Etsu Nupe and secrets of walls of Bida
The Nupe tribes live in the heart of
Nigeria in the low basin that is formed by the valleys of the two rivers:
Niger and
Kaduna, between 9o30’ and 8o30’
N.L. A line drawn from
Legba on the Niger, eastward to Kataeregi marks the northern boundary. The Niger, flowing almost straight north-south between Legba and
Jebba, divides
Nupe Kingdom from
Yoruba in the west, the slowly rising kingdom east of
Lapai and
Gidi, slopping upward towards the hills of Gbara
Kingdom, forms the eastern boundary of Nupe.
The earliest history of Nupe centered around the figure of Tsoede or Edagi, the culture hero and mythical founder of Nupe Kingdom. The genealogies of Nupe kings which are preserved in many places in Nupe country, and which have also found their way into the earliest written records of Nupe history which were compiled by Mohammedan
Scholars and court historians, place his birth in the middle of the fifteenth century. At that time, the
Nupe people were tributary to the Alfas (
King) of the Gara at Eda (
Idah) for down the Niger. he tribute was paid in slaves and every family head had annually to contribute one male member of his house. These slaves, as tradition has it, were always sister’s sons. It so happened that the son of
Alfa Gara came hunting to Nku in Nupe country. Here he met the daughter of the chief of Nku a young widow, fell in love with her and lived with her for sometime. When the death of his father recalled him to his country to succeed to the throne of the Gara, this woman was pregnant. He left her a charm and a ring to give to their child when it was born. This child was Tsoede. Then the old chief of Nku died, his son became chief, and when Tsoede was 30 years of age the new chief sent him as his sister’s son, as slave to Eda. The Alfa Gara recognized his son in the new slave by the charm and ring which he was wearing and kept him near his person, treating him almost like his legitimate sons. Tsoede stayed for thirty years at his father’s court.
Once the king fell victim of a mysterious illness which nobody could cure. The court diviner prophesied that only a fruit from a very high oil palm outside the town, plucked by one man, would cure the king. All his legitimate sons tried in vain to obtain the precious fruit.
Finally Tsoede made the attempt and succeeded. But in this attempt he cut his lip so badly that he looked almost like a man born with a split lip. From this time – and this still holds true today – all hare-lipped boys born in Nupe are named Edegi.