One of the areas the old Edo empire lost out is the indiscriminate banishing of Edo people for little infractions. This harsh punishment was meted out even to persons who cooked and ate food during Oba’s mourning period, (you all know the old Owan story of the Oba versus Odihi and Aigbofelomon). These banished people later found Kingdoms and communities that flourished very well. This unproductive habit remain as a corrective tool even amongst the Edo people of Owan. We banished many prominent sons of Owan for flimsy excuses and these Owan people founded communities elsewhere that have become bigger and even more prosperous than their original homes. The Emai community banished owan people for skipping a communal task and that agegrade went to the northernmost part of Edo and settled with Akoko edo people. We shall discuss this later on but let us talk about another Owan people that are now flourishing in far away Benue State.
Ohia is regarded as the most senior clan of Ora clan and today it is the smallest. One of the reasons it is not as big today has a story of how it’s most prosperous citizen and his quarter were evicted from Ohia by Ora community over chieftaincy squabbles. The story is that, Shortly after the Ora community is fully established, a great Ohia man made a serious case for himself and Ohia people to be ruling house of the entire Oras and rejected rotational arrangement because Ohia is senior. That man’s name is Agba. The entire Ora community ( minus Ohia) led by Evbiobe rejected this proposal and to finally stifle future claims like this from Ohia people, they banished their leader, Agba. Agba journeyed far to Benue state through Nsukka in Enugu state. Here he founded the 3rd largest ethnic group in Benue state today known as Igede. This historical event in Igede history is commonly recounted in song and drama, for instance the record and drama piece “Ego ny’Igede” By Befelow.
Today Igede has 14 major clans of its own. They are as follow:
ADA – IYECHE
OCHECHE – ANCHIM
UGBODU-ADIKOBIA – OYE
AMONO – UKPA
OGBAGBA-OKPALEGWU – OBORU
OCHIMADU – OWO
OKPAGO LAGANYI – IBILLA
OLELEGA – UWOKWU
ADINU – AINU
ADOTO – ITO
ADITAKPA – ITAKPA
OKPALOTU – IGABU
ONYODUM – IDELE
OKPOGO – OJU
Oral tradition on Igede culture reveals rich cultural heritage. Cultural norms such as Igede Gerontocracy system like we have in Owan, oath taking, and punishment for breaking of bonds of competent relationship were practiced with absolute sense of faith and devotion. In addition, they have pristine culture of regarding kinship, social organization, religions and worldview, land tenure system, marriage, child naming, circumcision, divorce, widowhood and levirate marriage, crafts, traditional herbal practices, taboos, totems, rites of passage among others. The advent of Christianity coupled with globalisation marked the beginning of dramatic changes in the people’ identities and the symbols of those identities with resultant alien practices and lifestyles.
The Igede are predominantly farmers cultivating maize, cassava, groundnut and yams. Igede is home of the popular Igede-Agba festival, a colourful annual celebration that marks the yam harvest season in September. Much importance is attached to yam amongst the Igede people and other Biafran cultures not only because it is the first crop to be harvested, but also the most important and palatable crop. The crop can be eaten in different forms – roasted, boiled, pounded, floured, fried, etc. The New Yam Festival is therefore a celebration depicting the prominence of yam in the social-cultural life of the Igede people and all Agba Descendants such as the Obudu and Bekwara people. The emphasis being placed on yam by the Agba sons is not out of place as research has shown that yam has a lot of health and economic benefits. Yam, according to scholars, provides 200 calories of energy per capita daily. The demand for yam is higher than the supply of the crop because it occupies a very prestigious social and religious status in the country and so can be regarded as the “KING OF ALL CROPS”
Besides, the Igede Agba Festival serves as the most important day to a typical Igede man and Agba Descendants as it is the only celebration that creates a sense of nationalism in the descendants of Agba. It is the best platform through which families show love, sense of belonging, unity, communalism and harmonious living. No traditional ceremony among the Agba sons and daughters occupies a more prominent position than the Igede Agba – it is not intended at appeasing any deity (such as “Akpan”), but meant to celebrate hard work, dignity of labour and magnanimity as well as elicit resilient spirit which spur farmers to putting in more effort in the next planting season.
Today in Benue state, the Igede people have two local government councils, Oju and Obi local government areas of Nigeria, where 2006 population figures stand at an estimated 267,198 people. It is a land of beautiful women and hardworking men. The title of their traditional ruler is ‘ Adirahu Ny’igede.
If these our brothers are still with us, nobody will be calling Owan minority in Edo state. It is not too late to develop closer ties with this Owan community in Benue. They know we are their brothers. I have a friend and colleague, Barrister Abari by name. He was the first to broach the fact to me that I am his brother from Edo. You see, they know. Anyways, I will marry an Igede girl very soon as my 2nd wife…( laughs)
Culled Wikipedia
Published by Humphrey Onda Odeh Edited by Prince Odeh Jones
Disclaimer: There is another version of Igede history that traced our exit due to war and our movement through Edumoga and River Oyongo.
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