Itsekiri people

The Itsekiri (also called the Isekiri, Jekri, Itsekri and Ishekiri and historically as Warree and all its variant spellings), are an ethnic group who mainly inhabit the western Niger Delta area in Edo and Delta states. The Itsekiri speak a Yoruboid language and number around 1.1 million people, concentrated mainly in the Warri South, Warri North and Warri South West local government districts of Delta State as well as the adjoining portions of Edo and Ondo on the Atlantic coast of Nigeria. The Itsekiri ethnic homeland covers an area of around 3,836 km².

Large Itsekiri indigenous communities and populations can also be found in seven other local government areas of Delta state outside the aforementioned places, namely in; Okpe, Uvwie, Udu, Sapele, Ethiope West, Ethiope East and Burutu areas in the Delta central and Delta south senatorial districts of Delta State, Nigeria.

Other significant communities of migrated Itsekiris can be found resident in various 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 Urhobo and Edo peoples. The Itsekiris traditionally refer to their land as the Kingdom of Warri or 'Iwere' as its proper name – which is geographically conterminous with 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 of Warri (a multi-ethnic metropolis) forms the industrial and commercial nucleus of the Delta State region.

The Itsekiri are a people of mixed ethnic origins who speak a language very closely related to the Yoruba of south western Nigeria and more remotely to the Igala language of central Nigeria. They exhibit a blend of cultural practices from the Ilaje, Ijebu, Ife and Benin peoples. Historically, they engaged early with the Portuguese during the European Age of Discovery, leading to the infusion of portuguese trade terminologies. The Itsekiri were one of the first people in what is now Nigeria to establish contact with the Portuguese who were exploring the West African coast. More recently, they also established relations with the British/English. Although linguistically related to the Yoruba and Igala ethnic groups, modern day Itsekiris, through centuries of intermingling, are of mixed ethnic origins. They are most closely related to the Southeastern Yorubaland sub-groups, namely - Ijebu, Akure, Ikale, Ilaje, Ondo and Owo, the Edo people, the ife and the olukumi of Delta North. The Itsekiri today are mainly Christian (Protestant and Roman Catholic) by religion.

Thus, having had six centuries of direct cultural exposure to Western Christianity and other African influences, contemporary Itsekiri language and culture has successfully evolved into what may be termed "a hybrid of the many cultures" that have influenced its history and development. Similarly, owing to the complex genetic mix of most Itsekiris over the centuries, many individuals self-identifying as Itsekiri would usually be a complex mix of any of the aforementioned ethnic and racial groups. Thus, modern day Itsekiris may be the only southern Nigerian ethnic group to be almost totally heterogeneous (mixed) in its genetic composition. The total absence of any dialectal variation in the Itsekiri language is also unique for the region and is most likely the result of the early coalescing of the Itsekiri people into a small and highly centralised nation state from the 15th century (1400s) onward.

The Itsekiri people are an ethnic group with a rich history that dates back several centuries before the founding of the Kingdom of Warri. According to oral traditions and records from Itsekiri historians like J.O.S Ayomike, Itsekiris were formed by several groups of tribes who spoke Yoruba dialects and practiced Yoruba religion which migrated in early antiquity into the western Niger delta region and established several communities, among them; Inorin, Ugborodo, Irigbo, Ureju and Omadino. These Yoruba groups are remembered today and referred to as Umale or Egungun, spirits or mythical beings, and the period as the Egungun or Umale period, since not much was documented in writing during this period of early Itsekiri history, making much of the recounting of their epoch semi-mythical in nature.

These Umale people are believed in Itsekiri society to be the owners of the blue coris beads. Some of them refused to submit to the authority of Olu Iginuwa by paying tribute, and are said to have gotten into canoes and 'disappeared' into the creeks, never to return or be seen again. Others, such as Itsekiri himself (after whom the country was named, and who was also part of the pre-Ginuwa Umale group) chose to remain and accept the lordship. These oral traditions are likely allegorical accounts describing the complex inter-group relations between the incoming royal group and the aboriginal group of Yoruba stock already 'on ground', but with no centralized kingship structure.

The Yoruba tribes that made up the Itsekiri people were primarily from the Ijebu, Mahin, Ugbo, Owo (Ọ̀ghọ̀), Igala and Ile-Ife regions. These groups were collectively known by the ethnonym "Olukumi", with "Olukumi" translating to mean "my friend" in the itsekiri language. This name was used to refer to the Yoruba people for centuries.