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| Image of the current Attah |
Igala is a language of the Yoruboid branch of the
Volta–Niger language family, spoken by the Igala ethnic group of Nigeria. In
1989, an estimated 800,000 spoke Igala, primarily in Kogi State, Delta State
and Edo State. Dialects include Ebu, Idah, Ankpa, Dekina, ogugu, Ibaji,
Ife. The Agatu, Idoma, and Bassa people use Igala for primary school. Igala is
related to Yoruba. The Igala language as well as Igala culture and tradition has
influenced other languages and cultures around the confluence of the Niger and
Benue rivers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igala_language
The Igalas are ruled by a figure called the “Attah”. The
word Attah means ‘Father’ and the full title of the ruler is ‘Attah Igala’,
meaning, the Father of Igalas (the Igala word for King is Onu). Although
“Attah” means “father”‘, female rulership is recognized and Igala has had
female rulers in the past (Boston 1968). Among the most revered Attahs of the
Igala kingdom are Attah Ayegba Oma Idoko and Atta Ameh Oboni. According to oral
tradition, Attah Ayegba Oma Idoko offered his most beloved daughter, Inikpi to
ensure that the Igalas win a war of liberation from the Jukuns’ dominance.
Attah Ameh Oboni is known to be very brave and resolute. He is revered for his
stiff resistance of the British and his struggles to uphold some ancient
traditions of the Igalas. When he got wind of a plan to depose and exile him by
the British, he committed suicide by hanging himself to forestall the plan, he
is regarded by most Igalas as the last real Attah Igala.
ORIGIN
The traditional Igala society is largely agrarian, although
fishing is also a mainstay of the people especially the Igalas of the riverine
Idah area. Boston (1968) believes that the central geographical location of the
Igala people has exposed them to a wide variety of linguistic as well as
cultural influences from other ethnic groups in the country. Notable among
these are the Igbira, the Bini, the Igbo, the Hausa, the Idoma and the Yoruba
ethnic groups. However, the most significant relationship, by far, is that
between the Igala and the Yoruba peoples.
Igala and Yoruba have important historical and cultural
relationships. The languages of the two ethnic groups bear such a close
resemblance that researchers such as Forde (1951) and Westermann and Bryan
(1952) regarded Igala as a dialect of Yoruba. Akinkugbe (1976, 1978) is of the
opinion that based on evidence, Igala is neither a dialect of Yoruba nor a
language resulting from the fusion of Yoruba and Idoma as claimed by
Silverstein, but rather Igala shares a “common ancestor” with Yoruba. In her
words, “… this common ancestor was neither Yoruba nor Igala but what we have labeled
here as Proto-Yoruba-Itsekiri–Igala (PYIG). The evidence suggest further that presumably,
Igala separated form the group before the split of Yoruba into the present day
Yoruba dialects considering the extent of linguistic divergence found between
Igala on one hand, and the rest of Yoruba on the other” (1978: 32) Akinkugbe
cites lexicostatistic evidence as well as evidence of sound shifts and lexical
innovations as support or corroboration of this claim.
Other comparative works aimed at investigating the language
status of Igala (directly and indirectly) are Omamor (1967) and Williamson
(1973). In fact, Williamson is the originator of the label ‘Yoruboid’ for the
group of languages comprising Yoruba, Itsekiri and Igala for the purpose of
distinguishing “between Yoruba as a language on the one hand, and Yoruba,
Itsekiri and Igala as a genetic group on the other”. (Akinkugbe 1976:1)
Akinkugbe refers to the proto- language of the group as Proto-Yoruboid in 1976
and Proto-Yoruba-Itsekiri-Igala (PYIG) in 1978. The Ata-ship of Igala (the Ata is not ‘Atta of Idah’ but
‘Atta of Igala’) rotated among four branches of the royal clan. Igala kingdom
was founded by Abutu- Eje in the 7th century. Abutu-Eje came down with the
people from the Kwararafa kingdom about 100 years they came to settle there in
kwararafa from Yemen along Jukuns people. The kingdom was ruled by nine high
officials called the Igala Mela who are custodians of the sacred Earth
shrine.
https://profcollinson.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/the-history-of-igala-kindom/
http://igalapedia.com/education-and-re-orientation-of-igala-cultural-values/
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