POLAC HISTORICAL REVIEW Vol. 3 No. 1. July-December 2019 Pages 24 - 40 ISSN: 2476 – 8049 Website: www.npaw-jhss.com.ng The Ijo's of Kolokuma and their Traditional Marriage System in Central Niger Delta Region of Nigeria Asanebi, Daupamowei Henry Department of History and International Studies Federal University Otuoke Bayelsa State [email protected] 08135026310, 08135011207 Abstract The paper set out to examine the traditions of origin and traditional marriage system of the Ijo's of Kolokuma. Marriage which is one aspect of her culture is the union between a man and a woman. The Kolokuma Ijo people are culturatic in nature, which they inherited from their forebears, preserved and practice via their traditional marriage which constitute their cultural institution. Thus, culture is the totality of patterns of behavior in arts, cuisine, language, religion, values and norms among others acquired by a particular group of people, which distinguish them from others and showcase them to the world. Kala-Okun now corrected to Kolokuma is a direct descendant of Ijo, the progenitor of the Ijo ethnic group in Central Niger Delta Region located in Southern Nigeria. The research methodology is historical and premised on the use of primary and secondary data. The paper contends that the traditional marriage of the people is as old as the Kolokuma clan. Marriage is held sacred, honourable and highly consummated in Kolokuma, as procreation is the vital aim of marriage. The Kolokuma Ijo marriage is both traditional (culture) institution and a sacred union, which is rooted in the divine plan of Ayiba / Woyengi (God). The paper concludesthat the Ijo's of Kolokuma have been in the Niger Delta region as long as any tradition can remember and her traditional marriage embraces the totality of the African way of life in all its forms and ramification. Keywords: Marriage, Central Niger Delta, Ijo, Kolokuma, Nigeria. Introduction A society without the knowledge of the past has no future. For the Kolokuma people, the knowledge of their past is paramount, which the people devise ways via their traditional institutions in preserving and educating the knowledge of the past to their younger generations. Marriage as one aspect of the Kolokuma culture is that branch of tradition that is highly preserved and practice by the people. Marriage is rooted in the divine plan of Ayiba / Woyengi (God) in Kolokuma clan, as such it is recognized as moral and Godly union by the people as the basis of a family. It is imperative to note that every ethnic group(s) in Nigeria has its own unique traditional marriage system. Be that as it may, Kala-Okun now corrected to Kolokuma occupies the Central Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The region which extends from River Pennington to River Nun can be argued as having the greatest concentration of the Ijo ethnic group of Nigeria. The people of Kolokuma share same ancestral roots and traditional marriage system with Opo-Okun now corrected to Opokuma. However, in terms of linguistics, the people speak the Ijo language which constitutes the core spoken language in Central Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Just like their Ijo counterpart in Central Niger Delta, the Kolokuma people are culturatic in nature which they inherited from their forebears. For the Ijo's of Southern Nigeria, the Central Niger Delta region is seen as the point of dispersion and migration of all Ijo ethnic groups to other parts of Nigeria. Using geographical and ethno-linguistic parameters, scholars like E.J. Alagoa, E.E. Efere and Kay Williamson1 have classified the Ijo's into five main groups, which Kolokuma is included namely: 1. The Ijo of the Western Delta Fringe: Composed of the Apoi, Arogbo, Furupagha, Olodiama, Gbaranmatu (or Oproza), Egbema and Ogbe. They are found in the present-day Ondo, Edo and Delta states. 2. The Ijo of the Western Delta: Composed of the Obotebe, Mein, Seinbiri, Tuomo, Tarakiri, Kabowei, Kumbowei, Operemo, Oyiakiri (or Beni) Ogulagha, Iduwini and Kou of Delta state. 3. The Ijo of the Central Delta: Composed of the Apoi, Bassan, Olodiama, Oporoma, Ogboin, Tungbo, Kolokuma, Opokuma, Gbarian, Okordia, (Akita) Biseni, Oruma (Tugbene), Ekpetiama, Tarakiri, Bomo, Akassa (Akaha) and Nembe (Brass) of Bayelsa State. 4. The Ijo of the Eastern Delta: Composed of the Kalabari (New Calabar) Okirika (Wakirike) Ibani (Bonny) in Rivers State. 5. The Ijo of the Eastern Delta Fringe: Composed of the Nkoro (Kala Kirike) Defaka and Ibani (Opobo) in Rivers state. The thrust of this paper therefore, is to succinctly examine the traditions of origin of the Kolokuma Ijo people from different school of thought and their traditional marriage system. In essence, the aim of this paper is to spotlight the Ijo's of Kolokuma and their marriage system to the scholarly world and to stem the decline of the Kolokuma culture. Kolokuma Origin The historic origin of Kolokuma has two schools of thought. The first school of thought maintained that Kala-Okun is a son of Ijo, the progenitor of Ijo ethnic group of Southern Nigeria, who share a common ancestry with Opo-Okun (Opokuma) and Tarakiri West. Their common ancestor has been variously named Ndo, Indo and Ondo and he is said to have originated from the ancient Benin kingdom by Newington2 and Ile-Ife by Owonaro3 in their respective research. Kala-Okun on arrival to the Central Niger Delta settled around the Igbedi Creek, the ancient site of Agadagbabou on which Wilberforce Island is named as one of the earlier place of origin. Another old site was Orubou or Oruamatoru. The “Son's” of the eponymous ancestor of the Kolokuma, named in various versions of tradition as Kolokumaowei, Kala-Okun and Aluku eventually led the people out of the Igbedi creek 4 into the Nun River. According to Owonaro5 the migration out of Agadagbabou in the Igbedi creek to the River Nun was led by Kolokumaowei and his sons of the identified nine lineages or Dani that came to be established on the River Nun. Five of the Dani have been acknowledged as founded by sons of Kolokumaowei without variant accounts of origin. They are: Egbebiridani, Isedani, Ofodani, Oloudani and Opoidani. The other 25 four Dani have variant versions naming outside place of origin. Thus, Egbedani is stated to have been founded by Egbe, son of Uge and grandson of Mein, the founder of Mein clan; Osumadani by “Eweli, an emigrant from Awka in Ibo land”; Abadani from Ayama in Tarakiri (East) and Burudani from Awka. The term “Dani” and it usage is peculiar to the Kolokuma people, which simply means bloodline, family roots or family lineage. It is imperative to note that ordering of the lineage or Dani is done in a prescribe order of precedence or seniority at the yengidie ceremony as follows: 1. Burudani 2. Egbedani 3. Abadani 4. Isadani 5. Osumadani 6. Opoidani 7. Ofodani 8. Egbebiridani Increasing the complexity of the institution, it is stated that Ofodani is an imaginary dani created in memory of the last son of Kolokumaowei who died young. Opoidani is no longer in existence having migrated to Apoi (East) and Egbebiridani is also believed to have disappeared in a catastrophic situation or absorbed into other dani. The pre-eminent position accorded Burudani apparently derives from the fact that priests of Kolokuma Egbesu were chosen from the lineage from the time of settlement at Orubou, and recently from the settlement at Oloubiri and Foubiri. Similarly, Egbedani owes its second place ranking to the fact that priest of the god Okpotu, “One of the principal (if not the chief) deity” of the Kolokuma was chosen from the lineage.6 According to Pa Herbert Okpotolomo7 Kolokuma is the younger brother to Opu-Okun or Opokuma. Kolokuma and his elder brother agreed on leaving the Igbedi creek to Nun River to settle very close in other to be in touch and support each other from external attack(s) and encroachment of their territories. Thus, Opokuma being the elder to Kolokuma migrated first out of the Igbedi creek into River Nun before his younger brother. The surviving Dani/sons of Kolokumaowei founded the nine communities that make up the Kolokuma clan which are, Kaiama, Igbedi, Ayibobiri, Kalama, Sampou, Olobiri, Okoloba, Seibokoragha and Odi. Okorotomu are not Kala-Okun descendant, but they have lived with the Kolokuma people for thousands of years. All these towns are situated along the bank of the River Nun. Kala-Okun, Aluku or Kolokuma-owei as it is variously names and called is the progenitor of Kolokuma clan in Central Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. The second school of thought debunked the Ile-Ife and Benin origin of Kolokuma by Newington and Owonaro. Scholars of this school of thought such as E.J. Alagoa, A.M. Okorobia, Taibot and Kay Williamson hold that where an individual or group no longer remembered its place of origin, it is likely to choose one that is expected to bring honour, prestige and glory to it, yet sufficiently distant to pose any threat to its independence. Taibot8 and Alagoa9 assert that the Ijo lost all remembrance of the time they entered the Niger Delta. As this does not necessarily mean that the Ijo are autochthonous to the Niger Delta. It rather means that the time span for which the Ijo have been in the Niger Delta has exceeded that for which it is possible to mentally retain the details in the traditions. 26 The evidence of historical linguistics suggests that the distance between Ijo and her neighboring languages are such that no oral traditions or intellectual speculations attempting to derive the Ijo from any of their neighbors can be sustained.