Okun Development Association
History of Okun People
MEET THE YORUBA THE YORUBA SPEAKING PEOPLE OF KOGI STATE
The Yoruba speaking people of Nigeria are one of the three most populous ethnic groups in Nigeria. They form the South-West region of Nigeria. Besides the South-West, the Yoruba people also occupy some parts of the North-Central states of Kwara and Kogi states.
Some Nigerians do not probably know that there are Yoruba speaking people who are indigenous of Kogi state. These people are known as Okun.
Okun are Yoruba dialects generally classified among the Northeast Yoruba language (NEY) group and are collectively called "Okun". Okun, in the Yoruba language means 'vitality' or 'strength'. It is the word commonly used in greeting among the people. This form of greeting is also found among the Ekiti and Igbomina groups of Yoruba people.
"Okun" are culturally related to Owé, Ìyàgbà, Ìjùmú, Gbede, Bùnú or Abunu, Ikiri and Òwòrò peoples. Together, they are said to make up 20% of Kogi State population. The controversial 2011 population census put the number of the Okun people as 804,945.
Some individual historical accounts have it that the Okun people migrated from Ile-Ife. Yagba oral tradition has it that the man who led a group of people to their present location was sent from Ile-Ife to establish the settlement but did not return over a long period of time to give an account of his expenditure.
According to the myth, when he eventually returned and explained that he lost larger part of his acquired land to some other migrants, he was blamed for the loss. He was said to have responded in Yoruba that, "Ìyà àgbà ló jemí". It is believed that it was from the clause that the name Iyagba or Yagba was coined.
However, Ade Obayemi, an historian opined that the Okun people are aboriginals in the Niger-Benue confluence and may not have migrated to their present location from Ile-Ife. The turn of events that followed the Nupe military incursion of the 19th century left the Okun people as minorities in the Northern Region of Nigeria, separated from their relatives in the southwest.
The Okun people occupy the Niger-Benue confluence area along with the Southern Nupe, Kakanda, Ebira (Panda and Koto), Gbagyi and Igala. To the west of Okun land are the Igbomina and Ekiti Yoruba subgroups.
The Okun people live in villages of hundreds or a few thousand people and are scattered all over Okun land.
The people are spread across six local government areas in Kogi State, namely: Kabba-Bunu, Yagba-West, Yagba-East, Mopa-Muro, Ìjùmú and Lokoja local government Areas. Settlements include Mopa, Isanlu, Ogidi, Ayetoro Gbede, Okedayo, Odo Ere, Ponyan, Ejiba, Ejuku, Itakete, Ife, Igbagun, Egbe, Iyara, Iyamoye, Odoape, Ekinrin-Adde, Kabba, Obajana, Agbaja.
The Okun people have varied Yoruba dialects which include owé, Ìyàgbà, Ìjùmú, Bùnú and Ọwọrọ. They are mutually intelligible to a great extent. Many of them speak the common Yoruba language. The Okun dialects have been greatly influenced by languages such as Igala, Nupe and Hausa, the most affected being Ọwọrọ. These influences are believed to be due to commercial and social interaction, shared boundary, and the 19th-century Nupe wars.
CULTURE OF THE PEOPLE
All of the various Okun cultural groups share similar dressing, cuisine, traditional religion, masquerading culture etc. The major occupation of the men is farming and hunting. The women take care of the home and raise the children. Common crops cultivated among the people include coffee, cocoa, yams, cassava, maize, sorghum, groundnuts, beans, and cotton. The Abunu women (and to a lesser extent, their Owe and Ọwọrọ neighbors) are known for the weaving and trade of Aso ipo, a red textile used in burial of the wealthy and making masquerade dresses. This textile is also an object of trade of the Abunu women to their Ebira neighbors and others.
THE RELIGION OF THE OKUN PEOPLE
The Okun people practice Christianity, Islam, and African Traditional Religion. Before the advent of Christianity and Islam, the okun people had their traditional religion which is based on the worship of Orisa like Sango and Ogun and the consultation of Ifá (or Ihá) as practiced among other larger Yoruba subgroups. But the Okun people give prominence to the worship of ebora, believed to be spirits who live in forests, caves, mountains, stream, or rivers.
The Okun people share similar masquerading culture with other Yoruba cultural groups. These masquerades known as egungun or egun, are believed to represent ancestral spirits. The people also have masquerades such as the Epa masquerade that are like those found among other Yoruba groups. These masquerades are Ina-oko, Onigabon, Ouna and the likes. Other masquerades that are ubiquitous in Okun land are not found among the other Yoruba groups but rather found to be like those of some non-Okun inhabitants of the Niger-Benue confluence like the Bassa Nges.
Among the Okun people, the egungun cult groups are almost exclusive for men. The women also have their own group called ofosi (ohosi in Oworo). Ofosi women spoke a special language that is not intelligible locally and is believed to be able to call people home from whatever location by mystical means.
COMMON FOOD OF THE PEOPLE
The Okun people are known to have local delicacies. Common soups among the people include ora soup (ground dried okra), akuku, and tankelekon soup. These are usually eaten with pounded yam. The Okun people have a popular snack called adun which is fried beans with palm oil and sugar.