User talk:Sylvesterizuogu

COMMUNITY LAKES IN AZAGBA-UBIENI LAND - By Sylvester O. Izuogu - (c) 2020)
Azagba-Ubieni is a community in Ndokwa East LGA of Delta State, Nigeria. Below are some of the lakes found in the area. ( a)	Okumo Lake: 		This lake was named ‘Okumo’ by the Umu-Onyah family and the early settlers in Ekpe who equally migrated from Ijawland and also understood what the word meant. The word ‘Okumo’ is derived from the Ijaw expression Ọ kúmọ kụmọ, which means ‘boundary’ or ‘between us’ (Okeè or Ẹgbàtà in Eboh dialect). The Okumo lake thus literally describes the boundary between Azagba and Ekpe communities. This is perhaps the reason why up till today Ekpe people have persistently exhibited a natural inclination to the lake, and have intermittently claimed ownership of the southern part of it. Okumo is now the only clearly defined boundary among the boundaries between Azagba and her neighbours. Okoroku was another defined boundary between Azagba and Umuolu, but that has been eroded by the later settlements of Onogbokor and Iyede-Ame. Anor estuary was another defined boundary, but claims and counter claims of ownership by Ibrede and Awa over the years has obfuscated the actual demarcation line. On the western side, the boundary between Azagba and Okpe-Isoko extended a little beyond the part of the Azagba/Okpe-Isoko road called ‘Ote Eno’ in Eboh Language. Within that axis, Azagba established their first Market and also had their age-old cemetery which has existed up till today. In spite of these visible sites, the ownership of the area has not been fully settled by the two communities. (b)	Oyibou Lake: 		Oyibou is another lake that is very profitable to Azagba people. When it was discovered and found to be full of fish, the first settlers considered it an added gain to the Ase Creek and happily called it Ọyọboú (Ọyọ + boú). In Ijaw language, Ọyọ (which is a shortened form of Sụ Ọyọ) means gain or profit, while boú means bush or forest. So we can say that Ọyọboú means a gainful bush or a profitable forest. However, a further study of the nuances of the word boú indicates that when it is written without the diacritic (eg. bou), it simply means lake or swamp. Bou-indi (Bou + indi), for example, means lake fish. With this example, we can see that Bou (without the diacritic) means lake, because indi means fish. Common sense suggests that since what was being described is not the bush but the lake, we can therefore finally conclude that Ọyọbou (or Oyibou as we now call it) means a profitable lake! Oyibou is a sacred lake. Like the Ijaws in Bayelsa State, people cannot fish in the lake, unless some spiritual activities (called bou finí in Ijaw language) have been performed. It is widely believed that such spiritual activities usually made fishing safe by turning dangerous aquatic animals like crocodile and snake into potsherds.(c)	Owori Lake: 		In the course of my research, I found that any body of water called Owori is usually a tributary, that is, a stream flowing into a larger stream, near the house or community. A clear example is the Owori in Perekiri (Aboh Kingdom). Owori is a mispronunciation of ‘Owari’, which is actually an abridged form of the Ijaw expression tọrú bọọ warị, meaning mouth of river near the house (or near the community). No wonder in Okpai Kingdom, a similar lake is called Owari. This name fairly describes the Owori (ọ warị) lake in Azagba. A large portion of the entrance to the lake called OWORI IKAI belonged to Umu-Onyah family until it was, like other lakes, given to the community. Some older people still living today like Dr. Oguafor and Mr. Pius Amarenu are fully aware and can testify to this truth. Sylvesterizuogu (talk) 11:04, 21 December 2021 (UTC)