09/11/2024
CORRECTING THE HISTORY OF OGONI!
You have been told erroneously that the cradle of Ogoni is Nama. Some theories said Ogoni people migrated from Modern Day Ghana formally Gold Coast. These are all lies! Then why did the Ogonis seems to believed they migrated from Ghana? Let delve into it .
The western origin or Ghana origin theory of Ogoni came about 1960-70. The discovery of oil in Nigeria led to significant economic growth and migration from other West African countries, including Ghana. Because Ogoni was the second place oil was discovered, thousands of Ghanaians settled in Ogoniland seeking jobs from the foreign oil companies. Some which later became teachers in Ogoni school. These teachers were the ones who claimed Ogoni language was like theirs and that the Ogonis might have migrated from their place. Because they were teachers, all their pupils have no reasons to doubt them.
1. Modern Day Ghanaians migrated from ancient Ghana or the Soninke Empire at the fall of that empire in the early 11-12 century CE. The Ogoni people have been on their land far longer than that, and their kingdom monarchy began around 805AD with Queen Yiranwaa been the first Queen.
2. This placed Ogoni Kingdom far before the existence of modern day Ghana. The ogoni people like their relative, the Baka of Cameroon, Efik of cross River and Ibibio, once lived in the Bantu land in central Africa. During the later period of migration around 500-700AD, the pigmies first migrated to the eastern Niger Delta and where there until the Bantu people who brought yam and cereals came to dwell with them. In the Ogoni Yiranwaa, a fierce woman built a city which was called Baan, Baanga or Kabaanga which became the seat of the throne for centuries before it was relocated to the central portion of Ogoni now know as Tai around 1389 due to a terrible plague that struck the land. However, Baan was not abandoned entirely because it was on the coast of Bonny River and was perfect for trade with other tribes.
