DEBATE: Ufia People are NOT Idoma

By adakole IJOGI

THE tapestry of history, origin and identity of the Ufia people has been a quest that has been awakened by vertical facts and horizontal truths made belligerent for self-discovery and knowledge. In the last decade, my enquiry into these uncharted waters has led me to some exhilarating findings, with paint strokes of ironical distortions and colours of cultural neuroplasticity on this canvas of discovery.

In pursuit of my subjective opinion, contextual prepositions and deductive reasoning did make optimum cross-referencing of historical data imperative. However, these perspectives are evidently shrouded in faint voices of our history re-clocked in time past.

Who is Idoma?
I began this journey by conversing with history professors, reviewed available cultural and traditional antiquity, researched relevant literature and recounted oral historical Ufia and Idoma accounts on migration, settlements, genealogy and socio-anthropology.

I came across various accounts of the history of the Idoma people. While reviewing some, I took the liberty to study the common and uncommon ones. The oral account of Idu the son of Oma as the father of the Idoma nation, narrates that Idu begot Agabi who is the father of Otukpo People, Olinaogwu is the father of the Ugboju People, Ananawoogeno the father of the Igumale People, Idum who is the father of Adoka People, Eje the father of the Oglewu People, Ode the father of the Yala People, and Edeh the father of the Edumoga People.

This version is rather ambiguous, incomplete, insufficient and possibly misleading. While this oral historical account might have some pale validation, migration trends, settlement patterns and other oral accounts make it a single story without concrete deductive conclusions.

The contradiction of this account raises so many pertinent questions, like asking rhetorically, how about the Apa-Agatu People and the Akweya People in Benue State, the Yache in Cross River State and the Alago in Nasarawa State? Secondly, the name “Idu” is circumspect, as the Attah of Igala is addressed as “Agaba Idu”, which means “Lion of Lions” in Igala language, a people with long standing culture and heritage. It also has the same meaning in most cultures around the Niger and Benue valley; therefore making the “Idu” version rather a disingenuous attempt to validate the single story.

There is also the oral historical account of Idu from the Igala extraction, who migrated from Ankpa to present Idoma land, in searching for this brother of theirs, the Igalas began to ask in context “Idu Oma”, meaning where is Idu?

There is another account that also recounts that Otukpa People as a single unit migrated from Igala land and settled with Igbo people, and that the Otukpa and Orokam peoples have three ancestors, Owuno, Ameh-Ochagbaha and Oodo; the first two migrated from Igala land and Oodo, their third brother, migrated from Igbo land.

Another account also puts the Akweya (Akpa), found presently in Otukpo LGA in Benue State, and in Yala LGA in Cross River State, to have in the 15^th century settled in eastern Cross River State, till when Okennachi, the first Igbo Eze Aro invited them (Akweya) to assist the Arochukwu to overrun the Ibibios. Prince Osim and Akuma Nnubi (Akpa aborigines) heeded to the call and joined forces with the Igbo Arochukwus in the Igbo/Ibibio war.

The Akweya People then migrated northwards to settle in their current location in Benue State in the early 16^th century. They too also trace their history to Kwararafa and Igala. Evidential and verifiable history points to the fact that Akweya were the first to settle in this present location, migrating from Cross River State through Igbo land of Arochukwu and then to Benue State sometime in the 16^th century.

All these accounts point to the fact that migration to these land were not in one fell swoop but in batches; groups come one after the other. History puts the Akweya as the first to arrive, then the Igede, followed by the Ufia People, then others, the Igumale group were the last to settle in. Oral history has it that the Ufia and Agila peoples had to shed some of their land to accommodate their brothers and sisters, the Igumale people.

Otukpo Alekwu poetry, migration and settlement in current location
In the Otukpo, Alekwaafia masquerade traditional poetry renders in chronological term the genealogy, linage, sojourn and conquest of the Otukpo people. Professor Idris Amali, in his account; “Alekwu poetry as a Source of Historical Reconstruction,” affirms that Otukpo people’s alekwu posits in poetry that “We went and lived at Okpaele, where these Umogidi people had remained, we left Okpaele eee! We went to live at Okwutachi, then the war broke out between us and Adoka people”. Meaning the Adoka people were already settled in their current location before the Otukpo people. The alekwu also narrates “Oko” as the progenitor of all Otukpo people, also contradicting the “Idu” as father of “Agabi” the father of Otukpo people. Can Alekwu be wrong?

The alekwu also narrates the Otukpo people to have migrated from Apa in Kwararafa. Reviewing historical text from Kwararafa shows no historical mention or documentation of a town or village in modern or ancient times around the Benue valley upper or lower named “Apa”. This historical account of the Jukun and the Kwararafa kingdom has no mention of Idoma BUT has Igala well documented, during the Igala resistance and rebellion from Kwararafa. However, the Jukuns call themselves “Wapan” people of Apa maybe. Besides the Kwararafa was a confederacy of many tribes, Kuteb, Igala, Alago, Eggon, Gomai, Idoma, Nupe, Gwandara, Gbagyi, etc.

The point is, Kwararafa is not a place of origin but a point of reference in the time of the Jukun Kingdom, the Junkun’s even trace their origins to Yemen. More so, the Jukun language has no similarity with any of the languages [or dialects] spoken in Idoma land.

On language, Dr Samuel Johnson in 1773, an American author made a profound statement in reference to language and genealogy by stating that “there is no taking the connection of ancient nations, but by language.” The Idoma has multiple dialects, versions and variations. Namely, the western Idoma dialect (Okpokwu and Ogbadibo), Central Idoma (Otupko and Ohimini), Southern Idoma (Ado) and Northern Idoma (Apa and Agatu), the Oju and Obi variation, Idoma Nokwu found in Keana and Doma in Nasarawa State, Iyala, in Ogoja, Cross River State and Etilo variations.

In expanding investigations on who is Idoma, kindly pay attention to what our fellow Middle Belters (in the upper and lower Niger and Benue valleys) and what they call the people who speak the language spoken by the Edumoga and Otukpo people. The Igalas call them “Akpoto,” the Nupes call them “Akpoto” the Alago call them “Apoto”; same for the Habe Hausa, Gbagi, Jukuns and Gomai peoples. In fact the Ufia people also call that language “Akpoto”. In local parlance Igala conversations, the people of Ankpa in eastern Igala land are humorously referred to as “Akpoto” people.

However, there are some historical literatures which postulate that “Akpoto” can be considered as an autonomous group that fabricated the creation of the Igala, Idoma and Igbira groups in the early 12^th century, that they are essentially one people with migration and settlement influences in their language variations.

Fact
There is no word or meaning for “Idoma” in any of the dialects or variations of these languages in reference to a people. Each dialect or variation calls each by who they are. Akpa people, Otukpo people, Edumoga people, Igede people, Agila people, Agatu people, Ufia people, Adoka people, Ijigbam people, Ekle people, Apa people, Otupka people, Orokram people, Okpoga people, Ichama people, Owukpa people, Oglewu people, Iyala people, Alago people, Eggon people, etc.

More so there was no central ruler in Idoma land until 1947, owing to the multiplicity of ethnicity and language variations of the people. The Och’Idoma was a creation of the British for colonial administrative purposes. Hitherto, main traditional titles and chiefs were homogenously tied and connected to the Igala traditional rulership of the Attah Igala. Kindly note that he is NOT “Attah Idah” but Attah Igala.

In fact, in pre-colonial times, there were only two notable chiefs/rulers in the whole of what you call Idoma land, the Olong Wu’fia and the Och’Otukpo. Note that you had Oche of Otukpo (King of Otukpo people), not Oche (King) for Adoka people. Same goes for the Olong Wu’fia (King of Ufia people), not Olong (King) of Akweya people. In all of my sojourn, I have come to the conclusion that: Idoma is NOT a Language but a PEOPLE

The Idoma consist of people living in Nasarawa State, Cross River State, Benue State and Ebonyi State. They include – Alago People, Igede People, Iyala People, Iyache People, Ukelle People, Apa People, Akweya People, Otukpo People, Ufia People, Edumoga People, Eggon People, Otukpa People, Agila People, Ekle People, Okpoga People, Ijigbam People, Etilo People and Okomolokpo People.

Others include Ulayi People, Agatu People, Adoka People, Igumale People, Apa People, Adoka People, Oglewu People, Otukpa People, Owukpa People, Orokam People, Ugboju People, Ichama People, Etulo People, Uffiom People, Okpoto People and Amuda People.

Who are the Ufia People?
The Ufia people are situated in Utonkon, Ado LGA of Benue State. The Ufia language is linked to the East Benue Congo Bantu languages group, said to be slightly related in linguistic context to the Ekoi (Ejagham), Ukelle, Atam, Boki, Mbembe and Yako in Cross River State and Uffiom in Ebonyi State. Available history narrates the Ufia to have migrated from northern Cross River State to Ebonyi State and then to Utonkon, their current location.

As it is with most tribes in Nigeria, origins of their ethnicity and migration are sketchy. However the Ufia people trace their migration from northern Nigeria and settled in present day Yala LGA, bounded by the Ejegham to the east and Effik to the south. After hundreds of years, some Ufia groups left their kit and kin, who can be found in present day Yala LGA in Cross River State, the Ukelle people who speak a dialect of Ufia language and migrated to current day Ebonyi State.

The Ufia people in search of their fellow sojourners, better land, living conditions, and due to the series of conflicts with the Ezza and Igbo peoples, further migrated northwards to settle in the their current location in Utonkon, Ado LGA in Benue State in early 16^th century.

The Ufia people also left some of their kit and kin in Effum in Ohaukwu LGA, Amuda, Okpoto, Ntezi, Nkalagu in Ishielu in Ezza LGA in Ebonyi State, they also speak the Ufia language.

The Ufia people are ancestrally linked to the Ukelle (Kukelle) people who make up to roughly half of the population of Yala LGA in Cross River State; they speak a dialect of Ufia. The Ukelle people are bounded in the north by Igede people of Benue State, in the south and west by Izzi people of Ebonyi State and Yache of Cross Rivers State. (See Amauray Talbot; “Peoples of Southern Nigeria” Volume 2, 1969.) The Ukelles refer to a village assembly as “Ojilla” and Funeral as “Kulu”, same in Ufia, and has a 26% linguistic similarity with the Ufia language.

The Britannica Journal and other verifiable accounts links the Ufia language to Kukelle and the Kukelle to the Ekoi (Ejagham) language, one of the Bantu languages, in Nigeria. This group migrated from the North in the 9^th century and lived in proximity with the Effiks of southern Nigeria.

The Ekoi people in Cross River State can also be found in South-west Cameroon. They were divided by the German and British colonial holdings in Africa. (See German/Ekoi War, 1891). Many Ekoi where taken to Cuba and Brazil as slaves.

There are some words and cultural similarity with the Ekoi (Ejagham) people in Cross River State and the Ufia people, like “Ekpe” meaning the same thing in both languages. The Ekpe Leopard Secret Society of the Ekoi People, thrived for hundreds of years and developed Nsibidi, an indigenous symbol writing system, invented over 1,000 years ago pictograms, early forms appeared on excavated pottery, ceramic stools and headrest that dates back to 400AD – 1400AD.

In Lexicostratigraphy tracing the geographical location and linguistic change in the Koring (Oring) language, the Journal for African Studies investigated the Koring and Igbo languages and settlements in Ebonyi State, using the 1,000 words link parameter, established that the Koring people were the first to settle in current day Ebonyi State, which is the last place the Ufia were before migrating to their current location in Ado LGA in Benue State.

The settlement in Yala LGA in Cross Rivers State brings to close proximity the historical linkages between the Igede, Otukpo, Edumoga, Agila and Akweya peoples in present day Benue State. Yala LGA is populated by four ethnic languages – Iyala, Igede, Ukelle and Yache peoples. This settlement is a microcosm of the inhabitation of the greater Idoma land in Benue State.

The Iyala in Cross River State is closely related to the Otukpo/Edumoga peoples in Benue State; the Igede in Cross River is closely related to the Igede in Benue State, the Ukelle in Cross River State is closely related to the Ufia people in Benue State and the Yache closely related to Akweya (Akpa) people in Benue State.

On the genealogy of the language, the Ukelle dialect has been mixed with the neighbouring Effik and Ejagham languages, while the Uffiom, Okpoto, Ntezi, Nkalagu and Amudah dialects have also been over the years infused with Ezza and Igbo languages. The Ufia people in Utonkon have to the larger part kept their dialect undiluted; they have spoken this dialect for over 500 years.

My humble position
If Idoma is a language then the Ufia people are NOT Idoma, BUT if Idoma is a people, as I have pointed out, THEN the Ufia People are Idoma.

IJOGI, Agalakoko Wu’fia, is a political economist.