while bini call it iwu
7. the traditional midwives who do it are called owina in both bini and owa/ika
8. we call God oselobue and guardian spirit ehi just like bini
9.our festivals are common to bini like igue and ibiewere that the obi of owa and the oba of benin performs, we celebrate ugbose, ikabba and uje royal dance.
10. but this are things that tie us to the igbo -we celebrate new yam festival , although our method of doing it varies, we also perform the ikenga worship which is a deity of the igbo people.
11. we also use the four native igbo market days we call eken ,orie ,afor and nkwo -which we call ogbe day,please forgive my listings.
12. our traditional worship also include olokun, idigun,ovia, uhunwunden,idiwina and ohointe, ufere deities from bini and ajan from ute-okpu , and ikenga and ifeajioku from igboland.
13. our language also contains igbo words like eka-hand,onu-mouth ,and uku-leg,and also contain edo words like dodo- i beg, odion-elder , ukpe -light and others ,this in itself is the uniqueness of owa and indeed ika ,we amalgamate two cultures the edo and igbo cultures and bring them as one,i believe ika came out from the interractions between the early edo and igbo settlers of owa kingdom and ika land in general .
but like i always say this is our view ,but there are others who feel ika is purely igbo well they are entitled to their believe ,but as for the majority of ika people -they have taken a stance especially the western and central ikas that they are ika people and that they are not igbo or any other tribe than that,but i cant say that of our brothers at the eastern flank like igbodo ,ekwuoma and others.our highest socio-cultural body is ogua/onu ika headed by osifo,and their stand and that of our entire owa,agbor,abavo and other ika kingdoms is that we are ika

Agbotaen,why do you think you can come here and lie to us and get away with it! I repeat,"Odogun" is Odogwu's version of Ika dialects...In Igbo Odogwu means a powerful or a great man and it has the same meaning in Ika! Secondly,edogun or odogun doesnt mean benin warlord !! You are pathetic mister!! You are a disgusting lieing baaastard! Let Physics come here and tell us what EDOGUN or ODOGUN mean in Benin. Common sense will tell you that odogun is the dialectical variance of Ika.....You even make up new words and credited them to edo so your claims will seem authentic.....You are a sick fool !