There was once a famous village called Iden.The village was very large in terms of landmass and population comprising nine major hamlets. Eight out of the hamlets were brought under Iden as subordinates through territorial expansion. The ninth major hamlet was the main Iden village. In this regard, Iden became the seat of government and head quarters of the entire village.
Though the eight hamlets, after conquest, retained their names, they lost their Independence to Iden; and as such, Iden became the overall name for all the hamlets. But each hamlet was allowed to have it's traditional head with no autonomous powers over major issues. The appointment or installation of each hamlet's head was vested on the king of Iden, who was at the center as the overall head. The eight hamlets in the order of conquest were: Edeku, Ebeka, Uzebi, Obaye, Idebamu, Izumaza, Idoyaga and Itoyama.
However, the indigenous Iden people were known for strength and skills as wrestlers and warriors which led to the territorial expansion and conquest of neighboring hamlets. The strength and skills of the warriors were acquired through traditional wrestling. Traditional wrestling, for the Iden people, was fun and recreation which every male in all household took active part in.
Indeed, it was used as a basis to judge the respects, honour and the wealth of a man and his family. The higher the number of strong, skillful and unbeatable wrestler in a family, in the various wrestling categories, the more respect, honour and wealth such a family commands. The strong might of Iden warriors and army at war was built around the crop of their wrestlers.
So, once a village or hamlet suffered defeat by Iden village in a war of expansion, traditional wrestling was immediately signed into a law for such a village or hamlet in order to recruit more warriors into the village general army. It was through this that Iden village grew stronger and expanded so large in landmass and population.
To crown it all, the King of Iden was not left out in the practice of wrestling, because before any heir to the throne was crowned, he would have gone through intensive training. At the end, he was made to engage in a contest with the strongest wrestler in the village in the senior category. By so doing, he would showcase his strength and skills as a leader by example.
However, whether he wins or loses in the contest does not disturb him from being crowned king. But if he wins, it becomes a plus to his position as a strong and brave king. In fact, every household had one or more warriors in the general army, based on the number of males in each family; recruited through the village traditional wrestling act. The name Iden, as a village, radiates tension and fear on neighboring villages so much so that some sought and entered into an unending peace accord for the fear of going to war to suffer defeat and be subjugated.