The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri, Udu, Okpe and Uvwie are the commercial capital of Delta State with a population of over 311,970 people in 2006. The city is the indigenous territory of Itsekiri, Urhobo and Ijaw people.
Delta State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named after the Niger Delta—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former Bendel State, on 27 August 1991. Bordered on the north by Edo State, the east by Anambra and Rivers states, and that south by Bayelsa State while to the west is the Bight of Benin which covers about 160 kilometres of the state's coastline. The state was initially created with 12 local government areas in 1991, but was later expanded to 19 and now has 25 local government areas. Its capital city is Asaba which is located along the River Niger on the northeastern end of the state, while the state's economic center is the city of Warri on the southwestern coastline.
The Itsekiri are an ethnic group who mainly inhabit Nigeria's Niger Delta area. They speak a Yoruboid language and can be found in Ondo, Edo and Delta State. The Itsekiris presently transcends a population of over 1 million people and live mainly in parts of Ondo, Edo and majorly in the Warri South, Warri North and Warri South West local government districts of Delta State on the Atlantic coast of Nigeria.
Tanure Ojaide is a Nigerian poet and academic. As a writer, he is noted for his unique stylistic vision and for his intense criticism of imperialism, religion, and other issues. He is regarded as a socio-political and an ecocentric poet. He won the 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa with his collection Songs of Myself: A Quartet (2017).
Uvwie (/hu-we-ɛ/), is a principal urban Local government area in Delta State. It lies along the Warri River and it is one of the 24 Urhobo kingdoms. The entirety of the LGA is conurbated with the city of Warri, making it a greater part of Warri metropolitan area
Kokori is one of the six suburban 'states' of the Agbon 'kingdom' in LGA Ethiope East, Delta State, Nigeria. The other 'states' are Okpara, Eku, Ovu, Orhoakpor, and Igun.
Oghara Kingdom is a town located in Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria.
Abraka, is a town in Delta state, Nigeria. It is also home to two of the main 24 urhobo kingdoms. It is mostly known as a university town and has the main campus of the Delta State University located there. Abraka town is a favourite destination for domestic and international tourists. The Abraka beach is famous for its natural flowing spring water, and has sports recreational facilities for outdoor activities like canoeing, fishing, swimming, barbecue and picnicking.
Eku is a town in Ethiope East Local Government of Delta state, Nigeria. It is located between Effurun -Abraka road with a four road junction at the center of the town. Eku has announced that it real name is Ovre Eku. This statement was made by Eku Traditional Council that it has barred anyone from addressing Ovre Eku Community as Iwevbo Community.
The Warri Crisis was a series of conflicts in Delta State, Nigeria between 1997 and 2003 between the Itsekiri, the Ijaw ethnic groups. Over 200,000 people were displaced by the Warri conflict between 1999 and 2006. Over 700,000 people were displaced during this period by violence in Delta State overall.
Orhoakpor is a town close to Warri and Ughelli in Ethiope-East Local Government Council, in Delta State, Nigeria.
The Urhobos are people located in southern Nigeria, near the northwestern Niger Delta. They are the major ethnic groups in Delta State. The people in this ethnic group speak the Urhobo language. Their population is approximately 7 million.
The Kingdom of Warri, Warri Kingdom or Iwere Kingdom, was established in 1480, was part of the Nigerian traditional states its ancestral capital is based in Ode-Itsekiri, Warri South LGA, Delta State, Nigeria with a palace erected in 1950s in the heart of the city of Warri, Warri South LGA, Delta State, Nigeria.
The Agbon Kingdom is one of twenty-four subunits of the Urhobo people that have been in existence since before the rise of the Benin Empire in the 1440s and before the arrival of the Portuguese in the Western Niger Delta in the 1480s.
Okpara Inland is a community located in the Ethiope East local government area of Delta State Nigeria. This community is a progeny of the Agbon Kingdom. Local history has it that it is the first son of Agbon whose traditional seat of leadership is Isiokolo. The previous king of the community, now deceased, HRM Chamberlain Oyibocha Orovwuje, Ogurimerime Okpara I, used this community as his centre of leadership bypassing the ancient satellite of Isiokolo.
According to the language family tree classification by Ethnologue, Okpe, Urhobo and Uvwie, alongside Eruwa and Isoko, make up the five Southwestern Edoid languages of the Benue-Congo group. Quoting Johnstone (1993), Ethnologue puts the population of Urhobo people at 546,000, Okpe 25,400 (2000) and Uvwie 19,800 (2000). These three languages have geographically neighbouring languages: Izon and Itsekiri to the west and south, Ukwuani and Isoko to the east and Edo to the north. Thus, Isoko and Urhobo are similar languages that belong to the same linguistic family.
M. G. Ejaife was an Urhobo nationalist from Okpara Inland and the first principal of the premier Urhobo College Effurun, Uvwie. He was one of two recipients of scholarship awards from Urhobo Progress Union during World War II years. He returned to Nigeria after his graduation with a B.A. degree of Durham University in 1948, thus becoming the first Urhobo graduate. He then became the founding Principal of Urhobo College, Effurun. He brought that famous secondary school to its great heights in many fields. Mr. Ejaife later served in many other capacities in Urhobo affairs. He was Urhobo's first Senator, serving with distinction in Nigeria's Upper Chamber during the country's First Republic.
Chamberlain Oyibocha Orovwuje, Ogurimerime I, was the Ovie of Agbon Kingdom from 1958 till 2012. He was also the former chairman of Delta State Council of Traditional Rulers. He ruled the traditional kingdom of Agbon for 54 years and clinched the title of the longest reigning monarch in Delta State. He died in June 2012, at the age of 77.
Onigu Otite was a Nigerian sociologist. He was among the first set of students to attend the first indigenous Nigerian university - University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He wrote several books including The Urhobo People, On the Path of Progress, Ethnic Pluralism and Ethnic Conflicts in Nigeria, and Introduction to Sociology which he co-authored with William Ogionwo. The Urhobo Studies Association USA Chapter regard him as one of the earliest Urhobo scholars to focus attention on the culture and history of the Urhobo People of the Niger Delta.
Thompson Adogbeji Salubi was a Nigerian diarist, historian and politician who was president of the Urhobo Progress Union for twenty years. Salubi wrote manuscripts about the history of Western Niger Delta and he is an important reference for the history of Urhobo people during the beginning of the colonial period. Some of his writings were edited by Peter Ekeh and published as the book T.E.A. Salubi: Witness to British Colonial Rule in Urhoboland and Nigeria by the Urhobo Historical Society in 2008.
Nigeria 