Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces at the Base – Ihitte-Okwe ‘Republic’ (1)

Introduction

The necessity for collective existence is written deeply into the fabric of self-preservation of peoples in their own communities. Ihitte-Okwe is not an exception. However like small communities whose trajectories and experiences were altered irreversibly by time through colonial impositions, it is increasingly becoming difficult over time to clearly separate the benefits and costs both colonial imposition and the best of pre-imposition experiences. 

Therefore in the coming series, a narrative or commentary will be developed to shade light on Ihitte-Okwe as a place in terms of historical geography, unfinished business of Biafra and development inertia in the last two generations. Ihitta, Ihitte and Ihitte-Okwe are used interchangeably. The motivation for this exercise is knowledge stimulation and trigger for increased documentation on Ihitte-Okwe. This is not intellectual, academic or conclusive but information and ideas rendered free for use, update, modification and dissemination. My sincere apology for writing Igbo words with non-Igbo orthography.

What is?

What is Ihitte-Okwe? It is easier to go for its location than its meaning. Colloquially it is Ihitta-Okwe displaying a familiar naming convention of an entity linked its source. Apparently Ihitte is the first son of Okwe, in a family including Nnorie, Umuhu, Umukabia, Ngor and Ohekelem. The mother’s name is not available at the time of writing. The spatial or geographical contiguity/closeness of Okwe is not lost on a careful observer. 

Okwe etymologically suggest agreement or a play arrangement. There is no conclusive documented source on the subject. The same applies to Ihitta despite the fact that such name prefixes are found in various communities in Igboland. A range of options include insect attack (ihi ta), present encounter/experience (ihu ta) and greatness (iha ta). It must be appreciated that Igbo language is not a young one so a feeble attempt to create meaning is fraught with difficulties. Sound meaning are welcome for update.

Meanings are essential as they are the primary objects of individual and collective identity. Individuals can easily clarify the meanings of their first and surnames while simultaneously anchoring their origin and heritage. It seems that such may not be the case with regard to our illustrious ‘republic’. Nevertheless Ihitta-Okwe or rather Ihitta-Ofo-Asato is our subject. For comprehensive historical treatment, reference should be made to a wonderful book written by a brother from Umunokoche. It is the best work and should be in every Ihitta home. The correct name and author will be obtained shortly. 

It must be clarified that Ihitta-Ofo-Asato doesn’t strictly determine the present eight villages from its time of inception as a community. The present distribution of villages only firmed around 1940s. The technicalities behind the arrangement and allocation of Ofo is beyond the scope of this commentary. What is evident is that total population grew and declined over time as migrations continued between various okpulo (abandoned settlements) and beyond until 1940s giving rise to the current linear formations. It wasn’t always linear since motorised transportation system came with the imposition of colonialism. Apparently the norm was a clustered formation for nearly self-sufficient populations connected by paths. 

Historical Geography

Ihitta-Okwe is bounded in the south by Umukabia and Ngor, in the east by Nnorie and Umuhu, in the west by Umuowa and in the north by Umuohiagu and Nnorie. There is no clarity as to when the current boundaries of Ihitte-Okwe were finally set. It is not clear when Okwe branched-off from the southern Igbo migrations that included remnants from Mbaise and Ngwa to settle in the area. 

Since yours truly is removed from Okwe by 12 generations, a rough allocation of 30 years for a generation highlights almost 400 – 500 years difference. Bearing in mind the complexity of site identification, logistics of boundary demarcation, resources, technologies, state of virgin vegetation, security and concern of neighbours; we can surmise that the whole process of securing Ihitte-Okwe site may have taken two to three generations to complete. 

Site Selection & Demarcation

Did Ihitta & Co arrive and make uncontested claims on a virgin plot? How was the claim staked? Did Ihitta fight with first settlers to claim the site? Was the entire area claimed in one or multiple phases? Where there contests with other Okwe siblings as well as with Umuowa and Umuohiagu? How were the boundaries delineated? How was geodetic (round) nature of the earth surface accounted for? Spherical trigonometry and lunar configurations are not ruled out among others.

This will remain the biggest project ever successfully undertaken in this area for many generations to come. It is important to stress that the current villages have moved around as some have vanished into oblivion like Umuekwum. These villages are Umuogwu (Opara), Umunokoche, Umuochere, Umueke, Umuagbom (Etiti), Umuohii (Amaaki), Umuohii (Amaozi), Umuotukwe and Umuihim making up Amauku (Oriogu).

The genius of population distribution by our ancestors become clearer. The first play of high intelligence is the north-west and south east slant which perfectly aligns with the tropical wind systems that bring rain (season) and dry (season). The physical footprint is Aba-Owerri road which cut through the ‘republic’ in the same axis. An excellent benchmark for a low-flying north-bound pilot in the airspace!

Considering that surveying is a complicated scientific and mathematical business, the final 1940s pattern can only invite deeper interest and inquiry. Naturally Ihitte-Okwe ended up a scattered or federated spatial arrangement without a common centre rather has almost each village posted near the ‘international’ boundaries. This is not unique to Ihitta. Few ‘republics’ like Umuowa and Nguru Umuaro have common centres. Even though the areal footprint of the ‘republic’ is small today, it was large when it was initially acquired and demarcated. Nevertheless the spatial formation favour multiple centres.

Strategic Initiative

I conclude that the reason for allocating villages to the borders is primarily for strategic defence of its spatial integrity. Look at Amauku, Umuogwu, Umuagbom, Umuohii (Amaozi) and Umunokoche! Bear in mind that such action naturally carry implication for distribution of power and authority for proper governance of the community with a small population, low birth rate and low replacement rate. Each village power base is anchored in the 4-kindred structure. So the strategic initiative was embedded in the reasoning of ancestors allowing for path development for interaction with other villages and neighbouring communities. These paths eventually expanded into the current wider road network imposed by British colonisation for cars and lorries. 

It is also useful to highlight the current average distance between villages as another evidence of pursuing strategic defence of the frontiers. Even today the distance between Umuagbom and Amauku remains huge, similar to Umuohii (Amaaki) and Amauku. Another implication can be found in the location of public services and infrastructure. In the case of internal markets, the laws of proximity to populations was fully observed with Orie Ihitta for Amauku, Eketa for Azu Ahia as we say in Amauku, Nkwo Utu in Umuagbom and so on. 

These evidence suggest that while Ihitte-Okwe may pursue a common approach to decision making, implementation considers regional differences. The natural tendency to devolve authority and solutions is not new though it is currently misunderstood in the last generation. There was evidence of flexibility in decision making taking into account location, population concentration and accessibility. At the time the common transportation is human trekking. 

This will be continued in the next series.