Between Okengwe and Obehira

By Mathew Raji Andah

Between them, there is no boundary dispute and between them, as it is throughout Ebiraland and Nigeria, people have lived freely and interchangeably such that today, there is hardly an area, a compound or a household that is not an admixture. It has always been a potpourri really. Whatever boundary there is, such as between LGAs, towns, villages, wards, quarters or districts are inconsequential, existing merely for administrative purpose. They become consequential and potentially a source of conflict as soon as there is a position, like chairmanship, counsellorship, chieftainship that needs an occupant. As they say, friendship ceases where money, wealth or power is concerned. This is especially true in Ebiraland where resources are very scarce,indeed, making for intense and ferocious competition.

Unable to secure even the ticket of any of the major parties for the gubernatorial elections since the return of democracy twelve years ago and, the neglect of Itakpe and Ajaokuta, once the biggest provider of employment, Anebira are understandably frustrated. But letting out steam by turning on each other would not cut it. The Okengwe-Obehira crisis and similar crisis at Ihima, Ogaminana, Okene and other parts of the land which have resulted in many deaths, physical and emotional injuries, destruction of properties and internally displaced people has set Ebira many years backward. The cooperation needed for any meaningful development to happen in the communitiy will surely suffer as a result. Much work needs to be done to repair the damage to trust and understanding, if any, that existed between and within communities. For now though, an uneasy calm has settled over Okengwe and Obehira. To convert this uneasy calm into lasting peace it behooves on all of us, sons and daughters at home and abroad, to contribute our quotas. This write up -- informed by pride of ethnicity, the horrific sight of destructions observed on both sides of the community, during a recent visit -- is my own contribution.

At the climax of the crisis, Okengwe and Obehira became no-go areas, ghost towns, many residents having fled to the surrounding hills. Others took refuge at Ogori-Magongo, Ekunu (Lampese) and other neighbouring towns and villages. Some, too old to leave, remain at home but go to sleep with one eye open. Those who can afford left to distant places to avoid being "wasted". Others opted for afghanistanism, or bury themselves in their "work". Weapons of choice includes AK-47, Mack 4, RPG, axes, hammers and of course petrol. Somebody once said that the new and emerging trend where people increasingly take pride in burning homes after the slightest provocation or no provocation at all and taking pleasure "wasting" innocent lives will likely lead to clangregation, people living in groups defined mainly by clan. I dreaded this likelihood. At the time, I was violently opposed to the idea of clangregating. It would be unenforceable because of its impracticability, I thought.

In the aftermath of the Okengwe-Obehira crisis, the storm having receded, residents are picking up what remains of their lives or the lives they used to know, internally displaced people are returning but many are still scared to do so. There are stories of people too scared to visit the site of their destroyed or burnt out properties and many with heightened level of anxiety. Those who can rebuild are doing so in new areas, areas far removed from where they used to live. And people are asking how is it that what happened happens. It was once fashionable to blaming the failure of local and national authorities and leaders on the traditional festivals.

Traditional festivals were once a source of entertainment and a way of marking the end and beginning of the year in Ebira Calendar. All over the world, people are holding on to whatever it is that is theirs, a uniqueness. A cultural trait or something that makes us who we are. True, over the years the traditional festivals have been bastardised by overzealous activists who commit serious crime in the name of festivals, by corruption where the Ohinoyi eziete who suppose to ensure observance of the code of conduct during traditional festivites become a turban-wearing personage that does not know the way to the Iregba, by politicians who bribe performers to sing their praises and declaim their opponents. It has been given a bad name by Islamists bent on imposing their own version of the truth on others and equating cultural festivals with evil practice and violence. The traditional festivals have suffered repeated bashings and bans but the violence and the crisis are not going away. The immdiate or remote causes of the communal clash at Ihima, Ogaminana, Kuroko, Okene and Okengwe were not the traditional festivals. Nor is it the gene that predisposes Anebira to acts of violence towards one another.

The lack of effective and responsive governance with no commitment to the rule of law, locally and nationally, have left a huge void in the affairs of the nation. That void has aided the rise of militancy in the Niger Delta, the issue of Boko Haram, communal violence and the lawlessness consuming the land. In a country where things are done another way, the Nigeria way, where questions are being raised about the fitness of leaders past and present and is being feared of falling into the category of failing state, there is no talk of counselling people dealing with the effects of trauma. Nor are there any facilities, help line or help centre that victims can turn to. No place to seek redress, no national insurance policy nor any form of compensation. Victims of violence just like everyone else, apart from the ruling elites, are left to their own devices. And I am sure, without professional assistance, the effects of this horrible experience will linger on in the community's psysche.

To build a house is not easy in Nigeria and Ebiraland in particular. Building materials are damn too expensive. It involves a great deal of hard work and discipline. People make long term plan, invest wisely and are very prudent, saving every kobo to be able to build one. Having four walls and a roof the over the head is a great achievement. Houses add imensely to the beauty of a place, defining the character and civilisation of its residents. I know most of the destroyed houses personally, know some people who lived in them and have walked along the dusty streets where they once stand. It was with a heavy heart that I recently saw those edifices, once teeming with people but now desolate, abadoned and overgrowing with weeds.

But how did Okengwe and Obehira come to be at each other's jugular? Opinions are varied. Yakubu A. I brahim, a historian, offers an explanation in one of his works: Ebira Tao, Lessons from History (1). He blamed it on the legacy of colonialism, which "turn the world upside down with the youth occupying position of authority and the old custodians of wisdom joining in the new life of depravity". Nigeria was not the only colony. All former colonies, now independent nations, have legacies of colonialism to contend with. The country fought a bitter and costly Civil War to undo a major legacy of the colonial era. In Ebiraland, the vexed issues of the Ohinoyi, Atta and entitlement to the throne of the Ohindase are all colonial legacies that "turned the world" of Anebira "upside down". We cannot undo all legacies of colonialism nor is it feasible to revert to precolonial life in its entirety. Ironically, a colonial legacy, respect to properties, that did us good has been jettisoned. Even though we need a more robust and workable strategy of managing the colonial legacy, the problem of Anebira appears more mundane, having other immediate causes.

A more immediate and plausible explanation for the crisis between Okengwe and Obehira is contained in a pamphlet obtained by The Raji Report. The pamphlet prepared by the powerful Okengwe Development Association, undersigned by a 12-clan-representative and a representative of the Aningere is titled " Background Of Okengwe-Obehira Crisis" and it puts the blame squarely on "the claim by some people in Obehira area of Okengwe particularly Eyire clan that they are not part of Okengwe." Is Eyire waging a separatist struggle?

Okengwe, the cradle of Ebira civilisation and home to Okovi and Agada, is one of the six districts of Ebiraland. Others who claim Okengwe as home include Aningere and people from the remaining five districts and from elsewhere. The peaceful coexistence of the inhabitants of Okengwe, according to the pamphlet, was disturbed when Eyire, a prominent clan in Okovi was involved in attempted land grab, appropriation of land at Oro, Eika-Oku and Makaranta belonging to Eziogwu and Eziasuwe.The timely intervention of Mr Salihu Abdullahi, a district officer, noted the pamphlet, prevented an escalation into a full blown conflict.

The "Background Of Okengwe-Obehira Crisis" listed other instances of Eyire transgression: gerrymandering, manipulation of ward-delimitation to favour Obehira to the detriment of Okengwe. A member of the INEC Comission that looked into the issue of delimitation of wards in the central senatorial district, Alhaji Tenimu Abdulsalam, an Eyire man, was accused of using his office to merge the the two wards of Okengwe into one, namely Abuga/Ozuja while giving Obehira three wards, viz Upogoro-Odenku, Obehira Ebeba and Obehira Uvete. The implication being that in the local council, Okengwe has a counsellor while Obehira has three.

Another area of intrasigence, according to the pamphlet, is the issue of the central mosque due for rebuilding.The original mosque, built on a land belonging to Eziogwu has been known as Okengwe central mosque. At a resolution to rebuild the mosque however, Eyire have insisted that a rebuilt mosque be called Okengwe/Obehira central mosque even though the the original mosque, the building of which was spearheaded by a prominent Eyire elder carries the name: Okengwe central mosque. The position of Imam in this mosque, the pamphlet pointed out, was rotative. Eyire refused to honour this Imamship after it was rotated to an Imam from Okengwe by withdrawing from the practice of ending Hijra, the base for the Muslim Calendar, at the Imam's place.

The pamphlet has a litany of other complaints like "the bore hole project to supply water to the whole Okengwe area", enthrusted to an Eyire man who used his power to favour Obehira to the detriment of Okengwe. And the claim by a certain Alhaji Ojapa, another Eyire man, that the rotative "post of the district head is their inheritance and anyone who holds it apart from them will not have peace". This threat, the pamphlet observed, was actually carried out when "this position has shifted from their kinsman late Alhaji Lawal Ameuru" to a native of Abuga/Ozuja whom they disdained. In another instance, the document reports, an Okengwe government day secondary school at Idoma has ceased to exist "due to their evil machination that the school be named as G.D.S.S Obehira"

Not being part of Okengwe sounds separatist. Separatists movements are born out of injustice. What kind of injustice is Eyire suffering in the hands of other inhabitants of Okengwe? Or is it political astuteness.

There was once an Okengwe local government comprising: Okengwe, Obehira and Ageva. After the demise of the second republic in 1983, the local government was scraped by the Buhari / Idiagbon military junta. Some people have argued that Obehira through the influence of Eyire is campaigning and lobbying for a restoration and that Okengwe, fearful of domination of this local government by the Eyire is vehemently opposed. The failure of Ahmed Ogembe, Eyire, to win the senatorial election in the Kogi Central Senatorial District during the 2007 general elections in Nigeia was blamed by his supporters on Okengwe which they believed to be pro AC. Democracy is a game of numbers, candidates with largest number of votes are declared winners. That was how Ohize won the senatorial election in 2007 and it was how Nurudeen Usman-Abatemi won the votes during the primaries and the general elections in 2011. The same ought to be the case, playing by the numbers, at the local government level.

Okengwe is accused of fraternising with Ehebe, another popular clan in Okovi based predominantly at Obehira. Eyire and Ehebe have had a very acrimious relationship dating back to precolonial time the root cause of which, can be traced to unheathy competition. The two alternately occupy the stool of Ohiopisa, a chieftaincy.The acrimony is played out in every available opportunity. The one has a stronghold in Odenku and the other at Irayi Apana and Idoma. Both are engaged in a struggle for supremacy or dominance with each claiming the upper hand. All over towns and villages throughout Ebiraland there is persistent argument about which clan has the greatest influence, dominance, power and therefore ownership of which place. This is as needless and inane as the violence and attacks that often emanate from them because the land tenure system vested lands in the hands of the clans with each having their portions.

However, the Raji report has gained a better appreciation of the grudge(s) Eyire has towards other inhabitants of Okengwe which, came about at a meeting of the Eyire Elite Forum of Ebiraland held at Obehira on the 9th of March 2002. The main item on the agenda of the meeting was the Ohindase Stool, for which a committee, under the chairmanship of Professor Yusuf O. Aliu of ABU, was formed "to establish the various Okovi and Agada clan groups that have occupied and are entitled to occupy the Ohindase Stool". The Professor was also charged with writing a book "to give sufficient publicity and access to the facts of the Stool". In "Ohindase Stool, Facts of History", a 32-page book published two years later, the Professor claimed "that in 1920, Eyire supplied the fourth Ohindase Inechi Okara", an account that is at variance with other accounts.

Since the publication by the Professor, there have been not less than three other publications on the Ohindase making it one of the most explosive issues in the land. The Ohindase is one of the oldest traditional institution in Ebiraland. Its origin is by happenstance, according to recorded history. Somebody found something, figurine, artefact, statuette or whatever during a hunting expedition in the african savannah. One of the finds, now known in the local lingo as Ete-Oniyewa, bringer of fortunes, come into the possession of the finder and its now the basis of the Ohindase, an institution categorised as second class chief in the Kogi state system of categorisation. Ascension to the throne follows an elaborate ritual where ceremonies of rite of passage are performed. And in his palace, the Ohindase sits on his stool atop his grave. He does not die, according to legend, but gwu riku enter the forest,

Till date, four clans: Avi, Omavi, Omoye and Evini, an abara ( sub clan) in the Ogwu clan, according to Yakubu A. Ibrahim, have rotated the Ohindase stool amongst themselves. And during the elaborate rituals of ascension, a respected and impartial clan is there, called upon to bear witness. Somebody once asked: if there is a controversy or dispute about occupying and entitlement to occupy the throne why is the impartial witness not called upon to testify? May be there is fear of witness tampering or concern that the witness may buckle under cross-examination.

Truth be told, Eyire appears to have a huge war chest. His sons and daughters occupy positions in government, politics, armed forces, the professions and industry. He owes Irenuohi, the popular night masquerade and Ebicomnews, a widely read newspaper. Taken together, Eyire has the power to influence public opinion in the country, to ask for whatever he pleases, the Ohindase Stool, a local goverment area or the 7th district in Ebiraland. But whether he can and should get everything he pleases is the tricky question that must be addressed to permanently resolving the confict between Okengwe and Obehira.