Following the wake of the ongoing saga between the Ijaw and Benin people in Edo State, several commentators wrongly assume that because the Ijaw are found in multiple states across the Niger Delta, they have multiple histories. On this note, it is germane to state categorically that the Ijaw people do not have multiple histories. Despite their different locations within the Nigerian state, especially in the Niger Delta, they share the same ancestral origin. To this end, it would be better for such commentators to consult history books for proper elucidation, rather than base their commentaries on fallacies and innuendo. Irrespective of their diversionary tactics and fallacious narratives, the fact remains sacrosanct. The Ijaw in Edo State are autochthonous to their ancestral homelands. Historical evidence shows the Benin people met them already settled on the land.
For the sake of emphasis, it is pertinent to state that the Ijaw people are aboriginal to the Niger Delta coastlines. In the course of their evolution, children of the same ancestor migrated within the coastline to found new clans (kingdoms). For instance, the ancestral origin of the Yoruba is traced to Ile-Ife. Several descendants of the same ancestor migrated from Ile-Ife to establish new settlements. That is why we have the Ijebu, Egba, Remo, Ibarapa, Oyo, Ijesha, Ede, Okun, Owo, Ondo, Ikale, Ilaje, and Ekiti, and several other clans, all of which are different Yoruba sub-groups. Even the Benin people have their history traceable to Yorubaland.
The same principle applies to the Ijaw people. We have the Arogbo clan of the Ijaw sub-group in the coastal belt of Ondo State; the Egbema, Olodiama, Furupagha, Gbaraun and Okomu clans (kingdoms) in Edo State; the Egbema, Gbaramatu, Mein, and Kabowe clans in Delta State; the Mein, Ogbia, Nembe, and others in Bayelsa State; as well as the Kalabari and others in Rivers State; and other Ijaw clans in Akwa Ibom state.
Importantly, the fact that the Ijaw are found across multiple states in Nigeria is not a coincidence. It was the European balkanization of what became the Nigerian State that brought about this situation. Non-Benin persons that have a better sense of reasoning could note this: the Ijaw communities in Edo State are geographically contiguous with those of their kinsmen in Ondo and Delta States. It was the British policy of balkanization and divide-and-rule, as well as subsequent state creation exercises by the Federal Government for administrative convenience, that caused these contiguous Ijaw communities to be scattered across different states in Nigeria.
On this note, let me ask a question, as I did in my previous write-up. How come those deranged and fraudulent Benin people have never laid claim to the other Ijaw lands in Warri North and Ese-Odo Local Government Areas of Delta and Ondo States, respectively, which are just a very short distance from the Ijaw communities in Edo State? I am sure they would not dare do that! That, in itself, is ample reason to thrash the fraudulent claims of the crooked Benin people.
In Lagos State, we have the Egun people in Badagry Local Government Area, which is their ancestral homeland. In Ogun State, we also have the Egun people in Ado-Odo/Ota and Ipokia Local Government Areas, which are equally their ancestral lands. The Egun people are also found in the Republic of Benin. Yet, the Yoruba people in Lagos and Ogun States have never laid claim to Egun lands. This is because the Yoruba people are very civil and respect the ancestral history and heritage of their neighbours.
Similarly, the Okun people, a Yoruba sub-group, are found in present-day Kogi State, and that location is their ancestral homeland. How come the Igala and Ebira, the majority ethnic groups in Kogi State, have never claimed ownership of Okun land? They would never do so because the Igala and Ebira people are civilized enough to respect the culture and historical heritage of their neighbours. So, why is the case of the Ijaw people different in Edo State? That is understandable. It is because their immediate neighbours, the Benins ,who cling to dishonest means in order to claim other people's properties. This tendency is, indeed, in the bloodline of the average Benin man. A people who mutilate records and twist historical facts in an attempt to alter the narrative of their own origin can do anything to claim ownership of other people's ancestral lands. This is a vivid description of the Benin People!
There is a peculiar arrogance that often accompanies ignorance. It is the confidence of a man who has never opened a history book, never listened to the elders, never studied a map beyond political boundaries, yet speaks with the certainty of an eyewitness to centuries he never lived. Such was the unfortunate display by one social media commentator who not only dismissed the existence of Ijaw communities in Edo State but chose to garnish historical illiteracy with ethnic insults.
History, however has never surrendered to loud voices. Rivers do not reverse their courses because someone shouts at them. Neither do ancient peoples disappear because a keyboard warrior wishes them away. Civilizations are not deleted by opinion; they are preserved by evidence.
To suggest that there are no Ijaw people in Edo State is not merely an error; it is an assault on documented history. Long before Nigeria became a political entity, and long before today's state boundaries were imagined, the Ijaw occupied strategic settlements along the Benin River and adjoining Atlantic coast. Their presence is neither accidental nor recent. It predates colonial cartographers who merely drew lines across landscapes already inhabited by peoples with identities, languages, and institutions.
The Ijaw of Edo State are not ghosts conjured by political convenience. They are organized into historic kingdoms and clans such as Egbema, Olodiama, Furupagha, and Ukomu. Communities including Inekorogha, Ayakoroma, Ofoniama (popularly called Ofunama), Gelegelegbene (Gelegele), Ikoro, Siluko, Gbelekanga, Binidogha, Itagbene, Gbelebu, Okomu-Ijaw and several others have existed for generations, maintaining their language, customs, traditional institutions.
However, on this matter, the Benin people have actually met the wrong customers, as the Ijaw people are ready to defend their ancestral lands in Edo State.
0 Comments