Our origin is premised on a direct possession by higher individuals namely:-
Nsoma Anyaji
Onu-nta-ikpo
Uka Abam
Ubiom or Ebem iyi
Ottai
Ihuokwe or Okweji
Nkwonkpu and
Amaelu.
These Eight (8) Patriarch’s emblematically represents the eight Kindred’s natively nicknamed (OBI-ASATO) which is by implication believed to be the eight cardinal originating tendencies who by the stroke of historical accident came together to form the culture called “Ozu”.
Historically, it is a very popular belief amongst the natives of the land that at various points, this eight men were prolific hunters who had their habitations at various pointed enclaves within the forest of their operation. Each of them had his abode or formative territory where he lived with his family before they discovered each other. For instance, Amaelu must have been residing at Amaelu land where it is said that Atitakpo the progenitor of Abam Onyerubi finally settled and died living behind his three sons: Onyerubi, Udumeze and Egbebu. Onu-nta-ikpo, settled at Ndi Onu land where the Onu deity was discovered at the turn of the 20th century by a group of curious children from Ndi-a-Nwankwo compound on a hunting spree, the author inclusive. Uka Abam, may have had his abode near the present “Ogo Ndi-a-Uka” where “Onu-achi” the acclaimed village square of “Umu Uka” and where their traditional deity domiciled or inhabited. Ihuokwe was said to have resided at the medieval “Achichi amaeke” or perhaps at the present home of the “Ojiugwo” deity. Nkwo-nkpu, may have dwelt at the present “Ndi-a-Nkwo” forest where their traditional deity “Imo-ohuma” aboded. Ottai whose origin may be traceable to Yakkur in the present day Cross-River State, may have aboded at a territory near “Itim” forest the traditional domain of their deity “Uda-mini-ufuforo”. Likewise, Nsoma Anyaji dwelled where their native deitical stream “Iyi-Ndi-a-Nsoma” was discovered at the turn of the 19th century. Ubiom, lived at “Ebem-iyi” territory where their deity “Idogo” was discovered at the turn of the 19thc. Out of the eight Kindred’s, two namely (Ubiom and Nsoma Anyaji) predominantly had their deities (Idogo and Iyi-Ndi-a Nsoma) discovered at the Amaetiti section of the present day Ozu Abam whilst the rest is said to be found at the Ndi-Uka section respectively. This knowledge could be a figment of history but suffice it to say, “That this is a strong historical placement in the evolution of Ozu Abam mythology since none of the Patriarchal heads bore the name “Ozu” to suggest ownership or dominance”.
In a very genetic sense, General Igbo’s orthology, suggests that the word “Ozu” has a pathological refrain as it may be referred to a ‘dead body’-Ozu. But in our dialectical context, the word “Ozu” has a different taxonomy, hence the double-edged meanings could be assertive based on circumstances of application and definition. To us, as Kalu Ufere, remarked, “Ozu” is a summation of “Ozuzu”- a tendency of convergence or amalgamation of eight distinct Kingdoms or suzerainties. This is a relative terminology which by implication suggests the coming together of a people or persons to hold counsel. The Patriarch’s accidentally met each other whilst on hunting adventure for that could be the best possible zeitgeist or supposition and decided to flock together for the purposes of knowing each other the more and to form a confederacy to further boost their unity, strength, and security from external invaders and to foster administrative centrality which later gave birth to “Ebele Ozu”. “Ebele” was considered abinitio, by those progenitors as a social and a political rallying point. In the times of war, John Egbuta Onyeani observed; “Ebele was used as a meeting point by the eight to interpret the dimension and the vicissitudes of the war”. At the turn of the 18thc, this proclivity still prevailed as the entire Abam nation saw “Ebele Ozu” as the religious headquarter of the clan where the issues of war and peace were organically attended to, stated chief Smart Ndem Okpi.
Genetically, these Patriarchal original eight (8), were said not to have been related by consanguinity as we spent sufficient time and concentration on tracing their origins. Loosed historical lore’s suggest that they were individual migrants just like “Atitakpo” and his retinue who differently settled in different portions in the forest and were surrounded by their farms and homestead’s. History itself is replete with migratory details recognizing the fact that “the entire human race constitutes a byproduct of migration”.
Before the sudden emergence of these eight heroes in the space called “Ozu” today, there was the strong believe that there was what is called “Autochthonous inhabitants” of the land. 18thc history of “Ozu” classified this aborigines or autochthonies as ”Ipia-nta-uma”, a “semi humanoid beings” that possessed some human characteristics as ‘Homo erectus’’ but with a fundamental physical defect suggesting that they possessed ‘short tails like monkeys’ but were a primate of the clade hominoid, generally larger than monkeys. John Onyeani Ojiabo, said that the “Ipia’s were Ape-like in nature”. As His Royal Highness, Eze Ike Okorafor, observed, “This norge (i.e., the tails) was a defect that made “Ipia nta uma” to be dreaded”. This characteristic human defect, Ojembe argued, “Made “Ipia nta uma” to run away at the sight of other human’s and to shy away from human clusters”.
Be this as it may, it would be of good historical significance, to note that the arrival of Nsoma, Onu-nta- ikpo, Uka Abam, Nkwonkpu, Okweji, Ottai, Ibiom or Ebem-iyi and Amaelu into the space was greeted with the presence of Ipia who hitherto had made the space his abode as an autochthonous inhabitant before the accidental evolution of the eight actors who incidentally are ‘allochthonous’ or second comers in Ozu mythology. This fact is both endemic and academic as it is a combination of pride and panic in the crafting of Ozu history of origin.
There is no known record that poetically suggested who among the eight progenitors did initiated the ‘formation of the confederacy- a sobriquet called Ozu’. But with the passage of time, at the twilight of the 18thc, some loosed Ozu myth, argued that it was Okweji or Uka Abam who accidentally were considered elderly amongst the eight peers that conceived the concept. The veracity of this view may not be quickly authenticated but Chief Oloko in his purview though cautiously, agitated, “That the fact of age was a careless phenomenon since the supposed eight gladiators were all assumed middle-aged heroes whose fantasy and proclivity were mere hunting and the quest for serene settlements”. Whilst they discovered each other, in that thick empty forest density, at first, they looked at each other as strangers who were variously in a quest for historic conquest. Their coming together was not devoid of “fundamental oat taking” as John Ojiabo opined. They may have entered into a “Traditional Covenant” Ojeka argued, “In other to produce firm trust among them as they were complete strange partners in a historical process”.
THE BIRTH OF EBELE OZU
Whilst Egbe Oloko believed that the affinity gave birth to the Union which thereinafter became Ozu, Eze Ike Okorafor, was of the view that the original spot where this agreement was heralded and celebrated could natively be accepted as the birth of “Ebele Ozu”. Ebele was considered the cultural meeting point to sign the deed of the union. Many in the land believes that that was were the forebears assembled to formulate the creed of the bond that gave impetus to the name “Ozu”. At the passage of time, Ebele Ozu, became the meeting point for Abam as it became a political center and a social spot where the issues of war were decided before execution. Prof. Elizabeth Isichie, while in one of her historical clouts, could argue “That Abam people were war heroes whose warring prowess made them be hired by their commercial neighbours Arochukwu, to help persuade their debtors to redeem their debts”. Abam engaged in this mercenary wars for mere fame and cultural glory because as Prof. Isichie, opined, they were merely paid a pittance of cash or a ridiculous kindness. The belief is that the various wars that Abam people fought such as the Ubegu war, Uturu war, Izuogu war, Ngwa war, Ugep war, Ezi Nnachi war, to mention but a few, were all planned and executed from Ebele Ozu. The climax of this opinion is that over time, the unity of the Abam clan was a primordial issue and our fore-fathers saw the need of creating the socio-cultural center called Ebele Ozu to enable the implementation of that historic resolve.
THE BIRTH AND RISE OF OTHER SUB-KINDRED’S IN THE CONFEDERACY
It is of historical note to observe that the birth of Ozu as a union of distinct communities further gave rise to the evolution of other sub-sets that pledged to become part of the union of Ozu nation. The thought has spread wide that it was the conventional consensus of the eight original patriarch’s (i.e.) the eight founding fathers of Ozu that brought to the fore the idea of the evolution of the rest which include: Amangwu, Ama Izu, and Ipia kindred’s respectively. Some pundits are not mincing words to postulate that this sub-units in the Ozu nation came up as an afterthought whereas the union had already been consolidated. The bearers of this view argued that for a kindred to be purely historical in their essence, they must have shared in the covenant and the governing creed of the union as it was formulated by the eight original founding fathers. Others said that such neo-entrants must have an effective participation in the “Oso Ozu” festival activities just as the eight originals have done. “That if a kindred does not participate in the “Oso Ozu” fiesta, that such a kindred does not belong to the original formation and must not be considered as one in the poetry of Ozu origin”. To start with, let me discuss this three neo-entrants in seriatim:
i. AMA IZU KINDRED
The founder of this unit is “Izu Ama”. What seemed to be a centrifugal explosion took place at Amaelu when “Atitakpo” the grand founder of Abam died. After his burial, his two sons- Ezema and Egbebu departed living their elder brother Onyerubi behind to oversee the security of their father’s graveside. This done in the absence of Obom who by a figment of that brilliant historical episode was believed to have been visited by his brothers and brutally executed for dishonouring their father even at death by refusing to attend the burial even as he was intimated by a courier. The brothers at the sight of their brother’s dead body concluded that “The killing of their Brother Obom was a due recompense meted out to him and that whosoever that killed Obom did not commit any natural sacrilege”( Onye gburu Obom egbugu ochu). Abam believes that the silence of the name Obom in Abam mythology is consequent upon that declaration.
After several years of existence at Amaelu, another centrifugal explosion took place this time by the retinues of “Onyerubi Atita”. A loosed historical record is of the view that this was when Izu Ama the founder of Ama Izu kindred departed like others to the present day Ama Izu for settlement. History has it on a very authoritative platform that Izu Ama who was believed to have giving birth to Onyeani and Igbonku aboded at Ama Izu land but his son Igbonku migrated further downward towards Okeke Obojo and finally settled at Ojionu present day Ndi Oji. Onyeani stead behind and later gave birth to Uke whose wife after all gave birth to a baby boy whom he named after his father Onyeani to continue the lineage. When Onyeani got betrothed, his wife according to records did not waste a moment to get pregnant and upon delivery, it was found a male child too and he named him after his father Uke. The ancestry continued. While down at Ojionu land, Igbonku met with Njoku Afia and Oluegbe Ariko who were considered autochthonous in that space before Ojionu fell apart with his brethren at Atan because of a minor but serious grievance borne out of a recorded injustice meted out on him of which his brothers failed to show remorse and to apologize to him. Ojionu was believed to be a very strong hunter whose hunting agility according to Timothy, was second to none. A day came that he went out to hunt and nature favoured him with a big game which he brought home to feast with his brethren. Dropping the meat, he went inside the bush to secure some dried faggots for the roasting of the meat. On coming back, his brothers had already dissected the meat and gave him a very insignificant portion which did not go down well with Ojionu. On this, he decided to abandon his family at Atan and wondered northward towards the present day Ndi Oji where he met Njoku Afia and Oluegbe Ariko who though were living in juxtapositions had occupied the territory before Ojionu’s arrival. A strong man he was, Ojionu was able to suppress and subjugate these autochthonous inhabitants of that forest and it became his suzerainty named after him NDI OJI (i.e. Ndi Ojionu).
Here comes Igbonku the son of Izu Ama. He came down here and meeting these people he settled and co-existed with them and gave birth to a son Okwara who later begat Ndem Okwara Igbonku who begat Okpi Ndem Okwara Igbonku. Okpi later begat Kalu, Chinnaya, Mba, Nkocha, Enyidiya, Afuekwe, Okwerenkeya, Nwagbara, Abel, Udo, Arunsi and Ndem Okpi respectively. So because of the fact that the bulk of Ama Izu progeny had emigrated off the Ama Izu land living a miniature few, the territory became unconducive to the others especially as the slave trading of the 18thc came bearing heavily on that route which the people became quite hysteric thus pushing upward to Ozu which was already a cluster. Ama Izu was a furlong away from Igwu River the acclaimed Omenuko Aku route that was legendary in the 18thc slave trading enterprise. As they entered Ozu, they settled mostly at Ndi Oge the ancestral home of Okorafor the great grandson of Nsoma Anyaji but had serious affinity with Okweji or Ihuokwe kindred upon whose affinity they shared in the “Iku-mmanu” culture a sure bequeath of the Okweji or Ihuokwe kindred which is one of the eight major founders of Ozu confederacy.
Historical opinion has it with strong authoritative authenticity that the Ama Izu dynasty joined the commonwealth of Ozu long after the establishment of the confederacy and was little enlisted into the business of the commonwealth as they were perceived to have had no share in the sharing of responsibilities for the actuation of “Oso Ozu festival” like the major kindred’s.
ii. AMANGWU KINDRED:
Another semi dominant group that is of note here is the Amangwu people. There was this riddled myth which authoritatively suggested that Amangwu was created out of compunction because Ama a notorious medicine vendor believed to have journeyed from far away Item in search of possible market or patronage for his bunch of medicines and charms came across Ozu people. One of his charms “Ngwu” was bought by the people. Upon discovering that the “Ngwu” charm was virulent as it was symbolized by a greeny snake with a white (Nzu) mark at the left side lash of the snake’s eye. Since no one else could manage the deity as the priest at the sacred chamber where the charm situated, Ama was then commissioned by a stroke of consensus of the people for him to go ahead and manage the deity for the people. From there, he settled at that isolated enclave presumably the site of the charm. That gave rise to ‘Ama-Ngwu’. Present day archeological discovery have revealed that the “Ngwu” deity was situated near a stream called ‘Iyi Ama-Ngwu’ and that the stream was recognized as a veritable source of ‘Ngwu’ purification. Since the people dreaded the deity, Ama took over the priesthood and assumed the office of the chief priest of ‘Ngwu’. It is inferred that the people called “Ama-Ngwu” kindred were originally residing around “Iyi-Ama-Ngwu” before their sudden historic dispersal into the center called “Ozu”. There is a little historical infraction here which has been agitating the minds of historians over the centuries. That mindboggling question is on whether this man was the one that established Amaetiti or another actor entirely? This agitation should not in history repulse our minds because oral records available to the author stated that the Ozu entity was not originally subdivided by our fore-founders; that this division was a 19thc political finery which has nothing to do with our foundation. Late chief Ire one of the great grandsons of this kindred was the last seen residing at this his ancestral homestead with his family retinue. They may have become extinct too as a result of urbanization whose speed is that of a whirlwind in that part of modern Ozu.
Be this as it may, one would infer, that, the appearance of ‘Amangwu’, in Ozu lexicon, is a historical accident borne out of a tainted romance with an unknown culture which did not come with the original eight founders of the land nor did shared in ‘Oso Ozu’ festival activities prominently. So they are not included in the eight kindred’s (Obi-Asato). But today, you hear of “Umudi Ama-Ngwu”, not because they belonged to the comity of the original eight founders but inherently featured prominently in the ‘Ochi-chi” festival which was one of the frontline medieval traditional and cultural fiesta that was arranged to welcome the new season or New Year in Ozu legend.
iii. IPIA KINDRED:
Ever before the evolution of Abam in the contest of history, the ‘Ipia culture’ has been of notable essence. They were believed to be the autochthonous inhabitants as well as Urunji before Atita appeared in the geography called Abam. If this is the case, as oral lore’s transcended through folklores and by the various poetic verses of Abam may want us believe, then ‘Ipia’ people should be given the prominence they deserve in the pages of history whilst Ozu is the object and the subject of discussion.
The problem, according to existential fact, is that abinitio, ‘Ipia-nta-uma’, was arguably found to be running away from other human elements at first sight. Upon verification, they were alleged to have been in possession of tails which made them looked like monkeys of the ‘clade Simiiformes’ family and of the ‘clade hominoid’s because they looked like apes. This distinct feature or characteristics made them to be less considered as humans to be associated with. When Ozu was formed after the meeting of the eight distinguished progenitors, for sure, ‘Ipia’ was on stage or accidentally on the scene, but he was not included in the original founders’ hagiology notably because he was less eventful being always on the run as the humans appeared on the stage at his full view.
But with the passage of time, just as Ama-Ngwu was seen to be settled, humans too started settling within the ‘Ipia’ ancestral zone; their origins quite unknown, but historical literature has linked some of them with the Ama-Ngwu people in that they shared in certain cultural uniformities. Late Okeke Arunsi, a prominent ‘Ipian’ by assimilation, was seen carrying the legendary “Ite Ochi-chi” which was exclusively the prerogative of the Amangwu people. How this happened could be of literary and historical conjecture because traditionally, the “Ite Ochi-chi” totem was only carried by Amangwu people during the “Ochi-chi” festival.
Story had it that, every year or at every season, the “Ngwu” deity which is traditionally symbolized by a greeny looking cylindrical snake would be expected to select who among the Ama-Ngwu kindred’s that would bear the “Ite Ochi-chi” mystic effigy. It was then believed that any one, male or female, that the mystic snake is seen creeping out of his or her house consequently becomes the bearer upon that year or season of the mystic “Ochi-chi” pot. If the carrier of the mystic pot is so identified, the process of purification of that one who is believed to have been favoured by the gods would gear off culminating at the ‘D-Day’ of the festival. It was also remarkably gathered that because of the mystery of violent frenzy that used to characterize the “Ite Ochi-chi” pot, families of the chosen one were always thrown into sorrows and tears for the demonic horror their loved one was going to be subjected to at the period. To some extent also, some saw the mystic selection as favour from the gods as it was supposedly going to attract some benefits. So there was this combination of pride and panic in the family of the chosen one. This culture lingered for centuries until late at the 20thc that it fizzled out of time may be because of the near satanic investiture that beclouded the whole essences of the tradition.
But “Ipia” kindred or “Umudi-Ndi Ipia” has come to be in the traditional discourse of Ozu as an expression for reference and as a subject of conversation in the making of Ozu history.
Today, we are called “Ozu” people, not because that name is dedicated to any individual personality, but because it is a convergence of cultures that came to be as a result of a significant covenant of trust and mutual understanding which brought the EIGHT founding fathers together and for this reason, we have what is today called “OBI-ASATO”; each ‘OBI’ or ‘Kindred’ representing each of the founding fathers: Nsoma Anyaji, Ubiom or Ebem Iyi, Uka Abam, Amaelu, Okweji or Ihuokwe, Nkwonkpu, Ottai, and Onu nta-ikpo respectively. So we have (Umudi Ndi-a-Nsoma, Umudi Ebem Iyi or Ubiom, Umu Ndi-a-Uka, Umudi Amaelu, Umudi Ihuokwe, Umu Ndi-a-Nkwo, Umudi Ottai, Umu Ndi-a-Onu). Every member of Ozu, men and women all belong to either of these Kindred’s and it is a must. Members of the other three sub-sets aforementioned also are significant players in the comity of Ozu nation and have over the years been assimilated into Ozu project without equivocation considering the roles they both play in the promotion and sustenance of Ozu cultural heritage.
