The Awka People

THE AWKA PEOPLE By Amanke Okafor DEDICATION This is Dedicated To the Young Men and Women of Awka Town, Who ask the Question: Who are We? CONTENTS Introduction: 1. What Oka Looked Like: Pen Pictures of Oka 2. The Oka Man Or The Making of a People 3. Characteristics of the Oka Man 4. The Ifiteana People: Progenitors of Oka 5. History of Origins 6. The Coming of Agulu 7. Umudioka – Achalla da na ana nwel ana 8. The Religion of the Oka People 9. The Dance of the Gods 10. Title-Taking and Citizenship 11. Amikwo – Agulu War, or The End of an Era 12. The Coming of the Christians 13. Aba. The Second Language of Oka 14. Dating INTRODUCTION Oyibo ka mmadi, Ma na Oka kacha mba! (The Whitemen is creative above all men, But the Oka man comes next to him!) --from an Oka war chant (okili) This is the story of the Oka people, the fathers that begat us. It is the story of the Oka people as they were the British came into their lives and seized control of their country and their destiny, and later merged their city – state with the great body politic known as Nigeria. Oka lost her independence then, and ceased to be a free self-governing nation. The Oka people, before A.D. 1905 (when the British came), were a great people, resourceful, inventive and courageous. They were a race of specialists, working in iron, copper, brass and bronze; skilled in the carving of the wooden implements and ornaments; in farming; in the practice of medicine; and in the pursuit of wisdom. They did not belong to any known clan in Igboland, neither had they any known relatives. They referred to themselves simply as “Ebe Anyi” – our stock. This is their story, based on oral tradition. I have set down the story as it was told to me. The only liberty I have allowed myself is that where there are conflicting versions of the same event I have picked that one which appeared to me to be the most probable. Numerous persons in Oka town can remember how, at one time or the other, I had confronted them, whether privately, or at social functions, or at burial ceremonies, and had tried to glean from them the much they knew, or had heard, of Oka history. All these people are the sources of information, and my authority. The story is their story. I am merely the narrator. Reading this, they will easily recognize who each had contributed to the story. I started collecting what is told here long before the Nigerian Civil War while I was still living in Lagos, but during the war the notes were destroyed. After the war, I started collecting again, and this is the result of my labours. “Onwu anara egbu nti”, the oka people say. “The ear does not suffer death”. Something happens and is told as a story. Then, one day, somewhere, the hearer remembers it, and re-tells it. And so it goes on from ear to ear, form mouth to mouth, down the ages. Exaggeration over the years there may be in any such story, and a whittling down there may also be, but the core of the story remains the same. “Archeological research”, Alexander Horne is quoted to have written in ‘King Solomon’s Temple’, “is constantly demonstrating how dangerous it is to question or deny the veracity of tradition, or an ancient until we know all the facts.” I cannot possibly mention all those who helped me in the compilation of this story. They are too many. Some have contributed whole nuggets of Oka history, some just a single fact, or even just a name, and some have merely confirmed what others had told. I am grateful to them all. I must, however, single out for special mention, and of course, thanks, the under- mentioned persons, who, along with many others gave me the inner core of Oka history. It was their patience and understanding, over many sittings, that made it possible for me to piece together a coherent story of my people. They are:- Ozo Nwokafor Ndum (my father) – ozo Chikwuchil – of Amudo Village Ozo Chinwuko Okeke – Ozonyilagha – of Umuanaga Village Nnoneyelu Ebem, of Umuoramma Village Nwejiofor Nwiyi, of Amudo Village Ozo Nwanna Nwudozo – Owulubuego – of Umuogbu Village Louis Ejiofor Okeke, of Umuayom Village Nwokeabia Anene Nwuye, of Nkwelle Village Ozo Nwuba Morah – Ozo Ikwodiaku – of Amikwo Village Emmanuel Nwune Nkwontah, of Nkwolle Village Ozo Jonathan Nweke Obuekwe – ozo Akalaka – of Umuogbu village Ifedora Nwamgba, of Umudioka village Immanuel Onwuemelie Uyanwune, of Amudo Village Ozo Federick Anaekeokwu Onwuemelie-ozo Enechiodo – of Umuenechi Village Nathan Nwokafor Ibe, of Amudo Village Nweke Nwikwu, of Amachalla village Samuel Nwanenye Nwosu of Nkwelle village Nwabuikwu Okafor Afuzuo, of Ifite-Oka village Joseph Ekunife Okoye, of Amudo Village Richard Chikwuneke Anagbogu of Amachalla village Paul Okafor Aguiyi, of Amudo village Moses Nwabueze Okeke – Ifite-Oka village Benjamin Ndubuisis Ndumanya – of Ifite-Oka village Ozo Nwoguguo Chikwuogor – ozo Jeluo- of Umubele village Muotoh Ekwunife, of Umukwa village Ozo Elias Oyeoka Offodile – Nzechimal of Umuayom village Ozo Nwogbo Okafor – Onukaligbo – of Umuogwal village Ozo Ikwunne Mbada – ozo Mbada - of Umuogwal village Ozo Nnaemeke Okafor – ozo Anonivbekwu – of Umudioka village Ozo Izueke Umesie, of Ndiagu - Obinofia town, Ezeagu Local Government Area, and The Elders of Agulu Village, Umana town, Ezeagu Local Government Area. Concerning the proof of the historical facts contained in this narrative, I have left that task to future researchers. My simple aim has been to set down these past events, taken from those who can still remember them, before they are completely lost to us, and to hand some down to our children in a written form. There has been no archeological work in Oka town yet. No doubt it will be rewarding when it is embarked upon, and the existence of Universities in Nigeria makes it only a matter of time. When that happens, these stories of the past will have physical evidence to support them. Until then, we have only the oral tradition, “the oral transmission of memories from one person to another.” In the title of the book I have used the current spelling of “Awka”, to make it clear what I am writing about. Thereafter, I have reverted to the older spelling “Oka”, which what some people say is simpler. The change in the spelling of the name from “Oka” to “Awka” was made by the British Colonial Office in 19:8. According to the researches of Dr. Nwibe Onejeme, Barrister-at-Law, of Umuokpu Village, the change of spelling was made by the Colonial Secretary, Mr. F.S. James, in 1908, through Government Notice No. 729, published in the Southern Nigerian Gazette of 1908, No. 42, Volume 3 at page 8511. Oka people have a language of their own, which is variation, or dialect, of the Igbo tongue. One outstanding peculiarity of that Oka language is a sound not found in other Igbo dialects. It is a sound that is made of slightly parting the lips and blowing out air to make a sound that is between “v” and “b”, but without actually pronouncing “v” as “v” or “b” as “b”. This peculiar sound is also found among the Bini, and in the Benin alphabet it is written as “vb”, as in the name “Egharevb”. I have adopted these letters of the Benin alphabet, “vb” for this Oka sound. The “vb” in Oka dialect would be pronounced as “f” in Onitsha dialect, or as “h” in Owerri dialect. For example, where the Oka man would say: “Ivbe nkee ivbe kwe!” ―This is extraordinary!‖ The Onitsha man would say: “Ife nka ife kwa!” And the owerri man would say “Ihe nka ihe kwa. So, in many cases, where other Igbos use the letter “f” Oka use “vb”. Other examples: “efe ―chance‖ is “evbe” in Oka “fe ta” ―come over‖ is “evbe te” in Oka “Afamefuna” ―a name‖ is “Avbamevbune” in Oka. And the exclamation, “Unu afukwa nu” ―you see my trouble?! Is in Oka language “ivbilivbivbi!!” off course, Oka people use “f” in some words, such as “fuo” go, “futa” come out, “fuli ya” take it from him by force. Another peculiarity of Oka language is that Oka people do not pronounce the final vowel sounds “i” and “u”, like other Igbos, where they occur. For example, in other dialects the word “malu” ―know‖, “ralu” or “rali” ―choose) are pronounced as written, but the Okas drop the “u” and “i” and pronounce the words as “mal”; “ral”. These peculiar Oka spellings and manner of pronunciation of words will be used throughout this book. Up to 1905 Oka town was a sovereign nation-state, self-contained, self-sufficient and prosperous, with a well defined territory. By their system of government the Oka people were the freest people in the world. They were republicans. No one man ruled over them (Oka enwere eze). In their society they regarded each other as equals. They were ruled by their laws, in the making of which every citizen participated. They managed their affairs in the democratic assembly of the whole people, called “Izu Oka”, to which every citizen had the right to attend. The womenfolk had their own assemblies. The nearest thing to kings that the Oka people had was the Society of ozo title-holders. The members of this Society had traditional functions in Oka, and had a part in the management of the affairs of the town. They declared wars and made peace, on behalf of the town; and they settled disputes.

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