Radoillo:

I'm pretty certain I never said everybody in Abia state moved in there and took out the Ibibio-Efiks. So I'm not sure which opinion of mine you don't subscribe to. Many people on Nairaland seem to have a knack for misunderstanding what was actually said.

Your theory on former Benue Congo occupation in consideration to Aro history.

You wrote this:

Apart from Aro /ohafia/Abam,most Abia natives are said to be aboriginals

Which appears to be an acceptance that Aros are not aboriginal to their homeland.

Minutes later, you wrote:

Your theory on former Benue Congo occupation in consideration to Aro history.

Which appears to be a rejection of the 'fact' that Aros met people when they got to what is now Arochukwu.

Are u trolling me, or u just love arguments so much you don't want this one to end?

Ihuomadinihu:
I wouldn't find it extraordinary that igbos share words with other linguistic groups. Our numerous dialects,some unintelligible is a pointer that we have come across and mingled with other people.

This isn't about shared words. Nobody is a stranger to the fact that neighbouring peoples tend to borrow words from each other. This is about place-name evidence. The world over, place-name evidence is an attested indicator of what language the former occupants of a place might have spoken.

Radoillo:

This isn't about shared words. Nobody is a stranger to the fact that neighbouring peoples tend to borrow words from each other. This is about place-name evidence. The world over, place-name evidence is an attested indicator of what language the former occupants of a place might have spoken.

Ok o,at least we already figured out Aro-Benue Congo connection,and it fits in with your 'bantu story'. Let's keep our opinions even as we look into other areas.

Radoillo: You wrote this:



Which appears to be an acceptance that Aros are not aboriginal to their homeland.

Minutes later, you wrote:



Which appears to be a rejection of the 'fact' that Aros met people when they got to what is now Arochukwu.

Are u trolling me, or u just love arguments so much you don't want this one to end?

I know am not the only one that is tired of this thread,but we wanna have a decent discussion or even smart argument. Why can't Igbos be bantus? Uptill now,you have no solid evidence. I find it downright insultive that you consider my inputs 'trolling'. If you feel distrubed you can just walk out of here without snide remarks. I believe we are here to learn,that i quote you does not mean it should swell your head.

Radoillo: You wrote this:



Which appears to be an acceptance that Aros are not aboriginal to their homeland.

Minutes later, you wrote:



Which appears to be a rejection of the 'fact' that Aros met people when they got to what is now Arochukwu.

Are u trolling me, or u just love arguments so much you don't want this one to end?

As for the Aro stuff,i stated that people are of the view that Aro were igbos that were formely displaced who decided to migrate back to Aro,hence my theory on reverse migration. Geographical placements and border proximity affect dialects,this occured in the entire Alaigbo. So Aro,Benue -Congo lingistics connection is not an isolated case. Smh. I meant i don't subscribe to your opinion that Benue Congo people lived in these places. Aros could have changed those Ibom words,or completely wiped away every trace of efik in their history,but they choose to keep them. It a matter of opinions,no need of taking it personal.

Radoillo: For your next article, Igbodefender, may I suggest you explore the historical connection between the Igbo and the Ancient Greeks. Both appear to have had similar fragmented small-scale political systems and to have held democractic political ideals. The Delphic Oracle appears to have played a similar role in Greek life that the oracles at Arochukwu and Umunoha and Awka played in Igbo life. 'Athens' is close enough to 'Atani' (the name of a number of Igbo settlements) for us to postulate a common origin. I'm sure that, if we put our fervid imaginations to work, we will dig up enough data to definitely seal the connection. Let's do this!

And when we're done we can move to the Mayas of Mesoamerica.

Ochi leiiiiii!!!! Looool +infinity for this post

Ihuomadinihu:
I know am not the only one that is tired of this thread,but we wanna have a decent discussion or even smart argument. Why can't Igbos be bantus? Uptill now,you have no solid evidence. I find it downright insultive that you consider my inputs 'trolling'. If you feel distrubed you can just walk out of here without snide remarks. I believe we are here to learn,that i quote you does not mean it should swell your head.

I'm having a hard time believing you are not trolling now, lol.

I'm having a slow afternoon. Lot of free time on my hands, so I'll attempt one last explanation, even though I said severally comments back that I'm done with this.

1. Bantu is an ethno-linguistic group. In other words a Bantu is a person who belongs to one of the several ethnic groups speaking a Bantu language. Igbos are not Bantus for the simple reason that our language is not a Bantu language. Bantu languages (plus some languages spoken on the Nigeria-Cameroon border, eg Ibibio and Ekoi) belong to the Benue-Congo language family. Igbo language (plus Idoma, Edoid and Yoruba) belong to a different language family, called Volta-Niger language family. This should be simple enough, and a clear enough reason why you can't classify Igbos as Bantus, let alone as Proto-Bantu. The latter designation (Proto-Bantu) suggests that the Igbo language was what diverged and evolved to yield the the Bantu languages. The linguists (who Igbodefender used their theories to make this proposition) will be bewildered if they even heard that someone was using their work to suggest that the proto-Bantus were Igbo. Igbodefender completely misunderstood what he read.

2. The Homeland Argument: The same linguists who argued that the Bantu languages originated in the Nigeria-Cameroon boundary area, also argued that Igbo and its sister languages (Edo, Yoruba etc) originated in the Niger-Benue area, in the Nigerian Middle Belt. So taking the linguists by their word, we can establish that the point of Igbo origin and the point of Bantu origin are seperated in space, at least. You cannot prove that A and B are the same if we know that their points of origin are different. Again, simple logic.

I could go on with a third point about contacts (and lack of actual contacts) with Bantu and Bantu-related groups, but I'll probably only be wasting my time....
I've observed folks on here merely argue for the fun of it, most of the time.

Radoillo:

I'm having a hard time believing you are not trolling now, lol.

I'm having a slow afternoon. Lot of free time on my hands, so I'll attempt one last explanation, even though I said severally comments back that I'm done with this.

1. Bantu is an ethno-linguistic group. In other words a Bantu is a person who belongs to one of the several ethnic groups speaking a Bantu language. Igbos are not Bantus for the simple reason that our language is not a Bantu language. Bantu languages (plus some languages spoken on the Nigeria-Cameroon border, eg Ibibio and Ekoi) belong to the Benue-Congo language family. Igbo language (plus Idoma, Edoid and Yoruba) belong to a different language family, called Volta-Niger language family. This should be simple enough, and a clear enough reason why you can't classify Igbos as Bantus, let alone as Proto-Bantu. The latter designation (Proto-Bantu) suggests that the Igbo language was what diverged and evolved to yield the the Bantu languages. The linguists (who Igbodefender used their theories to make this proposition) will be bewildered if they even heard that someone was using their work to suggest that the proto-Bantus were Igbo. Igbodefender completely misunderstood what he read.

2. The Homeland Argument: The same linguists who argued that the Bantu languages originated in the Nigeria-Cameroon boundary area, also argued that Igbo and its sister languages (Edo, Yoruba etc) originated in the Niger-Benue area, in the Nigerian Middle Belt. So taking the linguists by their word, we can establish that the point of Igbo origin and the point of Bantu origin are seperated in space, at least. You cannot prove that A and B are the same if we know that their points of origin are different. Again, simple logic.

I could go on with a third point about contacts (and lack of actual contacts) with Bantu and Bantu-related groups, but I'll probably only be wasting my time....
I've observed folks on here merely argue for the fun of it, most of the time.

You don't need to quote me if you are not ''trolling'' too. Why do you pop out the bantu word when i dropped it. This is what happens when you get frustrated when you can't easily convince people with your ''personal views''. Nametagging,name calling and unwanton accusation becomes the next point of call. Anyway,i will stay clear of quoting you in future as you find it difficult to tolerate opposing points of view.

Btw,do yourselve a favour and quit describing people's views and oponion as fairy tales,we are entitled to form opinions until we have enough reason/conviction to change them.

I don't believe Radoillo's point should be this difficult to understand, but it's clear you two haven't been on the same page for a while now.

Igbos are semi-bantu. The term "Bantu" is widespread as word for "mankind" or "people" which in Igbo is "madu". At least the similarity is clear and becomes even clearer when applied with Akpo dialect of Ikwerre which is "Bandu" for "mankind". Some other variations are "Manu", "Vadu" and "Nmadu".

Mandhu is also another variation that was used in the Ngwa area. Admittedly, the cosmetic similarity, between the words for person/persons is interesting and might invite further study. However, it can't be used as a case in point, because it is only one instance and is not even in the least bit representative of any larger relationship between Igbo speech forms and the Bantu languages. That is the main point. On the surface, it's interesting, but there simply is not enough evidence to conclusively call Igbo "Bantu" or "semi-Bantu" or any other "Bantu" derivative.

Abagworo: Igbos are semi-bantu. The term "Bantu" is widespread as word for "mankind" or "people" which in Igbo is "madu". At least the similarity is clear and becomes even clearer when applied with Akpo dialect of Ikwerre which is "Bandu" for "mankind". Some other variations are "Manu", "Vadu" and "Nmadu".

In my opinion, it would be safer to assume that "proto-bantu" speakers may have produced offspring that diverged with one or several groups spreading the language across central-east-south Africa migration routes and possibly the other group spreading Westward merging with Niger-Benue speakers of which the Igbo, Ibibio and efik may be related to.

"BA" and "Ntu" are the affinity words that cut across for bantu speakers as in Basotho. Batswana, Ba-Uganda(Buganda) and BaCongo.

Let's bear in mind that Bantu language is just a sub group of the Benue-Congo family which is part of the Niger-Congo family,the linguistic family of Igbo. You have variants of the ntu-Bantu words from Mmadu/manu to Vandu etc.
Bantu languages is said to have broken away from a proto bantu language during migration to East and Southern Africa.
It is quite risky to make a hasty conclusion but am of the opinion that a significant group of bantu speakers were assimilated by Igbos etc.

Another likely reason Igbos are referred to as semi-Bantu could be from physical appearance. Igbos on a higher percentage look very similar in physical appearance to Ibibio/Efik/Annang but the language seems more related to Yoruba than Ibibio.

My personal opinion is that some Bantu speakers in the ancient times actually mixed up with the ancient Igbo populace. This can be noticed in so many random Igbo names, most especially the famous word UMUNTU which is the longer and original word to UMU. This is no coincidence as many parts of Central and Southern Africa use the variation of the word MTU, which has original links to proto-Bantu population in Upper Egypt or Sudan. This is why you would find district names in South Africa like Umlazi, Umhlanga and Umtata sounding like typical Igbo town names like Umulazi, Umuhlanga e.t.c

I mentioned these similarities in one of earlier threads on Bantu civilization and migration. It might interest you all that names starting and ending with NJ, NG, MF, MB, CHI, GU are equally present in Igbo language as are many Bantu languages. My take is this, Bantu language did influence a number of words in Igbo language but wasn't strong enough to influence the language structure. Further research of language overlaps between the two languages need to be investigated to determine the actual timeline this happened. My guess is that it happened at least over 2000 years ago.

Abagworo and Tony, really interesting contributions.

'Semi-Bantu' isn't a word I'd employ though because there's a subdivision of the Benue-Congo family spoken in Cameroon which is known by that term. Calling Igbo Semi-Bantu may therefore confuse one into thinking you're suggesting Igbo language belongs to that Benue-Congo subdivision. I get your point though, and I even agree to a very large extent.

I'd also be very cautious about making strictly Igbo-Bantu comparisons at this stage. It's much safer (even more logical) to make Igbo/Benue-Congo comparisons. Bantu is only a branch of the larger Benue-Congo family. And some (most?) of the 'affixes' TonySpike mentioned occur in the Benue-Congo languages right next door to the Igbo: MFon, MBu, ACHIbong, NJama, etc. I think it is sounder to postulate that it is contact with these Benue-Congo neighbours of ours that might have led to the adoption of these peculiar 'sounds', rather than to postulate that there was a firsthand contact with the Bantus who live farther away.

The examples you gave with Umlazi, Umhlanga and Umtata though interesting contain a basic flaw: they are European mispellings/mispronunciations of Mlazi, Mhlanga and Mtata. Interesting enough, our next-door Benue-Congo neighbours have such place and personal names as UMon and UMana. If we are going to suggest that UM/UMU is derived from a non-Volta-Niger source, why not look first among our Benue-Congo neighbours who appear to also have an 'UM-' before going over their heads to look for a source in the Bantu languages?

Abagworo's example about the possible connection between Mmadu/Manu/Mandhu/Bandu and Bantu (with it's various variations) is a pretty good example. And I feel almost certain there is a link. Like Chinenye said, there's need for further research in that area. For one, it would be great if we could collect and analyse the words used by the Benue-Congo speakers in Rivers, Cross River State, Akwa Ibom and the Middle Belt to describe 'person', 'persons', 'man' etc. It may well turn out that we would find variations in these languages (which, as we all know, are related to the Bantu tongues) from which the Igbo 'madu' may have been derived. It seems possible to me that it may not have come firsthand from a Bantu source.

In relation to the Madu/Bantu issue, I also find it interesting that in an Afro-Asiatic language like Hausa, the word for man (Mutum) is just darn too close to the Bantu words for man (Mtu in Swahili; umuntu in Zulu). What could this mean? Certainly no one is going to suggest that Hausa is semi-Bantu. But could there be a connection? Absolutely. But again we need to collate the words for 'man', 'person' etc in the other Benue-Congo languages and determine how they correlate with the Bantu forms. Hausa could have picked it up from a Benue-Congo (but not neccessarily Bantu) source. There are actually Benue-Congo enclaves scattered throughout North-central Nigeria. These people were/are within easy reach of the Hausa.

Of early Igbo-speaking groups interacting with, and even 'Igbo-icizing' some Benue-Congo groups and being influenced by their language patterns there can be no doubt. My position is that the interactions are more likely to have been with the Benue-Congo groups who remain our immediate neighbours rather than with actual Bantu groups.

The letter M was of huge significance in the ancient times. Even to the Arabs, the word Ummah was used to described a community. By the way, Umlazi in the Zulu context means "people of Lazi", if written in Igbo like Umulazi would mean "Children of Lazi". This is almost the same context in which it was used.

Finally,we can now agree that igbos had contacts with some bantoid speakers. Lexical terms seems to be a source of confusion on this thread. Benue Congo language is divided into bantoid and non bantoid languages. Speakers of benue congo languages are found in West Africa,East Africa down to Southern Africa. Igbo language is classified as Western Benue Congo language along with Yoruba,Idoma etc.

Therefore, how can one say Igbos had contact with Benue Congo speakers and not the proto bantus?
How do you account for the presence of Chi prefix in Igbo,Shona and other Zimbabwen languages,bearing in mind that Chi prefix is quite absent in our sister benue congo languages?
Think about that.

[quote author=ChinenyeN]Mandhu is also another variation that was used in the Ngwa area. Admittedly, the cosmetic similarity, between the words for person/persons is interesting and might invite further study.

Interesting admission from ChinenyeN. Thanks to Abagworo, morpheus24, TonySpike, Ihuomadinihu and other scholars here who have done their best to enhance the quality of indigenous research on this topic. Let's keep it coming guys.

Indeed I know that '*m*' in Southern Bantu connotes 'people of'. Hence 'amaNgoni' - the Ngoni people; 'amaXhosa' - the Xhosa people. ( I still insist that the 'U' in your examples are due to European mispronounciations. Same way Mzilikazi was rendered in some European documents as Umsilikatse. Umtata is really Mtata, which is possibly a contraction of Amatata.)

But like you've also rightly pointed out, in Igbo 'umu' is 'children (of)', rather than 'people of'. 'People of' in Igbo is 'Ndi'. It seems to me that 'umu' (most Igbo dialects) and 'omu' (some Ikwere dialects) cluster more with 'omo' (Yoruba) and 'oma' (Igala and, I think, Itsekiri) than with the *m* (ama?) of Southern Bantu. What is more, 'umu' and 'omo' have the same exact meaning in Yoruba and Igbo.

If, therefore the '*m*' factor ties the Igbo with the Bantu, then one also has to suggest that it ties the Yoruba and the Edo with the Bantu, too.
But I believe there's more to be said about the 'ama' (Southern Bantu) and the 'umu-omo' (Igbo-Yoruba). They could indeed be related and their difference in meaning - which honestly isn't that significant - may be due to semantic change over time. 'umu-omo' went one semantic way; 'ama' went another.

We should remember than the Benue-Congo family (to which Bantu languages belong) and the Volta-Niger family (to which Igbo and Yoruba belong) split from a common proto-language. What this means is that we should expect to find cognates in both Benue-Congo languages and Volta-Niger languages. This '*m*' is probably one of such cognates, derived from a common proto-language spoken by the common ancestors of people who now speak Benue-Congo and Volta-Niger languages several thousands of years ago, rather than from proposed specific contacts between Igbos and Bantus in more recent times (about 4,000 years ago, as your date of 2000 BC suggests).

We could find other such cognates between Benue-Congo and Volta-Niger if we looked closely. Personally I suggest '*kuta (Volta-Niger?)/*kuma'(Benue-Congo) which are clearly related roots, and which appear to have meant 'stone/rock/rocky outcrop (such as a hill or hillock)' and, due to semantic change, 'iron' or 'iron ore'. Thus we have 'okuta/okwute' in Yoruba/Igbo, derived from '*kuta', and 'akuma/akume' in many Benue-Congo tongues derived from the related '*kuma'. Zulu's 'igquma' (hill) and Swahili's 'kilima' (hill) will appear to have also derived from the Benue-Congo '*kuma'. The interesting thing here is that many Igbo-speaking groups who do not presently have Benue-Congo neighbours appear to use a *kuma-derived word for stone or rock. My own people in Awka use 'mkpume'. I'm told that there's a hilly spot in Enugwu-Ukwu caled 'Mkpume Onyilenyi'. Other Igbo groups use 'nkume' etc. And I'm informed that in Nsukka the word for iron-ore is 'ekuma'.


The last paragraph may read like a rambled digression, but what I intended to say was:We need not skip the Benue-Congo groups nearer home who use 'akuma/akume' variations to propose a connection between 'nkume/mkpume' and the Zulu 'igquma'. This has been my point all along: these neighbouring Benue-Congo groups would appear (to me) to be the source of the seeming 'Bantuisms' in Igbo. Sadly, their languages (especially those of them in the Upper Cross area) haven't been subjected to much scientific studies, perhaps because they are spoken only by small groups.

Let's not use 'Bantoid' and 'semi-Bantu' when we do not exactly know how these words are used in the linguistic community. The confusion is from people who use 'Bantu' and 'Bantoid' as if those words cover every Benue-Congo language. The Cross River languages which had definite contacts with and influence on the Igbo language, are neither Bantu nor even 'Bantoid'.

Radoillo: Indeed I know that '*m*' in Southern Bantu connotes 'people of'. Hence 'amaNgoni' - the Ngoni people; 'amaXhosa' - the Xhosa people. ( I still insist that the 'U' in your examples are due to European mispronounciations. Same way Mzilikazi was rendered in some European documents as Umsilikatse. Umtata is really Mtata, which is possibly a contraction of Amatata.)
But like you've also rightly pointed out, in Igbo 'umu' is 'children (of)', rather than 'people of'. 'People of' in Igbo in 'Ndi'. It seems to me that 'umu' (most Igbo dialects) and 'omu' (some Ikwere dialects) cluster more with 'omo' (Yoruba) and 'oma' (Igala and, I think, Itsekiri) than with the *m* (ama?) of Southern Bantu. What is more, 'umu' and 'omo' have the same exact meaning in Yoruba and Igbo.
If, therefore the '*m*' factor ties the Igbo with the Bantu, then one also has to suggest that it ties the Yoruba and the Edo with the Bantu, too.
But I believe there's more to be said about the 'ama' (Southern Bantu) and the 'umu-omo' (Igbo-Yoruba). They could indeed be related and their difference in meaning - which honestly isn't that significant - may be due to semantic change over time. 'umu-omo' went one semantic way; 'ama' went another.
We should remember than the Benue-Congo family (to which Bantu languages belong) and the Volta-Niger family (to which Igbo and Yoruba belong) split from a common proto-language. What this means is that we should expect to find cognates in both Benue-Congo languages and Volta-Niger languages. This '*m*' is probably one of such cognates, derived from a common proto-language spoken by the common ancestors of people who now speak Benue-Congo and Volta-Niger languages several thousands of years ago, rather than from proposed specific contacts between Igbos and Bantus in more recent times (about 4,000 years ago, as your date of 2000 BC suggests).
We could find other such cognates between Benue-Congo and Volta-Niger if we looked closely. Personally I suggest '*kuta (Volta-Niger?)/*kuma'(Benue-Congo) which are clearly related roots, and which appear to have meant 'stone/rock/rocky outcrop (such as a hill or hillock)' and, due to semantic change, 'iron' or 'iron ore'. Thus we have 'okuta/okwute' in Yoruba/Igbo, derived from '*kuta', and 'akuma/akume' in many Benue-Congo tongues derived from the related '*kuma'. Zulu's 'igquma' (hill) and Swahili's 'kilima' (hill) will appear to have also derived from the Benue-Congo '*kuma'. The interesting thing here is that many Igbo-speaking groups who do not presently have Benue-Congo neighbours appear to use a *kuma-derived word for stone or rock. My own people in Awka use 'mkpume'. I'm told that there's a hilly spot in Enugwu-Ukwu caled 'Mkpume Onyilenyi'. Other Igbo groups use 'nkume' etc. And I'm informed that in Nsukka the word for iron-ore is 'ekuma'.
The last paragraph may read like a rambled digression, but what I intended to say was:We need not skip the Benue-Congo groups nearer home who use 'akuma/akume' variations to propose a connection between 'nkume/mkpume' and the Zulu 'igquma'. This has been my point all along: these neighbouring Benue-Congo groups would appear (to me) to be the source of the seeming 'Bantuisms' in Igbo. Sadly, their languages (especially those of them in the Upper Cross area) haven't been subjected to much scientific studies, perhaps because they are spoken only by small groups.

I've picked particular interest in the "Ama" prefix. "Ama" is a recurring prefix and suffix in Igbo language depicting compound, area or group of. It is rather common in the Isuama area of Igbo where we have such places as "Ama-Igbo", "Ama-Ndugba", "Amaraku", "Ama-Uro", "Ama-Atta". Some Igbos us "Ogbe" in place of "Ama" while others use "Ebo" or "Mgbu".

Let's not confuse ourselves with this bantu issue. Bantu is just a fraction of the Benue - Congo linguistic family which originated in Eastern Nigeria/Cameron. I don't see how igbos wouldn't have contacts with a sub language group while maintaining contacts with the larger family?
Bantu is just a Subsaharan language which influenced languages native to that region. Really,i don't care if neighbouring benue congo languages are bantu or not cos there is nothing that suggests that Efik/ibibio had a significant influence on Igbo language. Linguistic influence happened in fairly recent times along fringe present igboland. The Archi,ibom,nkan,Abasi are just recent additions to igbo language.

Abagworo:

I've picked particular interest in the "Ama" prefix. "Ama" is a recurring prefix and suffix in Igbo language depicting compound, area or group of. It is rather common in the Isuama area of Igbo where we have such places as "Ama-Igbo", "Ama-Ndugba", "Amaraku", "Ama-Uro", "Ama-Atta". Some Igbos us "Ogbe" in place of "Ama" while others use "Ebo" or "Mgbu".

Yes, indeed. The 'ama' bit is interesting. The Ijaws equally appear to use it to mean 'town' which in meaning is close to it's meaning in Igbo ('quarters'). The Nguni (Southern Bantu) meaning appears to be somewhat more distant, in my opinion.

This is all speculation on my part, but there could be a connection between Igbo 'ama-' and Ijaw '-ama'.

Abagworo:

I've picked particular interest in the "Ama" prefix. "Ama" is a recurring prefix and suffix in Igbo language depicting compound, area or group of. It is rather common in the Isuama area of Igbo where we have such places as "Ama-Igbo", "Ama-Ndugba", "Amaraku", "Ama-Uro", "Ama-Atta". Some Igbos us "Ogbe" in place of "Ama" while others use "Ebo" or "Mgbu".

Ama in Zulu depicts 'place'. Amazulu means people of heaven which is literary mean Zulu's place.

Ihuomadinihu:
Ama in Zulu depicts 'place'. Amazulu means people of heaven which is literary mean Zulu's place.

That's some real interesting info here.

One could actually say 'Ama Zulu' and mean Zulu Place in Igbo or Umu Zulu and mean Zulu People in Igbo.

Let's remember here that the context we are looking at is Proto as in Aboriginal or Original, which means that there were obviously other influences on today's Bantu apart from the Igbo influence, but the Igbo influence was the earliest. According to a Prinston.edu article on the subject, these Proto people left their homeland and settled with others in Central and Southern Africa, introducing aspects of their original language and culture.

Looking at the millions of Igbos outside Igbo land today - millions in Lagos alone - the theory of earlier Igbo migration is not far-fetched - even though this is a wholly different context.

As a digression, could there be link to Bini too. Bini say "Mina" to mean "Me" and the Zulu use the same word also.

Radoillo: Indeed I know that '*m*' in Southern Bantu connotes 'people of'. Hence 'amaNgoni' - the Ngoni people; 'amaXhosa' - the Xhosa people.

CORRECTION: 'Ama' in Zulu and other Nguni languages do not neccessarily mean 'people of'. It could be a term used to pluralize things.

eg: Iqanda (egg); amaqanda (eggs)
a single Xhosa person is umXhosa; many Xhosas = amaXhosa.

This kind of strengthens the connection with Yoruba-Igbo Omo-Umu

TonySpike: As a digression, could there be link to Bini too. Bini say "Mina" to mean "Me" and the Zulu use the same word also.

'Cognates' for 'me' are so widespread, it's a very shaky base to build a hypothesis on.