October 25,2018.
Economic Activities
For a living, the Okpoma have two major occupations: farming (which is strictly reserved for the men), and salt-production (which is under proscription in favor of the women). In the past, these two occupations made Okpoma self-supporting and contented.
The situation was such that even the presence of roads and waterways “did not seem to have engendered the habits of travel” in them (Odey Egbara 1992).
It is obvious from the position of the town that her alluvial soils would be rich. Yam farming, became so highly developed that a piece of land was under cultivation every year. Five months after yams are harvested, the land was cleared for planting the alternative crop .It is cassava that is alternated with yams. This attachment to yams continues now in spite of a boost in rice farming.
Salt production has supplemented Okpoma economics since the discovery of the so called Salt Lakes by two hunters, Odey and Onah. Since then the women have produced salt by a process beyond the scope of this work.
According to Late Egbara Raphael Abriba of wogada who made these research in 1992 found that the salinity is the highest in the South South Nigeria geographical zone.
Only recently did Okpoma people start long distance trade. They practiced inter-cropping and dairy farming. Rapheal Onah Eba, (1996) states that “records as recent as 1979 show that cotton was grown, spun and woven here.
Cattle and other livestock: horses, pigs, goats, sheep, etc. were kept”.
Even when long distance trade began, the only market visited by the Okpoma themselves was Obahe in the now Abia state. People from other trading centers in Ogoja and Ezza rather visited Onugwankpo markets for exchange of goods.
It will be recalled that the salt scarcity of 1939 (after the Second World War) made every family in Okpoma rich. “In Olachor, three types of currencies, apart from barter, were used before the coming of the Europeans. They were: string currency , cowries and brass (Okpogo (Ikaba Okute 1978.
“Religious Belief
The hierarchy of Okpoma deities has at its apex, “Echieka Onokoku” who is too remote to be petitioned directly.
He is sometimes individuated but his supremacy is still maintained by the fact that he is believed to see everything, though very far away. As such, there is no shrine dedicated to him. A helpless petitioner or (one offended by his superior) simply thrusts his or her arms forward and with open palms facing up and a slight look to the sky and pleads: “Owolicho , be my witness.”
There is however a shrine known as “Ate" which approximates the ark of covenant. It is owned communally by an extended family whose eldest male becomes the chief priest. Though very heavy, this shrine never touches the ground. Like the Roman Catholic alter, there must always be a glow of light where it is kept. During a yearly communion (compulsory for all male members), it is brought down, placed on some logs, and sacrifices are made unto it. Immediately after, it is solemnly taken back to its customary place near the roof of a house.
Next in the Okpoma pantheon is the spiritual replica (Owo licho) provided for every human by the Supreme Being. These spiritual replicas of human beings can be males or females.
A shrine dedicated to Owo licho is called "Owochi.” It is only when prayers at the “Owochi” shrine become ineffective that an attempt is made to approach “Owo” directly. This is done by a mystical pilgrimage (outside the scope of the present work) called “Ijieka” through which the petitioner gets to meet Owo licho face to face.
Briefly, the process requires placing the utensils of the petitioner on the usual heart of the spirits and then hiding. As the spirit comes upon these vessels, which he recognizes as his, he is shocked and exclaims. Then the hiding ward would come out and lodge his complaint. The spirit may explain he/she is also finding that same problem difficult but would provide immediate solution.
With regard to Okpoma , the practice described in the following statements by Odey Egbara is still pertinent. “At a town called Wogada, there is said to be a place where it is possible to go and talk with the dead.”
On earth the most important deity is the “Uhu” whose totem is “Spirit,” a particularly harmless tall being. For the whole of Okpoma, there is deity called “Ejieka-” at Ikor Okpoma market where twelve (12) flat stones are laid to represent “Okpma-” (Okpoma’s twelve villages) in order of village seniority. At the village level, there are other shrines of Ohite.” For instance,has “Ayiepa” Individual families also have at the centre of their compounds the cult of “Owochi” where prayers are often said especially before embarking on the search for a missing item.
Ancestral veneration is also strong. Odey (1992) observes: “Among the Itega, Olachor, Oba , the dead are called Oku and are said to live in Ahuicho … The principal sacrifice in their honor is given at the time of the final burial , when cows, goats, fowls are offered up.” Odey Egbara believes, and rightly so, that “Maw” (secret society or masquerades) does not exist in the world of the dead and there is no belief in witchcraft.
For the Okpoma, the above observations are in order. Only four months of the year are used for serious clearing, hoeing, planting and harvesting. Work is discontinued for some days in any of the other eight months and yearly feastings proclaimed in honour of certain gods.
The last month of the year August is exclusive to the ancestors. During this final festival, no man who has a farm would fail to slaughter at least a goat, unless he has made his will and is ready to pleased the gods in the next harvest season. At midnight of the feast day, a righteous priest attends, as it were, a meeting of the ancestors and after some heated debates, receives the program of events for the coming year.
Political Institutions
Before the coming of the white man, there was a form of government in Okpoma, which was quite representative in nature. The idea of kingship is only mentioned in woma. At the town level, representation is on “Ukpufie” basis. Ukpufie refers to any of the twelve broad divisions from where the name “Okpoma-” originates. In these twelve broad divisions, some smaller villages merge to form one.
The supreme council of this form of government is the mass meeting of the entire town. This meeting is called Ogleyi yalogla. Every male adult (rich or poor) has the freedom to express his opinion at the Ogleyi. The meeting is generally held at Ina market where every contributor would speak before the shrine of “Olija, otherwise called the chief priest.
To open the business of the day, the oldest man from the village in which the meeting is hosted offers kola nuts to the ancestors. In his prayers, he asks for peaceful deliberations and wise decisions. If a point of discussion requires secrecy or observance of certain restrictions by the attendees, they are sworn to an oath, which is pronounced while everybody in attendance stands barefoot facing “Owo chi”.
How are the decisions of the council enforced since there is no grade system and no masking culture in Okpoma? The responsibility for enforcing discipline is left to a group of selected middle aged men. Selection is done through the village representation system. Any adult male stands the chance of being selected, provided he has not committed adultery in the Okpoma sense.
The body constituted by selected males is called “Ache Ogabor” at town and village levels.
At the village level, representation is on extended family basis. Here the body acts as a lower court reporting to a council of elders called “Egabor” (Senate). The later invariably recognizes the fact that the final arbiter is the mass-meeting called “Ogleyi.”
This system which takes government to the grass roots so impressed Waddington (1933) that he described the community as “a republic in the true sense of the word, i.e. a corporation in which government is the business of all.”
Colonial administration came to Okpoma in 1927 when the native court was completed. In 1928, the most senior ogamode rose to the rank of paramount chief. But both incidents did not change the system which is still in use today.
Social Life
With yams always in the barn and salt and oil in pots, Okpoma hospitality became proverbial.
Though the people love themselves, they will defend any visitor to the same extent they would defend a close relation. They will not, however, take kindly to anyone who takes their kindness for foolishness.
Social life is always enlivened by the monthly festivals and sometimes by a number of title taking ceremonies. Almost all these titles are connected with achievement in yam farming. The highest of them, “Ogamode,” which confers on the title holder the name “Ogabor” could cost up to five hundred pounds, dating back to 1952. (Odey Egbara 1991).
The Okpoma people are externally humble but internally proud. They would do anything to defend their prestige.
Fighting ensues almost immediately in any circumstance in which an Okpoma man is called a thief. Murder is the town’s highest offence and it carries capital punishment. In any of the twelve divisions, any man who goes to bed with another’s wife commits adultery and is excluded from ritual ceremonies for life. Before the coming of the white man, he was stoned to death while kleptomaniacs were hanged.
From the foregoing, it has been shown that Odey and Onah, who founded Okpoma, came from Idoma in Benue State, and lived at Igede before coming to the present site (Okpoma) with a family raised at Igede. These people settled in twelve broad divisions which contain smaller villages.
The pattern of settlement aided the type of political institutions at the apex of which is Ewa (age grade).
Belief in the Supreme God does not exclude worship of other gods and the veneration of ancestors. The people are very hospitable but can also employ drastic measures to teach social offenders a lesson; the punishment for offenders range from capital punishment and excommunication to withdrawal of privileges. Through these measures, the people of Okpoma enforce law and order and maintain peaceful coexistence in the villages where they’ve built family compounds and individual houses.
Yala is the language spoken by the inhabitants of okpoma.
The people of Yala migrated from IDOMALAND of Benue state o the present location before 15 and 1600 AD. They're said to have their original homeland in "River benue basin" where the Jukuns now live.
Yala are of the offspring of Ala, the 7th child of Odey Idoma (otherwise known as Ochumode) that led the people to the new foundland. Hence Idoma people have always referred to Yala as their brothers in diaspora whose ancestry they trace to Idoma homeland.
Yala, under the leadership of Ochumode founded the first settlement Okpada within the vicinity of the present Itega Ekpudu from where they have spread to 30 autonomous communties covering a landmass of 2,878 square miles with a population of 500,000 inhabitants.
They speak Yala, a variant of Idoma language widely spoken by Idoma in Benue, Alago in Nasarawa and Ette in Enugu states of Nigeria. There have been borrowng and loses in the original language text as a result of time snd distance separation as well as contact and education.
The people live in a clustered settlements with village squares (Ogra) in the centre that serve as venue for social activities.
Credit - Egbara Emmanuel Orubebe the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Cross river state director general for due process and price intelligence bureau.
No comments:
Post a Comment