CHAPTER ONE
Background to Study
This work centers on the agricultural activities of women in the Otukpo clan in Idoma land in the 20th century. However, a brief origin of the Idomas is imperative at this stage. This introduction therefore is intended to go into the polemics of the origin of the Idoma nation.
Tamuno1 in his paper on the people of Niger Benue, asserted that”with the exception of the Iyala, the Idoma claimed that their ancestors had a Wukari (i.eJukun) origin. Such passive comments on the Idoma nation ran throughout almost all the historical works existing, until recently, when Professor E.O Erim of University of Calabar delved into origin of the Idoma nation in his book “The Idoma Nationality” According to Erim, the Idoma people claim their ancestral home to be Apa, the region that harbours their historical neigbours the jukuns within the plains of the lower Benue. The Idoma nation is made up of twenty-two districts with sixteen Idoma proper and six non-Idoma speaking people comprising of Igede, Etulo, Akpa, Utonkon and Ulayi. On the other hand, another theory on the origin of the Idoma added Ishake on the southern side living side by side with the Igbo settlers.
