By Egufe Yafugborhi – Port Harcourt

AMIDST excitement and sombre reflections, stakeholders on Saturday celebrated the documentation of checkered history of Ogoni people of Rivers state from settlement to the present in a book authored by renowned historian, Dr Sonpie Kpone-Tonwe.

The book, ‘The Ogoni of The Eastern Niger Delta’, chronicles the economic, political and cultural journey of Ogoni people of Rivers state from when their forebearers first settled in Nama, now their ancestral homeland.

At the book presentation in Port Harcourt Adoage Norteh, Executive Director, Center for Ogoni Studies which provided support for the historical work noted, “Hearing stories coming from Ogoni, it’s been like, perhaps we don’t know where we come from and what constitutes Ogoni.

“One community in arms against the another. Different groups are fighting and destroying, not for the common good. Somebody has to fixe this.

“The author is one of those ready to clear the mess and change the narrative. The Center for Ogoni Studies is ready to support all genuine concerns to move Ogoni forward, just like this book now.”

Book Reviewer, Prof Emma Gbenenye, noted that the author maximised the benefit of oral tradition to uncover the myths, mysteries surrounding Ogoni and the dynamics of her culture.

Gbenenye stated, “Historians, travellers and anthropologists are fund of misspelling names and landmarks in history. The author has provided a correction of key names and landmarks concerning Ogoni.

“In this pioneering research work, all about the Ogoni people, the author gave names of early encestors of Ogoni, gave robust oral tradition. He offered deep lexical terminologies.

“He replayed the remarkable acheological escarvation that was done in Nama, the ancestral homeland of the Ogonis where they first settled and its significance to Ogoni evolution.

“Through the author’s expository delivery, Ogonis can undertand why the Yaa ceremony or tradition died naturally because it was so embarrassing to see a man moving stark naked across Ogoniland to go through the rites of atonement to be Gbene (great).”

The author, Dr. Kpone-Tonwe revealed that the threefold motivation for the research intensive book was to, “make it available to Oginis, Nigerian public and introduce Ogoni pedigree through the book to numerous scholars on Ogoni soil.

Stakeholders left the presentation ceremony overwhelmed by the pioneering of a true capture of Ogoni history, provoking further studies to dig into other aspects of Ogonis as a people.