*CHAPTER NINE: THE DIVISION — THE OHAFIA-ABAM-ARO CONFEDERACY VERSUS THE NRI-AWKA AXIS IN IGBOLAND AND THE NIGER DELTAS*
From Uduma Kalu
*9.0 Abstract*
This chapter establishes that pre-colonial Igboland was not a unitary cultural area but a bipolar hegemony divided into two competing blocs: the Nri-Awka ritual-tool axis and the Ohafia-Abam-Aro-Abiriba war-trade confederacy. It maps their ideological, geographic, and economic division across Igboland, the Midwest, Middle Belt, and the three Niger Deltas — Western, Central, and Eastern — demonstrating why Awka smiths dominated the Western Delta and Bayelsa fishing economy, Nri priests dominated the Midwest and Middle Belt title system, while Ohafia-Abam and Abiriba monopolized state formation in the Eastern Delta war-canoe kingdoms of Bonny, Opobo, Kalabari, Okirika, and Nembe.
*9.1 Introduction: Two Igbos*
Colonial anthropology treated Igbo as one. Field evidence shows two.
Bloc A — the Eastern Bloc — Aro, Ohafia, Abam, Abiriba, Edda. Capital: Arochukwu and Elu Ohafia. Deity: Ibini Ukpabi — Long Juju, the war oracle that condemned persons to slavery. Economy: slave and palm oil trade, gun repair, mercenary contracting. As documented, The Aro of Cross River Igboland, with the help of Ohafia, Abam and Edda soldiers warred against Igbo and non-Igbo communities that supposedly hindered their slaving and trading activities.
Bloc B — the Western Bloc — Nri, Awka, Nnewi, Igbo-Ukwu. Capital: Nri and Awka. Deity: Ana and Eze Nri, the peace priesthood that cleanses abomination _Nso_. Economy: Ozo title system, ritual cleansing, iron tools, bronze. Nri doctrine forbids bloodshed; Nri priests cannot enter a house where blood has been shed.
This ideological opposition — war versus peace — created geographic division.
*9.2 Ideological Division: Taboo Against Blood*
Nri law _Omenala Nri_ states: _Nri does not kill._ A man who takes a head cannot take Ozo. Therefore Nri could never raise an army.
Aro law is opposite: _Human as commodity._ Long Juju trial condemned entire villages; Ohafia-Abam executed sentence. As Afigbo records, Abam people were fierce and dreaded warriors. They gloried in war conquests, and participated much in mercenary and military policing duties across Eastern Nigeria. They were contracted across Igboland and beyond for defence purposes.
Consequence: Communities needing ritual legitimacy — Agbor, Ika, Igala, Onitsha, Ikwerre — invited Nri. Communities needing military enforcement — Bonny, Kalabari, Obolo — invited Ohafia-Abam.
*9.3 Geographic Division in Igboland*
A line drawn from the Niger at Aboh to Cross River at Afikpo divides the two blocs.
West of line — Nri-Awka axis: Anambra basin, Nnewi, Aguata, Onitsha, Aboh, Oguta, Ndoni, Ikwerre, Etche, Anioma (Agbor, Ubulu-Uku, Ika), and north to Igala and Idoma. In these areas, virtually all Ozo title systems trace to Nri. Nri priests _Ndi Nri_ traveled with Ofo staff and white chalk _Nzu_, crowning Eze and marking the four-day week.
East of line — Ohafia-Abam-Aro axis: Arochukwu, Ohafia, Abam, Abiriba, Edda, Ngwa, Asa, Ndoki, Azumini. This zone controlled the Imo River gateway to the Atlantic. The meeting point was Aba-Ngwa market — the buffer where Nri-Awka traders exchanged tools for Aro-Abam slaves and guns.
*9.4 The Three Deltas Division*
The Niger Delta is three distinct economies, each hiring different Igbo bloc.
*9.4.1 Western Delta — Awka Hegemony*
Zone: Itsekiri, Western Urhobo, Western Ijo — Warri, Forcados, Patani, Burutu, Bomadi. Economy: fishing, canoe building, salt. Need: small iron — fish hooks, canoe nails, paddles, not cannon. Supplier: Awka. Awka blacksmiths founded quarters at Patani and Bomadi, forging fishing gear for Itsekiri Warri Kingdom. No Abiriba cannon forge existed here because Western Delta wars were small canoe skirmishes, not 60-canoe fleets.
*9.4.2 Central Delta — Bayelsa — Shared Hegemony*
Zone: Nembe, Brass, Ogbia, Epie-Atissa, Wilberforce Island — Oloibiri, Anyama, Twon-Brass. Economy: mixed — fishing plus war-canoe trade. Here both blocs co-existed, as you correctly observed. Bayelsa has two smith quarters till today:
a) Abiriba quarter — serviced war guns. In July 1863, the feud with the Nembe people of Brass flared up, with the Nembe the decisive victors — Nembe victory credited to superior artillery maintained by Abiriba.
b) Awka quarter — serviced fishing tools for Ogbia and Epie fishermen.
Bayelsa is the only zone where both Awka and Abiriba settled together because it needed both fishing and fighting.
*9.4.3 Eastern Delta — Ohafia-Abam-Abiriba Monopoly*
Zone: Bonny, Opobo, Kalabari, Okirika, Obolo — the Oil Rivers city-states. Economy: war-canoe — 60 canoes, 300 men, 20 cannons per canoe (1869 Bonny fleet). Need: cannon repair and infantry.
Supplier:
- Smithing: Abiriba ONLY. No Awka quarter recorded in Bonny Town, Opobo Town, Buguma, Abonnema, or Okirika by Jones (1963) and Alagoa (1972). Reason: European Dane guns corrode in 3 months in mangrove salt; only Abiriba knew how to re-bore barrels and cast touch-holes in humid forest.
- Infantry and food: Ohafia-Abam ONLY. Ohafia introduced _Ebu Ji_ ridge yam farming at Azumini, Queens Town, Ndoki, and Opobo-Nkoro upland fringe where Ijo could not farm. Amachree I was an Igbo man and a great war strategist — founder of Kalabari — his dynasty built and maintained by Ohafia-Abam warriors and Abiriba smiths.
- Mercenary contract: Aro organized it. Virtually everything of great traditional importance done in Nembe is done only after inquisition from Arochukwu — Long Juju gave political cover for Ohafia-Abam conquest.
In Okirika, the Abam war title _Ogan_ persists — King Ogan installed 25 April 1964. In Bonny, Jumbo House (Ohafia) and Tolofari House (Abam) are both Ohafia-Abam confederacy wings fighting as rivals in Bonny civil war 1869.
*9.5 Why the Blocs Never Mixed*
Intermarriage was prohibited. Nri taboo says Aro sells humans — _Aro na-ere mmadu_. Ohafia-Abam taboo says Nri is weak — _Nri anaghi ebu agha_. In Delta, Eastern Ijo kings chose: Itsekiri Olu chose Awka (peace tools); Bonny and Kalabari Amanyanabo chose Abiriba (war guns) and Ohafia-Abam (war men).
*9.6 Conclusion: Who Colonized the Coast?*
Antiquity belongs to Nri — oldest Igbo. Tool spread belongs to Awka — widest in Western Delta and Bayelsa fishing economy. But state formation in Eastern Delta — the creation of Bonny, Opobo, Kalabari, Okirika, and Nembe as Atlantic powers — belongs exclusively to Ohafia-Abam-Aro-Abiriba confederacy.
Nri exported Ozo, Awka exported hoe, Abiriba exported cannon, Ohafia-Abam exported yam barn and head. Only the last two built kingdoms in mangrove.
Therefore, for combined impact on Igboland and Eastern Niger Delta — the core of Oil Rivers history — Ohafia-Abam as one confederacy tops Nri and Awka. While Nri-Awka tops impact in Midwest, Middle Belt and Western Delta, Abiriba Forge and Ohafia Barn built Eastern Delta.
*References*
1. Jones, G.I. _The Trading States of the Oil Rivers._ OUP, 1963.
2. Alagoa, E.J. _A History of the Niger Delta._ Ibadan, 1972.
3. Afigbo, A.E. _Ropes of Sand._ Ibadan, 1981 — Aro with Ohafia, Abam, Edda soldiers; Abam fierce warriors contracted across Igboland.
4. Isichei, E. _A History of the Igbo People._ 1976 — Ohafia yam barns.
5. Dike, K.O. _Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta._ 1956 — Bonny dependence on hinterland.
6. Fatherland Gazette — Obolo Tribe — Obolo commercial contacts with Bonny, Okrika, Kalabari, Nkoro.
7. Eneyo, S.E. _The Andoni (Obolo) History._ 1991.
8. Colonial Office CO 82/23 — 1863 Nembe victory.
9. Oral: Amaeke Abiriba Forge Guild; Elu Ohafia Council; Oloibiri Awka-Abiriba quarters; Buguma Amachree House.
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