Historical development of Owa-Nta community

Historical background

Owa-Nta is one of the villages that make up Owa clan. The clan is made up of the seven villages and a metropolis which are:

1. Oyibu
2. Olizomor
3. Owa Alidinma
4. Ufie
5. Alero
6. Owa-Nta
7. Owa-Eke
8. Boji-Boji Owa (a metropolis)

Owa has its origin in Nri, Northern Igbo. The founder of Oyibu village (also known as Owa Oyibu) was Odogu son of Ijie of Ute-Okpu (another Ika clan) who is from Nri (Northern Igbo) while “the other villages found in Owa clan are derived from Benin or other Agbor groups”. Oyibu village is the political centre of the Owa clan.

Owa oral tradition has it that Odogu angrily left Ute-Okpu and settled near the present site of Oyibu village because his brother, Okpu, inherited everything after his father’s death, while Odogu was away serving the Oba of Benin in wars. However Ufie, the founder of Ufie village presently in the Owa clan, had already settled in the present site of Ufie village on the directive of the Oba of Benin who had bestowed on him the Obi title. After Odogu settled in Oyibu, it was claimed that Ufie invited Odogu to his Ikenga festival.

Odogu, impressed by the festival, decided to celebrate it himself at Oyibu. He then invited Ufie. According to the legend, Odogu deceived Ufie into taking a subservient role during a ritual sacrifice thereby serving him. This action was observed by Odogu’s subjects then proclaimed Odogu as greater than Ufie. Odogu then took the Obi title from Ufie. This, it is claimed, accounts for why Ufie is today a village in the Owa clan.

Ozomo, Odogu’s brother who followed him from Ute-Okpu founded Alizomo village while Omi and his wife Iro who came from Benin founded Aliro village. Okue who came from Benin founded Owanta village. Later, Adie later arrived from Ute-Okpu to found Idumu Adie, a quarter in Owa-Nta.

According to oral tradition, Ekei and his wife Abor who migrated from Benin when Ise was the Obi of Owa founded Owa-Eke village. However the village of Owa-Eke initially moved away from Owa due to problems with Ise the Obi of Owa and settled at Owanike in the Benin Kingdom but the Owanike village later split and one part returned to Owa-Ekei in Owa still considering themselves as subjects of the Oba of Benin while serving the Obi of Owa. Ugbebo who was sent there by Obi Gbenoba of Owa to protect Owa traders buying guns and gunpowder from the Kwales founded Alidinma village.

Concerning Boji-Boji, “when the troops that came to Agbor station in 1906 the usual camp followers settled on the other bank of the Orogodo River where the settlement is known by the delightful name BOJI-BOJI. Nearly every tribe in Nigeria is represented and the only educated and progressive element in Owa is found here. They were originally allotted their land by the District Commissioner and later came under the control of the Obi of Agbor. In 1926 there was a dispute as a result of which the portion south of the main Agbor-Asaba road came under the Owa and is recognised as being part of the Owa village lands of Owa-Nta and Owa-Ekei”

Location and demographics

Owa-Nta is situated on longitude 6.19°E and latitude 6.23°N. Owa-Nta is a village in Ika North East Local Government Area. Owa-Nta is bounded in the East by Owa-Ofie, to the West by Alero, to the North by Boji-Boji Owa, to the South by Owa-Olizomor in Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State. Owa-Nta has an estimated population of four thousand (4,000).

The community lies within the tropical rain forest area of the Niger-delta. The region experiences high rainfall and high humidity most of the year. The climate is equatorial and is marked by two distinct seasons. The Dry and Rainy seasons. The Dry season lasts from about November to April and is significantly marked by the cool “harmarttan” dusty haze from the north-east winds. The Rainy season spans May to October with a brief dry spell in August.

Culture and custom

Language

The language spoken by the people of Owa-Nta is the Ika language. Other languages like Igbo, Yaw, Izon, Itsekiri, Isoko, Edo, Yoruba are spoken with English Language as the lingua franca.

Worships and beliefs

Although the predominant religion in Owa-Nta is Christianity, many natives still practice pagan worship. This is evident in the several ancestral shrines that can still be seen in Owa-Nta. A critical appraisal of the belief system of the average Owa-Nta indigene will reveal a combination of both Christian and pagan leanings.

Festivals

The festival celebrated by the people of Owa-Nta is the Ubiri festival. This is one of the most exciting festival in Ika North East Local Government Area and even in Delta State as a whole and this attract people from different parts of the country to grace the festival which is associated with a lot of funfare and merriment.

The festival is celebrated on the 2^nd of October every year. During this festival, there is usually a reunion of sons and daughters of Owa-Nta from different parts of the country who have returned home to grace the festival. It is usually celebrated amidst merriment and funfare.

Food

The major food of the people of Owa-Nta is pounded yam with pepper soup, akpu with egusi soup, etc.

Dressing

The mode of dressing of the people of Owa-Nta is very unique, the men tie one wrapper with a lace shirt, wear hat and hold a walking stick while the women dress by tying two wrappers on their waist, a lace blouse and a head tie.

Marriage

In Owa-Nta, when a man sees a girl that he wishes to marry, he will go straight to the parent of the woman and will pay homage to the parents. If the girl’s parent agreed to give their daughter hand in marriage to the man, a will be fixed for the traditional marriage to be carried out. The man will have to buy a hat, working stick and wrapper to the father of the woman. The father will ask the man to pay homage to three elderly members of his family and girl’s mother’s family. They will also give a list of items to the man for the traditional marriage. The list usually includes palm wine, salt, cigarettes, drinks, etc.

Occupation

The major occupations of the people of Owa-Nta are farming and trading it is greatly borders on production of yams, cassava and fruits crop respectively.

Housing

In the earlier years, the types of buildings in Owa-Nta were mud houses built in three stages, by communal efforts, before roofing with thatches. These thatch houses have almost disappeared for modern houses in Owa-Nta community giving way to brick houses with corrugated roof houses.

Taboos

Owa-Nta people forbid the marriage to a close relative or any form of incest. Adultery especially by women is view as a taboo which attracts sanctions on anyone that commits it.

Health status of the community

Factors affecting health

1. Poor environmental sanitation: The level of environmental sanitation of the community is very poor. This usually leads to the pollution of the environment and transmission of communicable diseases.
2. Early marriage: Early marriage is a big problem in the community especially among young girl who get into unplanned marriages as a result of teenage pregnancy mostly unplanned which affect their health status.
3. Low level of education: The level of education of the people of Owa-Nta is still very low which lead to different ignorance related challenges such as malnutrition
4. Son preference: This form of discrimination and one which has far-reaching implications for women is the preference accorded to the boy child over the girl child. This practice denies the girl child good health, education, recreation, economic opportunity and the right to choose her partner, violating her rights.
5. There is a very high presence of mosquitoes in the community which lead to level of communicable disease like malaria.

Resources in the community used to solve the problems

1. Health facilities: The primary health care centre in the community help in the treatment of minor ailments and the delivery of women during labour. Also present are traditional birth attendance who also help in delivery of pregnant women.
2. Rich agricultural land: The present of good agricultural land make necessary food available in the community and helps in solving the problems of malnutrition.
3. Law enforcement agents: The traditional and political leaders as well as police in the community carry out the role of law enforcement agents in the community thereby guarding the people and settling interpersonal disputes.
4. Schools: Schools serve as a major means of educating the people in the community on issue bothered by lack of adequate knowledge, malnutrition and general awareness of this people and at the same time improves the health status of the people.