{"id":23593,"date":"2019-12-22T18:41:36","date_gmt":"2019-12-22T18:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=23593"},"modified":"2020-03-11T21:50:38","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T21:50:38","slug":"evolution-of-the-uvwie-chieftaincy-institution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=23593","title":{"rendered":"Evolution of the Uvwie Chieftaincy Institution by Omafume Amurun"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=19271&amp;ad_type=81&amp;rl=1800\" width=\"336\" height=\"280\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u2026The role of B.M. Ogaga, Oyekimo(Oyovwekemor) Amurun, Adu Abromano and others<\/p>\n<p>\u2026How Eruohwo, Abe and Imedo became Ruling Houses in Uvwie<\/p>\n<p>\u2026HRM Emmanuel Sideso\u2019s New Vision<\/p>\n<p>Uvwie story is full of contradictions and controversies. However, in this narrative, we shall limit ourselves to basics as told by Late\u00a0<em>Chief B.M Ogaga, the Omokpovie of Uvwie Kingdom<\/em>,\u00a0<em>an eye witness to the events leading to the crowning of Eruohwo as Ovie of Uvwie and some late members of the Uvwie Council of Chiefs<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The original founders of the present day Uvwie Kingdom are Edjekuvwie, Okuo, Ekpoko, Emuvwierume, Muasavborie, Uhwe, Onoriji Umuoworien, Ekrukru, Ogbeh, Abadi, Ogbeide, and Onoseri. They led others to migrate from Effurun-otor to present day Uvwie. This was after Ogoni brutally murdered his brother, Ovwaro, the first son of Eruohwo and assumed the post of paramount ruler in Effurun-otor.<\/p>\n<p>Due to the abomination committed by Ogoni against his brother and his tyrannical rule, several of Eruohwo\u2019s children, brothers and other Uvwie people also migrated from the present day Effurun-otor to the present day Uvwie and environs<\/p>\n<p>When the Uvwie people settled in their current location of Effurun, Ekpan, Ohre, Ugboroke, Ugborikoko and other areas, the elders being very spiritual decided that they should continue with the forms of worship of the Ejuvwie deity which they were accustomed to in Effurun-otor.\u00a0 As it was customary then, a \u2018free born\u2019 Uvwie person could not be the Chief Priest of the shrine.\u00a0 This was how Okoro from Idebe became the Chief Priest of Ejuvwie.\u00a0 The fact that only a \u201cstranger\u201d can assume the position of the Chief Priest of Ejuvwie was common knowledge among the Uvwie people.\u00a0 This was also applicable to other deities in Uvwie Kingdom until recently.\u00a0 They are so many songs inherited from the ancestors and still sang today by the Uvwie people which buttress this point.<\/p>\n<p>Okoro became so popular because of his performance as the Chief Priest.\u00a0 From time immemorial, Uvwie people do not take any decision without consulting the oracles.\u00a0 Okoro\u2019s ability to provide a bridge between the unknown spiritual world and the people was highly revered by the Uvwie people.\u00a0 He was consulted by both the low and the mighty in the society to show the way forward for the people. \u00a0<strong>This was also because as at the time the Uvwie people who migrated from Effurun-otor due to the tyrannical rule of Ovie Ogoni did not have a paramount ruler and did not want any because of their experiences with oppressive rule.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Due to his performance people began to say in Uvwie, \u201cOkoro gini Ovie.\u201d This was how he later came to be known as Okorovie. His authority was however restricted to the Ejuvwie shrine. That was why he was also called Ovie-Aden.<\/p>\n<p>Following the arrival of British Colonial rule and Christianity, it became necessary to end the interregnum and install an Ovie of Uvwie recognized by government because at that time other clans\/kingdoms were getting their paramount rulers recognized by the government.\u00a0 A committee was set up to look into the issue.\u00a0 The Eruohwo group was represented by Chief Oyekimo Amurun, who was the Unuevworo of Alegbor and Chairman of the Regency, Chief Adu Abromano and Awefe Erumagborie whose mother was of the Eruohwo stock.<\/p>\n<p>In the years before the Ovie of Uvwie issue came up, the inhabitants of Erovie quarters had a popular song in which they recalled the suffering of the Uvwie people under Ovie Ogoni in Effurun-otor.\u00a0 Ogoni was alleged to have murdered his brother Ovwaro, the first son of Eruohwo while he was returning from Benin Kingdom with the Ovie Staff of Office.\u00a0 It must be noted that the ancient Benin Empire was so powerful that most of the traditional rulers in Urhoboland and beyond got their staff of office from the Oba. This was why Eruohwo sent his eldest son Ovwaro to Benin to get the staff of office.<\/p>\n<p>From earliest times, the administrative power of present day Uvwie had always been exercised by the Eruohwos (Unuevworos and chiefs).\u00a0 The treaties between Uvwie Kingdom and the British government were signed by the Chief Priest of the shrine, Awefe Erumagborie, Unuevworo of Ogbe, Oyiseh, a decendant of Onoseri and Akacha, a desendant of Eruohwo, because there was better understanding between them and no attempt was made by any party to interfere in the administrative and political powers exercised by the high chiefs despite the fact that there was no paramount ruler in Uvwie Kingdom then.<\/p>\n<p>The move by the Uvwie people to install an administrative Ovie recognized by government was opposed by Awefe Erumagborie.\u00a0 He wanted to play the role of a paramount ruler as well as Chief Priest of the shrine.\u00a0 He was advised to project his interest through his mother\u2019s side, an Eruowho princess.\u00a0 He declined.\u00a0 According to the narrative by the Imowe descendants, the family had always played the role of both the spiritual and political leaders in Uvwie.\u00a0 They however failed to prove their case during a long judicial process.<\/p>\n<p>This was the genesis of the Ovie of Uvwie tussle which began in the 1950s but was later resolved in favour of Ogun ruling House by late Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia\u2019s government in the then Bendel State, which\u00a0culminated in the promulgation of the \u201cTraditional Rulers and Chiefs Edict\u201d with Ref. No. B.S.L.N. 100 of 1979, which made Eruohwo, Abe and Imedo the ruling houses in Uvwie Kingdom.\u00a0 Chief Johnson Uvwiekoko Edjekohwo later ascended the throne of his forefathers.<\/p>\n<p>Late Chief Johnson Uvwiekoko Edjekohwo, Eruowho 11 ruled Uvwie for over 30 years, resulting in the peaceful and rapid transformation of Uvwie Kingdom to the nerve wire of Delta State economy.<\/p>\n<p><em>Excerpts of interview with the late Chief B.M. Ogaga, the Omokpovie of Uvwie Kingdom and an eye witness to the events leading to the crowning of Eruohwo as Ovie of Uvwie, and some members of the Uvwie Council of Chiefs.\u00a0 It was first published with his approval in the defunct Wafisociety Magazine during his life-time.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><em>\u00a0<\/em><strong>HRM Emmanuel Sideso, Ovie of Uvwie Abe 1 JP. OON New Vision<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A new Uvwie is evolving and some people are finding it difficult to accept that Uvwie of the 50s, 60s, 70s is different from the Uvwie of today.<\/p>\n<p>The Ovie of Uvwie who seems to see far into the future has started to carry out some innovations with the\u00a0creation of new administrative units, also known as Etche, in line with the rising population and rapid urbanization, following recommendations by a 17-man technical committee.<\/p>\n<p>A proclamation of HRM on the creation of new administrative units and the appointment\/conferment of titles for the effective running of the new administrative units in Ekpan, said that as a result of population expansion and development in the Kingdom and for administrative convenience and governance, three additional administrative units have been created from the only one which formerly exist in Ekpan to make four units.\u00a0 The Etches or administrative units, are as follows in order of seniority: 1. Etche r&#8217;Ekpan 2. Etche r\u2019Uvwori 3. Etche r\u2019Oriokpo 4. Etche r&#8217;Ohorhe.<\/p>\n<p>Those to run the administrative units are: 1. Etche r&#8217;Ekpan, Hon. Peter Iffie (Unuevworo Elect pending when he would be conferred chief) 2. Chief Stephen Onadowan (Usiavre)\u00a03. Chief Das 1 Ggbagbaje (Esierha) 4. Etche r\u2019Uvwori, Chief Stephen Urumeji (Unuevworo) 5.\u00a0 Chief Mackintosh Ikpesa (Usiavre) 6. Chief Okrelediden (Esierha) 3. Etche r&#8217;Oriokpo 7. Chief Barr. Victor Otomievwo (Unuevworo) 8. Chief Godstime Emashemigbe (Usiavre) 9. Chief Dr.\u00a0 Robert Ejifoma (Esierha) 10. Etche r&#8217;Ohorhe, Chief Dr. Samuel Jimoh Eshenake JP. ( Unuevworo), Chief Herbert Majemite (Usiavre),\u00a0Chief Julius Ighojimoni (Esierha). \u00a0These appointments\/conferments takes effect from Saturday 28th September, 2019<\/p>\n<p>This proclamation by HRM Emmanuel Sideso is based on powers conferred on him by the Uvwie Local Government Area, the Delta State Traditional Rulers Council and Chiefs Edict, 1998 and the approval received from the Directorate of Chieftaincy Affairs via its letter dated 12 October, 2017 with reference number CH88\/vol\/179 for the establishment of additional \u201cEtche\u201d(s) in Uvwie Kingdom<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=19271&amp;ad_type=81&amp;rl=1800\" width=\"336\" height=\"280\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2026The role of B.M. Ogaga, Oyekimo(Oyovwekemor) Amurun, Adu Abromano and others \u2026How Eruohwo, Abe and Imedo became Ruling Houses in Uvwie \u2026HRM Emmanuel Sideso\u2019s New Vision Uvwie story is full of contradictions and controversies. However, in this narrative, we shall limit ourselves to basics as told by Late\u00a0Chief B.M Ogaga, the Omokpovie of Uvwie Kingdom,\u00a0an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":23453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[5693,5691,5697,5694,5695,5696,5692,5709],"class_list":["post-23593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state","tag-awefe-erumagborie","tag-chief-b-m-ogaga","tag-chief-dr-samuel-jimoh-eshenake","tag-chief-johnson-uvwiekoko-edjekohwo","tag-eruohwo","tag-hon-peter-iffie","tag-ovwaro","tag-oyekimooyovwekemor-amurun"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Ovie-of-Uvwie.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-68x","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23593"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24084,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23593\/revisions\/24084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}