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Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa - Culture (5) - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Culture / Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa (46637 Views)

Gorgeous Urhobo Bride From Niger Delta / Some Igbo/yoruba Word Used In Urhobo/Isoko Language / Interesting Facts About The Urhobo People Of Delta State (2) (3) (4)

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Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by illiad: 2:49pm On May 03, 2015
tonychristopher:

Olu of warri its itshekiri not urhobo and warri is dominion of olu n
Leave them, let them be claiming another man's land. Funny little beings.
Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by Nobody: 3:48pm On May 03, 2015
illiad:


On the contrary, I do.

So bring your whole crew!

Indulgence

2 Likes

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by jared007: 3:49pm On May 03, 2015
Amusaopeyemi:

Let's go together please
oya forward ur pin. We go share am 50/50. I will pay 4 accomodation and u will take care of our feeding

2 Likes

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by Nobody: 4:23pm On May 03, 2015
jared007:
oya forward ur pin. We go share am 50/50. I will pay 4 accomodation and u will take care of our feeding


Deal. I'll send you my pin now.

2 Likes

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by illiad: 5:02pm On May 03, 2015
Freemanan:


Indulgence

Yeah!
I have indulged the rantings of the Sobos on nairaland, but they took it for granted! Butting-in on matters not anywhere close to their little abode in delta state.

Now I am out to search for them wherever I might find them, bringing the fights right to their doors.

It is my duty to put cockroaches where they rightly belong until they learn that though butterflies might fly, but to think itself a Bird is an assault on the integrity of the gods.

1 Like

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by Nobody: 5:04pm On May 03, 2015
illiad:


Yeah!
I have indulged the rantings of the Sobos on nairaland, but they took it for granted! Butting-in on matters not anywhere close to their little abode in delta state.

Now I am out to search for them wherever I might find them, bringing the fights right to their doors.

It is my duty to put cockroaches where they rightly belong until they learn that though butterflies might fly, but to think itself a Bird is an assault on the integrity of the gods.

Hmmmm! Good diction! We await you at the gate of Ughelli tho.... *runs away*

2 Likes

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by Nobody: 5:12pm On May 03, 2015
illiad:


Yeah!
I have indulged the rantings of the Sobos on nairaland, but they took it for granted! Butting-in on matters not anywhere close to their little abode in delta state.

Now I am out to search for them wherever I might find them, bringing the fights right to their doors.

It is my duty to put cockroaches where they rightly belong until they learn that though butterflies might fly, but to think itself a Bird is an assault on the integrity of the gods.

Reminds me of Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda. This is how a genocide starts. So much hate.

1 Like

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by Nobody: 5:15pm On May 03, 2015
literarymathy:


Reminds me of Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda. This is how a genocide starts. So much hate.

Easy on him Chief Orhero.... He lacks our stoicism

2 Likes

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by tonychristopher: 5:17pm On May 03, 2015
illiad:


Leave them, let them be claiming another man's land.
Funny little beings.


Sobo are such a funny group.... they were drinking kaikai when itshekiri took over

1 Like

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by illiad: 7:14pm On May 03, 2015
literarymathy:


Reminds me of Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda. This is how a genocide starts. So much hate.

Hate Beget Hate!
Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by daxlasaint(m): 11:03pm On May 03, 2015
literarymathy:


Reminds me of Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda. This is how a genocide starts. So much hate.

Yes this is how genocides are incited by illiterate, myopic sighted neanderthals who have never for one second of their lives relied on any other form of knowledge but what their stupid little minds tells them is fact. Illiad, its not by perching on a pail of butter a fly becomes a butterfly. Abeg get sense small or better still shut your filthy mouth on issues bigger than ur nonbrain can comphrend.

1 Like

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by daxlasaint(m): 11:15pm On May 03, 2015
firstolalekan:
Lazy ass nıggaz

And you base this statement on what facts or experience??
Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by daxlasaint(m): 6:57am On May 04, 2015
illiad:
Urhobo Or Sobo, very bitter people! They're very Jealous of Asaba wishing they could move the capital of Delta State, and probably convert Anioma to Sobo.

I detest these lot, sobos.

Illiad the ignorant self-servicer
Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by daxlasaint(m): 7:43am On May 04, 2015
literarymathy:


I just don't get it? this your erratically disturbing behavior towards the Urhobos. Maybe I should psychoanalyse you;

Did you have a rough childhood?
Were you molested by your Uncle or parents?
Did you have any sexual fantasies towards your sisters or mom? Maybe it's an Oedipal complex.
Were you a social pariah in school?
Or were you bullied by better looking and more intelligent dudes?
Are you xenophobic because you were raped by an Urhobo man when you were in Ogwashiuku prison?
Or are you simply tormented by the evils you did yourself?

Please Freemanan take over the analysis from here, this guy needs a stronger hand.

his family probably had to live on charity after his lazy incompetent father was sacked in favour of an hardworking Urhobo man... hence the acute hatred,

Or more likely, his mother finally left his father when she realised his phileandering and drunkness was ingrown in his blood and that of his kin. Salt on the injury was that she ended up with an Urhobo man who completes her world beyond her wildest dream...

2 Likes

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by darfay: 1:30am On Jun 04, 2015
@deltagiant na only God go punish u 4 calling osekwenike nd abuetor igbos dey are 2 out of 5 communities dat make up the okugbe isoko kingdom.tell my dads frend frm dere dis rubbish nd in go tolopia 4 u.google it nd plz don't say what u don't in public nxt tym.

1 Like

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by darfay: 1:40am On Jun 04, 2015
@illiad ori e don foka sibe Tay Tay nor b 2day Nar ur ancestors na in b sobo, ediot way e nor no hw 2 talk.d population of delta north is not even up to 2/3 of delta central nar who dash dose fake deltans nd fake igbos half of delta.shior ur yeye dey smell illiad d mad bull on rampage

2 Likes 1 Share

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by DavidEsq(m): 12:55pm On Feb 17, 2018
Chai! Na wa o! See ofoni dah year. My maternal grandfather fought for the citing of the secondary and pry sch, as well as the borehole, which is now kaput undecided. J.P. Owen of blessed memories. Ur legacies live on
Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by DavidEsq(m): 1:03pm On Feb 17, 2018


I always knew but have never seen one. I know some Urhobos who claim to be Bayelsans from Ofoni so that they can get a job in Bayelsa. Nice to meet you oniovo.
I even have my local government of origin certificate issued me before the creation of bayelsa state, while it was still part of Rivers state
Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by pluggedinn(m): 3:16pm On Mar 01, 2019
How's Ofoni nowadays?
Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by fero007: 1:27pm On Mar 02, 2019
I'm Waiting for the first Urhobo governor of bayelsa state
Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by Odimaluv: 8:44pm On May 18, 2019
Ofoni my foot. Very wicked people and centre of incense.
Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by dogheart: 7:53am On Jan 16, 2020
An entire Ijaw kingdom APOI in Ondo state speak Yoruba and Yoruba do not claim them. An entire Ijaw kingdom Opobo speak Igbo and Igbo do not claim them. Thanks to Edwin Clerk of Kiagbodo for letting the world know that Kiagbodo is an Ijaw town even though the natives speak Urhobo . Ofoni in Bayelsa state is an Ijaw town and the aboriginal natives of the town have not denied that . They speak Urhobo just as many Ijaw towns have lost their native Ijaw language to neighbors. People who are not from Ofoni should stop embarrassing the Ofoni people. They speak Urhobo but they are Ijaw.

1 Like

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by dogheart: 7:59am On Jan 16, 2020
illiad:


Leave them, let them be claiming another man's land.
Funny little beings.

Warri is the name of a Kingdom and the Kingdom has several towns. The kingdom is home to the Itshekiri, Ijaw and Urhobo settled in their various settlements or towns..and the King is an Itshekiri. The Itshekiri are settled in scattered communities that can not form land or geographical contiguity due to the presence of non Itshekiri settlements that are perhaps even older than the Itshekiri settlements .
Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by OvisFranko: 12:59am On Jul 22, 2020
dogheart:
An entire Ijaw kingdom APOI in Ondo state speak Yoruba and Yoruba do not claim them. An entire Ijaw kingdom Opobo speak Igbo and Igbo do not claim them. Thanks to Edwin Clerk of Kiagbodo for letting the world know that Kiagbodo is an Ijaw town even though the natives speak Urhobo . Ofoni in Bayelsa state is an Ijaw town and the aboriginal natives of the town have not denied that . They speak Urhobo just as many Ijaw towns have lost their native Ijaw language to neighbors. People who are not from Ofoni should stop embarrassing the Ofoni people. They speak Urhobo but they are Ijaw.

They speak Urhobo and they are Ijaw?
They bear Urhobo names and they are Ijaw too?
They speak the Ughelli dialect of Urhobo and they are still Ijaw too?
Life is sweet if we learn to understand ourselves.
Ofoni is an Urhobo community and the aborigines of Ofoni community are Urhobo people.They are kith and kins of Ughelli Kingdom.

3 Likes 2 Shares

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by OvisFranko: 1:02am On Jul 22, 2020
iyazkelly:
My name is Genesis Kelly Tobore, am an indigene of Ofoni Community. Its a blessed town with lots of opportunities yet unexplored and hopefully someday we will maximize these opportunities. 07069513011 chat me up if you are from Ofoni and it will be nice to get to know you. Thank you
Mavoh.I have been to Ofoni several times.
I was so amazed that the youths still speak Urhobo fluently.
Though ,I am not from Ofoni you can PM me.We are all Owhowha children.

1 Like

Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by iscom(m): 6:54am On Sep 30, 2020
[img]http://2.bp..com/-5J-7Q8K2XnY/Tg4_TrwjIqI/AAAAAAAAAHs/7vryM0J12rM/s1600/SAM_0456.JPG[/img]

A street in Ofoni town.

A corper's diary of Ofoni town
Ofoni is a rural community located in the Niger-Delta state of Bayelsa in Sagbama Local Government Area. It is acclaimed to be the second largest community in Bayelsa state. It is populated by approximately 17,000 people and it is polygamous in nature, with men having more than one wife in their lifetime.
It is a riverine community that is only accessible by water. It has four primary schools, A Basic Junior Secondary School and a Senior Secondary School. It has a health centre and lots churches and shrines.
I would not have known that there existed a place called Ofoni Town if I had not been posted to Bayelsa state for the compulsory National Youth Service Corps programme for the 2010/2011 Batch ‘B’.
When I saw my Call-up letter and Bayelsa written there, I was filled with joy because I wanted to travel to place that I had never been to before and to see firsthand the problems plaguing the Niger Delta state, this was due to the fact that I researched on the Niger Delta crisis and militancy for my final project in the university.
I left Abuja for Bayelsa on the 6th of June, and when I got there I was dumbfounded because the state was really underdeveloped with only one access road.
I was in the NYSC orientation camp located in Kaiama for three weeks and I did not enjoy my stay because the condition of living in the camp was nothing to write home about, with no portable water, electricity, clean toilets and other necessary items.
I was a member of the Nigeria Christian Corpers’ Fellowship (NCCF), I joined the publicity wing of the fellowship and I really had fun in the fellowship. I met beautiful people like Abimbola Ibitoye, Adakole Christian, Nkechi, Antoinnete and a host of others. It was NCCF that kept me going through out my stay in Kaiama.
In camp I took part in the Peer Education Training for HIV/AIDS educators, this programme really took my time and I did not have time to take part in parade which I was looking forward to taking part in.
I also took part in a cultural dance competition in camp, I joined the dance group of my platoon (06) that competed in the dance competition and we took second position.
The first week in camp was really hectic; I found it difficult to cope in the hostel because of the amount of people in a room.
The second and third weeks came with its own activities that made me forget the evils of kaiama camp and I really enjoyed that period, to the extent that on the final day in camp, I was nostalgic, I did not want to leave the place because of the realization that the friendship I made was going to come to an end.
The activities that I enjoyed in camp were dance, NCCF, parade, morning drills, endurance walk etc.
My most embarrassing moment in camp was during the fire alarm drill, prior to that moment we were told that something of that nature was going to happen. Fire alarm is a situation whereby camp officials would pursue all the corpers unawares out of their room to an open place and they would begin to take roll –call to know the corpers that are on ground and those that absconded.
The time for the fire alarm was one a.m. and all the corps members were asleep, so, when the beagle was blown we were all asked to leave the hostels, lo and behold, a scared boy like me, did not bother to wear something presentable, but I left with only boxers short, singlet, wrapper and I was bare footed. People that saw me really had a good laugh. They told me that I could have taken my time to put something on. I would never forget that day.
Finally, the day we all were waiting for, 27th of July 2010. That was the day we were given our posting letter to our places of primary assignment.
On that day, I was really scared because people were really afraid of being posted to a riverine community. So, I was given my posting letter and I saw C.S.S OFONI, OFONI TOWN, SAGBAMA LGA. When I saw my posting letter the TOWN really deceived me, I assumed that I was being posted to the capital of the local government, so I was happy; then we were given our life jacket, I started having cold feet, ‘I AM GOING TO ENTER A BOAT FOR THE FIRST TIME’ was all that was on my mind.
The journey to Ofoni began in the late part of July 28, 2011. Four out of the five corps members that were posted to the same school embarked on the journey; Myself, Lola, Ijeoma and Babatunde, with Ernest making a journey home and promising to catch up with us later.
The journey to Ofoni was not easy, to get to Ofoni, you have to leave Bayelsa and go to an interior community of Delta state, before you board a motorcycle and cross to the other side.
Ofoni is a boundary community between Bayelsa and Delta states and it is the only Urhobo speaking community in Bayelsa state.
When one of the female Corps member saw the river, she began to cry because before that moment, the Principal of the school told us that we were going to cross a small river.

She was on the verge of going back when one of the boat riders pushed her into the boad and we began our journey on water for the first time in our lives. I really had a good laugh when I saw the way she cried all through the journey and I did not let her forget that moment throughout our stay in Ofoni.
By the way, she sat on the deck of the boat. When we crossed the first hurdle of our service, we entered Ofoni community. The first thing I said when we entered was that “do people live here”. When we got to Ofoni, Lola did not follow us into the community, instead, she gave us some of her belongings and she went back.
That’s all I can say about my entry into Ofoni. The major thought that was in my head was how I was going to live in a place that does not have light, portable water, g.s.m network, corpers lodge, access road and lots more. I almost gave up when I got to Ofoni and I almost deferred my service but I had an attitudinal change with the impression that all was for adventure.
Beyond the physical challenges of Ofoni community, I also experienced what they call culture shock. I was surprised with what the people in that place do, they did things that you’d hardly found being done in public.
Ofoni is a sexual community, in the sense that sex was seen as a neccessity and they could not do without it. People were introduced to sex at a very young age with teenage pregnancy being on a high note. The men of Ofoni are of the lazy stock, they hardly work, it is the women and children that do all the work. The men of Ofoni wake up In the morning and the first thing they do is drink a bottle of hot alcoholic drink. Almost everyone drink alchohol in Ofoni, the young, the old, boys, girls, men, women, every body usually drink.
I also saw the instance where Youth corps members have sexual relationship with their students.
We, the Corps members were all posted to the secondary school in the community, and what we discovered was alarming; majority of the students of the senior secondary school do not know how to communicate in basic english, what they know how to speak is pidgin english , which they claimed was english, even at that, they could not even speak the pidgin.
Less than 10% of the students in the school could read, write and communicate effectively and they did not see a problem with that.
I had a problem getting across to the students of C.S.S Ofoni because of their level of understanding and their unwillingness to learn. The students were found of giving corpers bad names, I was called lots of Names, Ubulu monkey (monkey mouth) was the most prominent and I was called-even by the corps members- that name till I left ofoni.
Beyond the problems I faced in Ofoni, I will forever remember Ofoni Community. The community really thought me a lot, it made me experience a lot of firsts, the most prominent being my ability to stay alone in a house for a year without any parental guidance. I really had fun in ofoni.
Although, Ofoni does not have any relaxation centre. We, the corps members made it a point of duty to have places to go and things to do in order to keep up busy. The prominent being going to the water side to have fun in the afternoon/evening and going for ‘fellowship’ at night. The ‘fellowship’ here is not anywhere close to the usual fellowship in churches, this one is just a gathering of corps members where we’d discuss, argue, have sitting (in the form of a parliament), drink, dance and generally have fun. In the fellowship we had a Chairman, Speaker, majority Leader, Minority leader, Chief Whip, Women leader, Chair lady, Minister of Women Affairs and Kokolet matters, Interior minister, Minister of Information, Communication and Orientation. I served as Minister of Information in one tenure and Chief Whip in a different tenure.
In Ofoni, I got rid of my shyness and really had a lot of friends, most of which were my students, who made my stay memorable and they made me forget the problems of Ofoni.


Ofoni would forever remain in my mind. When I first got to ofoni, my prayer was that let one year come and go, but lo and behold, one year has come and go and I am wishing to go back to spend some time even if it is one week.
I was one teacher that was really close to his students. I made it a point of duty not to get close to the girls, because any friendship between a boy and a girl in ofoni would ultimately lead to sex. The girls had been made a sex object and to have a friendly disposition towards them would be interpreted as a sign of interest.
I had a lot of ‘boys’ that really helped me. Some of them helped me fetch water, others gave me foodstuffs. I never lacked plantain, Garri, Rabbit or even fish and snail. My house was a place that corpers used to come and take foodstuffs. I will never forget people like Benjamin Francis, Ebruphiyo okokorieta, Joachim, Solomon David, Oghenekevwe Ohwo, Collins Omuero, Simeon Clement, Oyivwita Joseph, Kevin Lucky and a host of other students too numerous to mention but they played a different roles in aiding my comfortability in ofonI.
It is not as if I was not close with the corps members, but I know that I would see them again, we even contact on phone and through facebook, so, I don’t have problems with them. It is my boys that I would really miss, there is no means of communication because there is no g.s.m network and it is only when they go to the waterside that they’d get constant network.
My friendship with the students did not affect me in carrying out my duty as a teacher in C.S.S Ofoni. When I am in school, I become their teacher and anyone that offends me or does what I told them not to do, then they’d be severely punished, but while in town, I become their friend and I play with them and I also advise them a lot. Most of my time with the boys would be focused teaching them reproductive health and teach then the adverse effect of HIV infection to oneself, family, community and country as a whole.
The people of Ofoni have a myopic view that there was no possibility of anybody being infected with HIV in Ofoni, so, they have sex with total abandonment, infact, protecting their selves with condom is not in their dictionary. Some of the students in the senior secondary school have already been impregnated or for the guys impregnate the girls.
It is my prayer that my one year in Ofoni was not a waste and that I impacted on my students and that they would forever remember the advice I gave them and use it to improve on their wellbeing.

http://ifeanyinwakudu..com/2011/07/my-ofoni-dairy.html?m=1
OK
Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by iscom(m): 7:03am On Sep 30, 2020
[img]http://2.bp..com/-5J-7Q8K2XnY/Tg4_TrwjIqI/AAAAAAAAAHs/7vryM0J12rM/s1600/SAM_0456.JPG[/img]

A street in Ofoni town.

A corper's diary of Ofoni town
Ofoni is a rural community located in the Niger-Delta state of Bayelsa in Sagbama Local Government Area. It is acclaimed to be the second largest community in Bayelsa state. It is populated by approximately 17,000 people and it is polygamous in nature, with men having more than one wife in their lifetime.
It is a riverine community that is only accessible by water. It has four primary schools, A Basic Junior Secondary School and a Senior Secondary School. It has a health centre and lots churches and shrines.
I would not have known that there existed a place called Ofoni Town if I had not been posted to Bayelsa state for the compulsory National Youth Service Corps programme for the 2010/2011 Batch ‘B’.
When I saw my Call-up letter and Bayelsa written there, I was filled with joy because I wanted to travel to place that I had never been to before and to see firsthand the problems plaguing the Niger Delta state, this was due to the fact that I researched on the Niger Delta crisis and militancy for my final project in the university.
I left Abuja for Bayelsa on the 6th of June, and when I got there I was dumbfounded because the state was really underdeveloped with only one access road.
I was in the NYSC orientation camp located in Kaiama for three weeks and I did not enjoy my stay because the condition of living in the camp was nothing to write home about, with no portable water, electricity, clean toilets and other necessary items.
I was a member of the Nigeria Christian Corpers’ Fellowship (NCCF), I joined the publicity wing of the fellowship and I really had fun in the fellowship. I met beautiful people like Abimbola Ibitoye, Adakole Christian, Nkechi, Antoinnete and a host of others. It was NCCF that kept me going through out my stay in Kaiama.
In camp I took part in the Peer Education Training for HIV/AIDS educators, this programme really took my time and I did not have time to take part in parade which I was looking forward to taking part in.
I also took part in a cultural dance competition in camp, I joined the dance group of my platoon (06) that competed in the dance competition and we took second position.
The first week in camp was really hectic; I found it difficult to cope in the hostel because of the amount of people in a room.
The second and third weeks came with its own activities that made me forget the evils of kaiama camp and I really enjoyed that period, to the extent that on the final day in camp, I was nostalgic, I did not want to leave the place because of the realization that the friendship I made was going to come to an end.
The activities that I enjoyed in camp were dance, NCCF, parade, morning drills, endurance walk etc.
My most embarrassing moment in camp was during the fire alarm drill, prior to that moment we were told that something of that nature was going to happen. Fire alarm is a situation whereby camp officials would pursue all the corpers unawares out of their room to an open place and they would begin to take roll –call to know the corpers that are on ground and those that absconded.
The time for the fire alarm was one a.m. and all the corps members were asleep, so, when the beagle was blown we were all asked to leave the hostels, lo and behold, a scared boy like me, did not bother to wear something presentable, but I left with only boxers short, singlet, wrapper and I was bare footed. People that saw me really had a good laugh. They told me that I could have taken my time to put something on. I would never forget that day.
Finally, the day we all were waiting for, 27th of July 2010. That was the day we were given our posting letter to our places of primary assignment.
On that day, I was really scared because people were really afraid of being posted to a riverine community. So, I was given my posting letter and I saw C.S.S OFONI, OFONI TOWN, SAGBAMA LGA. When I saw my posting letter the TOWN really deceived me, I assumed that I was being posted to the capital of the local government, so I was happy; then we were given our life jacket, I started having cold feet, ‘I AM GOING TO ENTER A BOAT FOR THE FIRST TIME’ was all that was on my mind.
The journey to Ofoni began in the late part of July 28, 2011. Four out of the five corps members that were posted to the same school embarked on the journey; Myself, Lola, Ijeoma and Babatunde, with Ernest making a journey home and promising to catch up with us later.
The journey to Ofoni was not easy, to get to Ofoni, you have to leave Bayelsa and go to an interior community of Delta state, before you board a motorcycle and cross to the other side.
Ofoni is a boundary community between Bayelsa and Delta states and it is the only Urhobo speaking community in Bayelsa state.
When one of the female Corps member saw the river, she began to cry because before that moment, the Principal of the school told us that we were going to cross a small river.

She was on the verge of going back when one of the boat riders pushed her into the boad and we began our journey on water for the first time in our lives. I really had a good laugh when I saw the way she cried all through the journey and I did not let her forget that moment throughout our stay in Ofoni.
By the way, she sat on the deck of the boat. When we crossed the first hurdle of our service, we entered Ofoni community. The first thing I said when we entered was that “do people live here”. When we got to Ofoni, Lola did not follow us into the community, instead, she gave us some of her belongings and she went back.
That’s all I can say about my entry into Ofoni. The major thought that was in my head was how I was going to live in a place that does not have light, portable water, g.s.m network, corpers lodge, access road and lots more. I almost gave up when I got to Ofoni and I almost deferred my service but I had an attitudinal change with the impression that all was for adventure.
Beyond the physical challenges of Ofoni community, I also experienced what they call culture shock. I was surprised with what the people in that place do, they did things that you’d hardly found being done in public.
Ofoni is a sexual community, in the sense that sex was seen as a neccessity and they could not do without it. People were introduced to sex at a very young age with teenage pregnancy being on a high note. The men of Ofoni are of the lazy stock, they hardly work, it is the women and children that do all the work. The men of Ofoni wake up In the morning and the first thing they do is drink a bottle of hot alcoholic drink. Almost everyone drink alchohol in Ofoni, the young, the old, boys, girls, men, women, every body usually drink.
I also saw the instance where Youth corps members have sexual relationship with their students.
We, the Corps members were all posted to the secondary school in the community, and what we discovered was alarming; majority of the students of the senior secondary school do not know how to communicate in basic english, what they know how to speak is pidgin english , which they claimed was english, even at that, they could not even speak the pidgin.
Less than 10% of the students in the school could read, write and communicate effectively and they did not see a problem with that.
I had a problem getting across to the students of C.S.S Ofoni because of their level of understanding and their unwillingness to learn. The students were found of giving corpers bad names, I was called lots of Names, Ubulu monkey (monkey mouth) was the most prominent and I was called-even by the corps members- that name till I left ofoni.
Beyond the problems I faced in Ofoni, I will forever remember Ofoni Community. The community really thought me a lot, it made me experience a lot of firsts, the most prominent being my ability to stay alone in a house for a year without any parental guidance. I really had fun in ofoni.
Although, Ofoni does not have any relaxation centre. We, the corps members made it a point of duty to have places to go and things to do in order to keep up busy. The prominent being going to the water side to have fun in the afternoon/evening and going for ‘fellowship’ at night. The ‘fellowship’ here is not anywhere close to the usual fellowship in churches, this one is just a gathering of corps members where we’d discuss, argue, have sitting (in the form of a parliament), drink, dance and generally have fun. In the fellowship we had a Chairman, Speaker, majority Leader, Minority leader, Chief Whip, Women leader, Chair lady, Minister of Women Affairs and Kokolet matters, Interior minister, Minister of Information, Communication and Orientation. I served as Minister of Information in one tenure and Chief Whip in a different tenure.
In Ofoni, I got rid of my shyness and really had a lot of friends, most of which were my students, who made my stay memorable and they made me forget the problems of Ofoni.


Ofoni would forever remain in my mind. When I first got to ofoni, my prayer was that let one year come and go, but lo and behold, one year has come and go and I am wishing to go back to spend some time even if it is one week.
I was one teacher that was really close to his students. I made it a point of duty not to get close to the girls, because any friendship between a boy and a girl in ofoni would ultimately lead to sex. The girls had been made a sex object and to have a friendly disposition towards them would be interpreted as a sign of interest.
I had a lot of ‘boys’ that really helped me. Some of them helped me fetch water, others gave me foodstuffs. I never lacked plantain, Garri, Rabbit or even fish and snail. My house was a place that corpers used to come and take foodstuffs. I will never forget people like Benjamin Francis, Ebruphiyo okokorieta, Joachim, Solomon David, Oghenekevwe Ohwo, Collins Omuero, Simeon Clement, Oyivwita Joseph, Kevin Lucky and a host of other students too numerous to mention but they played a different roles in aiding my comfortability in ofonI.
It is not as if I was not close with the corps members, but I know that I would see them again, we even contact on phone and through facebook, so, I don’t have problems with them. It is my boys that I would really miss, there is no means of communication because there is no g.s.m network and it is only when they go to the waterside that they’d get constant network.
My friendship with the students did not affect me in carrying out my duty as a teacher in C.S.S Ofoni. When I am in school, I become their teacher and anyone that offends me or does what I told them not to do, then they’d be severely punished, but while in town, I become their friend and I play with them and I also advise them a lot. Most of my time with the boys would be focused teaching them reproductive health and teach then the adverse effect of HIV infection to oneself, family, community and country as a whole.
The people of Ofoni have a myopic view that there was no possibility of anybody being infected with HIV in Ofoni, so, they have sex with total abandonment, infact, protecting their selves with condom is not in their dictionary. Some of the students in the senior secondary school have already been impregnated or for the guys impregnate the girls.
It is my prayer that my one year in Ofoni was not a waste and that I impacted on my students and that they would forever remember the advice I gave them and use it to improve on their wellbeing.

http://ifeanyinwakudu..com/2011/07/my-ofoni-dairy.html?m=1
Ofoni don changed bro. A lot of things are happening over there now.
Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by AreaFada2: 9:23am On Sep 30, 2020
illiad:


What are Sobos known for?
A people without history or lineage.
A miserable lazy lot, who has nothing to offer their fellows than abject hate and jealousy. People who are neither here nor there!

Pathetic lot, these Sobos!
Ha! Urhobo people have a very long history o.

Their movements over the past 700 years is pretty well known. Most know their origin points in Edo State. And other minority groups from elsewhere that now make up modern Urhobo nation. History of all the Urhobo kingdoms are well documented now. There is nobody that has no history o.

If you look carefully everybody is a mixture one way or another. Someone like me is lucky to know my mixture from centuries ago.

My brother and others on this thread, more unite us than separate us. No need for vitriol biko.

Regarding poverty, 70% of Nigerians can be regarded as poor. On the average Urhobo probably has less than 60% poverty rate. They are many in professions like law, medicine and accounting and academia.

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Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by Bigsunny01(m): 3:58pm On Sep 30, 2020


oh Really, pls don't add itskeri to this issue, u Igbo man.

what's in ur anioma land ?, bushes, trees, villages na we 1 claim, if people dey talk Igbo nor suppose talk, u know tat, stop diverting from d issue on ground.

have we ever claimed ur land ?, y u so bitter, or re jealous 86% of anioma re thick villages y 70% of our land re town and city, lolz I see, bros a beg stop d 8 cous u go sick

people dey talk Igbo 1 talk,, jst go shade ur tins for tat store 4 lagos





Na u even get time dey follow dat assliker dey yan, dat dude is never an Anioma dude cuz no Anioma native will insult his fellow SS fellow here, de dude na de same set of south eastern asslikers who always come online to create uneccesary commotion all because dey are in pain just becos we have told dem to pipe low wit deir 5 south eastern state dat belongs to dem
Re: Meet The Ofoni People Of Bayelsa, The Only Urhobo Tribe In Bayelsa by Nobody: 8:40am On Dec 22, 2020
dogheart:
An entire Ijaw kingdom APOI in Ondo state speak Yoruba and Yoruba do not claim them. An entire Ijaw kingdom Opobo speak Igbo and Igbo do not claim them. Thanks to Edwin Clerk of Kiagbodo for letting the world know that Kiagbodo is an Ijaw town even though the natives speak Urhobo . Ofoni in Bayelsa state is an Ijaw town and the aboriginal natives of the town have not denied that . They speak Urhobo just as many Ijaw towns have lost their native Ijaw language to neighbors. People who are not from Ofoni should stop embarrassing the Ofoni people. They speak Urhobo but they are Ijaw.


Opobo is igbo... grin grin

No kee urself because of it.

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