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IBEKU SOCIAL STRUCTURE
HOW IS IBEKU....ORGANIZED
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Obimba Of Ibeku Ocheudo of Ibeku
The
Chief Of Staff, Abia
State Government.
IBEKU is a nation of seven
sub-clans (Egwu-Asaa). These seven sub-clans are each made up of communities
which themselves are composed of a cluster of villages having the same culture,
custom, igbo [ibo]
language, tradition and
heritage. The structure can be arranged literally, even if simplistically,
as follows starting from the base:
47 villages:
There are altogether 47 villages on record. But strictly speaking, there are
more than 50 villages in Ibeku, given the size of such sprawling communities as
Amuzukwu, Mbom, Amaeke and Okwuta, which are on record as villages. This
misnomer of classifying communities as villages can be attributed to not being
conversant with the hinterland, coupled with the
colonial administration’s
preference for convenience in running native affairs. Even so, it was considered
a wise idea in those days not to give out your full numerical strength and size
for many logistic reasons. This mistaken notion of numeration, or deliberately
falsified population information, affected adversely, on the one hand,
the provision of adequate
amenities usually provided according to population and, on the other hand,
advantageously camouflaged the strength of the people in terms of manpower in
the event of war, or payment of taxes or other tributes to foreign overlords..
Communities: In the
Ibeku traditional sense,
a community is a group of villages of kindred neighbourhood within a sub-clan.
For example, Emede which is one of the seven sub-clans (Egwu) is made up of two
communities of four and five villages each, namely Ihite community with five
villages of Agbo, Ubani, Udide, Umueze, and Umuodudu; and Ikeaha community with
four villages of Atta, Nkpuru, Umuagu and Umuakanu. The fine distinction between
a village and a community in this arrangement is that no matter its size or
largeness, no two members of the same village can marry.
Egwu Asaa (seven sub-clans): The seven sub-clans (Egwu Asaa)
are a kind of regional outgrowths of the seven sons of the paterfamilias, the
legendary Ibeku Ugwu Ogurube, i.e, Ibeku the Great, son of Ogurube. Each of
these Egwu Asaa is composed of communities, which in turn are composed of
villages. At the Egwu (sub-clan) apex there are seven satellite commanders in
charge of each of the Egwu Asaa or seven sub-clans. These regional Ndi Eze are
titled each after the Egwu as follows:-
(i) Attah of Afarata; (ii) Egwu-Ukwu of Afaraukwu;
(iii) Ofo of Amaoforo (iv) Ede of Emede ; (v) Eke
of Isieke ; (vi) Otuka of Ndume (vii) Udi of
Ossah.
IBEKU: It was told as it were a fable, that God blessed
Ogurube, the father of Ibeku,
and promised him fruitfulness, affluence and influence in the
land given to him. We are today witnessing the reality of what was once a
fable. Ibeku Ukwu Ogurube, that is Ibeku the Great, son of Ogurube is the
landlord of the territory
known as Umuahia Ibeku, the capital of
Abia State of
Nigeria, the ancestor of
Major-General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi quondam Nigerian Head of State and the
only Supreme Commander
that ever was of the Nigerian Armed Forces and
Dr J.O.J Okezie .
The famed Chief Dr. the Hon. J.O.J. Okezie (1922-2002), a medical surgeon,
author and writer, one of Nigeria's foremost nationalists, the only
Independent candidate and member of Eastern Nigeria House of Assembly, a one
time Federal Commissioner, a political disciple of the Great Zik of Africa, the
Omereoha of old Bende,
was a scion of
Ibeku Ukwu Ogurube.
...MORE
From time immemorial the name Ogurube is held in reverence
and personified in the Traditional Ruler of the clan. Today, by the grace of
God, the mantle of this reverence is worn by
His Royal Highness, Eze
Samuel Iheonye Onuoha, the Ogurube IV of Ibeku. He is the keeper of the
Customs and Tradition of the people and the
Ofo Holder
, the traditional mace.
From what we know so far, there has been in existence a system of organization in every part of IgboLand in a long while. This includes Ibeku. There are different levels of organizations as practiced Ibeku Land .These administrators derive their powers from their AMA that lead to the Ibeku Ukwu Level, the Egwu Asaa listed as follows
One of the errors being made by various people includes terminating our
history at the slave trade period. The slave period is a very resent event.
There was a system of organization and communication in existence between
kinsmen, neighbor and other clans before the slave trade. This communication
allowed the trade to flourish with out inter-clan wars. Do not forget that
many clans resisted the trade but they were met with higher firepower in gun
battles.
THE ELDERS
We had direct rules
Do not forget that some of the earlier system still exists. This is by which
mostly the eldest person in the family,Ama or the village has the final say
and must be consulted. No visitors, no marriage, no war, no newborn ceremony,
no death burial, no festival happens without consultations with the elders.
But when the white merchants who were in search of Ivory and other goods came
into town, they did not want to deal the elders with their ways of doing
things. The white traders decided to appoint representatives that must relay
their messages to the people. They called these people CHIEFS. There were many
noncooperation from the people as to where the orders were coming from. The
bypassed the EZES. They were not welcomed with their new tactics.
They brought in law enforcers by setting up the court system that worked
against the existing EZE and Elders systems. These agents were called Court
Men short for Court Messenger but in Igbo vernacular is called CORTIMA.
White with their assistants cortima
Medicine
man 1920
This was an indirect rule system in which the white people did not go to the
elders anymore but these Chiefs relayed to the Elders. One of the famous court
systems the white people set up in umuahia was on a hill at UMUOBIA OLOKORO.
That place is still being called ISHICOURT. This location is the present Old
Umuahia- Olokoro -Amakama road junction in Umuobia . They also built a railway
station close to it called the Old-Umuahia rail Station.
On many occasions, the resident Eze did not want to deal with these white
people. The Ezes did not want to travel to go and meet with these new
visitors. Hence the Ezes sent their trusted right hand men or agents as
representatives. Many of these errand men were made chiefs.
The above set up still cause problems in many villages and clans were the
descendants of these errand agents are tussling with the original Eze linage
for EZESHIP. Do not forget that this is the reason many places still have
their EZE events held up in the court system.
IBEKU LEVEL
Ibeku has one EZE called THE OGURUBE IBEKU. The OGURUBE title is a 20th
century event.
We are still putting together the names and other mechanisms before the time
of OGURUBE TITLE.
Ibeku is made up of seven [asaa] brothers called EGWU. Thus the name :IBEKU
EGWU ASAA.
The names of these groups are not in Alphabetical order
Amuzu Ukwu [2] Amuezeagwu [3] Mbom [4]Ugba [5]Nkata [6]Amaeke [7] Isiadu
[2] AFARA UKWU
click
SEE----> AFARA
UKWU VILLAGES
Isiama [2] Okwulaga [3] Ohokobe na Umuokeyi
[3] AMAOFORO
Ajata-Okwuru [2] Iyienyi [3] Avo nkwu [4] Amuzu ora [5]Erote
[4] EMEDE
Nkpuru [2] Ata [2]Umuakanu [3] Umuagu [4] Umueze [5]Agbo [6] Umuodudu [7]Odide [9] Ubani
[5] ISIEKE
Umuajiji [2] Okwuta [3] Ihie [4] Ajata [5] Ukome [6] Okwoiyi
[6] NDUME
Umuafai [2] Umuezeala [3] Ohokobe [4] Umuohu [5] Ahieke [6] Ihie [6] Umuana [7]Lodu [8] Umuhute [9] Umuaroko [10] Umuohu-Azueke
[7] OSAAH
Uzi [2] Eziama [3] Mgbaja [4] Uhabiri [5] Umuchima [6] Amanso
The heads or the leaders of all Egwus meet with the OGURUBE to set the
agenda of Ibeku as a whole
Prior to 2000, these groups never had their own Eze but they had Chiefs that
worked with the Ogurube Ibeku. Now these chiefs have been converted to Eze
Titles.
Even though their Chieftaincy Titles have been upgraded to Ezeships. All
Ibeku agree that we still have one overall OGURUBE and that will keep the
Ibeku Title.
Every one of these groups works with the Ogurube Ibeku. They meet with the
Ogurube to set dates for events and ceremonies including the IRI JI
festival.
EGWU LEVEL
This is a very tight level of organization running on precision. The size of
each egwu varies. But every egwu is made up of several UMUNNAS, villages and
many AMAs.This means that there must always be a level of understanding
between the Chief of that Egwu and various ummunnas. There must be a
reflection of broader interests than that of one lone ranger. Difficulties
always come up at this level because of perceptions.
FAMILY SET UP
The family set up in Ibeku is like every other in many ways alike in
Igbo land. This is the primary ibeku structure of organization. The man [A]
gets a wife, if dictated by conditions gets two wives or more [B,C].
They will have children [D,E,F,G,H,I ] where [D,I] are females that are
from both wives [B,C] all belonging to the man [A]who is now the head of his
own family. This is now his ONU ULO, ONU
MKPU [household]. Mkpu here means his house, this generally is
specific in nature to a particular building. In the case of two or more
wives, each wife lives in her mkpu and the combinations of all the mkpus
belonging to Mr. A is collectively called his
ONU ULO. It must be pointed out that
every wife is given a separate house for her and children. Mr. A has and
lives in a central building that is accessible by all his household makeup.
These Children are also grouped uniquely in a very simple way. Children DEF
from mother B are called NWANNE { from the same mother} Children DEF from
mother C are called NWANNE { from the same mother}. All the Children DEFGHI
are NWANNA { from the same father}. These distinctions come up only during
inheritance activities and a not easily noticed and identified from the
outside.
When DEFGHI get married and have children., The family of Mr. A is
now growing. He is now a grandfather. Note that the female [D,I] will be
married out. But we can track their progress from this diagram. This is now
his EZI NA ULO, his household but with the
extended ones.
The gradchildren they themselves will get married, adding to the numbers.
They all retain and go by the name of Mr. A. This large family will now live
in a larger area of the village called AMA.
AMA LEVEL
This next level is sectioned into what is called AMA. Here groups of
families from the same descendants cluster their homes together. In many
instances, they all have the same great grandfather.You can tell and
identify every body at this level by his or her last name. This AMA system
is also very tricky because some person might decide to move to a new
setting. He still has to be linked back to where he departed from, his
ORIGINAL AMA or AMA OCHIE
They will grow in family size and have many
AMAs , this is then called UMUNNA
[Children of the same father] . This level gives the recognision noted
as the Social stautus of every IBEKU individual. The children of every ibeku
woman married outside that AMA is now called NWANDIEM { child of our
daughter}. This is very important in ceremonial functions because they are
recognized accordingly.The child is on a visit to his/her UMUNE on any
visit to the place of his mothers origin.They are also given the first
protection in any even. It is also at this level that the recognisions for
the first sons, age groups are established. All the villages and clans are
set in order of age seniority in ceremonies disregarding the ages of those
present at the ceremony. Individual's age come to paly in general
recognision. The eldest person is always the spokes person, chairs every
meeting as the wisest human alive in the clan, and is the default ruler,
nothing gets done without his knowledge. In every inter Ama activity, the
oldest person is the grand patron.
UMUNNA LEVEL
At this lower level the organization becomes very personal. This is a very
interesting level. This is where we direct descendants meet generations.
SEE UMUIZU CLAN OF OKWULAGA AFARAUKWU IBEKU . There is never an inter
marriage involved from this level down.
If one happens to move from his own to another umunna, he will get his
administrative orders from his original umunna. His descendants must be
tracked to avoid their inter marriage with thier old relatives. Family
relocation within umunna level is less problematic than relocating outside
your umunna.
This is why making a family tree of any village is very easy to do from any
starting point in the clan system.
The position of every body in this structure is laid out at the
IbekuClan level.
This allows easy village administration.
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*A
Special Thanks on behalf of
Ibeku
* Compiled and
Edited by Okechukwu [okey] Alozie.
