THIRD ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND MEETING London, England November 1-3, 2002
A Composite Report Of THIRD ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF URHOBO
HISTORICAL SOCIETY London, United Kingdom, November
1-3, 2002
By Peter P. Ekeh, Ph.D. Chair, Urhobo Historical Society
The Third Annual
Conference of Urhobo Historical Society was held in London, United
Kingdom, November 1-3, 2002, at two venues in close
proximity of each other in New Cross area of Southeast London. London
is home to the largest fragment of the Urhobo Diaspora, outside of Nigeria.
Most Urhobos in London
live in the Southeast. The first venue of the Conference was at Goddis Restaurant
at 126 New Cross Road.
Its proprietor, Mr. Godwin Oghenede, was the Hospitality Officer of the UK
and Belgium Organizing Committee that worked closely with the Conference
and Communiqué Committee in North America
in preparing for the Conference. The second venue of the Conference was
nearby at Goldsmiths College of London University.
Opening
Cocktail Reception at Goddis Restaurant Friday November 1, 2002, 8:00-10:30
The
Opening Cocktail Reception was a memorable event that brought together
strong Urhobo leadership from inside Nigeria,
from the host London community
as well as an enthusiastic delegation from Belgium,
and from North America. It also featured age
and youth, with men and women in their 60s and 70s mixing with members of
a younger generation of Urhobos. The chair of the occasion was Olorogun
Felix Ibru, first civilian Governor of Delta State. He was introduced by
Chief Johnson Barovbe, a Lagos-based businessman, proprietor of WestminsterCollege, Lagos,
and a former distinguished President of Urhobo Social Club, Lagos.
Chief Barovbe praised the mission and work of Urhobo Historical Society,
predicting that it would become a major force in Urhobo affairs. The esteemed
Special Guest of Honour of the Conference, who was featured at the Opening
Reception, was Mr. D. A. Obiomah of Warri, author of several books that
have chronicled the struggle of his people of Agbarha-Warri for their natural
rights and for justice for Agbarha community as indigenous owners of the
City of Warri. Mr. Obiomah
enjoys a large reputation in Urhobo history as our first D.O. (District Officer)
during colonial times. He was introduced by Professor Frank Ukoli, reputed
to be Urhobo’s first Ph.D. holder and Urhobo’s first university professor,
who was also the founding Vice Chancellor of Delta State University, Abraka.
Several men and women from the London
community – including Chief Moses Uwejeya, Chief Francis Ogbomo, Chief
C. O. Onomijega, and Chief Wilfred Dedevwo -- were introduced. Chief Johnson
Barovbe specially introduced Chief Emmanuel Evue, a Lagos-based fish business
man who had traveled to London
for the Conference.
There was an insightful
introduction of Members of the Editorial and Management Committee, which
has managed the affairs of Urhobo Historical Society in North
America, by Professor Ajovi Scott-Emuakpor, and of members
of the UK & Belgium Organizing Committee by Mr. S. S. Obruche. This
exercise was intriguing because many in the audience sought out the origins
and hometowns of these people who were presented as servants of Urhobo history
and culture. Many elders were particularly fascinated by the prominent presence
of the Conference Chair, Professor Isaac James Mowoe, first grandson of
the legendary Mukoro Mowoe, who is hailed in Urhobo history as our premier
nationalist. Also specially introduced was Professor Perkins Foss, an American
scholar who was fully attired in Urhobo chiefly regalia and whose daring
odova (praise name) is oyibo r’edjo. Professor Foss is an
historian of Urhobo art and culture.
Following generous Urhobo traditional welcoming presentation of
kola, drinks, and money by Mr. S. S. Obruche and his colleagues of the UK
& Belgium Organizing Committee, eloquently narrated in fluent Urhobo
by Mr. Ejiro Ughwujabo, a Deputy Head Teacher in a LondonCatholicSecondary
School, three addresses were read. In his measured
and dignified speech, Olorogun Felix Ibru proclaimed his pride as an Urhobo
man, declaring that his patriotism for Nigeria
is only enhanced, never diminished, by his robust love for Urhobo culture
and his service to Urhobo people. In his dramatized and poetic address,
Mr. D. A. Obiomah showed why he is loved by the Urhobo. He exalted Urhobo
culture of nurturing and veneration of the bride in elaborate ceremonies
in traditional Urhobo culture.A fighter for the rights
of his native and indigenous Agbarha-Warri community, Obiomah called on
the British to tell the truth on the “Protection Treaty” that British colonial
agents signed with the Chiefs and Elders of Agbarha on March 14, 1893 in which it was
made clear that they owned Warri lands. Both Olorogun Felix Ibru and Mr.
Daniel Obiomah praised the work and commitments of Urhobo Historical Society
and urged the Society to continue in its important work.
In his address,
Professor Peter Ekeh, Chair of Urhobo Historical Society, thanked various
people who have worked with the Society in its service to Urhobo history
and culture. Citing several areas of the work of Urhobo Historical Society,
including its flagship web site called URHOBO WAADO, Professor Ekeh said
he and his colleagues in Urhobo Historical Society had come to London to
challenge the Urhobo Community in the United Kingdom and our people at home
inside Nigeria to join in a brigade of service to Urhobo people by
promoting and protecting Urhobo history and culture. He contended that it
is a responsibility that required the employment of many Urhobo volunteers
because much remained to be done in the demanding need to protect and enhance
Urhobo history and culture.
Presentation
of Academic Papers at GoldsmithsCollege Saturday, November 2, 2002
The entire span
of the day on Saturday, November
2, 2002 was devoted to academic perspectives that highlighted
Urhobo history and culture and that also challenged the Urhobo present and
future. It all began with a fascinating presentation of the art history
of the Urhobo by an American scholar of Urhobo culture, Professor Perkins
Foss, bearing a delicate title of “Images of Fear, Protection, Beauty:
Urhobo Art and Culture." His command of the Urhobo language
was fully appreciated by the audience. Among the many portraits of Urhobo
chieftains that Foss presented was that of Chief Erhiaghanoma Oyovwikefe of Orhokpokpo, Agbarho, whose two
grandsons [Edirin and Henry Erhiaghanoma] served as members of the Editorial
and Management Committee, North America, and
the UK & Belgium Organizing Committee, and were present at the Conference.
The last portrait from the large collage of Urhobo art forms displayed by
Perkins Foss was that of Chief Ughwanogho of Orogun, whose son, Chief P.
A. Wanogho, happens to be a major leader in the Urhobo community in London.
Subsequent presenters of papers consistently referred to this first presentation
as a point of departure in the evaluation of living Urhobo culture.
The second session
featured a masterful display of academic prowess mixed with concern for
ordinary people by a retired University of Ibadan Professor of parasitology
who has become a traditional Urhobo chief. But Professor Olorogun Frank Ukoli
is not a passive recipient of a shallow honour of chieftaincy. On the contrary,
his paper [“Beyond Social and Political Issues in Urhoboland”] and
his presentation show his displeasure in the way Urhobo communities are being
run down. He is unhappy at the banal display of wealth at wedding and funeral
ceremonies that are threatening to maim genuine Urhobo culture. He canvasses
for revisions in the ways of the elite that will enhance the lives of the
people. From the point of view of Urhobo Historical Society, Olorogun Frank
Ukoli’s passions and commitments show that he is a genuine servant of Urhobo
history and culture in our best understanding of that mantra.
The third paper
[“Title to Land in Warri –The Itsekiri
and Agbassa Claims”]came from Dr.
Emmanuel Urhobo, heir of the legendary G. M. Urhobo who founded God's Kingdom
Society in 1934. Dr. Urhobo practices law in Warri and is a leader of the
Agbarha-Warri community in fighting against attempts to deprive his people
of their heritage. He argued that Urhobos not only built Warri but indeed
own much of the city and should be sensitive about any attempts to cheat
fellow Urhobos of their political and legal rights. He traced the doctrine
of overlordship in colonial times to internal Itsekiri disputes between Ugborodo
Itsekiri and the British colonial Political Agent, Chief Dore Numa, which
was subsequently wrongly applied to Urhobo disputes with Dore Numa. He called
for the proper education of Urhobo lawyers on Warri land matters because
many of these lawyers appear not to understand the origins and wrongs of
the doctrine of overlordship in colonial times; nor do they seem to appreciate
the fact that the doctrine of overlordship has long been overthrown in subsequent
judicial pronouncements.
Dr. Emmanuel Urhobo
was followed by Wilson Ometan, of the BBC London, who proudly introduced
himself as an Uvwie man with roots stretching to Okpe. His presentation
of his paper ["Urhobos and Nigerian
Politics: The Travails of Marginalization and Racism"] was a spirited description of the
attributes of the Urhobo people and an advocacy of the employment of their
toughness and resilience to resist various attempts to marginalize them and
their culture.
The Dredging
of the Lower Niger and the Environment of the Niger
Delta
Dr. Amy Emerhi,
an Ughelli native and Nigerian Director of Port Harcourt-based International
Association for Impact Assessment, made a short but powerful presentation
on the dangers facing Urhobo and the Niger Delta from the planned dredging
of the lower Niger
for the sake of meeting the navigation needs of northern ports on the Niger.
Dr. Emerhi complained that this dredging was being planned without any
contribution from those in the Niger Delta whose lives and means of livelihood
will be severely impacted and most probably ruined. She further complained
of the indifference of public officials from the Niger Delta, including
Urhobos, who have done nothing to avert these dangers. In the discussion
that ensued, many conference participants, including Professor Peter Ekeh
and Professor Frank Ukoli, warned of the grave dangers that will occur if
Atlantic waters are forced into our lands because of the navigation needs
of oil companies and northern states. Our agriculture and fishing industry
will be ruined. There may be uncontrolled floods.
Goodwill Message
from Urhobo National Assembly
A goodwill message
from Urhobo National Assembly was delivered by its Secretary, Mr. Godwin
Etakibuebu, who is Chairman of Focus Computer Systems Limited, Lagos.
Mr. Etakibuebu urged Urhobo Historical Society to continue in its work
of service for Urhobo history and culture. He then read a letter addressed
to the Third Annual Conference of Urhobo Historical Society from Urhobo National
Assembly. Signed by Senator D. O. Dafinone and Justice V. E. Ovie-Whiskey,
the letter commends the efforts of Urhobo Historical Society in its work
in the service of Urhobo history and culture. The letter says, inter
alia:
Yours is an elite society and as such you
must always see yourselves individually as members of the think thank that
will work out situation for many problems that are threatening the corporate
survival of the Urhobo nation. That is what a good historical society can
do. That is what your society is doing. In prosecuting this onerous assignment
you can always count on our full support. For it is our avowed and dedicated
mandate to work for the elimination of those obstacles that deny the Urhobo
people both political and economic enablement.
Keynote Address
["The Place of Urhobo College in Urhobo History"] By Professor David Okpako, University
of Ibadan
The hallmark presentation
of the Third Annual Conference, chaired by its Special Guest of Honour,
Mr. D. A. Obiomah, was a keynote address titled "The Place of Urhobo Collegein Urhobo History" by one of the most distinguished alumni of Urhobo College. David Okpako has been a Professor of Pharmacology
at the University of Ibadan for several decades. He was a pioneering student
of Urhobo College from which he graduated in 1954. He has been
the unofficial historian of Urhobo College. It was he who compiled a moving memorial for
Chief Daniel Okumagba when the former Urhobo College Tutor died on Thursday,
July 27, 2000. A native
of Ohwahwa in Ughievwen, David Okpako has another distinction. He is
a custodian of Udje songs. Indeed, he sang one of those songs during his keynote
address.
The central theme of Professor David Okpako’s
keynote address was the role of Urhobo Progress Union in conceiving, founding,
and then managing a community secondary school that was like no other one
in Africa during
colonial times and thereafter. Its two founding graduate teachers, M. G.
Ejaife and E. N. Igho, were trained by Urhobo Progress Union during the difficult
war-ravaged years of the 1940s. They were Urhobo’s first graduates. Despite
its ownership by Urhobo Progress Union, the policies that controlled Urhobo
College were
liberal in terms of its recruitment of teachers and students. Professor Okpako
noted that two beneficiaries of such policies, Mr. S. J. Okudu and Professor
Tekena Tamuno, both Ijaws, were trained for Urhobo
College. They
later played major roles in the history of the University of Ibadan as Registrar
and Vice Chancellor. Professor Okpako cited a number of students of Urhobo
College from
other ethnic groups (Itsekiri, Benin, Ishan,
Igbo, and Yoruba) who developed themselves into important personalities in
various professions in Nigeria. Okpako’s
lecture featured the brilliance and achievements of his classmate and fellow
Urhoboman, Professor Matthew Scott-Emuakpor of the University of Ibadan, who
was Nigeria’s first
geneticist. In Professor David Okpako’s estimation, the strength of the education
that Mr. M. G. Ejaife and other teachers of Urhobo
College imparted
to their students was the trust that they could overcome great odds.
Professor David Okpako did not see the role
of Urhobo Progress Union as a matter for the past alone. On the contrary,
he urged the expansion of the role of the UPU in the sphere of education
of the Urhobo people and promotion of Urhobo scholarship for the benefit of
Urhobo history and culture. First, he queried the current policy of Urhobo
Progress Union that excluded Urhobo
College from
UPU’s development goals. He urged that if other private agencies get back
their schools from the Delta State Government, then UPU should seriously
consider reclaiming Urhobo
College. More
boldly, Professor Okpako urges that Urhobos should honour Chief Mukoro Mowoe,
whose foresight gave birth to Urhobo
College, by building
a Mukoro Mowoe University. Such an Urhobo university should strive
to develop Urhobo culture and language as a major reason for its existence.
Open Session [“On Urhobo Self-Education on
Issues
of Warri Landsand
Delta
StateCapital”]
at Goldsmiths College, Sunday, November 3, 2002
A short early morning session conducted by
Professor Peter Ekeh, Chair of Urhobo Historical Society, and featuring Mr.
D.A. Obiomah, Special Guest of Honour of UHS Third Annual Conference, focused
on the need for self-education by Urhobos on issues that affect Urhobo futures
and interests. Two such issues were highlighted. First, on Warri lands and
ownership of Warri, Professor Ekeh confessed that he was not aware of the
history and intricacies of Warri lands until Urhobo Historical Society engaged
this issue. He said that he imagined that many Urhobos have not bothered to
study this matter as an issue affecting all Urhobos. Mr. D. A. Obiomah expressed
the hope that Urhobos would stay engaged on the problems raised by disputes
on the ownership of Warri. He thanked Urhobo Historical Society for its attention
to the history of Warri and for giving an opportunity to three prominent
Agbarha-Warri men – D.A. Obiomah, Dr. Emmanuel Urhobo, and Professor Frank
Ukoli – to play central roles in the UHS Third Annual Conference. In the
matter of Delta State Capital, Professor Ekeh called attention to the publication
in Urhobo Voice [October 28, 2002] by Urhobo Historical Society in
which specific legislative measures were recommended for relocating branches
of the State Government to the Old Delta Province until constitutional revisions
will allow the transfer of the State Capital from Asaba to the Old Delta
Province. Mr. D. A. Obiomah commended such measures, saying that examples
from various other nations show that it can be done. Several interventions
from the audience expressed the need for self-education by Urhobos on issues
that affect their futures and their destiny.
A Women's Roundtable Discussion
[“Role of Women in Urhobo History and Culture”] at GoldsmithsCollege, Sunday, November 3, 2002
Chair: Mrs.
L. O. Obiomah, Warri, Delta
State, Nigeria.Participants:
Helen Ekeh, Ph.D., Buffalo, New York, USA;
Chief (Mrs.) Agnes Ukueku, London, United Kingdom;
Mrs. G. Emonigho Aghoghovbia, London, United
Kingdom; andMrs. Comfort Ogbomo, London,
United Kingdom.
This last session
of the Conference was also its most electrifying. Issues that were raised
ranged far and wide, touching on various aspects of Urhobo culture. The
achievements of Urhobo women in professions, especially in recent decades,
were noted. In the end, two issues were most controversial. The roundtable
discussants were ranged on both sides of the practice of female circumcision.
There was greater consensus on the matter of the difficulties facing Diaspora
Urhobo children and youth in their attempt to learn and speak Urhobo language.
Many conference participants took responsibility for their children's failure
to speak Urhobo. They all urged that steps must be taken to stem the dangerous
tide of loss of the ability to speak Urhobo by our children and youth.
Some of the discussants bemoaned the fact that most children growing up
in such Urhobo cities as Warri and Sapele cannot speak Urhobo. They denounced
the danger of replacing Urhobo with pidgin English.
A major contribution
on an existing machinery for advancing and systematizing written and spoken
Urhobo was made in this session. Mr. S. S. Obruche said that it was important,
indeed critical, that the Urhobo Language Vetting Committee, whose current
chair is Reverend Joseph Oghenekaro, be helped to grow and to be involved
in attempts to streamline different dialects of Urhobo language into a mainstream
form that will be available for Urhobo Diaspora mothers and others in their
efforts to retain Urhobo language. Mr. Obruche promised to make available
more information on the organization of Urhobo Language Vetting Committee
for publication in the web sites of Urhobo Historical Society.
Virtually every
member of the audience wanted to join in these issues. Many did. At the
end we all ran out of time.
At 1:00 p.m., Professor Isaac James Mowoe, Conference
Chair, declared the Conference as concluded. He then invited participants
to move from GoldsmithsCollege
to Goddis Restaurant for the 2002 Annual General Meeting.
Annual General
Meeting of Urhobo Historical Society at Goddis Restaurant Sunday, November 3, 2002
The
meeting was presided over by the Chair of Urhobo Historical Society, Professor
Peter Ekeh, who explained that the Annual General Meeting exercises supreme
authority in the affairs of Urhobo Historical Society. The meeting was
well attended by the Urhobo community in the United
Kingdom and Europe
and by three key Urhobos from Nigeria:
Mr. & Mrs. D.A. Obiomah and Chief Johnson Barovbe. Attendance from the
ranks of the Editorial and Management Committee of UHS included its Secretary,
Mr. Andrew Edevbie; the Conference Chair, Professor Isaac James Mowoe; Edirin
Erhiaghanoma, UHS Treasurer; and Dr. Aruegodore Oyiborhoro, author of the
popular “Urhobo Names and Their Meanings” in our Web site URHOBO WAADO. There was an important presence of Urhobo elders and Urhobo
youth from the London Urhobo community. Women were not only present in significant
numbers; their participation in the discussions was forceful and influenced
major decisions.
The
Annual General Meeting discussed many weighty matters and took far-reaching
decisions. The most noteworthy of these are as follows:
(i) Venue of the Fourth Annual Conference and
Meeting of Urhobo Historical Society, 2003. The Annual General Meeting acceded to the
request of the London Urhobo community to host the Fourth Annual Conference
in London in the first weekend
of November, 2003. The General Meeting directed that the possibility of
holding the Fifth Annual Conference, 2004, in Nigeria
should be strongly pursued.
(ii) Urhobo Historical Society Endowment Fund. The Annual General Meeting accepted a recommendation
from the Editorial and Management Committee for the establishment of Urhobo
Historical Society Endowment Fund. Its goal is to fund the activities of
Urhobo Historical Society and to promote and sponsor research and documentation
of Urhobo history and culture. The Annual General Meeting authorized the establishment
of such an endowment and then proceeded to set up an Exploratory Committee
that will work to set it up.
(iii) UHS Service Awards. The Annual General Meeting accepted a recommendation
from the Editorial and Management Committee for the establishment of UHS
ServiceAwards that will (a) honour distinguished Urhobos who
have passed away and who were known to have served aspects of Urhobo history
and culture with dedication and (b) reward living Urhobos and others who
have served Urhobo history and culture in ways that reflect the life-long
works and commitments of those for whom the UHS Service Awards are named.
The Annual General Meeting authorized five UHS Service awards: (a) Chief
Mukoro Mowoe Service Award; (b) Omorohwovo Okoro Co-Leadership Service Award;
(c) Agbontaren Udih Diaspora Service Award; (d) M. G. Ejaife Education Service
Award; and (e) Adogbeji Salubi Urhobo History Service Award. The Annual General
Meeting then set up an Awards Committee to structure these awards for future
years.
(iv) Editorial and Management Committee and UK & Europe
Coordinating Committee. The Annual General Meeting authorized the reconstitution of the Editorial
and Management Committee that looks after the affairs of Urhobo Historical
Society. It then set up a UK
and Europe Coordinating Committee that will work with the Editorial and
Management Committee to look after the affairs of UHS in Europe.
In addition, the Annual General Meeting authorized Chief Johnson Barovbe
to explore the possibility of setting up a Nigerian Coordinating Committee
of Urhobo Historical Society.
The
Annual General Meeting concluded its business on an emotional note as Chief
Johnson Barovbe led participants in singing Urhobo Anthem, Orere
R’ Ijesa.
Some Concluding
Observations
For
those of us who have conducted the affairs of Urhobo Historical Society
from its inauguration on August
28, 1999, to the present time, the London Conference marked a
turning point in the progress of the Society. This is so for several reasons.
First, there was an extraordinary blending of age in the ceremonies and discussions
that marked the three days of the conference. Men and women in their sixties
and seventies interacted with youth and middle-aged Urhobos and exchanged
ideas across the barriers of age. Second, women’s presence and participation
at the Conference were forceful and made important difference in the outcome
of the Conference. Third, the academic pretensions of the planned conference
were chastened into compromise with the harsh realities of the actual needs
of Diaspora Urhobos who were coping with the cultural problems of living
outside the Urhobo homeland. Mothers cried for help in the upbringing of their
children so that their offspring will retain Urhobo language and culture.
Elderly Urhobos cried for the use of Urhobo language as a medium for transacting
the business of the Conference, because they feared that Urhobo language was
being denied its dignity. What emerged at the end was praxis of Urhobo culture
and history in which academic ideals were blended with the practical cultural
needs of Urhobo families living in the Diaspora.
When
all the academic sessions are considered alongside the Opening Cocktail
Reception and the Annual General Meeting, one important theme seems to emerge
at the forefront. It is the survival of Urhobo language and culture
and the survival of the physical environment of Urhobo lands. Beginning
with the impassioned opening address by the Special Guest of Honour of the
Conference, Mr. D.A. Obiomah, through the presentation of their papers and
topics by Professor Frank Ukoli, Dr. Emmanuel Urhobo, Dr. Amy Emerhi, and
Mr. Wilson Ometan, there were expressed and implicit fears that our culture
and our lands will be threatened with extinction unless we fight for their
survival. The nuanced reflections of the keynote address by Professor David
Okpako and the vociferous complaints from the Women’s Roundtable on the obvious
dangers facing Urhobo children in the Diaspora craved the survival of Urhobo
culture and indeed our physical space. It is a theme that we cannot ignore.
It is a theme that future conferences of Urhobo Historical Society will do
well to address directly.
Peter P. Ekeh, Ph.D. StateUniversityof New York
at Buffalo
