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78-697: Ekpu Oro are ancient carved wooden images made from the 'Oko' tree representing the ancestral father of the Oron people of the Akpakip Oro kingdom. The Earliest known ancient wooden carving images of the Oron people is dated to the 2370BC. Found today in the Oron Museum and other museums around the world, Some of the finest wooden statuary attributed to Oron people were beautifully carved ekpu (ancestral figures) which were destroyed and removed from Nigeria during

156-482: A centre of attraction for young people wishing to experience the outside world. The language has a certain social status. Efik proverbs are being quoted by Balondo speakers in public meetings. Several words of Efik origin can equally be found in English, such as Angwantibo , Buckra and Obeah . The Efik alphabet since 1973 is as follows: Some publications substitute Ñ ñ for N̄ n̄ . Ị and Ụ transcribe

234-707: A creolised form of the Efik Language is used in the Abakuá secret society, which has its roots in the Efik Ekpe secret society in Nigeria. /b/ has several allophones. These allophones are dependent on the position of /b/ in a word. In final positions it occurs as an unreleased stop phonetically represented as [p̚], as in the following imperative verbs. [kop̚] (listen!), [sɔp̚] (quick!), [fɛp̚] (dodge!). /p/ in Efik

312-468: A grave, mid tone by a macron, falling tone by a circumflex and rising tone by a caron. The Efik vocabulary has continually expanded since the earliest contact with surrounding ethnicities and European traders. Although, Professor Mervyn D. W. Jeffreys argues that "Efik is far poorer in its vocabulary than Ibibio", Donald C. Simmons counters this statement argueing that there is no evidence to support Jeffreys statement. Due to its geographical position along

390-450: A large number of Church hymns together with his wife, Mrs Jane Ndang. Between the 1930s to 1950s, Magazines, Newspapers and periodicals were published in the Efik language. From the early 1930s, there was a twelve-page quarterly magazine in Efik, "Obụkpọn Obio" (Town Bugle) edited by Reverend James Ballantyne. The work was designed for the general reader and featured a range of topics, from Usuhọde ye Uforo Obio (The decline and prosperity of

468-604: A mud skipper helped the Enwang cross the Mbo river to Uba where a new settlement was established, the advanced party sent words to others who were behind to join them as days went by the population grew. As pointed earlier, the tradition of origin and migration is accepted as among every Enwang family. It is no little fact that the Enwang are more related in origin to the Efiks than their Oron neighbours, as they agree to their relationship with

546-553: A new fishing ground, secondly the Idua were drawn into conflicts between one man name Okpo of Atebi-Eket who was accused of witchcraft but decide to find refuge among the Idua. Subsequently, Ntekim left Ikot Use Ekong with some of his children namely, Odiong, Ntekim, Mba, Abia, Essang, Nta and Uyi and arrived today Oron territory at a place called Anaisong , located between Oruko and Mbukpo-Uko-Akai . Further movement took them to Eyo Ekung Inyang with his followers between Udung Uko and

624-645: A question put to Mr Udoma Asuquo by Chief Nyong Essien , an Ibibio, The Chief Secretary to the government said "They Ukpabang are not of Ibibio Origin, and are not accepted as such by the Ibibios". Similarly in the Local Government Reform in the Calabar province (1949) Mr R.M Stevens pointed out that "They Oron are extremely unwilling to be dragged into the predominantly Ibibio unit, in which they feared they will be swamped". This of course,

702-640: A result of the war of the Pygmies (a dwarfish people of Equatorial Africa) which had scattered most of the Africans – known to Oro people as: Efik language The Efik Language has undergone several linguistic classifications since the 19th century. The first attempt at classifying the Efik language was by Dr. William Balfour Baikie in 1854. Dr Baikie had stated, "All the coast dialects from One to Old Kalabar, are, either directly or indirectly, connected with Igbo , which later Dr. Latham informed that, it

780-497: A town) to Ufọk Ndọ (Matrimonial home) and other similar topics. This was followed in the 1940s by "Un̄wana" (light), a monthly periodical of 32 pages, edited by E.N. Amaku. From 1948 to 1950, an eight-page weekly newspaper in Efik, "Obodom Edem Usiahautin" (Eastern Talking Drum), edited by Chief Etim Ekpenyong and printed at the Henshaw Press was sold at 2d each. It supplied regular world news (Mbụk n̄kpọntibe ererimbuot) and

858-629: Is certainly related to the Kafir class". The Kafir Class was a derogatory term used to describe the Bantu languages. Thus, Dr Baikie attempts to classify the Efik Language as linked to the Bantu languages. The next attempt to classify the Efik language was by Rev. Hugh Goldie who classified the Efik Language as one of the Northern Languages which he states, "forms by far the greater part of its as

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936-526: Is from 24th century BC, around 2370 BC, according to evidence from ancient Oron ancestral carvings, the Ekpu Oro found today in the Oron Museum and other museum specifically National Museum of China around the world. Some of the finest wooden statuary attributed to Oron peoples are beautifully carved ekpu (ancestral figures). Many of these were destroyed and removed from Nigeria during the Biafran war in

1014-553: Is its morphological feature. According to Greenberg, "the trait of the Niger–Congo morphology which provides the main material for comparison is the system of noun classification by pair of affixes." Due to the large number of synonyms in the Efik vocabulary, scholars like Der-Houssikian criticised Greenberg's linguistic classification stating, "Ten of the Efik entries have in Goldie's dictionary several synonyms. This immediately brings up

1092-532: Is not to deny that the two groups have interacted over the years and in the process influenced each other. Secondly Oron tradition maintain that Abang Okpo the putative father of the Oron and his followers came from Ancient Kemet before the advent of the Moslems and Arabs in that region according to evidences from ancient Oron ancestral cravings Ekpu Oro . In support of the Mediterranean origin of

1170-436: Is only found in final positions and can only be realised as /β/ in intervocalic position, example; [dép] + [úfɔk] = [déβúfɔk]. If it is, however, immediately followed by a consonant, it occurs as a released stop phonetically, as in these examples: [r] (or [ɾ] ?) does not form minimal pairs with [d] and so is likely to be an allophone. Like /b/, /t/ and /k/ are unreleased in final positions. Thus, phonetically we have

1248-405: Is preceded by a stop or fricative, it is deleted, and the /d/ always occurs as [ɾ]. Examples include: When a nasal occurs initially and before another consonant, it is syllabic. Vowels in Efik vary phonetically depending on whether they occur between consonants (for example in closed syllables, but also in open syllables in the middle of a word). These sounds are shorter and more centralized than

1326-405: Is predominantly tonal in structure, and this is essentially the pitch of the voice in saying a word or syllable of a word A word may have two or more meanings depending on the tonal response of the speaker. Examples include: Ákpá – River, Àkpá – First and Àkpà – Stomach. In Efik, there are five different tone marks that aid in the identification of words. High Tone is marked by an acute, low tone by

1404-463: Is usually called by its members as Oro Ukpabang ; Akpakip Oro ; or Oro Ukpabang Okpo . These names are derived from their ancestral father Abang Okpo . The Akpakip Oro are made up of nine clans known as Afaha . Akpakip Oro is a multi-ethnic nation which is made up of six groups: scroll down for further reading about the several groups. The earliest known reference to the Oron Nation

1482-824: The Balondo-ba-Konja in the Congo . The geopolitical restructuring of states and local government within Nigeria has seen the egalitarian society of the Oron Nation being fragmented politically in the Niger Delta . They have been divided across two separate Nigerian states, the Cross River State and Akwa Ibom state , and then into five local government areas (LGAs) within the Akwa Ibom state namely Oron LGA (Oron Central), Okobo,Udung Uko, Mbo and Urue Ofong Oruko Local Government Areas. The Oron Nation

1560-445: The Biafran war in the late 1960s. Ekpu Oro ancestral figures existed as summaries of the personal and social experiences of the Oron people of Southeastern Nigeria - they embodied Oron spiritual beliefs and cultural history; hence, were vessels for the spirits of the dead that instilled great influence over the daily, religious, and social lives of the living. As an art form, Ekpu held the key to understanding Oron past tradition that

1638-755: The Semitic class does, from the root of the verb." Another attempt was made by Westermann who classified the Efik languages as belonging to the West Sudan group of the Sudanic languages . The present linguistic classification was made by Greenberg who groups Efik in the Benue-Congo sub-family of the Niger-Congo family. One of the criteria of the inclusion of the Efik language into the Niger–Congo family

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1716-956: The riverine area of Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State and in Cameroon . Akpakip Oro are regarded as an ancient warrior people, speaking the Oron ( Oro) language which is in the Cross River language family of the Benue–Congo languages . They are ancestrally related to the Efik people of the Cross River State, the Ibeno and Eastern Obolo (ie Adoni East) in Akwa Ibom, the Andoni people in Rivers State , Ohafia in Abia State and

1794-547: The Balondo Language consists of Efik words. Julian Loperus in her book The Londo Word (1985) states, The geographical position of the Balondo area, Just to the east of Cross River delta, also explains the rather large proportion of borrowed Efik. Ibibio and possibly other cross river languages. Not only do many Nigerians speaking these languages work in palm plantations in the Balondo area, but Calabar appears to be

1872-485: The Benue Congo subfamily. The Efik language was first put into writing in 1812 by Chief Eyo Nsa, also known as Willy Eyo Honesty. The following words were obtained from Chief Eyo Nsa by G. A. Robertson: Prior to the documenting of words in the Efik language by Chief Eyo Nsa, several traders in old Calabar could read and write and had kept journals albeit in the English language. The earliest written letter from

1950-528: The Cross River and Atlantic coast namely Ube Usukpong also known as Ine Nsesiri, Akpando, Esit Akpa Edok, Ine Ekoi, Abana Community and Ine Odiong. The last village to be established was Esit Edik which was to serve as a hideout in times of trouble. Okobo group formed another distinct group of the Oron people, bounded in the North and West by Uruan and Nsit clan of Ibibio, on the south by Oron Ukpabang and on

2028-437: The Efiks and accept brotherly relationship with the Oron. The Oron Ukpabang Group are as far the largest group in Oron, and it is in the recognition of this that the area is named after them, the population os concentrated in the hinterland with Udung Uko , Eyo Abasi , Nsie, Oruko , Mbukpo-Eyakan and Oyubia having large concentration. Oron tradition of Origin and migration are on four important points, first contrary to

2106-562: The Eket region. Here war broke out which force the followers of Otong to migrate further. This later movement brought the Ebughu to their present abode. The last version of Ebughu origin and migration is that the putative ancestor of the Ebughu, Otong migrated from the Cameroons and first settle at Obutong, near Calabar, later they left Calabar and migrated to Akani Obio, where they settled with

2184-463: The Europeans 'Mbátáng', meaning Stealers of men , a description summarising the most prominent feature of the Oron's early contact with Europeans: The newcomers enslaving Africans and taking them to unknown destinations. This name is still in use today. Neither the Bantu's attire nor any other cultural equivalent anywhere portrays that of Oron language or names. None of Oron Nation culture or names

2262-871: The Ibibio, the Efik language was accepted as the language of literature due to a translation of the Bible into Efik by the Church of Scotland mission. The Efik Language equally survived in the West Indies due to the exportation of slaves from the Cross River Region. Words of Efik origin can be found in the vocabulary of the Gullah Geechee people of the United States. Within the diaspora in Cuba,

2340-535: The Idua Oron". At Idua Eket 'Ntekim' rise as an accepted leader. Tradition as it that at Eket the two migrants broke into two group one heading towards Calabar and the other towards Oron where they founded Esuk Akpa and among others. Since then, till now the Eket and the Idua chiefs always come together in meeting to raise issues that is affecting them". It is said that three things made the Idua to move from Eket, apparently Ntekim and his followers move in other to find

2418-471: The Idua people but due to quarrel they left to their present abode. All version is considered by different segment of the Ebughu people but acknowledge Otong as their Putative ancestor. Enwang group is one of the Oron people groups that inhabit the Mbo littoral called Effiat Mbo. Today they live principally in the village called Eyo Ukut , Eyo Efai , Uba, Ubotong , Uko Akpan , Ekiebong , Udombo , Ibete and Udini , except from Ibuet Ikot and Udung Eyo

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2496-473: The Idua people of Oron trace their migration to their present abode from the Andoni, which is also regarded as the main dispersal for some Oron Ukpabang groups. From tradition after their arrival from Usangale now in Cameroons, Idua people settled at Anyangala in present-day Andoni which was at that time occupied with several groups. In a subsequent dispute over land which broke out and erupted into open war between

2574-694: The Kiong language spoken by the Okoyong people is extinct because its speakers have imbibed the Efik language over the years. The same is also said of the Efut language spoken by the Efut people in Calabar South, Apart from being the language that is spoken by a third of Cross River State as an L1, it is the L2 or L3 of most Cross River indigenes. For the purpose of advertising, the language is most used after English in

2652-499: The Lower Cross River, the Efik language adopted foreign words. The Efik dictionaries of Goldie, Aye and Adams reveal some words of Efut, Qua and Igbo origin adopted into the Efik Language. Words of Efut and qua origin exist in the Efik vocabulary by virtue of their long history of intermarriages and interethnic trade. Words of Igbo origin such as "Amasi" denote a servant-master relationship and would have been obtained due to

2730-623: The Obodom and Okrika people, the Okrika are said to hired Nkwo warriors to fight on their behalf, repulsed on the 'eat your victim tactics' used by the Nkwo warriors, the Idua people under by the leadership of their ancestral father Mbaba left where they settled to settle among the group known as Idua Eket. It is generally accepted that it was at Eket that the Idua evolved a separate identity of their own. According to Jefferys: "From Idua Eket sprang

2808-573: The Obolo clan who decide to settle among their Oron kinsmen during their migration. Another was 'Ataobong', founded by 'Antai Ema' a fugitive from Adabio. As the story goes Antai Ema and his family who specializes in shell fishing were constantly attacked by crocodile in his vicinity at Adabio. Frighten by this menace Antai Ema led his people and family to a place where the Okobo called 'Ataw Obong' (place where cane grows plentifully). Yet another non-Okobo group

2886-713: The Oron is E1b1a1-M2 . The ancestors of the Oron originally came from Northeast Africa and moved around the Green Sahara . The gradual movement of the Proto Oron to the Cross River Region may have been associated with the expansion of Sahel agriculture in the African Neolithic period, following the desiccation of the Sahara in c. 3500 BCE . Generally, most historians believe that Otong

2964-570: The Oron people, references are made to certain ancient customs and traditions among the Oron people which is of the same to their Mediterranean counterparts which include: the existence of such semitic names in Oron such as Samu, Sama, Abia, Bieto, Zedeke and Nehema etc; the widespread and fundamental practice of circumcision which was not practice in the ancient times by their neighbours; as well as funeral rites for deceased old people in Oron Traditional society. None of Oron culture or names

3042-777: The Scottish missionaries arrived Old Calabar and began their mission. According to Simmons, "Efik frequently designate an introduced object with the name of the group from whom they obtained it used as a noun in genitive relationship together with the noun which names the object". The most common nouns used to identify specific groups include Mbakara (European), Oboriki (Portuguese), Unehe (Igbo), Asanu ( Hausa ), Ekoi , Ibibio. Compounds that illustrate this usage include "Oboriki Unen" (Portuguese Hen), "Utere Mbakara" (Turkey), Ikpọ Unehe (Igbo climbing rope), Okpoho Ibibio (the manilla, copper ring once used as currency in Ibibioland). Due to

3120-576: The Uruan society as they were known to them as being troublesome, they first lived at Nsidung. This claim of the prior settlement of Enwang in Calabar before the arrival of the Efiks was basis of 1916 court judgement of A. F Webber "It is probably" he wrote, "As far as Calabar land is concerned the Efik when they came from Creek Town met the Kwas and the Enwang, the Enwangs an Efik tribe must have come before

3198-683: The accolade `Oron Ukpabang`. Oron people complexion is not reflecting of other ethnic nationalities or immigrant in other settlements of the Oron Nation apart from the Obolo people . Their complexion are not as fair as the Palestinians or Israelis Arab nor are they as dark as the people of the Cameroon mountain from when the Oron Nation came into being. Abang Okpo was said to have wandered with his children and followers through he Sudanic belt possibly presently into present Uganda, Zaire Congo Basin as

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3276-483: The arrival of the missionaries, there was the problem of creating an appropriate orthography for the Efik Language. The orthography chosen by the missionaries was developed by Dr. Lepsius whose system and the phonetic alphabet were found to be suitable for the Efik language at the time. The first Efik dictionary was later released in 1862 by Rev. Hugh Goldie and the Efik orthography was developed in 1874 by Goldie. The Efik language flourished in written literature in which

3354-412: The centralized allophones of /i/ and /u/ that are found in between consonants. Gh transcribes the lenited allophones of /k/. G is found in loans, but also a variant of gh , as in dịgi ~ dịghi 'trample'. Tone is marked for disambiguation. The diacritics (on 'o') are: The earliest orthography employed by the missionaries for the use of written Efik was developed by Dr Lepsius. Goldie (1862) used

3432-545: The chiefs of Old Calabar dates to 1776. Thus, the literary ground for the Efik language had already been prepared prior to the arrival of the missionaries. When the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland Mission arrived Old Calabar in 1846, Reverend Hope Waddell and Samuel Edgerley with the assistance of the Efik trader Egboyoung (Ekpenyong) started the recordings of Efik vocabulary; these were printed in their lithographic press and made ready in 1849. On

3510-517: The dispersal postdated that of the Ukpabang people and not the Idua people. Where they sail out from the Usahadit in raft and landed in Ebughu, they were compelled to move out over dispute over land, they sailed up to Uya Oron creek and landed in present-day Odutin. Okobo stay in the location was briefed as they were forced to leave the area by bands of raiders from the warrior tribe of Ukpabang. It

3588-419: The early Europeans as "Tom Shott people", a term used most commonly in a metaphorical sense to describe something that is resilient and stubborn. The Oron people were against the enslavement of Africans and never sold their kinsmen to the Europeans, so the Oron Nation was named Tom Shotts Town , as seen in several ancient maps dating from the 19th century, drawn by Portuguese and Spanish explorers. The Oron dubbed

3666-436: The east by the western channel of the Cross River. Okobo are divided into two clans 'Eta' and 'Odu', the former consisting of Villages of Ebighi Okobo, Ebighi Edu, Ekeya, Ube community, Nda, Akaba community, Esuk Inwang and Atabong and the later Ebighi Eta, Okopedi, Nung Atai Odobo, Amamong, Obufi and Atipa Odobo. The most credible and popular history of the Okobo people traces Okobo people to Usahadit in Cameroon, apparently

3744-468: The estuary of the Cross River where they settled at 'Mkpang Utong' so called because from there they can listen to news and hear the movement of the Efiks who still pursuing them. Mkpang Utong prove inhospitable, so they moved along the Mbo river to Ebughu. Apparently the rulers of Ebughu refused to give them land to settle rather they directed them to other side of the Mbo river where Uba Mbe, swamp land suitable for settlement existed. According to tradition

3822-402: The estuary of the Cross River. Here he established a settlement namely Ukpa Ita (now known as Ukpata) after three mahogany trees standing together. History has it that Ntekim and his followers didn't find anyone in the land. Ukpata became the last center of the Idua Oron to their present Villages of Idua Afaha Eduok and Idua Asang. From this centers fishing villages were later established around

3900-474: The first Efik minister ordained in 1872, translated into Efik, Dr. J.H. Wilson's "The gospel and its fruits". Asuquo Ekanem who was equally an Efik minister translated John Bunyan's Holy war into Efik. The Efik people equally began to write Church hymns and publish them. William Inyang Ndang who had spent some time in Britain was the first Efik to introduce a choir into churches at Calabar and had contributed to

3978-404: The first suggest that Ebughu are part of the Obodom group and the putative ancestor of the Ebughu, Otong migrated from the Andoni, in respond to the pressure asserted by the southward moving Igbo. The Ebughu reportedly move southeasterly cross the creeks with raft and land at today Ibuno ( Ibeno ) but did not find the location suitable for farming. So, Otong and his followers left and brought them to

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4056-400: The following: /k/ has other allophones. If it is preceded by a high front vowel, it is phonetically [g], as in these examples: If, however, it occurs between two mid front vowels, or two low central vowels, it is phonetically [ɣ] or [x], as in the following: /d/ has an allophone [ɾ], which can occur in free between vowels, as in the following examples: When the preceding vowel itself

4134-823: The former status of the Igbo in Efik society. The Efik Language besides making new words from Efik verbs and other pre-existing words, further borrows words from other languages. Several words in the Efik vocabulary were equally borrowed from European languages such as Portuguese and English. According to Simmons, "Efik words applied to European-introduced innovations consist of single words extended in meaning to include new concepts or material objects, and secondary formations constituting new combinations of primary morphemes. Words denoting material objects which history relates Europeans introduced at an early date, are un̄wọn̄ – Tobacco and snuff, lbokpot 'maize' and probably, lwa 'cassava'." Religious and educational terms can be dated to 1846 when

4212-458: The full vowels. Thus /i, u/ are highly centralized as [ɨ, ʉ] in the following: As /i/ is a front vowel, centralization involves a position further back while in the case of /u/, a back vowel, centralization involves a position further front in the mouth. The semi-vowels /w/ and /j/ behave like consonants, as the following show: When they are preceded by a consonant, they sound like /u/ and /i/ respectively, as these examples show: Oral Efik

4290-405: The house of an Nsidung woman, knock down a door which fell on a sleeping baby who was killed instantly. War broke out between Enwang and Nsidung, after an initiate victory, the Enwang were being defeated and forced to migrate once again. The movement took them to Oron where they landed at present day Esuk Oron, feeling still threatened by possible Efik pursuers, Enwangs left Esuk Oron and moved into

4368-430: The late 1960s. Ekpu Oro ancestral figures existed as summaries of the personal and social experiences of the Oron people of Southeastern Nigeria - they embodied Oron spiritual beliefs and cultural history; hence, they were vessels for the spirits of the dead that instilled great influence over the daily, religious, and social lives of the living. As an art form, Ekpu held the key to understanding Oron past tradition that

4446-414: The missionaries and the Efik respectively, played a leading role. Early religious works translated in the Efik language included The Old Testament which was completed by Alexander Robb in 1868 and printed in 1873; Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews translated and published by William Anderson. Indigenous ministers equally contributed to the expansion of the Efik religious literature. Reverend Esien Esien Ukpabio,

4524-426: The other Efiks. This is traditional history as given by the Henshaws, the Enwangs and the Kwas". Another evidence is the Enwang powerful deity 'Anantigha' which is still located at the Efut beach. And in the past and present Enwang chief have to be present in the installation and burial of the Obong of Efikland. Matters came to head when at Calabar in Nsidung the Enwang masquerade 'Etok Udo Ekang' drove an initiate into

4602-506: The other villages are regarded as 'Ata Enwang' (real Enwang). Enwang traditions and origin is unanimous in linking the Enwang with the Efik of Calabar with 'Ating Anua' as the father of Enwang. Enwang is regarded as one of the four Eburutu clans that arrived Uruan from Ibom which are Abayen, Usuk-Akpa, Enwang and Iboku. Some historians regard the Enwang as one of the ten children of Iboku, who all settled at Ibom in today Arochukwu then Uruan before they left to Calabar to avoid being absorbed into

4680-450: The peregrinations of Efik traders in the Cross River region and the Cameroons, the Efik language has bequeathed several words to the vocabulary of other languages within and outside Africa. Efik words such as Utuenikan̄ (Lantern), n̄kanika (Bell or Clock), Enan̄ukwak (Bicycle), n̄wed Abasi (Bible) can be found in several communities in the Old Eastern Region and the Cameroons. Nanji attests a school of thought that holds that forty percent of

4758-414: The possibility of differing connotations and nuances of meaning. Such differences are not defined by Goldie. These exceptions reduce the number of non-suspicious itens from 51 to 36." Faraclass in his study of Cross River Languages, classified the Efik language as a member of the Lower Cross sub-group of the Delta-Cross group which is an extension of the larger Cross River group that is a major constituent of

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4836-422: The putative ancestor of the Ebughu group, 'Ntekim' the putative ancestor of Idua (Asang) group, 'Okobo' the putative ancestor of the Okobo group who is of Obolo ancestry and Oron Ukpabang group are from the stock of Abang , the Enwangs are of Iboku ancestry, meanwhile the Efiat group is a mixture of Oron, Efik, Ibibio and the Cameroons ancestry. Oron being in existence in the pre-colonial period of Nigeria and

4914-455: The relationship of Oron with Ekid is said to have gone sour when the Eket under the regime of Brigadier General U.J. Esuene declared and agreed to be called a subgroup of the Ibibio nation to gain political relevance and advantage. U.J. Esuene was also said to have denied the Oron people of the opportunity to site the Exxon Mobile's first terminal in Mbo, Akwa Ibom and Effiat Oron areas of Oron Nation. Another common controversy that describes

4992-471: The six multi-ethnic groups that make up Oron Nation are known from oral histories. Idua (Asang) group is one of the distinct groups that made up Oron Nation. The Idua are a coastal settlement comprising the main four villages of Idua Esit Edik, Idua Asang, Idua Afaha Eduok and Idua Ukpata. Idua is the first established community in Oron Nation existing around the 2370 BC according to evidence from ancestral craven. Oral and most popular historical tradition of

5070-466: The speculation of the European anthropologists and administrators, the people of Oron categorically reject the notion that they are the sub tribe of the ibibio. As indicated earlier, this denial is not a recent phenomenon to be explained away by post Nigerian independence political agitation. Indeed, even at the early age of colonial rule, the Ibibio never disputed the fact that the Oron is a distinct ethnic group in Nigeria. On December 4, 1939, In answer to

5148-403: The state. Television and Radio commercials are aired everyday in different spheres, In politics the language is used by all in the Southern senatorial and parts of the Central Senatorial Districts of the State. In education, there is a primary and secondary curriculum of Efik in schools. In the development of linguistics, it is studied at the undergraduate level in the University of Calabar. Among

5226-445: The then-current practical orthography in his influential dictionary. In 1929 the orthography was revised. Several letters were dropped, namely Ä , Ë , Ï , Ü , Kh , ʼm , ʼn . The letters Ñ , Ö and Qu were replaced with Ŋ , Ɔ and Kw . On 1 September 1975, a new Efik orthography was approved for use in schools by the Ministry of Education, Cross River state. In 2012, the letters qu in loans were replaced with kw , while

5304-428: The west bank of the Mbo river. The Ebughu established a relationship of intermarriage and others with the Andoni even till today. The second migration links the movement of Ebughu to the dispersal of the children of Otong Iboku from Ibom now in Arochukwu. Ebughu Otong Iboku is said to have left Ibom before the dispersal of the Eburutu from Ibom. Later movement is said to brought the group to Ntak Inim and later to Idua in

5382-472: The worsened relationship between Oron and Eket is the accusation that General Esuene was the one who ordered the bombing of Urue Oruko (Oruko Market), a region at the heart of Oron where several hundred of Oron people (mostly traders and women) were killed during the Nigerian Civil War in the late 1960s. This unfortunate event has been observed in Oron to be the most tragic in the history of the Nigerian Civil War. The traditional origin and migration pattern of

5460-454: Was Esuk Inwang Ekeya between the border of Ekeya and Ndonebom, which was an Efik trading post made up of Efik, Ibibio and Okobo traders over time it became a major settlement. Ebughu Otong group Mainly coastal North of the Mbo river bounded in the North and Northwest by Udung Uko and Udesi respectively, Meanwhile, Nsie and Oduting are found in the hinterland part of Oron. The Ebughu group have three competing traditions of origin and migration,

5538-665: Was a powerful warrior and the Chief wrestler of the art-form known as `Mbok' whose father was Okpo the son of Nyuserre Ini . The wrestling known as (Mbok) has been part and parcel of the Oron people and the date of its origin is unknown. It is said that Abang Okpo and his followers made it popular in the Mediterranean. This is perhaps why it may be more than a mere coincidence that the only two nations on earth with places named "Oron" are Israel and Nigeria, today there are Oron, Vaud municipality of Switzerland established 2012 and Oron, Moselle in France. The Orons are peculiar people, strong contenders in nature wherever they are found, with

5616-431: Was derived from Bantu or any language elsewhere as immigrant and their clothing was made from loins gown and skirts with beads known as 'Ngwa', their men were clean shaved with an artificial Beard with cap just like the ancient Kemet people which is seen in several ancient cravings known as (Ekpu) and as describe by Percy Amaury Talbot in 1897. Their women plaited hair naturally. Oron folklore tells of Abang Okpo who

5694-423: Was derived from Bantu or any language elsewhere as immigrant but their clothing was made from loin skirts and gown with beads known as 'Ngwa', their men were clean shaved with an artificial Beard with cap just like the ancient Kemet people which is seen in several ancient cravings known as (Ekpu) and as describe by Percy Talbot in 1897. Their women plaited hair naturally. The predominant paternal haplogroup among

5772-598: Was formerly a part of the province called the South-Eastern state , they were later part of Cross River State and now part of Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria. Oron people own up to the fact that the Ibeno, who dwell among the Ekids share similar ancestral history with them. The Oron people recognises the Efik people , Obolo people , Ibeno and Ekid people as part of their ancestral family but many controversy states that

5850-406: Was largely destroyed by colonial and Christian presence in Oron society. Natives of this area speak the dialect also known as Oro language. Most Oron people also speak and understand the Efik language fluently. The Oron also has some dialectical similarities with the Ibibio and Annang people, hence their communication in Ibibio and Annang languages is very proficient. The Oron people were known to

5928-452: Was largely destroyed by colonial and Christian presence in Oron society. In ancient times it also serves as pictures where individuals uses this craven images to trace their ancestry and family tree down to twenty and above generations. Oron people The Oron people (or Örö people) are a multi-ethnic tribal grouping that make up the Akpakip Oro or Oron Nation . The Oron people (Örö) are located primarily in southern Nigeria in

6006-466: Was this later movement that brought them to Ebighi, name after the first son of Okobo who was a great warrior who led them from Ebughu. From Ebighi, the Okobo began to sprang over their present location, Odu another son of Okobo founded Ube, Ekeya, Nda, Obo and Akaba. Similarly, Eta and his sons founded Ebighi Eta, Okopedi, Odobo, Nung Atai and Ammamong. Some other settlements in there were founded independently which os Obufi formed by group of refugees from

6084-491: Was widely read. Thus, the Efik language has enjoyed a lot of scholarship since the arrival of the Christian missionaries in 1846. Due to the extensive trading activities of the Efik people, the language became the lingua franca of the Cross River region. According to Offiong and Ansa, The Efik language over the years has developed to a level that it dominates other languages spoken around Cross River State. A language like

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