THE HISTORIC ORIGIN OF ESAN PEOPLE.
Before any migration of some of the Esan people, please note that the Esan people primarily evolved from the Nok Cultural Zone. Some Esan people actually migrated out from Esanland, but there were Esan people who never migrated out of Esanland. Most Esan people who migrated out of Esanland later return back to Esanland to come and rejoin their Esan people who never migrated out.
Esan is one of the ethnic nationalities in Edo State, Nigeria. Primarily, they resides in the present day Edo Central, a plateau territory which is around 136 metres above the sea level.
The name Esan refers to the people, their language, unique culture, and identity. Unlike some other tribes in Nigeria. The Esan people did not evolve into a centralised entity. Rather, Esan can perfectly be described as a loose confederation of 35 independent kingdoms.
Although, there are clans in Esan who their oral historic origin porsit; their ancestors has been in Esanland since the beginning of time. There are three waives of migration that formed the Esan kingdom of today.
First, the migration of the autochthonous Esan ( i.e., the earliest Esan people), who derived their origin from the Nok Cultural Zone. The North East of the Niger Benue Confluence. An area which extends to the south western edge of the Jos plateau before 1000BC.
These earliest Esans who moved to the savannah forest ecotone in Esanland started colonizing the forest around 500 A.D by building mini kingdoms called (Iyala).
Note that the Iyala (Earthworks) in Esanland predates the earthworks in the present day Benin (Edo South).
It is important to state that, it is not only Esans who were part of this migration. Other related tribes like the Urhobos, Isokos, Degema, Epie Attisa, the Owan, Akoko Edo and the Etsako all derived their origin from Central Nigeria. Where our languages evolved and emerged.
The second migration is when some of the Esans who migrated southward to found Igodomigodo returned back to Esanland to form settlements alongside the autochthonous Esans, who were already settled for thousands of years.
Among those are the three children of Ojiso Owodo, the last Ojiso who reigned in Igodomigodo with their mother Queen Oakha. The first son and heir to the throne. The third and fourth son. Returned back to Esanland and settled in Ugboha, Uromi, Uzea, etc before 10th century.
Lastly, the waive of migration to Esanland during Oba Ewuare 1, in 14 century. Like the three children of Ojiso Owodo, these Esans were originally part of the primary migration from the Nok Cultural Zone. However, they didn’t settle primarily like the autochthonous Esans. They journeyed southward to found Igodomigodo with other ethnic nationalities.
Igodomigodo was a multicultural society built by devise ethnic groups. Including the Esans, Urhobos, Isokos and others. After the collapse of Ojiso or Ogiso dynasty and the usher in of a foreign dynasty from Yorubaland, (OBA DYNASTY). Some Esans in Igodomigodo migrated back to Esanland to settle with the already established quarters in the territories of Esanland due to Oba cruelty.
It is also very important to note that the Ojiso, or Ogiso dynasty collapse in the present day Edo South, the now Benin kingdom, but in Esanland, Ojiso dynasty remains the monarchical system of the Esan Kingdoms, because in reality, the Esan people are unadulterated people and a distinct people from the Binis who owns their origin to the Ile-Ife Yoruba people, though the Benin people trying so hard to hide their Yoruba origin because of the supremacy they’re arrogantly arrogating to themselves.
Reference
A Cultural History of the Uneme, from the earliest times to 1962. HB Harunah – 2003 – Book Company Publishing.
Darling, P. J. (1988). Emerging Towns in Benin and Ishan (Nigeria) AD 500–1500. State and Society. The Emergence and Development of Social Hierarchy and Political Centralization, 121-136.
Esan Native Laws and Customs: With Ethnographic Studies of the Esan People. Christopher Okojie, 1960.
History of Uzea Kingdom, Chief Okheleigbe n,d. Provided by the Indigenous People Of Esan Association Worldwide.
