₦airaland Forum

Peter, brother to Major Nzeogwu.

Some people didn't think of repercussions of their plan.

That coup was too bloody...

From Delta State.

So na Benin man kill the Sardauna of Sokoto, and Igbo people have been left to be paying the price since 1966??

😂

LOL. All these simplistic and one-angle narratives that "Greater Benin" propagandists love to throw around, while ignoring the bigger picture

For an actual account, and not a one-liner from a biography, go and get "The History of Okpanam people" by the late Dr Sylvan Ebigwei. Dr Sylvan Ebigwei was before his death the Iyase of Okpanam. I'd take the account of the Iyase of the town over the account of a Peter that no one really knows. (For anyone rushing to come and tell me that "Iyase" is a Benin title, we been know. Nobody was ever denying that all over Anioma and beyond titles of Benin origin were adopted and used.) Ebigwei was, by the way, a one-time president of Aka-Ikenga, an Igbo socio-cultural organization and a proud self-identifying Igbo man.

Okpanam traditions (according to Ebigwei and other sources) is that it was founded by Nri people from the East (led by one Olisa Olu) who had earlier settled in the town of Uchi in Ndokwa area. Uchi is even a dialectal variation of Nri. (Nri, Nshi, Nhi, Nchi, etc, all refer to Nri, depending on dialectal variation. ) This is why Okpanam is still called Okpanam-Uchi to this day, in allusion to its Nri/Uchi paternal descent. Olisa Olu married an Igala woman of royal descent called Ogbe; thus, Okpanam has maternal Igala roots. But since we follow patrilocal/patrilineal descent, the resulting community was from its beginning essentially Igbo. The traditions also acknowledge that some Benin elements came LATER and were absorbed by the already established and existing Okpanam community.

But apparently, the Benin narrative has a way of usurping the prime position and quieting other narratives. The same thing that has happened to Issele-Uku; but thankfully, the aboriginal Ogboli people of Issele-Uku have started speaking up.

I still don't know how people will read an account of a founder called "Okpala" who established a settlement called "Okpalani", and not see that this is not reconcilable with a non-Igbo origin.

Image: Chart from Ebigwei's book.

Wulfruna:
So na Benin man kill the Sardauna of Sokoto, and Igbo people have been left to be paying the price since 1966??

Does Okeleke sound like a Bini name to you?