Dennis Great 
On the 3rd of November 2022, was a glorious day for me to explore the city of Oron. Without wasting much of my time, I enter bathroom to shower with warm water from the tap. I quickly dress up, arrange my written materials then head off to other of my colleagues’ rooms to explore the City of Oron.
…THE CITY OF ORON…
Oron town is so beautiful and very calm. One need I love about this town is their good roads. Like you will hardly see an untidy road. The Only issues I have in this town are light issues. They normally bring light but trust me, it’s all about the Nigerian style of bringing light. The hotel I lodge only on their Generator from 7p.m till 7a.m in the morning. The name of the hotel is AKOS hotel. This hotel is old due to the paint having already washed away. Their rooms are very big to accommodate more than 8 people together. Another thing I observe about Oron people is that their means of transportation mostly is bikes. The number of bike’s in Oron is something else. Whenever you visit Oron, try to explore their fresh fish. It’s very delicious and looks fresh because this town is surrounded with water.
ORON MUSEUM
Immediately we step out from our Lodge, our tour guide Mr Edet stops a bike. Although I thought the museum was very far from the hotel but not know that the museum was so close to AKOS HOTEL. From the hotel to Oron Museum was just a 5 minutes drive by bike and the cost was just 200 naira.
Behold the gate of Oron Museum, At first I asked myself if I’m really in Akwa Ibom because I never leave my comfortable bed in Lagos to explore Akwa Ibom. I am so happy setting my eyes at the second museum in Nigeria.
This museum house’s great historical stories that govern the past of the people and it still maintains fresh people’s history anytime you visit there. Immediately I entered the museum. I was seeing myself in the past of history. ” One thing you need to know about travel writing, you need to see yourself in the picture of any destination to understand what you see in the picture”.
When we entered the compound of the museum, We ask the security guard how to go about the museum and he directed us to the curators of the museum. They were two women who were in charge of the museum and they both welcomed us. We introduced ourselves and one of the curators introduced herself and told us she will be guiding us through. She went ahead telling us the gate fee is 300 naira per head and 200 naira for teenagers. We agreed to make the possible payment to the curator.
The Oron Museum was first opened to the public in 1959 and it mainly Housed eight hundred ancestral figures of carvings. The Oron people entrusted these carvings to be guided in the museum. During the civil war, the museum was destroyed and the carvings( Wooden Sculpture) were scattered, destroyed and stolen for sale abroad. After the civil war the department of Antiquities was only able to retrieve a little more than a hundred of these once venerable figures.
From the entrance of the museum were the pictures of our great leaders in Nigeria and what they have contributed in Nigeria and the museum and also the pictures of some white men who also contributed in Nigeria back then. Then we went on to explore the museum completely. The Wooden Sculpture in the museum helps to tell us a beautiful story of history.
In the Oron area, when a man died, a carved wooden image was made before his ceremonial burial. This was placed with others in a special building called the OBIO, which belonged either to the lineage group of the deceased, or to EKPE society; it was believed that the spirit of the dead Man is now an ancestor. According to the religious beliefs of the Oron people, the ancestors participated in the affairs of the living, and could be approached through the EKPU shrine to bring fertility to their women and farms and banish epidemics. Therefore, sacrifices of food and drink were made to the carvings twice in a year.
*EKPO MASQUERADE:-
This masquerade is the most traditional of all Ibibio secret societies. EKPO simply means souls or ghosts of the ancestors. According to their religious beliefs in Ibibio Land, when a man dies his soul transmigrates to the underworld. Once a year, between August and November, the ancestors return to the world of the living, to visit their kinsmen and EKPO members. They may also appear during certain rites connected with the farming cycle. ” The Ibibio are Said to have possessed this ancestral cult”.
The two most powerful and dangerous masquerades are AKPAN( first son) and EKA( mother ). NKOBIA wood is used to carve the mask used by them. This wood is a magical wood which causes the wearer to become possessed by EKPO. The AKPAN and EKA masquerade is restrained by an unmasked member holding the end of the rope for hurting people around them.
*CROSSING RIVER SKIN – COVERED MASKS:-
These are masks that are carved from wood and covered with animal skin. Animals mostly used are antelope or deer. Sometimes an animal or human skull is used instead of a wooden carving. Skin Covered masks are restricted in distribution to the cross river region of Nigeria and Cameroon, and are believed to have originated among the Ejagham forest people. There are basically two kinds of masks;- (1) The cap mask which usually represents a human head. It is often a basketry base and is attached to the head of the wearer by a string passing beneath his chin. (2) The skin Covered mask, it’s high degree of naturalism. The masks are mostly worn at funeral ceremonies. Skin Covered masks are highly artefacts.
*OBASSI NJOM
The meaning of OBASSI NJOM is ju-ju or cult agency of God. In some areas OBASSI NJOM was preceded many years ago by a similar cult called AKPAMBE. OBASSI NJOM appears to have originated among the Ejagham and also detects witches through a complex masquerade performance. The mask worn on top of the head, is in a stylized crocodile form, with a striking fan of blue and yellow feathers at the back. The eyes are represented by mirror’s, which indicate the divinatory powers of the masquerader. During the masquerade, the OBASSI NJOM music is played and the person to wear the mask and costume becomes possessed by the OBASSI NJOM spirit.
*ANNANG FUNERARY AR
The ibibio traditionally erected shrines for the dead at the time of the ceremonial burial. Amongst some ANNANG – Ibibio groups, especially the Afaha, ukana and otoro, elaborate structures called NWOMO were built.
*SCREWPINE SLEEPING MATS
In cross River, the traditional bed consist of a mud platform or a structure made of palm midribs or bamboo. The SCREWPINE is a large shrub which grows in swampy areas. The leaves are cut and gathered, and cleaned with a blade of Indian Bamboo.
*DECORATED CALABASHES
Traditionally, Calabashes serve a variety of purposes which range from their use as fishing net floats and house decorations, to masks, palmwine funnels, enema pots and musical instruments. When they are use as drinking cups, serving cups, foo foo containers, or storage receptacles, they are frequently decorated.
*THE ISHIBORI POTTER
ISHIBORI is a settlement on the edge of ogaja inhabited by the Nkim people. The people live in round or rectangle houses built of mud brick and thatched with grass. The main craft of ISHIBORI is pottery making. They are use in carrying water or storing water. There is this special flat bottomed bowl for ritual morning ablutions, and they are perforated pot for drying and storing meat and condiments by the fire. One of the best ISHIBORI potter’s is Mogbo Ajayi. She produces pots of first rate technical and aesthetic quality.
*CEREMONIAL PALMWINE POTS
Drinking of palm wine is one of the central features of social and ceremonial life in southern eastern Nigeria. No event of any kind that is complete without palmwine. The ibibio tap their wine from the raffia palm, while elsewhere the oil palm is exploited. The wine is collected in a special tapping pot. In the case of oil palm, “up wine” is obtained by using a climbing rope to climb the tree. “Down wine” is obtained by felling the tree and typing a container to the top end after all the leaves have been removed. Wine is collected twice daily in the morning and in the evening. It may be consumed fresh from the tree, or on the first, second or third day after tapping.
*NIGERIA MASKS AND MASQUERADES
Mask and Consume are worn at a performance referred to as a masquerade, by the masked performer or masquerader. The mask is a device usually worn on the face or head, together with a costume covering all or part of the rest of the body. In Africa masks and masquerade comprise one of the major spheres of artistic and ritual expression.
# EPA; In Ekiti area of northeastern Yorubaland the EPA cult honours ancestors and heroes.
# EGUNGUN; EGUNGUN masks are highly varied and range from those in the form of a human head or animal. The EGUNGUN masquerade the spirit of dead individuals or the ancestors in general return at least once a year to reunite with the living.
# EKPO; This masquerade is found among Edo people in Bendel state appear to have no connection with the ibibio masquerade of the same name. EKPO masquerades mostly perform at Chief traditional doctor’s and district officers.
# MMWo; In northern Igbo area around Onitsha and Awka MMWo or maiden spirit; masks are used in performance connected with male initiation and funerals.
# OGBOM; In Southern igboland, OGBOM plays were held to honour the earth deity.
And many more……
MUSIC AND DANCE
Nigerian music and Dance are virtually inseparable; most dancing is accompanied by music. and music must be danced. The vitality of Nigeria music and dance stems from the fact that it is located in village life, where traditional cultural patterns persist. It is only in comparatively recent years that music and dance have been performed on a formal stage in Nigeria.
# Rites de passage; installation ceremonies, farming, hunting and fishing rites – these are normally celebrated with music and dance. Music often imitates the tonal structure of the indigenous language, so that messages can be sent, often over considerable distance, and instructions given Singers and Dancers, by the musical instrument player. The mode of dance expresses the social status of the performers, and reflects the physical environment Nigeria music has remarkable assimilative power’s.
CORDOPHONES; These are stringed instruments. One of the simplest is the musical bow, popular in obubra, ikom and ogoja divisions. when playing the musical bow in these areas the mouth acts as the resonator, and the string produces the note when struck with a stick; the note is regulated by pressure from a piece of Wood held in the other hand. A simple form of flute, called Ditching is used by bokyi priest chiefs to summon spirit.
RAFFIA AND BARKCLOTH
The weaving of raffia in Ibibioland is a small scale industry which has adapted well to demands. In the village of ikot imana Ndue near abak raffia weaving is a craft conducted by boys to produce money for clothing, education and so on. Raffia threads, NDAM, consist of the outer skin peeled from fronds of the raffia palm, knotted together in a continuous length.
Barkcloth is a non textile fabric made from the bark of a tree. In the forest region of southeastern Nigeria, barkcloth was the normal apparel. It was used for wrapping precious objects, such as skin Covered masks.
IBIBIO WOOD CARVING
IBIBIO carvings are renowned throughout Nigeria, and many Ibibio works exit in museum collectiona all over the world. What is not generally realized, however, is that majority of carvings attributed to the Ibibios in fact come from the Annag sub group, of what are now Abak and Ikot Ekpene divisions. Among the ibibio and other people’s of cross river state, numerous carver’s formerly practiced. The ANNANG carver’s use two types of wood; UKPO( Astoria Congensis ) and UKOT ( Triplochiton Scheroxylon ), both of which are quite lightweight and soft. NKOBIA AND UKWA are two hardwoods which are believed to contain powerful spirits and are used only for special carvings such as the most powerful of the EKPO masks.
MANILLAS
Various types of manilla have been used in southern Nigeria since the end of 15th century. The word manilla is probably of Portuguese derivation, and it was the Portuguese who introduced manillas for trading purposes, a usage later adopted by the Dutch and British. Manillas are made of copper or copper alloys such as brass or bronze and they were mass produced in industrial centres such as Birmingham for the west Africa trade which expanded greatly at the end of the 18th century.
The name’s of manillas varied from place to place, and according to their value. Common names include OKPOHO, ABI, OKOMBO, MKPORO, EJIMA AND POPO. One of the problem with manillas used as currency was that a type which acceptable in one area might not be able to be tendered elsewhere. The use of manillas by entrepreneurs made for currency speculation and manipulation.
Oron Museum is a wonderful place to explore. But on my last visit, the Oron Museum was very sick and needed help from the government to heal very fast. This museum is the second museum in Nigeria and it has a great story to tell about its people. Allowing it to die off just like that, won’t be nice. I think the government should look into it and see what they can do to put things in place. Even the curators are complaining about their salaries.
Oron Bunker:
The museum also has displays of bunkers popularly Known as
Oron Bunker. The bunker is used during the civil war as well as a
crafts village. The bunker is a national monument such as the
Ojukwu Bunker-one of the remaining relics of the Nigerian Civil war.
The museum also has displays of bunkers popularly Known as
Oron Bunker. The bunker is used during the civil war as well as a
crafts village. The bunker is a national monument such as the
Ojukwu Bunker-one of the remaining relics of the Nigerian Civil war.
Anyways, I had a great time exploring the museum and I give my best to elaborate what is in the museum for better understanding.
Please Note: Oron Museum Nigeria is a museum in Oron, Nigeria. The museum was established in 1958 to accommodate eight hundred known ancestral figures (ekpu) of the Oron people which are believed to be among the oldest and finest surviving wood carvings in Africa. During the civil war, many of the wood carvings were looted and the museum was severely damaged. In 1975, the museum was reinaugurated and today houses the remains of the wooden sculptures and other ethnographic materials from across Nigeria. The museum also has displays of bunkers used during the civil war as well as a crafts village.
Onye-njem one of AFRICA
