By DR. CHRISTOPHER G. OKOJIE, OPR:
A. ACTS OF RESPECT:
Esan people are very polite
ethnic group and as would be expected from a people wedded to kinship in all
their activities, and the constant fear of causing the ire of the departed
spirits, they are very constitutional and have a great respect for old age and
traditions.
(1) CHILDREN TO PARENTS:
Children with good manners never
called their parents by their names; the father was ABA or BABA while the
mother went by INENEN or IYIONMEN or INEN.
(2) WIFE TO HUSBAND:
Wives never referred to
their husbands by name. Esan did not have the Yoruba or Ibo custom of calling a man by a name derived
from a combination of the first child's name and the word father in the native tongue,
for example, a man whose first child was ITUA would be called BABITUA. In Esan
if a wife was asked to call the husband she would walk up to him and say, “you
are called”, rather than shout at his name. She invariably referred to the
husband as OLE (Him).
Similarly, juniors,
particularly children, if well bred, never referred to their elders by name; it
would be the height of rudeness for a young man to ask an older man for his
name, whether the young person intended to call the name or not. I very well
remember an incident which made this custom indelible in my mind. It was at the
Out-patient Department of the Zuma Memorial Hospital. The nurse in attendance
was a very intelligent girl of 17. As patients came she asked for their names
which she wrote on their cards - quite a routine affair. But one morning in
trotted an old man of about seventy (70) propped up on his help-mate, the Okpo.
“Give me paper, my child”, he said fatherly. “Where do you come from?” demanded
the nurse.
“Eilu, my child”
“What is your name?” went
on the nurse innocently.
The old man took one long
look at the girl, shuddered and exclaimed, ‘O - O - O - O! Is that your way here?” He then told the bewildered
girl that the name was Ehizojie. The next question brought a reaction which to
the onlookers could have been produced by the girl landing a blow on the old
man's hairless head. The question was logically the next-that should follow if
the nurse were to write the man's full name, but to the old man it was the last
straw in the series of rude questions by a mere ‘child’! The question the
innocent girl asked ignorant of Esan custom was “And your father's name?”
“A MIEN OBHEBHE!”
(This's another!), exclaimed the exasperated aged man. You asked for my name
which was bad enough; I told you and now you want to know the name of my
father! I can't remember when I had that relative!” So saying he went out in a
huff!
(3) ON DRINKING WATER:
When an elder, a chief or a
father was drinking water or wine, the junior onlookers rubbed their hands together
saying ‘GBE SE SE, GBE SE SE!’ if they were female, but
the male members of the gathering, using the right hand on the left, flipped
the left little finger against the palm to produce a snapping noise. A wife
knelt down to give water and drinks to the husband.
A big man or an elder did
not take his cup of palm wine straight from the server - a junior had to mouth,
it first! Sometimes, as a result of many juniors anxious, to show their respect
having 'mouthed it' round, the cup was as good as empty, by the time he handled
it! Yet he never complained since in Esan custom it was a big disgrace for an
elder or a big man to grumble or show greed as regards food:
(4) SNEEZING:
Sneezing was believed to be
due to some distant person having called the name of the sneezer, most
probably, for bad. When a person sneezed therefore, those around cried out “Not
You!” Some greeted him with “Welcome” If it was a junior who sneezed, he gave
the general greeting to those around, according to the sneezer's sex.
All this is akin to the Whiteman’s
“bless you!”
(5) KOLANUTS:
You might later give a man
even a wife, but there was one thing in Esan custom the host must first do to
show the guest that he was welcome to the house: that was the presentation of
kolanuts. There were customary ways of doing this; after repeated OBOKHIAN (welcome)
the host apologized for the scarcity of kolanuts, and almost immediately, a boy
or a wife came along with the nuts, just said to be so rare as to be
unavailable! As soon as this happened a gathering which hither-to might have
been well behaved or shy, was suddenly animated; there was bound to be some
argument, however the host or members in the gathering might know the custom.
Often the arguments were noisy enough to make a stranger to Esan wonder if the
people in the gathering had not been thirsty for one another's blood! The
reason was to be found in Esan custom: if the people in the gathering were
natives of the same district, the oldest had the prerogative of breaking the
nuts; of course he had to be a man; a woman however old would not attempt to
break these nuts before men! Everybody knew these provisions but what most
people did not know, particularly if the people came from different villages of
the same district, was how to tell who was the oldest man in the gathering.
Since there was no registration of birth, it took: a long time and much shaking
of clenched fists to go through the wars fought or the forests farmed when each
member was born! Any wonder at the acrimonious arguments!
At last order was restored and someone was
finally agreed to be the oldest and to him
the kolanuts were taken. He, amidst blessings first for the host, then for
those in the gathering and finally for himself, broke one of the nuts, usually
two to five in each nut broken. A piece was given to the host first before
everybody took his piece according to seniority; the man to whom fell the
honour of breaking the kolanuts pocketed or ‘bagged’ the unbroken nut (ODION
KHA VA O KOKOLO!) a nice way of saying he must
have a reward for his labour.
But if
the gathering was made up of men from different districts, the order of
breaking was known to two 'degrees': if a Bini was present he automatically had
to break the kolanuts. If no such person was present and an Irrua man was
present, he had the undisputed right to deal with the gift. This right came to
every Irrua man irrespective of his age by virtue of the Ojirrua being the
Okaijesan, leader of Esan Enijie, when they assembled, here in Esan and at the
Palace in Benin City.
I have striven without
success to find out what was the order when in a gathering of Esan there were
no Bini or Irrua people. What I have found to obtain is confused and selfish.
The answer I got to the question, who came next to Irrua, told me the identity
of the man answering the question. All Uromi men invariably told me it was
Uromi, while Ekpoma swore it was Ekpoma. Frankly I found in-conclusive evidence
to be able to place the order of merit. As it were, amongst Uromi, Ekpoma and
Ewohimi. Suffice it to say that the order after Irrua, depended upon the
strength of the ruling Onojie in each of these towns, and hence it would be
correct to say that no such order of precedence existed. (See cutting of
kolanut tree).
(6) PALM WINE
This had to be served in a gathering
strictly according to age, and with the same cup, of course. If a man was given
a cup for fear of offending the departed spirits he carefully checked around to
be sure he was not drinking before those who were his seniors. Elders often
asked a loved junior to have a sip before he drank what was left. The last cup
from the calabash (the server strove to be able to have just a full cup at the
end) was brought to the most elderly of the gathering, with the announcement
that everything was now in order. The server was then blessed and asked to have
a mouthful before the old man drank off the remaining with the debris! Really
the last few drops were for the departed spirits.
There was a custom which
regulated what to do with the empty calabash of wine. The empty calabash had to
be 'downed', that is, it must be placed on its side as soon as it was empty. It
must never be left standing, empty! This arose from the hospitality of Esan
people. If a gathering was sitting over a keg of palm wine and visitors who
might be total strangers came in they had to be served. If the calabash had
been emptied and was left standing, late comers might think there was something
still left and that the people were just down right inhospitable. That would
hurt the kind spirit of the Esan man; therefore no room must be left for such a
mistake and so custom decreed that all empty calabashes must be placed flat.
(7) THE PIPE:
 |
| Benin Brass Smoking Pipe |
The well known Esan pipe
was the Pipe of Friendship, the long pipe called OBO - 000. It was a communal
affair for after it had been fired', a job usually done by the youngest in the
gathering or a small boy in the house it was smoked starting from the senior
and working down the scale. Each man limited his enjoyment to one long pull! Spread
of infection? - Diseases were the evil work of witches and angry departed
spirits! A word of caution about the 'one long pull' - Osemen a bune re ighogho obodo gbe oria (since you
know you are allowed only one pull, if you try to cheat - the smoke will choke
you).
(8) PRESENTS:
Non – Esan are often caught
by these. If an Esan brought you presents for example; yams, or palm wine, he
expected some thanks in the form of money or in kind. It would be the duty of
the man to whom the presents were brought to quietly assess the value of the
presents and show ‘YOUR APPRECIATION’ by giving something higher, when the visitor
was leaving. In most cases it was a form of trade!
B. GREETINGS:
The Esan people had forms
of salutations to suit the morning or evening and according to sex. Juniors
always greeted their seniors first. It was a mockery for an elder to greet erring junior first.
Usually the women except the aged, greeted the men first.
The all hour greeting for
men was KHARA which translated literarily was meaningless. The nearest
translation is "Be a thief". From a prolonged research I found that
though the Binis have a similar salutation for the Oba - "Ghara Omo!”,
they have no translation for the GHARA, I am inclined to think that it was a
corrupt form of the Yourba 'RORAO!' (Be careful!). To a strange Esan ear this
might have sounded as RARA O! which is not too far from KHARA O! This is
certainly more understandable than a junior, however mannerless, seeing his
senior during the day advising him to please be a thief when as a matter of
fact practically every Esan greeting is a form of blessing or praise; Khara
could be used by a man any time of the day or night. But in places like Ekpoma,
Irrua, Ugbegun, Opoji etc it was the salutation of choice by men after the
evening meal, akin to the Bini 'KADA'.
1. MORNING SALUTATION
(a) MEN:
Morning salutation differed
according to Esan Districts; men from Ekpoma, Opoji, Irrua, Ewu, Ugbegun,
Ubiaja, Ewohimi and Ebelle greeted with AESAN! This was from LA ESAN meaning
"Hail Esan"! Some people said that the word came from Benin
salutation for and
by the
members of the Ezomo LAIJESAN. Some others said the salutation followed one
Ezomo who did all he could to have a male child, he finally married an Esan
woman who bore him a male child. In jubilation
the entire Ezomo family decided to start greeting him with Laijesan - a
blessing to Esan. Actually he came to have this specific salutation because he
was the intermediary for many of the Esan Enijie, particularly those of Ewohimi
District, thus he was more closely connected with Esan Enijie than most chiefs
in Benin hence his salutation of Laijesan which was “may it please you, king of
Esan!”
Men in Ugboha, Emu etc say Ranea or Aanea which was
derived from the sentence UKHA SE EA which literally means "You will reach
Three". Every Esan man prays to be quite old before he dies. In Esan old men were known by their dreaded
Okpo. The very old ones could not walk or stand without this Okpo, thus it
appeared as if they had three legs. So by praying for one that he will reach the
age when he will need a THIRD leg one was giving him the best blessings
possible.
(b) WOMEN:
Morning salutation for
women varied a great deal throughout Esan depending also upon the derivation of
the woman's family. Most of the greetings were brought down by the early
immigrants from our city of origin, Benin where depending upon the family they
greeted with Lagite, Latese, Layen, Lavbe, Lani, Lavbatue, Lahe, Lagiesan,
Lavbieze, Lamogun, Lagbede, Laloke, Labo, Loani, Lagiewan, Laso etc. As the different
people in one town could possibly hail from different parts of Benin, it is not
surprising to see women from different quarters in an Esan village giving
different morning salutations. The common one was DO EIJIE in Ekpoma, Irrua,
Ewu and Uromi. Lamogun or Labhojie in Ugboha and Ubiaja areas. Laijesan in
Ewohimi, LA-HO OMOGUN OR LA-HO OBHIOJIE meaning may it please you, Oba or
Prince. These royalty salutations were used for and by those who descended from
the Royal Family of Benin. Ebelle and Emu women greeted with LA-BO or 'please doctor'
which shows that such families descended from native doctors. Uromi women
apropos to the kind heart of Uromi people, with DIJIE, U WELE and go further
with EBURE KO UHONMON WELE? (Greetings, did you sleep well?" and
adding, "bid your pillow have a rest?").
Obviously a man who had a
bad nightmarish night would be the man whose pillow would have suffered the
greatest tossing and squeezing.
Many women use DOEJIE as a
common all hour salutation even though the correct time was morning. Some,
particularly amongst the older ones, greeted with just AIJIE missing out this
common Esan salutation of "DO".
2. AFTERNOON SALUTATIONS
To elders and acquaintances
men greeted with KHARA while both sexes to other people gave the common
greeting of 00-01 or merely OBOKHIAN (welcome) if the person was returning from
anywhere- farm, market or from a walk. When a man was a stranger or a visitor
to a compound an "0" was added, to the Common male greeting - KHARA
O! If the person being greeted was an adult male, the visitor could say KHARA ABA.
3. EVENING SALUTATIONS
After evening meal it was
incumbent for all subordinates like children and women to salute. Boys stamped
one foot on the ground and told their father KHARA without the O! The evening
greeting for females varied a great deal. Girls said in Ugboha and Ubiaja
DEKELE, all other females said Agbon Omon Ware! (You will be blessed with children!).
In Igueben it is Airani, Riabo in Ewohimi for women in the evening. In Ebelle, after
evening meal, women saluted with Usiomon Khi Sie! (May
you be fruitful) while in Emu it was Ikhikhugbe-e which really is Uukhigbe-e
(May death not kill you!). Though in most of Esan 'A' Boys greeted as above Khara!
In Ugboha males, after evening meal, say Omonkhabho (May the children live!) Sometimes
these greetings were varied; a question might replace the common and usual
greetings as, We ele? (Did you sleep?) Since a junior should 'greet a senior
first, an affectionate senior could help out an erring junior with this type of
question. This was very common with parents and when so prompted, the erring
junior realised his fault and immediately gave his greeting.
4. ENDING SENTENCES
This was another act of
respect practiced in Esan. It consisted of repeating the end or helping to end
sentences. Usually the speaker was' a person the-listener very much respected or was very shy
before him. It is a trait of very timid and nervous people, always anxious to
please.
C. EMERGENCY CRIES AND SIGNIFICANCE
In the olden Esan custom
every member of the community, as has been seen, was like a finger of the hand,
it gripped or loosened with the other fingers of the hand. One man's concern
was every villager's matter. Death of one man in a quarter meant mourning and
abstention from work or market by all members of the village.
A call for help was
answered by the whole able-bodied community. These calls were often peculiar to a particular district and only
members of that area knew the significance. When such a call came the whole
village acted with an uncanny understanding which would leave a stranger
bewildered. This element of secret understanding was of vital significance for
it enable the community to escape from an over-whelming enemy or repel an attacker,
without the stranger knowing that the sounds being emitted connoted specific
sentences for which there were specific group reactions. These cries were our
own form of talking drum as it were!
There were some of these
group calls that were universal in Esan and some were peculiar to some districts.
(1) GENERAL CALL OF ALERTNESS OR EMERGENCY:
The cry was OKHOKHO-OGO-O!
Sometimes all the 'KH' were replaced with 'G' throughout. On hearing this sound
all must stop and listen for the specific cries that would follow. This cry is
in Esan described generally as OGBE EGOGO URULUA (He has opened the bell of the
voice!). Irresponsible use of it was punished with a goat slaughtered against the
alarmist.
(2) FIRE! OKHOKHO -.OGO –O! IRU!
On hearing this last part
of the alarm every grown up male snatched his cutlass and must make for the
direction from which the cries were coming; a fire must be put out!
(3)
DANGER! EKHE HKE EKE - E!
(4) THIEVES! UGU - KHU -GU- U! OR EGE-KHE-GE - E!
(4) THIEVES! UGU - KHU -GU- U! OR EGE-KHE-GE - E!
The more excitable criers
added GHE OYI! (It is a thief!). On bearing this cry all males must answer it
and one answered it at once not by making for the direction from which the
cries were coming but by snatching a sharp matchet or heavy cudgel and making a
cut-through to the nearest road from the direction of the cries. Thus in a
matter of minutes all possible roads to the site where the thief was seen were
guarded. The reason for this is that the thief’s first reaction to an alarm is
to put as much distance as possible between himself and the man raising the hue
and cry! On hearing this cry therefore everybody knew that a thief was about
the neighbourhood of the crier and since it was every good citizen's duty to
help catch a thief the surest way was to make a bee-line for all the roads
leading away from the alarmist an attempt to block the marauder's exit! Hence
the correct way to answer this call was to go AWAY rather than TO the man
crying.
(5) SUDDEN DEATH: OGOGO - KHOGO -O! HE-EHE! HEEHEI
This cry summoned everyone
to the spot from which the cry came.
(6) SHOCKINGBAD NEWS: OGOGO-KHOGO- O! HEUI HEU!
And in Ekpoma area this
alarm was heightened with OSE EWE –E On hearing this cry everybody made for the
vicinity to demand what the news was about and to sympathize with the crier.
(7) SEVERE FIGHT: OGOGO - KHOGO – O! EA GBO NE EGBE –A!
This summoned all the
he-men of the village to the spot to prevent the fighters from committing
manslaughters!
(8) WIFE BEING BEATEN AT NIGHT! OGOGO OKHO – O!
All relatives had to go and
save an unyielding woman at the hands of an irate husband.
(9) WAR! OGOGO - KHOGO O! OKHONLEN RELE! And in some places the
word OKHONLEN (war) was never
mentioned but people knew from the peculiar cry that they must put a safe
distance between themselves and the alarmist. Yet another cry was ARAN - RAN -
RAN AN! It needed urgent and imperative response from everybody.
(10) CALLING ALL EDION: OKHISEMENKHONLEN O!
This cry was ignored by the
Igene and Egbonughelo but in a twinkle
of an eye, wizened old men were seen tottering along from all directions of the
village to the Okoughele or to the Odionwele's house: may be there was some
goat flesh to be shared!
(11) CALLING THE HE-MEN OF THE VILLAGE:
OBOIGBAOTO - O!
On hearing this cry which
might be given ' without actually pronouncing the words, all those above 60, if
not already taking a long pull from their Obodo, reached for that pipe of
peace, asked a small boy to load and light it, reclined on their beds and
between puffs, ejaculated reminiscences "when the world WAS the
world!" Meantime all the strong men of the village from thirty upward
leapt like frogs to the village square!
(12) CALLING THE SCAVENGERS OF THE VILLAGE:
OKHISI - OBOMERIA O!
Knowing that theirs was to
toil for the betterment of the village, each Egbonughele snatched his working
clothes and armed with a matchet, made for the direction of the cry.
(13) CALL FOR WORK: U - KU – GHU!
(14) CALL FOR REJOICING: UKU - GHUGHU OR OKO GHOGHO!
All friends of the family
in the neighbourhood of the cry went armed with chalk or prepared for an orgy
of revelry or uninhibited debauchery.
(15) SUMMONING MEN FOR THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD:
EGEGE - KHE - EGE - E! which in words is ODEDE SO OTOLI DIA O! (A body has fallen!)
(16) CALLING EACH OTHER IN THE BUSH: U KU GHU?
Which
in words is U VAE? (Have you come?)
