The Urhobo

Where the Urhobo live

Urhobo homelands take in nine of Delta State's 25 local government areas: Ethiope East, Ethiope West, Okpe, Sapele, Udu, Ughelli North, Ughelli South, Uvwie and Warri South. There are Urhobo communities in neighbouring Bayelsa and Edo states too, and large Urhobo populations in Lagos and abroad.

The 24 kingdoms

The Urhobo nation is made up of 24 kingdoms, the largest of them Okpe. Each has its own ruler and its own title for him: most kingdoms say Ovie, while the Okpe say Orodje, Okere-Urhobo says Orosuen, Agbarho says Osuivie and Olomu says Ohworode.

Ughelli, Agbarha-Otor, Ogor, Orogun and Mosogar are among the others. Some communities are pressing for kingdoms of their own, so the number is itself a live debate.

Origins

Urhobo history was passed down by word of mouth, and each kingdom keeps its own founding story. Many trace their ancestors to Benin: Ughelli tradition holds that its founder, Ughene, was the second son of Oghwoghwa, a prince from Benin. Other traditions point elsewhere.

Sobo, and the Urhobo Progress Union

Colonial officials lumped the Urhobo and Isoko together under the name Sobo, a label both peoples rejected. In Warri on 3 November 1931, Urhobo leaders founded the Urhobo Progress Union to speak for the Urhobo as one nation. It is one of the oldest cultural organisations in Nigeria and now has branches in the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

Culture

Urhobo culture is at its most visible at weddings and festivals: the Iyeri festival in Ughelli each September, with the Ema royal dance and a boat regatta, and the Adane-Okpe masquerades at Orerokpe. And at the table, where starch and banga soup is the dish the region is known for.

Urhobo kingdoms each tell their own founding stories, and neighbouring peoples tell theirs. Where accounts differ, we say so.

Visit it

• Photo coming soon

  The Ovie's Palace, Otovwodo

  Otovwodo, Ughelli

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  Agbarho

  Agbarho, Ughelli North

Read next

• The Okpe kingdom
• The Ughelli Kingdom
• The Isoko
• The Iyeri festival, Ughelli
• Urhobo associations at home and abroad