Ora:
Home Away from Home
By
Justice Ilevbare
writes on the life, people,
culture and tradition of the
Oras, a community in Edo State.
The Oras are a people
particularly known for their
good sense of hospitality.
CULLED FROM
THIS DAY, October 04, 2003
In any Ora
town or village, a stranger
needs not yearn for home. As
thousands of non-indigenes,
who have had to live in the
communities of this major
tribal group in Edo State,
have found out over the
years, Ora towns are ever a
home away from home. The
people of Ora take pride in
this fact. The average Ora
man's sense of hospitality
is not only exemplary but
also well known. It is often
said that among the major
communities in Edo State, of
which Ora is one, none could
boast of harboring more
strangers than Ora. Ora
communities consist of six
major clans which include
Ohia, Ovbiokhuarin, Evbiobe
(Sabongidda-Ora), Uhomora,
Oke (Both old and new) and
Eme-Ora. Of all these, Ohia
is the highest ranking but
the one with the least
population. Ohia is followed
by Ovbiokhuarin which is at
present the traditional home
and palace of the Oje of Ora,
His Highness M.E. P Imonah.
Sabongidda-Ora is the third
in order of seniority in the
community followed by
Uhomora, then Oke and
finally Eme-Ora which is
regarded as the 'youngest
town' in the community. It
is also called Ofebe.
Happenings in Sabongidda Ora,
the biggest of all Ora
towns, reflect what goes on
in the other Ora towns and
outlying villages. It has
the largest concentration of
non-indigenes some of whom
have lived there for several
decades. There, they have
given birth to children,
trained them, established
business and taken part in
several socio-cultural
activities. Others have
chosen to claim Sabongidda
Ora as their place of
origin, an emphatic
affirmation that the people
and the land are peaceful
and accommodating.
An average Ora man is very
hard working. He is full of
strength, agility,
resourcefulness and an acute
sense of responsibility to
see to the provision of
basic amenities for himself
and his family.
At the stroke of dawn, he
wakes up, puts on the
lantern and takes out his
cutlass. He spends the next
few minutes sharpening the
cutlass, after which he
prepares for the farm which
may be about three hours
trek from his home. He takes
along a chewing stick with
which he cleans his teeth as
he strolls down to the farm.
In the eye of an Ora person,
all men are equal and thus
should be treated with
equality. Little wonder that
there has never been any
recorded incident of unrest
in Ora land. There is also
no record of inter tribal
conflicts among the various
communities. This is why Ora
is regarded as one of the
most peaceful communities in
Edo State. The Ora's sense
of fairness is deep and that
perhaps is responsible for
the wonderful performance of
its sons and daughters in
different fields.
That sense of fairness more
than anything propelled a
young man in the then
colonial Nigeria to fight
the British colonialists
even at the risk of his own
life. Now deeply revered by
Nigerians and labour
activists in particular,
110-years-old Pa Micheal
Imoudu, a prominent Ora son
is also the oldest person in
Ora. He distinguished
himself well in the struggle
for the emancipation of
Nigerian workers. The desire
to see that the lives of
Nigerian workers are not put
under servitude, undue
exploitation and oppression
informed to Pa Imoudu's
crusade. He is popularly
known in Nigeria and Ora as
"The Number One labour
Leader".
Apart from the fact that Pa
Imoudu put an indelible mark
in the history of Nigeria,
his achievements to the
development of this great
country is still being
remembered today and
celebrated everywhere. But
today he is old and tired
even though he still has the
zeal to keep on the fighting
spirit, a characteristics of
an average Ora man. But age
is no longer on his side.
According to one of Ora
Chiefs-in- council, Chief M.
A Ozowuro, an ex-First Bank
Manager, the fact that the
likes of Pa Imoudu live long
shows that the Ora's are
very strong and virile in
all their dealings, " if he
was not a transparent and
honest person he would not
have lived up to this time.
Oras are people who are
known to always live long,
My own father lived for
almost 100 years and so it
is for so many others. These
can be attributed to their
high level of honesty, and
they extend this to every
area in life they find
themselves".
Still on honesty, Chief
Ozowuro, said that in Ora,
if you meet goods displayed
outside be it in a store or
in an open place whether the
person selling the items is
there or not, what the buyer
simply does is to drop the
money on the table after
collecting any item. "This
to a very large extent shows
that the Oras are very
honest". He however lamented
the moral decadence among
the youths, advising that
the youths should take after
the elders of the land to do
what they are known for.
History and origin of Ora
cannot be discussed without
talking about the Binis, who
according to history and
customs have a very close
relationship with the Oras;
this is why Ora men are
treasured in Binin kingdom.
But Ora-Edo relationship
slid, because of the battles
of 1810-1840 and Ogendegbe's
invasion of 1879.
One unique thing about the
relationship between the Ora
-Edo is that, of all the
chiefs in Edo land, it is
only the Ora chief who does
not bow or prostrate before
the Oba of Binin, the reason
for this, according to Chief
Ozowuro, is that the Oba
still regards the Ora as his
first son and "if any one
challenges you, the Oba will
tell them that you are right
that they should not molest
you in any way. "
In the area of marriage, the
process of giving out a
daughter's hands in marriage
and getting a wife for a son
is the same in all Ora
communities. If a man is of
age and ready for marriage,
he tells his parents who
will in turn search for a
decent girl from a good
background. Good background
here means a good family
with no rogues and witches
or bad record.
However, in Ora
traditionally, a man cannot
marry without the consent of
his father and mother,
because they are the people
who will determine whether
the girl would be a good
wife or not.
But more importantly, the
idea of marrying from the
same quarter is prohibited
especially in Sabonigidda
Ora. A man from Oyano
quarters cannot marry a lady
from that same quarters,
this is because they are
seen as siblings.
Marriages in Ora are still
done by observing some
customs. At times the bride
price may not be considered
too serious by some families
to the extent that they can
give out their daughter in
marriage to any man of their
choice freely, without
collecting anything but such
a man will be required to
serve the family by farming,
fetching firewood and doing
some sort of work for the
bride's parents.
Ora as a community takes
delight in culture and
morality. The traditional
settings have measures for
the society as moral
standard is supposed to be
followed. Offenders or those
who fall short of the
standard as required of them
are tried according to the
customary laws of the land.
In Ora, respect and
obedience to elders is
mandatory.
Traditionally, youths
respect their elders even if
the elders are wrong, they
still obey them, and elders
are respected and served
like gods. It is hardly so
any more, yet the society
despite the effect of
western education has
managed to retain and
preserve the moral treasures
of the people. That is why
any unusual act of
insurbodination by a younger
person to an elderly person
is not only frowned upon
seriously, but also
considered sacrilegious,
sometimes appeasable after
cleansing rites
Predominantly, the Oras are
known farmers and hunters;
they grow cassava, plantain
and little of cocoa. A thing
they enjoyed with all form
of excitement, although they
did not lose focus in
sending their sons to
school. This shows that the
Ora's have great regard for
education. That is why in
this contemporary era there
is hardly any sector of the
economy that you will not
find at least an Ora man
performing a particular
function or the other, they
discharge their duties
creditably well. These areas
include politics, banking,
trading and other forms of
business.
Like other traditional
African societies, the Oras
also have a multiplicity of
deities but they believe in
a Supreme Being.
The reason for the high
number of Christians in Ora
is that Christianity made an
inroad into Ora, early.
Ora received Christianity
sometime in 1895. An
Anglican Church and primary
school were sited in
Sabongidda-Ora and the
institutions later produced
the first Anglican priest in
Ora, Late Rev. Aig
Imoukhuede.
Amongst other clans in Ora,
Sabongidda Ora is one of the
most developed this is
because it has a council
headquarters. It is the only
Ora town connected to the
rest of the world via
telecommunications
technology.
If there is anything the
Ora's are known for it is
their regard for unity.
There is this sense of
belonging whenever various
Ora communities meet both
within and outside their
immediate locality. An
observation given weight by
the fact those Ora chiefs
perform all their
traditional rites together.
No Ora man becomes a chief
without all Ora chiefs being
privy to his selection.
As for her neighbours, Ora
is bounded by the Ishans,
Iulehas and the Etsakos. And
true to type, Ora, over the
years has maintained
friendship with all her
neighbours coexisting with
them peacefully
