Great Edo Hero: Ogbidi Okojie The Enojie Of Uromi

WE REMEMBER OUR GREAT HERO, OGBIDI OKOJIE THE ENOJIE OF UROMI. 1857 - FEB 3, 1944

Biography

He was born in the seventh month of 1857, coming 14th in the line of succession to the Uromi throne. As an Esan monarch, he believed in our divine right to self rule, those beliefs motivated his opposition to British Rule, which led to his first exile to Calabar in 1900. At the end of nineteenth century, the old order was crumbling, yielding to the new British colonial system and after the Royal Niger Company transferred its territories to the British government, the latter expanded and strengthened its control, unseating the traditional rulers. In 1900, Uromi was invaded by the British troops. Unlike Chief Nana of Brohimie-Warri, who posed a strong resistance to the British troops when his domain was invaded, with 100 cannon, several shot-guns and over 5,000 slaves at his disposal. Okojie I of Uromi, who had no modern weapons, but only Dane guns, bows and arrows, held out for six months, until he was betrayed by Iyahanebi, his "younger brother”, and had to surrender to the British. As a consequence of his stiff resistance, in 1900 he was exiled to Calabar, where he met Oba Ovonramwen, late Oba of Benin Kingdom, who had been exiled there by the British invaders in 1897.
He survived the ordeal in detention and returned home to be crowned the 14th Onojie of Uromi in 1909. Back home in Uromi, he adapted to the British system of government through "indirect rule", establishing his court at Ubiaja. Still, he did not fully accept the new system of government, countering it with passive disobedience and maintaining his opposition to British rule and laws. He kept governing his subjects as his forebears had always done and according to Edo tradition, until he was deported again, this time to Benin, in 1917. Oba Eweka II protested his presence in Benin, who objected to the British Resident at Benin against Okojie's detention. In 1924, he was transferred to Ibadan. In 1926, he made a dramatic escape to Uromi, was arrested and taken back to Ibadan, until he was finally released in 1931. From 1931 until his death in 1944 he consolidated his power in Uromi. His first son Prince Uagbale Okojie was crowned Onojie of Uromi in 1944.

While alive, he was highly influential in Esan, Agbor and Benin. In Esan he was the supreme judge of the criminal court that sat and tried murder cases at Agbede, Esan and Ologhodo (now Agbor). He built schools and supported higher learning . He built the roads from Uromi to IIIushi, Agbor and Ehor. When he died, he left behind an undisputed heir to the throne, glorious memories of life in exile and the fulfillment of his aspiration for renewed independence for black Africa.