ancestral mother was frustrated that her husband did not show up until the
ceremony was almost over. Adike presented the obu to his father and he blessed
him and thanked him then sat him down and explained to him what he meant by bring
obu. Akwugo is not just like other ladies, she was one of the stubborn, difficult individual to deal with. No wonder Obosi was known in the olden days as war mongers and greatest warriors in Iboland. Origin of the name Obosi.: Adike upon settling down decided to build his house but encountered a very difficult problem, the earthen sand could not hold together due to lack of cohesion. He tried several times but all to no avail. Adike went to his brother Ojoto and complained of his difficulty in erecting a building.
Then Ojoto and his family asked him to explain what was his problem and he told
them”Mbosis”. They decided to consult the “Chi” and after a while the problem solved itself. This is where the name Obosi was derived. The Family and the descendants of Adike Ogu: OBA_______________ADIKE_________________ OKODU OKPALA EZEANI OKPO NEBO URU OWNULEBE OGBABALUAKU AMAIFEOBU & UDUENU OTA & IRE
UMURU MMAKWUM,UROWULU & UGAMUMA _ Most Important Inheritance from Adike after his death: _
When Adike was about to pass he called Oba and Okodu and let Okodu know that
OBA will be carrying on his legacy by presenting the “IKENGA”, OFO
ANA OBOSI and “ISI AGWU AND OKUKU OBOSI JI EJE OGU. He gave Okudo his
blessing to go and have abundant harvest to feed the whole of his family. The
details of these items will be left out of this write ups for the purpose of
safe guiding our tradition. If Obosi as a whole is invited for any occasion such burial ceremony, luncheon, Offerla or for any purposes the Okpo’s lineage will be in front, followed by others Umuota, Ire, Mmakwum, Urowulu and Ugamuma. Towns that migrated from Obosi and circumstances of their migration: Asaba: There is a village in Asaba whose descendants migrated from Obosi especially
from Ugamuma to settle in present day Asaba, some of the indigenes of this
village are able to trace their ancestry and relatives in Obosi, even in these present times. __ Ichi : This is a village that was founded by Obosi warriors after defeating Otolo Nnewi and moved them close to Amaechi. _ Uruagu: The warriors who were hired by other Nnewi village to defend their villages against Otolo Nnewi’s encroachments and
constant destruction of thee villages agreed to give the land Uruagu to the
Obosi warriors if they help them defeat Otolo. They accomplished their mission
and even in those days women love strong men, men of valor and warriors. These
women were given to these Obosi warriors and they decided to settle there and
raise their families. Onitsha: The two factions of Benin kingship started a war of which the two families went out killing each other, The king to be was driven out of Benin and on their reaching Obosi Ibusa, then Obosi warriors were invited of which they fought and stopped the Oba’s war men. The king at the time, decided that they will be safer in the village these war men
came from. The Obosi people welcomed them with open hands and they were
assimilated into Obosi. The Onitsha people are not famers and for one to
survive in the environment then one must be a strong farmer or a hunter. The
Onitsha people have advantage because quite few of them have guns and guns
powder left over from their war with Oba of Benin. They were good hunters but
had no land to farm. Some families worked in the farm land of Obosi people
especially putting the Stick on the ground for the yam tendril to curl. This
assimilation came with a lot of problems, from getting drunk while Obosi people
are working. They did not hesitate to kill quite few Obosi people when there
was a brawl. The last straw that broke the camel’s back was when an Obosi hunter
killed a big game and the Onitsha people surrendered him with the gun and took
the game to their King and they distributed the meat. It happened again that
this time an Obosi hunter killed a tiger and hoping to be revealed as
“Ogbu-Agu” he was surrendered and the tiger taken away and the skin
was prepared for their king. Obosi warriors could not take this anymore”
Obilu be onye abigbunia” they asked all able bodied Onitsha men to come to
a section of Obosi where Obosi will provide the best “Nkwuenu” and
everybody will make merry and reconcile their differences. To their greatest
surprise the Obosi warriors dugged in and waited for a sign from those who sat
with them to drink. When the sign came the people were slaughtered and they
ran, those who did not appear for the merriment fled to Oze the present day
Onitsha and pushed Oze people across Nwangeni river. __ Ukpo – Ezeani and Umuru were brothers, but
Ezeani who was the traditional holder of Ofo-Ana Obosi was very powerful and
his brother was very jealous of the way he was revered by the entire Obosi
people. He was the one that consulted the oracles and decided when farmers would plant, he was the one that held the calendar of any festivity, he was the one that cleans the
land when an Obosi indigene committed a abomination or sacriledge, such as
committing suicide, incest or any act Obosi people called “Aru”. He
is not supposed to see any deceased person on Eke day and he is not supposed to
leave his home without making some offerings to the gods. The Ezeani has his
own warriors around him all the time and these warriors go about the town to
collect the best harvest from the farmer for ezeani, collect fattened cows,
goats and sheep. Hen is common practice to visit him. On the eventful day this
particular village of Umuru one of the sons decided to bring his homage to
Ezeani, and he picked the yams eaten by bettles and place in the front door of
the Ezeani’s House. The warriors went to the men and asked him to come and have
a chat with the Ezeani he refused. These men told them to tell the Ezeani to
come to his house at least to see were his brother live and at that point he
Will provide him with more than the good yams. These warriors were
contemplating to carry the man to the Ezeani but the reached consensus to go
and talk to Ezeani. The Ezeani was full of rage and left his house without
performing such sacrifice to go and see his cousin and punish him. While they
were gone the men took his spear and sharpened it and claimed Ube tree. As soon
as the Ezeani pushed the door open the spear went right into his chest and
killed him instantly. The men were killed and Obosi people especially Ire
village warriors decided to wipe out the Umuru vilage. They killed a lot and
the others escaped to Ukpo and founded Umuru Ukpo. Most of the Little wood were
Umuru vilage used to be is owned by Ire people. ( Some our history is depicted
or told with some fictions by Chinuea Achebe-whose father was a Cathercist and
a teacher in Obosi-Read- Arrow of God) _ Daughter of Adike Akwaugo: The history will not be completed without mentioning the lady Akwaugo who was the mother of the people of Obosi. After the death of Adike and Akwaugo, the founding parents of Obosi. Ada Adike and Akwaugoby mane Udu was the Ada Obosi. Then Mgbogoye took over as the Isi Ada. Inu took
over from Mbgogoye, the lineage continued until IIlokwe the mother of Philip
Ockokwu, Nwanyi Oye Nwokoye who was married to Unuokwasala took over until her
death. Ifeoma Osajindu became Isi-Ada till 2002 when she died. It is a recorded tradition that sometimes in April of every year the whole Obosi women will pay homage to Isi-Ada at the Adike Square the present day Afor Adike where the traditional home of Adike and Akwaugo was built. England Deligation to Obosi: When the English people later came via Niger river. They visited the Obosi in Counsel and they were amazed to how the town operates. They sent message to the Queen who asked them not to live until they get all information about how the town councils are formed and what type of job they do.They took the message to the Queen and she sent another envoy to consult with an artirst who will sketch the heirachy of the chiefs and and section of the chiefs that settled disputes. It is not out
of place to say that Obosi was organized in what culminated to today’s democracy.
Contributed By Mr. Tony Nwasike