Obazee’s dictionary, therefore, is a documentation and preservation of Edo language, literature and culture; a work on Edo history; a practical tool for Edo and English users; and a major research material for cultural and humanistic studies. It is a clarion call that Edo language should be taken seriously. As a people with a rich language, history, culture and tradition, and, who call themselves, their language, and land “Edo”, it is painful that the language itself is under serious threats of extinction.
Sir Gabriel Osamagioghomwenwi Obazee, a self-taught man, entered a classroom for the first time at 20, yet produced the authoritative, A New Edo-English Dictionary.
As a child, he was apprenticed as a bicycle mechanic. But the bug of Western education bit him. So at the age of 20, he enrolled himself in a night primary school in Benin City, from where he obtained his First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC). Thereafter, he was employed as a pupil teacher and taught in many schools all over the Benin Division, during which he saved for his higher education.
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Obazee gained admission into Teacher’s College, Auchi, and later St. Bosco’s Roman Catholic Teacher’s Training College, Ubiaja, where he was trained as a teacher. He proceeded to the University of Lagos, where he earned a Diploma in Edo Language and later, the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, where he obtained Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Linguistics (with specialisation in Edo Language).
Following the massive desertion of Southern Nigerian teachers from Northern Nigeria during the Civil War, and the appeal by Northern Nigeria State governments for teachers, he and his wife, Monica, volunteered and were posted to Sokoto State in 1969. There they served at Ilela – a Nigerian border town with Niger Republic. They returned to Benin City three years later and continued teaching. He was a pioneer Edo language teacher in the College of Education, Ekiadolor and was, for many years, examiner in Edo Language for the Federal Ministry of Education.
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Obazee was the chief editor of Asikoko Ekhara Oghe Edo (Collection of Edo Poems), which the National Council for Arts and Culture, Abuja, published in 1998. He contributed many articles and chapters on Edo language and culture to academic books and journals. He was the Secretary of the Edo Studies Association under the Patronage of His Royal Majesty, Omo n’Oba ‘Edo, Erediauwa, Uku-Akpolokpolo (CFR).
His seminal book, A New Edo-English Dictionary, published by the Institute of Benin Studies, Benin City in 2024, a year after he passed on, is a great and radical departure from previous Edo-English dictionaries. Rebecca N. Agheyisi’s An Edo-English Dictionary published by Ethiope Publishing Corporation, Benin City, in 1986, has only 169 pages and less than 4,000 entries.
…the dictionary, in a sense, is a historical study. It contains entries of the names and periods of the 31 Ogiso kings, starting from Ogiso Obagodo, who reined from 16 AD to 66 AD, to the last Ogiso in 1059 AD. It equally contains the names and periods of the present Oba dynasty, from Oba Oromiyan – about 1100 AD to the reigning Oba Ewuare II.
Northcote W. Thomas’ Anthropological Report on the Edo Speaking People of Southern Nigeria, Part Two, published by Harrisons and Sons, London, in 1910; HLM Butcher, An Elementary Dictionary of the Bini Language: 1. Bini-English 2. English-Bini, published by CMS, Benin City, 1932; Hans Melzian’s A Concise Dictionary of the Bini Language of Southern Nigeria, published by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co. Ltd, London, 1937; and David Munro’s English-Edo Wordlist: An Index to Melzian’s Bini-English Dictionary, Occasional Paper No.7, published by the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, 1967, all have not only far limited word stock entries, but are also out of stock. Obazee’s dictionary, on the other hand, has 610 pages (plus i-xiii), with over 28,000 word entries.
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The Iyase of Benin Kingdom, Chief Sam OU Igbe, in his “Foreword,” wrote that the dictionary is not only, “largely informative, educative and inspiring” but is also a significant contribution in, “reserving, preserving, and increasing the Benin stock word for the growth and development of Edo language.” This, he added, will, “augur well for the development and growth of the Benin Language.”
Professor Osama Ighile concurred, stressing that the dictionary, is not only, “significant because it is unarguably the most comprehensive dictionary of Edo language to date” but also highlights, “direct tone marks on watch words, the grammatical category of each word, parts of speech, tenses, and idiomatic and euphemistic expressions, which are written in the orthography.” Her added that it will, “surely enhance the understanding and enjoyment (of) Edo language and literature, thereby promoting cultural development and preservation.”
Also, the dictionary, in a sense, is a historical study. It contains entries of the names and periods of the 31 Ogiso kings, starting from Ogiso Obagodo, who reined from 16 AD to 66 AD, to the last Ogiso in 1059 AD. It equally contains the names and periods of the present Oba dynasty, from Oba Oromiyan – about 1100 AD to the reigning Oba Ewuare II.
Obazee’s dictionary, therefore, is a documentation and preservation of Edo language, literature and culture; a work on Edo history; a practical tool for Edo and English users; and a major research material for cultural and humanistic studies. It is a clarion call that Edo language should be taken seriously. As a people with a rich language, history, culture and tradition, and, who call themselves, their language, and land “Edo”, it is painful that the language itself is under serious threats of extinction.
The hospitality of the Edo people and their desire to accommodate others, has resulted in the widespread use and promotion of pidgin English at the expense of Edo language. Also, the mass migration of Edo people to other parts of Nigeria and abroad is not helping matters.
… the Edo people should apply immense pressure on the State Government to establish and fund an Edo Language Commission. The body should be charged with the task of promoting Edo language wherever Edo people are present. Nursery and basic primary education should be taught in Edo language and good incentives given to secondary school students and youths generally to take Edo language seriously.
In fact, the population of Edo people outside Edo land, within and outside Nigeria, is seriously competing with their population in Edo land. The Edo people are increasingly witnessing a situation where those of them in the diaspora speak other languages better than their own language. Worst still, a lot of Edo children and youths outside the area, cannot speak Edo fluently.
The underdevelopment of Edo State, the lackadaisical attitude of the Edo State Government to the language since 1976, and the destructive years of military misrule which subverted development, abolished democracy, and demolished federalism, amongst others, are primarily responsible for the increasing threats of the extinction of Edo language.
Edo people, therefore, should tirelessly struggle for the development of their state; the transformation of the current civilian rule into a democracy; and the restoration of federalism with all it entails. They must insist that the State Government takes Chapter Two of the Nigerian Constitution seriously and implements it earnestly.
Also, the Edo people should apply immense pressure on the State Government to establish and fund an Edo Language Commission. The body should be charged with the task of promoting Edo language wherever Edo people are present. Nursery and basic primary education should be taught in Edo language and good incentives given to secondary school students and youths generally to take Edo language seriously.
As for Obaze, on 12 January, 2023, he departed this world from Canada to join his ancestors. Born on 2 April, 1934, in Ovia Northwest Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria, Obazee was survived by two daughters, Ugiomotiti Mary-Theresa Usuanlele and Iguehiduwa Obazee-Oke; two son-in-laws, Uyilawa Usuanlele and Tunji Oke; and five grand children, Osarhiuyimen, Osamuede, Osayuware, Atineiman, and Izirouwa. Obaze, fondly called “Baba Lee” with his works, wrote his name in the sands of time.
Ahmed Aminu-Ramatu Yusuf worked as deputy director, Cabinet Affairs Office, The Presidency, and retired as General Manager (Administration), Nigerian Meteorological Agency, (NiMet). Email: [email protected]
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