A HISTORY OF AROGBO IJO OF THE WESTERN DELTA, NIGERIA, 1885-1960

Abstract

The Arogbo Ijo, a sub group of Ijo of Niger Delta, are located in the Western Delta region of Southwestern Nigeria. Existing studies on the Ijo groups of the Niger Delta have focused mainly on the Ijo in the Central and Eastern Delta with little attention paid to the Ijo groups in the Western Delta, especially the Arogbo Ijo. This study was, therefore, designed to examine the history of the Arogbo Ijo, with a view to identifying the specific dynamics and patterns of socio-cultural and political developments occasioned by British colonisation between 1885 and 1960. The historical approach was adopted. Primary and Secondary sources were utilised. Primary sources included intelligence reports and provincial files obtained from the National Archives, Ibadan and Sopolu Research Library, Ikenne. Oral interviews were conducted with 114 key informants aged between 52 and 98 years, who were purposively selected based on their knowledge and experience of the history of Arogbo Ijo. The key informants comprised 50 high chiefs, 22 community heads, 21 civil servants and 21 traders. Secondary sources included books, journal articles, dissertations and theses. Data were subjected to historical analysis. The direct British colonisation of Arogbo Ijo in 1885 was based on its strategic and geographical location. The colonial authorities created artificial boundaries which distorted the existing ones in the Western Delta area. Socio-economic conflicts such as piracy, and minority and identity crises were notable historical developments encountered by the Arogbo Ijo between 1915 and 1960. Agitations for economic rights and the attempts to regain the Arogbo Ijo traditional boundary were remarkable developments up to 1960. The Arogbo Ijo experienced socio-political changes with the British imposition of a tax regime in 1925, and the gradual restructuring of the Arogbo Ijo judicial structure in 1897, 1936 and 1938. On 2 November 1939, Shell D’arcy Exploration Company embarked on oil explorations in the entire Okitipupa Division of Southern Nigeria, which included the Arogbo Ijo area. The established colonial boundaries became the template for the allocation of oil resources, and this further deepened the boundary crises between the Arogbo Ijo and their Ilaje neighbours in 1943. Thus, both parties approached the colonial courts for arbitration in 1955. However, the case remained undecided up to the end of colonial rule in 1960. This later resonated in the post-independence oil boundary crises between the Arogbo Ijo and the Ilaje. The artificial boundary creation of the British colonial authorities between 1885 and 1960 undermined the Arogbo Ijo territorial and aboriginal identity.