Obhiya (Music)

This is a track of afan music by Chief Umobuarie Igberaese and his ensemble. Please, sit back and enjoy it.

The Afan Ensemble

At the age of fifteen, Umobuarie had started entertaining people within his village on the afan. Also, with Josiah Egbele, he had initiated some performances to places like Agbede, Auchi, and neighbouring villages and towns where they entertained the people with afan music and dance. The gifts, which they received ranged from drinks, clothes, money, to livestock such as rams. Furthermore, he made efforts to ensure much wider dissemination of his musical prowess to the entire Esan community and beyond. He initiated an ensemble comprising himself, Josiah Egbele and Aigbefoh Ojeifo. Others were Okhiulu Abhulimen and Isuekebho Izoria.

Pa Josiah Egbele, who was second-in command for about 50 years, died in 2002. Aigbefoh and Isuekebho had earlier died. Okhiulu’s interest in music participation gradually waned. These were replaced by Isaac Okoagua, Okoedo Ofino, Abibu Omosun and Aboiralo Odumugbo.

The afan ensemble journeyed to towns such as Ubiaja, Ekpoma, Uromi, Auchi, Irrua, etc. Enigie (kings), chiefs, communities and individuals opted for afan music to grace their coronations, marriages, burial ceremonies, naming ceremonies, as well as other important occasions and anniversaries. At other informal settings, some of these rulers notably the enigie of Igueben, Uromi and Irrua would invite the afan musician to their palaces to entertain with stories, music and dance.

A very few of the stories of afan have been reproduced in black and white for the reading audience. Published by Oxford University Press in 1976, Black Justice is an assessment of the "different levels" of traditional community through "the eyes" of UGHULU, ISILUA and OGUNAMEN, three notable stories of the afan. The novel is written by David Umobuarie on whose permission the photograph on this post has been used.

The History of Afan

In the '60's, the afan attracted Joan Kraal and Barbara Fritsch, American and German researchers, respectively. Seperately, they visited Chief Umobuarie Igberaese in his home to seek for ways to stylise the afan as a Western instrument. There is no evidence that the project was successful.

Fidelis Oyakhilomen, Stephen Aburimen, Vincent Agenmonmen, Ebosele Okodugha, the Onojie of Igueben, the Onojie of Uromi, the Onojie of Irrua, the Onojie of Ekpoma, the Onojie of Ewu, the Onojie of Idoa, etc., Prof. Ambrose Folunroso Alli, Sonny Okosuns (Ozziddi King), etc., are amongst exceptional lovers of the afan. Afan is now an archive of over fifty thousand songs, proverbs, stories and epics useful for 360 degrees-content platform.

The average Esan man traces the history of afan to Chief Umobuarie Igberaese because the name, “Umobuarie”, is synonymous with afan.

However, as an infant, Umobuarie and his mates would assemble in the house of Abhulimen, a successful farmer and renowned traditional healer within the village. Abhulimen was Ubene’s friend who, at that time, was the village Chief Priest. Ubene was Umobuarie’s maternal uncle, and guardian. In Abhulimen’s house, the children would listen to stories and narratives from the elders.

These stories informed the children of the elders’ exploits and escapades in their different spheres of life. Abhulimen had afan. So, he would entertain the children on the instrument. This musical instrument delighted and aroused the curiosity of the young Umobuarie who later discovered that his master, Chief Priest Ubene, even had a similar instrument, which remained hung on a peg. However, that afan was never used as even Ubene himself did not know how to play it.

Spurred by curiosity, Umobuarie, fearfully and cautiously, approached the Afan. He stretched himself to full height and strummed on the strings. The resultant sound produced by the afan was similar to that of Abhulimen’s. Thus, Umobuarie was intrigued because of his success on the instrument and the sudden realisation that it was within his own domain. But, as it belonged to his guardian, he was afraid to play it. Consequently, he gathered materials and constructed a toyish afan.

Thereafter, he attempted to play a few tunes on his newly constructed instrument as he had heard them from Abhulimen’s. In subsequent visits to the latter, Umobuarie would listen carefully to tunes of the afan which he later practised assiduously at home. Thus, his style of learning to play the afan was by imitation; he listened to what Abhulimen played, the way it sounded and later, in his privacy, he would try and reproduce those sounds on his own instrument to match what had heard.

The afan he constructed as a little boy soon became inadequate. So, he felt the need for a better one. He, therefore, got the necessary materials and approached Udah, an elder in the village who was known to construct afan. Udah constructed afan for Umobuarie and three others, namely Ogbekhiulu (Ubene’s son), Omohan and Oriwo. These three never learnt to play their own instruments.

With his afan, Umobuarie visited his friend, Josiah Egbele, who later became his second-in-command in the ensemble. At a stage, Umobuarie could play the afan a lot better than Abhulimen but later discovered that he had actually learnt very little when he met Omoera in Abhulimen’s house. Omoera was a traditional healer and a carpenter from a neighbouring village. In fact, Abhulimen had engaged his visitor to furnish his house. Thus, Umobuarie, for the third time in his life, came in contact with afan. At this time, he marvelled at the skill and dexterity exhibited on the instrument by Omoera.

Therefore, the friendship than evolved between these two people: the skillful player on the one hand and the amateur on the other, afforded Umobuarie the cherished opportunity to attain artistic excellence. Although, he did not live with Omoera nor pay stipulated fee for the purpose of training on the afan, he was more or less at the beck and call of his master. Then, Umobuarie was ten years old. That was the period he referred to as the beginning of his career on the afan.

In spite of this, Chief Umobuarie Igberaese is today regarded by the Esan community as the exponent and propagator of afan because both Abhulimen and Omoera were considered as armchair players, playing more for leisure and pleasure than for entertainment and publicity.

Joy Abraham-Umobuarie, as part of her works in "A Visual Concept for Afan Music and Dance in Esan land" (2003), produced an art work titled, "Spiritual Endowment" as an explanation of the source of Chief Umobuarie Igberaese's ingenuity on the afan. The artwork is reproduced above with her permission.