Adirahu Igede: Who is afraid of Igede?
Suffice to begin this piece by stating from the get go that Igede are a unique people.
Occupying majorly two local governments in Benue State, Obi and Oju with some pockets in Konshisha, Gwer West local governments and also parts of Cross River State, Igede are often marginalised especially by our more populous neighbors.
Attempts are constantly made bundle us under some larger interest but it’s important to note the fact that Igede is unique and should always be treated as such.
This fact has been the crux of the struggle for self actualisation for the Igede people especially independence from our neighboring Idoma and it’s traditional and political oligarchy. It was important to begin there and establish very clearly that Igede cannot be summarised under Idoma because we are not historically, biologically and culturally related. We may share boundaries but we are not the same. Whilst the Idoma are traceable to the Kwararafa dynasty, Igede trace their origin to present day Edo state.
The first person to probably give this ideology serious attention was the late Fr Moses Orshio Adasu, the second civilian governor of Benue state. Being from Konshisha local government area which has indigenous Igede, he was probably conversant with this view and his leadership provided an opportunity to liberate the Igede. He was the first to moot the promulgation of chieftaincy laws in the state that will liberate the Igede and establish for us a separate traditional arrangement separate from the Idoma and hence our own first class chief, the Adirahu Ny’Igede.
This piece will not be complete without the history of the Igede and the seat of the Ochi’Idoma, the traditional head of Idoma and Igede as it were. Following the death of the Och’Idoma I, HRH Ogiri Oko, the 22 district heads within Idoma met and chose Ajene Okpabi as Och’Idoma II even though he was from the minority Igede tribe. He had lived with and served his predecessor and even married his daughter, enough to be treated as part of the family but his selection as Och’Idoma was met with objections from some quarters and these objections were based on the belief that the Igedes are not Idomas and as such someone considered a “stranger” should not ascend the throne of Och’Idoma.
Despite the early challenges, the leader in Ajene Okpabi saw him overcome them and he would go on to reign for 35 years but this arrangement was never going to repeat itself again. Subsequent years of agitation for the Adutu Igede, the highest ranking traditional ruler in Igede, to be upgraded to the status of the likes the Tor Tiv (Tiv ruler) and Och’Idoma looked bleak but the seed planted by former governor, Moses Adasu in creating the Chieftaincy of the Adirahu Ny’Igede was watered by successive civilian administrations of former Governors George Akume and Gabriel Suswam, and given increase by His Excellency, Governor Samuel Ortom to what we have today.
God willing, tomorrow, the entire Igede nation would gather to actualise our years of struggle and produce a traditional leader in substance of the Adirahu Ny’Igede. However, in the words of Amit Kalantri
It will be important to carry out tomorrow’s exercise in the spirit and doggedness that characterised our struggle over the decades as it is not over until it’s over. The forces that plagued us all through our history have not stopped at anything to ensure that we still loose it, even at our point of collective victory. As it is a victory for us, it’s also a loss for others who would stop at nothing to subvert our joy for their personal aggrandisement.
During a meeting held at the Palace of the Och’Idoma in Otukpo a few months ago to deliberate on how best to implement the amended Chieftaincy laws, HRM Agabaidu Elias Ikoyi Obekpa, the Och’Idoma expressed strong reservation about the laws, saying the continuous agitation by the Igede for a separate traditional institution is a threat to unity and asked well-meaning sons and daughters of the land to rise against it
For the full article visit http://www.iambenue.com/igede-is-not-idoma-we-have-not-historical-biological-or-culturally-related/
hitsupdate.com 