BRIEF HISTORY OF OGURUGU AND THE PEOPLE
BRIEF HISTORY OF OGURUGU AND THE PEOPLE
ISANI BRIGHT
CHINWUGO
INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN
STUDIES,
UNIVERSITY OF
NIGERIA, NSUKKA
Ogurugu is a border town in Uzo-uwani Local
Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. It is bordered in the north by
Igala-mela/Odolu Local Government Area of Kogi State in south by Ojjor an Igala
community in Uzo-uwani Local Government Area of Enugu
State, east by Opanda-Nimbo also in Uzo-uwani Local Government Area of
Enugu State and west by Obale in Ibaji Local Government
Area of Kogi State.
Ogurugu is an agrarian community. They farm rice, cassava, moderate yam,
beans, corn and among others. However, about 2% are fishermen. Their language
is Igala, though about 60% of elite and non-elite alike understand
Igbo.Ogurugu people practice Igala traditional religion though 10.5% are
Christians while 0.05% practice Igala type of Islam. Ogurugu is one of the
communities that welcomed the white people in the wake of colonialism. The
white people navigated Ogurugu through Onitsha River Niger to Mabolo (Amanbala)
River in Ogurugu. The main reason the white people came to Ogurugu is because
as a river line community it will serve as a hub where they will gather palm
kernel and other product and later transport it through Mabolo River to
Onitsha, and then to Europe. All most all these products were produced outside
Ogurugu. The Ogurugu people do not have much palm trees. The white depends on
Nsukka, Ibaji environs for these products. During this era, the only source of
transportation is water.
However, things started falling apart when the white men developed land
transportation. They found out that transporting goods through water is
rigorous, tedious and costly. Later they found out that they can transport
their goods through land to Onitsha and then to Atlantic Ocean. Thus, they left
Ogurugu and migrated to Nkpologu, then to Nsukka where they have too many palm
trees and finally to Enugu. This is how white men left Ogurugu.
The Ogurugu people are hospitable, friendly, kind, generous and
recalcitrant. They are usually tall, dark, huge and well built. They are
travelers. They can be found in almost all the commercial cities in Nigeria.
The large number of them can be found in Onitsha, Abuja, Portharcourt, Badagry,
Ijanikin in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State. In this Lagos town; Ogurugu
people made up 30% of the population.
There are a lot of tourist attractions in Ogurugu. They are: Okpe (broad
trench dug around the town), Mabolo River, Confluence of Isi and Mabolo River,
Onoja Oboni Shrine, remnants of European residence; Ogonogo River, Isi River,
Oyaedura Festival, Oyi Hunting, Itayi Spring, Mabolo Jetty, Ogurugu Forest
Reserved, First Bricks Storey Building in Nsukka Senatorial Zone. However,
there are common belief in witches and wizard, magic, ancestral worship and
present, Saddat (salaka), charms among others. This is evidence in the various
shrines and deity prevalent in the community. The people belief that if a man
dies untimely; it is either the witches and wizard or other forces beyond the decease
is responsible for such occurrence.
HISTORY OF OGURUGU
The name Ogurugu is an adulteration of Ogwuluwaogwu which means war has
come to its peak. The Ogurugu people are warring people. They have fought
Aguleri people, Adani people among others. The community consist nine quarters.
These quarters are Obatamu, Atida, Achanya, Ukpale, Okpotopu, Ofuloko, Ofuegbe,Ukwuaja,
Edejo and others who came after the scramble for Ogurugu such as Amo ma Akebi,
Abali, Atebo, Abamigbo whom are clans not quarters that attached themselves to
other villages. However, they are not
settlers but indigenes of Ogurugu. Among these quarters each has his own Onu
(King) who represents each village in traditional and other civil matters.
Ogurugu community is not totally or absolutely an Igala community but
conglomeration of other ethnic groups that come together to form the community.
As a matter of fact, the founder of Ogurugu is an Igbo man called Obatamu.
Obatamu settled in Obia closed to Ofuloko village. We were told true oral
rendition that Obatamu migrated from Adaba, a community in Uzo-uwani Local
Government Area. As a hunter, he started his hunting expedition. It was during
one of his expeditions that he ran into Oboni a Princess from Idah in the bush
and the beauty of the charming Princess induced him into having sexual
intercourse with her. At the end of this unholy matting Obatamu gave him a ring
as a gift. Then both departed. Consequently, months later, Oboni became
pregnant. Series of action taken to mention who got her pregnant met a brick
wall.
However, after nine months Oboni gave birth to a baby boy and was named
Ene-oja which was later adulterated to Onoja which means child of the people.
The child Onoja is said to have six fingers. He was a giant. As he grows, he
started showing fighting prowess. He was regarded as the strongest during his
era. As a result of this, he bit any child on slightest provocation. This led
people calling him bastard. In one of the occasions, he pleaded with the mother
to tell him who his father was but the mother told her to forget such charade
from his mate. However, the mother was doing this for him to get to maturity
age. Then as years go by, she found out that Onoja was mature. She called him
and told him the circumstances surrounding his birth, who the father was and
where he can locate his father. The good news was that Onoja later found his
father in Ogurugu with help of the ring the father gave to the mother after
their encounter.
Obatamu is the first village in Ogurugu. They are made up Okolo, Abamigbo
and Ida clans.They own the Ogurugu Motor Park. The first Reverend Father is
from this village. They are humble and gentle people.
The village that came to Ogurugu after Obatamu was Atida. Atida migrated
from Idah tha ancestral home of the Igalas. There are four clans that formed
Atida. They are: Amo ma Akogwu- the children of Akogwu, Amo ma Okwu-the
children of Okwu, Amo ma Agbo- the children of Agbo, Amo ma Ocha- the children
of Ocha. The Atida people are hegemons and recalcitrant in nature. They were
used to dig a broad trench that surrounded Ogurugu called Okpe by Onoja Oboni.
Then followed by Achanya- the Achanya people came from Ida to Ogurugu.
Majority of them practiced Igala system of islam. They are splited into
Adagbulu, Efinyi, Agwa and others. They are known to be lowbrow among the
villagers. They are wonderful dancers.
The next is Ukpale. The Ukpale people came from two different places as
they purportedly claimed. Some came from Enugu while some like the Atida
Ojianya, Ataogwu migrated from Idah. Their major occupation is charms (native
doctor). They have too much belief in charms and magic.
Followed by Okpotopu. The Okpotopu people are Idoma people that migrated
from Benue State. They are made up of four clans: Egwuma-Akor, Anelo-Anula, Ugbeda…
They were known be into charms and magic in the olden days. The dreaded gods of
thunder called Ota belongs to them. They are wise people and they are mostly
orators. They are educated and civilize people.
Then Ukwaja, the Ukwaja people came from Idah, the ancestral home of the Igala
tribe in Nigeria. The Ukwaja quarter is made up of three clans. The popular
Igwe Emeka Owogbali, the Onoja Oboni, the II is from this village. They are
hospitable and considerate people. They own the major land in the popular
Ogurugu market that spread to Mabolo River. The white men settled in their
land. They are made up of Ameh Okwu and Akor Omada clan.
Ofuloko, Ofuloko emaneted from under Uloko(Iroko)tree where their founder
first settled when he arrived in Ogurugu. The Uloko provided temporal shelter
for him. He later named the village after this giant three. They are made up of
four clans: Anukpata, Ebiega, Opiche and Okete. They all migrated from Idah
Kogi State. They are known for the hanging of Ibemagwu who was hung in a
village square popularly called Olopu-Adache.
Ofuegbe, the Ofuegbe people are made-up of Ugbeda Akor, Osemi, Alimojoma
and Ajebe-ane clan. They migrated from a town called Inele in Kogi State. Just
like Ofuloko, they are named Ofuegbe because their founder first settled under
egbe tree. This is how most of the Igala communities got their names from.
Finally, the Edejo quarter. They are the last to migrate to Ogurugu. They
came from Idah to the present day Ogurugu. They consists three clans which are:
Ida, Ajobo, Ugbeda Okwu and Okolo Ojoma.
From these nine villages the eldest person is chosen to be the Onu (King)
of Ogurugu. However, as the tradition stipulates, other clans that are not
villages cannot produce the Onu of Ogurugu. Such clans are: Amo ma Akebi,
Atebo, Abamigbo, Abali, Angwa among others. Todays’ Ogurugu is an Igala
community in Enugu State because from the migration the majorities are Igalas
and their language is Igala. The culture of Ogurugu does not resemble any Igbo
culture. Ogurugu customs and tradition is purely Igala including food,
marriage, burial system, belief among others. It is the advent of modern
government that brought Ogurugu under Enugu State. Other Igalas like Ogurugu
can be found in: Nzam- Anambra State, Ette- Enugu State, Odekpe, Onugwa in
Delta State.
NICE ONE
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