Kengema Kalabari: Owuame Kengema

Copyright © 2017 by SONNY BRAIDE. 758751

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Rev. date: 06/12/2017

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CONTENTS

KALABARI ORIGIN

NEW SETTLEMENT

THE EMERGENCE OF AMAKIRI AND ITS IMPACTS ON KALABARI POLITICS

KALABARI ABANDONED FOUGHT THE OBIA MARKET WAR1878-1882

OTHER CITY STATES THAT JOINED KALABARI KINGDOM

CURRENT KALABARI CITIES, TOWNS & SETTLEMENTS IN THEIR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS

NEIGHBORS OF KALABARI

WATER SPIRIT PEOPLE(OWUAMA-BE-APU – (OWUAME)

WAR AND PROSECUTION

CHRISTIANITY IN KALABARI LAND

CULTURE IN GENERAL

KALABARI CULTURE

KALABARI ON WORLD MAP WITH HIGH LIFE MUSIC

HOW TO BECOME A KALABARI CHIEF

KALABARI ATTIRES & MODE OF DRESSING

HOW WOMEN ARE HANDLED

THE KALABARI WOMAN

HOW TO GET MARRIED IN KALABARI LAND

FUNERAL OBSEQUIES FOR THE DEAD IN KALABARI

TABOOS AND OMENS IN KALABARI LAND

KALABARI JUSTICE SYSTEM

DRUM SIGNAL NAMES

KALABARI AXIOMS, IDIOMS, QUOTATIONS, AND PHRASES

DEITIES OF KALABARI TOWNS

DEATH-SPIRAL OF KALABARI DIALECT

RAMPANT USE OF IBO NAMES

KALABARI VERNACULAR

KALABARI NUMERAL SYSTEM

KALABARI NAMES FOR ANIMALS, BIRDS, FISHES, INSECTS & SNAKES,

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

REFERENCES

THE MAN AND THE BOOK

The Man

Sonny Oko Braide was born in Bakana, Kalabari in the present-day Rivers State of Nigeria in 1942. He came to the world with no silver spoon in the mouth, but struggled to make headway. He educated himself by whichever means that came to him, and enrolled into a university to get a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. He achieved this feat by first working his way into the Nigerian Diplomatic Service, which opened the world for him to travel from Africa to Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Born into the Kalabari culture, the man defied the detracting influence of his exposure to the Western way of life, and continued to propagate his beloved native culture. He got involved in the performing art at very tender age while in elementary school, and since it was sort of a calling, circumstances forced him to stick to it much longer than necessary even after leaving home for Lagos, and in paid job. His interest in the culture encompassed all aspects - Dancing, Singing, and Drumming - but because expert drummers had always been in short supply, he was forced to lean heavily to that part of the art, and developed as a Kalabari drummer, playing all the different types of instruments which include:

1. Akuma (for national masquerades);

2. Alili (also for national but not strictly direction-pointing masquerades);

3. Arungu (A modern adaptation from neighboring clans);

4. Okolokrukru (Also a modern adaptation from neighboring clans); and

5. Kuku (clay-pot) – (mainly for women – later named mermaid dancers).

It was his kuku (clay pot) drumming that won, in 1969, bronze (the only) medal for Nigeria at the first All Africa Festival of Arts and Culture in Algiers, Algeria.

During his cultural activities in Lagos, he was very lucky to have as a mentor, the late Mr. Bliss S. Iyalla, who was an avid lover of the art. This was one of, if not the only propagandist of this art at that time in Lagos who, despite all his Western education stood fast in its practice even to his detriment. As a prolific dancer and masquerader he would go home to participate whenever an important ceremony involving masquerade display would take place. In days gone by, the Kalabari people never wore shoes, thus letting the soles of their feet become so calloused to withstand the roughness of any ground they walked or danced on. So, because masquerades dance with bare feet, this man decided throughout his later life to be shoe-less even in cities that have tarred roads that become hot in the sun, and littered with irons and stones. By this practice he toughened the sole of his feet to be ready for the town’s rough grounds while displaying the intricacies of a Kalabari masquerader.

Happy that a young man from his clan was so interested in the very art he propagated, Mr. Bliss Iyalla gave Sonny Braide an unfettered access to his valued personal notebook full of Kalabari drum names and stories to enable the young man obtain the information. Little did Mr. Braide know then that one day such huge story would come in handy, and provide sort of inspiration for him to put in book form for posterity. This great son-of-the-soil must be very happy in heaven for his invaluable contribution to the Kalabari tradition.

Earlier at home, and during his activities as traditional and cultural participant, Sonny Braide also gained lots of information and encouragement from many actors including, but not limited to:

1. Christmas Odudu Iyalla – his maternal elder cousin, renowned for his excellent masquerade displays, dancing and drumming;

2. Saturday Berepiki – a prolific masquerader;

3. Ephraim Amachree – a traditionalist;

4. Erema Karibi – His elder-friend who was also a renowned drummer and masquerader.

Sonny Braide added to his over seventy years’ life-experience, all the information about the history, culture, and tradition of the Kalabari people that he was able to gather from these illustrious sons and daughters of the land. As jack of all trades and master of all, Mr. Braide was a diplomat, musician – tradition and modern, and later an author.

Prior to embarking on this very important story, Sonny Braide had published two interesting and informative books which are:

1. Celebrating the dead in Kalabari Land

That story highlighted rather briefly how people die; and how dead bodies are treated in Kalabari land.

2. Testimony of God’s Many Miracles In My Life

That story chronicled as many miracles as he could remember that God performed to save him from imminent troubles, dangers and possible death.

Mr. Braide lives in El Paso, Texas USA, and can be reached by email at: [email protected], [email protected] or by telephone Nos. 404-889-1886 / 915-603-1942. One can also get information about all his books on his website at www.sonnybraide.com

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The Book

The purpose of this book is to bring the history and life of the great Kalabari people to the world, and especially the growing generations of the clan who know virtually nothing about their history and tradition, as well as information about others around them. The Kalabari story, like many oral traditions, continue to die away with time as Western civilization gain control of the younger generation who, for lack of better knowledge and practice of their culture, indulge wholeheartedly in the Western tradition hook-line-and-sinker.

Reinforced with the importation of religions from outside – Christianity and Islam - and the bombardment of the population by their propagandists, mainly for monetary gains, the average Kalabari citizen is at a loss as to if he/she ever had any real culture; and if there were, could these cultural activities be all evil, wrong and must be discarded?! For this reason, even those few who would have liked to know a thing or two about their culture, have no chance or opportunity to benefit from it for lack of available information materials.

There are few stories here and there written by expatriates who had had contacts with the people, but their honest and unbiased endeavors were not as whole as they could be. Of late, other interested indigenes’ attempts to produce books intended to carry valuable materials about the Kalabari people have heavily come short, as such endeavors lack lots of basic facts and accuracy. Not too surprisingly, some of these stories tend to lean towards sectionalism that pays encomiums to some factions and belittle others.

In the case of traditional performing arts, boys who indulge in it at tender age, and have the positive inclination to understand the drum language, abandon the idea as soon as they leave school and get employed in paid jobs outside the community. This is why Sonny Braide decided to take up the gauntlet to keep this authentic culture alive in print not only for those who might want to use it for performing sake, but also as a source of information for all interested to know all about the Kalabari people.

This being a history book, events must be written as they happened. Regrettably, historical facts are not always palatable to everybody, as those who would want them to remain the way they prefer, always frown when they hear or see different presentation of what they had held strongly over the years. But the civilized world holds dearly to historical facts, because they learn from it, to avoid making same mistakes. Some of the facts presented in this story may therefore bring smiles to some, while causing consternation in other quarters as they are affected. Truth is bitter, but the writer believes that open-minded readers will find the information as answers to their yearning questions, devoid of any attempt to degrade anyone or glorify others.

Also, it is not the writer’s intention to discredit any religion, as religion is not the culprit. In fact religion, appropriately practiced as was its original concept, has brought great good to civilization, justice, and knowledge. It also succeeded in enlightening people to discard parts of their culture that violate natural laws and human values. But this writer considers it absolutely unacceptable to sacrifice one’s revered culture on the altar of any religion, especially to promote hidden agenda of money-seeking self-made evangelists, and medieval-oriented religious propagandists. Indeed, it is to foster his slogan - My Culture Must Not Die – that instilled in him the thought of having this book published. For this, the writer took a hint from Robert Bresson’s remarked:

Make visible what without you,

might perhaps never have been seen.

This writer has no doubt that his people will be grateful to God for giving him the thought and ability to make this Kalabari story available for posterity.

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D E D I C A T I O N

This book is dedicated -

To my family that has always been with me through thick and thin.

To my friend, Dr. Clement Nduka, who impressed upon me the need to bring out the full history and culture of my people. This was after he joined others to unveil my first book – Celebrating the Dead in Kalabari Land.

To the memories of my Mentors who are no longer here to see this book:

Elder Melville Tom-Braide; Elder Benjamin Sogules;

Madam Edeniba Iyalla; Mr. Bliss S. Iyalla;

Mr. Saturday Berepiki; Mr. Ngeri Roland; and

my elder sister Madam Sanome Oko Braide

These unforgettable great men and women graciously afforded me much of the information needed for this work.

Above all, the greatest honor and gratitude goes to the great woman who gave birth to me and raised me through harsh economic circumstances; but yet encouraged me to remain in love with her tradition and culture; defying all her relations and friends’ advice.

May their great Souls Rest In Perfect Peace.

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F O R W A R D

BY

Ven. A. N. C. Iyalla, JP

Na Din-a Bo Duko Din-a

By the special grace of the Almighty God, I crossed the Rubicon of an octogernerian several years ago. During this long period, I had watched with nostalgia the gradual but steady eroson of the custom and rich culture of the Kalabari people as handed down to us by our forefathers. This in particular refers to the younger generation who are ignorant of this important aspect of our lives; and also to the older ones who have adopted alien tradition.

I have come across, and read some works written about the Kalabari people by indigenous authors. Without fear of contrasdiction, I say that majority of these books or tracts are puely political or with political undertones. To a few of these writers I give kudos and express my sympathetic joy for their ingenuous effort, especially on the controversial Kalabari history. Once more I say to them well done. But on the contrary, the writers tend only to extol or eulogize their genealogical ancestors, by trying to succeed in exploiting the unwarry and feeding the credulous with spurious and distorted facts. By so doing, their works become tainted and unfit for history. Little wonder that most Kalabari elites of today rely more on publications by expatriate authors like P. A. Talbott, G. I. Jones, etc., on this subject, rather than on those by their fellow Kalabari authors. Nevertheless, none of these indegenious writers has been able to come up with an aceptable document exclusively highlighting the Kalabari people and their way of life ab initio, devoid of political innuendoes.

This is why I associate myself with this book in review, placing it on a high pedestal of FIRST IN ITS KIND. It is pertinent to point out here that with the advent and introduction of Christianity into our culture, some of the Kalabari customs recorded herein are regarded as idolatry and are not practiced any more. But, to my mind, religion or civilization cannot be blamed for a people to forego the cherished aspects of their culture which conform to civilized rules of law.

Mr. Sonny Oko Braide has spared no pains by delving into the archives to bring up the "Owuame Kengema Kalabari - a literary composition indeed about a peculiar" people of the Southern Niger Delta called the Kalabaris. This book is a welcome and much-needed publication that has come at the right time. Most Kalabari people have lost or losing grip of their ethnic identity. For posterity’s sake I see the book as meant to reverse the situation.

I had known Sonny Oko Braide, who was born into culture and tradition, from his childhood days. The way he got attached to Kalabari cultural activities, even after going into public service, and representing his country abroad as a diplomatic staff, suggests that he has a mission to propagate his culture to the world. He was so humble that he became a notable friend of elders that got in contact with him one way or the other; and I am therefore not surprised that he used the opportunity to learn a lot from these elders’ wisdom and knowledge of the Kalabari tradition.

Based on the foregoing, I recommend "Owuame Kengema Kalabari" to every son and daughter of Kalabari, to rediscover themselves and get acquainted with their tradition, custom and rich cultural heritage. This will in no small measure also help them to move along side by side with the social developments and changes in lifestyles of God created man which has never been static.The book is also highly recommended to neighbors as well, who never knew quite a bit of how they came to be where they are; as well as historians in general, to get acquainted more into the diverse cultural heritage of this great people.

While this book answers the question, WHO ARE THE KALABARI PEOPLE?, it also serves as a handy reference material for historians and research students of Ethos. Therefore, it is a MUST in every school and home library.

To God be the Glory.

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KALABARI ORIGIN

T he Kalabari people belong to the tribe known as Ijaw ( Ijo) , still called Izon in the South-west region of Nigeria. They are indigenous mostly to the states of Bayelsa , Delta , and Rivers , within the Niger-Delta area, but now scattered into Edo, Ondo, and Delta states in Nigeria. Yet many are found as migrant fishermen in settlements as far west in Sierra Leone , and east in Gabon along the Atlantic coastline. The total population of this tribe in Nigeria is estimated to be about fifteen (15) million.

A round 700 -1400 (AD) P e r ebo -Kalak eib ar i (Wealthy man, spare me a little), whose name was contracted to KALA B AR I , the grandson of MEINE who had earlier migrated from the old Benin Kingdom and co-mingled with the western Ijaw and Itsekiri people, left Ogobiri in the west, to settle in the east during the continued spread of Ijaws along the Atlantic coast. Kala b ar i was the eldest son of Uge ( Ogo ) the son of Meine , founder and ancestor of the Meine Clan. He married a woman named Mukoko from Itimi in Isoko -land ( Etsako in Delta State). This woman was once suspected of witchery by brothers of Kala b ar i who plotted to kill her. Knowing about the plot, Kala b ar i fled with his wife to settle at Okogba-Idu (a proto-Ijo settlement). The story went that fortune smiled on him there when he found dead elephants, and acquired considerable amount of wealth from the tusks he extracted from the animals. However, observing traits of jealousy in the people of Okogba-Idu , he once again left for Amafa and founded his own settlement which was named after him ( Kalabari-Polo ), before he died after many years.

B ut while he was still alive, the following group from Benin Kingdom later joined Kala b ar i and his group in the new found land:

(i) Ogisome (Ogiame);

(i) The Endemes; and Aki-Alame (the son of Beyegbolo) who is

a younger brother to Kalabari. They came through Ogobiri-Mein.

(ii) Igodome - descendant of the first Ogiso Igodo, and younger brother to Prince Ujo, who migrated through Oporoza in Gbamaratu-Ijo;

(iii) Iturume, Amabime and Bukome - who ran from series of conflicts.

T his group later migrated to the east, settling first at a place called O buamaf o or Ebein-Ama. The Krom e section of the New Kalabari was founded by one Opu-Koroye, a proto-Ijo who had migrated from the eastern Andoni- Ijo territories.

P rior to their settlement in this final place, a number of towns that now make up the Kalabari Kingdom, such as B ille, Ke, K u la, Ang u lama , Ilelema (Loloama), M i nama , etc ., were already at the place where they still are. Some of the other people that got fully integrated into the Kalabar i clan, who also settled in the area before their big brothers’ arrival, include D ekema ( Udekeama ), O b o n o ma , B ukuma , and Opuroama . More on these early settlers is discussed under their appropriate headings.

NEW SETTLEMENT

A t the death of his father, E nd e the first son migrated to a new site of I w o -Kalabari (New Kalabari) which is presently known as Ayankw o . But owing to the growing insecurity of the settlement as a result of the incessant attacks by the Amafa Ibos, they had to move again from there to their final settlement at the place now known as Elem-Ama or Elem Kala bari .

T hen on, Mgbe who is a grandson or descendant of Ende (Endeme lineage) became the next ruler. Ruling after him at about 1500 AD was Owei-ere-Yei- D a b a , commonly known as Owere - D a b a, son of Opukoroye . He was of the Korom e lineage. He was followed by Igbessa I, of the E nd e m e lineage in about 1620 AD. Igbessa was followed by Be r e m bo ( B r e m bo ) alias Ak e -ama-oloye , shortened to KAMAOLO and remembered by this name. He is fingered to be the King Robert of the European records, and was of the E nd e m e lineage.

I nterestingly at their arrival, these people found K e ng e ma , founded by proto-Ijos from Ke and other ancient towns already living in the area. This further confirms that prior to the migration of Ende and his retinue, Bille , Ke, K u la, A du m u -ama, Ang u lama and Ilelema (Loloama ) were already there; and had even become quite large so that many of their inhabitants went and founded smaller settlements in the vicinity. These were the cultural foundation of the area which people were referred to as the gods, heroes and water people - the children of the water spirits ( Owu-am e ), or the Orus . It was from these people that the K e ng e ma tradition was founded.

L ater