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Nation of people who are mostly located in the Midwestern part of Nigeria, Western Africa.
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THE KUKURUKU WARS AND THE SECULARITY OF THE NIGERIAN STATE: SOME PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS By Sylvester Odion-Akhaine* Introduction Between the Southern coastline and the majestic North, lies a terrain of pastoral beauty, called the Kukuruku highlands. A range of mountains dotted with reminders of Nigeria�s history, inter-tribal wars, slave trade and very prominent in our cultural heritage.1 Upon a search of the World Wide Web, the above quotation was the closest clue I had to the Kukuruku country. Another search yields the fact that Kukuruku was one of the several divisions of the old Western Region. In the records of the British, the Kukuruku division was formed with headquarters in Fugar in 1919.2 Until this period much of Edo North, including Ososo, Okpella, Uzairue North and North Ibie were administered as part of Northern Nigeria under the British from Lokoja.3 It would appear that no seminal work had been done on this area by researchers and therefore remains a challenge to historians and social scientists. Kukuruku Wars (1850)4 Evidence of issues of antiquity in the largely illiterate societies of Africa were generally preserved and proliferated in the oral tradition. Thus, in the absence of documentary evidence, historians have the arduous task of making sense out of this mass of narratives. In the context of Kukuruku country and their contestation with the Nupe forces immediate finding of a curious researcher is the oral construct of the people, a source which also enriched the notebooks of most British colonial district officers and residents. A probe into the Nupe offensives in the northern enclaves of the Edo realm yields two strands of oral tradition. These oral sources are integrated analytically here with other secondary data. One strand accounts for the Edo--Idah War. This was during the reign of Oba Esigie, about 1504 AD. This war took place 1515-1516 and was witnessed by the Portuguese Explorer/Missionary John Affonso d�Aveiro who in the account of Jacob Egharevba accompanied the Oba to the front. This war also featured the Queen mother, Idia who rallied his slaves and servants to the front. The cause of this war essentially was power intrigues in the Edo kingdom. Oba Esigie had humiliated Oliha by encouraging one of his porters to seduce his wife, Imaguero, with coral and agate beads to prove her infidelity to Oliha who trusted Imaguero beyond doubt. On account of this, a humiliated Oliha instigated the Attah of Idah against the Oba by disinformation to the effect that the Oba was preparing to wage war on Idah. In the same vein, Oba Esigie was also told that the Attah was also gearing up for an offensive on Edo kingdom. The war ended in the defeat of the Idahs. 5 The use of guns may have aided the crushing defeat inflicted on the Idahs. It was during the reign of Esigie that guns were introduced for the first time into the kingdom�s martial enterprises. To avoid a future incursion into Edoland, garrison towns were established. Hence such towns like Ago nai bode anglicized as Agenebode i.e. the road guards, evolved.6 It was also during reign of Esigie that such camps as Akotogbo, (Eko-odobo) and Ikale (Eko-Aile) named after two important Edo generals, Odobo and Aile were founded. It was the aftermath of the long drawn war with Udo. This was to become a tradition of Edo military which assumed a definitive pattern since the reign of Oba Orhogbua, Esigie�s successor with the establishment of the Lagos garrison-eko (camp) about 1550 AD. 7 The second strand of the orature, relates to events of the 19th century particularly the Fulani Jihad of Othman dan Fodio who overwhelmed much of the Northern part of present-day Nigeria. About the same time, much of the Edo kingdom�s vassals, aggrandized during the reign of warrior kings such as Oguola, Ewuare, Ozuola and Esigie had witnessed severe encroachment. The sorties of Ogedengbe-led Ilesa forces had reached as far Ora during the reign of Adolo (1848 AD). The point here is that Edo kingdom was already witnessing a decline by the time of the British conquest of Edo land in 1897. A.F.C. Ryder lends credence to this assertion. He has observed that �it is also true that Ovonrawmen had succeeded to a very reduced patrimony.�8 Sundry reasons may have accounted for this development. Two important points are significant for mentioning. One is the factors of self-determination, and the other, sectarianism. Self-determination realized on the part of the vassals of conquered territories meant the repudiation of their subject status. The Akures, the Owa people, the Itsekiris and the peoples of Lagos have variously defaulted in their allegiance to the Obas of Edo kingdom. For example, in 1892, chief Nana of Itsekiri imposed trade embargo on Edo the substance of which included the stoppage of supply of cooking salt.9 sectarianism reared its head in the non-recognition of the contribution of other communities to the prowess of the Edo kingdom. For example, oral tradition has it that, the repulsion of the Ogedengbe forces from Ora was made possible by the daring Edo general from Iruekpen in the present day Ekpoma. Ebohon of Ova who led the forces from the capital had to camp at Orhua without a confrontation. Ironically, after the war he was accused of witchcraft, consequently tied to a tree and allowed to die and rot away.10 The succession dispute which Ovonramwen faced and the summary execution of a string of Chief�s namely: Obaraye, Obazelu, Osia, Eribo, Obaduagbon and Esasoyen sowed the seed of distrust and sycophancy in the palace. The marriage of Evbakhavbokun to Ologbosehere as dramatized by Ola Rotimi was intended to court the loyalty of the chief in the prevailing distrust occasioned by summary executions of the dissenting chiefs.11Both the Itsekiris and the Agban (Agbor) people had begun to withdraw their veneration of the might of the kingdom during the reign of Ovonramwen (1888-1914). If the hint given by Christopher Okojie that 1850 was the year of the wars with the Nupes is right, one can only infer that the war took place during the reign of Oba Adolo (1848-1888). The Nupes may have launched out in two fronts, westwards against the Yorubas and southwards against the Edos in their crusade against the �heathens� of the forest region. I have yet no enough evidence to paint comprehensive mosaic of the wars. While the Yorubas inflicted a crushing defeat on them at the famous battles of Oshogbo spearheaded by the Ibadan forces in 1840 and later the British at Erinmope in the late 19th century,12 they had a field-day in the Kukuruku country. From an Uzairuan memorandum submitted to the then Bendel State Government c.1984 we get some evidence of this war: The native custom and system of administration gerontocracy was interrupted by the advent into the area of NUPES from Bida who by their military superiority subdued the people of Uzairue in order to compel them to provide the raiders with slaves from the villages.. 13 H.C.B. Denton, Assistant District Officer in his intelligence report on the Auchis, Uzairue, South Ibies and Ekperis took cognizance of the interruption of the indigenous institutions by the Nupes. According to that report: The AUCHIS, UZAIRUE, South IBIES AND EKPERIS form examples of the introduction of principles, by the NUPES OF BIDA, alien to indigenous organization. It is probable that in these Clans Headship of a village was once vested in its oldest man. The NUPES demanded a more virile form of administration and selected men of character, wealth, and ability, from among the
people of the Clan, to act as their local agents. Under NUPE patronage these men came to be regarded as headmen and tribute was rendered them by the people for the services they gave in acting as intermediaries with the slave-raiders.14 E.G.M. Dupigny (Gazetteer of the Nupe Province) reinforces the above accounts. According to his account the Nupes under their ruler, Abu Bekri, raided the Afenmai in about 1885-6 compelling the northern Edo peoples to pay tribute to Bida.15 Drawing from this gazette, A.F.C. Ryder further explained that the �Nupe had penetrated far into the Etsakor and Ivbiosakun regions, and had established a slave-raiding base opposite Idah.�16 It is quite obvious, the Kurukuru country was raided both for slaves as well for proselytisation of Islam by the Nupes disparagingly known as the Azanamas. Their incursion into Edoland reached as far as the Esan country if Okojie�s account is correct. According to him, the first settler in Emaudo was a certain Nupe man known as Idubor. 17 The heroic resistance Edo people in this part of the kingdom heralded by the tally-no: �okokoko-o-o-o� made the marauding Nupes to refer to them as �Kukuruku banza�. (Banza is a Hausa word for bastard). The people of the Kukuruku country were wont to pull down the rock boulders in the rocky environs on the horse-borne Azanamas.18 Whereas a larger part of the Kukuruku people escaped Islamisation, the overall consequence was the presence of Islamic religion in the Edo kingdom. Auchi, Agbede, Ikpe (Jattu) and many communities in Edo North had a sizeable crop of Moslems converts, and the ruling house (Otaru of Auchi) in Auchi was Islamised. Even in these areas, the point should be made that it was more or less, syncretism that prevailed. Traditional practices preponderated along side Islamic religion. TRADITION, RELIGION AND SECULARITY The Somers of the ancient Nubian kingdom were a people who died. The reason why they died was because they forget their history. The fate of this ancient people in Africa serves to underscore the importance of tradition/history of a people. As Moleti Kete Asante has rightly noted �there are no people without traditions and traditions are the lifeblood of a people. A people who refuse to express its love and appreciation for its ancestors will die because in traditions, if you are not expressing your own, you are participating in and expressing faith in someone�s else�s ancestors.�19 To be sure, our tradition is our identity; who we are; our past, present and future. In the Huntingtonian clash of civilizations, Africa does not come into reckoning. This then raises the question of who we are in the global order.20 The fight against the Nupes/Fulanis in their bid to impose their rule and world-view on Edoland was at once a struggle against enslavement and the suppression of Edo tradition. It is doubtful if the Edos knew the religious implication of the Jihad given the multi-religious essence of the people, but what is not in doubt is the fact that they appreciated the political implication of it. This is only natural for a people accustomed to the exercise of political power over a vast vassalage. As available data shows the Nupes who live around the confluence of the Niger and Kaduna rivers, where untill the fifteenth century, vassals to the Igalas who were subjects of the Edos. 21 Whereas the Moslem and the Christian worlds take themselves seriously, what can Africans lay claim to? The traditions of other races? We are either today to say the least nominally Christians and/or Moslems. Again, religion is an instrument of power politics. As Asante puts it: �The distribution of religion represents the distribution of power: Africa distribution is minimal and exists in a few places in the
Diaspora like Brazil, Haiti, Jamaica and the American south. The religion that people practice is based on the influences that have captured their imaginations�.22 At least within the context of the Nigerian state, the Edo people and the Yorubas have cultures that are alive which are again being threatened by Pentecostal fundamentalism. Asant�s definition of religion as the deification of ancestors, the making sacred of traditions within the context and
history of a people is apt. We hardly could spare a thought and come to terms with the opinion of Asante that only a defeated people accept alien gods but others honour and accept their own name for the Almighty. One point that needs to be stressed is that much of Edoland may have been overwhelmed by Islamic religion if not the British expedition of 1897. The kingdom as we have already noted was very weak. In spite of this reality, our culture was alive. Its resilience
corrupted the missionary activities of the British. The Ohen osa who Oba Esigie sent, as a sop to the alien religion, adapted Christianity to the Edo modus vivendi without the ossification of our tradition. 23 We can hazard a guess on what could have been the future of our tradition as Edo people as an independent state without the British usurpation of our freedom. To be sure, the Edos and their society would have been secularized due to the diversity of their gods. The politics of the nation-state would not have gravitated into the adoption of a state religion. In present-day Nigeria, Edo people co-habit with other nationalities and enjoy a cultural space. Despite the paucity of our data, it can safely be inferred that the Kukuruku wars played a role in Nigeria�s secular status. We are not oblivious of the attempts by the Northern establishment to smuggle Islam into the country as a state religion. As far the 1999 constitution goes. Nigeria remains a secular state. This is very clear in section 10 which states succinctly that �The Government of the Federation or a state shall not adopt any religion as State religion.� 24 Other worldliness must be separated from the realm of the political superstructure and remain within individuals domain. To be otherwise must be a rude assault on our tradition and that of others who honour and adore their historicity. In secularity discourse, there are possibly two ways to conceptualize secularism in the Nigerian context one is to see secularism as meaning that the state has no business with religion and thus must be completely depoliticised and free from the meddlesome of the state. Two, secularism means the equality of citizenship, non-discrimination and respect for minority and all religions. These nations are at one with the imperatives of a multi-national state which is what Nigeria is. There is precisely the context and development of secularism in India. As Rodiana Bajpai observes of the Indian experience: �While religion was to be excluded from the affairs of the state, a secular state also implied religious freedom for individuals and groups�25 Concluding Remarks. Without doubt, our extant tradition serves to bolster the claims of the Nigerian state to secularity. Given the second wave of Jihad in some states in the northern half of Nigeria, the Kukuruku war cries need to be revived; there is life in resistance and that life is the longevity of a people�s history and tradition. Notes & References Electronic Download (togbe.tripod.com/festival.html) � A Case for the Reconstitution of Uzairue into Separate Clans,� A Memorandum Submitted to Bendel State Government. c.1984. Ibid. Christopher Okojie, Esan Law and Customs. Jocb Egharevba, A Short History of Benin, Fourth Edition, Ibadan University Press, 1968, pp. 26-28. Aspects of oral tradition. Jacob Egharevba, op. cit., p.29. A.F.C. Ryder, Benin and the Europeans 1485-1897, Longman, Harlow, p. 263. Jacob Egharevba, op. cit., pp.48-49. Aspect of oral tradition among the people of Ireuekpen, Ekpoma. Ola Rotimi, Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, A Play, Ethiope Publishing Corporation, Benin City, 1974. See specifically Act One. T.G.O.Gbadamosi, The Growth of Islam among the Yoruba, 1841-1908, Longman, London, 1978, p. 10. Cited in Uzairue memorandum, op. cit. Uzairue memorandum, op. cit. E.G.M. Dupigny, Gazetteer of Nupe Province, London, 1920, cited in A.F.C. Ryder, op. cit. p.263. A.F.C. Ryder, op. cit. Okojie, op. cit. Aspect of oral tradition. Molefi Kete Asante, �The Future of African Gods: The Clash of Civilisation,� Accra, W.E.B. Du Bois, Centre, July 10, 1998. Electronic Download ( http://www.africawithin.com/asante/africangods.html). Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilisation and the Remaking of World Order, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1996 H.A. S. Johnston, The Fulani Empire of Sokoto, Oxford University Press, London, 1967, p. 134. Asante, op. cit. Jacob Egharevba, op. cit., p. 28. Nigerian 1999 Constitution Rochana Bajpai, �The Conceptual Vocabularies of Secularism and Minority Rights in India,� Journal of Political Ideologies, Vol. 7, No.2, June 2002, p. 183.
Sylvester Odion-Akhaine, the Executive Director of the Centre for Constitutionalism and Demilitarisation, Lagos, is currently a doctoral candidate in Politics at the Royal Holloway College, University of London. Paper Presented at Edo Conference, Organised by Edo-Okpamakhin, London, November 23, 2002. Email: Cencod98@yahoo.com |
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