The History of Obinofia Ndiuno
From a hunter’s praise name to a covenant of waters — the community’s remembered history as recorded in the scanned archive.
The Background
Obinofia is a praise name in derision given to Agueze by their father, following his adventurous wild life as a celebrated hunter and farmer. Agueze was brave, strong, resourceful, adventurous and self-reliant. As a great hunter, he traveled kilometers away in hunt of game both in the day and at night, and provided the family with meat just like the Biblical Esau — so his father over-pampered his younger son Mba.
Being an adventurer, Agueze could spend days in the forest hunting game, and the family gradually started leaving him out of the scheme of things. His father advised him to build a hut at the farm where he could rest or sleep when tired and could not come home. So he built a hut in the farm, hunted from there, and eventually settled permanently.
At the course of the partitioning of land, his father allocated to Agueze the portion where he anticipated disputes from neighbours with whom the family shared common boundaries — such as the people of Umuaga, (then) Nachi, (later) Ugwuoba and Ebenebe — for as a strong man he could secure the land and protect others against external invasions.
The Five Sons of Agueze (Obinofia)
Oral tradition
A more popular belief among the people is that Agueze (Obinofia) gave birth to five sons of three different mothers: Awo, Ezeaboshi, Ezeagu, Oshie and Onaga. Another belief has it that Agueze was a younger brother to Awo. Where this is the case, Ezeaboshi is the first son of Agu Eze.
Onaga, the last son of Agueze, was so loved because he was the child of his old age. His name is pronounced “O (Ndu) no-aga” (life goes on), denoting continuity.
See the individual profiles under People and full details under About — Origin Traditions.
The Meaning of the Name
“O bu n’ofia” — “jungle dweller” — began as a joke in the household and became, with time, the name by which the whole community is known: Obinofia. The community’s opening poem declares:
“This is the land of my birth and death, a New Jerusalem. This is Obinofia Ndiuno, a name ever dear to me.”
The Division: Obinofia Ndiuno & Obinofia Ndiagu
Initially the children of Obinofia Agueze lived together in peace and harmony in Imezi (Ihuezi), their ancestral home in Obinofia Ndiuno, traveling long distances to farm in the boundary with Ugwuoba and Ebenebe for security reasons. For fear of invasion, especially from Ugwuoba, and for convenience, they divided themselves into two:
- Obinofia Ndiuno — “those living at home”, i.e. the ancestral home.
- Obinofia Ndiagu — “those living in the farm”, at the Ugwuoba–Ebenebe end.
They shared their inheritance as it is in Ndiuno — every village in Ndiuno is so in Ndiagu. Any people that do not trace their lineage to both areas are strangers and have no Ogonogo ezi (ancestral deity).
The Development of the Villages
The scanned archive describes how the villages took shape — through partitioning, epidemics, retreats to hills, and resettlement:
- Umuawo — eldest and smallest; a historic epidemic that nearly extinguished it reduced about seven hamlets to two (Ogbaja).
- Umueze — Ezeaboshi escaped onto the hills to flee the epidemic, settling permanently on the hilltops.
- Umuezeagu — Ezeagu Uka relocated closer to Awo in care.
- Okposhi — the “gateway” village and former “Defence Headquarters”, builders of the Aja Ozokoli wall.
- Umuonaga — the largest village; its population grew through the unique matrilocal arrangement of Onaga and the diverse trades of the suitors.
- Obinofia Ndiagu & Aguoba/Omughu — offshoots formed through migration and relocation.
For each village’s story, see The Villages of Obinofia Ndiuno.
Obinofia in the Diaspora
Owing to envy, hostilities and persistent wars between Obinofia and neighbours — and also human trafficking prevalent in those days — many people of Obinofia left the town and settled in other far lands as farmers and labourers, multiplying greatly while still retaining their identity. Their identity appears in the diaspora under variant names depending on the mode of word’s corruption: Obinofia, Obinohia, Obilohia or Obuofia.
Locations named in the archive include: Amaechi Awkunanaw, Eha-Amufu, Obuohia (Abia State), Nnewi, Umunze, Isuikwuato (Abia State), Ihueze (Ihuezi) Nenwe, etc.
Obinofia Ndiuno & Neighbours
Obinofia Ndiuno is known to be very peaceful, hospitable, caring and loving, especially to strangers. It maintains cordial relations with neighbouring communities of Umana, Umumba, Obinofia Ndiagu and Aguobia (Aguoba), with which it shares common boundaries, ancestral identity and origin. They attend the common market Orie Owere, now Nkwo Ezeagu, and share festivals and customs such as masquerade, marriage, new yam, burial and Ozo title taking, with slight variations.
There has never been in history any outbreak of high-level hostilities or war between Obinofia Ndiuno and these neighbouring communities, apparently because of their ancestral and blood relationships — although boundary disputes occur and are settled amicably.