Atuwatse II the (Olu of Warri kingdom)
The Kingdom of Warri is a traditional state based on the town of Warri in Delta State, Nigeria. Warri is an inland port on one of the Niger River channels in the Niger Delta. The Olu (king) of Warri is the head of the Itsekiri people.
According to Bini and Itsekiri histories Ginuwa, a prince of Benin founded the Iwerre (Warri) Kingdom about 1480. In the 15th century Warri was visited by Portuguese missionaries. At the beginning of the 17th century, a son of the reigning Olu was sent to Portugal and returned with a Portuguese wife. Their son Antonio Domingo was Olu of Warri in the 1640s. Olu Erejuwa, who reigned from about 1720 to 1800, expanded Warri politically and commercially, using the Portuguese to further Warri's independence of Benin and to establish control over a wider area.
Later Warri served as the base for Portuguese and Dutch slave traders. Warri became a more important port city during the late 19th century, when it became a centre for the palm oil trade and other major items such as rubber, palm products, cocoa, groundnuts, hides, and skins. Warri was established as a provincial headquarters by the British in the early 20th century. In May 1952 the government of Western Nigeria changed the title of the Itsekiri ruler from the Olu of Itsekiri to the Olu of Warri, at the request of the Itsekiri. The Ijaw, Urhobo and other people of the community objected to the change, since they felt the new title implied that the Olu was ruler of Warri, not just of the Itsekiri.
In 1997, The Federal Government under General Sani Abacha created a Warri South-West Local Government Council, with headquarters at Ogbe-Ijoh, in the Ijaw area of Warri. Due to political pressure by the Itsekiri, the headquarters was then relocated to Ogidigben, an Itsekiri area of Warri. Riots ensued, hundreds died, and six Shell Nigeria installations were taken over by youths. The crisis is known as the "Warri Crisis".
WARRI CRISIS
While the Ijaw and the Itsekiri have lived alongside each other for centuries, for the most part harmoniously, the Itsekiri were first to make contact with European traders, as early as the 16th century, and they were more aggressive both in seeking Western education and in using the knowledge acquired to press their commercial advantages; until the arrival of Sir George Goldie's National Africa Company (later renamed the Royal Niger Company) in 1879, Itsekiri chieftains monopolized trade with Europeans in the Western Niger region. Despite the loss of their monopoly, the advantages already held by the Itsekiri ensured that they continued to enjoy a superior position to that held by the Ijaw.
The departure of the British at independence did not lead to a decrease in tensions between the Ijaw and the Itsekiri. With the discovery of large oil reserves in the Niger Delta region in the early 1960s, a new bone of contention was introduced, as the ability to claim ownership of a given piece of land now promised to yield immense benefits in terms of jobs and infrastructural benefits to be provided by the oil companies. Despite this new factor, rivalry between the Ijaw and the Itsekiri did not actually escalate to the level of violent conflict between the two groups until the late 1990s, when the death of General Sani Abacha in 1997 led to a re-emergence of local politics.
The title one of the city's traditional ruler, the Olu of Warri, was formerly known as the Olu of Itsekiri. When the title was changed by Awolowo's Western Nigeria government from Olu of Itsekiri to Olu of Warri in 1952, members of the other tribes (Urhobos, Isokos and Ijaws) saw this as an attempt to impose an Itsekiri ruler over them. The title dispute has led to series of clashes between the tribes in Warri over sovereignty.
In 1997, The Federal Government under the late Gen. Sani Abacha created a number of local government areas, including a Warri South-West Local Government Council.
The origin of the Itsekiri tribe of Warri kingdom has always been misconstrued because of its dialectical proximity to that of the Yoruba’s. The following essay compiled by Mr Henry Erikowa reveals not just their origin and how they came about their dialect but also the role that Ijala land played in the people’s history and development.
Prince Ginuwa was the eldest son of the fourteenth Oba of Benin – Oba Olua (1473 -1480A.D.), who was also the heir apparent to the great throne of Benin Kingdom. This Prince was well loved by his father, but the Benin chiefs hated him because they claimed that he was -too proud and arrogant. They then felt that It might be bad for the Kingdom, If he was allowed to reign after his father. For that reason they planned to eliminate him, so that he couldn’t reign. This clandestine plan was divulged to the Oba by one of the Oba’s loyal chiefs. Instantly, the Oba summoned his medicine man (Idibie) and sought his counsel on this issue. ‘From the play of oracle by the Idibie, it was revealed that, the Prince must be sent away from the Kingdom. Without further delay, the escape plan of Prince Ginuwa was set in motion by the Oba.
The Oba assembled all his chiefs and demanded from them, their first sons, to accompany Ginuwa to the river to perform the rites desirable to the goddess of the river (Olokun). They all complied immediately and made their eldest sons- seventy in all available on the appointed day of departure. Except for the Oba, the medicine man and the palace attendant who hatched the escape plan, the chiefs did not know that Ginuwa and his retinue would not return to Benin. They, therefore, joined the Oba in wishing Ginuwa, safe journey and good luck on his journey in Edo language by saying “OKHIENWERE O”. There was no woman on the entourage.
The journey from Benin took them through Ugharegin to Efurokpe, Amatu and Oruselemo where Ginuwa was reported to have got married to Derumo before he finally arrived at a virgin land which was named Ijala. Before his arrival at Ijala, he had already got two male children, Princes Ijijen and lrame.
As the chiefs waited in vain for the return of their children, the clandestine plan began to unveil itself and dawned on them that the Oba had taken them for a ride. Their next line of action was to dispatch soldiers at various times to places the royal team visited, so that their children could be brought back to Benin. Suffice it to say, that none of these soldiers sent out by the chiefs achieved their desired mission. It was on one of these unfulfilled missions by the soldiers, that information reached Ginuwa and his followers about the planned onslaught on them that made them start planning their evacuation from Ijala. Unfortunately, this plan did not materialise in Ginuwa’s life time because he joined his ancestors at Ijala and was buried there. Hence, all the demised Olus have been buried at Ijala from 1500A.D to date.
Movement From Ijala To Ode-Itsekiri
His eldest son, Prince Ijijen, immediately took up the royal command as was and still the practice in Benin Kingdom where primogeniture thrives, and all honour due to him was accordingly given. The planned movement from Ijala was, therefore, executed by Prince Ijijen with the aid of an Idibie (medicine man or a diviner) who threw a magical spear (Egan or Etsoro) that was believed to have landed at a location called Okotomu, now Ode-itsekiri (Big Warri).
The tracing of that spear by Prince Ijijen and his people, with the help of the Idibie piloting, finally brought them to the spear’s location. It was here they met a group of people believed to have migrated from the South East region of the Yoruba territory who are now the bulk of the Iwere people (Oma- jaja).
The present site of the Warri Kingdom Royal Cemetery is the original place of abode of Olu Ginuwa 1. After the movement of all the entourage to Ode – Itsekiri (Big Warri) the area remained uninhabited and thus, became a royal grove reserved solely