History of Akpugo in Nkanu Local government of Enugu state Nigeria 2

EZE-NEVO-OGWA is the universally acknowledged founding father and progenitor of Akpugo Town in Nkanu West LGA of Enugu State. 

Also, ANI UBUREKE AND UKURU UBUREKE are undisputable pathological sons of UBUREKE OGWA, the son of EZE-NEV0-OGWA with ANI UBUREKE as the first son and UKURU UBUREKE being the second son.

It was revealed that due to constant freaky attitude and estranged loyalty of UKURU UBUREKE to his elder brother ANI UBUREKE, an unpleasant relationship ensued that culminated in an estrangement between them and no attempt was made to resolve their incompatibility.

In the midst of this cataclysmic circumstances, the advent of the imperial masters was greeted with horrendous experiences and history will forever remain indelible in the life and times of those patriarchs who offered far reaching insights in this encounter that subverted our already existing norms, rights and privileges. Some of them recounted that a people cannot foster a common identity when any idea from one group about the other is prejudiced on jaundiced eyes, inconsistency and double standard haunting the town and impeding unity, considering that there was a time in Akpugo when things were very different, a time when stable government was achieved by balancing small equal groups against each other and by the ties of clanship, marriage and traditional religions. 

ORIGIN OF AKPUGO:

EZE NEVO OGWA as the universally acknowledged progenitor of Akpugo town was believed to be among an entity of the Jewish movement from the city of Goshen to the interior part of a nation later carved out as AFRICA. This movement continued southwards to Southern Benue, known as Nsukka territory or NRI cultural zone. Some 

of the people, led by ERI, chose to move South East up to AGULERI, others including EZE NEVO OGWA continued their South East movement.

EZE NEVO OGWA, a warrior, merchant, hunter and a reputable farmer ebbed his way to OYOHO in the present day Nike in Enugu East LGA of Enugu State and settled there at first. There, he brought his expertise to bear and became remarkably rich in the eyes of his contemporary world. His riches soon earned him the envy of some natives who plotted to assassinate and dispossess him of his wealth, but for the intervention of a few of his friends who advised him to urgently vacate the town. Running for his dear life, he continued the South East movement in the interior expanse virgin forest situate in the present day Nkanu West of Enugu East senatorial zone. During his sojourn EZE NEVO OGWA saw a very tall tree called AKPU where Ugo- bird usually perches. 

With the AKPU tree and the consistency with which the Eagle birds perch on it, he used the spot as a land mark to settle down after the days’ toils. He later found the place very convenient and decided to settle there finally and named the place OBERE where he established his personal shrine called ANIONA. This intricate mystery of Ugo bird perching atop an Akpu tree, gave rise to the coinage-- AKPU-UGO which the white man undeniably spelt as AKPUGO. At OBERE, Eze Nevo Ogwa begat three sons, namely in their order of seniority:

1. UBUREKE OGWA

2. OYIDA also called Aniobodo who moved east wards and founded the present day Agbani.

3. ONYINWODO, who moved west wards and founded the present day AKPAWFU, 

hence the name AKPAWFU ONYINWODO.

UBUREKE OGWA in turn married and begat two sons, namely in their order of seniority:

1. ANI UBUREKE

2. UKURU UBUREKE

Similarly, ANI UBUREKE married and begat six sons, namely;

1. OHAGU

2. ONYIA

3. ODE also called UGBU ONA

4. ORIE

5. IGBO- LEVITE

6. ANITA

Also, UKURU UBUREKE married and begat two sons namely:

1. EKPENE UGBU

2. CHI UBA

These are the eight grandsons of EZE NEVO OGWA or the Eight direct descendantsof UBUREKE OGWA who in his life time shared the OBERE land into two equal parts for both ANI UBUREKE and UKURU UBUREKE.

Evidently, any other story that tried to replace EZE NEVO OGWA with UKURU UBUREKE is a fabricated heresy thatdefeats the true essence of history. In trying to feature UKURU UBUREKE as the founder of Akpugo, the name of EZE NEVO OGWA as the progenitor is subsumed in the abyss of the ignorance of this mischief maker just to place the facts upside down. From immemorial, Akpugo has been collectively known as AKPUGO-NEVO-OGWA-OBODO-ESATO: meaning the names of the eight direct descendants of UBUREKE OGWA, eldest son of EZE NEVOOGWA. It is therefore, an aberration for any person to have stated otherwise. Till today, the eight clay bowls that represent each kindred unit are positioned inside OBERE groove where only his off springs visit and perform sacrifices till date. 

The descendants of ANI UBUREKE that own the OBERE land up till now are;

1. UMU EJINVU

2. UMU ORIE

3. UMU CHIAVU

The remaining part of OBERE land was ceded to the descendants of UKURU 

UBUREKE namely;

1. UMU EKPENE UGBU

2. UMU CHIUBA

Unarguably, the sons of UBUREKE OGWA namely:- ANI UBUREKE and UKURU UBUREKE live side by side within the precinct of OBERE till date, Akpugo being a homogeneous town as discovered by EZE NEVO OGWA.

ANI AKPUGO DEITY:

As a symbol of oneness and nobility [AKPUGO = NEVO = OGWA = OBODO = ESATO] the Eight direct descendants of UBUREKE OGWA or best put, the Eight grand Sons of EZE NEVO OGWA came together and established a deity called ANI AKPUGO. The deity was established through the assistance of a blacksmith called ENEGUIGWE who

who brought a powerful native doctor from AGULERI called NWAGIRI GBADA to perform the rituals. After the rituals he requested the host to present the- would- be Chief Priest for Initiation, of course, the first Son of ANI UBUREKE called UVU EJI, received the anointing. Thus, UVU EJI of UMU CHIAVU unit of UMU OHAGU family of ANI UBUREKE Extraction became the first Chief Priest of ANI AKUGO and the first to have sat on the sacred chair (OKPOSHI). Six others of his lineage succeeded themselves as follows;- 1. AVU UVUEJI, 2. EDE ANIANJOKU 3. NWODO CHIAVU 4. NWODO ANIGBO 5. OGBO CHIAVU 6.NNAJIANIACHIEVU. During the reign of NNAJI ANIACHIEVU in 1919, a group of usurpers, brought undue pressure on the Chief Priest to start rotating the post of Chief Priesthood to the deity.

As this was not acceptable, a high powered conspiracy ensued to depose him. 

NNAJIANIACHIEVU eventually succumbed to their antics, being accused of an abomination. Having achieved their aim, used the influence of one of their own, a warrant Chief, to order that NNAJIANIACHIEVU be deposed with immediate effect.

Consequently, NWODO ONOVO ANIODO from that group took over as Chief Priest; 

thus, breaking the sacred chain of the worship of the deity. Five others of the same extraction followed as follows; (1) ANIOBODO ONOVO ANI (2) ANI NWANNAJI EDE (3) ANI ENE (4) OKO ANIBE EDE OKO ANI who later converted into thAnglican communion and baptized by Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma (5) OKENWA NGENE NSHI who seldom features in the worship of the deity even as the place could hardly be mentioned nowadays but very much in existence.

MISSING LINK

The Chikadibia was seen to have no doubt barely skimmed the surface. This cannot be taken as a serious history of Akpugo since he deliberately hid or apparently skipped the major players in the historical saga. How can the history of Akpugo be complete without the mention of EZE NEVO-OGWA? Has he not heard of AKPUGO NEVO OGWA OBODO ESATO: The story he was told that supplanted NEVO OGWA with

his grandson,UBUREKE UKURU is a major missing link and suggestive of the rebellious faction that tore the town in bits and pieces.

The movement that cut across BENUE to AKPUGO did not infer that the founder of AKPUGO actually migrated from KOGI in Benue. One could have equally claimed that he migrated from Nsukka or Oyoho in Nike. The inference on the similarity of their traditional relationship can be blamed on cultural diversity festered around the globe. Why did Chikadiba tend to reject the second version? He obviously did not want to link the town with the correct version that discredits his opinion of Kogi where he believes his UKURU UBUREKE migrated into AKPUGO. The White man in his wisdom could have spelt AKPU-UGO as AKPUGO. In the same way he should have 

spelt AKPOGU as AKPOGU without misinterpretations as purported. Let Chikadibia find another pot of lies to impress his audience. Also, there is no place during my research where Imilike Nwofor was mentioned as the son of any second wife to the most

acceptable founder of Akpugo. When Chikadibia claimed that the nonexistent second wife had three sons, what is the name of the third son? This he tried to avoid because he could replace UBUREKE OGWA the eldest of Oyida (Aniobodo) and Onyinwodo. Evidences abound where the likes of Chikadibia had at different climes taken EZE UBUREKE UKURU and ANI NJOKU UBUREKE UKURU respectively as the founder of Akpugo. Now, Chikadibia is claiming UBUREKE UKURU. Such are the people who provide various versions of the history of Akpugo in order to claim relations with UBUREKE, the son of EZE NEVO OGWA. Therefore, it is the height of absurdity for Chikadibia to continue to cause confusion by claiming illegitimate and wrongful ancestry and manipulating history. He is freely advised to desist from such act or be prepared to face the realities in the pandora’s box.

Not only IHUNEKWAGU was known to have migrated from somewhere. Many migrated from ISU, IHE, AGBAJA, AMAGU IZZIKWORO, NARA UNATAEZE, IJI NIKE and others who have no traceable record of common ancestors but integrated with UMU UBUREKE UKURU and swept through the values of the rest of the native inhabitants by a tricky interactive pattern of cohabitation and coalescence whichmanifested in brazen divide and rule, relate and exploit.

The setting up of Akpugo Eze Nevo Traditional Regional Fair meant to rejuvenate and harmonize the traditions and other values among all Akpugo Communities viz. 

Akpugo Eze in Oji River and Akpu in Orumba, reinforced the viability of being close- knit. One wonders why Akpugo in those places and other places in the South East are neither spelt as Akpogu nor pronounced as Akpugo to claim Kogi descent.

History still relies on the fact that it was in this traditional regional fair that important decisions concerning the cultural heritage of the Eze Nevos or Eze Nebos were taken, so that, at any point their forebears are not let down. Why is it not the purported UBUREKE UKURU that is so celebrated in those catchment areas?.

CONCLUSION:-

Clearly, the story of the origin of a people without recorded history is often buried in myth and legend and that was why this writer dug deep down in its purest sense through oral tradition and documentary evidence so that it would not be tainted with unfair bias, but, ultimately would submit to justified criticism.

It was discovered that centuries ago some people innocently tell the stories of their origin as folklores to their descendants, while others painted a picture of their origin so as to remain relevant in the environment in which they lived. This, resulted in a mere reconstruction of oral tradition to score cheap points. Those who have excellent memories of the places they inhabit are human, providing wonderful historical accounts to prove that the belief expressed as folktales are not altogether true and important today as they were constructed centuries ago. It is very essential that the history of Akpugo be always kept focused to keep the memory alive, one that the younger generations would study and recite as true age long norms, beliefs and practices. 

Written By:

Christian Uwaechina Agbo