The STORY OF ARUARAN Of Udo

Oloi Idia gave birth to her first son, Osawe (Oba Esigie) to Oba Ozolua. Prince
Osawe was the third born son of Ozolua. The first son of Oba Ozolua was
Aruanran (sometimes spelled Arhuanran), the son of Oloi Ohonmi who was
born earlier in the day before Esigie. Yet, Esigie's birth was officially announced
to the Oba before Ohonmi's son enabling him to claim second place. According
to Edo oral history "because Idubor did not immediately cry at birth, Osawe
who did, was reported first to the king, according to tradition. By the time
Idubor cried, to enable the mother report his birth, the king had performed the
proclamation rites of Osawe as first son." Despite this glaring fact, some critics
of Iyoba Idia suspect she has a hand in her son Esigie's path to power by
alluding to usurpations of the principle of primogeniture in which Idia was the
central actor and beneficiary. "To switch the order of births in the royal palace
in order to bring herself closer to power was no mean feat. It required political
savvy, extensive political connections, phenomenal co-ordinations, and deep
collusion with a network of critical actorswomen ritual specialists in the
palace, the Okaerie who trains the new iloi (royal wives' residence), the Eson or
first wife whose duty is to manage the erie (palace), titled wives, the Ibiwe and
other key palace chiefs such as the Uwangue and Osodin who looked after royal
wives and their children, and cared for them when they were pregnant."When
Oba Ozolua died in 1504, the Bini Kingdom was unleashed with a vicious
struggle for power between his two eldest sons, the warrior giant Aruanran and
the Portuguese-baptized OsaweEsigie's personal name (Egharevba 26).

The fight ensued between Osawe and Aruanran only because the first son of
Oba Ozolua, Ogidogbo, lost his obaship rights. He had fractured his leg in a
competition with his two younger brothers, Aruanran and Esigie, and became a
cripple (Egharevba 25). Although this tragedy was represented as an
unfortunate mishap, a case of children competing against each other, many at
the time saw Idia's hand behind it. For them, this surreptitious mode of altering
physical reality from a supra physical level represents Idia's mode of fighting
on two planes. It also signified her double-edged sword that could both create
or wreak havoc.

Idia's role in the nullification of the first son Ogidogbo was not lost on
Aruanran whose enmity towards his brother (Esigie) intensified that he tried to
assassinate him. A noted warrior and conqueror of the fierce town of
Okhumwu, Aruanran was bigger and stronger, and could easily have trounced
the weaker Esigie, whom Oba Ozolua had sent to attend the Portuguese mission
school after his baptism (Ryder 1969, 50). Aruanran's assassination attempts
could have succeeded were it not for Idia who was reputedly skilled in magical
arts and whom he knew was a formidable opponent he had to overcome.
Realizing he had to acquire supernatural powers if he wanted to take on Idia
who was her son's spiritual protector, oral tradition recounts that Aruanran
retreated to Uroho village to learn the art of black magic from an old sorceress,
Iyenuroho (Okpewho) That he chose a woman as teacher is clear recognition
that his opponent was a woman, and that he had to learn the ways of women's
mystical powers to be assured of victory. We should note that it was Esigie's
possible lack of combat experience, the result of having to attend the school of
Portugese missionaries, rather that join his father in fighting wars.

Refusing to accept defeat, who was also the Duke (Enogie) of Udo, Idubor
Aruanran refused to accept subordinate role to his brother, Oba Esigie, and at
first tried to make Udo the capital of Benin kingdom with himself as king. It did
not take too long before the two brothers went to war. The war was difficult,
bitter, and long drawn out. It was not until the third campaign that Udo was
defeated. The third campaign was timed to coincide with the planting season
when Udo citizen-soldiers, who were mainly farmers, would be busy on their
farms.
The Enogies only son, Oni-Oni, died in the battles. The Enogie of Udo
committed suicide by drowning at the Udo lake after his defeat. He did not
want to be captured prisoner and taken back to Benin. Before jumping into the
lake, he left his Ivie necklace, the precious bead necklace symbol of authority
in Benin land, dangling from a tree branch were it could be easily found. Only
the Oba could inherit such trophies of dead or conquered leaders and nobles,
so, out of excitement over his victory, he tried on his neck for size, his
brothers humble surrender necklace symbol. He became mentally disoriented
immediately he put the necklace on his neck. Removing the necklace from his
neck did not make any difference, so he was rushed back to Benin City in that
hopeless state.His mother, Idia, immediately located a Yoruba Babalawo
(mystic) at Ugbo/Ilaje, in the riverine area, and brought him to Benin to work on
the kings spiritual ailment. He cured the Oba of his ailment, and the Queen
after rewarding him generously, prevailed on him, (the Yoruba Awo), to settle
permanently in Benin to continue to render his services. He set up home at
Ogbelaka quarters where his descendants have thrived until this day.