Osanobua or Osalobua ( Esan: Osenobula, Osenebra) is the name for God in the

Edo language Edo (with diacritics, ), colloquially called Bini (Benin), is a language spoken in Edo State, Nigeria. It is the native language of the Edo people and was the primary language of the Benin Empire and its predecessor, Igodomigodo. Distribution Mo ...

.Ezeh, Mary Dorothy, ''Human Trafficking and Prostitution Among Women and Girls of Edo State, Nigeria Possibility of Rehabilitation Through Education and Prevention'', Xlibris Corporation (2017), pp. 115-6,

(Retrieved 1 July 2019) It is also referred to asOsa, which is commonly integrated into modern Edo people, Edo names, such as ''Esosa'', which means God's goodness or gift; ''Eghosa'', God's time; and ''Efosa'', God's blessings or wealth. The term originally derives from the deity from the traditional Edo language, Osa, a sky deity cognate with the Yoruba term orisha. The epithet ''Osalobua Noghodua'' means ''God Almighty''. The word encompasses a large number of divine principles - including the divine state of being merciful, timeless, goodness, justice, sublimity, and supreme. In the Edo belief system, Osalobua has the divine attributes of omnipresence (),

omniscience Omniscience () is the capacity to know everything. In Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, this is an attribute of God. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any individual can eventually attain. In Buddhism, there are diffe ...

(), and

omnipotence Omnipotence is the quality of having unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence only to the deity of their faith. In the monotheistic religious philosophy of Abrahamic religions, omnipotence is often listed as one ...

(). The Supreme Deity is believed to be present everywhere and at all times.Paula Ben-Amos, Flora Edouwaye S. Kaplan: Edo Religion. In: Lindsay Jones: Encyclopedia of Religion. Thomson-Gale, 2005. Edo State has several areas with their own local dialects; Esan, Ewohimi, Ewato, Ewosa, Etsako, Auchi,

Igueben Igueben is a local government area of Edo State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are located in the town of Igueben, which has an area of and a population of 69,639 according to the 2006 census. The postal code is 310. History Igueben was founded ar ...

, Ora, Oredo, Orihionmwon and Iruekpen to mention but a few. The Esan people called God "Osenebra" or "Osenobula". It is often abbreviated as Ose. God is also described as "Ofuekenede" (merciful God), "Okakaludo" (stronger than stone), "Obonosuobo" (the great physician), “Oshimiri atata” (a river that never runs dry) etc.

References

Names of God in African traditional religions {{reli-stub