The recent Court's order declaring Lokoja, Ajaokuta and Koton Karfe an Igala Entity has thrown citizens from both devides into research ...
The recent Court's order declaring Lokoja, Ajaokuta and Koton Karfe an Igala Entity has thrown citizens from both devides into research about their respective histories, while the EBIRA speaking tribe believes Igala has distorted historical documentations, the Igala on the other hand felt the EBIRA speaking tribe has no cogent history, hence the believe that Ebira migrated from Idah, the Ancestral home of the Igala Nation.
From historical facts and evidence on ground, it is believed that Igala is the tribe that migrated from Jukun of the kwararafa kingdom. Upon migration, Igala was the only known tribe from kogi Soil that fought a waged war with the Jukuns, a war that igala won by killing the jukun king.
Before the British colonial rule in Nigeria, it was Atta Igala, the then Jukun king and the Hausa king that usually held meetings at Kaduna as at that time.
It is important to note that, history is now tracing it out that Ebira migrated from Igala. and that Ebira is a junior son to Igala. After the Igala-Jukun war, a junior son of Igala migrated from Idah to a place called "oko ene" meaning "farm of wolfs. It was a farm where wolfs were too common then. So the "oko ene" is now what is called as Okene.
Then, while in that Wolf's farm, the Atta Igala called on his junior son to return home (Idah) from the "oko ene" that the place is dangerous to inhabit due to the presence of wild animals.
But his son insisted that he will remain there saying "egbili ara", which means the "wilderness is fertile" for farming that he would settle and cope. So the '' the wilderness is fertile" in Igala is known as "egbili ara". It is the "egbili ara" that is now called Ebira.
So It not out of proportion to say, Ebira migrated from Igala as Igala younger son, who settled in "oko ene" now okene. It was after he settled far away from his father (igala) that his language changed from igala at "oko ene" (okene). Therefore, Ebira is the offshoot of igala in kogi.
The Yoruba king, Ooni of ife has testified to the world that Igala is the only tribe in kogi that is on the match with the Yoruba and Igbo interms of the oldest tribe in the nation.
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