Abang Okpo

Did You Know?

• Abang died in Usahadit due to disputes over farmland and fishing space.
• His followers and descendants later moved to Oron Nation, Andoni people and Bakassi without him.

Life

In Oron oral tradition, Abang Okpo is remembered as the grandson of Nyuserre Ini, an Egyptian pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty who ruled for 24 to 35 years in the 25th century BCE. Nyuserre was the younger son of Neferirkare Kakai and Queen Khentkaus II, and the brother of the short-lived king Neferefre. As a young man in the 24th century BCE, Abang left the Mediterranean region with his followers to found a new kingdom. He is described in Oron folklore as a powerful warrior and the chief practitioner of Mbok, a form of wrestling whose origins are unknown. Abang and his people are said to have spread Mbok across the Mediterranean. During his journey to establish a kingdom, Abang wandered with his children and followers through the Sudanic belt, possibly into what is now Uganda and the Congo Basin, after the war of the Pygmies—called “ekung amamisim-isim asuan ofid oduobot” by the Oron—displaced many Africans. They eventually settled in the area now known as Jigawa State in Nigeria, which the Oron pronounce as “Oronny.” Uncomfortable among the Hausa, Abang made a major stop in the Cameroons at Usahadit and Bakassi, specifically Isangele (Usakedet). This is why Oron names like Akan, Ekang, Abang, Etong, Osung, and Etang remain common in Cameroon today. At Usangale, Abang fathered Do, who fathered Donni, who then fathered Oron and Obolo, along with others in Usahadit. This tradition affirms the long-standing kinship between the Oron and Obolo peoples, a relationship celebrated until the 1940s.