This book is full of exciting stories about the history of the people of Oza in Delta and Edo States in Nigeria. It introduces its fascinating history, culture, and customs to readers. Udo and Ubeni fought the Akpanigiakon war in 1487; Benin won the war under the kingship of Oba Oguola. After their defeat, Generals Oza, Omede, and Arihia fled to form Oza, Evbo Omede, and other villages. The book crystallizes the emergence of Oza Aibiokunla from Oza Nogogo by peaceful means and gradual process due to the maltreatment of the Ika people. Another factor was the search for fertile land for farming. The Oba of Benin recognizes the Ogisi of Oza Nogogoro and the Odion Oza of Oza Aibiokunla. The author dealt with the social-cultural and economic systems of the Oza people. The author spelled out the festivals, moonlight recreational games, marriage systems, death, burial, and funeral rites of the Oza people. Reading this book, you will learn a lot of insightful information about the Oza people, their fascinating history and customs

"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots" - Marcus Garvey.The manuscript of this book was written by Victoria Aikoroje (my late sister) driven by her passionate interest in tracing and establishing the origin of her people - the Ora people. Unfortunately, she could not publish the work because her life on earth was suddenly cut short. She died in 1984 aged 25 years.I took up the responsibility and task of publishing her manuscript into this book for the following reasons:*To keep alive the name and research work of the author. *To ensure that her valuable efforts to provide a credible narration of the history, origin, and culture of the Ora people are not wasted as a result of her demise.*To let the present and future generations of Ora people know where they came from and that because of their roots, they and their children are indeed "princes" and "princesses" who belong to the royal family of the great Benin kingdom as revealed by Victoria's research work.I have done very minimal edits to the original manuscript in order to rearrange the flow of the content for easy reading.The manuscript was dated April 1983 and for this reason, some aspects of the content of the book (as would be expected) have over the intervening period experienced social, political, geographical and economic changes. This calls for the reader to consider the text in the book from the perspective of the author writing her story during the aforementioned period. Please read, enjoy, be informed and intrigued.

The name Nigeria was coined in Lokoja by Flora Shaw, the future wife of Baron Lugard, a British colonial administrator, while gazing out at the river Niger. So, British colonialism created Nigeria as a country, joining diverse peoples and regions in an artificial political entity along the Niger River. The territory known today as Nigeria is a very large country of multi-ethnic groups of about four hundred. The land mass is large enough to accommodate France, Belgium and Italy. The name Nigeria is derived from the River Niger which traverses the country from the North to the South. Nigeria is located on the coast of Western Africa. It has an area of 356,669 square miles (923,768 square km). At its greatest expanse, it measures about 1,200 kilometres (about 750 mi) from East to West and about 1,050 kilometres (about 650 mi) from North to South. It is bordered to the north by Niger, the east by Chad and Cameroon, the south by the Gulf of Guinea, and to the west by Benin. Niger River and the Benue, are its largest tributary, are the principal rivers in the country. The area that is now Nigeria was home to ethnically based kingdoms and tribal communities before it became a European colony. In spite of European contact that began in the 16th century, these kingdoms and communities maintains their autonomy until the 19th century. Federal Republic of Nigeria is a constitutional Federal Republic comprising 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja. The principal groups in the Northern part are Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri, and Nupe. Other minority tribes also inhabits the Middle belt area, these include the Jukun, the Chamba and the Bata. In the region north of the upper Benue valley various ethnic groups such as Fali, Gabun, Gude, Gudu, Higi, Hona Mbula, Mumuye and Tika also inhabits the area. In the Southwest we have the Yoruba, another principal ethnic group and in the Southeast we have the Igbo people which form the third principal ethnic group. In the South-south we have the group of minorities such as Annang, Efik, Ibibio, Ijaw, Itsekiri, Isoko Uhrobo and Ukwiani. The entire ethnic group in Nigeria is over 500, parts of these are listed in appropriate section of this book.

Based on religious ethnography, in-depth interviews and archival data, Indigeneity in African Religions explores the historical origins, worldviews, cosmologies, ritual symbolism and praxis of the indigenous Oza people in South West Nigeria. The author's locationality and positionality plugs the book within decolonizing knowledges and indigeneity discourses, thus unpacking the complexity of “indigeneity” and contributing to its conceptual understanding within socioreligious change in contemporary Africa. The future of Oza indigeneity in the face of modernity is illuminated against the backlash of encounters, contestations with multiple hegemonies, transmissions of Christianity and Islam and indigenous (re)appropriations. Thus, any theorizations of such encounters must be cognizant of instantiations of indigeneity politics and identity, culture, tradition and power dynamics. Through decolonizing burdens of history, memory and method, Afe Adogame demonstrates a framework of understanding Oza indigenous religious,sociocultural and political imaginaries.