Eleme People
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The Eleme people are one of the various groups of
indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
that inhabit the
Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...
region of South-South
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
.


Location

The Eleme people live in ten major towns situated in
Eleme Local Government Area Eleme is a Local government areas of Nigeria, local government area in Rivers State, Nigeria. It is part of the Port Harcourt Metropolitan area, metropolitan city. Eleme has its headquarters in the town of Ogale. It covers an area of 138  ...
,
Rivers State Rivers is a states of Nigeria, state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed on 27 May 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Nigeria, Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include Imo State, Im ...
, around 20 km east of
Port Harcourt Port Harcourt (Pidgin: ''Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa)'' is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin. It lies along the Bonny River and is locate ...
. They include: Akpajo, Aleto, Alesa, Alode, Agbonchia, Ogale, Ebubu, Ekporo, Eteo and Onne. The total territory occupied by the Eleme people expands across approximately 140 square kilometres. Eleme is bounded in the north by Obio Akpor and Oyigbo, in the South by
Okrika Okrika is a town in Rivers State, Nigeria, and serves as the headquarters of Okrika Local Government Area. It is situated on an island south of Port Harcourt, functioning as a suburb of the city. The inhabitants of Okrika LGA are of Ijaw descent ...
and Ogu Bolo, in the east by Tai and the West by
Okrika Okrika is a town in Rivers State, Nigeria, and serves as the headquarters of Okrika Local Government Area. It is situated on an island south of Port Harcourt, functioning as a suburb of the city. The inhabitants of Okrika LGA are of Ijaw descent ...
and
Port Harcourt Port Harcourt (Pidgin: ''Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa)'' is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin. It lies along the Bonny River and is locate ...
.


Ethnicity

In early colonial records Eleme is erroneously called Mbolli by neighboring Igbo people. The name came from the slave merchants of Arochuku who used the words "Mbolli Iche" which means "one country that is different" in the
Igbo language Igbo ( , ; Standard Igbo: ''Ásụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò'' ) is the principal native language cluster of the Igbo people, an ethnicity in the Southeastern part of Nigeria. Igbo languages are spoken by a total of 31 million people. The number of Igbo ...
to describe the people of Eleme. When the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
colonising force entered Eleme around April 1898, their escorts introduced the people of Eleme to the British as Mbolli people.
Linguistically Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds and equivalent gestures i ...
and
ethnographically Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...
Eleme is a distinct ethnic group in Nigeria. The Eleme language is very distinct, though
phonetically Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds or, in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians ...
sounds like Ogoni Language, and this has raised the debate over whether or not Eleme is part of Ogoni. However, some Eleme people have affirmed that they are not part of Ogoni group. This is what is said from Ogoni Bill of Rights about whether or not Eleme was included as part of Ogoni.
''"The inclusion of eleme and, to a lesser extent that of other Ogoni kingdoms, spoken by isolated and distinct
clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...
s on the western border as within the
Ibibio Ibibio may refer to: *Ibibio language, Niger-Congo language of Nigeria *Ibibio people an ethnic group of southern Nigeria *Ibibio Sound Machine, an English electronic afro-funk band who sing in Ibibio See also * Ibiblio, a digital library and ar ...
stock is only proposed tentatively, and the former is chiefly included because of its history with Ogoni." Vol IX, p. 96 ''


Society

Eleme is traditionally an agricultural society, with farmers travelling out to farms situated around the villages, though the emergence of white-collar jobs and the industrial activities going on in modern-day Eleme tend to shift the paradigm. Crops include yams,
cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...
,
oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms, called oil palms, containing two species, native to Africa and the Americas. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. Description Mature palms are single-stemmed, and can gro ...
fruit, fluted pumpkin, and bitter-leaf. In traditional Eleme society, the crops cultivated were primarily used to sustain the family (
subsistence farming Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occ ...
), but each family also typically traded their excess crops at one of the town markets. Family members who were employed outside of the agricultural industry still farmed their land as a supplementary income. Farmworkers were usually women and hired labourers. A trend that has remained typical of the agricultural workforce in Eleme. The men sometimes helped their women with farming. Eleme has two districts: the Nchia and the Odido, with same language but varying dialect. With inter-marriages and mixture, both dialects have gradually merged. Though those from the odido still speak the correct dialect. he eleme language means, Eleame (which means who wins)


Okon-Esaa festival

The Okon-Esaa festival, also known as the Yam Title Festival, is a principal tradition of the Eleme. Okon-Esaa was not celebrated between 1975 and 2019. A yam title holder in Eleme is held in higher regard and honor than other members of the community. Before white collar jobs and western education, yam title holders were the prominent figures in the community. The quantity of yams a man can plant and harvest is seen as a gauge of his strength and capability.


Religion

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
is the dominant religion in southern Nigeria and is widespread in Eleme. The first church in Eleme was established in the historic town of Alode in the year 1910. The church is known as St Stephens Anglican Church, Alode parish. Traditional
animist Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...
beliefs are also upheld by few of the population, including those who identify themselves as Christians. Marriages are traditionally
polygamous Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one h ...
and commonly
exogamous Exogamy is the social norm of mating or marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which tw ...
with both other Ogoni and non-Ogoni groups across the
Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...
. While the introduction of Christianity has undoubtedly led to a greater number of monogamous marriages in the region, polygamy and Christianity do not appear to be mutually exclusive in some families.


Language

Eleme people speak the Eleme language. The language have been listed as one of the most endangered languages in Nigeria. This is because the vast majority of the people use English or
Pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified form of contact language that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn f ...
as their main means of communication. Many efforts have been made to encourage people to speak Eleme, including the publication of books in Eleme and the production of short comedy videos in Eleme known as ''Ekâ Eleme Ré Pé'' (Eleme language won't go into extinction).


Industrial activity

Eleme area is heavily concentrated with heavy industry. Two major
refineries A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries a ...
, a foremost fertiliser plant in west Africa
a sea port
with so many other companies located in Onne such as Panalpina, Intels,
Dangote Cement Dangote Cement Plc is a Nigerian publicly traded multinational cement manufacturer headquartered in Lagos. The company is engaged in the manufacture, preparation, import, packaging, and distribution of cement and related products in Nigeria, and ...
, P&O, Federal Lighter Terminal, Federal Ocean Terminal,
WACT WACT (1420 AM, "96.9 My FM") is a radio station licensed to serve Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. The station, founded in 1958, is currently owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and the license is held by iHM Licenses, LLC. Programming WACT broadc ...
, etc. The privatised petrochemicals (EPCL) now Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals limited
IEPCL
, the newly built Indorama Eleme Fertilizer Company Limited (IEFCL). There are two fertilizer companies in one LGA and others within the same complex.


Socio-political system

The Eleme kingdom is ruled by a King known as Oneh Eh Eleme (Ruler of Eleme). Beneath him are the paramount rulers of each of the two major clans Oneh Eh Nchia (Ruler of Nchia) and Oneh Eh Odido (Ruler of Odido). Each clan is further divided into small communities (and then further into areas of the community). The traditional ruler of each community is known as Oneh Eh Eta (Owner of the Town). The current King of Eleme is His Royal Majesty Emere Dr. Philip Obele, Oneh Eh Eleme X

The kingship is not hereditary, as it rotates from community to community. The succession of Eleme Paramount Rulers are as follows Akaraolu Siara, Edoo Ngoya, Oluji Okochi, Saka Onorwi, Osaro Ngofa, Igwe Ogborowa, Michael Igwe, Walter Gbute Ngegwebr>
Ngei A. O. Nge

Samuel O Ejire and Philip Obele


Economy

The Eleme are traditionally an agricultural society, with workers travelling out to farms situated around the villages. Crops include yam, cassava, palm-oil fruit, fluted pumpkin and bitter-leaf. Crops are primarily used to sustain each family, but each family also typically trades their excess crops at one of the town markets. Even where family members are employed outside of agriculture, they still farm their own land as a supplement income. Farm workers are usually women. Following the discovery of oil in the Niger Delta in the 1958, oil refineries and fertiliser factories were built in the area, increasing the role of the industrial economy. The nearest oil refinery is within a mile of an Eleme village, and around 100 wells are thought to be in use throughout the Ogoni territory. Oil extraction has had significant political and environmental effects in the Niger Delta, with pollution from national industries based on Ogoni-land increasing acid rain and reducing soil, water and air qualities. Ogoni-land has become an area of much political interest over the last 40 years since oil exploration is estimated to account for around 65 percent of Nigerian Government budgetary revenue and 95 percent of all foreign exchange earnings. Consequent high levels of migration into Eleme territory by other ethnic groups in Nigeria have made a sizeable impact on Eleme society. The presence of non-Elemes hoping to find work within the chemical industries has affected the social importance of Eleme cultural identity, raising concerns over the retention of Eleme cultural practices and language use. Hence the Eleme language has become one of the most endangered languages in Nigeria.


Notable people

*His Royal Majesty Emere (Dr.) Philip Obele (The King of Eleme) *Archbishop Ignatius Kattey (Anglican) *Barrister Isaac Kamalu (Legal Practitioner / Politician) *Senator Magnus Abe (Politician / Lawyer) *Senator
Olaka Nwogu Olaka Nwogu (born 26 January 1965) is a Nigerian Business Man, Civil Servant and Politician who was a member of the House of Representatives (Nigeria), House of Representatives from 1999 until 2011 for Rivers State People's Democratic Party, Peo ...
(Politician) *Pastor Simeon Job Okochi (Adventist) *Archbishop Friday Nwator (TAPAC) *Ambassador Oji N. Ngofa *Hon. Barr. Pat Ajudua Ph.D. *Chief Dr. Nwokolu Dimkpa Nte (JP) * Ajuri Obari Ngelale. pokesman to President Bola Tinubu* Engr. Michael O. Osaro, MNSE. irst Branch Chairman of The Nigerian Society of Engineers, Eleme.* Engr. OBARI Levi Esolee, MNSE. nauguration Committee Chairman, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Eleme Branch


Notes

12.https://adaaji.com/ascension-philip-o-obele/ *A. N. Osaroejii, (2005) Decision-making without focus : the bane of development in Nigeria {{Ethnic groups in Nigeria Indigenous peoples of Rivers State