RESOLVING THE WARRI TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY DISAGREEMENT AMONG URHOBOS, IJAWS AND ITSEKIRIS IS TO TELL OURSELVES THE BITTER TRUTH 

-By Zik Gbemre 

RESOLVING THE WARRI TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY DISAGREEMENT AMONG URHOBOS, IJAWS AND ITSEKIRIS IS TO TELL OURSELVES THE BITTER TRUTH 

The Urhobos and Ijaws are proud of their tribes except Itsekiri people who shy to call themselves Itsekiri people but prefer to adopt a political name created by the White Europeans. Itsekiri people are ashamed to identify with their tribe's name, Itsekiri and they prefer to be known as Warri people. 

Is there anything hidden why the Itsekiri people abandoned their native name of Itsekiri  for Warri that was created by the White Europeans? Before the White Europeans who invaded our African communities they were already natives living there who they met. 

The Europeans invaded our communities because they were not invited and never did they seek for visitors visas. They forcefully took over our lands from our ancestors imposed their colonial administration and took our abled men and women and raw materials to their countries accross the atlantic ocean to build their home countries to what they are today and they imposed their religion and culture on Africans. 

The White Europeans can't deny that they were not invaders. They can't deny they didn't take our black Africans forcefully in chains and some died in the process. It is so disgusting that Itsekiri elites now proud to tender frivolous documents allegedly given to them by European invaders. Do they mean the White European invaders wrote their history for them? 

The Warri disagreements took a different turn since 1952 when Obafemi Awolowo's government of Western Nigeria changed the title of the Itsekiri traditional ruler from Olu of Itsekiri  to Olu of Warri (a title that had been defunct for 88yrs and was reinstated by the British in 1936) according  to Wikipedia. 

I pity some Itsekiri elites to have said that White European invaders wrote a Survey Plan of Warri in 1474 AD. In 1474 AD there was no Survey Plan in the whole of West  Africa. The first Survey Plan in Nigeria was done by the British. The first known Survey Plan in West Africa, specifically  Nigeria, involved establishing a Survey System in 1891. This early Surveying was driven by British interest,including the need for infrastructure development and resource extraction.  The development of Survey systems in West Africa,particularly in Nigeria was closely tied to colonial expansion of colonial powers according to Mycordinates.org.
Packs of lies by some Itsekiri elites and people taken too far in this digital era that Warri Survey Plan was drafted in 1474 AD.

There have been pockets of disagreements between these three ethnic groups caused by European invaders and some Itsekiri women took advantage of the white male Europeans who didn't come with their wives due to fear of mosquitoe bites that could cause severe malaria diseases.

Solution, revert the title of Olu of Warri to Olu of Itsekiri Warri Kingdom, revert to Ovie of Agbarha-Ame Warri Kingdom, revert to Orosue of Okere-Urhobo Warri Kingdom, revert to Pere of Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom and revert to Pere of Gbaramatu Warri Kingdom to reflect these three tribes in Warri Federal constituency known as Urhobo, Itsekiri and Ijaw.

The title of Olu of Warri is misleading the public because it is not the reality on ground. The Warri Urban which is Warri South LGA is dominated by the Agbarha-Ame and Okere Urhobo aborigines while the Warri South West and Warri North LGAs are dominated by Ijaw aborigines.

Any visitor or stranger visiting Warri South, Warri South West and Warri North LGAs is misled by the title of Olu of Warri which is not the reality on ground. There is no title as Warri Kingdom because it doesn't exist in reality. We have Urhobo monarchs,Ijaw monarchs and Itsekiri monarch in the three LGAs of Warri, no dispute about it. Olu is the monarch for the Itsekiri aborigines only and not Olu of Urhobo aborigines and Ijaw aborigines of Warri. Itsekiri people should stop the day dream and face reality and truth rather than misleading the public. 

There is nothing like Warri Kingdom in reality since Warri is owned by three tribes of Urhobo,Itsekiri and Ijaw. Those who live in Warri Urban know that one can't buy any piece of land from Olu of Warri and his Itsekiri people in Warri Urban. The lands in Warri Urban are owned by the aborigines of Agbarha-Ame and Okere-Urhobo.  

Itsekiri people are shy of living in their creek hamlets. They clog around major cities while their communities go into extinction because they don't live in them unlike Ijaw people who live in their communities and proud of their home communities hence they develop them as tourist centres.

I will like to share the view I saw published by Malcom Freeman Godfrey on the definition of Aborigines as related to Warri.

According to Malcolm Freeman Godfrey, "Aborigines mean you have been existing on that Land before strangers came in to settle down.

"The Australian black aborigines, the American Red Indians are classical examples of people who were already existing on their land before white Europeans from Britain arrived to settle down.

"The aborigines have no land documents, they were primarily hunters and farmers, and they live in a close family setting unit.

"It was the settlers (British) who arrived at both Australia and America that came to set up a government structure. The aborigines knew nothing about government, its system, power structures, and legal framework.

"Now, do we now say the aborigines are tenants and strangers in Australia and America because they have no paper documents to claim ownership of their own land? 

"Do we now conclude the Europeans who crossed the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to America and Australia own the land because they created the government that are presently governing both countries?

"Warri already had aborigines (Ijaws, Urhobos and Itsekiris) before the British came in to set up trade routes, outpost and government.It was the British who created a legal system of government in Nigeria cum every province (Warri is one of them) that they governed.

"So, for anyone to come up with any 11 AD and 12 BC land documents to claim Warri, it means such individuals are settlers who came from Europe to Warri. I want to believe none of the three ethnic groups in Warri have any trace of originating from England. 

"Maybe those claiming Warri as owners came in as conquerors. They conquered the aborigine Ijaws and Urhobos, and set up a government that have police, local court, and administrative offices.

"Now this is an assignment for those always peddling 'tokubo' made documents as claim of ownership of Warri. Go do a research on aboriginal tribes all over the world, if you can come up with any legal document that gave ownership to the indigenes, I will gladly accept your ownership of Warri claim."

- Malcolm Freeman Godfrey

With this well researched facts of the meaning of Aborigines the government shouldn't shy away from correcting the wrong by changing the title of Olu of Warri to Olu of Itsekiri as it was before 1952. It will be unfair and unjust to allow the Olu and Itsekiri people to lord over the two tribes of Urhobo and Ijaw in Warri so that the public will not be misled. 

Let the Itsekiri people go back to their roots in Benin river communities rather than clogging around major cities while their home communities are deserted by them. If they don't develop their communities in creeks and Benin river who will now develop it for them? 

Olu and Itsekiri people should return home and build their home communities.

Zik Gbemre
May 26,2025

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