The history of Obizi’s origin cannot be told by an individual. The story about the culture and people of Obizi is too great to be narrated in a single tale. There are several sides and versions of the people of Obizi. These sides and versions of the tales of Obizi can be obtained from oral history/narratives, documented facts and historical evidence, written texts, pictorials, and other forms of artifacts, including modern documentaries.
The story about the origin and people of Obizi can be presented based on several narratives. Some of the narratives are contained in the book ‘OBIZI, THE LAND OF PEACE AND PROGRESS’ written by Venerable Sam Njoku, and in another book, ‘HISTORY, CULTURE AND THE PEOPLE OF OBIZI’ written by Mr. Teddy Ezirike and Mr. Chikere Nwachukwu.
According to these authors in their research work on Obizi, the history of Obizi can be explained based on any of these historical narratives;
- The myth and the migration story
- The Eastern Hypothesis
- The Nfunala Hypothesis Or Cultural Autochony:
- Traditions of Migration (Cultural Amnesia)
The history of societies is usually a tale of myths and migration. Obizi is not left out of this. The myth about Obizi is the myth of the creation of her progenitor, Ezinihitte.
According to Chief Onuoha Iroapali:
‘God (Chi-ukwu Abiama) created Ezinihitte and settled him at the Ihu Chukwu Orie-Ukwu in Oboama-na-Umunama.
Orie-ukwu is the original home of Ezinihitte. God created, Settled and nurtured him there. He never migrated from anywhere!’
Therefore, in his views, it was from Orie-ukwu that (Ezinihitte) descendants dispersed to their various locations today in the 13 communities that make up Ezinihitte Mbaise in Imo State, including Obizi.
This creation myth was corroborated by Nze Vitalis Kwekwe, though with reservations, and added that when Orie-ukwu became tight for all the descendants, the natural tendency to reach out and search for better areas of habitation caused Udo to move. With the movement, Udo identified their present location and later invited his kith and kin from Obizi and Onicha whom he also helped to identify their present places of settlement. This story of Udo being the first to settle in this part of Ezinihitte was confirmed by Pa Edward Ehumadu, Pa Francis Uwaezighiozi, and also Sir Levi Nkemdirim as a probable occurrence.
Pa Francis Uwaezighiozi added that these communities had no real names as they were moving from Orie-ukwu. Hence, they eventually had their names through the circumstances of their history and settlement.
According to him, the name “Obizi” was derived from an exclamation and expression of faith, confidence, and resilience demonstrated by the patriarch of Obizi. On arrival from Orie-ukwu to the present location, they had natural doubts and anxieties about the suitability and security of the environment, which at that time had very thick forests and all manner of dangerous animals to contain.
The fears, doubts, and anxieties were fought back with indomitable faith to possess and harness the land expressed in the exclamation: “Obi sie ike ebizie”(with faith, courage, and strong will, we will dwell well).
As they began to flourish and make progress in the land, their kith and kin commended their faith, courage, and indomitable spirit, alluding to the fact with the exclamation that “he had finally overcome and now well settled (ndi biziri ebizi). This gave the community the name “Obizi,” which means settling well! This could also probably account for the origin of the title of the Ezeship stool of Obizi or Obizie is a prayer that says: ‘May the abode or inhabitants thrive, May they grow strong, healthy, prosperous, and be successful.’
However, notwithstanding this creation and migration myth of Obizi associated with Orie-Ukwu, as highlighted above, there is another version of the migration tale that links Obizi to Ngwa land and some to Arochukwu in the present Abia State.
With reference to Arochukwu, this school of thought based their argument on the assumed participation of the people in the popular ‘Ida Aru’ festival associated with Arochukwu descendants.
The reservation on the Orie-Ukwu creation and migration saga expressed by Nze Vitalis Kwekwe as noted earlier was based on two facts. One was that the Ezinihitte creation myth is not in tandem with the biblical story of the Garden of Eden. This logically connotes that all locations of human settlement anywhere on earth today came about by migration from the original home of the Garden of Eden.