Relatively, Ovrode is an agrarian community that can roughly be located by latitude 5.40 North and longitude 10.40 East in the Delta State of Nigeria. Precisely, Ovrode is in Isoko North Local Government Area, one of the twenty five political units into which Delta State of Nigeria is divided. Ovrode is bounded on the North by Aradhe and Ushie communities, on the east by Ofagbe, on the South by Ozoro and on the west by Ellu Community.
Ovrode is within the evergreen forest of Southern Nigeria, having vegetation that is dominated by the oil palm trees. This has given rise to the production of palm oil and palm kernel by the people. Also the kind of vegetation found in the area makes the cultivation of cassava for the production of garri and starch to be another main occupation of Ovrode people.
Like the rest parts of Isoko, Ovrode is an agricultural town, the intensity which is determined by the nature of the land and the method of farming. Streams and creeks surround the town, limiting agricultural land mass. In the north east, there is the Ato–ogbeza bush stretching from lake Ebe and extending Northwards between Ovrode and Aradhe. These areas receive the flood water that swell from the Ase river during flood seasons between September and November.
Other low level areas which receive flood water are Enuwo-odoko, the bush behind Owhe Street. Oku bush that is behind Egbahe and Osa quarters is another area that receives flood water. All the areas of flood are interconnected, which limit the extent of farming area. Agriculture, practiced in the rest area that is free from flood are the cultivation of yam, plantain, cassava, corn and melon which form the main food crop of the people. In other part of the forest, few rubber plantations could be noticed.
Although the palm trees in Ovrode bush grow wide, in the other parts of the forest, there are few plantation estates in addition to few rubber plantations that form the cash crops cultivated by the people of Ovrode.
Farming skill is acquired through self training. Local farming method using local tools like cutlass and hoe limit the agricultural produce both in food and cash crops. Modern and mechanized method of farming that may involve the use of machinery and fertilizer are still not in practice.
Few local industries like black smithing and few commercial and trading shops are in the town, much noticed in their market days.
Ovrode is one of the three towns ( Popularly called Erewo-esa) that make up ELLU CLAN. Before the creation of the clan in 1966, the three towns were grouped together into Owhe Clan. Agitation for a separate clan for the three towns of Aradhe, Ellu and Ovrode began before the creation of Mid-West Region in 1963. During that period, the three towns joined forces together for that purpose. The reorganization that resulted from the creation of Mid-West Region in 1963 and a separate division that was granted to Isoko nation led to the creation of more administrative clans in the new region. The birth of Ellu clan made up of the three towns was as a result of this agitation and the political reorganization.
When the clan was created, it was named Ellu Clan. The naming was done without consulting Ovrode and Aradhe who since then have been calling for a change of the name to Erewo-Esa Clan.
The argument for the change of name was yet to be resolved when the people of Ellu went further to introduce another two issues capable of tearing apart the joint effort and the unity among the three towns. The people of Ellu, without consulting the rest two towns, declared that Ellu town is the headquarter of the new clan. They never stopped there. They said that the Head of the clan must always come from Ellu town. The other two towns insisted that the existing gerontocratic system should be used to select the Head of the clan. The result of the argument is that Ellu Clan remains the only clan in Isoko nation without a clan head.
The above issues were yet to be resolved when a much more serious issue of Ellu town attempting to lord administrative authority over the rest two towns was embacked upon. The people of Ellu held on and intensified their claim to a new history they developed since the mid 1950s. The new and false history is that Ovrode and Aradhe are offshoots of Ellu. The new history was developed from the mutual and common defensive relationship the three towns kept from the time of old as explained in chapter one of this book.
In as much as the people of Ellu continued to make such claims, so also the people of Ovrode kept on calling them to order. Ovrode continued to call on Ellu to keep to the old and the true history of foundation of the three towns. The people of Ellu did not only refuse to stop the false claims, they arrogantly went ahead to encourage the documentation of their new and false history of the region.
To correct the false history and to stop its further spread, the people of Orode decided to come up with the facts behind the history. The sovereignty of Ovrode as a separate and independent town is known right from foundation. Ovrode has her own separate Ovo, (symbol of sovereignty). In Isoko nation, the possession of one Ovo by a group of people is an indication that such group of people is an independent and sovereign settlement or community. Ovrode has her own separate organs of native administration, deity and festivals. There is also a deferent trace of the origin of Ovime, the man who founded Ovrode, from the trace of the origin of those who founded the other settlements of Erewo-Esa. It has therefore become so imperative to clarify the misconception as there has never been any trace of one geneology, rather a trace of mutual relationship resulting from contacts and friendship amongst the founders of the various towns.
This book also attempted to bring out the cultural values of the people of Ovrode. Although the social and the cultural life of the Ovrode man is similar to the rest parts of Isoko, a close observation may bring out some differences which make the peculiar nature of the custom and the culture of Ovrode. It also explains how Ovrode responds to the dynamic nature of life in the circumstance. This is not to say that Ovrode is treated in isolation. She has never existed in isolation from the other towns within and outside the clan rather she only embarked on a struggle for a broad identification.