Eri is said to be the original legendary cultural head of the Umu-eri groups of the

Igbo people The Igbo people ( , ; also spelled Ibo" and formerly also ''Iboe'', ''Ebo'', ''Eboe'', * * * ''Eboans'', ''Heebo''; natively ) are an ethnic group in Nigeria. They are primarily found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. A ...

. Eri established a community in the middle of

Anambra Anambra State is a Nigerian state, located in the southeastern region of the country. The state was created on August 27, 1991. Anambra state is bounded by Delta State to the west, Imo State to the south, Enugu State to the east and Kogi Stat ...

river valley (at Eri-aka) in Aguleri where he married two wives. The first wife, Nneamakụ, bore him five children. The first was Agulu, the founder of

Aguleri Aguleri meaning Agulu nwa Eri (Agulu-Eri). This is because according to their traditional lores, Agulu is the son of Eri , son of Jacob. Lawrence Ozeh is an internet entrepreneur, in his essay, he opined that Aguleri is the cradle of Igbo peopl ...

(The ancestral head of Eri Kingdom clans) (the Ezeora dynasty that has produced 34 kings till date in Enugwu Aguleri), the second was Menri, the founder of Umunri /

Kingdom of Nri The Kingdom of Nri () was a medieval polity located in what is now Nigeria. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland, and was administered by a priest-king called an ''Eze Nri''. The ''Eze Nri ...

, followed by Onugu, the founder of Igbariam and Ogbodulu, the founder of Amanuke. The fifth one was a daughter called Iguedo, who is said to have borne the founders of

Nteje Nteje is the headquarters of Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria. It is situated about 25 kilometres north-east of Onitsha by land route. It is located on the map along the longitude 6.45°E and the latitude 6.14°N. The land is f ...

, and Awkuzu,

Ogbunike Ogbunike is a town in the Oyi local government area of Anambra State, Nigeria. Location It is located about 15 kilometers east of Onitsha. The Onitsha-Enugu expressway cuts through its northern border. The town is bordered on the east by Umud ...

Umuleri Umueri, also known and pronounced as Umuleri, is an ancient town in the Anambra State of Southeastern Nigeria. The people of Umueri belong to the Igbo ethnic group, and the town has an estimated population of 1,500,000. It is located within the A ...

, Nando and Ogboli in Onitsha. As one of the children of Eri, Menri migrated from Aguleri, which was and still is, the ancestral temple of the entire Umu-Eri (Umu-Eri and Umu-Nri). His second wife Oboli begot Ọnọja, the only son who founded the Igala Kingdom in

Kogi Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to th ...

State. Eri is the founder of the Umueri and Umunri clans, both of whom were some of the most influential and powerful dynasties of priests and diviners in Igboland and adjacent areas such as the Bini and Igala/ Idoma areas.

A Series Of Excerpts From The Oral Records Of The Igbos

When Eri was sent by

Chukwu Chukwu is the supreme being of Igbo spirituality. In the Igbo pantheon, Chukwu is the source of all other Igbo deities and is responsible for assigning them their different tasks. The Igbo people believe that all things come from Chukwu, who b ...

from the sky to the earth, he sat on an ant-hill because he saw watery marshy earth. When Eri complained to Chukwu, Chukwu sent an Awka blacksmith with his fiery bellows and charcoal to dry the earth. After the assignment, the Awka blacksmith was given ọfọ as a mark of authority for his smithing profession. While Eri lived, Chukwu fed him and his people with azu-igwe. But this special food ceased after the death of Eri. Nri, one of his sons, complained to Chukwu for food. Chukwu ordered Nri to sacrifice his first son and daughter and bury them in separate graves. Nri complied with it. Later after three Igbo-weeks (12 days) yam grew from the grave of the son and coco yam from that of the daughter. When Nri and his people ate these, they slept for the first time; later still Nri killed a male and a female slave burying them separately. Again, after Izu Ato, an oil palm grew from the grave of the male slave, and a bread fruit tree (ukwa) from that of the female-slave. With this new food supply, Nri and his people ate and prospered. Chukwu asked him to distribute the new food items to all people but Nri refused because he bought them at the cost of sacrificing his own children and slaves. Nri and Chukwu made an agreement. According to M. D. W. Jeffreys (1956:123), a tradition has it that:

"As a reward for distributing food to the other towns, Nri would have the right of cleansing every town of an abomination (nso) or breach, and of tying the Ngulu (ankle cords) when a man takes the title of
ozo The Nze na Ozo society (pronounced ''Nzeh nah Orzoh''), is the highest and most important spiritual religious and social grouping in the Igbo society of Southeast Nigeria. Initiation into the aristocratic Nze na Ozo society marks the person as n ...
. Also he and his successor’s would have the privilege of making the Oguji, or yam medicine, each year for ensuring a plentiful supply of yams in all surrounding towns, or in all towns that subjected themselves to the Eze Nri. For this medicine all the surrounding towns would come in and pay tribute and Umunmdri people then could travel unarmed through the world and no one would attack or harm them"

Another legend holds that Eri was one of the seven sons of Gad, who was himself one of the twelve sons of Jacob. He left the area together with his brothers Areli and Arodi and settled in the west bank of the Niger river in the present Anambra state, where Eri had a son called Aguleri who became the father of most of the Igbo clans.

References

The Nri Kingdom by Eze Nri, Nri Enwelana II, Obidiegwu OnyesoInterpretive Archaeology By Julian Thomas
(Google book search)
ỤZỌ NDỤ NA EZIOKWU - Towards an Understanding of Igbo Traditional Religious Life and Philosophy by Rev. P. E. N. Onwu - 4 November 2002Worship as Body Language By E. Elochukwu Uzukwu
(Google book search)
Foreign Missionary Background and Indigenous Evangelization in Igboland By Nkem Hyginus M. V. Chigere
(Google book search)

A Series Of Excerpts From The Oral Records Of The Igbos

References

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