Background
There are never a people without a history, and for this reason, the people of Etche have a history, and indeed, a sense of history. A cursory look at the historical study of Etche reveals that thier history is fraught with problems: problems emanating from conflicting and contradictory accounts of the origin(s) of the people, or the place(s) from where they migrated to their present settlement, and the earliest settlements and the times the movements took place. In addition, there are many historical gaps which have made the work of the historian. Herculean Indeed, some of the historical facts are not only inconsistent, but also scanty and inadequate.
Two theories of origin of Etche are discernable. They are, one: the Benin origin, and two: the Igbo origin. It is however instructive to observe that the history of Etche has nothing to do with the history of some ethnic groups in Nigeria such as that of the Yoruba and the Edo which believe in independent generation theory (the tochtony). This theory is predicted on the world being created where they (Yorubas/Edo) now live as “found in the Osanobuan tradition of the Edo, and the Oduduwa-Obatala legend of the Yoruba”. The people of Etche migrated from somewhere to their present settlements at various times. Two places have been suggested. They include Benin of the old Bini Empire and Igbo of Igboland.
The Benin Origin
In the very ambitious attempt to reconstruct the historical past of Etche, Achonwa (1989) traced the migration of the people to Benin. According to him:
The Etche people left the Benin Kingdom about 7th century. They moved up to Aboh, and entered the Orashi River through Ndoni creek, settling for a brief while at the present day Omoku… They moved eastwards up to Abua. They crossed Abua to Ndele on land. … Stopping finally at Igbo, the first Etche settlement.
A critical analysis of the two accounts reveals that the Igbo axis might have been the first settlement site of the Etche. While one of the accounts mentions Ozuzu axis as among the earliest settlement in Etcheland. We are inclined to believing that Igbo axis was indeed the first settlement spot of the Etche people. However, in spite of the seeming disparity of the two settlement spots, all we are made to believe is that Etche settled in either of them. And there is no doubt that settlements were also going on in the other four clans at about the same time. Although the account gives the impression that Etche , and her neighbors such as Ogbah and Ikwerre have a common pedigree as enunciated by Achonwa and Amaele. But the bone of contention here is the exact date of migration. Again, we are lost in the labyrinths of history.
The Igbo Origin
The accounts of the Benin origin are at variance with some other established views on the history of Etche. One of such views is that expressed by Professor Afigbo – a distinguished historian, who traced the history of the Igbo people essentially to two sources. The first theory, according to him links the Igbo to the East – Hermetric hypothesis. This claim:
Asserts that in the beginning the Igbo were either one of the tribes of Israel or of Egypt that for unspecified reason they left the East, wandered across the Sudan to come and settle where we now find them.
In other to elucidate his claims, Afigbo traced the origin of the Igbo to 3000 BC century to 1300 AD as suggested by Talbot. Resting his account “on” legends, oral tradition, ethnographic and ecological evidences. Afigbo posits that “scholars have long come to the conclusion that the Nri-Akwa-Orlu axis represents the earliest Igbo settlement” from where they spread to different directions. Among the groups that moved southward, according to him, are “the Uratta, Ikwerre, Etche, Asa and Ndoki Igbo of present times”.
The second source is premised on the linguistic origin of Igbo, which like “the Edo, Yoruba, Idoma , Igala, and Akan languages, belongs to the larger family of African languages known as the Niger-Congo stock”. In this regard, linguistic affinity could also be used to determine the origin of a people. This is clearly stated by Johnson in Williamson (1987) thus:
There is no tracing the connection of ancient nations, but by language, therefore. I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigrees of nations. If you find the same language in distant countries, you may be sure that the inhabitants of each have been the same people.
If this submission is anything to go by, we can say without equivocation and contradiction that the linguistic relationship between the Igbo language and that of the Etche has been established as corroborative evidence to Afigbo’s historical position. For example, in an incisive study of the language s spoken in Riveres State, Williamson classified the major languages that have sonic linguistic affinity with the Igbo language as “Igboid”. She listed the language groups in this category as follows: Ekpeye, Ikwerre, Ogbah, Egbema and Echie.
Oral Tradition
There arev strong oral evidences in favour of the Igbo origin of Etche. There is no controversy over the first settlement in Etche land – Igbodo, the next being Igbo-Anwhurinwhu, according to oral sources.
A school of thought says that the bone of contention does not lie in the first who settled rather in the eldest of the two – Igbodo and Igbo-Anwhurinwhu. The school further claims that the name “Igbodo” simply is a corruption of the original name of one of the sons of Echie. The actual name, they say is “Mgbeudo” a time of peace. For “Igbo-Anwhurinwhu” they maintained that the real name is “Mbe-Anwhurinwhu” – a time of restlessness. They concluded that one cannot talk of peace if one has not experienced some form of discomfort, restiveness and crisis.
The above argument notwithstanding, it is clear that the constituent parts of Etche did not settle at their present locations at the same time. There were waves of migrations at different times. The interesting part of these movements was the accommodating spirit of our forefathers. For example, some villages left their original settlements in Etche for another place within the clan. For example, Umuoga in Umuechem community left Umouga – Igbodo and joined the Umuonyia –Egwi before finally settling at Umechem. Okomoko originally used to be part of Akpoku community, but left and settled at her present location. These movements are inter-clan re-locations. There were also intra-clan resettlements, e.g. Umuofor –Mba from Umuofor Oruru –Ozuzu. There were also migrations from other tribes into Etche. For example, Umuekweshi in Umuechem can from Omademe. There are many instance of such movements which, like other factors, contributed to the dispersal of the people in Etche land.
Suggestions
Now that this paper has rekindled in us the desire to document the history our people. We should rise to the occasion: the challenge is timely, though enormous. First, every clan should set up a committee. Made up chiefs, elders and the educated class. Charged with the responsibilities of producing the history of the various settlements in it. Second, the Study Group on Etche History should work in concert with the suggested committee in order to raise a comprehensive and authentic history of Etche, which would be acceptable to almost everybody in Etche land. Third, all the clan heads should be able to know the history of their clans, as the custodian of their people’s culture and traditions and should be able to tell same to their subjects when occasions demand. By so doing, we shall keep the history of Etche alive. Finally, a History Workshop/Seminar should be organized at the National (i.e. Etche) level to collate the data gathered by the various clan committees. This will go a long way in achieving the objectives of this paper.
Conclusion
From the foregoing, we have cast a critical and cursory glance at the origins of Etche ethnic nationality with particular reference to their migration and dispersal to their present locations. It could be stated that the theory of the Benin origin might not be completely ruled out since many West African peoples claim their origin from it. But one is more inclined to lean on the Igbo backed up by a strong determining factor – Language, which is an indispensable barometer in identifying “the pedigree of nations”.