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 and her twin city, 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 Urhobo, itsekiri and Ijaw people.
Delta State is a state in the South-east 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 August 27, 1991. Bordered on the north by Edo State, the east by Anambra and Rivers States, and the 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 which was later extended to 19 and now has 25 local government areas. Asaba as its state capital is located along the River Niger on the northeastern end of the State, while the state's economic centre is the twin cities of Warri and Uvwie
The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitical zone, one state (Ondo) from South West geopolitical zone and two states from South East geopolitical zone.
Ughelli is a town in Delta State, Nigeria, and one of the 24 kingdoms that make up the Urhobo Nation. It also serves as the headquarters of Ughelli North local government area of Delta State. The city is indigenous to the Urhobo ethnic nationals, but there is a mixture of several other tribes from the country, such as the Igbos, Edos and others. It is an industrial and agricultural spot of Delta State.
The Itsekiri are one of the Yoruboid subgroup of Nigeria's Niger Delta area, Delta State. The Itsekiris presently number 2.7 million people and live mainly in the Warri South, Warri North and Warri South West local government districts of Delta State on the Atlantic coast of Nigeria. Significant communities of Itsekiris can be found in parts of Edo and Ondo states and in various other Nigerian cities including Lagos, Benin City, Port Harcourt and Abuja. Many people of Itsekiri descent also reside in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. The Itsekiris are closely related to the Yoruba of South Western Nigeria and also close to the Okpe people and Edo peoples. The Itsekiris traditionally refer to their land as the Kingdom of Warri or 'Iwere' as its proper name – which is geographically contiguous to the area covered by the three Warri local government districts. The area is a key centre of Nigeria's crude oil and natural gas production and petroleum refining and the main town Warri forms the industrial and commercial nucleus of the Delta State region.
Isoko is an Edoid language, one of the languages in Delta State spoken by the Isoko people in Isoko South, North and part of Ndokwa East Local Government Areas of Delta State, Southern part of Nigeria in Niger Delta region. It is also spoken in some part of Bayelsa. The Isoko language has close similarities between them and Edo people with other Edoid language because it is an Edoid language,the Isoko people are “an ethnic nationality made up of people and their ancestral roots can be traced through history to the Benin (Aka) kingdom, attested to by the linguistic and cultural similarities that exist between the Isoko people and the Benin (Aka)people” although a few of the Isoko communities or clans have their origins attached to the Ibo language and Urhobo language. Some 750,000 people consider themselves Isoko. Language is a mark of identity and plays an all-important role in the life of a people. The Isoko language however, is being threatened with extinction as reported by Idudhe (2002), as a result of neglect in teaching, learning and use. The Isoko language has about 20 to 21 dialects, but the Aviara/Uzere dialect is the standard dialect of the language.
Weppa Wanno is a Kingdom in present-day Etsako East local government area, in the South- South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It is the homeland of Uwano people in under Etsako East local council administrative authority. Today, the people are traditionally ruled by two different clan kingship, the Weppa clan kingship and the Uwanno clan kingship. However, all the people of Weppa Wanno speak the same version of Etsako languages called Uwano dialect.
Okpe is a kingdom in Delta State, Nigeria. Today, it is also the name of a local government area. It is one of the many kingdoms that make up Urhobo tribe. Its capital is Orerokpe. The kingdom plays host to the Osubi Airport, which is actually located at Osubi and the Delta State Trade Fair Complex. The Orodje celebrated ten years on ancestral throne. Geoffrey Arich is the king of Okpe Kingdom, Kenyan Branch. The kingship is usually rotated between the four ruling houses.
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 twenty-four Urhobo Kingdoms. The entirety of the LGA is conurbated with the city of Warri, making it a greater part of Warri metropolitan area
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.
The Engenni people live in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. They are considered to be Edoid based on linguistic grounds. They live in close proximity with Ijaw people. They primarily live in Ahoada west local government area of Rivers state, Nigeria. Although they consider themselves to be Engenni, the Engenni speak an Edoid language. Alagoa (2003) said: “---The penetration of the Niger-Delta by Edoid groups extends to the Epie-Atissa and Engenni of the central and Eastern Niger-Delta----The Epie, along with the Ogbia and other groups of the central and eastern Niger-Delta, are historically united with the Ijaw.” The other groups of the central and eastern Niger-Delta which Professor Ebiegberi Alagoa said that were historically united with the Ijaw, include the Engenni, as shown from his narrative above. The Engenni have close relations with neighbouring Ijaw tribes such as the Zarama and Epie-Atissa.
The Kabo tribe of the Izon people lives in the vicinity of Patani in Delta State, Nigeria. The tribe gets its name from its founder, Kabo, and from Kabobolou Creek. Two Kabo towns are located along the creek. Other Kabo settlements include: Patani, Elemebiri (Ofonibeingha), Asamabiri, and Ekperiwari.
Oleh is the headquarters of the Isoko South Local Government Area, one of the two administrative units in the Isoko region of Delta State, southern Nigeria.
The Itsekiri language is a major branch of the Yoruboid group of languages, which as a group, is a key member of the Volta–Niger sub-family of the Niger–Congo family of African languages. Itsekiri is spoken by nearly 900,000 people in Nigeria as a first language and by many others as an additional language notably in the Niger Delta and in parts of Edo and Ondo states of Nigeria. The other key members of the Yoruboid group are Yoruba and Igala along with the various Yoruba dialects spoken in Benin and Togo.
The Urhobos are people located in southern Nigeria, near the northwestern Niger Delta.
Ase is a coastal community on the shores of the Ase River, off River Niger in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. Ase River derives its name from Ase town. Ase is an idyllic countryside with a spectacular and breathtaking natural beach, evergreen rain-forest vegetation rich in flora and fauna which overhangs the Ase Creek. Ase is a serene natural tourist resort still waiting to be explored. Ase shares common boundaries with Ibedeni, Onyah, Aviara, Uzere, Patani and Trofani.
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.
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.
Irri is located in the Isoko South local government area of Delta state, Nigeria. It is one of the petroleum producing communities in Nigeria. It is bordered by Uzere, Aviara, Oyede, Idheze and Oleh. Descendants of Irri migrated to form other small villages and towns, such like Ada, Idheze, Ikpide, Ivrogbo, Iwreogboko, Canaan Irri, Ivori, Uro Irri, etc, and they are usually referred to as children of Irri Kingdom. The people are referred to as Emo Irri, which means children of Irri.
