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BRAZIL APPRAISAL FOR YORUBA LANGUAGE

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The Brazilian government has given Yoruba a pride of place among foreign languages spoken in the country. in an exclusive interview with the Brazilian minister of culture
Dr Sérgio Sá leitão at the weekend in Brazil that the government has introduced the compulsory study of African History and Yoruba language into the primary and secondary schools curriculum.

The minister spoke at an event where the Institute of African Studies, University of Sao Paulo, in Brazil paraded important dignitaries including Nigerian artists and historians, as well as professors of arts and African studies at a lecture on the importance of Yoruba language in the Brazilian culture and tradition.

According to him, the inclusion of African History and Yoruba Language in the curriculum would help bring the closeness of the African Brazilian people to their roots and thus encourage the understandings of the language among other important languages in Brazil apart from Portuguese which is the official language.

The minister also mentioned the role played by Brazil during the festival of arts and culture, ‘FESTAC 77’, held in Lagos, Nigeria in 1977; the constant intercultural programmes between Nigeria and Brazil; the annual carnival of Arts, music and cultural displays featuring prominent African artists and Yoruba writers such as Yinka Shonibare, Adeyinka Olaiya, El Anatsui among many others, including the highly respected Yoruba writer, Professor Wande Abimbola.

Speaking at the event, Peruvian Nobel laureate, Prof. Mário Vargas Llosa also made mention of the African community in Peru where the African Peruvians are settled till date. Vargas Llosa, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010, is known as one of Latin America’s most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading writers of his generation.

According to Vargas Llosa, Yoruba people and their culture have helped the universe, IFA has proven his existence in the beings of mankind right from the inception and IFA is still very much alive and needs to be recognized even more than it is today.

According to Prof Mário Vargas, the Yoruba language should no longer be approached as an ethnic language but a universal language that is alive in culture and tradition of the Africans and her roots around the universe.

Speaking in Yoruba and Portuguese, Prof Katiuscia Ribeiro of the Institute of African Studies drew attention to the African philosophical practices introducing the constant representation of the Yoruba culture and religion in the Brazilian traditional beliefs.

NewsmakersNG learnt that the Yoruba traditional religion today comes after the Catholic practices as the most improving religious practices in the South American country. Several houses of worships called “ILE ASE” are having the Yoruba culture, tradition and language as official, whenever the cults are declared open for the day. Babalawo, Iyalawo, Omo Awo, and Aborisa are all common Yoruba usages in the practice of the Yoruba religion called Candomblé in Brazil.

A Nigerian carnival artist, painter and illustrator, Adeyinka Olaiya, also expressed the benefits the Yoruba language would bring to the Brazilian culture if fully integrated into the Brazilian educational curriculum.

According to Olaiya, living in Salvador, Brazil, is like living in any of the western states of Nigeria where the Yoruba are predominantly located.

He said, “Most of the cultures and traditions in evidence in Brazil are all of the heritages brought along to the Latin American country by the majority Yoruba families, victims of the BARCO NEGREIROS, the NEGRO BOAT that forcefully brought the enslaved West Africans to Brazil in the 13th century.

FUPRE TAKES OVER NKOYO IBORI HOSPITAL

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It was stated that the site and structure of Nkoye hospital has been given to Federal University of petroleum resources effurun in collaboration with the Delta State Government  and in partnership with the people of Agbarho community ughelli North local government Area of Delta State.

The decision was reach with the community of Agbarho kingdom and the backing of the state government. During the meeting of the stake holders of the kingdom Agbarho . This meeting took place in the community town hall.

The reasons why the building was abandoned and was decided to be given out was not stated clear. The meeting  of the community was presided by osuvie of Agbarho kingdom the person of his royal majesty  samson owhorijesu 1 of Agbarho kingdom togeyher with his royaal majesty samson owhorijesu 1.

He said the site has been constituting a menance and has now become a place where criminals now use as their hide out and they perform their dirty act there as well. He said the structure will now become a useful place to the government and the community as a whole.

He stated that the criminals usually kill human beings in the site. After killing human beings they also wait for their buyers . The act of buying and selling of human part will no longer take place on that site as the government and authority in charge has decided to take necessary action on the site.

The building will now serve a great purpose as the federal University of petroleum resources will use it as a place of learning.

The community were happy due to the fact that, the place will no longer be a place people especially kids will be killed.

This was the reason why the presence of the Delta State government was Paramount and needed he added.

 

A survey of the life of the Itsekiri people (Religion and festivals, Language)

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Good day, readers and welcome to Informationhood. Having gone through the historical accounts of the Itsekiri tribe( both the ancient and the present day account in our first part of this survey, we will focus on other aspects of the tribe which includes their festivals as well as the religions they follow and their language.

The Religions they practice

Before the introduction of Christianity in the 16th century, like many other Nigerian ethnic groups, the Itsekiris largely followed a traditional form of religion known as Ebura-tsitse, a religious system which is based on ancestral worship.

Ebura-tsitse was eventually embedded in modern-day traditional Itsekiri culture. Once the dominant form of western Christianity in Itsekiriland for centuries, only a minority of Itsekiris are Roman Catholics today whilst the majority are Protestants notably Baptist and
Anglican.

Language

The Itsekiris are a complex mixture of the many different ethnic groups and races that have settled in their area, however, the Itsekiri language is very closely related to the Ilaje and other south-eastern Yoruba dialects and to the Igala. It has also been greatly influenced by the Bini, Portuguese and English languages due to centuries of interaction with people from these countries.

However, it remains a key branch of the Yoruboid family of languages even retaining archaic or lost elements of the proto Yoruba language due to its relative isolation in the Niger-Delta where it developed away from the main cluster of Yoruba language dialects.
Unlike nearly all key Nigerian languages, the Itsekiri language does not have dialects and is uniformly spoken with little or no variance in pronunciation apart from the use of ‘ch’ for the regular ‘ts’ (sh) in the pronunciation of some individual Itsekiris, e.g. Chekiri instead of the standard Shekiri but these are individual pronunciation traits rather than dialectal differences. This may be related to past dialectal differences. The English language continues to exert a strong influence on the Itsekiri language both in influencing its development and in its widespread usage as a first language amongst the younger generation. Modern standard Yoruba (the variety spoken in Lagos) also appears to be influencing the Itsekiri language partly due to the similarity between both languages and the ease of absorbing colloquial Yoruba terms by the large Itsekiri population living in Western Nigerian cities. The Itsekiri language is now taught in elementary schools up to university degree level in Nigeria.

The Awankere festival

The Awankere Festival popularly known as ‘Okere Juju’ is an annual festival celebrated by the Itsekiri people of Okere. It is a fertility festival, which dates back to the 15th century when the community was confounded by a Benin warlord called Ekpenede (Ekpen). The 2002 edition of the festival is the 505th edition. The festival is usually celebrated for three lunar months between June and August of every year. However, it comes in two stages.

(i) PRE-FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES
During this period, purification rites are made to thank and supplicate the Awan’kere deity called “Okioro”. The rites here include:
(A) Ajafifas – Purification of the community
before the festival.
(B) Ibiribi – Night masquerades coming into the town at nights before the
Festival.
(C) Awerewere – Cleansing ceremony.
(D) Odegbigba – sweeping the arena.

(ii) THE FESTIVAL PROPER
The festival proper is a convivial communal rite with mimes of sexual acts, phallic symbols and lewd songs replete with fertility images. Explicitly expressive dances, movements meant to evoke exogenous empathy between spectators and performers.

The Masquerades

(i) Otsogwu-Umale – This is the father masquerade.
He is always attired in resplendent white.
(ii) Okpoye – This is the mother masquerade.
She is always dressed in sack cloths.
(iii) Children – Numerous and wear costumes of varied colours.
All the masquerades apart from the Okpye, carry two specially designed whips called “Ukpatsan”, which produces gunshot-like sounds when the masquerades whip the floor with it.

The festival takes place during the rainy season to ensure a conducive environment for the deity, Okioro, who lives in the waters. During the festival masquerades and other performers splash about in the rains in a symbolic washing away of evil spells and diseases from peoples’ bodies.

The festival lasts for five weeks with one performance each week on succeeding days. The festival combines both the sacred, in its numerous rituals, and the profane in its orgiastic dance and lewd songs. Underlying it all, is the expectation and yearning for a life more abundant.

Significance of The Festival

Besides the spiritual significance of the Awan’kere Festival in terms of cleansing and purification of the community and individuals, the festival has over the years, become an economic and tourism asset to the people and government as over 100,000 tourists visit the community during the period of the festival, thereby, causing an astronomical increase in commercial activities in and around the community.

Conclusion: The Itsekiri people are a group of strong cultural bond and how their routine activities pan out is greatly influenced by these supernatural culture power. Much things have changed most recently due to the growing effect of modernization but yet, they are regarded as strict custodians of their historical process.

We appreciate the inestimable time you had devoted to going through every single detail of this com survey. In as much as we might not have provided you with every needed information, we believe you will find what we brought up here of gold value and as such, make the most of it.

In a short while, we will try to delve into another of the Nigerian communities so as to detail you with yet another interesting survey. Once again, a million thanks.

A survey of the life of the Itsekiri people (Ancient account and present day, Lifestyle and culture)

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Good day, esteemed readers and welcome to Informationhood. Today, we would take you through a guide on the life style of another Nigerian ethnic group, the Itsekiri. This account of this tribe will focus on the historical life of this group in time past, as well as their present day life, their general mode of lifestyle and also, their culture.

As an introductory prelude to describe this group, they are an ethnic tribe of the Niger Delta area, Delta State in Nigeria. For their population, they presently number just under 1 million people and live mainly in the Warri South, Warri North and Warri South West local government districts of Delta State on the Atlantic coast of Nigeria. Significant communities of Itsekiris can be found in parts of Edo and Ondo states and in various other Nigerian cities including Lagos,
Sapele, Benin City, Port Harcourt and Abuja.

It should also be noted that most people of Itsekiri descent are scattered all over the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. They have close relations to the Yoruba of South Western Nigeria and more widely to the Urhobo and Edo peoples.

Early account of the Itsekiri people

As early as the 15th century, the first Itsekiris adopted a prince Ginuwa who was also called “Iginuwa” in Bini Language from the Kingdom of Benin as a monarch, and has swiftly introduced into kingdom rule. Traditionally fishermen and traders, the Itsekiri were among the first in the region to make contact with Portuguese traders. These interactions in the 16th century led the Itsekiri to become primarily accept the Roman Catholic Christianity.

The Itsekiri monarchy has continued to the present day, with the coronation of Ogiame Ikenwoli on the 12th of December in 2015. The Itsekiri’s historical capital is Ode-Itsekiri also called big warri or Ale iwerre though the monarch’s main palace is in Warri town the largest city in the area and home to diverse other communities surrounding the areas which include the Urhobos, Ijaws,
Isoko, and many other Nigerian ethnic groups working in the oil and gas industry.

Present day account

The Itsekiri, though a minority group within Nigeria, are considered to be a highly educated and affluent ethnic group with a very high rate of literacy and a rich cultural heritage. The Itsekiris have one of the oldest histories of western education in
West Africa, and are noted for producing one of its earliest university graduates – the Olu of Warri Kingdom, Olu Atuwatse I, Dom Domingo a 17th-century graduate of Coimbra University in Portugal. Today, many Itsekiris can be found working in the professions particularly medicine, law and the academic professions and in business, trade and industry and were among the pioneers that led the development of the professions in Nigeria during the early-to-mid 20th century.

Culture and lifestyle

The Itsekiris traditionally lived in a society that is governed by a monarchy (the Olu) and council of chiefs who form the nobility or aristocracy. Itsekiri society itself was organised along the lines of an upper class made up of the royal family and the aristocracy – the ‘Oloyes and Olareajas’ these were mainly drawn from noble houses including the royal houses and the houses of Ologbotsere (prime minister or king maker) and Iyatsere (defence minister). The middle class or Omajaja were free-born Itsekiris or burghers. As a result of the institution of slavery and the slave trade there was a third class ‘Oton-Eru’ or those who descended from the slave class whose ancestors had come from elsewhere and settled in Itsekiri land as indentured or slave labourers. In modern-day Itsekiri society the slave class no longer exists as all are considered free-born.

Traditionally, Itsekiri men wear a long sleeved shirt called a Kemeje while they tie a wrapper made from George material around their waist and wear a hat with a feather stuck to it. The women wear a blouse and also tie a George wrapper around their waist. They wear colourful head gears known as Nes (scarf) or coral beads. Itsekiris are also famed for their traditional fishing skills, melodious songs, gracefully fluid traditional dances and colourful masquerades and boat regattas.

Due to their occupation, the Itsekiri live on the coast in an area of extensive mangrove swamps and freshwater wetlands. They are primarily fishermen and have employed traps, fences, and nets, as well as rod-and-line techniques. Women make mats and baskets from reeds and palm materials. Silversmithing has died out, and blacksmithing has declined.

They are also, a people of very mixed ethnic origins who speak a language very closely related to the Yoruba of south western Nigeria and the Igala language of central Nigeria but which has also borrowed some cultural practice from the Edo people of Benin City, given the hegemony that the Benin Empire once exercised over the area, Portuguese in trade terminologies, as the Itsekiri were the first people in Nigeria to establish contact with the Portuguese who were exploring the West African coast, and also more recently, the English. Although linguistically related to the Yoruba and Igala ethnic groups, however, through centuries of intermingling modern day, Itsekiris are of mixed ethnic origins. They are most closely related to the South-Eastern Yorubaland sub-groups – Ijebu, Akure , Ikale, Ondo and Owo ), but also Edo , Urhobo, Ijaw, some Anglo-Scottish and Portuguese descent) and are today mainly Christian (Protestant and Roman Catholic) by religion.

Thus, having had six centuries of direct cultural exposure to Western Christianity and other African influences, contemporary Itsekiri language and culture has successfully evolved into a hybrid of the many cultures that have influenced its development. Similarly owing to the complex genetic mix of most Itsekiris over the centuries, many individuals self-identifying as Itsekiri would usually be a complex mix of any of the aforementioned ethnic and racial groups. Thus modern day Itsekiris may be the only southern Nigerian ethnic group to be almost totally heterogeneous (mixed) in its genetic composition. The total absence of any dialectal variation in the Itsekiri language is also unique for the region and is most likely the result of the early coalescing of the Itsekiri people into a small and highly centralised nation state from the 15th century onward.

A survey on life in the Ibibio society(Politics and leadership, Language, Religion and Festivals)

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Today, we will conclude this part of our survey work on the life of the Ibibio ethnic group which will bring to us how this people run their leadership system or political roles, the languages they speak between themselves and the religions they observe. Note that most of these things we have been discussing from the first part of this survey has changed due to the inception of modernization and developments, leading to the abolishment of some of these things.

Political set-up

In a traditional Ibibio society, their set up consists of communities that are made up of large families with blood affinity collectively ruled by their Constitutional and Religious Head known as the Ikpaisong. The Obong Ikpaisong ruled with the Mbong Ekpuk (Head of the Families) which together with the Heads of the Cults and Societies constitute the ‘Afe or Asan or Esop Ikpaisong’ which is known as the traditional council, the traditional shrine or traditional court. The decisions or orders of

The Traditional Council are charged with taking decisions and making necessary orders and they were enforced by members of the Ekpo or Obon society who act as messengers of the spirits, the military and police of the Community. This division of labour in the leadership hierarchy was efficient in the sense that it effectively eschewed any form of anarchy or tyrannical government for the people.

Ekpo members are always masked when performing their policing duties, and although their identities are almost always known, fear of retribution from the ancestors prevents most people from accusing those members who overstep their social boundaries, effectively committing police brutality. Membership is open to all Ibibio males, but one must have access to wealth to move into the politically influential grades. The Obon society with its strong enticing traditional musical prowess, with popular acceptability, openly executes its mandates with musical procession and popular participation by members which comprises of children, youth, adults and very brave elderly women.

Religions

In the earliest times, Ibibio religion was of two dimensions. The first dimension centered on the pouring of libation, worship, consultation, communication and invocation of the God of Heaven (Abasi Enyong) and God of the Earth (Abasi Isong) by the Constitutional and Religious King/Head of a particular Ibibio Community who was known from the ancient times as the Obong-Ikpaisong — the word ‘Obong Ikpaisong’ directly interpreted means King of the Principalities of the Earth’ or ‘King of the Earth and the Principalities or Traditional Ruler.

The second dimension of Ibibio religion centered on the worship, consultation, invocation, sacrifice, appeasement, etc. of the God of the Heaven (Abasi Enyong) and the God of the Earth (Abasi Isong)through various invisible or spiritual entities (Ndem) of the various Ibibio Division such as Etefia Ikono, Awa Itam, etc. The Priests of these spiritual entities (Ndem) were the Temple Chief Priests of the various Ibibio divisions. A particular Ibibio division could consist of many inter-related autonomous communities or kingdoms ruled by an autonomous priest-king called Obong-Ikpaisong, assisted by heads of the various large families (Mbong Ekpuk) which make up the community. These have been the ancient political and religious system of Ibibio people from time immemorial. Tradition, interpreted in Ibibio Language, is ‘Ikpaisong’. Tradition (Ikpaisong) in Ibibio Custom embodies the religious and political system. The word ‘Obong’ in Ibibio language means ‘Ruler, King, Lord, Chief, Head’ and is applied depending on the office concern. In reference to the Obong-Ikpaisong, the word ‘Obong’ means ‘King’ in reference to the village head, the word means ‘chief’. In reference to the head of the families (Obong Ekpuk), the word means ‘head’ In reference to God, the word means ‘lord’. In reference to the head of the various societies – e.g. ‘Obong Obon’, the word means ‘head or leader.’

The most recent account of religion in ibibio society

Nowadays, the Ibibios have been introduced to Christianity through the work of early missionaries in the nineteenth century. One of those religious workers, Samuel Bill was said to have started his work at Ibeno. Gradually, he established the Qua Iboe Church which later spread places in the middle belt of Nigeria. Other churches which includes the Methodist Church, the Roman Catholic church and the Presbyterian Church eventually came into existence in Ibibio land. Later, day churches were also introduced, for e.g. The Apostolic church, independent churches, like Deeper Life Bible Church, came into the area in the second part of the twentieth century. Today Ibibio people are predominantly Christians.

The new faith brought about about the abolishment of killing of twins which they were earlier practicing before it was abolished during the colonial era, with the help of missionary Mary Slessor . It was common practice for twin babies to be taken to their community’s local evil forest and left to die as it was a taboo for twins to be born into their society.

Language

The Ibibio language is a Congo-Benue dialect that is spoken in the states of Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers by about 1.5 million people. It is also closely related to Efik and in fact many consider them as one. The language has also been used on television and radio since the 1970s, it is used for business in Akwa Ibom and is also taught in the primary, secondary schools and the university.

Festivals

The Ibibios do have a lot of festivals and they are actually categorized. They include general, vocational, agrarian and ancestral festivals. The general ones are, Nsit Ubium biannual aquatic festival known as Mbre Mmong of which there is involvement of rituals to a shrine), Usoro Mboppo which is about celebration of a woman’s completion of the fattening room period, and Usoro Ekoon, the festival of masquerades. The vocational includes activities like Usoro Ita (hunting festival), Usoro Idiong (traditional medicine festival), and Usoro Isong Enyang (water regatta festival). Agrarian festivals include; Usoro Usuuk Udia (new yam), Usoro Ikong (melon), Usoro Idio (clearing farmlands), and Ekoon Ndaara Akpakpa (corn festival). The ancestral festivals are; Usoro Ekong (celebration of heroes), Ndap Ekpo/Ukappa Ison Ekpo (celebration of spirits), Atara Ukwa (for deities), Usoro Eduwad/Obodom Enyong (celebration of spears), Usoro Abasi (feast of the Gods), Ikot Eyo (rites of passage, initiations and coronations).

That brings us to the end of this survey work on the Ibibio people. It must be said that as developmental reforms take place, many other things equally change in the accounts given, which is why current update is always needed. We hope you have learnt enough from this update we doled out and would like to hear from you. Stay tuned for more of our community surveys. Good afternoon.

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