Some writers have worked hard to find a primordial home for Öka people. My e-book,“Who Are The Öka People?”, is dedicated to those Öka people who may have been misled to believe that their ancestors came from somewhere and that their descent is in the male line.
Öka tradition has it that:
1. Öka ful efu! (Öka grew out of the soil of Öka);
2. Enwere vbe nnanna (Their descent is in the female line);
3. Onwere ïka eshivbe bïa (There is no history that they came from somewhere else).
What? Yes, Öka grew out of the soil of Öka, their descent is in the female line and there is no history that they came from somewhere else! Could this be poetic fancy or verifiable historical fact? Both, because poetic language is used to express a verifiable historical fact! How come? The booklet demonstrates these facts beyond cavil. Simply put, the statement “Enwere vbe nnanna” says that the descent of Öka people is in the female line – not in the male line – the kin being composed of a female ancestor and her children! It is when descent is in the male line that we can have nnanna (father’s father).
Even in today’s Öka patriarchal society, we may ask:
1. Why do Öka men continue to genuflect when greeting the daughters of their clan?
2. Why do Öka men invite their married daughters (Ümü-Ökpü) to come and settle seemingly intractable disputes in the clan?
3. Why do Öka men invite their married daughters (Ümü-Ökpü) to come and pray for the clan when the latter’s survival is at stake?
The tart response to these queries is invariably: Ö dü növbü shite n’igbii = It has been the practice from time immemorial. This response shows how ignorant we are about the roots of our customs, and provides a perfect idol behind which we hide to mask our ignorance concerning our past!
But the simple answer to these queries is that these practices are a survival of the matriarchate, where the daughter is next to the mother in the rulership of the clan or family. We are now able to fathom the source of the power wielded by Ümü-Ada and Ümü-Ökpü of old. The powerful Awo-mmili women’s group was a residue of the old matriarchal epoch. Thus:
1. Öka of old was a matriarchy;
2. Öka families whose descent is in the female line are the core Öka people – Ökpülnana, Öka ful efu, Ndü enwere nnanna, children of the mother!
3. Öka families whose descent is in the male line are accretions to the core Öka people – Öka efuro efu, Ndü nwel nnanna, children of the father!
Some Öka folks chide their peers (ulo) about their descent from a woman, when descent from a man is the true Öka badge of honor. The untutored son-of-the-mother usually developed cold feet and had no argument to counter the humiliating banters of his son-of-the-father peer. Had the son-of-the-mother known the truth, he would have told the loud-mouthed son-of-the-father that:
Onye e kulu bïa lie ivbe ö kwöö aka n’abö,
Onye nwe nli, ö ga-aghüzï arü?
When the guest washes both hands before eating, should his host and owner of the food go and take a bath? Yes, because the son-of-the-father is a guest at the table of the son-of-the-mother! In Öka, matriarchy preceded patriarchy and the son-of-the-mother pre-dates the son-of-the-father. It was Ümü-Nne first, before Ümü-Nna.
Some light from science and observation
Yes, Öka grew out of the soil of Öka and there is no history that they came from somewhere else! The Nebula theory holds that all of the Sun’s satellites were once part of the Sun and were thrown off from it. The meaning of all this is that the Sun is our proper home, or the Garden of Eden, from which we were cast out. Living things grew out of the Earth, i.e., living beings were already in the Earth as the latter was cast off from the Sun. The inherent lives sprouted from Mother Earth when the time and conditions were ripe. The original human species sprouted, worm-like, from the Earth and evolved with time into the complex organism of homo sapiens; just as the giant tree comes out from the Earth as a shrub and grows mighty with time. We come out from the Earth and we go back there at death. An Öka funeral chant says that the Earth owns us all (Ana nwe mmadï niine). A return to our original home in the Sun will happen when the Earth is reabsorbed into its original home in the Sun. The Earth thus carries in its bowels the seed of every specie and the specie carries the seed of its perfection; the seeds only require the right conditions to develop.
Skepticism is the middle ground between the extremes of not believing anything and believing everything. The skeptic examines, feels around an object with defiance. That’s the doctrine of examining-doubt, which serves the united cause of freedom and philosophy, since the special characteristic of philosophy is to leave to each person the faculty of judging in accordance with the measure of his feeling and conviction. We preach examining-doubt or skepticism, because history has shown that certitude is the doctrine of error and falsehood, and the constant weapon of tyranny.
Remember, the question raised is not “Is it true?”; the question is “Does it make sense?” Recall what Nature or Isis told us: I am all that has been, all that is, and all that shall be, and no mortal has lifted yet the veil that covers me. Yes, it is fine speculation for mortals to make factual statements on the hidden processes of Nature, because none was there or can be there to take notes and report thereafter.
Read, Ponder and Wonder.
Credit: Nevbechi Nwoye Emma Anazövba
DIBIA NWANGWU UCHENDU 