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KING (SIR) JOHN IKURU (1877-1947)

John Ikuru was the son of king Ikuru Efuya, founder of Ikuru Town and Madam Obiringene of Opobo Town. He was born in 1877 in Ikuru Town, and had his primary school education at St. Paul’s School, Opobo Town, from 1887-1895, and secondary school education at the Wesley Boys’ High School, Lagos. At that time, Christianity was already sweeping through the entire Western Region of now Nigeria and the Niger Delta, through the evangelistic activities of the Church Missionary Society with Bishop Ajayi Crowther as the pioneer Missionary. So, trained in Lagos, John Ikuru embraced Christianity and became exposed to Christian ethics and philosophy.

In 1900 his father King Ikuru Efuya died, and it became obvious that John Ikuru would be the next Okama (Ruler) of Ikuru Town, Andoni. That reality came in 1904 when he was invited to return and rule his people. Moreover, 1904 was a very important date in the history of Andoni.

It was the year of the British Punitive Expedition against the

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Obolo (Andoni) people and Yok- Obolo at Alabie (Agwut-Obolo). It is doubtful if we can meaningfully study John Ikuru without mentioning the spiritual background of the Obolo (Andoni) people at that time.

II. OBOLO (ANDONI) AND HEATHENISM:

Spiritually, Obolo (Andoni) was synonymous with heathenism, as it was at this time seen as the “Heart of Darkness”. For instance, when John Barbot visited Dony Town (Andoni) in 1699, he observed that the King of Dony Town accepted Christianity and Priests were regularly sent in from Sao Tome and Brazil, to minister to him. But the same King had Yok-Obolo and a ‘House of Skulls’, a house full of the skulls of his enemies killed in wars.

That is, he was combining the worship of the Christian God with his traditional religion. Then, in 1868, Comte C.N. de Cardi, a trader in the Niger Delta, came to Dony Town (Andoni) and claimed that the reputation of the Obolo (Andoni) people among the other tribes in the Niger Delta was terrifying, and there had developed among the

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Delta people the sentiment that the Obolo (Andoni) people were different from the Kalabari, Bonny and other Niger Delta people.

However, his opinion was that such image was artificial since the Obolo (Andoni) were like the Kalabari and Bonny and other Niger Delta people. For instance, it had been reported that any stranger(s) who touched the skulls and other artifacts in the House of Skulls will surely  lose his/her life. But that with permission, he touched them and did not die.

And from their experience in Obolo (Andoni), they developed the concept that every group in the Niger Delta spoke poorly about the other, simply because such group wanted to monopolize the advantages of contact with the Whiteman (Europeans). However, he did his business with the King of Dony Town and went away without trouble.

The next scenario was Bishop Ajayi Crowther who lamented that King Jaja was entering the “Heart of Darkness” when he came to Obolo (Andoni) is 1869 for a treaty with the Obolo

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(Andoni) people. He advised King Jaja against it, but as a staunch traditionalist, King Jaja went on and swore the oath, the Obolo-Opobo Treaty of 1869, and finally founded Opobo Town in 1870.

The ugly stories against the Obolo (Andoni) were so much that the British Colonial Authorities decided to send a Punitive Expedition against them in 1904.

The site of the House of Skulls with over 2,000 skulls of Obolo (Andoni) enemies killed in wars confirmed the stories against them. The British destroyed the House of Skulls and the Shrine of Yok-Obolo in 1904, and split Andoni into six parts, each attached to one of the six Native Courts in the Niger Delta. Ikuru Town was attached to Opobo Town Native Court and Alabie (Agwut Obolo) to Bonny Native Court. M.D.W. Jeffrey said that the purpose of doing this was to destroy Andoni as a political entity.

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III. JOHN IKURU AND OBOLO (ANDONI) EVANGELISM

The above was the nature of the Obolo (Andoni) environment when John Ikuru returned from Lagos to Ikuru Town in 1904. Evidently, he had a herculean task in his hands. He came back with a ‘Bible’ in one hand, and “chalk” in the other. His father was a rich trader and had laid a solid foundation for him. Soon, he was able to build a palace in Ikuru Town from where he started his evangelistic work. He produced a small group of followers whom he sent out to the other villages to Christianize them and initiate some rudimentary education in such places:

To Okoroete, he sent Ralph O. Ikuru

To Ngo, he sent Sylvanus Ikuru

To Ebukuma, he sent James Accra

To Oronija, he sent Samuel Ikuru

To Akaradi, he sent George Ekpirikpo; and

To Ataba, he sent Julius Urombo

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These young men sent out by Ikuru (missionaries) revolutionized not only ecclesiasticism in these places, but also education.

The case of Ataba is an example. Ataba had already gotten in touch with Bishop Ajayi Crowther through his missionary’s efforts by the 1870’s, but not much is known of his achievement there. Julius Urombo did the rest, eventually transferring Ataba to Obolo (Andoni Native Administration) when a Native Court was eventually established in Andoni in 1930.

As already said, John Ikuru was made a Warrant Chief by the Colonial Administration and attached to the Opobo Native Court. In 1913 he was able to prevail on the Colonial Administration to open a Court in Obolo (Andoni) as the peop0le were now Christians. Existing Records claimed that at that point it was the only such Native Court in the Federation. Very soon he and Chief Ereforokuma were able to take legal action against the Opobo for violating the Obolo-Opobo Treaty of 1869, when they started migrating to other Obolo land not given to them in 1869.

Unfortunately, because of leadership problems between him and Chief Ereforokima, the Colonial Administration closed

down the Court in 1922 and transferred the case to the

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Calabar branch of the Supreme Court. In 1925 – 26, the Supreme Court passed judgment, granting the Obolo (Andoni) their requests.

First, the “Andoni Mainland” remained exclusive to the Obolo (Andoni) people. Also the tribute payable to Yok-Obolo by King Jaja had its name changed to “Customary gifts,” and Opobo Town was given three islands instead of one which was given to Jaja in 1869, and Nkoro was given one island exclusive to them.

The Colonial Administration, particularly M.D.W. Jeffrey’s, had observed that through the Oru, they the Obolo (Andoni) could administer themselves and therefore approved the granting of a Native Court. It was established in 1930, at Agafor, with Ralph O. Ikuru as the Scribe. From then, the Obolo (Andoni), not only unified their segments, scattered all over the Niger Delta, but started ruling themselves.

In all these, John Ikuru was instrumental and pushed Obolo

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(Andoni) forward as a member of the Oru.

By now, however, John Ikuru had opened the main Church house, St. Simon’s Anglican Church, Ikuru Town, which foundation stone was laid by Bishop A.M. Gelsthorpe on February 22, 1937, and it became the ecclesiastical headquarters of Obolo (Andoni). From that point, his evangelism work in Obolo (Andoni) began to move smoothly and eventually succeeded in christianizing as many Obolo (Andoni) groups and villages. One of his secret was that he was a very pious man. He had a sanctuary in his Palace where he devoted a good deal of time to pray to God. And, thereafter, he won the hearts of many by his door to door evangelism in Obolo (Andoni). He was a Knight of the Order of St. Christopher (KSC) awarded posthumously.

Economically, King (Sir) John Ikuru was a wealthy palm oil merchant, with trading posts in Ekpirikpe, Azumini, Uruafoug, Ndiya and Ekpenukpa in Ibibio land in present day Akwa-Ibom State of Nigeria. Up till the period of my research in Ikuru Town, Andoni, in the 1970’s, there were informants in

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the town who claimed that they came from Igboland purposely to trade for John Ikuru and, because of his benevolent posture, they naturalized in Obolo (Andoni) as indigenes. Also, that having stayed so long with the Obolo (Andoni), there was no point going back to Igbo land.

IV  THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JOHN IKURU IN OBOLO (ANDONI) HISTORY:

Easily, John Ikuru was the symbol of light and enlightenment in Obolo (Andoni) history. This was the main purpose for developing the theology of heathenism in Obolo (Andoni) history. John Ikuru came and there was light. This is not only in terms of the spread of the gospel in the area, but also in terms of the spread of education in the area.

As an educated man - the only one with secondary school education at that time – he was very close to the British Colonial Administrators in Opobo Division of Calabar Province, where Andoni was, and with it, he exerted a great deal of

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Influence on the direction of policies towards Obolo (Andoni).

Apart from M.D.W. Jeffrey, John Ikuru was virtually the “Voice of Obolo” and the source of the coming to Obolo (Andoni) of the Native Court in 1930.

John Ikuru died in 1947, after having trained a large number of clerics and secondary school leavers. Also, he was married with many children, making him a highly fulfilled man.

REFERENCES:

1.  Nkparom C. Ejituwu, “The CMS Mission in Kalabari”, Lagos Notes and Records, Vol. 1 (Lagos, 1976).

2.   A. A. Whitehouse, “An African Fetish”, Journal of African Society, (London, 1905), pp.410-416.

3.  A.E. Richardson, “The Burning of a Juju House”, Church Missionary Cleaner (London, 1905).

4.  John Barbot, Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea (Paris, 1732), 461-463.

5.         Ibid.

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6.         Ibid.

7.                       Comte C.N. de Cardi, “Andoni Rivers and its inhabitants” in Mary Kingsley, West African Studies (London, 1899), pp.530-540.

8.           Ibid.

9.           Ibid.

10.                     Ibid.

11.                    Elizabeth Isichei, “Images of the Niger Delta” in Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria.

12.                    Ibid.

13.                 E.J. Alagoa and A Fombo, A Chronicle of Grand Bonny (Ibadan, 1972). Also, S.J.S. Cookey, King Jaja of the Niger Delta (New York, 1974).

14.                     Ibid.

15.                     Whitehouse, op.cit (London, 1905).

16.                     Ibid.

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17.                      M.D.W. Jeffrey, “Intelligence Report on the Andoni, 1930” (NA/EP.7237 Minioc 6/1/135).

18.                      F.I. Dienye, “The Anglican Church in Andoni” in B.A Obuoforibo (ed.), Jubilee of the Niger Delta Diocese, (1952-2002) (Bonny, 2006)

19.                     Ibid.

20.                     Ibid.

21.                    K.E. Ina “Ikot Abasi; the Aluminum Town” in Alscone Publication (Ikot Abasi, 2008).

22.                     Ibid.

23.                         A.F.C. Webber, Nigeria Law Report (1925). Also,  see Ejituwu, Op cit (1991), pp. 262-270. John Ikuru was always behind the scene.

24.                    Ibid.

25.                    Ibid.

26.                    Ibid. Also the case of 1958

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27.                     Jeffrey’s, op. cit (1930). Also, Appointment of Ralph O. Ikuru as st. 12, 1974). Native Scribe (1930).

28.                     See Titus Oboada (c.80) of Ikuru Town in a personal communication in Ikuru Town, Andoni (August 12, 1974).