University of Pretoria etd, Idamoyibo O I (2006) CHAPTER 3 THE OKPE AND HER CULTURE 3. 1 Location and population It is pertinent to give some ethnographical background of the Okpe, for the reasons that such ethnographical frameworks inform musical philosophy, creativity and practices and would therefore enhance our understanding of Igoru music. The Okpẹ country is situated at the heart of Delta State of Nigeria within latitude 6º and 5º North and longitude 5º 50¹ and 6º 25¹ East (Onigu Otite, 1973: 4). It occupies a large expanse of landmass about 500sq kilomitres of mainland, mangrove, swamp and rivers (Otite, 1982: 121). It is politically divided into Okpe and Sapele Local Government Areas of the state. Within the confines of this location, Okpẹ shares borders with Warri, Uvwie (Effurun), and Agbarho on the Southwest. On the Northeast axis, it has boundary with Oghara, Jesse, Benin and Agbon. The Urhiapẹlẹ River, Ethiope River and the Warri River mark its boundaries somewhat. It is one of the 374 ethnic groups in Nigeria (Otite, cited by David Dafinone, 2000: 8 [Internet\). Among the other ethnic groups in Delta State, the Okpe have the largest kingdom and highest population density up to 248, 314 in 1991/1992 census commission report (Onokerhoraye, 1995: 48). 3 - 1 University of Pretoria etd, Idamoyibo O I (2006) It should be noted that some authors use the colonial political grouping that put the Okpe together with other Urhobo clans in the former Urhobo Division and discuss its population as such. Some of these authors therefore claim that “the Urhobo people are the 5th largest ethnic group in Nigeria and constitute the largest single ethnic group in Delta State (www.urhobo.org, author’s names not in the article), or claim that “In land area, Urhobo is larger than Switzerland (Dafinone, 2000: 3 [Internet]). See maps below: 3 - 2 University of Pretoria etd, Idamoyibo O I (2006) Map 2: Map of Delta State showing Local Government Areas 3 - 3 University of Pretoria etd , Idamoyibo O I (2006) 3 - 4 University of Pretoria etd, Idamoyibo O I (2006) 3. 2 Geographical features The Okpe terrain is made up of flat and low land with no hills, mountains and rocks. It however consists of mangrove swamp forest around several communities. In the hinterland of Aghalokpe, there exists a savannah belt. The land in Sapele area encompasses a forest reserve that is preserved and controlled by the state government. Apart from the Sapele forest reserve that is strictly under the government’s monitoring guard tagged ‘Forest Guard’ – a paramilitary force, all other forests are accessible to inhabitants for game, farming, timbre and sawing operations. Several rivers and streams link up to each other and flow into major sources such as the three rivers earlier mentioned. The Ethiope River, known for its shoal and crystal nature, runs through Urhiapele, Ikeresan, and Elume Rivers, to join Ugbokodo-Warri River. A creek breaks off around the Sapele reserved forest and runs through Ugberikoko, Ituru, Ugbibidaka and turns into shallow streams afterwards. Another creek turns off from the Ikeresan River, running through Okpakomedje to Elume River, thereby leaving an enclosed forest island. The Elume River runs through Ologho, Ekoko, Mereje and Ugbokodo Rivers. Some of the streams have waterways dredged to allow floating of timbre from the swamp forests into sawmills, which are often located by the riverbank, particularly in Sapele. The relief shows a promising fertile land further blessed with crude oil. There is a network of tarred and un-tarred roads linking towns and villages within and outside Okpe land. Some Igoru songs make reference to the road network, water spirits and fishing activities, as well as the farm landscape (See chapter six). 3 - 5 University of Pretoria etd, Idamoyibo O I (2006) 3. 3 Climate The climatic condition of the Okpe land is temperate, being neither extremely cold, nor extremely hot. The dry season and the rainy season are further subdivided into four traditional seasons respectively. The subdivisions of the traditional seasons include the following: A. The dry seasons Season Period Feature • Okaka January-early March Streams dry and fish ponds are depleted • Ororo Late March-early May Oil palm productivity flourishes • Oriaren Late August-early Sept. Trees denude and bear fresh leaves • Ohwahwa December-January Harmattan wind blows B. The rainy seasons Season Period Feature • Ọvon June Intermittent rain fall • Ukude July-mid August Flood and frog crowing • Ewẹ September High volume of rain, thunder and lightening • Oya October Some rain and much fishing success It should be noted that little overlapping occurs in the above subdivisions. Within the first dry season called okaka between January and early March, the first rains of the year fall occasionally around mid-February and mid-March. The rains in late March 3 - 6 University of Pretoria etd, Idamoyibo O I (2006) prepare the next season, ororo, and enable oil palm to get ripe for harvest. Towards the end of May, the clouds release some rain fall in preparation for the successive rainy seasons between June and October. It is pertinent to conclude that there is more rain falls than dry season periods in Okpe land. When Igoru musicians make reference to seasons in their songs, they however do not specify which of the subdivisions of rainy or dry season they mean. It could then be understood that any of the dry or rainy seasons apply. 3. 4 History There is need to argue here that Okpẹ is a different ethnic group from Urhobo, though many reports and publications have often put them together. Hubbard (1948: 11) argues that ‘Sobo’ is a foreign word, an anglicized form of the name ‘Urhobo’ which in his writing was to be seen as a nonce word used to contrast the Urhobo, Okpẹ, Isoko, Erohwa and Uvwie whose languages have similarities, to the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Ibo whose languages are different. He explicitly remarks that ‘it must be realized that although the ‘Sobo’ possess many customs in common, yet there is no such thing as the ‘Sobo tribe’ or ‘Sobo nation’. Amaury Talbot (1926: 33) similarly argues that ‘In the same way “Sobo,” which is really an Anglicised form of “Uzobo,” is given in this report to the sub-tribe of Edo, which embraces the two clans of Uzobo and Isoko’. Apart from the above malapropos of the term ‘Sobo’ to lump these different ethnic groups together, the colonial administration, on its part, added the Okpẹ to the ‘Sobo Division’ for the sake of administrative convenience. Between 1934 and 1938 when the Okpẹ wanted to secede, her metropolis, Orerokpe was made the Headquarters of the Western Urhobo Native administration, in order to keep them together. Other reasons for the amalgamation of these ethnic groups include the observation of L. N. 3 - 7 University of Pretoria etd, Idamoyibo O I (2006) Bowen, a European explorer who remarked that the Okpẹ were reputed to be the most progressive and best administered group through their native authority, the Orodje (king) of Okpẹ, and set a good example for the others in the whole of the Western Urhobo Council Area (Otite, 1973: 39). Confirming this political grouping, which clearly indicates that the Okpẹ and the Urhobo were not originally homogeneous people, Otite writes: ‘Orerokpe the capital of Okpe kingdom, was the headquarters of the Western Urhobo District Council as from 1955 when Okpe kingdom was grouped with twelve other Urhobo polities (Otite, 1982: 132)’. Chronologically, Yamu Numa (1950) as reported by Otite (1982: 23) speculated that the Okpẹ migrated from the ancient Egypt to Ile-Ife in 812 B. C; while Orororo (1994: 3) argues that the Okpẹ further migrated from Ile-Ife in 641 A. D. and arrived her permanent territorial metropolis, Orerokpẹ in 1170 A. D. According to C. I. Agino (1987: 2), the Egyptian king in the seventh century sent his heir apparent, the progenitor of Okpẹ away to avoid the cold hands of death during the warfare between Egypt and Israel. The point is however not clear whether the legendary Oduduwa of Ile-Ife was the Egyptian heir or not. But he argues that Obalufon, one of Oduduwa’s sons gave birth to a son after a female child and named him Opẹ meaning ‘it is (kinds of children are) complete’ in Yoruba language. Born at Igbotakpa near Ile-Ife, Opẹ later to be spelt Okpẹ, grew strong and led a contingent from Ile-Ife to Benin. He later founded a kingdom called Okpẹ Ikperhẹ where we have the Isoko people today and migrated further to found Okpẹ Olomu. It was not clear where exactly Okpẹ died, but before his death, he had four sons namely Orhuẹ, Orhoro, Evbreke and Esezi. The first son, Orhue, a nimrod, chased game through Ugo across Apẹlẹ otherwise known as Ethiope River at Ajaguoyibo, passing through Aghalokpe where he found a plantain, which bore edible fruits, an indication that the land was very fertile. He planted ohimi, a live tree there and named the place Orere-mo-kpẹ later to be shortened Orerokpẹ, meaning the city of Okpẹ (‘s children). Having returned from 3 - 8 University of Pretoria etd, Idamoyibo O I (2006) the hunting expedition, he led his brothers and a host of their descendants and followers to inhabit the new settlement, which expanded to what is known today as the Okpẹ nation. Oral interview at the Orodje’s palace, Orerokpe confirms the migration from Egypt through Ile-Ife and Benin, arriving the present location c 1100 A. D. Perkins Foss (2003: 16) remarks that ‘Duarte Pacheco Pereira, one of the first explorers to chronicle the coast of the Niger Delta, noted in 1508 that the “subou” occupy the hinterland of the western delta, thus suggesting that at least parts of the country may have been occupied at this early date’.