Brief History of our Home Town

Ozolua as Prince Opame founded Ora, around 1460. Opame was the third son of Oba Ewuare, when he left Benin City he took the name Iguan, which means I will serve no one. He had twelve sons, who eventually, founded the six villages of Ora.

Ohia, Uhonmora, Evbiobe/Sabongidda-Ora, Oke, Ovbiokhuarin and Eme. After he left to be Oba of Benin,(circa 1480) a saying arose in Ora “Iguan oba” which means Iguan has gone to be made oba.

The original name of the town is said to be Evbiobe. The name Sabongidda is an Hausa name given to Ora by Hausa settlers who came to make Evbiobe home. The town is a commercial town and it plays host to the popular Holy Trinity Grammar School. The people are mostly Christians with a small percentage of Muslims and traditional religion practitioners.

The origin of the name Sabongidda-Ora

When the the first white people came to Ora, on the outskirts of the town, they met some Hausa traders, when they asked for the name of the settlement, the traders said “Sabongidda” refering to their own Hausa quarters only. No further than another mile, the white people got to another settlement, when they asked for the name they were told Evbiobe.

With the realization that Evbiobe was just one village of the Ora Clan, gradually the name Evbiobe dropped out of popular usage to be replaced with the appellation “Sabongidda-Ora” thats how we got Sabongidda-Ora.

S A G O N G I D D A – O R A