Oron Union at 95: The Unanswered Questions

This piece is a contribution to an interesting debate on the true “age” of Oron Union which came up in the social media recently. It is recalled that Engr. Ita Awak, an Oron elite, posted a write-up in the social media claiming that the organisation that has metamorphosed into Oro Union will be 95 years old this year. However, this claim immediately attracted a sharp reaction by a media personality and public commentator, Mr. Thomas Thomas. Mr.  Thomas, in his refutation, noted that Oron Union cannot be 95 years old since the Oron people were members of the Ibibio Union up till 1938. According to him, it was after that period that the Union was formed. On the basis of this debate, some interested folks “jumped in” primarily on sentimental grounds and made some comments that are not historical. It therefore follows that the flanks are open for further contributions on the matter. Indeed, since the matter at stake is historically based, this writer, being a historian whose main interest is on Akwa Ibom Area, feels obliged to make his own contribution.

 By virtue of his professional training, he is strictly bound by the rules of engagement in his discipline. History as a study of past events is an evidence based discipline.  Evidence is anything that survives an event and leaves proof that a particular event did happen. It is evidence that ensures that what is being presented as an account of the past is not a fabrication from the fertile imagination of the narrator. Put differently, historical reconstruction is based on available evidence. Any account that is devoid of evidence is story-telling and not history. It is the intention of this writer to interrogate and interpret the available evidence at his disposal to arrive at a conclusion. It should be noted that the terms Oron Union, Oron Development Union and Oro Union will be used interchangeably.

Prof. Okon Uya’s Claim on Oro Union

 Till date, the most visible written information on the Oron Union available in the public domain is contained in the book: A History of Oron People of the Lower Cross River Basin, published in 1983 and written by Okon Edet Uya, a late Oron Professor of History, (see pages 2-3/129-153). The information contained in this book seems to be the source that the protagonists of the debate have used as their “Bible”. Uya’s account on page 2 in this respect is that: “…the earliest of these efforts occurred on the 18th of September 1918, when three Oron sons, including Daniel Udo Ekpo from Ekim village…gathered at Udung Uko Eyo Atai in the determination to check any bad thing that began to come into our land as a result of foreign influence that seemed to destroy Ukpabang good custom” (sic.).

 Uya posits further that “it was indeed this consciousness that led to the birth of Oron Union on May 23rd, 1925”. He also states the objectives of the Union claiming that Chief S.B. Onobo and Jack Edet Udo jointly presented a paper entitled “Introduction to the History of Oron” on the occasion. (See page 2).

 On page 3, Uya claims further that: “when the inaugural meeting of what would metamorphorized (sic.) into the Ibibio Union was held at the Qua Iboe Church Uyo, on the 28th of April 1928, Chief John Esin attended on behalf of Oron. However, when Chief Esin returned to Oron and briefed the Ukpabang people on the intended name of the organisation – Ibibio Union, the chiefs and elders of Oron protested. They gave, as a condition for their association with the new Union, a change of name to Ibibio-Oron Union….Needless to say that, this suggestion was turned down by the Ibibio and not even the promise of an Oron son benefiting from the proposed scholarship scheme would persuade the Ukpabang people to join an Ibibio Union”.

    From the above background, Uya gives the impression that the “Oron segment” did not join and participate in the affairs of the Ibibio Union. However, Uya’s position was countered by Sir Udo Udoma in his book, The Story of the Ibibio Union, published in 1987, three years after Uya’s book made its debut. On page 69 of the book, Udoma gives an inside-in view of the matter concerning the “Oron segment” and the Ibibio Union scholarship scheme thus: “during the selection meetings…there were disputes in only two instances…the second dispute took place at Eket where the Oron group opposed the candidature of Mr. James L. Nsima but without providing an alternative candidate except to insist that any candidate chosen should be from the Oron group….the Oron led by Mr. Isong, then Native Administration Treasurer, Oron appealed to the Central Union which, true to its policy decision of non-intervention, declined to intervene. As a result, Mr. Isong decided to withdraw with his group from the Ibibio Union with a view to creating, as he put it, a separate scholarship for the Oron segment”.

    As noted above, whereas Uya published his book in 1984 where his claims are contained, Udoma published his own in 1987. Until his demise in 2013, Uya did not counter Udoma’s view on the matter. In fact, Monday Noah, a late Ibibio Professor of History, made extensive claims on the matter which corroborate the fact that “Oron segment” belonged to the Ibibio Union until 1938.

    It should be added that Udoma’s position as it relates to Oron segment’s membership and voluntary withdrawal from the Ibibio Union has been corroborated by some Eket elite. In a book entitled: The Orthography of the Ekid Language, published in 2006, and written by Desmond Wilson (a Professor of Communication Arts, University of Uyo, and Aniefiok Udoyo, a linguist), the issue of Oron membership of the Ibibio Union up till 1938 reflects on page xiv thus: “…the Oron people…had much earlier broken away from Ibibio Union…the fact that one of its sons was not among the six that were sent abroad for training”. 

     Jacob B. Adiakpan, a leading Eket elite of his generation on page 144 of his book The Eket Speaking People notes that the Oron people associated with the Ibibio Union till 1938.

    Indeed, attention should be drawn to the fact that Uya’s claim on the “longetivity” of the Oron Union has been scholarly questioned and debunked for lack of sound historical evidence by a historian, late Associate Prof. Koko Ete Ina in his book entitled: The Changing faces of Ibibio History, 1885-1987.

    On pages 196 to 198, Ina critically scrutinises Uya’s claim as contained on page 132 of his (Uya’s) book. He cites Uya’s claim thus: “between 1925 and 1942, Oron Union lacked a definite structure and operated on the basis of ad hoc committees. It was not until 1942 when Mr. S.K. Okpo became the Secretary-General that the rudiments of the structure and organisation began to emerge. It was only after this that individuals within the Union became assigned to specific duties as secretary, treasurer etc”.

   Ina reacts on page 197 thus: “what can be inferred from Uya’s account is that, in reality, Oron Development Union was formed about 1942 and became effectively organised after that date. The Oron leaders very likely did not meet in Chief Esin’s residence on the 23rd of May 1925 to form Oron Union. They had, according to Uya, met there before on the 26th of April, 1925 to discuss matters of mutual interest…concerning Oron in general. Thus, the meeting of 23rd of May 1925, as Uya himself has stated, was a follow up of the meeting of the 26th of April and not necessarily for the purpose of forming an ethnic union. If the people of Oron had formed a distinct ethnic Union by 1925, why, one may ask, did they participate in the formation of Ibibio Union later in 1928 or in the affairs of the Union up to 1938? Again, one wonders why an ethnic union formed in 1925 should have remained until after 1942 without branches outside the territorial confines of Oron when sizeable population of Oron people existed in different parts of Nigeria”.

      Ina also observes thus: “furthermore, Oron Union according to Uya did not have an established source of revenue but was only able to finance its programmes from the 10 per cent tax rebate payable to Oron people by the Native Authority. It is also surprising that a Union said to have been formed by the educated elite in 1925 should remain up to 1962 without a constitution. For, according to Uya, it was not until 1961 that a committee was set up to write a constitution for Oron Union, which it produced in 1962”.

 Considering all of the above issues, Ina posits that “Oron Development Union was not formed in 1925 but after 1938 and that it was nothing more than a clan union similar to unions formed in other clans in Ibibio land for the purpose of clan development. This explains why, unlike the Ibibio Union, Oron Development Union was not listed among the ethnic unions banned in Nigeria under the Public Order Decree by the military administration that took over power in Nigeria in 1966”.

   In fact, on page 142 of his book, Uya accepts that “the military intervention and subsequent Civil War drove jitters into the Oron Union. A ban had been placed on all tribal unions in the country by 1966 “Public Order Decree” but Oron Union was not listed as one of those banned.

   From the above account, this writer feels that Ina is right in his assessment on Oron Union, as a “clan union” which did not come into national limelight and reckoning  as Uya attempts to project it. 

    By Decree No. 34 signed on the 24th of May 1966, the National Military Government dissolved 81 existing political parties, prohibited the formation of new ones and banned 26 tribal unions. The banned tribal and cultural associations were as follows:

1. Bornu State Union

2. Egbe Atunlase Ibadan

3. Egbe Igbomina Parapo

4. Egbe Omo Oduduwa

5. Egbe Omo Olofin

6. Egbe Omo Yoruba

7. Egbe Yoruba Parapo

8. Ekiti Northern

9. Ekiti Parapo

10. Ekiti Progressive Union

11. Ibadan Parapo

12. Ibibio State Union

13. Ibo State Union or Ibo Union

14. Ibo Youth Congress

15. Ibo Youth League

16. Idoma Tribal Union

17. Igbira Tribal Union 1 and II

18. Ijaw Progressive Union

19. Kajola Society

20. Lagos Aborigines Society

21. Oganiru Society

22. Okaa Society

23. Oshun Parapo

24. Otu-Edo

5. Oyo Parapo

26. Yoruba State Union.

 See Ojiako, James O. 13 Years of Military Rule. A Daily Times Publication Lagos: Daily Times Press, 1979, p. 20.

   The above position that Oron Union was a clan Union and not a national socio-cultural institution is also confirmed by some scholars who have studied the evolution of ethnic unions in colonial Nigeria. Noah- on page 48 of his book, The Proceedings of the Ibibio Union, 1928-1937- gives an insight into the existing significant unions in Nigeria thus: “the Ibibio Union…was the earliest such ethnic organisation in Nigeria which catered for the entire ethnic group. Unlike Owerri Improvement Union, Port Harcourt (1916), the Egba Society (1918), and the Onitsha Improvement Union, Lagos Branch (1920), all of which only involved segments of either Igbo or the Yoruba people…”

   Also in his account on “The Role of Ethnic Unions in the Development of Southern Nigeria: 1916-66”, published in Studies in Southern Nigeria History, edited by Boniface Obichere, Austin Ahanotu on page 156 listed the names of the earliest ethnic unions in Nigeria to include: the Owerri Improvement Union in Port Harcourt (1916), The Egba Society (1918), the Onitsha Improvement Union, Lagos Branch (1920), the Ibibio Welfare Union (Ibibio State Union (1928), the Urhobo Brotherly Society (Urhobo Progress Union) in Warri (1931); the Egbado Union in Lagos (1935); the Ibo State Union (Ibo Federal Union; later the Ibo State Union) in Lagos, (1936) (sic.); the Uratta Improvement Union, 1941; the Egbe Omo Osduduwa (Society of the descendants of Oduduwa), 1948; the Otu Edo (the Benin Community), 1951; the Edo National Union.

   Fred Amu, a renowned Professor of History in his work, “Ethnicity, Nationalism and Federalism” published in Foundations of Nigerian Federalism, 1900-1960, edited by J. Isawa Elaigwu and G.N. Uzoigwe on page 172 writes on the subject matter thus: “in 1918, the Egba Society was formed in Lagos to promote the interests of Egbaland…the Union of Ijebu  Young Men formed in 1923…the Egba Union, the Ekiti National Union, the Ife Union, the Ijaiye National Society, the Offa Descendants’ Union, the Ogbomosho Progressive Union, the Owo Progressive Union, the Oyo Progressive Union, Owerri Improvement Union in Port Harcourt (1918), Onitsha Improvement Union, Lagos Branch (1920), Calabar Improvement League, Igbirra Progressive Union, Urhobo Renascent Convention and the Ibo State Union, Lagos (1936)”.

    He posits further on pages 172 to 173 that: “one of these unions which most symbolised the objectives and ideals of their founders was the Ibibio State Union which….Unlike the kinship and communal unions which involved segments of either the Yoruba or Igbo peoples, the Ibibio Union embraced all the Ibibio people….By the early 1940s, many unions had begun to witness a shift in orientation. As their leaders became involved in political competition and rivalry, the unions began to assume a more political role serving as vehicles of separatist indoctrination and constituting the nucleus of ethnic conflict and confrontation”.

    E.U. Okoko an Ubium elite and a frontline community leader till his demise, on page 136 of his book History, Custom and Culture, comments on ethnic unions in colonial Nigeria thus: “the logical corollary of the formation of tribal unions was the formation of “clan” unions. In 1928 the Ibibio Union was inaugurated, followed some decades later by the Ibo State Union in 1944 and Egbe Omo Oduduwa of the Yoruba . For the purpose of cultural, social and educational developments, the various “clans” making these tribes started to organise themselves into parapos and esop and in English “unions”. Thus, Ekiti, Ijebu, Ijesha etc. in Yoruba country; Abriba, Ngwa, Arondizuoku, etc., in the Ibo country”.

    From the above list, Oron Union is conspicuously missing. This affirms the stance of Ina that it was one of the “clan unions’ existing in Akwa Ibom area.

    Okoko adds that these “clan unions” sprang up mostly between 1930 and 1950 and performed useful duties in their respective areas, particularly in the fields of education, health and so on. According to him, the Ubium Union was inaugurated in April 1949. In Eket District of which Ubium clan was then a part, Okoko recalls that the “other clans in Eket District such as Eket and Oron had formed their own unions”. (See page 136).

    E.W. Amamkpa in his Short History of Ibesikpo, records the formation of a community union in the area known as Ibesikpo Convention in the 1940s led by a popular politician Chief Effiong Okon Eyo (aka Eyo Uyo). On pages 40 and 41, he documents the salient contributions of the ‘clan” association particularly in the area of education.  

    Monday Abasiattai, an Ibibio Professor of blessed  memory in a work entitled “The Afaha: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”, presented in 1997, re-echoes the achievements of the Afaha people, the largest peoples group found in all the segments of Akwa Ibom State, including the Oron area. On page 5, he recalls that: “the earliest of the modern Afaha group unions was formed by the Afaha Eket in April 1914 to promote the unity and welfare of the people. The President of the Afaha Eket Union was Pastor Davis E. Otu. By 1937, other Afaha communities…had similarly formed their improvement unions. The Afaha in Southern Iman and Opobo (now Ikot Abasi and Mkpat Enin), for example formed their own in August 1931. By 1936, there was an Afaha Welfare Union among the Afaha group in Abak District”.

 The erudite historian on page 7 also documents the significant contributions made particularly in the area of education by the Afaha peoples’ Union. He specifically disclosed that the body sponsored some of her sons abroad for further studies. 

    Similarly, Okoko, in his book cited above, happily pointed out that one of the most significant contributions of Ubium Union was its collaboration with the Salvation Army to establish the first secondary school in Ubium Clan – Salvation Army Secondary School, Akai Ubium.

 From the above submissions, it is obvious that “clan” unions existed across the entire Akwa Ibom area in the colonial period. Some of the leaders of the various clan unions still actively participated in the activities of the Ibibio Union. For example, Noah records in his book cited above that Pastor Ekasi Otu, whom Abasiattai has identified as the President of Afaha Eket “Clan” Union was an active member of the Ibibio Union. See (page 151).

    From the above records, Oron Union was one of the several “clan unions” spread all over Akwa Ibom area at the time and it came into existence probably in 1942. As cogently posited by Ina, “the Oron leaders very likely did not meet in Chief Esin’s residence on the 23rd of May 1925 to form Oron Union. They had, according to Uya, met there before on the 26th of April, 1925 to discuss matters of mutual interest concerning Oron in general. Thus, the meeting of 23rd of May 1925, as Uya himself has stated, was a follow up of the meeting of the 26th of April and not necessarily for the purpose of forming an ethnic union”.

     The claim by Uya that the Oron Union was formed on the 23rd of May 1925 is not supported by credible evidence as demanded in historical writing. Indeed, Uya used his fertile imagination to reconstruct that aspect of Oron’s past. This is not acceptable in historical scholarship.

    As Mr. Thomas posed some weeks ago, let the records of the Oron Union since 1925 be published. After all, these records are of public interest and can be made available for public consumption, especially since history is public memory. The stance of this writer is based on the above evidence and it aligns with the position of Mr. Thomas on the matter: "that Oron Union was formed after 1938, probably in 1942", and was a “clan union” like similar clan unions, which did not come into national reckoning as we are now un-historically being made to believe. To believe otherwise is political and not historical.

Uwem Jonah Akpan, PhD

Click here to read more articles

>Dr. Uwem Akpan Under Threat

>Uwem Akpan's Book: Author Raises Alarm Over Threat On Informants

>Ibibio History Book Controversy: Uwem Akpan Challenges Opponents To Public Debate

>A Review Of Discourse On Cradle Of Ibibio Nation

>INTERVIEW: My Opponents Are Fighting Intellectual Battle With Diabolical Means - Uwem Akpan