By Chief Charles Kianen India (JP)
PREAMBLE: We have heard people say that, it is folly to sing twice to a deaf man. Others maintain that, we must endure follies because it takes a cunning hand to shave a fool’s head. In summary, when we do not know what transacted in the past, or know, but attempt to bury the truth, it becomes a big error in life that continues to make a person think and live like a child.
The simple reason for this article is to educate ourselves, particularly the Ogonis worldwide, on what they didn’t know or knew already but refused to adopt and share as the glaring truth.
I am, therefore, sure that lovers of history, researchers and stakeholders in African culture and tradition will benefit immensely from the below piece of information, however brief.
About 1,200 years ago, a young man named DEELA, his junior brother DOODOO and sister GOTENWADOM lived with their parents, MENE (Chief or King) KPEELA GININWA and MADAM KAAKIRINWA at KOROKORO, their community in the present-day Tai Local Government Area in Rivers State. The prefix “GBERE” meaning great or the great was later on implored to his name to read GBERE-DEELA, reminiscent of the many other brave explorers and founders of early settlements or discoveries across the globe.
Then, following a disrespectful and condemnable affair with the junior wife of his father, KPEELA resolved that he would kill DEELA the following market day. He informed his first wife KAAKIRINWA of the ploy which she leaked to GBEREDEELA.
DOODOO, the second son of the parents, then advised his senior brother DEELA to prepare for their escape. The trio thus escaped to Horor, another community in Tai. They felt unsafe and escaped to Giokoo, a village in today’s Gokana Local Government Area. TEEBARA, their uncle, was with them. GBERE-SAAKOO welcomed and accepted them. There, Deela married a daughter of GBERE-SAAKOO called Dukoo. She gave birth to Dee, their first son. Deela had another son called Buunudom with Dukoo. Doodoo, Gotenwadom and Teebara migrated to Mogho where the founder of Mogho Kpiigbara asked Doodoo and his team to go further to Zeebaala where there was still enough land for settlement.
As they migrated further, they arrived at the bank of a river called Tenmuu Doodoo or Kikirika at full tide. Doodoo was a giant in stature. He, therefore, said to himself that he could not swim and, had to stop going further “because of the river”.
In other word, Doodoo stopped his migration bid because of the prowling rivers, a decision dialectically or literally interpreted as “BoobeeDor”, or simply put Bodo. Meanwhile, Deela was still at Giokoo (Gberesaakoo’s compound) with his wife Dukoo and his two sons.
Already at Bodo, Doodoo later went back inland and settled where he was also buried, which houses Chief Monday Lucky Zee’s Compound, along Sivikpala road, Bodo City, with Gotenwandom and Teebara his uncle. Doodoo married three wives. The first wife had a son called Buunudom. Buunudom had Gbarato.
The second wife had her first son called Kianen. The third wife had a son called Ogbo. Kianen got Baadom, Baadom got Saabee, Saabee got Baadom, a name adopted from their grandfather. The wife of Saabee died. Later Saabee also died, leaving Baadom an orphan.
Gii of Domte house who was married at Mogho, then took Baadom to Mogho. Baadom grew and went to Biara to marry Biiranwan. Biiranwan gave birth to Kianen and Poi. Kianen went back to his father’s family, the family of Domte to marry Duugbe to Mogho. He got Kpaalap, Alukoro, and Iyekian.
Poi went to Bodo to marry Kpeenu from Vitee, the grandfather of Nene and Kpee Vitee. Kpeenu gave birth to Kporoko and Bionkon. Poi also went to B-Dere and married Mmaa whose son was a cripple.
Baadom explored many lands in Mogho and shared the land among his sons before he died. The families of Baadom that is; Kianen and Poi families went to plant yam seedlings on Kianen’s farm for Kianen. This is the portion of land sold to Mogho community which houses its Town Hall today.
Those that went to the farm to plant for Kianen and his wife Duugbe, were Kpeenu, married from Vitee of Bodo and Mmaa the other wife of Poi; married from B-Dere with his crippled male child.
Duugbe went with her three children; Kpaalap, Alukoro and Iyekian. As the work progressed, they had a cry in direct of the cripple son. Mmaa his mother, ran over and discovered that Kpaalap and her son were playing which caused the simple cry, reminiscent of children playing together.
She got unnecessarily angry, claiming that Kpaalap had beaten up her cripple son. She carried her load and left the farm still fuming in anger that her son was beaten up by Kpaalap, the son of Duugbe. She rejected all entreaties and went ahead to invoke a dreaded Juju which killed Kpaalap.
When Zee heard the development, he and others of Gberedodo family went to Mogho and withdrew Kianen and his wife Duugbe and the remaining children to Domte’s compound. Duugbe was pregnant when they left Mogho. She later gave birth to a female child at Domte’s Compound and said that the relationship between their families in Mogho and Bodo had been separated. That came about the name Baazaala which Duugbe gave to her newly born child. Kianen stayed with Duugbe in Domte’s Compound. Kianen later died leaving Duugbe and was buried in Bodo.
Later, Kianen the father of Kpeedee took Duugbe as a concubine. They had no child when a man from Kpor called Zora preformed the traditional rites of concubinage for Duugbe’s husband’s parents, and they lived together.
Duugbe gave birth to Kpeenu, Opbe and Duka from her relationship with Zora. Duugbe later divorced Zora and went to Kpakol Vikuna who also performed the family rites of concubinage. She gave birth to Kakue.
Kakue married SilaZorasi and got Dimkpa, Kpekpee, Maamaa, Lenu, Ade, India and his twin sister Sanganwa. This is my indisputable genealogy.
Foot Note:
Gberedeela had two sons from Dukoo namely Dee and Bunudom. Dee married and had a son called Deela his father’s name. Deela had three sons, namely Gborolaago, Dom and Bara, fondly called Deela Dee of Gberedeela family. The King’s family Gborolaago got Vidan. Vidan got Barigbon, Uragior, Deela and Vibana his only daughter. Dom got Aabe and Popte. Aabe got Beazor Iyefala, Badaala, Sibon, and Mkpekpee. Another man also named Deela from the same family got Kelanwin, Zorasi, Nendom and Viborbor.
One day, Popte returned home from fishing and while spreading his nets in the sun, slave hunters came and attempted to capture him. He fought gallantly and killed many of them before he was shot dead. His wife thus became a widow.
Another Dom got Vikpa. Nendom inherited the property of Bara. Bara married Barinwaa but they had no child. Zorasi, one of the children of Dom got Vikpa and Sila. Vikpa got Belgeni, Baribor, Dornu, Mini and Aakpee. Sila gave birth to Dimkpa, Kpekpee, Maamaa, Lenu, Ade, India and Sanganva. She was married to Ebenezer Augustine Kakue Kianen of the Gbere Doodoo dynasty.
