₦airaland Forum

ijawcitizen:
you've been wishing Ijawland division hoping any break-away part will be in your biafra, now you wish me dead?

yes clown! i'm alive and very well, but unlike you i'm not so ordinary that i'd virtually be living on nairaland.

pazienza:
So, you are still alive?

OboloMAN:
BRIEF HISTORY.

The OBOLO (Andoni ) people are a distinct tribe Living in the Niger Delta region of Rivers (Andoni L.G.A) & Akwa Ibom State (Eastern Obolo & Ibeno L.G.As)

Prior to the British Colonial Era the Obolo's were among the first to come in contact with the Europeans and traded mainly with the Portuguese.

They Worshipped a national diety (god) called Yok-Obolo , Who is the founder /Spiritual head of the Obolo people elevated to a god upon death.

Christianity was already Accepted in Obolo land long before 1699 ( As recorded when John Barbot visited Dony Town (Andoni) in 1699, he observed that the King of Dony Town accepted Christianity and Priests were regularly sent in from Sao Tome and Brazil, to minister to him, The king of Dony town also spoke Portuguese )

Despite Christainity The Yok-Obolo was still feared among neighbouring tribes (Bonny, Opobo, Ibibio/Efiks, Ogonis e.t.c ) Which made them to spread terrifying news about the Obolo people to the British Colonial masters.

In 1869 King Jaja had to enter an oath of Allegiance with the Yok-Obolo before he was allowed to establish his new town opobo (1970) in the Andoni territory .This was against the wish of Bishop Ajayi Crowther who lamented that King Jaja was entering the “Heart of Darkness” when he came to Obolo (Andoni) is 1869 for a treaty with the Obolos

When the ugly stories against the Obolo (Andoni) were so much the British Colonial Authorities decided to send a Punitive Expedition against them in 1904, Which was led by Captain A.A Whitehouse with the sole aim of destroying Obolo ( Andoni) as a political entity and reducing there influence among neighbouring tribes in the Niger Delta.

On arrival A.A Whitehouse and his military team went straight to Alabie Town (Agwut-Obolo), burnt and destroyed the high altar of deity of the Obolo Monarchy, (Yok-obolo) and the site of the House of Skulls with over 2,000 skulls of Obolo (Andoni) Enemies killed in wars.

The British destroyed the House of Skulls and the Shrine of Yok-Obolo in 1904, and split Andoni into six parts, each attached to one of the six Native Courts in the Niger Delta with the aim of destroying Obolo Politically.

Some of the Bronze Arts & Crafts Collected by the British from Andoni (Obolo) during this Expedition are currently on display in the British Museum.

holocron:
How can u say 'ijaw' is a nation made up of various nations? A nation made up of different nations? Not quite right. A nation is a homogenous entity of one language and culture. The political Ijaw as is known today is more or less a federation of associated niger delta ethnic groups or nationalities with sometimes mutually incomprehensible languages. For instance, nembe, kalabiri, andoni, ijo/izon etc

OboloMAN:
Obolo is distinct from Ibibio , the little traces of igbo & ibibio found in obolo language came in through Igbo & Ibibio slaves who were allowed to settle in obolo after slave trade was abolished.

The core central obolo spoken within Ngo axis of Andoni L.G.A rivers state is well defined. You find majority of ibibio influence in the one spoken in Ibeno axis of akwa ibom.

Obolo , ibibio , efik are never the same thing

OboloMAN:
BRIEF HISTORY.

The OBOLO (Andoni ) people are a distinct tribe Living in the Niger Delta region of Rivers (Andoni L.G.A) & Akwa Ibom State (Eastern Obolo & Ibeno L.G.As)

Prior to the British Colonial Era the Obolo's were among the first to come in contact with the Europeans and traded mainly with the Portuguese.

They Worshipped a national diety (god) called Yok-Obolo , Who is the founder /Spiritual head of the Obolo people elevated to a god upon death.

Christianity was already Accepted in Obolo land long before 1699 ( As recorded when John Barbot visited Dony Town (Andoni) in 1699, he observed that the King of Dony Town accepted Christianity and Priests were regularly sent in from Sao Tome and Brazil, to minister to him, The king of Dony town also spoke Portuguese )

Despite Christainity The Yok-Obolo was still feared among neighbouring tribes (Bonny, Opobo, Ibibio/Efiks, Ogonis e.t.c ) Which made them to spread terrifying news about the Obolo people to the British Colonial masters.

In 1869 King Jaja had to enter an oath of Allegiance with the Yok-Obolo before he was allowed to establish his new town opobo (1970) in the Andoni territory .This was against the wish of Bishop Ajayi Crowther who lamented that King Jaja was entering the “Heart of Darkness” when he came to Obolo (Andoni) is 1869 for a treaty with the Obolos

When the ugly stories against the Obolo (Andoni) were so much the British Colonial Authorities decided to send a Punitive Expedition against them in 1904, Which was led by Captain A.A Whitehouse with the sole aim of destroying Obolo ( Andoni) as a political entity and reducing there influence among neighbouring tribes in the Niger Delta.

On arrival A.A Whitehouse and his military team went straight to Alabie Town (Agwut-Obolo), burnt and destroyed the high altar of deity of the Obolo Monarchy, (Yok-obolo) and the site of the House of Skulls with over 2,000 skulls of Obolo (Andoni) Enemies killed in wars.

The British destroyed the House of Skulls and the Shrine of Yok-Obolo in 1904, and split Andoni into six parts, each attached to one of the six Native Courts in the Niger Delta with the aim of destroying Obolo Politically.

Some of the Bronze Arts & Crafts Collected by the British from Andoni (Obolo) during this Expedition are currently on display in the British Museum.

pazienza:
Obolo is only politically Ijaw today.

The language is Ibibiod with little Igbo and Ijaw words.

shota:
That is what the Igbos are.

1shortblackboy:
a nembe man understands a kalabari and an okrikan man's dialect. I gueSs u don't know that

shota:
The guy is a scumbag

ChinenyeN:
On the topic of the Lower Niger Bronze Industry...

This just crossed my mind. There is a community within the Ngwa-Asa-Ndoki axis that might present as an interesting case with regards to metalworking and bronzes in the Lower Niger area. This community is Abala, within Ibeme, in what is now Obingwa LGA. In past years, Abala developed some notoriety, because of its metalworking. In particular, its history as a local, indigenous gun factory.

Within all this, what is interesting is that Abala has no oral traditions that highlight or even mention metalworking in its early settlement history. Also, the community which they migrated from, now in Ukwa East LGA, also has no casting traditions of any kind. Yet, the Abala community actively engages in metalworking. I've asked around, but have yet to get a good response regarding how metalworking was introduced to Abala (though I could make some inferences). For all intents and purposes the metalworking tradition in Abala can be likened to a 'random manifestation'.

If one considers Abala as a case study of sorts, then a case might possibly be made for other such 'random manifestations' in the Lower Niger region; random manifestations which fizzled away almost quickly as they came to be established. This might explain the stylistic diversity found among Lower Niger brass/bronzes, and help provide a reason for why it has so far proven difficult for the academia to localize the works.

RedboneSmith:
Was Abala known for making brass/bronze items? I thought they only worked with iron.

ChinenyeN:
You are right. Abala worked with iron. I only brought them up as an example of a community that lacked an oral tradition for casting, but still developed the trade. I brought them up to also suggest that the casting styles showing notable diversity could be due to cases like Abala, except it happened during the Lower Niger Bronze Age.

In other words, I suspect, as PhysicsQED mentioned, that members of actual casting societies became well-traveled enough to reach various communities in the Lower Niger and teach them casting. These communities would then adapt a style for their local taste, but would quickly find themselves unable to pass on the casting practices/traditions for one reason or another (lack of raw materials maybe). And so the practice would abruptly fade away for that community. Likewise, the style they adapted would also fade to oblivion.