4.

6 Akoto Dance as Means of Cultural Identity

The culture and historic account of the tagged "Ogu People" clearly demystifies itself in Akoto dance,
making explicit its constituent, recognizing and capturing the complete assortment of values,
people,occupation, tradition and their religious belief. Yerima Ahmed in Critical Perspective on Dance in
Nigeria agrees that,

Dance represents the identity of the people. Through the body, dance uses the emphasis of areas of the
body as metaphors and symbols. Specific parts of the body are used to reveal the history of the people,
their occupational engagement, and their environment. For example, if they live by the river, the
shapes, angles, and the costumes, the music and even their colours, become symbols which emerged
from the river. If they live by the rocks, or hills, the feet movement, the jumps, the raising of the
shoulders, the hand gestures, all point to the immediate environment of mountain climbing or long
years of surviving the rocks. (124-125).

Akoto dance is simply an expression of the sociological 112 cultural life of the Ogu people. Akoto dance
is organic to the entire

people of Ogu land and all the indigenes of Badagry both inland and in

diaspora. The dance, as with any other cultural practice was birth by the

society and environment in which it is situated, seen and reverenced as a product of history and cultural
heritage. The ideological description of Art as representative of life put forward by Isadora Duncan and
the Aristotelian underling concept of mimesis best described the end product of a long protracted
culture of a people well-defined capturing both the obvious and surreptitious aspects of their culture,
the occupationally cum religiously expressed traditions and laying the foundation of a unique artistic
impression upon which a sustained theatrics was built, the dance was created. "Akoto" dance is
distinguished mainly by univalled charm, magnetic attraction and elegance. This dance has grown from
one stage to another losing some traditional elements while also acquiring aesthetics to fit modern
dispensation. In spite of modernity and its encroachment on the many African societies, the true nature
and culture of the Ogu people remained and this is holistically captured in their dance. The importance

attached to this dance by the indigenes of the land is overwhelming and

this owes much to the fact that the dance exposes and reminds the Ogu

people of the periods when slave trade ravaged their community. To fully

comprehend the meaning and cultural value of this dance, a historic

overview of the contextual meaning of the dance is paramount to the

discourse on "Ogu people" and "Akoto dance". Akoto dance is very important to the Ogu community in
ger
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not only because it brings the entire community together, but particula., because the dance represents a
symbol of unity, pride and identity. Akoto dance is a well-coordinated and choreographed dance piece
prominent for

its unparalleled fascination which keeps the audience attention glued to

its performance. The height of creativity captured in this dance ultimately

climaxes the vigor and strength of creativity possessed by the pioneers and the fore- carriers of this
dance. Akoto dance similarly reflects the

flexibility of the dancer. Importantly, each of the movement exhibited by the dancers has its own
language for which "sense" is communicated, showing skills such as cutting, hoeing and clearing. The
dance begins

usually with subtle movements, progresses to fast, energetic display

involving both male and female in the race with each dance move

meticulously executed with precision, then climaxes with admirable sprightly patterned moves. As the
dance progresses, the female dancer exhibits movements that allow them to stoop under the raised legs
of their male counterparts with emphasis on round-the-circle movement. All the

movements captured in the dance are divulging to the dancers and the

audience at large certain characteristics of their culture and their people at large. For instance, certain
movements reveal that one of the for occupations in Ogu land is husbandry.

3.1 The Socio- Cultural Life of the Ogu People

The social and cultural life of the Ogu people is closely related to

that of the Aworis and this owes much to the fact that they share

boundary and engage in inter-trade businesses. Having been exposed to slavery and its whips and
having revitalized over the years, Ogu people

are known all over the world. Their social life as well as the cultural life is well rounded and expressed
within their society. The people of Ogu Community have a culture that is distinctive and adorable. Their
cultural traits range from their type of food, marriage ceremonies and all other

ceremonies, occupation,

hobbies, traditional rulership, social

organization, festivals, masquerade and dances, rites, etc. all of these

carefully describes their society.

Long before the arrival of the missionaries with the advent of

Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and all other religious doctrines, the Ogu people were
predominately traditional worshippers. This religion

is known as Vothun or Voodoo and it has its roots in Adja, the former

Dahomey and the today Benin Republic. The Ogu people are a strong

believer in the saying that a human is composed of both the physical and

the spiritual matter, therefore when the physical dies, the spiritual which is completely indestructible
continues to live on a different plane. This informed the worship of amongst the Ogu people who
believe that Vothun is a highly spirited man who was deified and worshipped having

gained the acknowledgement of God.

The presence of this deity is usually expresses in natural phenomenon such as god of thunder (Heviso),
the god of smallpox (Sakpata) etc. Because of this pre- modern believe in these deified

figures, Ogu people plant shrines in nearly every nooks and crannies of their homes such as the
bedroom, living room, courtyard, at the riverside, on their farm, place of work and so on and so forth,
and the reason for that is to institute communion with the deities at any time of the day. A high point to
note in the worship of these deities usually makes reference

to the past as these gods were once humans. Aside the worship of

Vothun, some Ogu people have converted to other religious faiths sur'

75

mentioned above. With the penetration of the missionaries came West..

education and western civilization, and the people embraced both.

Further expressed, with a richly blessed cultural heritage, some of

these religious practices are almost often connected to various festivals in

their community. It is during these festivals that some of their dances are performed. Majority of the
Egun people still immerse themselves in the ritualistic acts as some of them partake in the worship and
idolization of
deities such as Igunnuko and another known as ZANGBETO which exhibits itself in form of Masquerade
etc. The Egun people designated the

worship of this special masquerade to selected top rank chiefs and highly

respected members of the society. During the worship of Zangbeto, apart

from the rituals carried out behind closed doors among the initiates, a rich

theatrical performance is presented on a particular day for the public

exhibits itself in form of Masquerade etc. The Egun people designated the

worship of this special masquerade to selected top rank chiefs and highly

respected members of the society. During the worship of Zangbeto, apart

from the rituals carried out behind closed doors among the initiates, a rich

theatrical performance is presented on a particular day for the public

consumption. One of the major events on this day is the performance of AKOTO DANCE.

Importantly, as part of their socio- cultural life, the Ogu people set aside different meeting points
evident in different villages for cultural display wherein aspects of their culture is passed down from one
generation to another. Many of their dances and folktales are also herein

passed to the younger generation amidst singing numerous Ogu songs and

dancing as forms of moonlight tale telling experience. Particularly in Yafin (lyafin) village, gyration
(singing and dancing) is use to test and see who amongst the younger generation could outwit the other
in a

dance contest predominantly in Akoto dance or Akoto dance moves.

2. 3 The Ogu People of Badagry, Lagos State

The Ogu people are not a people in isolation or without origin.

They dwell among their neighbors in a place classified as Badagry Local government, Lagos Nigeria. The
best way into the description of the tribe

today known as the Ogu (Egun) people is to draw from their historical origin by tracing their
geographical area.

The area recognized today as "Badagry" was named after the people's means of livelihood such as
fishing, farming, canoe making and transportation; salt making etc. and it is occupied by Awori-Yoruba
people and the Gun/Ogu/Egun tribe. However; many notable historic accounts exist concerning the
existence of the historic place known today

as Badagry. The first (Olaide- Mesewaku Babatunde, Olaide- Mesewaku

peter and Adeyemi Sola: 200) holds that Badagry was founded by a very popular farmer named Agbedeh
who many years ago owned a farm. This farm was very popular and as a result was called Agbedegreme,
which means Agbedeh's Farm. The Yoruba inhabitants who were unable to pronounce Agbedegreme
(Agbethegreme) later settled for "Agbadagari" which later gave birth to Badagry by the European Slave
merchants. In the same vein, the change of name also affected the pronunciation of

"Ogu" to "Egun" (Akran, 37).

Contrary to the first account, The second account culled from the

Badagry tradition has it that Badagry was founded by a white merchant

sea man known as Hontonkunu (Ogu term meaning Sailor), whom history

remembered as George, Fremingo. Hontonkunu arrived Badagry in the

company of three African companions, Jengen, Wheno Agirimakaku, a

prince from Port Novo, Akala Gbafoe, a Fante from coastal Ghana and

Heru, a Heuda Prince who later died on the sea beach. Hontonkunu had

taken refuge at Apa for several years before finally moving into Badagry in 1736 as a local director of the
Dutch West India Company. Then, He

resided on a plot of land belonging to one Agbada who was possibly a

servant or slave of Whese (Dioka 219- 220).

Yet, another notable historic report (Dioka, 210) on the origin of

Badagry traces the origin to two migrations of the Yoruba and the Aja migration. During the 16m
century, the Oni of Ife had sent his sons to establish independent kingdoms so the Yoruba migration
which was led by an Ife Prince, son of the Oni of Ife named Asheshe left Ife and had a momentary stop at
Ibeshe. He was said to have established Apa and a line of Obas called the "Alapas". It was the Ilth Alapa
of Apa that was said to have given a piece of land to a sailor. Again, contrary to the second account,
(Dioka) records that:

...when Hontokunu met Whese, Badagry was already occupied by the Yoruba of an earlier migration.
What

transpired between Whese and Hontokunu seemed to

have been a business deal. Hontokunu, whose trading

base in Whydah was disturbed by the Dahomean wars,

offered gifts including cannons to Whese for the defense

of Apa. Whese, on his part, granted land to Hontokunu

(on the present site of Badagry) for trade which included

transactions in slaves, tobacco, gin, beads, cloths and

Manchester plates (21 1).

Although these historic accounts vary, there are indications that Badagry existed (though not too
populated) long before it was occupied by the popular Hontokunu whom some historic accounts
acknowledged.

Hontokunu only attracted people (traders) to Badagry through his line of business and trade in materials
such as cloths, gin, slaves, tobacco, etc.

From away from the above geographical description, Badagry occupies a very distinctive position on the
Nigerian- Benin border in a maze of creeks and lagoons. From the North is a lagoon that separates

Lagos and Ogun, from the South, is the view of the Atlantic Ocean, to the

East, we have the Badagry creeks and finally to the West is the Seme

border which shares boundary with the Republic of Benin. Badagry is

located in the western part of Lagos state and it is one of the five

administrative divisions and local government area under Lagos state headed by a traditional ruler, His
Majesty, De Wheno Aholu Menu- Toyi (OFR, LL.D, D.Litt. JP.), the Akran of Badagry. Badagry was
founded in

the 15th century but it became part of Nigeria only in 1901 after been

annexed and incorporated into Lagos colony by the United Kingdom.

As an historic town, Badagry is known for many things; the first is

the fact that Badagry was a gathering and departure port (point of no

return) for the exportation of African slaves to various parts of Europe

and America. Secondly, Badagry was a major site where Christian missionaries' work took place before
the spread to other part of Nigeria
began. And this is because of where it is situated. Badagry is positioned between the Seme border and
the Metropolitan Lagos. Again, historically, the very first story building in Nigeria built in 1842 by the
Christian Missionaries was sited in Badagry.

The Ogu people are the well-known Egun people whose ancestral

lineage can be traced to Dahomey and Port Novo. They are a people with

distinctive culture and tradition. Occupationally, the Ogu people are predominately farmers and
fishermen. It was the need for better life, trade, commerce and fecundity that triggered their migration
from their

original source to different parts of the world, although some sources (Olaide- Mesewaku Babatunde et
al, 1-2) have also identified that this

displacement was as a result of the 8th Century war that ravaged

Dahomey.

Basically, the Ogu people made gallant settlement in Badagry forming fourteen communities under the
Ajara locality, these Ajara communities are Vetho, Agamathen, Dokoh, Agelasoh, Topa, Yafm, Salu,
Tolikoh, Tosadekoh, Agbovipe, Itohun, Zinvie, Panko and Gathangba. Majority of these people are found
in Badagry Lagos state while a number of them have also found a places of settlement in an area

known as Tomaro under Amuwo Odofin local government in Lagos state,

around mile two express. A large number of the Ogu (Egun) people have

also settled into the Yewa community in Ogun state and other places such

as in Topo, Joton, Agonin, Mowo, Ajido, Togo, Ghana etc. Others are scattered round the globe. Like the
Yorubas, they communicate with each other in various fascinating dialects such as Thevi, Seto, Toli, and
Whla, Ajahuwe, Ganyin, Allada, Athome, Iragon, Ikoga, etc. of which Allada is the most famous of all the
dialects.

The Ogu people have always been known for their vibrancy in nearly all aspects of their lives. Not only
do they demonstrate their dexterity at farming and fishing which are their major occupations, they

also concentrate their efforts at salt production, weaving and trading,

palm wine tapping, processing of cassava, canoe rental service, boat and

canoe transportation services and coconut processing all in the hope of

contributing to the building of the society. Ogu people are also into palm wine tapping, Garri production
and coconut processing. The people are

dynamic and are today found in both the public and private sectors
management both at home and beyond the Nigerian borders. Politically,

the Ogu (Egun) tribe is known to be a well-organized set of people as the

institutionalization of Aholu represents one of the achievements of the

Egun (Ogu) in political centralization.

Culturally, they express themselves in diverse ways, sometimes

through their values, at times through their clothing, feeding, music etc. however, in some cases these
values are all combined and expressed

culturally through their dance. Dance to the Ogu people is used to express

their exceptional culture and tradition. Dance is a rich magnetic

phenomenon and it forms part and parcel of the Ogu people and their lives from cradle to grave
because their culture is entwined in their richly

choreographed dances and music. Having being blessed with many

dances, Akoto dance is one of the numerous efforts by which the Ogu

people try to retain and teach the young generations their culture because

so much importance is attached to this dance.

4.7 Social Function of Akoto dance

Akoto dance is one of the most dynamic and popular art forms among the Ogu people. Many are the
functional values attached to Akoto dance not just among the preservers of the dance culture but within
the

Nigeria communities in general. First and foremost, Akoto dance functions as an expression of social
organization i.e. in order to achieve cohesion within its place of birth and of the community, binding
them in one spirit of togetherness and bringing about a the inhabitants deep sense

of communion and establishing kingmanship. Akoto dance, more than anything expresses the life of the
community for example, with the sound from the drum, many of these people gather as they recognize
the sound

of the rhythm. The dance is performed at various functions as an

entertainment dance: It also functions at occasions such as marital

exchange of vows, naming ceremony or child dedication and even in

religious places of worship. Others are coronation ceremonials, festivals

and feasts, burial rites, rites of passage, birthdays, puberty rites, socio-

cultural and ceremonial events of all sorts etc. Akoto dance generally

marks key elements of communal life. It represents and reinfore 115

communal life.

Again, predicated upon as an artistic expression not just of history

or chronological exposure of slave trade days in Nigeria and among the Ogu people but also of
experiences and cultural homogencity, Akoto dance also functions as an element of social identity. Just
as Bata dance is associated with the people of Oyo state, Sapaide with the benin people

Maliki dance with the people of the Borno, Eyo masquerade dance with the Isale Eko indigens, Omoko
with the Itsekiri people of Delta state, Odudu in Ondo state, Swange among the Tiv, Jarawa created by
the indigenes of Plateau state, Koroko from Kano, Ekombi and Uyok from

Efik tribe, owigiri created by the Kalabari of River state, Balufon dance and Apepe from the ljebu
speaking tribes of Ogun state, Asawogidigba and Biripo dance of the llaje speaking tribe in Ondo state
etc., Akoto dance amongst other dances created by the people of Badagry is associated with as a
cultural expression of the Ogu people and that which distinct them from other cultural setting and tribes
of the world.

Akoto dance has always portrayed the rich cultural heritage of the Ogu people because of the codified
social and cultural elements imbedded in the dance. Now, in response to the growing industrialization,
the incursion of western education and the emergence of modernity within

the African states, this particular dance like culture is beginning to forgo

some aspects and in turn have given birth to what is today known as a

"contemporized version of Akoto dance".

3.2 Economic Life of the Ogu People as Reflected in Akoto Dance

From one of the sources (Mesewaku Peter 2000) which describes

the origin of Badagry and the Ogu people, it is observed that one of the

major traditional occupation of the Ogu people upon which their culture

of based is farming. Although, Ogu people are well represented in

different occupations, during the primordial years, the Ogu people were

predominately farmers. With large expanse of land round Badagry, they

cultivated and excelled throughout the year on selling their farm products.

In addition to farming being one of the economy building blocks of their society, slave trade experience
brought about another farming experience

as discussed above. The slave masters made the slaves work round the

clock on their farmland. These two farming experiences are replicated in Akoto dance. Although, Akoto
is a social/ceremonial dance, it describes the farming experiences of the Ogu people.

Aside farming, Ogu people are also well known for weaving of raflia and the raffia is gotten from raffia
palm. These raffias are neatly woven and sold out to traders and market women on specific market
days.

Some of these raffias are also used to build their houses during the

primordial times. Equally, the economy of the Ogu people builds upon the construction and sale of their
craft which includes drum of different

shapes and sizes.

Akoto dance occupy a central position among the Ogu people being a product of their society and the
occupational life of the ogu people as their farming experience is well replicated in the dance. Aside
using Akoto dance and

Movement socially. Akoto dance by the Ogu

people is defined within the economic parlance of the Ogu people. This means therefore that the dance
has many economic functions. Having emerged from the primary occupation of the Ogu people, many of
the Ogu indigene and non- indigene practically carn their daily living using

this dance as their professional career. Some of the professional dancers

teach this particular dance to younger generations in primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions. The
positive effect of this is that, the practice of teaching, and learning of Akoto dance provide job
opportunity for the

people. Many of these professionals have travelled far and wide with

Akoto dance and this has to some extent helped to project and promote

the culture of the people and thus promoting the economy of the Ogu

people.

78
One thing to note at this point as part of the importance of Ake on the Ogu economy is this, having
mentioned that Ogu people are known also for drum making and all Nigerian dances require drum

accompaniment, many of the musical instruments produced for Akoto

dance and other Ogu dancers are well known in the dance industry.

Akoto dance appear as part of broader culture activities among the

Ogu people. One of such activities being festival etc. und good examples

are the annual Badagry Festival and the Black Heritage Festival. These festivities attract many tourists
day in day out to the Badagry local

government and other parts of Lagos. This also helps to promote the

society, the culture and the economy of the Ogu people. Akoto dance not only depict farming as one of
the various occupation among the Ogu

people. It also provides information about their other occupations such as

drum making, tye and dye, black smiting, raflia making and so on.