Second Burial In Esan Weltanschauung: A Retrospective And Prospective Interrogation – Research Paper

Dr. Charles Onomudo Aluede, a Professor of Music specializing in Ethnomusicology and Music Therapy at Ambrose Alli University, Edo State, Nigeria brings his expertise in African Indigenous Knowledge Systems to the exploration of a complex cultural practice in the Catholic Diocese of Uromi, Edo State, Nigeria. As the founder of the Centre for Studies in Esan Music, Aluede is dedicated to preserving Esan musical traditions and cultural heritage.

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In this paper, he investigates the controversial practice of second burial in Esan, a ritual that has sparked significant debate within the Esan community. While many claim to embrace Christianity, they continue to partake in traditional ceremonies that the Church disapproves of.

Aluede traces the origins of this practice, examining its socio-economic roots, its evolution, and how it fits into contemporary Esan society. Despite its historical connection to traditional practices, the modern observance of second burial no longer carries the same connotations of African traditional practices, offering a glimpse into the intersection of tradition and religion in Esanland. 

Abstract

In the Catholic Diocese of Uromi, Edo State of Nigeria, the issue of second burial has generated much fuss and by extension, the issue has reached a worrisome height in the entire Esanland.  Second burial in Esan today, though a trending practice is not well received by the various communities in Esan.  

Paradoxically, in contemporary Esan, everyone claims to be Christians and even in their Christianity they are still believed to take part in certain traditional religious observances which the Christian church frowns at.  It is in this connection that this paper undertakes a study of the practice.

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In doing this, it traces its origin from time immemorial .to the present. Although earlier observances associated with it reeks of pagan practice – in socio-economic construct or machination around inheritance. Today, it will be spurious to say as to that second burial in this area has any colouration of fetishism. 

Preliminary Remarks

When I first got a call to give this lecture at this conference, I had my reservations and unwillingness. 

These did not stem fromnot wanting to serve the mission I belong to, but that as a catholic I will be standing before priests in the bishopric to examine an issue so delicate in nature that I might stir up some agitations if not conflicts.

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That I am here standing to address us today is obviously because of your collective decision. I am, therefore, thankful to you all: members and leaders of this great body for deeming me fit to perform this duty. Please accept my obeisance as I bring you very warm greetings from my beloved family and respected university.

Introduction

The book of Daniel in our Christian Bible, chapter 12 talks about increase in knowledge.  I draw from this increase andquest for better understanding in the investigation of selected traditional Esan practices. Prominent among such practices is the second burial which is our primary concern here. 

Permit me to say here, that this paper is crafted in the understanding that over half of its readers are Esan people and so some extraneous issues are deliberately skipped so as to save the soul and time of this presentation.  

That we are here talking about second burial means that there was a first burial. Therefore, to facilitate congruence and organic unity in this presentation, we will take a cursory look at kinds or manners of death, the corresponding rituals of interment and first burial and then dwell on second burial.

Before that, it is important that we define the territory whose culture we intend to discuss. Who are the Esan people and where are they found?

The Esan

The term Esan has dual meanings. It is nomenclatural for a territory occupied by a people of a land and is also a language spoken in that locale. Geographically, Esan is bounded by Owan East, Etsako West and Etsako Central in the North, Owan West in the Northwest, Orhionmwon in the South and river Niger by the East. The Esan occupies a landmass of about 2,814 square kilometers (Oseghale, 2019). 

Owing to its historical origin, the social and political organization of the people relies greatly on that of Benin. (Okpoko, 1993, Okojie 1994; Okoduwa, 1997).

From Esan historical reconstruction, the people who occupy the region marked out in the map below are believed to have migrated from Benin Empire at different periods and the first batch of such migrations which happened in 1025 BC actually met some inhabitants at Egbelle in Uromi (Ojiefoh, 2002).

Materials and Methods in Data Gathering for This Study

In quest for accurate data collection in this research, a multidimensional method of investigation was used.  This included the consultation of Primary and Secondary sources. Under primary source of information gathering, a mixture of historical, descriptive, analytical, interviews, participant observation and group discussions were used.

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Esanland is made up of five Local Government Areas. Consequent upon this, certain individuals who are believed to be rooted in the customs and traditions of their communities were selected from the five Local Government Areas.

These individuals were male and female: elderly people, middle aged people and young adults. And under secondary sources, data were elicited from the internet, books, monographs and research articles. 

Kinds or Manners of Death in Esan Worldview

I consider it fit and proper to start by dwelling on kinds or manners of death from Esan lens. In Esan, death is not just taken in as its name implies. The variables responsible for the death have a link with the associated funeral observances. Elsewhere, Aluede and Aluede (2012) have dealt with this subject matter in some depth.

I therefore crave your indulgence to share their opinions elaborately here. For example, death could be shameful or glorious and in between these are other kinds which range from not too shameful to quasi glorious ones.

To die of poverty, hunger, neglect or to be discovered dead as a result of foul odour perceived from a decomposing body obviously are no news of good tidings. Similarly, to die through self-help (suicide) or going against community mores as in dying in the bush and dying of mental disorder in the community are also strands of shameful deaths.

While in Esan vocabulary Uu mhin oya implies shameful death, Uu mhin eghonghon means joyous or glorious death. Dying peacefully in a sleep, dying after a very brief illness and not dying of protracted and malignant ailment that could dry up available resources at an old age is regarded as joyous or glorious death. Aluede and Aluede (2011) are not alone in this thinking. According to Izibili (2017:83-84)

Death to the traditional Esan people, is of two kinds. The first they refer to as “Good death” Good death is that which takes place when the person has attained a reasonable age, and the children are grown up to give him a befitting burial.

“Bad death” is such that happens when an under aged dies right in the very eyes of the parents… Another kind of “bad death” is suicide (Uhoa).

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Very quickly here, I think I would like to tell us that Uhoa is different from Uhohoa. Uhohoa is to go with the wind andwonder to an unknown destination. In Esan, death is subject to scrutiny. It is this scrutiny that determines the kind of interment that the deceased gets.

The act of burying a dead in Esan is obviously contingent on a number of factors. There is obvious paucity of information and resistance in discussing death and burial patterns in Esan. This has also shaded into, even interment procedures in the communities. 

In this culture, there are basic procedures in the interment of kings and other subjects. However, in this study, the latter is our major concern. Without contradiction, some of these interment patterns are gradually giving way to the forces of modernity.

Please mind my choice of words here. Modernity cannot be a synonym for Christianity and so the use of modernity in place of Christianity is deliberate. This is so because most converted Africans have always been seen as hypocritical Christians who have one leg in the newfound faith and the other in their traditional spirituality.

Healey and Syberts (1999) are very clear on this.  Nevertheless, the family of the dead retains right to bury their dead according to their traditional rites or follow the will of the deceased. However, there are few cases that are somewhat sacrosanct.

As a practice in Esan and also a view held by Izibili (2017:84), “the way and place a person dies determines how and where the corpse will be buried. For example, the bank of the river is the burial place for those killed by the river, once the corpse is found after a careful search”. 

Some Aspects of Interment in Esan

In what follows, interment in Esan traditional society is in focus and they will be discussed under the following heading below:

1. The interment of a murderer or criminal
2. The interment of patients of Anasacra and Ascites
3. The interment of a person born twins
4. The interment of a very harsh man
5. The interment of a beheaded person or a corpse with dismembered body
6. The interment of an epileptic or tuberculosis patient
7. The interment of a Murderer or Criminal

To take one’s life or the life of others is criminal. Just as the remains of a murderer is not taken to church for requiem mass, in Esan, this act is believed to be capable of polluting the land. Therefore, once this happens certain rituals are performed toatone the land.

Of particular interest is the manner in which such a person is buried. In a traditional setting, the dead person is buried with head up-side down- a practice which is believed to inhibit the dead from reincarnating as a human but as a tree or lesser beings.

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A similar practice in the current socio-judicial dispensation, is that victims of hanging are given mass burial in shallow graves by government officials.  In other words, the burial is devoid of any accoutrements, even if the person is an elder. 

The Interment of Victims of Anasacra and Ascites

Anasacra is a generalized body swelling. Anasacra is a medical term which refers to the swelling mainly of the legs and face; it may include the back, anterior abdominal wall and even the external genitalia. In the same vein, Ascites may be a component of Anasacra. 

In the conditions, an intra-abnormal fluid collection, which may or may not contain protein, occurs. These ailments are closely knitted with poor heart, liver and kidney condition.

However, in Esan, these ailments are viewed differently given a traditional orientation and belief in diverse variables in disease causation. This opinion is further corroborated by Izibili (2017) when he observed that:

Those who die mysteriously and results in heated arguments that have to do with an attack from community shrine, it is the priest of such shrine that dictates where he/she should be buried. Sometimes, the corpse is refused burial to the extent that other rites that are traditionally meant for burial are denied.

When one dies of generalized swelling or swelling of the abdominal region, it is generally believed that Ovia or willful oath taking has caused the swelling. In such a case, the victim is either thrown into the forest or sent to the Chief Priest of Ovia shrine or the victim’s remains is renegotiated for burial.

The interment of a Person Born Twins

In Esan, the belief is that in death twins should go back to yonder world as duo. In place of the twin-sibling, a banana or plantain stem is put beside the corpse during interment.

It is worthy of note, that banana stem is an alternative for a corpse in Esan cosmology. Thus, when a grave has been dug for a patient in coma – but who then regains consciousness, a banana stem is put in the grave and leveled up.

The interment of a harsh person 

Although difficult to precisely determine, every Esan community has a broad set of established expectations from individuals as they live together. These dwellers are governed by common values.

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It is within this ambit of expectations that each person’s moral conduct is judged arrogant, fastidious, harsh, unkind, selfish, to mention but a few.

If through a consensus, a deceased was adjudged to be harsh ‘in the market of life’ – while on earth, the stomach of the deceased is opened up and traditional chalk is mixed with table salt and made into paste with coconut water.

This solution is then poured into the dead person’s stomach. Since coconut water is a coolant, in the deceased’s next earthly life, he is projected to live amicably with every member of the community.

The interment of a beheaded person or a corpse with dismembered body 

In the olden days of inter and intra tribal wars, it was common to find beheaded corpses. The heads of defeated warriors were presented before a monarch for some dishonorable burial.

During interment, a calabash of moderate size is fixed into its neck as an improvised head. In the same vein, to bury a person whose upper or lower limb was cut off, an improvised body part will be made of laterite in place of the lost part.

Although this practice is extinct today in relation to inter and intra tribal wars, it has equivalent in people killed in automobile accident whose heads are irrecoverably crushed, and are buried the same way as beheaded or dismembered warriors

The interment of an Epileptic or Tuberculosis patient

In Esan, a body of beliefs exits in connection with the concept of illness and its causation which sometimes maybe at par and at variance with orthodox medical practice.

For example, epilepsy which is seen as a disorder of the brain in the medical parlance is believed to be caused by a single or multiple variables such as natural causes, witches induced, ancestors induced, and sickness carried over from a past life (Aluede, 2010).

In burying an epileptic or tuberculosis patient, a traditionally trained morbid anatomist is hired to open up the dead and remove all the organs which would be buried differently from the corpse.

It is thought that should the dead be buried without the evacuation of the organs the disease that killed him in this earth life could also be his problem in the next earth life.

First Burial in Esan

Elsewhere in this work we have defined interment. So burial will be discussed in the light of all the rites and observances associated with the interment of a departed member of a given community.

So as to head smoothly to our expected destination in this excursion, some salient matters arising from the previous segments require urgent address. Put laconically and mathematically, if a kind of death begets a kind of interment.

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What is the relationship between a kind of interment and a kind of first burial? In an effort to resolve this equation, we discovered that:

• A missing person is not given any form of burial.
• An abducted person whose whereabouts is unknown is never buried.
• Someone whose remains cannot be identified as in cases of ghastly motor accident or air accident is not buried.

Arising from the observations above, there are some extreme cases where ashes are brought from the scene of accident which is put into a casket or a trunk of plantain or banana stem for proper burial.

Contrastingly, if a native of Esan town A is deliberatively  buried in Esan town B or any place outside Esan, the deceased‘s measurement is taken with Osen and taken back to the hometown of the deceased for interment and proper burial rites. 

The classes of these persons highlighted in bullets are not accorded Ujie music and dance. You may wonder why this musical genre is being mentioned here. Ujie has an exclusive place in the rites of passage of the dead.

Bradbury (1973); Aluede and Aluede (2011) observe that during the Ujieperformance, the children, siblings and friends of the departed are able to hi in respect of the dead.  

In recent times, some of these traditional practices have eclipsed because a corpse taken to the church for requiem mass or any form of church services is always interred by the members of the church.

However, a new order is gradually evolving; an order which is not only repugnant to natural justice and equity but offensive to common sense-asking the children of a dead woman to build a house in her village where she will be interred. This tendency is growing with great rapidity which we must try and address.

Second Burial in Esan (Itolimhin): Issues and Counter Issues

Not very many people can authoritatively talk about the etymology of Itolimin in Esan. Its origin appears to be shrouded in history or deliberately muted to keep/maintain its coded strands as an agenda.

I argue that, in essence, Itolimin is a socio-economic construct steeped in religio-mystical rite performed by the first son of a late man so as to inherit his spiritual estate. 

The reemphasized here is “to inherit a dead father’s spiritual estate.” Remember too that although Christianity first came into Esan in 1902, for a long time, the converts were unstable. At the passing on of a father, the first son assumes the mantle of office as the new father over his siblings.

To perform this task, religion and mysticism need to be part of the deal. I need not stress the fact that in the days of old, there were no preservative means for the remains of the dead.

And so while the dead was immediately interred, his hair, finger nails and cloth are cut and preserved in a calabash until his first son is able to announce to his kinsmen that he was ready for Itolimin.

These items kept in the calabash were emptied into other concoction to make and consecrate Ukhure (sceptre). With this item, the first son is then able to pour libation of wine and blood and even offer food to the late father while seeking his protection over the entire family.

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As for the physical estate, it is the Egbele, who decides that. This iswhy, in meeting with the children of the deceased, the eldest kinsman will ask if the deceased ever confided in anyone on how his estate will be administered. Once such persons come out to share their testimonies, their positions were usually adopted.

It is notable here that Esan is made up of about thirty-five kingdoms. This means that second burial observances are different from kingdom to kingdom. Even so, it is a common tradition and that’s what we are investigating.

Very quickly, I like to ask some important questions that will guide ourdiscussion on this subject matter and they are:

1. Who performs Itolimin in Esan and what is its relevance?
2. When first and second burial rites are conflated into one Christian funeral during one weekend, does it strip the event of its second burial validity?
3. What if for want of financial resources a first son delays the second burial exercise for a period between three months after first burial to many years, does it now assume the colouration of fetishism?
4. In contemporary Esan societies, are the animals slaughtered actually sacrificed to any known deity or deities?
5. Now that most second burials are monetized, is the money collected from the celebrants paid into ancestors’ accounts? 

Of What Use is Itolimhin in Esan 

On the significance of Itolimin in Esan, Ojiefoh (2002) posited that Itolimin is the climax of the burial ceremony of one’s dead father and that it has no significance if one does not perform the final burial ceremony of one’s mother.

However, it is compulsory for the first son to perform this rite without which he cannot be an Odionwele and cannot inherit his father’s estate. Ojiefoh’s position is corroborated by many other voices as I string along in this work.

In customary law, it is an accepted practice that the next of kin preferably the first son has to perform the final burial rite of his late father for the family and community without which he cannot inherit the father’s wealth or estate (Izibili, 2017:88).

He stretches this issue further when he said that in recent times, there is a Christian touch to it. It is such that you do not need to kill any goat or cow but simply monetize what the items are to be given to Egbele. 

Thereafter, the son has full right of inheritance over the late father’s properties. In the opinion of Ojeaga (2019) and I quote verbatim et literatim “I see it as a purchase of a father’s property from the elders of ones extended family. It is the elders who perform this rite for the first son”.

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He explained further that the first son uses this rite to mark out his territory by claiming his father’s property and that if by virtue of his career, he is not immediately available to take over the said property, he could mandate his younger and trusted brother to do so pending his return. 

This view is supported by Iseghohi (2019) when he opined that Itolimhin is a traditional rite performed by the first son so as to have right over his late father’s property and that in doing so, all the relations –extended family who witnessed the exercise could then stand in evidence and witness for the celebrant should there be any future litigation.

Agnatic Nature of Esan and its Relevance in Second Burial 

An agnate is a relative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family. In Esan, the first son or the surviving son in line is very central in Itolimin and inheritance of the dead person’s property. 

Early in time in Esan, the issue of who inherits a dead man’s property has been a recurring subject matter of interest. This interest has often led to tensions and conflicts in the political and economic gait of the different kingdoms.

For example, Ojiefoh (2002: 138) reported that at some points in Esan, “when a man dies without a male child, the Onojie takes over the victim’s whole assets, house, wife, female children, clothing, farm and livestock”.  

He reported further that around 1918, the then Onojie of Uromi Okojie the first tried to take the belongings of one Usunobun from Amhedokhian and the people rose in opposition to such practice, and it was said that the district officer was not in support of the king because he saw that trend as barbaric.  

No doubt, this kind of opposition gave birth to a redefinition of inheritance structure. Just as a pauper cannot or does not have a will to bequeath his property to anyone, not all persons merit second burial in Esan.

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A childless man without any property, an under-aged person, a married man with wife and children who lived and died in penury as a tenant do not and are therefore not accorded second burial. Contrastingly, a childless man who is a property owner merits a second burial.

This burial is done by Akheoa or his Oro. Oro is a household name which is in common use, but Akheoa may not be. I will need to treat this concept in some depth for better understanding. Akheoa has a strong link with Ehoghare. 

In my previous work on Oguega, I talked about Esan language as an eclectic mode of expression which has borrowed and adopted some esoteric codes from Oguega. To buttress my points, I identified terms like Ohogholi (lies), Okan-ete (important person), Ohanabe (something accidental), Oba-akho(big trouble), Etule-ete (disease or ill fame gotten through a woman), Ose-eka (unguided spending or unprofitable expenses) etc.

The Oguega term for father’s relations is Oha + Eghare = Oheghare. Though corrupted in contemporary Esan language as Ehoghare, its meaning remains the same. Today, there is a kind of Ehoghare inheritance.  To conserve time and words, I have reduced my thoughts on this into the diagram below and it is hoped that it will aid a quick grasp of the concept.

You probably have heard me say that a poor man with wife and children who does not have any known assets is not given a second burial. But if the late man’s son now distinguishes himself in business and then dies a rich man, his first son is often required to bury his grandfather first before his real father. The diagram below is reasoned to be of help here too.

This again points to the fact that Itolimin has some measure of double standards. We will be dealing with some of these in my concluding remarks.

Are There Fetish Undertones Associated with Itolimhin in Esan?

From the insightful narrative about Itolimhin earlier, it reeks of pagan practice – in socio-economic construct or machination around inheritance. It was absolutely a fetish rite. 

Today, it isn’t!Most churches frown at the word second burial and this has made most families keep the dead in the mortuary so as to mop-up some money to enable them conflate the Christian and traditional funeral in one weekend.

And where, for want of financial resources, a first son delays the second burial exercise for a period between three months after first burial to many years, it does not give the rites any colouration of fetishism.

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In strict sense, in contemporary Esan societies, the animals slaughtered are not sacrificed to any known deity or deities or before any sceptre or at the base of Ikhimin (newbouldia laevis). This is why it is possible nowadays to monetize most second burials and the money is shared by the celebrant’s kinsmen. 

Itolimin in contemporary Esan societies does not have fetish colourations any longer. I like to draw your attention here to the fact that Esan people have a penchant for constant redefinition and shedding off of old beliefs that are no longer in tandem with the realities of time.

This is palpable in our new lifestyles where man and wife can now use the same toilets and bathrooms, children, boys and girls can now watch Igbabonelimin without first going through initiation, women now have economic independence and some even earn higher than their husbands and so are able to own personal properties and businesses without the ancestors striking them to death-these are tendencies associated with Agbebo. 

While writing about the Akan of Ghana, Williamson (1955:108) shared his student’s opinion who said that “in the olden times there were no policemen and no need for them; the gods were the policemen” The Akan is not alone in this tradition; Esan is inclusive. 

Now that the white man has come and with a new way of life, our old styles have bowed to theirs, their God is not seen as their police because they have political, security and judicial outfits aside religion. As I progress from this point, we need to begin to grow in this understanding because this background is needed to enable us to understand the turns and twists in what follows.​

Counter Issues in Second Burial of the Esan 

Presently, the art of parting with some money or items as in Itolimin rites to be able to inherit one’s father’s estate is not novel. It is somewhat paradoxical that while this concept has generated so much fuss in many Esan towns and churches therein, it is also embraced very warmly because it has worn a new cloak and therefore a new look.

In contemporary Nigeria, to inherit the property of a deceased requires some steps of action and I would like to quickly reel in some respects that are considered consequential to this work.

Procedure for the Application for the Grant of Letter of Administration and Government Charges

Probate practice deals with the procedure for the granting and revocation of probate and letters of administration, both in contested and uncontested cases. At death whether the deceased left a Will or not, probate is required for the administration of the estate of the deceased.

Until probate is granted, the executor or administrator, who interferes with the estate of the deceased person, is an intermeddler or executor in his own wrong, (see Order 58 Rule 3, Edo 

State High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2018) technically called an executor de son tort

The applicable laws are Administration of Estate Law of the various states, Wills Act 1837 as amended by the Wills Amendment Act, 1852 and the Wills Law of the various States, High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules of all the states except Lagos; High Court Law, Cap 60, Laws of Lagos State and Marriage Act, Cap 116, Laws of Federation of Nigeria, 2004. Due to the concern and nature of this paper, we will be considering Letter of Administration alone.  

Letter of administration is the legal authority granted by the probate court to a person called the administrator or the administratrix to administer the estate or property of a person who died intestate.  

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A person is said to must have died intestate when he dies without leaving behind a valid Will. The purpose of the letters of administration, entitles the administrator to manage the estate of the deceased.

The procedure for the application for the grant of letter of administration, of the estate of a deceased who died interstate, is by a Motion on Notice supported by an Affidavit which is brought before the court and the court bailiff will serve a copy on the respective banks.

Upon service the bank will disclose the details of the deceased account (not only money in bank accounts, if the deceased has shares too, the same procedure will be adopted, the company will disclose the amount of shares and the monetary value to enable the court calculate the 10% (ten percent), see also Order 58 Rule 11of the Edo State High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2018).

On the court date, the applicant who is either represented by a legal practitioner or not, in company of a family head, the Motion is thereafter moved. If the Motion succeeds or is granted, the court will issue an Enrolment of Order through the applicant to the bank.

What are normally contained in the Enrolment Order are the prayers you asked for in your Motion on Notice, for example, an order of court to directing the bank to allow the applicant to operate the bank account of a deceased person.

Usually, a very close relative (a person making the application is to enable the person operate account of either father, or mother, brother, or sister). Upon the issuance of the Enrolment of Order, the applicant is expected to pay 10% of the money in the account or 10% of the money value of the shares in the company.

This is a procedure that is judicially noticed. The area customary court has jurisdiction to hear this form of application among the lower courts (See Order 58of the Edo State High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2018).

Concluding Remarks

Your Lordship, Priests, Brethren and distinguished guests, to enable us have more than a whiff of this presentation, we examined the Esan in geographical and historical sense. 

We explored the kinds/manners of death, first burial, aspects of interments and the nature and relevance of second burial in Esan. When I drew earlier from the position of Healey and Syberts (1997) by inferring that Africans are hypocritical Christians, one may have thought: that’s a sweeping statement!

From the issues and counter issues in Esan second burials, we have a multiplicity of variables longing for resolution. The church came to replace traditional practices. The bible which is our guide is silent on modalities for sharing the property of the dead.

Those who evangelized us have court procedures for inheriting the property of the dead. The evangelized see this new order as strange and so they lean on their age-old style.  Can a will replace Itolimhin? Where Will exists, is Itolimin rites still required?

Do we evolve an amalgam of the old and new or just new procedures? If you were to give a name to the ten percent (10%) of the deceased’s savings or shares that is paid to the government, what would you call it within the context of this presentation?

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What is the Church’s stand on these or is there needed to evolve a new rite for converts?  No doubt, finding answers to these puzzles will resolve the avalanches of thoughts concomitant with this rite.

REFERENCES

• Aluede, C.O. (2005) From the Sacred to the Secular: A Diachronic Examination of Selected Oguega Terms in Esan Vocabulary. African Notes, 29, 1&2. 121-128.
• Aluede, C.O. (2010) Music as Therapy by Iyayi Society of Edo State, Nigeria. Berlin Germany: Verlag Dr. Muller Publishers.    
• Aluede, E.O & Aluede, C.O. (2012) The Ujie Music and Dance of the Esan, Edo State, Nigeria. Berlin, Germany: Lambert Publishers.
• Bradbury, R. E. (1973) Benin Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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INTERVIEWS

The author is grateful for the insightful interaction he had with the following persons: Goddey Akhimien,James Asika James, John Iseghohi, F.U. Iseghohimhen, M.A. Izibili, Ugboke Owobu, P.B.O. Ojeaga, P.U. Oyugbo, S.J. Ebhohon, Barr. Gina Okhiria and many others.

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