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THE OGBONA THAT FLOWS IN MY VEINS (25) Dr. John Odior Anaweokhai Between the Odior family and The Ilegah family is the Eshiesimua family. While both families are Ivhianaga kindred of Okotor Quarters, The Odior family is Ivhitse Kindred of Ivhiochie Quarter. The Eshiesimuas were proud owners of one of the three upstairs in the Ivhiebi Quarter. It was made of mud blocks of orange colour. The building was never plastered and like the other three, it soon became dilapidated and was replaced with a model building. Eramha Tsedi and Eramha Tsado stayed there together behind the Ifaorumhes. Eramha Tsedi was the senior but was not as tall as Eramha Tsado. Both of them had beautiful girls whom they guided jealously. Eramha Tsado was a trader but later worked at UBTH Health Centre. He later left Ivhiebi to down Okotor where he built his house before his death. Mrs. Stella Mode is one of his daughters. Eramha Tsedi was tough and hardly welcomed male visitors to his house though I was allowed to visit Roseline and Orele who were my classmates in secondary school. One fate we all suffered in that part of Ogbona is the rough and undulating topography that grossly affected the settlement of Ogbona. It is as if nature conspired with some unseen forces to deny Ogbona equal settlement on both sides of the town. From Ivhiosano to the back of the Otsoi family there is no room to expand inward as the back is full of steep valleys and high mountains. As a matter of fact, that part of the town is inaccessible. Until one drives through Ughieda through Ege Ikpido, one has to resort to trekking and climbing mountains. From the back of Ivhiebi up to the Aikabeli, the story is the same, the valleys are over three hundred feet deep. The place is neither arable nor habitable. Unfortunately, that part of the townhouses is our banana plantation farm. The one closer to the house belongs to my father while the one further down the valley belongs to Baba Nokhua, Eramha Eshiemomoh but they later became known as Eghede Dimka. It was a place we all visited in groups, especially during the dry seasons after the annual Harmattan bushfire. The bush fire provided us with the needed opportunity for gaming. As the fire was burning we would stalk for animals, sometimes we caught squirrels or snakes. That was occasional but that of the banana was regular though somewhat seasonal too. we would cut the bananas, bury them underground and return after five days to do justice to them. My cousin, Eramha Michael, aka, Dimka was in charge. He was very tough and never spared any trespasser but my case was different as I had unrestricted access to either of the plantations. How he came to be known as Dimka beats my imagination. It was a name he gladly answered until the Dimka coup of 1976. He became uncomfortable with the name soon after Col. Dimka was declared wanted over the death of the then Head of State Gen. Murtala Muhammed. One interesting about the banana we harvested directly from my father’s plantation farm was that the money realized from it was for our exclusive use as our mother was not allowed to share the proceeds. Most times, we hawked the ripe ones in the market. I loved the market days then especially when we had bananas to sell. The market was a very big open space with few shades. it extended from the totemic Orokhiyie to the Anabor compound. The Front of the Itsuokor compound in its entirety was part of the market. There was a big Obadan tree that my grandmother used to sell beside the Itsuokor family house. The tree had obviously passed its prime with little or no green leaves. Beside the Anabor house was the ALOKOKO shrine which was rarely opened. Before the Shrine is the legendary dry wood, Utuora Nokai. It is the place where proper initiation into manhood is done after naming from Fugar. Also The Azoganokhai and The Asapokhai compounds though both on opposite sides of the roads, were an extended part of the market too. Both sides were the places where garri buyers used as their shades. One thing we did on market days to make some money was to help convey packaged bags of garri into stores, carrying bags of garri was very interesting. The mature ones among us like Anthony Ilegah, and Aleghe Oyiowhi Ozoh would join hands together and fall the bags on their wrists while we supported them from any side. At the end of the day, one or two kobo would be given to us each. Among our trading partners then were the North Ibies. Ogbona relied on them for scent oil, Avhinopie and earth pots. They bought garri and snakes from us. It was very difficult to see any Ogbona person that ate snakes. If a snake was killed before market day, it would be smoked till the next market day and true to type, The Ibies bought it on arrival without much ado. Also located in Ivhiochie is one of the primary schools, Imhakhena Primary School, now Oboarekpe Primary School. We called it a Catholic school, perhaps, because of its origin as a catholic mission school. Though the Primary school we attended in Okotor was also Imhakhena, we never saw ourselves as one. To us, they were alien and our staunch rival. All efforts by our Headmasters to disabuse our minds of such sterile notions fell on deaf ears even though we always had joint sections on vacation days when results were called. We also competed against outsiders together especially, during football matches. One thing they had in abundance was their Smooth football pitch which contrasted heavily with ours. Our football pitch was rough and divided by a wide path that made it look awkward during matches. They had a big hall like ours which musicians used. Gen. Bolivia

THE OGBONA THAT FLOWS IN My VEINS (18) Dr. John Odior Anaweokhai. One did not need any formal lesson to know that Ivhido is one of the four quarters that make up Ogbona. It is one of the smallest quarters in Ogbona. I cannot say precisely if Ivhido is bigger than Ivhiorevhor or vice versa. Ivhido is sandwiched between Ivhiochie and Ivhiorevhor. In the northern part, they are separated from Ivhiochie by the old road. On the west, they share a boundary with The Ayenis and Abu families On the east, they are surrounded by The Akpabor and Adomhere families and interlive with Ivhiochie and Ivhiorevhor on the southern part of Ogbona across the main road. Ivhido originated from two families of Ivhietso and Ivhiobiri and the two Adi from Ivhido are so named. The notable families from Ivhido are the Anyiador, Aikabeli, Dunia, Igbadumhe, Ezuyia, Aimiekhamhe, Eleta and Orbih. The Orbih family is the largest in Ivhido. The way Ogbona is planned and structured either consciously or unconsciously is very fascinating as the four quarters are neatly linked together by a major road. Wherever there was a burial or any other ceremony, it was customary to go around the village in a long procession. The final burial ceremony was very colourful, especially among the women folks. it is traditional for women to participate in every aspect of both the father and mother in law final burial just as she would observe her biological parents. With a horse tail wangling in her hand, the woman’s age mates queued up behind her in a long procession on a route that cuts across the four quarters. Men did go around the whole village but never in a procession. It was worst where in-laws were concerned. With just two people and a drummer, the man would go around the village like somebody running for his dear life on the battlefield. Perhaps, the architect of our socio-cultural polity realized the fact that everything boils down to the man as it would be a duplication of duty if both were to perform similar rites for the departed soul. A lot of importance was attached to the funeral procession, especially during the final burial ceremony as it was a display of splendour, wealth and power. Most families would deliberately refuse to have more than one member in a particular age mate as it would reduce the number of people that would go on procession whenever the need arose. I know a lot of people who found themselves in age grades far below their real age because of this issue. All the same, a procession was treasured in those days and it was the duty of both the man and woman to embark on a procession around the route that linked the four quarters that makeup Ogbona including Ivhido together. Ivhido had Iloh like the other quarters in Ogbona but it was not as spectacular as that of either Ivhiorevhor or Ivhiochie but they carved a niche for themselves with drumming. Whatever they lacked with the conventional Iloh acrobatic displays and toe dance, they made up for in drumming. It was a common practice then to organize waking keeping for young girls preparing to get married. In the mornings, the dance band would go around the whole village. It was a spectacle whenever Elue Ivhido went around the village. It should be noted here that on such occasions the Iloh masquerade was never involved as the drummers were the only ones for the morning processions. throughout the night of the wake, one didn’t need to be told that Elue Ivhido was on display, even a tired horse would be jotted from its deep sleep by the distinctiveness of the drumming that was led by Chief Jacob Orbih. He was to Elue Ivhido what the server is to a computer network. He was really gifted as he led the band with the all passion in the world. Apart from Elue, Agbi dance was another great export from Ivhido. Though it was generally called Agbi Ivhido, one will not be out of place to conclude that the group was peopled mainly by Ivhiochies. This was not an issue as Ivhido was seen as an extension of Ivhiochie. Agbi dance is a pride to Ogbona. They were two in number, there was the Okotor Agbi and that of Ivhdo. Apart from Agenebode where a certain Akpanube had a semblance of the Agbi, it was not close to that of Ogbonas’. Akpanubes’ hadn’t the distinctive rhythmical beat like that of Ogbonas’. Moreover, Akpanube’s Agbi was not as panegyric as ours as he was hurling insults at people. Ogbona Agbi was very unique and well branded and organized. It is not a common dance that one sees every day. it is seen on rare occasions. Gen Bolivia Osigbemhe of blessed memory explored the Agbi genre to its fullest as it formed the mythology around which every other musical instrument danced in attendance. Apart from its enchanting drumming, the rhythm was danced to with measured steps. Agbi singers sing about the exploits of great men and women just as it is used to make commentary on social issues too. Chief Jacob Orbih was their chairman and became known to everybody as chairman. I don’t need to bore anyone with details of his drumming prowess with the Agbi dance. He introduced the bass guitar, unfortunately, he was not as musically savvy as Gen. Bolivia. Ivhido also had Uke dance that was mainly a women’s affair. My paternal aunt, Uwuomha Mary Anyiador was one of their women leaders. I remember drumming for them on one occasion having learnt the skills from Uke Okotor which my grandmother, Uwuomha Iwulavhor Eradi Ikhumhi owed. Beating Uke drum for Ivhido did not happen by chance as I always frequented my Aunt’s house. We used to call Uwuomha Mary Anyiador Inene nae Ivhido. We were not just going there alone to consume food as we also helped her out