Why Udo Pays Homage to Oba of Benin Till Today
His Royal Highness Patrick Ekhoeutomwen Igbinidu is the head of Udo Community in Ovia South-west Local Government Area of Edo State. The Iyase n’ Udo reveals why the community cannot produce the Oba of Benin, and the relationship between Edo and Udo lineages. He also talks about why he, as the Iyase of Udo, has the right to crown chiefs in the community. Correspondent AGENE AKHERE presents here excerpts of the interview with the traditional chief…
What is the Udo Community known for?
The community still remains a small town, which is known to be composed mostly of farmers. The major occupation is farming though there are other occupations in the community.
Following the history of Benin kingdom, the Udo community is closely linked with the Aruan, can you tell us more about it?
The real history of Udo is not from Aruan. Aruan came into existence around 50 AD but Udo has been in existence since around 600 AD. The story of Udo community didn’t start from Aruan regime. The truth is that the origin of Udo Community began around 600 AD with two persons, one man and one woman called Okpe and Oye. The Okpe is the man and Oye is the woman. They married themselves and gave birth to plenty children. Some of the children left Udo here to other villages to live and to form their own villages. Udo has been in existence for a very long time and even before Aruan, there were many heroes that fought wars to get Udo independence. Some of the heroes before Aruan, sometime you see Akpanijakun, Eguahan, Obuele. They were all fighters and great heroes in our community here.
What then is the true story of the existence of Aruan?
The existence of Aruan here did not take much time. It only took 10 to 15 years. Aruan was not born and brought up here. He was born by Oba Ozolua. Oba Ozolua had many wives and among the wives, two of them conceived about the same time and when it got to some months, the Oba asked them to go to their different parental homes where they came from to be delivered of their babies. When their delivery time came, the junior wife gave birth to a baby boy who was very big in size and it was very difficult before she was able to bring the baby out but through diabolical and other sources the baby eventually came out. When the baby came out they found out that the baby was having toes at the front and toes at the back. The head was very large; when they counted the fingers they saw six on the left and six on the right and even the legs. They were thinking what kind of baby is this? They tried their best to make the baby cry but the baby wouldn’t cry. From there, because the baby was born very early in the morning, they went out to look for the oracle to make the baby cry. At the tail end, towards evening, the other woman gave birth and immediately the baby came out, it cried. They ran to the Oba of Benin to let him know that the wife has delivered a baby boy. If you are the first son of the Oba, there are some sacrifices that are performed to ensure that the child remains alive until the father dies. So they did those things on the boy born in the evening, whereas the first one is still there not yet crying until they returned from the oracle where they were told to put cannel shell on his head and to use mortal pestle to break the cannel shell on his head, then baby will cry. This was exactly what they did when they got home and the baby cried. They went to the Oba to tell him that a certain wife had given birth since morning but something had prevented them from coming to break the news on time. The Oba said he was sorry the other one gave birth this evening and he had already done all the necessary rites on the baby. He said to them sorry that would be the first and this one would be the second baby. So that was how crisis began at the palace. The mother of the first baby born in the morning was not happy; the mother of the child born in the evening was very happy to see that he had the first child for the Oba, but in respect to age, the one born in the morning is senior to the one born in the evening. When both sons came of age, the father couldn’t control them again; they would fight everyday in the palace. The giant one would always use force in everything he was doing and he would always tell his senior brother, you have no right here, I’m your senior by age, but they used tribalism to make you the senior. When the Oba found out that it was going to be very rough in the palace when he is gone, he called the other one and told him he would want him to go to Udo because by then apart from Edo, Udo, no other village was a bit open. There was no development in any other village apart from Edo and Udo. Those were the two names you would always hear in Edo State. But the Oba said he would make make that other son the head of Udo Community while the brother would be the head in Benin City. The other one disagreed, then the Oba said anywhere he was buried as their father when he is dead, that place would be more developed than the other and that place would be a place where you would be paying your homage. “If I am buried in Udo, you will be paying homage to your brother and if I am buried in Benin you will be paying homage to your brother in Benin,” he said. That was how the arrangement was laid down.
They he said to the Oba: “you asked me to go to Udo, there are many chiefs around you here and you asked me to go alone”. Then the Oba said: “if that is so, I will give you many other chiefs that you want and if you get there as your brother in Benin is crowning titles, that is how you too will be giving people titles there. Go and be the Oba of that area”. That was how he left to Udo. When he got to Udo, he didn’t do nothing, apart from fighting. Aruan liberated many villages, many towns to be their own. He went to Ondo and many other villages in Nigeria to fight. He only asked them to come and pay homage to him and if they refuse they would not know peace even up to the Oba of Benin. He would descend on them and force them to come and pay homage.
They he said to the Oba: “you asked me to go to Udo, there are many chiefs around you here and you asked me to go alone”. Then the Oba said: “if that is so, I will give you many other chiefs that you want and if you get there as your brother in Benin is crowning titles, that is how you too will be giving people titles there. Go and be the Oba of that area”. That was how he left to Udo. When he got to Udo, he didn’t do nothing, apart from fighting. Aruan liberated many villages, many towns to be their own. He went to Ondo and many other villages in Nigeria to fight. He only asked them to come and pay homage to him and if they refuse they would not know peace even up to the Oba of Benin. He would descend on them and force them to come and pay homage.
What about the death of Oba Ozolua?
The Oba told them he was going to fight 201 wars, the last one would be his last as he believed he would not succeed the 201st war. “That is where and when I believe I am going to leave the world”. When the Oba eventually wanted to fight the 201st war, he passed through Udo to the village far away from Udo.
At the tail end of the story, the father really fought the 201st war; it was in this Usiha Sayo area, very close to Esi when the Oba joined his ancestors, during that war. A message was sent to Benin about what had happened and the same message was sent to Udo about what happened. The place is very close to Udo here, it is not more than 8 miles, but from Benin, it is not more than 40 miles. People trek, because no vehicle or other means of transportation are available. In Benin, the son who became Esigie, Osawe Ozolua, and this Aruan we are talking about is a guy name. His real name was Idubor Ozolua, the other one was Osawe Ozolua. One became the Esigie of Benin and Idubor Ozolua became the Aruan of Udo. They were coming from Benin to convey the corpse of their father to Benin; then Aruan was in Udo. The people of Udo told Aruan before others come from Benin let us go and take the corpse, but he said no we can’t suffer like that. Let those people come, they would go and bring the corpse and since there is no other way leading to the village apart from Udo, let us wait for them here. So they waited until they saw some group of people coming. When they were coming out, they tied things that you wouldn’t even expect could be mat, using black charcoal to rub themselves, some used white native chalk. They were all shouting, passing themselves off as if they were juju people. So they were carrying mat painted with black and they were passing by and going to Benin. The good adviser felt the way I saw these people dressed it would seem it was the corpse of the Oba they were carrying but Aruan said, “no that is not my father, it could be your father but not mine. Instead he gave a very hard knock to that person who said so and the fellow fainted. They were battling to to wake him up and forgot about the people passing until he woke up. Then he said some persons were passed just now, they went with a very nice coffin, that should be the coffin we should take.
Truly as they were coming, many people, men and women were crying with a fine coffin. When they got to where they were at that junction in Udo, they were stopped and asked to drop the coffin. Ozolua said he wanted his father to be buried in Udo and not Edo. He said they would not pass through with the coffin. They were dragging the coffin, his brother was there who later became the Esigie of Benin. They began to fight and when Aruan’s brother saw that they couldn’t defeat Aruan with a few people, he told his men let us give them the corpse. “I am still living in Benin, you should bury him here”. Then, Aruan’s brother dropped the fine coffin in Udo and went down to Benin. So the coffin was with Aruan; they were drinking and jubilating, talking about how they had defeated Aruan’s brother. Before they knew what was happening, they were hearing gun salute from Benin, a very big gun called Atu. Then Aruan asked his people if they were not hearing the gun, they said yes. “Why are they shooting gun when my father is here”? The adviser said he had been telling him and that they should open the coffin to know what was in there. When they eventually opened the coffin they found stones inside. He ran to Benin to look for his father and when he got there his father had been buried. He started cutting down trees, destroying everything and anything in sight but the brother told him, “didn’t you hear what our father said, bring down your sword”. And Aruan brought down his sword, which is a symbol of saying you are my senior and I am loyal to you. Aruan didn’t stop just like that. He saw the Benin people as traitors and he continued to fight them. One day he called his wife and told her that there was going to be a very terrible war. He put a very big bell around his neck and when going out he put something like leaf to cover the mouth of the bell from ringing. He told his wife, “if you hear the ring of my bell, know that there is a very big problem, it is better you run too. And where you are going to run to, you should pack our properties to the lake, put it inside and jump inside. I will be coming to meet you there”. As he was coming from Benin, after succeeding in the war, with nobody pursuing him, he was happy and jubilating that he had succeeded. When he got to the Ovia River, he jumped in and the leaf he used in covering the mouth of the bell fell out and the bell started ringing. The wife understood and before long she had packed all their properties very close to the lake. The wife put all their things inside the water and then she jumped inside.
When he got home, and met nobody, he asked the people around where his wife had gone to and they told him that he asked her to go to the lake if she heard the sound of his bell and she had done that. When Aruan got there, he found out that the woman had already drowned herself, though she was not seen, she was inside the lake. Aruan seeing that he couldn’t do anything again joined his wife in the lake. That was the end of Aruan in Udo.
Aruan was a very powerful man. He dug manholes and created ponds in Udo community. He had two children who died before him. The second son died while trying to fetch water from the well. He fell inside the well while the first son died at the war front. That was the end of Aruan, but he eventually married again.
At the tail end of the story, the father really fought the 201st war; it was in this Usiha Sayo area, very close to Esi when the Oba joined his ancestors, during that war. A message was sent to Benin about what had happened and the same message was sent to Udo about what happened. The place is very close to Udo here, it is not more than 8 miles, but from Benin, it is not more than 40 miles. People trek, because no vehicle or other means of transportation are available. In Benin, the son who became Esigie, Osawe Ozolua, and this Aruan we are talking about is a guy name. His real name was Idubor Ozolua, the other one was Osawe Ozolua. One became the Esigie of Benin and Idubor Ozolua became the Aruan of Udo. They were coming from Benin to convey the corpse of their father to Benin; then Aruan was in Udo. The people of Udo told Aruan before others come from Benin let us go and take the corpse, but he said no we can’t suffer like that. Let those people come, they would go and bring the corpse and since there is no other way leading to the village apart from Udo, let us wait for them here. So they waited until they saw some group of people coming. When they were coming out, they tied things that you wouldn’t even expect could be mat, using black charcoal to rub themselves, some used white native chalk. They were all shouting, passing themselves off as if they were juju people. So they were carrying mat painted with black and they were passing by and going to Benin. The good adviser felt the way I saw these people dressed it would seem it was the corpse of the Oba they were carrying but Aruan said, “no that is not my father, it could be your father but not mine. Instead he gave a very hard knock to that person who said so and the fellow fainted. They were battling to to wake him up and forgot about the people passing until he woke up. Then he said some persons were passed just now, they went with a very nice coffin, that should be the coffin we should take.
Truly as they were coming, many people, men and women were crying with a fine coffin. When they got to where they were at that junction in Udo, they were stopped and asked to drop the coffin. Ozolua said he wanted his father to be buried in Udo and not Edo. He said they would not pass through with the coffin. They were dragging the coffin, his brother was there who later became the Esigie of Benin. They began to fight and when Aruan’s brother saw that they couldn’t defeat Aruan with a few people, he told his men let us give them the corpse. “I am still living in Benin, you should bury him here”. Then, Aruan’s brother dropped the fine coffin in Udo and went down to Benin. So the coffin was with Aruan; they were drinking and jubilating, talking about how they had defeated Aruan’s brother. Before they knew what was happening, they were hearing gun salute from Benin, a very big gun called Atu. Then Aruan asked his people if they were not hearing the gun, they said yes. “Why are they shooting gun when my father is here”? The adviser said he had been telling him and that they should open the coffin to know what was in there. When they eventually opened the coffin they found stones inside. He ran to Benin to look for his father and when he got there his father had been buried. He started cutting down trees, destroying everything and anything in sight but the brother told him, “didn’t you hear what our father said, bring down your sword”. And Aruan brought down his sword, which is a symbol of saying you are my senior and I am loyal to you. Aruan didn’t stop just like that. He saw the Benin people as traitors and he continued to fight them. One day he called his wife and told her that there was going to be a very terrible war. He put a very big bell around his neck and when going out he put something like leaf to cover the mouth of the bell from ringing. He told his wife, “if you hear the ring of my bell, know that there is a very big problem, it is better you run too. And where you are going to run to, you should pack our properties to the lake, put it inside and jump inside. I will be coming to meet you there”. As he was coming from Benin, after succeeding in the war, with nobody pursuing him, he was happy and jubilating that he had succeeded. When he got to the Ovia River, he jumped in and the leaf he used in covering the mouth of the bell fell out and the bell started ringing. The wife understood and before long she had packed all their properties very close to the lake. The wife put all their things inside the water and then she jumped inside.
When he got home, and met nobody, he asked the people around where his wife had gone to and they told him that he asked her to go to the lake if she heard the sound of his bell and she had done that. When Aruan got there, he found out that the woman had already drowned herself, though she was not seen, she was inside the lake. Aruan seeing that he couldn’t do anything again joined his wife in the lake. That was the end of Aruan in Udo.
Aruan was a very powerful man. He dug manholes and created ponds in Udo community. He had two children who died before him. The second son died while trying to fetch water from the well. He fell inside the well while the first son died at the war front. That was the end of Aruan, but he eventually married again.
Was it Aruan who dug the Udo moat?
He was not the one who dug this moat around Udo; he came to meet the moat there. It was dug by Akpanijakun. The moat was to prevent soldiers from coming into the village. They dug the hole, carrying the sand to the Udo side. If you see the moat now it is very high, when you are on top and you look down there you will be afraid but when you are at the other side, you will just see it very low. It is the fence that covers Udo community. If anybody is coming to Udo community, he won’t be able to climb. That was how they were fighting their war as at then and Aruan came to meet that situation. It was during the time of Oba Oguola that Akpanijakun did the moat in Udo and is even far senior to that of Benin. So Aruan came, he continued to dig lake everywhere. To dig the lake was not more than 3 shovels, and you would have dug a big hole.
What was Udo like after Aruan?
Before Aruan left, he told the Iyase who was next to him to take care of Udo community and not to allow any other person penetrate the community. Then the Iyase led his troop to wage war with the Benin people including the Oba. They fought the war but couldn’t succeed because Aruan was no longer with them. The Oba descended on them and even sent a group of people to come and fight Udo people. When the real fighters in Udo community saw that they were coming, they fled the community because they were afraid of the war. Iyase Osewmenughe was the Iyase before Aruan’s death. The Iyase Osemwenughe fled to Ondo and he became the leader or Oba of Ondo. Today if you go to Ondo you find them call the Oba Osamawe, it is the Osamwenughe of Udo, so even the people from Udo here also went there to meet him. From there other people came to be the Iyase of Benin and told the Oba, enough is enough, we won’t fight anymore. Before then, we had not been paying homage to the Oba but when they wanted to crown the Iyase, the Oba would say I made you the Iyase, go to Udo and rule and that is the end. This time round it was changed about 5 or 6 Iyases ago. We have been paying homage to the Oba and the Oba has been our father. If anything is happening in the palace we must take part in it. We are no longer enemies to each other again.
Your youths are complaining that companies in your community are not treating them well. What is your take on this?
It is true. Before my arrival, the present Managing Director of Okomu Oil Palm Company was not like this. He was very strict but this time round with my intervention and manner of approach, he has changed a little. Recently, he was asking me and the UCDA chairman to bring people who would work but those who will work, when you take them there, they will say they will not do their kind of job and you know the Okomu Oil Company is a farm work company. Not everybody will come and be an engineer in that place without a certificate. He asked us to go and bring 1000 people but where do I get that from?. The man came here a few days ago, he said he asked me to bring 1000 people and I brought 120. I said yes are the 120 not working with you? He said no just that out of the 120 that wrote their names and went through other procedures, only 28 showed up. The rest of them ran away. There is nothing we can do and we can’t force them against their will.
What are your challenges as the Iyase of Udo Community?
When we are talking about challenges, there is no village without challenges. The challenges, if you look at Udo community today, we can’t do it alone but with the government, I know we can do a lot. We have many youths without jobs, sometime they will hold a very small certificate like the SSCE and certificate from the College of Agriculture. Okomu can’t absorb all and neither can the rubber estate. If the government can help us with employment of the youths, the elders will sleep in their homes and at the end of the month, some of them that have good jobs will buy things to give their parents. But when they have nothing and no way of getting something, there is problem all the time.
So apart from that, we have only one tarred road passing through the community and we have other roads not tarred. When the raining season comes, you see these roads get very bad. See these farmers are supposed to have fertilizers to grow their crops and even bikes to facilitate their work. Sometimes you see them pushing wheelbarrows.
So apart from that, we have only one tarred road passing through the community and we have other roads not tarred. When the raining season comes, you see these roads get very bad. See these farmers are supposed to have fertilizers to grow their crops and even bikes to facilitate their work. Sometimes you see them pushing wheelbarrows.
Five years ago, the community started paying homage to the Oba; if the palace now brings an Enogie to the community, he will he not be accepted. Why?
No, there is no Enogie that is more than the Iyase of Udo. The Iyase of Udo never joins the meeting of Enogie. He is more or less autonomous on his own. However, they put their names, the Enogie is just like Odionwere. Enogies are taking care of very small villages unlike the Udo who extends to Igueobazuwa, Okada junction and many other areas the Iyase is taking care of. You can’t compare the Iyase to any Enogie at all. No Enogie will ever stand before the Iyase to say I am more than you even the Oba knows about that. The Enogie is under the Iyase of Udo.
What is the hierarchy like in the between Udo and the Benin kingdom?
When you are in Benin, after the Oba of Benin, you get the Iyase of Benin. That is within them, but when the Oba moves from Benin to this place to Ovia South-west where we are taking care of, when the Iyase of Udo is there, he is next to him because the Oba is in his domain. When he gets here, the next person to him is the Iyase of Udo. So Udo is like a kingdom of its own that pays homage to the Oba directly through the Iyase.
Why do you give respect to the Enogie?
The reason why we give respect to some of the Enogie is that they are brothers to the Oba but no so much respect to them because the Oba is our head. He made the Iyase of Udo here so he only takes permission from Udo that he want to give land to the Enogies around Udo here. So you can’t say somebody you give a little land to is now your senior.
Where did your boundary end?
As you are going to Okada, the second bridge, the first river there is called Oha, then the village very close to the village is called Okpon’ha, that is where our jurisdiction ended as Udo community.
Is the title of the Iyase hereditary?
Before the 5th or 6th Iyase, Emokpae, Akengbuda, Igbinoba, Udobor, Igwenmudia, Igwenomwan and myself, before that Emokpae, it was not hereditary. But it was after the Emokpae fought a war for the Oba that the Oba made him the Iyase and made it hereditary. When Emokpae came to rule for some years, giving birth to so many children among who are Azagbuda. Azagbuda succeeded his father and became the Iyase of Udo. He ruled successfully until the time of Ovoranmwen when they came here to take him because he was doing something like Ovoanmwen. Azagbuda ruled successfully and had many children among who was Igbinoba. When it got to Igbinoba, the first son of Igbinoba was Igbinidu, but Igbinidu who is my father because the people saw him that he was very small by then, the brothers of his father dragged the title from him. From there, he withdrew from the race and one of his brothers called Udobor became the Iyase in Udo. After the death of Udobor, my father came back again to become the Iyase but the Oba said he wasn’t prepared to give the title of Iyase to anybody and gave the title of Uwangue to my father around 1958. He ruled from 1958 to 1963, and by 1963, he was in the bush hunting for animals and he got the news that an Iyase of Udo had been crowned and that he was a son to Udobor called Ogbemudia.
That is how the title has continued to move round. When Ogbemudia ruled successfully, my father came out again around 1989 by then I was my father’s driver. After the death of Ogbemudia, the first son said my father was the last Iyase, another man came out to say he wanted to be the Iyase among the seven Egiemwan family. My father was acting as the Iyase from 1989 to 1991. In 1991, but the Oba refused to crown the Iyase and asked the Uwangue to go and rule again. He ruled and then died in the year 1994. Other people came that they wanted to become the Iyase, by then my father had been late, there was nothing we could do. The title was given to Aguenomwan. When Aguenomwan erred, the Oba suspended him, then he made his younger brother, the same father with him, the Uwangue and made me the Eribo. Then in 2009, the Uwangue died and after the burial, about four or five of them in the family started to fight for the Iyase. Along the line, some gave way while some died remaining two of them. These two persons, one is my elder brother, the same mother and father with me, the other one is a man from Benin but the same family. The family invited and interviewed them and then later they were trying to waive the Iyase to the man from Benin, then I said such was impossible. They said my brother was not capable of ruling the community and all that but the Eribo had been here since 1999 and has been ruling since then. Therefore, I can even move from the Eribo to the Iyase and that was how those people were fighting for it before they withdrew. After some time the Oba told them to take the Eribo from me and give me the Iyase and that is why I am sitting here now as Iyase. People are happy now in Udo community that this position coming from a straight line before it got bent at a time is back to a parallel line and that is why you see today I am very small among the chiefs around me here but they respect and obey me. They know that things have come to normal again.
That is how the title has continued to move round. When Ogbemudia ruled successfully, my father came out again around 1989 by then I was my father’s driver. After the death of Ogbemudia, the first son said my father was the last Iyase, another man came out to say he wanted to be the Iyase among the seven Egiemwan family. My father was acting as the Iyase from 1989 to 1991. In 1991, but the Oba refused to crown the Iyase and asked the Uwangue to go and rule again. He ruled and then died in the year 1994. Other people came that they wanted to become the Iyase, by then my father had been late, there was nothing we could do. The title was given to Aguenomwan. When Aguenomwan erred, the Oba suspended him, then he made his younger brother, the same father with him, the Uwangue and made me the Eribo. Then in 2009, the Uwangue died and after the burial, about four or five of them in the family started to fight for the Iyase. Along the line, some gave way while some died remaining two of them. These two persons, one is my elder brother, the same mother and father with me, the other one is a man from Benin but the same family. The family invited and interviewed them and then later they were trying to waive the Iyase to the man from Benin, then I said such was impossible. They said my brother was not capable of ruling the community and all that but the Eribo had been here since 1999 and has been ruling since then. Therefore, I can even move from the Eribo to the Iyase and that was how those people were fighting for it before they withdrew. After some time the Oba told them to take the Eribo from me and give me the Iyase and that is why I am sitting here now as Iyase. People are happy now in Udo community that this position coming from a straight line before it got bent at a time is back to a parallel line and that is why you see today I am very small among the chiefs around me here but they respect and obey me. They know that things have come to normal again.
What is so unique about Udo Community?
In Benin, the Oba gave the Enogie two titles, Iyama and Enabore. Like the Iyase, I have more than 62 chiefs with different names and the Oba recognises all of them because as he is giving title in Benin, the Iyase gives titles too here. When the Oba does his Igue festival in Benin, we will not do our own at that particular time, but when the Oba finishes his own festival that is when the Iyase of Udo starts his own. All the chiefs will dance with their dancing swords to the Iyase in his palace as well as before the Oba. No Enogie can do that. The last day of the Igue festival, the Oba will mention all those things I have done and all those I couldn’t do we will shift it to Udo. Even if the Benin fails in their tradition, the Udo will never fail in their tradition. We depend on tradition not money. What I am saying is that I don’t want myself to be compared with the Enogie.
What are the significant differences in Benin and Udo traditions?
Like me, I have Obarisiagbon, Uso and I have the Eribo here crowned by the Oba. The Oba crowns the Eribo, Uwangue, Eriyo and Inneh n’ Igbesamwan and give then to me.
The chiefs that I crown by myself are under the chief in Benin. They may have the same names but the ones in Benin supersede the one crowned in Udo. We have to give them the respect because they were crowned by the Oba.
The chiefs that I crown by myself are under the chief in Benin. They may have the same names but the ones in Benin supersede the one crowned in Udo. We have to give them the respect because they were crowned by the Oba.
What are the successes recorded so far on the throne?
Having this permanent Iyase n’ Udo’s palace, which has not been existing before in Udo community, is a great achievement. If you go round you will see borehole around, I used the companies to do it. Go to primary and secondary schools, there are renovation work going on. I used the companies around me here to do it.
