Series: The History of Anioma People [Part 3]

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The Waves of Migration

The British historian, Arnold tonybee did say at a lecture in 1964 at kings college Lagos, Nigeria, that history comes up in waves, and this is why, in its repetitive nature, it so resembles waves, for each wave is always like the preceding one. Like waves, each migration has features like its predecessor- the search for land, the search for freedom, the search for the golden fleece, the search for fame and glory, the search for safety.

After the waves of migrations from the eastern part of the world brought most West Africans to permanently reside where they are today, the migrant Ibos dispersed into different areas of the present Anioma, to find what we know today as Anioma. Let us not forget that the claim of Eastern migrations into West Africa is not imaginary. It is real. After all, Archaeologists have established that the first man created was in the Abyssinian area which is in the East. The Bible also tells us that the Garden of Eden existed in the East, in actual fact, between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. So it is no fantasy when we state that the Ibos migrated from the Middle East, alongside other West Africa nationalities. And it is also factual when we state, as we did earlier, that the Anioma is Ibo, through  sharing with other Ibos, the culture, language and traditions of other Ibos, be they Ibos in the South Eastern States of Nigeria, or Ibos in Rivers, Benue, Cross Rivers, Edo and Akwa Ibom States. Researchers have fully established this fact. Nigeria's first President, Nnamdi Azikiwe in his "My Odyssey", General Yakubu Gowon, in a 1967 speech (even though he did this derisively), Elizabeth Isichei, in her "History of the Igbos",  Obi Anene, in several of his books - including "The History of Ubulu-Uku", The Culture of UBULU-UKU,The "Sociology of Ubulu-Uku", Emmanuel Ikem, in his "Some Aspects of Ubulu-Uku Culture", Ikechukwu Iyeke, in his "The History of a People: Ibos and Nigeria" and several others. Indeed, the first sentence of chapter one of Iyeke's book states that:
"The Anioma people are Ibos of Western Nigeria currently Situated in Delta State, making up to nine local government areas of about ninety towns and several villages."

Thus having arrived in Nigeria, we can explore four distinct waves of Migrations of Ibos into Anioma. These are migration from Nri, migration from Igala, migration from the West, especially from Ife and its environs, and Migration from Benin. We note that in the tracing of any nation's history, controversies will persist, but the fascinating nature of history is that from controversies, the constants will always surface, for controversies lead to further research which obfuscate these controversies and lead to new facts and new information. With the new facts and new information. With the use of archaeology to support oral traditions, the most important thing is that as these new information emerge, they should be written and recorded. For as it has always been said, the most authentic source of history is the written and or recorded source. Oral traditions will be tailored from person to person to suit the whims and caprices of the times. But if history is recorded as and at when it happens, especially by those who witness it, then its acceptability becomes unquestionable. And it has to be remembered that civilization, even at the world or international level, is based on nothing but the recorded and written word. This is the credibility of so many institutions. Christianity, for instance, is based on the Bible, which is a book written by those who were witnesses of everything that passed through the times of their write - ups. From Genesis to revelation, it is a narrative by participants in the events of those times - hence its acceptability. The authors of the books of the Bible wrote on what they saw and what they participated in, not what they were told. Thus our researchers should record/write their findings to aid further research and build up a civilization that is virile and inviolate kudos, therefore to those who have taken up pen and paper to prove to the world that the history of Africa is not necessarily the history of the white man in Africa. It is the history of Africa before the white man even came to Africa, and thereafter, it is the history of pre-colonial -colonial -post colonial Africa.

So the first migration we deal with here into Anioma is the migration from Nri into Anioma. Nri is a town now located in the South-eastern state, that grew into a complex of towns known as Umueri towns. They were so-called, because they were towns founded by the children of eri, an Igala warrior.

The Nri have, from time, been known to be efficient blacksmiths and good agriculturists. They were also known to be strong in spiritualism and many of them were powerful priests. Some of these priests left Nri crossed the Niger, and migrated into what is now known as Anioma. It is claimed by some authors that these priests were indeed invited by the Aniomas, but some claim that they were only part of the wave of Ibos dedicated to the Ibo spirit of adventure who migrated on their own, without any invitation. These migrants brought in their agricultural and blacksmithing skills and can today be credited with the founding of towns like Ibusa, Ute, Owa, and quarters like Aniekei (which is a part of Udo) in Ubulu-Uku and some quarters in Ogwashi-uku.

This Nri migration into Anioma took place in the 15th century, and it has been proven that most modern Anioma-Ibo towns were founded in the 15th and 16th centuries even though the migration of Ibos into Africa from the Eastern world started in the 9th Century A.D

The Nri migration of the children of Nri (Umueri) from Nri into Anioma should not be confused with the direct migration from Igala town into Anioma, which is the next wave of migration which we now deal with.

This wave of migration came directly from Igala in Benue state, which is north of Anioma, passing through Onitsha. The towns, settlements and villages founded by this wave of migrants include the Oko village in Asaba, and two quarters in Illah. More and more migrations continued along  the axis and led to much of the present Oshimili South being subject to various small settlements developing. The reverine nature of the area meant that erosion disturbed the establishment of permanent settlement and ensured that populations kept moving  all the time. Traders, fishermen and farmers kept migrating and setting up settlements around and along the Delta shores of the river Niger. Towns like Illah, Ugbodu, Ebu, all received boosts of population growth as waves of migration moved in from the Igala direct axis.

An interesting wave of migration is the third wave mentioned above. This is the wave of migration from the West. This is the place of Ezemu in Anioma history. Ezemu was a renowned hunter and avatar who had spiritual powers. His forefathers must have been participants with those who migrated in the 9th century with the stream of Ibo migrants into Africa and Nigeria from the eastern part of the world.

According to the history of Ubulu-Uku, the known route of the wave of migration into Anioma from the West is the route taken by Ezemu, i.e Ile-ife, through Afor, Abi-Ubulu, to Ubulu-Unor, and then to Ubulu-Uku. From historical records, no other wave of migration came into Anioma from the Western part of Nigeria except this wave. This wave now takes care of the Afor, Abbi, group of the kwale area, the Ubulu-Unor, Ubulu-Uku, Ubulu-Okiti and all the satellite towns and villages surrounding Ubulu clan and making up that clan; Ozo-Ubulu, Obolo-Afor, Obolo-Eke and other towns and villages of Ubulu origin.

This is why the Ubulu dialect of the Ibo language is so closely related to Ukwuani dialect of the Ibo language. Ezemu stayed for a long time with his brothers in Afor and Abbi before migrating to Ubulu-Unor and Ubulu-Uku, while his brothers established other towns and with the growth of population, Ubulu spread to find other satellite and big towns, even in the South-East.

The last wave of migration into Anioma is the Benin wave. By the 13th to 14th centuries, Benin had grown into a strong military state conquering state to state and establishing “Enogies” to rule every conquered territory. Towards Anioma, the Binis (original name (Idus)), had expanded up to Abudu, warring through Ugonoba, Urhonigbe and the other Ugos, and installing an “Enogie” at Abudu

Check-mating the Idu expansion towards Anioma was the Agbor kingdom which had been settled and entrenched in Agbor by the people known as the Ado people. The Ado people had migrants from Igala land, and from the present South-east to beef up its population. This was in response to the attempts by the powerful Benin kingdom to conquer and suppress the Ado people. The Idus (Binis) had acquired firearms from the Portuguese with whom they had been dealing since the 12th Century A.D.

Thus with pressure from Benin, Ezechime, king of the Ado people, had to need the help of migrants from other parts of Anioma. Thus while resisting Benin, he fled to what is now Aniocha North, founding, with his children, towns like Obior, Onicha-Olona, Onicha-Ugbo, Issele-uku and other Isseles. It is stated that his last settlement was Onitsha in the South east. This is why Onitsha is often referred to as Onitsha-Ado.

Thus the Ikas are fundamentally Ibos, as we have seen from migrations. So are the Ndokwas, the Aniochas and the Oshimili people. This is what makes up the acronym ANIOMA.

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