Читать книгу Igbo History Hebrew Exiles of Eri - Omabala Aguleri - Страница 6

I feel greatly relieved to have the opportunity of making my contribution towards the history of the Igbo people. Recent events tend to confirm the general impression that the Igbo are not united as a people, and on of the reasons is that they are starved of the facts of their common heritage through Eri. I have had the privilege of reading the contributions of scholars and writers of Igbo history and I am amazed that not much is known and said about Eri, the founder of the Igbo race. There can be no history of the Igbo people without the history of Eri and his kingdom. Surely, Eri has a history. This is why I feel anxious to give my research account of events surrounding Eri Kingdom, in order to correct some misconceptions and misrepresentations by some writers.

The material I have collected on Eri Kingdom comes from Aguleri oral tradition and scientific evidence from archaeological excavations and research. Incidentally, Aguleri is the place of settlement of Eri, the founding father of the Igbo. Being a son of the soil, I feel obliged to give the Igbo the benefit of the store of information in Aguleri tradition and ability of the people, through tales to retain facts about Eri Kingdom, which was established Mgbe-Eri (during the time of Eri) dating back to about 3000 BC.

The efforts of most writers of Igbo history were based on speculation. This is understandable because the ethnographic materials collected for their works were obtained mainly from European settlers in Igboland and from the people resident outside the scene of the early history of the Igbo people. It is unfortunate that no Igbo scholar has bothered to research into the past of Aguleri, where it all happened. The only research on Aguleri soil was carried out by a non-Igbo, in the person of Professor Omoregie of the University of Ibadan. This is not a development for which we can clap our hands in praise of our Igbo scholars. I sincerely hope that our Igbo scholars will accept the challenge of carrying out serious research work on Eri civilization which, to my mind, has been grossly understudied. Of course, I am aware that a lot of research work has been done in Nri who was one of the sons of Eri. What puzzled me was not the confusion, but the fact that Nri was being projected to take the place of his father, Eri, as the head of the Igbo. Surely, a father and a son cannot become two parents of the Igbo. The true position is that Menri (Nri), who established Agukwu Nri, is one of the six sons of Eri. This book will give details.

Eri has a Kingdom, not an empire of the type Oyo, Igala, Sokoto, and Bornu Empires. Some Igbo historians agree that Eri is the founder of the Igbo race. Mythology describes Eri as coming from the sky. We shall build very strong evidence in this book to prove that Eri migrated from Israel to Egypt, through the Sahara, to Igala, and from Igala to Eri-Aka, in Aguleri. Having lived in Egypt, which was the cradle of world civilization, Eri must have dressed in the usual long robes and costumes customarily worn by Jews and kings of the Middle East. Eri landed on Igala soil at a period when the Igala people went about almost naked. Not knowing from whence he came into Igala, tradition described the stately dressed Eri as a king from the sky. This book will show that Eri is not from the sky, but rather from the Hebrew Kingdom of Israel. However, no matter what one chooses to believe, we are immediately concerned with the fact that Eri is the founder of the race. Starting from this premise, what should interest the Igbo is how the Igbo were built since then.

We have read from the Bible that God created Adam and Eve and gave them the power of procreation. The two were the nucleus of human race. As the race increased in number, it became more and more wicked. Finally, God destroyed it in a great flood. Only Noah found grace in God’s eyes, and through the ark he and his family of eight were saved. From those eight people, human race again increased and multiplied. So it was possible that Eri and his followers could build a race. How long the Igbo race has existed as an entity will be the subject of a chapter of this book.

This will establish that Eri Kingdom was built on his fatherly relationship and influence with his descendants who were known in history to have had relative smooth and peaceful population spread from Aguleri to all parts of Igbo land. Eri Kingdom spans the length and breath of the land occupied by the Igbo race. He came with a civilization bordering on his brand of religion, administration agriculture, commerce and other activities.

This book will point out that the people of South East and South South zones of Nigeria are Hebrew Israelites and consequently, Igbo. The word Igbo is a mispronunciation of the Hebrew. Eri and his companions from Israel laid the foundation for further migration of Hebrew Israelites into Eastern and Midwestern Nigeria.

After AD 20 and this was why history created Eri as the founder of Igbo race in Nigeria.

There is archeological evidence which shows that Eri migrated from south of the Nile and moved down the Anambra River to begin the Anambra civilization. This archaeological evidence of Eri migration supports the school of thought that Eri migrated during the Jewish captivity in Egypt. It also gave credence to Aguleri oral tradition which claims that Eri migrated through Igala to Eri-Aka, in Aguleri.

I am strongly of the opinion that if all Igbo discover from evidence of history that they are from the same stock, they will develop greater love for one another. The Igbo will be able to harness their efforts towards the achievement of the same objectives. They will achieve the much-needed unity of purpose in the political equation of Nigeria. This is my mission in this book.

Aguleri is the holy city of the Igbo. It is generally believed by Igbo mythology that Eri was sent by God. This could be said to be true because viewed from the Bible account (Genesis 46: 16 and Numbers 26: 15) Eri came from the house of Jacob, the chosen ones of God. The holy city of the Yoruba is Ife; that of the Hausa is Daura. My question to the Igbo is: what prevents Aguleri from being the holy of the Igbo? It is not surprising that Aguleri is soon to produce the only saint in the making so far, in Nigeria, in the person of Blessed Father Iwene Tansi. It is significant. The foregoing facts are intended to create awareness and appeal to the sentiments of the Igbo, as well as challenge the Igbo state governments to get involved in developing the first settlement of Eri in Aguleri into a tourist and Pilgrim centre. Not to do so is disservice to the Igbo nation.

It is hoped that this book will enrich the knowledge of students of Igbo history. I am of the opinion that every Igbo child of school age should know about Igbo culture. They should know that Eri Kingdom, for instance, is founded on the banner of peace. This is why the Igbo tradition religion, introduced and institutionalized by Eri, has ‘Udo’ (peace) deity as the most eminent of the lesser gods, through which the Igbo have cultural values, one of which is respect for elders, and that foreign culture should not be allowed to erode this important culture value. It becomes necessary that the Igbo must love one another and respect the elders, in order to ensure development and progress among Igbo communities. This is part of what this book is meant to achieve.

If Jacob of the Holy Bible is a chosen one and Eri is from the house of God Jacob; if Eri is the founder of the Igbo race and the Igbo are soon to produce the first saint in Nigeria, in the person of the Blessed Father Tansi of Aguleri, could it mean that the Igbo are towing the line of their fore father? For this and other answers please read on.