Culture and History of Olokoro People

By Paul Okamnaonu Nwaogu

This is a book about Olokoro, our community. The account is not comprehensive, but it forms an important beginning (as other accounts before it) in the formal and permanent documentation of the history, culture, and the way of life of our people and their achievements. The community has grown from a point where its government has transformed from a mere disparate village organization to a level where a unified election dominates the process. The community is made up of diverse population with different ideological orientations that should be harnessed for the development of the community. His Royal Highness Eze J. J. Ogbulafor, Uvuoma 1 of Olokoro, took development of the community seriously as well as extolled the culture. The present dispensation of having many Ezes in Olokoro will lead to progress if properly harnessed by all and sundry. My vision for Olokoro in this regard is articulated in my autobiography (Nwaogu 2015.175). Olokoro community belongs to us all, and denizens should feel free to contribute ideas that will move our community forward. Perceptive readers are welcome, and this includes sharing of comments, suggestions, insights that will broaden our minds toward the achievement of a unified, progressive, and respectable community.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524512415

Paul Okamnaonu Nwaogu

Paul Okamnaonu Nwaogu hails from Olokoro, a community that is part of Umuahia South, a local government area of Abia State of Nigeria. He rose from humble beginnings as a pupil teacher to the exalted position of a professor of special education from Tumaini University in Tanzania. He has a PhD from Southern Illinois University–Carbondale, Illinois, in the United States of America. He taught in tertiary institutions in the United States of America, Nigeria, Botswana, and the Republic of Tanzania. He has written articles in international journals and published books for students in the university system. His autobiography has been published in 2015 by Xlibris Corporation, Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States of America. He is married and has five children. His wife and children are all university graduates. His last son, Uwaoma, graduated with a PhD degree in economics from Western Michigan University in 2011. This is a family where tertiary education receives due respect.

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Copyright © 2016 by Paul Okamnaonu Nwaogu.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2016910308

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5245-1243-9

                Softcover        978-1-5245-1242-2

                eBook             978-1-5245-1241-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Rev. date: 06/24/2016

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Preface

Chapter 1 Culture and History

Settlement

Olokoro Children

Occupation of the People

Types of Houses Built in the Community

Religion

Functions of These Deities

Market Squares

Chapter 2 Culture and Cultural Identity

Greeting: Classical

Village Organization

Men’s Cultural Activities

Okonko Society

Demarcation of Farmlands in the Community

Izo Ahia (Display of Masquerades)

Iri Ji

Igba Ekpe

Igba Oro

Iwa Oji (Breaking of Kola Nut)

Egwuriegwu (Soccer)

Igba Mgba (Wrestling)

Burying of Umbilical Cord

Chapter 3 Women and Cultural Identity

Soup Preparation

Cookbook Vocabulary

Ivo Ama

Mmayi Isa Nwa

Oṅonwa Ukwu Ceremony

Women’s Organizations and Participation in Development

Chapter 4 Olokoro: Historical Perspective

Antiquity to 1938

1939-1966: Olokoro Clan Progressive Union (OCPU)

Olokoro Youth League

Eze J. J. Ogbulafor, Uvuoma I of Olokoro

Olokoro Development Committee: 1967-1984

Elected Government: 1985-1990

Olokoro Development Union (ODU)

Names of Chieftaincy Title Awardees

April 1990- to Date

Town Union Presidents and Other Personalities at a Glance

Eze J. J. Ogbulafor, Uvuoma I of Olokoro

Other Important Personalities

Chapter 5 Development of Education

Secondary Schools

Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike

Chapter 6 Network of Paved Roads

Chapter 7 Olokoro: Thrust into State and National Politics

Prelude to 1983 General Elections in Olokoro

Situation Report on Political Parties and Candidates

Contestants

Contestants

People Who Have Held Political Office in the Community

Vision for the Future

Chapter 8 Proverbs Prevalent in the Community

Chapter 9 Quotable Quotes

Chapter 10 Some Narratives: Read and Ruminate

Reconciliation: A Two-Way Affair

Existential Decision

Paradoxical Intention

Solomon’s Philosophy of Pass It on

A Case of Infidelity!

Reincarnation: An Analogy

The Owl (Ikwighikwi) and the Praying Mantis (Ngolongol)

Aims, Objectives, and Functions of the Various Olokoro Groupings

The Effect of the Activities of the Vaious Groups on Olokoro Community

Recommendations on the Various Olokoro Groupings

General Guidelines for Groupings

ODU and Ezinwanne Dina Mbe at Enugu

Olokoro Development Committee and Olokoro Community Union Lagos

Olokoro Uvuoma

References

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The completion of this book project was done with the cooperation of certain individuals in the community. My gratitude goes to various people who, at different periods, helped in fishing out the correct names of the people associated with Oro organization in Olokoro. Mr. M. U. Edoh willingly accompanied me during the research trips I made to corroborate the names I had collected. In this respect, Mr. Lambert Nnanne Atu from Amizi and Mr. Samuel Ogbonna from Amangwo were of immense help. Also of great assistance was the intelligence provided by Mr. Ugwaka Okpechi of Itaja Amaegbu in respect of active Oro members from Itaja Village. In trying to generate the succession sequence of the principal actors in the administration of Olokoro Clan Progressive Union (OCPU), these people helped in this regard: Chief B. O. Oriaku, Chief I. O. Ndukwe, and His Royal Highness Eze Silva N. Ubani. I thank them very much. Mr. Kelechi Nwaogu helped in reading through the manuscript preparatory to engaging a publisher for publication. Finally, I thank the almighty God for giving me the health and resilience to carry out this project to its conclusion.

PREFACE

This is a book about Olokoro, our community. The account is not comprehensive, but it forms an important beginning (as other accounts before it) in the formal and permanent documentation of the history, culture, and the way of life of our people and their achievements. The community has grown from a point where its government has transformed from a mere disparate village to a level where a unified election dominates the process. The community is made up of diverse population with different ideological orientations that should be harnessed for the development of the community. His Royal Highness Eze J. J. Ogbulafor, Uvuoma I of Olokoro, took development of the community seriously as well as extolled the culture. The present dispensation of having many Ezes in Olokoro will lead to progress if properly harnessed by all and sundry. My vision for Olokoro in this regard is articulated in my autobiography (Nwaogu 2015, 175). Olokoro community belongs to us all, and denizens should feel free to contribute ideas that will move our community forward. Perceptive readers are welcome, and this includes sharing of comments, suggestions, and insights that will broaden our minds toward the achievement of a unified, progressive, and respectable community.

Professor P. O. Nwaogu, KSM

CULTURE AND HISTORY OF OLOKORO PEOPLE

CHAPTER ONE

Culture and History

These two terms should be regarded as two sides of the same coin. It is difficult to disentangle them, but in as much as one stands distinct from the other, it also complements it. The birth of an individual has both cultural and historical significance in the life of the person. It seems that history begins to build from the cultural imperatives of the accident of birth. Even though culture and history complement each other, in reality there is a subtle variation between the two concepts. History in fact builds on culture. According to http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-history-and-culture/, ‘history deals with the growth of a particular country or land. Culture deals with interests shown by the people of the particular country or land. Although it is true that both the words, history and culture are different in purport, yet both are needed together to build a strong nation. History is a chronological record of important and public events. In fact it is a study of past events especially human affairs. History relates to a systematic or critical account of past events that took place in a country. Culture would convey the sense of art or creativity that appeals to the human mind. Culture has to do with intellectual achievements of man. Culture relates to customs followed by civilization’.

Settlement

Olokoro Uvuoma, as a community, occupies a geographical location southeast of Umuahia, the capital of Abia State. It is bounded on the north by Ibeku community, east by Oboro in Ikwuano Local Government Area, west by Ubakala, and on the south by Umuodochie community in Ngwa land.

Tradition has it that Uvuoma, the ancestral father of Olokoro, arrived at this location during the great wave of migrations that characterized the African continent and, especially, the movement of wandering Hebrews from Egypt who refused to follow Moses back to the Promised Land. This movement of the Hebrews southward from Egypt resulted in the establishment of Kush Civilization in the Upper Nile Valley between 800 BC and AD 300. Later migrations from Kush moved southward, branching off to the east to form some elements of the peoples of Uganda and Kenya, and others moved westward, reaching and forming the bulk of the Igbo in their present-day location in eastern part of Nigeria (Nwaogu 1983). That our ancestral father arrived here has been accepted, and that he, Uvuoma, settled at Ahiaukwu, where his first son called Olokoro was born, is a fact of history. There is an important cultural tree called Mkwaa at Ahiaukwu market that has a historical and religious significance with the settlement of Uvuoma. For centuries the tree has been seen as a sort of deity and revered by the inhabitants. Sacrifices were offered to it for the protection of the people.

Figure 1.

image001.jpg

Mkwaa tree at Ahiaukwu Market

Olokoro Children

Olokoro had three sons—Towe, Epe, and Azu—and their descendants later formed the nucleus of the fifteen villages that make up Olokoro Community. The community is divided into three based on the names of the sons of Olokoro in seniority order: Umutowe (i.e., sons of Towe) are Umuoparaozara, Amuzu, Itaja, Avonkwu, Agbama, Itu, and Okwu. It is to be noted here that Umuoparaozara and Amuzu have some affinity as Itu and Okwu have abiding kinship. Epe consists of Umudere, Umuajata, Amizi, Amangwo, and Umuntu. Azu is the name of the son and iyi is an epithet describing that Azu lives after crossing a stream (Azuiyi). This community is made up of Umuobia, Amakama, and Umu-Ibeji later called Old Umuahia. The total constituent villages are fifteen.

Amuzu has disengaged the political and kinship relationship with Umuoparaozara. Why and how it came about is not a subject of this narrative. Now Itaja and Amuzu have politically joined together to become a community, opting to take the name Umutowe instead of Itaja/Amuzu autonomous community. This name Umutowe that Itaja and Amuzu have assumed, is incongruous. We know that Towe has seven sons already known, but for Itaja and Amuzu, instead of answering their names (Itaja/Amuzu autonomous community), they decided to acquire the universal name meant for the seven villages to itself is a move that defies logic and sound judgement.

It has been noted that under the new name and dispensation, in which the new Umutowe autonomous community is asserting itself, it assumes the proportion of corrupting Olokoro history by claiming that "the present

Reviews for Culture and History of Olokoro People

[tony chidi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Many memories, I love history it. Still hear about my great grand fathers