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THE ORIGIN OF NNOBI FROM A MYTHICAL VIEW POINT 

By Prof. Chuka O. G. Obah; Omemma Nnobi. 

PRELUDE: 

The documentation of the origin of Nnobi has posed a daunting challenge for many decades due to the absence of written or dependable oral data on the subject. Many attempts have been made to solve the problem but these always reached different logical or illogical conclusions. Yet if Nnobi is to solidly build its present, it must harness its reliable past. To this end, renewed attempts must be made to identify its origin and evolution. 

In this treatment, all the existing oral and written narratives are synthesized and their logical commonalities are gathered together to produce an acceptable presentation. It is found that the treatment from a mythical point of view yields an easily plausible narrative. 

A POSSIBLE CLASH OF DIETIES 

Available documents and narratives mostly agree 

that in the beginning, perhaps a couple of thousands of years ago, a divine clan called Ana Ide existed around Ezu Lake . This clan worshipped and served their deity, the goddess, Idemili, 

who dwelled in the river. The goddess Idemili was a powerful, benevolent, peaceful and strict goddess who demanded omplete obedience from her subjects but abhorred all forms of violence and subjugation of people. She was of priestly divinity and commanded her high priests to spread her divine rituals and religion peacefully among the communities along the shores of the river Idemili and settle their quarrels and heal their ailments through spiritual and supernatural intervention. 

The Ana Ide clan was a strong matriarchal community and flourished in peace, harmony and wealth. However, soon a deity Eri surfaced claiming divine kingship which was strongly patriarchal in nature. Eri sought and obtained good neighborliness with the Ana Ide and soon began an aggressive expansion of his dynasty—the Nri Dynasty—installing kings and exerting loyalty and regular homage from them. 

As time passed, it became apparent that the matriarchal Idemili hegemony and Nri patriarchal hegemony were heading for an inevitable clash since neither side was willing to accept the dominance of the other. As the goddess Idemili abhors violence, she directed her high priests, namely Obi, the eldest and chief high priest with the clan OFO, his two brothers Ogidi and Uke (who were also high priests) to dismantle as many shrines and worship places as possible and to relocate their 

headquarters out of the Ezu Lake area to a holy enclave to be called Ana Nso Ide ( the holy land of Ide) which was to be shielded from any disturbance. The possible clash of the Idemili and Eri deities was thus avoided. 

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ANA NSO IDE 

As the Ana Ide dynasty prepared to depart the Ezu Lake location, the goddess Idemili gave Obi a python (eke ) to act as their guide and path finder and directed that when they reached the designated Ana Nso Ide, the python would stop and hit the ground once while it would hit the ground three times at the central obi where the clan’s OFO would be installed. She also directed that as soon as Obi, his brothers and their kindred settled on the designated place, they should quickly establish for her a land palace to enable her consolidate her presence on both land and river and facilitate her taking a spouse. 

And so it came to pass that Obi , his two brothers and their kindred led by the python, travelled along the shores of the Idemili river to the present location of Nnobi. Obi placed the clan OFO at the present isi ana ( umuona ) where the python hit the ground thrice. 

The land palace was subsequently established ( the present Idemili shrine ) and commissioned. The people rejoiced, offered sacrifices and prayers for good health, peace, happiness and prosperity. As time progressed and at the direction of the goddess, Obi and the python led his brothers and their respective kindred to establish Ogidi and Uke. The three( Obi, Ogidi and Uke) made strenuous efforts to construct and expand the shrines of the Idemili deity in many surrounding settlements with their commissioning performed by the Chief High Priest ( Obi )with the grand OFO.In the same vein, the four sons of Obi, namely Ebenesi, Ngo , Awuda, and Oka, dispersed to settle in their present respective locations (except that Oka, because of his fallout with his brothers, later had to relocate to a new site, present Awka Etiti ). 

HOLY PILGRIMAGE TO ANA NSO AND THE POSSIBLE EVOLUTION OF THE NAME NNOBI 

Obi and his two high priest brothers agreed that a regular pilgrimage should be performed exclusively by the clan ( ime nne ) led by Obi himself for the collective worship, prayers and sacrifices to Idemili and renewal of their commitment to 

her. During the event, they would all congregate at the obi (isi ana ) and proceed together to the Idemili shrine. Each brother, holding his respective Ofo and decked in his priestly attire, would start at the head of three elders with their sacrificial animals and gifts and, following Obi carrying the clan’s grand OFO, all would proceed in awesome pomp and pageantry from the obi towards the Idemili shrine. Able-bodied men would clear the way for the entourage by shouting: “puta nu na uzo, ime nne (umu nne) obi na eje na ide”. The ceremony lasted for three days and ended with a lot of merriment and spiritual rejuvenation for all. Over the years the event came to be famously known as ime nne obi or umu nne obi and the Nn(e) obi or simply Nnobi gathering. Subsequently the ana nso ide became synonymous with Nnobi. 

Meanwhile, the goddess Idemili had taken a spouse, a semi- deity named Aho with whom she had a dynamic daughter, Edo, on whom she bestowed an entrepreneurial successful spirit and got her betrothed to Ezenewi. 

THE DEMISE OF OBI 

As the Chief High Priest of the Ide dynasty, Obi travelled far and wide commissioning shrines and helping to expand the clan. He was in constant demand by the communities to help settle their inter and intra community problems, appease the spirits and provide adequate protection against hostile actions by non-ide clans. Furthermore, he maintained through fraternal visitations, a tightly-knit relationship with his brothers and was ever ready to offer his elderly priestly advice. 

On one occasion, he received a frantic message from Uke to hasten to them to help ward off and prevent a possible invasion from a hostile clan. After completing the task, he stayed behind to attend to some other problems. During this period, the goddess Idemili decided to invite him to join her in her spirit kingdom. At the demise of Obi, pythons appeared from all the nooks and crannies of Nnobi and, together with the elders and the dibias of the sons of Obi, marched to Uke in colourful but sorrowful procession to retrieve the body of their father. At Nnobi, the rite of passage was performed for four days with each son being in charge for one day. On the fifth day, the body of Obi was returned to the goddess Idemili.