AIR PRESS RESPONSE
The attention of Ane Igala Restoration (AIR) has been drawn to a publication by one Baba Ahmadu which is titled RE: CHIEFTAINCY HONOURS AND THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST ANKPA TRADITIONAL COUNCIL. UNCOVERING KEY FACTS AND HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS, which was supposedly a response to the earlier publication of Ane Igala Restoration (AIR) on the trending issue of conferment of Non_Igala titles by the Eje of Ankpa and the subsequent open letter to the Atta Igala in that respect.
AIR wishes to state that we are glad that Mr Baba Ahmadu in his apparent show of love for the growth and advancement of Igala culture and tradition and the protection of the stool of Eje of Ankpa and the present occupant, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Yakubu has painstakingly done the foregoing rejoinder which in his thinking is aimed at rallying support for the present Eje of Ankpa and rationalising his recent actions.
We ordinarily would have allowed the said rejoinder to slide without a further response but such would work injustice and misinformation on the psyche of our very esteemed Igala people and further contaminate our most cherished culture and identity which AIR is out to protect, preserve and promote. On the premise of the foregoing position, we are constrained to do this response with the objectives of straightening the misconceptions and misinformation as contained in the said publication and in that wise, AIR wishes to respond as follows.
1. That the said publication is premised on a wrong footing as it is grounded on the misconceptions of AIR’s outing to witch hunt, humiliate and embarrass the Eje of Ankpa over his acts of supposed adaptation to modern trend. The above conclusion is replete in his publication and we wish to state that it is completely misleading, erroneous and grossly unfounded as the protest of AIR and other Igala socio cultural organizations in this respect are aimed to propel not just the Eje of Ankpa alone but also the Atta Igala and Igala Area Traditional council to embark on some form of introspections and breathe sanity into the system, for the records, we wish to state that the protest of AIR is by no means aimed at the dethronement of HRH the Eje of Ankpa except if such becomes expedient for the preservation of Ane Igala and her values. Again, it is imperative for Mr Baba Ahmadu and his likes to know that AIR have in the recent past challenged the Eje of Dekina on the issue of conferring non Igala titles when the title of Sarkin Hausa Dekina was to be conferred and on the account of AIR’s resistance, it was jettisoned. In a similar manner, AIR had earlier challenged the hoisting of Arewa banner around the Igala unity square, Anyigba and after a vigorous campaign, had same remove. All these were not targeted at either the Eje of Ankpa or any other person.
2. That the attempt by Mr Baba Ahmadu to trace the origin of the Igala Nation and her people to the Jukun, Kanuri or Hausa Fulani in the said publication whom he posited have existed for roughly about 700 years is most unfortunate and at most reveal the fact that his publication shows lack of knowledge of the historical evolution of the Igala Nation . For the records, we wish to educate Mr Baba Ahmadu that the Igala Nation knows her exact origin and have existed for over 1000 years and had an established traditional structures for effective administration before anything was known of the Hausa Fulani Nation.
3. Again, Mr Baba Ahmadu attempted in the said publication to rationalise the conferment of Non Igala titles by the Eje citing some historical facts of ethnic cum socio cultural interaction, acculturation and assimilation and went further to posit that the Igala Nation have at times past borrowed titles and other cultural symbols from other cultures and civilizations. While the foregoing position of Mr Ahmadu may not be completely false, he however missed the point when he failed to contextualised the scope of such historical happenstance which were often acts of necessity and driven by the need for social fitting. It should be pointed out to Mr Ahmadu and his likes that the Igala Nation, her cultures, values, traditional institutions and mannerisms are products of centuries evolved practices and ways which though had enormous interactions with the Benin, Jukun and Ife ancient oligarchies and drew a lot from such while also impacting hugely on same but has equally affected the evolution of recent oligarchies such as the Nupe Kingdom, the Ebiras, Idomas and even the Ibos confederacy of traditional system. That in all of these interactions, the Igala Nation and her traditional institution have preserved their uniqueness and identity and same have been passed down to this generation.
4. That the infractions witnessed by the Igala Nation between 1880s_1980 was as a result of a culmination of factors such as the punitive expedition and policy of the colonial masters who insist on balkanizing the Igala Nation as a consequence of her initial resistance of colonialization. This explains the split of Ane Igala into the Onitsha and Abinshi provinces of Southern and Northern Nigeria as posited by Mr Ahmadu.
5. That the punitive expedition which was aimed at weakening the enviable Igala established state and structure headed by the Ata Igala was also followed with the stigmatisation and profiling of the Igala Nation which resulted in her loss of her territories, some of her people abandoned their identity and assumed those of other enclaves . That this unfortunate trend would subsequently be transmitted to the Northern region of Nigeria which finds expression in the Northernization and Hausanization of every facets of life in Ane Igala.
6. That Mr Baba Ahmadu need to be educated on the fact that the attempt to borrow the Hausa _Fulani titles, manners and outlook that he so praised the late Atta Aliyu Otulukpe Obaje for were a byproduct of the Northernization and Hausanization policy of the Northern region which was a transmutation of the original colonial punitive expedition against the Igala Nation. Again, let it be known that as bad as conferring non Igala titles was, Ata Aliyu Obaje never conferred Fulani titles on Igalas but on non Igalas. All the people he gave such non Igala titles were non Igalas, but again, that was relics of the Hausanization and Northernization agenda which we stand against today. It is also worth clarifying that Achadu Oko Ata, the Igala’s Prime Minister never bore Hausa title Maikassa as people are being misled to believe, he was only referred to as Maikassa by the Hausa Fulani staff of the colonial government who came with the foreigners to igala land. His real title before the advent of Ata Abutu Eje was Onu-Ogbo,, which means the ancient King.
7. If Mr Baba Ahmadu is unaware of the circumstances that surrounded the dethronement of Atta Ameh Oboni and how Otulukpe Christopher Obaje was subsequently pronounced the Atta Igala from Kaduna without the input of Igala people against extant Igala laws, tradition and at the expense of an already crowned and initiated Atta, i beg to bring to his knowledge that all of that were done with the aim of Hausanizing Ane Igala and her traditional institution.This incident is not worthy of celebration rather deserves every correction.
8. So, it is not surprising to see the reign of Atta Otulukpe Obaje later Christined Aliyu Obaje borrowing titles, mannerisms and ethos from the Hausa Fulani oligarchy, to say the least, that was the darkest age of traditional administration in Northern Nigeria as the Northern region did not leave any stone unturned in her Hausanization drive, but again Ane Igala survived with her chequered history, identity and values.
9. Let it be pointed out to Mr Baba Ahmadu and his likes that while our father Atiyele, the founder of modern Ankpa axis of Ane Igala was the elder brother of Atta Ayegba, the stool of Atta Igala preceded Atta Ayegba and the fact that it was succeeded by Atta Ayegba after Atta Idoko went on hunting expedition did not in anyway detract from the fact that it is the supreme stool of Ane Igala and those of their fathers. Ahmadu is expected to have known that Atiyele is not the Elder brother of Ata Igala but Elder brother of Ayegba who became Ata Igala after many several Ata Igala including .Ata-Ogwu, Atta Aji, Atta Olema, Atta Abutu Eje, Atta Ebule Jonu, Atta Aganapoje and Idoko before Ayegba Omidoko. If we may ask, how many elder brothers of persons who became Ata Igala are claiming today to be Ata Igala’s elder brother or superior? This question beg Ahmadu for an answer.
10. As a follow up to the above, Mr Baba Ahmadu should know that the stool of Eje of Ankpa was established in the 1970s by the government of old Kwara state, a successor of the old Northern philosophy and structure to further the Northernization and Hausanization policy of the old Northern region.
11. It is in the context of the foregoing circumstances that the borrowing or supposed adaptation of titles such as Madaki, Zachi, Gago and their likes by Ane Igala can be understood, there were adopted by necessity as a means of fitting in the old Northern region as not for want of such titles, names or even better ones in igala land. It is also in the foregoing context, that the adoption of the Hausa Fulani turban or traditional attire unfortunately became the official dressing codes of traditional institutions in Northern Nigeria including the use of Hausa language as the language of Royalty.
12. We make bold to state that all of the foregoing were aimed at destroying our Igala identity, unique values and manners, same was however painstakingly preserved by the commoners who kept vigil for the revitalisation and regeneration of their values and identity.
13. We wish to add that the 1990s-2020s saw an outburst of the Igala people in their quest for reawakening and rebirth, thus in this era, Ane Igala witnessed an unprecedented birth of socio cultural organizations who are committed not just to Igala rebirth, reawakening but also the restoration of her people, landmass, cultures and everything about the Igala Nation. This drive is further strengthened by the unbundling of the old Northern region into smaller states and the resultant weakening of the old hitherto Northernization agenda.
14. Mr Baba Ahmadu may be well educated to know that as at today, there are over forty Igala socio cultural organizations championing the cause of Igala regeneration and restoration from diverse perspective and at the focal point of their activities, is the plea to our traditional institution and leaders to lead the Igala people in all fronts as image and embodiments of the Igala Nation and people.
15. It is in the light of the foregoing position that Ane Igala Restoration (AIR) have frowned at the incessant affront of the Eje of Ankpa against the Igala traditional structures and identity. For the records, the Eje has carried on in the discharge of his traditional role as if he is an emissary of the Hausa Fulani on Igala land, he has consistently wore the identity of a Hausa Fulani ruler, spoke and address Igala subjects in Hausa Fulani, he has referred to Atta Igala in a public function as his younger brother without regard to the fact that Atta is the supreme ruler of the Igala Nation and the holder of his fore father’s title. He has equally declared publicly that the part of Ane Igala where be presides, belongs to the Sultan of Sokoto and has welcomed the sultan to his land.
16. The last of his attempt to subject the Igala land and Nation to the dominance of the Hausa Fulani is the conferment of Hausa Fulani titles. May we state that we believe strongly that having done a social historical analysis of the origin of Hausanization of the Igala Nation and her traditional structures, Mr Baba Ahmadu is at this stage well informed about the misplacement of the said venture and the apparent ills it portend for Ane Igala at this very point of our National life.
17. It is in the light of the foregoing education and expositions that we asked Mr Baba Ahmadu to graciously withdraw his misplaced and misinformed publication from circulation and allow the Eje of Ankpa, HRH ALH ABUBAKAR SADIQ AHMED YAKUBU to do the needful and allow peace to reign.
18. May we add that as a body, we are deeply committed to the peace, development and progress of Ane Igala including the preservation and promotion of her values, identity and culture. The foregoing we are committed to achieve at all legally acceptable cost and the distractions of Mr Baba Ahmadu and such will not deter us.
We thank all Igala patriots for their unwavering commitment to the good of Ane Igala. Once again, we pray for the good of Ane Igala and may our father, the Agabaidu, Amideju reign forever.
Signed.
Apostle Ocholi Ekpe Odekina, Ph.D
National President
Salifu Oguche Usman, Esq (LL.M)
Deputy National Secretary
