SIMILARITIES AND COMMON CHARACTERS OF THE OBA OF BINI SPEAKING PEOPLE AND THE OLU OF IWERE/OLU ITSEKIRI OF ITSEKIRI SPEAKING PEOPLE.
SIMILARITIES AND COMMON CHARACTERS OF THE OBA OF BINI SPEAKING PEOPLE AND THE OLU OF IWERE/OLU ITSEKIRI OF ITSEKIRI SPEAKING PEOPLE.
1. Shared ancestry and origin:
The first Olu Itsekiri, Olu Ginuwa I ( who actually was a self enthroned king ) was the eldest son of Oba Olua of Bini.who according to history was banished from home for committing adultery with his fathers wives and founded the Jekiri/ Iwere/Itsekiri/ Kingdom, a name which was given to them by the Ijaw speaking people which has metamorphosed from SEIKIRI into what is pronounced as AS ITSEKIRI today. The Olu’s ruling house is therefore described as the Oranmiyan ruling house, the same dynastic line as Bini.Traditional accounts of the Jekiri people also say “The Olu itsekiri is a direct descendant of the Oba of Bini
2. Divine / centralized kingship model:
The throne of the Iwere people is copied from the Bini template, the Oba is considered the divine ruler of the bini speaking people while the Olu is treated as a sacred,central authority in their kingdom. The Benin Oba was “considered a divine ruler and held absolute power”, and the Iwere monarchy was modeled on that. They operate a Hereditary succession. The Oba’s position was “passed down through the male line”. The Olu dynasty also follows father-to-son succession — Ginuwa was succeeded by his son Olu Ijijen.
NOTE: This is the reason they think of other kings as produced by the government however, in the real sense no king is king without being acknowledged by the government else they can be resolved.
The Oba ruled with the help of chiefs like the "uzama" the Olu itsekiri adopted a similar council of chiefs to advise the Olu.
3. Court culture, titles and regalia:
The Itsekiri court borrowed heavily from Benin courtly culture, some historians think that other kingdoms incorporated their traditions from Benin to strengthen status which is not totally true because before the existence of Benin kingdom there were a people with similar traditions, food and dress sense which explains why titles, royal rituals have some resemblance but in this case that of the Oba and Olu use elaborate coronation rites and maintain palace institutions.
The Olu even uses the title _Ódìhà N’amẹ, Ọba N’amẹ, Olú of Iwere showing the blend of Bini and Itsekiri language/titles.
4. Political relationship:
Even though the Iwere throne was established as an independent kingdom but they still maintained some kind of diplomatic relations with Benin, records in recent time show the Oba of Benin and Olu of Iwere treated each other as “father and son and close ally ” .
There are other similarities but it is important to add that history also have it that these two kingdoms/Kings of Oba and Olu take pleasure in dominance. The Oba want all other kings in Edo state to bow to him while the Olu want the Urhobos and Ijaws of warri to be his tenants, their lands and aboriginal homes must be converted to his and their kings consider themselves as his dukes in territories he thinks he own. This two kings are at edge with Ijaws of Edo and Ijaws/urhobos of warri...
Feel free to fact check me and drop your opinion on the comment section.
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