HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF KENTE(ASO-OKE) IN OKENE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KOGI STATE

 
Okene is a local government on Kogi state. The Ebira people of Okene have a history of having formally lived in Jukun in Taraba state. They migrated and passing through Toto of Nassarawa state and Koton Karfe in Kogi state, eventually settled down in Okene in between hills. They have some similarities to that of the Ebiras in Toto and Koton Karfi areas.
   Traditional religion was the first religion that was practiced by the people, which is the worshiping of ancestors(Aheke Oziote). The religion was based on the respect for the supernatural and departed spirits of the ancestors who, they believed were the medianics between the living and the supernatural forces. It was later that Islam was introduced and lastly christianity. Presently the tradition, Islamic and christianity religions are the major religions of the area.
   The Ebira tribe is a large ethnic group living on the south-west of Kogi state. They settled on and in between the hills and derived their unity as an ethnic group from a common language, common culture and acknowledging the ritual leadership of Ohinoyi(King) of Ebira land. Within the community there are sub-units, each having their own ritual head, but they are all under the sovereign power of the Ohinoyi.
   Ebira people migrated from Jukun to Okene with their method and technique of weaving.
  It can be rightly pointed out that the Ebira people acquired the art of waving right from their place of origin. When they settled in Okene, the men were engaged in farming and hunting, while the women stayed at home for cloth weaving and the general care of the home and the children. The type of clothes woven in Okene are generally refered to as Itinoci, which means clothes woven on sticks using locally grown and spur cutton.
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