The Crossing.

Family was everything, I understood that right from the days before we crossed the rivers to the new lands south of us. How did we know where to go? The Edafes had been guided by Osanobulah, so we trusted their leadership. We began the preparation to move, two new yam seasons before and I was not yet with child. The plan was to get to new lands before the next yam season.

Crossing was difficult, we didn't have much possessions, but we had enemies. Other tribes, wrongly assumed that we were bloodthirsty, so they were always on the offensive. Osanobulah gave us the wisdom of Iron, but we knew there was a huge price to pay.

My son was kidnapped right at the river, I quickly went into a trance. The Edion of my clan halted the party, no one was going to cross the river without the child. In my trance, I saw a picture of what my son could become, a fierce warrior who would one day bring the demise of the Uneme, if allowed to live amongst the other tribe. At the end of it, I was shown how this was to be prevented, We had to cross the river without him. No one could understand that command but the Edafe and Edions confirmed it, after days consulting Osanobulah.

As I sit in my house surrounded by my sons and daughters, I remember the days of old. My son who was kidnapped now an Elder of the clan. Family is everything, but even more importantly, it is Osanobulah who holds family together.

Socio-Political Culture before c.1370 A.D : Family

After the founding of Benin City by the Bini in about 900 A.D. The Uneme migrated there from the Niger-Benue Confluence area, bringing along their culture which was adapted to the Benin Environment. This post will be focused on the nature and structure of family.

Amongst the Uneme, the family is everything, while the individual is nothing irrespective of the power, influence and wealth that he or she may have acquired. When one is born into a family, nothing can change him or her from belonging to that family, not even death. This is because the spirit of the departed member of every family was believed to have evolved a way of returning to the family through the process of reincarnation

Clearly, the Uneme viewed Family as the foundation of society and culture. They regarded the family as the microcosm of both their macrosociety and culture. The main structure of the Uneme indigenous family system is classified into three main sub-structures

1. The conjugal-family

2. The nuclear-family

3. The extended-family

The conjugal family consisted of just the Husband and the Wife, While the nuclear includes children and extended includes all other relatives. Certain features differentiated the Uneme culturally and include the fact that;

• The membership of every Uneme family in Benin consisted of men, women and children united by bonds of marriage, blood or adoption.
• These various members of each Uneme family in Benin lived together under one roof, and thus continued as they had done in previous settlements, to constitute one corporate household.
• They usually communicated and sustained inter-personal interactions, through their various sociopolitical and techno-economic activities and related functions, which they performed daily in their diverse capacities, as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, e.t.c
• They also sustained and continued to develop such ties, through their common Uneme language, and other shared cultural values, including their indigenous religious beliefs and allied traditions and practices.

Every family in the Uneme community had the task of collectively moulding the character of its members right from their youth through adolescence up to maturity. One of the ways by which this was achieved had been through the inculcation in each member of the positive ethical values and traditions not only of the diverse conjugal and nuclear family units but also of the entire Uneme society. Notable amongst the Uneme ethical values are those relating to;

• Belief in the existence of the Supreme Being, Osanobula(h)
• Loyalty to, and absolute respect for the Edafe and Edion (heads of the various Uneme family lineages, compounds, quarters, kindreds, villages and clans )
• Respect for the laws, customs and traditions of neighbouring communities
• Confidence in self, in the entire Uneme society
• Honesty of purpose
• Self-discipline and control
• Tolerance and hardwork
• Adherence to the practice of being one's brother's keeper
• Responding positively and timely, to all Uneme communal duties and responsibilities
• Commitment to the progress, development, protection and well-being of Uneme society and culture
• Participation in all major festivals, rites, rituals and ceremonies, which are adapted to and developed by the Uneme people in Benin during the period.
• Strict adherence to the oath of confidentiality, which the Uneme people had taken (before their settling in Benin), not to divulge to non-Uneme people, the secret of the success of their indigenous iron technology.

New Theories of The Origin of Uneme People

There are two main theories which are related;

One, Origin in the hills of the Ancient Akoko-Edo area

Two, Origin in the North-East of the Niger-Benue Confluence Area

The Ancient Akoko-Edo area is situated in the south of the Niger-Benue Confluence. Its dominant geographical and environmental features had comprised of chains of ancient ridges of rugged rocky hills and caves, stretching across the length and breadth of what is now known as the Akoko-Edo LGA of the present Northern Edo State. The area is described as the ancestral homeland of all the sub-ethnic peoples who have been the speakers of the ancient language which is classified as Edoid. The Uneme people are one of those. The Edoid speaking people are classified into four sub-groups

• The South-Western Edoid - Eruwa, Isoko, Urhobo, Okpe, Uvbia
• The North-Central Edoid - Bini, Esan, Ora, Ghotuo, Yekhee, Ibie, Uneme, Ososo, Ate, Ikpeshi, Sasaru, Enwan, Okpella
• The North-Western Edoid - Akuku, Okpamheri, Okpe, Oloma, Ijagbe, Gbelebu, Uhobe, akotogbo, Iju-Osun, Epimi, Ishua, Iyayu-Idoani, Ukpe.
• The Delta Edoid - Degema, Egene, Epie-Atisa

The second theory poses instead an origin in the North-East of the Niger-Benue Confluence. this thesis also applies to most of the other indigenous ethnic peoples in present day Nigeria whose ancient languages and related cultural roots have been inter-linked with the ancient Nok culture and civilization. The Nok culture is described as one of the oldest and most sophisticated of the ancient cultures that had evolved and developed in what is now Nigeria in the period dating back to 1,000 BC.

Why These Theories Are Wrong.

There are many reasons why these old theories hold no water in determining the origin of the Uneme peoples. On the Origin of Heaven theory, it hasn't been scientifically proven that people were directly descended from heaven. There is really no other evidence that corresponds with this account.

The Theory of Ife origin claims that the Uneme have strong affinities with the Yoruba. As a matter of fact, the Uneme have not been known to be a branch of the Yoruba ethnic group nor were their ancestors known to have established autochthonous contacts with Ile-ife, dating back to Oduduwas time. There is no lingusitic links with Uneme and Yoruba. ''For languages to have historical connections, they must have either diffusional or genetic resemblance' neither of these exist between Uneme and Yoruba Languages.

Origin in Obadan

Obadan is a place near Benin-City. The theory states that the Uneme people descended from a group of blacksmiths who settled there after fleeing from the wrath of the ruling Oba at that time.

Reference

Bradbury, The Benin Kingdom and Edo-Speaking People of South-Western Nigeria
Harunah, A Cultural History of the Uneme

Migration from the Igun Area in Benin

The fourth theory of the origin of the Uneme people is one that speaks about the peoples derivation from the Igun or Idunmwigun-Ugboha area of Benin. This theory which stems from a Bini Oral tradition was made popular by certain scholars. But the Bini Oral traditions collected recently show that the Uneme did not originate from Benin. Their early contact with Benin is one of migration and re-settlement in the area. The period of their arrival in the area has been traced to the era of the Ogiso dynasty in Benin. Ere, the second Ogiso monarch in Benin who ruled from 925 A.D to 960 A.D was said to be the soveriegn on the throne when the migrant Uneme moved into the area. Like most other 'migrant-settlers' The Uneme were directed to occupy sites of their choice in the suburb of Benin-city.

With the passage of time, the Unemes distinguished themselves in the field of blacksmithing based on the use of their indigenous iron technology. During the period, only a few sub-groups in Benin area were able to practise the art of blacksmithing, for it was a rare and difficult art. Even more complex was the technology used for the exploration, exploitation and management of the metallurgical materials utilized for blacksmithing during the period.

It was against this background that the excellent leadership demonstrated by the Uneme settlers in the mentioned field, came to be deeply appreciated and respected by other groups in the area. The high quality and rich variety of the metal crafts produced by Uneme blacksmiths had equally earned the Uneme as a people regard and respect from their neighbours. This encouraged the Ogiso Ere to persuade the Uneme to move from the outskirts to the heart of the city, where he maintained close contact with the people. The new communities established by the Uneme in the Benin metropolis of that time were located in the Igun or Idunmwigun area, especially in Igun-Ugboha, Igun-Enyaanugie, Igun-Uselu, Igun-Adaha.

Reference

Egharevba, A Short History of Benin
Harunah, A Cultural History of the Uneme

Origin from a small district Between Lagos and Benin

This story claims that the 'Onemi' the name Uneme's were given by the propounder of this theory are a small tribe that inhabited a small district between Lagos and Benin, which they left early in the eighteenth century to escape the slave raids of the King of Edo. They joined with another tribe (probably Okpella) and crossed the River Niger. They lived on roots and by hunting, but lost so many men (probably at the hands of the original inhabitants) This made them cross the Niger again, but were driven out by the Fulani and finally, on the advent of the British, a section of the tribe crossed the river once more and settled in South Kabba. The Uneme tribe therefore is still divided.

Reference

Harunah, A Cultural History of the Uneme

Temple, Notes on The Tribes, Provinces, Emirates and States of the Northern Provinces of Nigeria