UBULU-UKU – NDOKWA RELATIONS IN PRE-COLONIAL
ABSTRACT
This work seeks to examine the relationship between the Ubulus in Aniocha and the various Ubulu Communities in Ndokwa in pre-colonial period, tracing their origin to the same ancestor (Ezemu and Obodo). Emphasis would be made on the unique features of their relationship in terms of political, economic, diplomatic and socio-cultural relations.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The history of the Ubulu communities in Ndokwa East Local Government Area and that of the Ubulu’s in Aniocha South Local Government Area both in Delta state could be said to be intertwined. Though by virtue of ethnicity or nationality, they differ. The Ubulu Communities in Ndokwa belong to the Ukwuani nation, while Ubulu-Uku belongs to Aniocha nation, but there exist a high degree of socio-cultural similarities between these people. For instance their linguistic similarity cannot be overemphasized, the presence of the “shi” sound in their dialect make the Ubulu in Aniocha different from all other Aniocha speaking people.
Records from existing literatures show the link between the movement pattern, trade, marriage, culture, traditions, etc. of these people. Traditions trace the origins of these people to an ancestral link or some founding fathers (Ezemu and Obodo) who left Afor in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State with an instruction from their parents to settle down wherever the pot of power which they carried along with them fell. They passed through Abbi, Amai, Ogume and finally settled at a place called Ubulu-Unor. Today Ubulu-Unor is seen as the ancestral home of the Ubulu people, while Ezemu is seen as a deity and worshipped in Amai, Afor and Abbi and Obodo worshipped in Onicha Ukwuani.
Evidence also has it that the Ubulu-Uku people and the Ubulu in Diaspora leaned towards each other to solve common problems such as warding of infiltrators from their territories, an example could be seen in the case of Umubu in Amai who sought the help of Ubulu-Uku, Ubulu-Unor and Ubulu-Okiti to fight against their enemies and regain their territory. According to an existing work on Ubulu Communities, Ubulu-Uku, Ubulu-Unor and Ubulu-Okiti are three fingers of one hand sharing most things in common, ranging from culture, traditions, religions, etc. They share the same root path in ancestral origin and no matter where their fruits are found, no matter the conflict, the value are from the same ancestral root.
Until recently, not much had been written on the various Ubulu-Uku Communities in Ndokwa and the Ubulu-Uku People in Aniocha and this has sustained the peoples belief that there seems to be no relationship between the Ubulu people in Aniocha and the Ubulu in Ndokwa except in language. Just like everyone is putting heads together to try and link up the past life with the present in order to determine what the origin might be, my attempt on finding the relationship between the Ubulu-Uku and Ndokwa people will also go a long way in adding to the documentations of the life of the Ubulu people and also cover the gap in knowledge.
1.1 Geography
In Nigeria, Ubulu towns are located West and East of the River Niger, covering a large landscape with a population of about nine hundred thousand in the Northern part of Delta State, Nigeria.
This work will examine the relationship between the people of Ubulu-Uku in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State and their kins in Ndokwa towns of Okwelle in Abbi, Ndokwa West Local Government Area, Amoji in Onicha Ukwuani, Ndokwa west Local Government Area, Obetim in Afor Ndokwa East Local Government Area and Umubu in Amai, Ukwuani Local Government Area respectively from their origin of migration to their political, socio-cultural, diplomatic and economic aspect of their relations in the pre-colonial period.
