Abstract
The Niger Delta has an interesting history of inter-group relations with attendant interchange of ideas and influences that reflected its heterogeneous and multi-polar character. However, the apparent predominant historiography of these inter-group relations tend to demonstrate an inherent prejudice against Andoni (Obolo) contrary to historical facts that portray her military exploits and significant influences on the evolution and peopling of the region and beyond. Primarily, this work aims at analyzing the role of Nkparom Claude Ejituwu in the historical reconstruction narratives of the complex inter-group relations woven around inter-marriages, inter-related migrations, commercial rivalries or competitions for economic resources, wars and fluid alliances, and traditional diplomacies with intricate outcomes. The study utilized primary and secondary sources to demonstrate the terrific historical, cultural, economic and political exchanges between Andoni and her neighbours as well as the strength of Ejituwu's scholarship in the deconstruction of orthodox stereotypes in the historiography of Niger Delta inter-group interactions. It concludes that Andoni had developed significant relations with and radically impacted her neighbours before European colonialism altered it to produce critical implications for Andoni in the post-colonial era.
Highlights
Ejituwu's (2004) study is a synthesis of the evolution of Niger Delta historiography covering the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial periods
This work shows that the dominant historiography of inter-group relations in the Niger Delta is fraught with prejudiced stereotypes against disadvantaged groups like Andoni
Ejituwu's attempts to correct this dominant historiography led to his synthesis of the evolution of Niger Delta historiography in the three time period of pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial
Summary
Ejituwu's (2004) study is a synthesis of the evolution of Niger Delta historiography covering the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial periods. The height of the imperialism of Niger Delta historiography against Andoni is Alagoa's (1972: p.170) and Cookey's (1974: p.70) untenable positions that King Kpokpo of Nkoro gave Jaja the settlement site of the new city-state of Opobo in the Andoni territory, Alagoa's (1980: p.57) reductionist description of "The Andoni of Opobo areas of the Rivers State", and Lovejoy and Richardson's (2011: p.37) gullible submission that Bonny defeated Andoni around 1700, which Wariboko (2014: p.32) simplistically re-echoed The deconstruction of this kind of stereotype and orthodoxy in the historiography of Niger Delta inter-group relations was a major concern of Ejituwu's historical narratives (1976; 1989: pp.59-74; 1991; 1992; 2009). The first section is the introduction, which sets its template; the second analyses and identifies the theoretical framework and methodological perspective of the study; the third examines the historical roots of Andoni relations to her neighbours; the fourth briefly discusses the causative factors of the mutational character and nature of inter-group interactions during the period of the Atlantic economy characterized by rivalries, conflicts, alliances and diplomacy; the fifth section pays attention to the impact of inter-group relations on Andoni development; and the last section concludes the work
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