ARIDON

ARIDON 2022, Vol. 2 & 3, Preliminary Pages

This essay focuses on the function of folklore to the ethnic group (Urhobo) that claims it as its heritage. The folklore encompasses almost everything about the Urhobos. Thus, this essay has attempted to touch so much that makes Urhobo land what it is and the people who they are. At the same time, from the changes taking place with time, there is the urgency to record or put in writing to preserve the ways of life we have known. Modernity and globalization will not leave Urhobo life untouched but will do all their best to change. Urhobo as a culture is not static but ever evolving and it is important to know at whatever new stage how we have been before then.

This study attempts a preliminary survey of some aspects of Urhobo culture and folklore that pertain to Urhobo worldview, scientific thought and indigenous knowledge systems. The survey is not based on any grand theories and discourses in philosophy or humanistic studies. Rather, I have identified key features and domains of Urhobo culture and folklore; they are illustrated with fragments of texts of Urhobo oral narratives and songs. In this paper, folklore, folkways, and indigenous science are treated as referring to similar realms of thought and experience. Each item of folk thought designated is described in relation to how the Urhobo utilise it to explain their existence and mechanisms for coping with and surviving in their tropical rainforest environment. The study reveals that the neglect of the traditional thoughts and indigenous folkways has handicapped the capacity of the Urhobo people to connect their past to the present. Accordingly, the concluding section of the paper calls for a review of the curriculum of educational institutions to incorporate Urhobo traditional thought, folkways, and science in the context of the competitive, global challenges of modernisation and development.

Nigeria is well known as a multiethnic, multicultural, and multilingual country with over 525 indigenous languages (Wikipedia.org). Besides these, there are exogenous languages such as English, French, Arabic, and the English-based Nigerian Pidgin (NP), which Nigerians need for communication at different times. Three Nigerian languages, namely, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba are recognized as major/national languages: they have the largest number of speakers, score highest in terms of level of sociolinguistic vitality, are the most developed for literacy and numeracy and feature strongly at all levels of the educational system in the country. All other Nigerian languages belong to the non-major group: they have fewer speakers, feature, with varying degrees of seriousness, at the 9-year Basic Education level, that is, primary to the junior secondary school level in their respective home states and most are not well equipped to feature effectively as languages of education (Bamgbose2007, Schaefer and Egbokhare 2011, among others). In this paper, we examine the situation with the use of Urhobo, a non-major Nigerian language, in education vis-a-vis the language empowerment strategies discussed by Emenanjo (2010). The study shows that there are gaps that must be filled if Urhobo is to be effectivelyused in education.

The artistic works of Bruce Onobrakpeya are derived significantly from the folklore and myths of his Urhobo people. The symbols used by the artist include masks, animal and human figure representations and plant forms. The artist employs these symbolic expressions to tell stories about the belief system of the Urhobo people as well as that of other cultures. Onobrakpeya utilizes different techniques for his artistic expressions. These efforts have been acclaimed in various publications and in several reviews of his numerous exhibitions across the globe. However, there seems to be a dearth of critical study of the value of the cultural aesthetics in his artworks. This paper, therefore, attempts to examine the aesthetic aspect of Onobrakpeya‘s works from the perspective of Urhobo culture. In doing this, the descriptive research method is employed. Among the findings is the ethno-significance of the objects from the localities used as motifs in his compositions that are simultaneously ornamental and symbolic. His application of bold textures to conceptualize human figures is a signifier of aesthetics in Urhobo cultural context. This informs the conclusion that the skillful manipulation of technique by Onobrakpeya and his invocation of local mythological subject matters are influencers of aesthetic judgment by the appreciatorsof his art works.

The subject of health is evidently the most significant aspect of humanity, which is conveyed in all cultural expressions, including artistic traditions. By implication, the state of one‘s physical and mental wellbeing is pivotal to one‘s existence and productivity in the social domain. Given the import of human health in the general social function, literary arts — oral and written— have represented, at varying degrees, issues that border on illnesses and therapeutic relationships, the aim of which is to create awareness on the clinical symptoms and treatments for different pathological conditions that manifest in people. Existing studies on the representation of illnesses and diseases in African literature focus mainly on modern African literature with no significant attention on oral arts. Prior to the emergence of written literature in Africa, indigenous arts were used to convey the socio-cultural and economic realities of the people, including human health difficulties, cure and mortality. This article, therefore, examines images of physiological and mental health conditions and therapeutic process in Udje song-poetry of the Urhobo people. Five oral poems are purposively selected from the appendices of G. G. Darah‘s seminal work on Udje, Battles of Songs: Udje Tradition of the Urhobo and are subjected to literary analysis, highlighting episodes of illness and therapeutic strategies appropriated in them. The analysis of the selected song-poems, ‗Logbo‘, ‗Kikon‘, ‗Odile‘, ‗Yangbeyan‘ and ‗Edevo‘s Death‘, is anchored on pathotextualism which foregrounds the intersection of patho (illness and disease) and text (literary text) to show the interdisciplinary relationship between literature and medicine. The study reveals that Udje song-poetry conveys indigenous health philosophy of the Urhobo people.

One of the most developed and advanced poetic genres in Africa is the Udje oral poetic form of the Urhobo people of Nigeria. As an indigenous oral song-poetry tradition that is practised by many subgroups of the Urhobo polity, Udje has been termed by scholars as the premier songpoetry tradition of the people (Clark, 1965, 2008, Ojaide, 2003, 2009, Darah, 2005, 2009, 2010 and Okpako 2011). Udje is an elaborate song-poetry tradition in which songs are composed with the sole intent to hurt the prestige of the opponent. The songs are woven in biting images that not only lampoon individual(s) with antisocial traits but satirise people with physical disabilities from rival camps. In the cultural milieu in which udje thrived, people dreaded the poet. Many relocated from their communities after being sung with stinging metaphors during udje performances. This essay leans on the above thematics to examine how the satirical butts of udje have shaped considerably the ideological outlook of the poetics of the tradition in Urhobo land. In order to place the socio-cultural artistry that animates the performance aesthetics of Udje poetic tradition in its proper perspective, the paper highlights the historical and cultural experiences of the people and how they have impacted on the aesthetic thoughts of the oral poets, and how it has helped to check the individuals with deviant behaviour as well as maintain society‘s moral balance/order. The materials for this essay are sourced from the repertoire of notable udje maestros such as Oloya of Iwhrekan, Memerume of Edjophe, Omoko of Egbo-Ideh, and Kpeha of Owahwa. The study reveals that the spirit that animates satire in Urhobo oral poetic tradition is not only to wound the personality of the individual(s) but also to maintain the delicate social equilibrium of the society. Paul Richards expresses this view when he notes that ―udje music hurts, but the stinging produces a glow‖ (2011,viii).

This paper is a study of Urhobo proverbs from a sociolinguistic perspective in the socio-context of English as a second language in Nigeria. The analysis of the proverbs is done with a view to offer a fresh insight into the contributions of Urhoboculture and language to the Urhobo-English sociolinguistic context. Our data of fifteen randomly selected Urhobo proverbs were sourced and collected from competent Urhobo native speakers. They were analyzed using Dell Hyme‘s Ethnography of Communication to enable us relate our data to aspects of Urhobo world view and culture. Our findings reveal that Dell Hymes‘ acronym SPEAKING allows for a comprehensive understanding of the social-cultural implications of proverbs due to its explicit and analytic potentials. It is, therefore, recommended that since meaning is conveyed in the second language within the mediating role of the first language, a sociolinguistic study of L1speech patterns in the context of English as a second language should be encouraged.

The occurrence of Urhobo vowels in sequence often leads to one of the vowels either deleting or becoming a glide (Aziza, 2007:465). However, the demands of syntax appear to trigger the occurrence of vowels in sequence in order to produce constructions that are grammatically acceptable in the language. This paper aims at identifying and describing such syntactic triggers that bring about this phenomenon. Data for the study was gathered from oral sources drawn from eleven (11) Urhobo proverbs.It was observed that the syntactic need to express tense, aspect, state, passivity, degree and negation in sentences brings about a reduplication of vowels. These vowelreduplicantscarry specific grammatical functions and meanings as expressed in the grammatical features they exhibit in sentences examined. The outcome of the study, therefore, highlights the role syntax plays in connecting sound to form, grammatical meaning and function of words in a natural language. It also draws attention to two other types of overt syllable structure in Urhobo (VV, CVV) as well as different types of phrases and sentences the phenomenon produces in Urhobo language.

Language is the carrier of culture and a repository of the knowledge systems that define a people. Arising from this, the problem of language endangerment is of universal concern.Music is an important functional domain in every language for several reasons. Apart from its emotive value, it isa carrier of critical aspects of ethnic knowledge and a tool for language learning.Consequently, an examination of the utility value of Urhobo music across several social categories is barometric of the vitality of the language. This paper examines theselinkages as critical factors in the discourse of Urhobo language endangerment. This research investigates intergenerational variations in the use of Urhobo music for personal and social entertainment. Six hundred and fifty-seven respondents provide data for the study. Based on the sociolinguistic survey carried out, the findings indicate that Nigerian Pidginand English based music genres are ICT - driven and have made significant inroads into domains hitherto the exclusive preserve of indigenous music.There is a marked generational decline in the preference for, and knowledge about, Urhobo music genres. The finding is another confirmation that the language isendangered.

This essay reviews the successes, failures and prospects of Urhobo traditional leadership. It begins with a brief history, as far back as possible, of Urhobo struggle for survival and the development of their lands in Nigeria‘s western Niger Delta. The historical account is followed by one of a citation of some of the accomplishments of the people many of which occurred from the 1920s through the 1950s during which Urhobo was pushed into prominence in response to a New World Order. The essay then moves on to trace the origins of the unfortunate decline of Urhobo fortunes that came with the rise of multi-party politics and the series of military interventions in Nigeria. The essay concludes with a call for the way forward to include strategies for reversing the decline of Urhobo fortunes, and ushering in an environment that is conducive for peace and development of Urhobo land.

The history of Nigerian popular theatre and drama is marked by changes and continuities, or by the decline and resurgence of older dramatic forms. And oftentimes, most of the historical dramatic forms that birthed newer art forms in Nigeria either fall under the radar, or are ‗poorly investigated‘ when historicising the emergence of Nigerian popular drama. In this essay, I investigate the emergence of Nigerian stand-up comedy from the vantage point of my Urhobo descent and argue that what has emerged as Nigerian stand-up comedy metamorphosed from Urhobo solo dramatic performances known as Igbesia and Otota Oratory performance, and conceptualised as griot performance in this study. To establish my claims, I go back and forth in the history of griot culture and Urhobo solo dramatic performance, relying on an assumption that most successful stand-up comedians in Nigeria are of Urhobo descent. I collected data from informants through interviews and analysed some stand-up performances in comparison to Otota Oratory performance by Chief ‗(Dr)‘ Samson Akpomedaye Ofua. The discoveries show that Nigerian stand-up comedy metamorphosed from historical cultural forms of dramatict entertainment in Urhobo into popular street entertainment, yielded to commercialisation of contempoparay dramatic forms, and got transformed into a form that can compete for relevance in today‘s urban setting.

This paper highlights the interrelationship between language, craft, and art, and their interconnectedness with man and his environment. The study is based on the findings from participant observation and interaction with craftsmen and craftswomen in several semi-urban and rural communities of Urhobo. It discusses the wealth of natural raw materials, the decline in indigenous craftsmanship and apprenticeship, the endangerment of the indigenous arts of Urhobo, and emphasises the need to tap into the art-cultural entrepreneurship and systematic entrepreneurial training as solution to the problem. Conclusively, the paper calls on all stakeholders to contributing to the preservation of the cultural heritage and identity of their people in order to display the material culture of Urhobo in the global cultural and creative market.

This paper is a critical examination of Hegel‘s analysis of global historical movement and its point of resonance with Urhobo migration experience. George Hegel (1770- 1831) was the foremost German philosopher of the 19th century. He was the most influential of the German idealists of the period - a list which comprise Fichte, Schelling, and Schopenhauer. Hegel‘s thoughts inspired such ideological movements as Marxism, existentialism, phenomenology and hermeneutics. At the heart of the Hegelian philosophical system is his theory of dialectics. The theory revolves around three basic assumptions: first, is that motion rather than stasis is the default state of all beings; second, that contradiction resulting in the clash of opposites is the basis of all advancement; and third is that states are the ideal context for the attainment and maximization of human freedom, which is the ultimate goal of the Absolute Spirit in universal history. Hegel applied this theory of dialectics to provide an interpretation of history. In this paper, I argue that the Hegelian dialectical theory of history adequately explains the Urhobo migration experience that occurred in the past two thousand years. During the period, the Urhobo have evolved into an organised and formidable nation with a highly developed social and political consciousness of being one people, and an ever-growing aspiration for collective advancement and the preservation of their shared cultural and scientific heritages. The Urhobo experience also exemplifies Arnold Toynbee‘s theory of historical movement in society which this study explores. I adopt the methodology of critical text analysis for my argument, which has the following effects as its aim: to debunk Hegel‘s own thesis that Africa is a historical tabula rasa which does not fit into his rendition of world historical events and processes; to establish the significance of the Urhobo people as a formidable nation group, and to provide a basis for Urhobo further nationalist aspirations in tandem with Hegel‘s projections in his idealist theory of history.

The paper examines the structural outlines of the traditional economy of the Urhobo in the nineteenth century prior to the advent of British colonial rule at about 1900. The study highlights elements of the geographic environment like climate, vegetation and soil in stimulating a meta-economy that promoted various economic activities like agriculture, industrial and handicraft manufacture, fishing, alcohol production, weaving, trade and related activities in which many segments of the population were engaged. Apart from the influence of the physical environment on the pre-colonial economy, the essay also examines cultural and historical experiences of the Urhobo as factors which helped shape their proclivity towards the ―independence‖ or self-reliance associated with the traditional occupational pursuits. Specialisation and environmental conditions further facilitated the growth of the cash or market economy in which various products of agriculture and wares of industry were exchanged. The paper submits that the structural interdependence among the various economic units, and between the economy and society‘s social and cultural institutions were salient factors which promoted sustenance, tenacity and resilience of the traditional economy of the Urhobo.

This paper examines thematic functions in the Urhobo language: using theta criteria as theoretical framework. Theta roles are concerned with agent who does what to whom? The various types of thematic functions and the manner in which they are introduced in a sentence were investigated. The basic assumption is that Urhobo language is a potential source of input for the determination of the predicate argument structure. The specific objective is to relate thematic functions to argument structure in the Urhobo language. A thorough literature was reviewed of languages whose materials were accessible at the time of this work. The method of data collection was categorised into two main sources: primary and secondary. The primary data refer to the information obtained using intuitive knowledge; the secondary source refers to documented information obtained from library, internet, and other published materials. The study showsthat an agent cannot be a patient and recipient at the same time; where there is a clash in thematic functions, the most prominent one dominates the less prominent one.It is further established that functional arguments are lexical items which strictly sub-categorise phrases in their syntactic environment.

This paper examines the speech forms in Urhobo, with the aim of identifying the different dialects in the language. It probes the effects of plenitude dialects in Translation Studies and Translation Practices. The study takes as a starting point the different speech forms spoken in each Urhobo kingdom and local government area. This is based on existing assumptions that each kingdom in Urhobo speaks a distinct dialect. Data for the study were elicited through primary and secondary methods as well as participant-observation. The data were examined using theory of social dialect variation (Kroch, 1978) and persistence theory (Kortmann, 2006). The paper observes that there are multiple dialects in Urhobo. This constitutes a problem in teaching and learning the language. This problem also culminates in the translator‘s pursuit of semantic equivalence observable in the existing literature. The study therefore argues in support of language documentation and a consensus dialect to protect the lects from endangerment.

This article investigates exploits of women in Urhobo society by examining the representation of Urhobo women in oral and written literatures. The aim is to establish the fact that women enjoyed a measure of prominence, authority and independence right from pre-colonialthrough contemporary times. It argues against the frequently projected impression that women have largely been inactive and less vibrant in political, economic, social and religious affairs especially in traditional times. The study adduces this lopsided representation of female power and role in Urhobo society to the dominance and prejudicial perspectives favoured by male chroniclers as well as lack of proper/authentic documentation of the activities of Urhobo women. It concludes that many factors, including colonialism, have almost completely erased female power and role as complements of men‘s in Urhobo society and recommends a re-examination of the pre-colonial structure of gender relations, rather than the indiscriminate clamour for equality of the sexes.

Congregational conflicts are reflections of; some of the challenges that voluntary, faith-based communities confront within the bid to live by their religious ideals. Studies of Igbe ro Orhen have focused on its historical growth and expansion. Other extant studies have interrogated its response to Christian missionary activities and conflicts with the colonial government in Urhoboland. The effects of syncretism and the proliferation of different brands of Igbe religion across Delta State have also received scholarly attention. However, there is still a need to explore conflict management of the Igbe ro Orhen within the same congregation. It is a qualitative and empirical study. It was, conducted in Delta State, Nigeria. It relied on primary data collected in Ogwa Igbe located in the following towns Kokori, Oria-Abraka, Ughelli, Otor–Udu, Eginni, Ugono, Aladja, Agbarha-Otor, Ohrere-Agbarho first in 2016. Data gathered were update in 2020. The theory of structural functionalism was engaged; as a framework for analysis. Findings show that drivers of congregational conflicts in Igbe Orhe include giving out responsibilities to new members. The Perceived partiality in leadership selection; is a cause of conflict. The attitude of toxic leaders, distribution of food during feasts, inability to pay back borrowed money and closeness to Uku/Omote Uku. The congregational conflict management mechanisms in Igbe Orhe are conflict detection, respect for the verdict of Uku or Omote Uku, religious arbitration, mediation and conciliation. The study concludes that congregational conflict management in Igbe ro Orhen is around the notion of constant reconciliation with Oweya and peaceful coexistence of fellow man to gain access to the divine blessings (material and spiritual).

Ancient Africans understood that serious illness has its roots in an individual‘s consciousness of anti-social behavior. This crystalized over evolutionary time into the Africa-wide ancestor spirit anger theory of illness or its Urhobo equivalent emuerinvwin belief. Recent studies reveal this belief to be a holistic health (wellness) doctrine, deployed in the upbringing of individuals to know that antisocial behavior (sin) predisposes the sinner to serious illness. On the other hand, an important preoccupation of Urhobo udje poetry is satire of anti-social behavior and elevation of morality. It is proposed here that udje poetry contributed to the promotion of holistic health in Urhobo society.

This is a review of the book entitled Literature and Arts of the Niger Delta, edited by Tanure Ojaide and Enajite Eseoghene Ojaruega. New York: Routledge. 978-0-367-68289-7 (hardback).

This is a review of the book entitled The Deuteronomic School in Ancient Israel, Inequality and the Church Today. ISBN: 9-789-789-649-594. (hardback) written by Ven. Matthew Ogheneochuko Iyede, Ph.D.

Ogburhukpẹ is an Urhobo poem by Dr. A. S. A. Uyovbukerhi.