Radoillo:
How widespread is the use of Ihite as the name of a section of a town in Southern Igboland? Would u say it is something more closely associated with communities of Isu descent in the south?

I thought about this too. We have a number of ihite - lects in Southern Igboland.
Am aware of Ihite oboma(spell check) and Ezinihite. I will verify....

Radoillo: How widespread is the use of Ihite as the name of a section of a town in Southern Igboland? Would u say it is something more closely associated with communities of Isu descent in the south?

Actually, in short and concise terms, the use of Ihite is very much associated with communities of Isu descent here in the south. A cursory scan of the southern Igbo region shows that with the exception of Ezinihitte in Mbaise, no independent, non-Isu clan makes use of Ihite in its name. In the case of Ezinihitte in Mbaise, the name is even said to not be the original name of the clan and was only adopted in recent history. Traditionally, Ezinihitte is known as Ohuhu (not to be confused with Ohuhu in Umuahia). Ihite in place-names cluster mainly around northern Imo.

Ihuomadinihu: Ezinihite(Chinenye, are they an independent clan or a subgroup?)

Yes, they are an independent clan.

Also, Radoillo, thanks for taking the time out to give me that long reply earlier, and it wasn't as incoherent as you might have thought. I'm actually going to go digging through my external hard drives later this evening. I believe I have a number of Roger Blench's/Kay Williamson's documents, and if I remember correctly, one of them is a word-list comparison which they use to attempt to reconstruct possible proto-Igbo equivalents.

^ Thanks for this. You just confirmed what I had suspected for a while now. I'd need more evidence, but i'm almost beginning to feel Ihite/Ifite could be a cultural marker of a culture-complex in which Isu elements were at least the major players. And this culture complex covered all of the Awka Uplands and even extended into the Anambra Basin prior to the rise of the Nri Hegemony.

ChinenyeN:
Also, Radoillo, thanks for taking the time out to give me that long reply earlier, and it wasn't as incoherent as you might have thought. I'm actually going to go digging through my external hard drives later this evening. I believe I have a number of Roger Blench's/Kay Williamson's documents, and if I remember correctly, one of them is a word-list comparison which they use to attempt to reconstruct possible proto-Igbo equivalents.

Not a problem. If you find anything interesting from Blench and Williamson, please share.

Its always good to keep discussions civil to avoid deviations. Let me make it clear that the term Isoma in Ikwerre or Owerri refers to every other Igbo speaking people outside the Ikwerre/Ohaji/Etche/Owerri area and this includes mostly Anambra State. In fact if you ask an Ikwerre man he'll tell you Anambra is Isoma ndike. So Isoma means all Igbos outside South Igbo. To us Oru people all others outside our enclave which also includes parts of Imo, Anambra and Delta are "Onyeigbo".

As for those asking of Oru, we have no autochtony history. We are mostly from Benin, Igarra, Ijaw and Igbo. Oru towns were formed from migrants with Benin descendants being the Eze.

Abagworo:
Its always good to keep discussions civil to avoid deviations. Let me make it clear that the term Isoma in Ikwerre or Owerri refers to every other Igbo speaking people outside the Ikwerre/Ohaji/Etche/Owerri area and this includes mostly Anambra State. In fact if you ask an Ikwerre man he'll tell you Anambra is Isoma ndike. So Isoma means all Igbos outside South Igbo. To us Oru people all others outside our enclave which also includes parts of Imo, Anambra and Delta are "Onyeigbo".

As for those asking of Oru, we have no autochtony history. We are mostly from Benin, Igarra, Ijaw and Igbo. Oru towns were formed from migrants with Benin descendants being the Eze.

So we can say Oru is mostly Anioma. Where are Oru towns located in Igboland? And how do you regard Abians...Isoma or Onye igbo?

Ok. Is Ezinihite different from Ezi na Ihite of Isuochi who reportedly came from the 'east' through Ishiagu down to Isuochi,Abia State?

They are probably different places. Note that there is a town in the Awka-Uplands axis called Ezinifite. All over the Awka Uplands, towns are commonly divided into two sections. One section called Ifite and the other called Ezi. Thus my town Awka is made up of two sections, Ezi-Awka and Ifite-Awka. Each section is further broken down to sub-sections and then villages. I have already said that I think this Ifite/Ihite is probably an Isu culture marker, denoting people who are either Isu themselves or fell within Isu's cultural sphere at some period. In most (but not in all cases) the Ifite sections claim to be older than the Ezi sections. In fact, in many cases the Ifite sections claim autochtony outright.

As one moves west of the Awka-Uplands uplands into the Anambra River Basin, a third section appears (in addition to the earlier two - Ifite and Ezi). This third section is the Ikenga section.

I think the Ikenga section may be a cultural marker of towns of Eri descent, not only because the Ikenga cult is more closely linked with the Um-Eri group but also because the virtually all the towns that have this tripartite sectionalization (i.e., Ezi, Ifite and Ikenga) are towns that belong to the Umu-Eri group such as Aguleri, Awkuzu, Nando, Nteje, Umuleri, Umunya etc. In some of these Umu-Eri towns, the Ifite sections claim to be aborigines; while the Ikenga sections are often said to be the ones with links to Eri.

Curiously though, the Umunri towns on the Awka Uplands away from the Anambra Basin such as Enugwu-Ukwu, Enugwu-Agidi, Nawfia, Agukwu-Nri, Oraeri, do not have this Ikenga section and have generally followed the Ezi-Ifite two-part settlement system.

There is also ihitte-owerri

Ihuomadinihu:

I thought about this too. We have a number of ihite - lects in Southern Igboland.
Am aware of Ihite oboma(spell check) and Ezinihite. I will verify....

Pls can someone throw a light on orsu group of igbo?

Some Ihite-named Areas/Town/Communities:

Ihitenansa.......Orsu LGA, Imo State.

Orsu Ihite Ukwa....Ihitenansa, Imo State.

Ihite Owere.....Orlu LGA, Imo State.

Ihite Afara....Afara, Mbaitoli, Imo State.

Ihite Uboma....An LG in Imo State.

Ezinihitte Mbaise...An LG in Imo.

And so on...

Ihuomadinihu:
Ok. Is Ezinihite different from Ezi na Ihite of Isuochi who reportedly came from the 'east' through Ishiagu down to Isuochi,Abia State?

I am not aware of any Ezi na Ihite in Isuochi history. Where did you get that story from?

Well, they even have Isu deep in Awgu LGA of Enugu state, ISU AWA.

I am not aware of any Ezi na Ihite in Isuochi history. Where did you get that story from?

Isuochi traditions speak of Isu the father of Ochi who had two sons, Ezi and Ihite. I think this was what he was alluding to.

Well, they even have Isu deep in Awgu LGA of Enugu state, ISU AWA

Besides Isu-Awa, there are a few other Isu place-names in the southern axis of Enugu State. This includes Abudu-Isu, and I think there is also an Ezioka-Isu in that area. Interestingly enough, in the same axis of Enugu state (the south), we encounter a considerable number of towns and town-sections with the name Ibite. And from the way the word Ibite is applied in those areas, it is apparent that it is yet another regional variant of Ivite/Ifite (northern Anambra) and Ihite (southern Anambra and northern Imo). Thus the town of Ogbaku has an Ibite section and an Eziama section. Awhum has two sections, Ibite section, with two villages, and Enu Awhum section, with three. (The remaining three villages of Awhum would appear not to belong to any section). Egede has two sections, Ibite and Ikeghe. And so on.

The Ibite place-name would appear not to occur in the northern axis of Enugu State, except maybe for Akaibite in the Nsukka area, which has traditions linking it to communities in the southern axis of Enugu State as well as the Anambra Basin.

Again, as in Anambra and northern Imo, we have this place-name (Ibite/Ifite/Ivite/Ihite) occurring suspiciously within vicinities where Isu place-names are found, but not (or rarely) occurring outside those vicinities.

Ihuomadinihu:
Ok. Is Ezinihite different from Ezi na Ihite of Isuochi who reportedly came from the 'east' through Ishiagu down to Isuochi,Abia State?

we all are forgetin somthing, that is not only Isu inwhich there are others like Ihie,Itu. In the mbise part (Ohuhu .aka. Ezilihte) i think their owen Ezilihite can be link to Ihie instaed of Isu, just as there are placese with the name Isu the same with Ihie.

Radoillo:


Isuochi traditions speak of Isu the father of Ochi who had two sons, Ezi and Ihite. I think this was what he was alluding to.


Besides Isu-Awa, there are a few other Isu place-names in the southern axis of Enugu State. This includes Abudu-Isu, and I think there is also an Ezioka-Isu in that area. Interestingly enough, in the same axis of Enugu state (the south), we encounter a considerable number of towns and town-sections with the name Ibite. And from the way the word Ibite is applied in those areas, it is apparent that it is yet another regional variant of Ivite/Ifite (northern Anambra) and Ihite (southern Anambra and northern Imo). Thus the town of Ogbaku has an Ibite section and an Eziama section. Awhum has two sections, Ibite section, with two villages, and Enu Awhum section, with three. (The remaining three villages of Awhum would appear not to belong to any section). Egede has two sections, Ibite and Ikeghe. And so on.

The Ibite place-name would appear not to occur in the northern axis of Enugu State, except maybe for Akaibite in the Nsukka area, which has traditions linking it to communities in the southern axis of Enugu State as well as the Anambra Basin.

Again, as in Anambra and northern Imo, we have this place-name (Ibite/Ifite/Ivite/Ihite) occurring suspiciously within vicinities where Isu place-names are found, but not (or rarely) occurring outside those vicinities.

Really impressed with your knowledge of Igbo history, As Isu awa boy I learnt that all the Isu's in Igbo land are one set of people ranging from Delta Ibusa who migrated from Isu Aniocha to IsuOchi, Isuumuozu etc All the Isu's in Igbo land are of the same stock. Shalom

Is Ikeghe supposed to be Ikenga by any chance? Just a curious question.

Radoillo:
^ Thanks for this. You just confirmed what I had suspected for a while now. I'd need more evidence, but i'm almost beginning to feel Ihite/Ifite could be a cultural marker of a culture-complex in which Isu elements were at least the major players. And this culture complex covered all of the Awka Uplands and even extended into the Anambra Basin prior to the rise of the Nri Hegemony.

What sort of evidence could you be looking for? The above postulation is [to me] rather sensible. In fact, it even reminds me of a conversation I had with an Mbaise uncle of mine some years back but had completely forgotten about it until you wrote culture-complex. In our discussion, I was asking him about the meaning of Ihite in Ehilihite (that's how they render it locally). He couldn't say for sure what the actual meaning is or was, and there apparently are no traditions concerning how the name Ehilihite was adopted (at least none he was aware of). However, one of the things he did tell me was that based on its use, Ihite seems to connote the idea of a collection of villages or communities which do not recognize a single ancestor. He contrasted Ihite with Umu and Ikwu place-name markers in that they all denote the nature or ancestral composition of a particular village-group community.

Umu would be for clear descent from a single and recognized ancestor. As a general rule, one cannot marry from within his or her Umu community. Ikwu would represent a collective clanhood of some kind. Ikwu settlements may or may not recollect the name of a single ancestor, but they will typically share a tradition that recognizes ancestral affiliation in one form or another. Depending on the traditions (either by way of a single ancestor or by way of a common set of ancestors), an individual may or may not be able to marry from within his or her Ikwu. Finally, we get Ihite. Ihite settlements neither recognize nor recollect a single ancestor nor even a common set of ancestors, but instead recognize a shared historico-cultural experience.

It might also be of note to mention that the Isuama groups typically do not claim a single, common ancestor. If you go through the traditions of a lot of the Isu communities in northern Imo, you'll notice a general lack of a primogenitor figure among them. The individual villages may have their own ancestors and might share said ancestor with just a handful of other villages, but beyond that the Isuama groups mostly seem to recognize a shared historical and cultural experience, either by traditions of migration or aboriginality. Based on all the above, and with the fact that we can almost unequivocally associate Isu with the use of Ihite, I actually see a great deal of support to your culture-complex postulation.

Interesting topic, I must say. Since we're on the matter, I must admit that I've always been curious as to how Nze/Ozo made it's way down into the Urata area.

OdenigboAroli:


Dont embarrass your self,old man!
There is nobody called Nri and I dont know where you got the notion that Umu-Nri adopted anything from anybody. This is complete madness and distortion.
Abeg,do your home work before you start drooling like an old nasty man!
If you think Umu-Nri adopted tradition from anybody,then you dont belong here because everyone including Chinenye,Abagworo,Obiagu,Ezeagu,Abagworo,Rodaillo,Odumchi and more will laugh at you.

The interviews of Eze Nri Obalike was well documented in the early 1900s.
We have documents that will shut any revisionist up.
Dont even go there with me.

And what d f***k is wrong with u dimwitted skunk? Why call people names and insult them with such unprintable words because their views differ with yours? Which part of the noble Igbo race did you evolve from?! God damn you Odenigbo! People are here discussing very deep,uncommon and relevant portions of Igbo history and you are already in full blast with your usual supremacist rants! Guy, you suck big time! If you think the learned men here gave polluted accounts of these histories,kindly give your correct accounts and kindly do so like a civilised man.NL history section is our classroom where most of us who never had the privilege of such knowledge learn.@radiollo gave some contrasting accounts yet @ihudinobi never resorted to insults instead both of them explored their different perspectives to enlightene us all. Please share all you know,interviews,documents and all and quit this show of urs! Peace out!

ChinenyeN:
Is Ikeghe supposed to be Ikenga by any chance? Just a curious question.

I really don't know. It could easily be. Actually, I just checked some of my postulates out. It appears that some communities in northern Imo states also have Ikenga sections. So my suggestion that Ikenga sections are a marker of the Umu-Eri group may not be exactly accurate. The scenario is probably more complicated than I thought.

Handsomegod, there are other ways of calling someone's attention to their own insulting behavior, without insulting them in the process. Besides, that has already been dealt with. No need reigniting it.

odumchi:
Interesting topic, I must say. Since we're on the matter, I must admit that I've always been ciurious as to how Nze/Ozo made it's way down into the Urata area.

I would imagine that the Urata area had plenty contacts with northern Imo communities and that the Nze institution diffused from there. (I actually didn't know the Urata area had Nze/Ozo until now).

Do you know if the investiture ceremonies connected with the Nze title-taking in the Urata zone involved the officiating of Nri ritual agents, as was the case in more northerly areas?

What diffused into Urata from Isu was actually the Duru title institution. On the Nze/Ozo institution though, there are actually a good number of Isu communities in which it is non-existent. Similarly, among the overwhelming majority of southern communities, Nze/Ozo title-taking is non-existent. However, you can still come across villages with the institution.

For instance, in some parts of Mbaise, the institution can be found. However, it is not traced to the Isu. Traditions actually have it that the institution was imported by immigrants from the northern Igbo region sometime near the end the end of the pre-colonial period. Some of these traditions mention an Agbara cult, some don't (not sure if it's in direct connection with Nze/Ozo). Some specifically reference the Awka or the Umudioka (not really sure what the difference is, if any. Radoillo will have to enlighten me on that). None of these communities' traditions however make any mention of or specifically reference Nri or Nri agents (unless by some turn of events, the Awka and Umudioka can be considered as Nri ritual agents, who for whatever reason simply didn't speak of Nri when they migrated to the communities).

Now, I'm not sure about Urata, but I would imagine that theirs would be a similar case, considering that their traditions also do not mention the Nri and they also don't have any traditions of Nri people coming to confer the title in their communities.

ChinenyeN:


Some of these traditions mention an Agbara cult, some don't (not sure if it's in direct connection with Nze/Ozo). Some specifically reference the Awka or the Umudioka (not really sure what the difference is, if any. Radoillo will have to enlighten me on that). None of these communities' traditions however make any mention of or specifically reference Nri or Nri agents (unless by some turn of events, the Awka and Umudioka can be considered as Nri ritual agents, who for whatever reason simply didn't speak of Nri when they migrated to the communities).

The moment I read Agbara cult, my first thought was that this must be a reference to the Agbala Oracle for which Awka was famous in the past. But then again it could be a reference to the more widely diffused Agbalanze cult associated in some parts of both Anambra and Delta States with Nze/Ozo titles, and which was not specifically connected with Awka.

On the difference between Awka and Umudioka. Umudioka was a caste of itinerant 'body surgeons'.They were the ones who cut ichi marks on faces of potential title-takers. Being travellers, they did a lot of moving around and established a good number of towns and villages both in Anambra and Imo State (especially the Orlu axis). They also came to Awka and founded a village there, the Umudioka Village in Awka. So Awka (who were the smiths) and Umudioka (who were the ichi cutters) were different people, although one Umudioka group did settle in Awka and eventually abandoned ichi-cutting and became smiths and doctors.

Now that you mentioned it, I do remember Onwuejeogwu (or someone else I don't recollect), writing that the Umudioka ichi cutters also doubled as Nri agents in the southernmost part of the 'Nri cultural sphere' where the Nri themselves did not venture, and that the Umudioka were more directly connected with the Duru title in the south.

The only role I can imagine Awka smiths playing in Nze/Ozo rites of those areas is manufacturing the paraphernalia of office for the title-takers. Both groups however (Awka and Umudioka) could have been easily mistaken one for the other, both of them being culturally-close itinerants from the north. It is instructive that Awka and Nri are also mixed up in the traditions of some Nsukka communities in the far north.

Alright. I understand. Thanks for clarifying all that.

Aside from importing the Nze/Ozo institution, I wouldn't actually say that the Umudioka played much of a role in its adoption. Traditions aren't particularly explicit about this (unless there's something I don't know), but based on what I'm familiar with, it would seem that the locals learned the institution from the Umudioka but the Umudioka didn't play any officiating role. Ichi cutting is apparently left out of the practice, and the institution also seems to have undergone some adaptation after its adoption.

This is specifically in regards to the Mbaise area. I wouldn't know about the Urata. However, I'm sure they as well do not undergo ichi cutting

Radoillo:


I would imagine that the Urata area had plenty contacts with northern Imo communities and that the Nze institution diffused from there. (I actually didn't know the Urata area had Nze/Ozo until now).

Do you know if the investiture ceremonies connected with the Nze title-taking in the Urata zone involved the officiating of Nri ritual agents, as was the case in more northerly areas?

I don't believe that the sort of Nze/Ozo practiced by the Urata incorporated Ichi cutting. I think that facet is unique to the peoples of the Agbaja, Anambra valley and Enuani areas.

I assumed Nze/Ozo was present in Urata because of the following reasons: Dan Orji, a native of an Aro community in Orji (in Owerri N. LGA) is an Nze by title; the large, tall, feathered red hats typical of Ozo/Nze titleship are part of the traditional attire of the Urata; and many other individuals from all corners of Urata answer 'Nze'.

I just want to appreciate all contributors on this thread. I misplaced my phone,so i could not browse for a while.

ChinenyeN:
Is Ikeghe supposed to be Ikenga by any chance? Just a curious question.



What sort of evidence could you be looking for? The above postulation is [to me] rather sensible. In fact, it even reminds me of a conversation I had with an Mbaise uncle of mine some years back but had completely forgotten about it until you wrote culture-complex. In our discussion, I was asking him about the meaning of Ihite in Ehilihite (that's how they render it locally). He couldn't say for sure what the actual meaning is or was, and there apparently are no traditions concerning how the name Ehilihite was adopted (at least none he was aware of). However, one of the things he did tell me was that based on its use, Ihite seems to connote the idea of a collection of villages or communities which do not recognize a single ancestor. He contrasted Ihite with Umu and Ikwu place-name markers in that they all denote the nature or ancestral composition of a particular village-group community.

Umu would be for clear descent from a single and recognized ancestor. As a general rule, one cannot marry from within his or her Umu community. Ikwu would represent a collective clanhood of some kind. Ikwu settlements may or may not recollect the name of a single ancestor, but they will typically share a tradition that recognizes ancestral affiliation in one form or another. Depending on the traditions (either by way of a single ancestor or by way of a common set of ancestors), an individual may or may not be able to marry from within his or her Ikwu. Finally, we get Ihite. Ihite settlements neither recognize nor recollect a single ancestor nor even a common set of ancestors, but instead recognize a shared historico-cultural experience.

It might also be of note to mention that the Isuama groups typically do not claim a single, common ancestor. If you go through the traditions of a lot of the Isu communities in northern Imo, you'll notice a general lack of a primogenitor figure among them. The individual villages may have their own ancestors and might share said ancestor with just a handful of other villages, but beyond that the Isuama groups mostly seem to recognize a shared historical and cultural experience, either by traditions of migration or aboriginality. Based on all the above, and with the fact that we can almost unequivocally associate Isu with the use of Ihite, I actually see a great deal of support to your culture-complex postulation.

I know this thread is seven years old.

But for what it is worth, I want to just put down here my revised opinion on 'Ibite/Ivbite/Ivite/Ifite/Ihite' that I have been developing over the last few years.

It now seems pretty clear to me that Ibite originally had a simple, direct, embarrassingly straightforward meaning, lol. Michael Echeruo's Igbo dictionary defines Ibite as 'Left'. From my conversations with people from Enugu State (where Ibite settlement-divisions exist) 'aka ibite' means 'left hand'. Ibite also means 'left' among the neighboring Ebonyi people who do not have this Ibite-Ikeghe settlement-naming system.

So, Ibite = Left. It doesn't take any effort to figure out that the corresponding Ikeghe/Ikenga means Right. Aka Ikenga still very much means 'right hand'. The Ikenga cult, as we all know, is a cult of a man's right arm.

So apparently, the innovators of the Ibite-Ikeghe Dualism were dividing their settlements into a left-side section and a right-side section. To buttress: In the far north of Enugu State, among the Nsukka communities, a similar dual division exists. Towns quite often have a section called Akaibite, and a section called Akautara. 'Akautara' = Fufu Hand, i.e., the hand-that-one-eats-with, i.e., the right hand. Thus Akaibite-Akautara corresponds perfectly with Ibite-Ikeghe.

South of Enugu State, in Anambra, 'Ivite', 'Ivbite' and 'Ifite' make their appearances; and in Southern Anambra and Imo, 'ihite' appears. And this is where the puzzle begins for me, because ivite, ivbite, ifite and ihite do not mean 'left' in the dialect groups where they appear. In fact, it doesn't seem that anyone knows exactly what they mean. What we have are (it seems) modern rationalizations of the term(s) that are often not very convincing.

A logical answer to this puzzle is that the Ibite-Ikeghe system was created by people who lived within the boundaries of modern-day Enugu State (I am eyeing the Agbaja-Udi people, but saying it outright would be premature) for whom ibite meant/means 'left'. The system was exported south to people who didn't have "Ibite for Left" in their native lects, and were in essence taking in a foreign word, and modifying it according to their own sound correspondence rules. The sound changes (b,v,vb,f,h) even allows us to follow the north-to-south diffusion path of the system. Cases where 'b' varies as 'f' or as 'h' within the Igbo space are unknown to me. But 'b' varying as 'v' or as 'vb' are definitely not uncommon. This allows us to say that Ibite-Ikeghe first diffused to the Awka area (Ivbite) and the Omambala River Valley (Ivite). Now, while 'b' doesn't typically vary as 'f' and 'h' in this linguistic space, 'v'/'vb' certainly does. Thus from the Omambala-Awka area, the system (now Ivbite/Ivite) diffused into the interior of Anambra State (Ifite), and further south into Southern Anambra and Imo (Ihite). Ibite-Ikeghe settlements (as Ivite-Ikenga, Ifite-Ikenga, Ihite-Ikenga) can be found throughout this area.

A further elaboration of this dual system was the introduction of a third section: Ezi. Like ikeghe/ikenga, it doesn't take a great deal of effort to figure out what Ezi means. Ezi = Outside, The Road. So that the Ezi Quarter would be the Outer Settlement, The Settlement-on-the-road. It would seem that as the core Ifite-Ikenga settlement grew in population, the excess population + immigrants began to settle on an ezi, outside the core (Ifite-Ikenga) settlement, forming a third quarter.

This elaboration of the dual system also happened in the far north among the Nsukka groups (with their Akaibite-Akautara division); and the third quarter that appeared there was called Ejuona. [With the change of the inital 'e' in most Nsukka place-names to an 'a' in the standardised written form, 'Ejuona' is also sometimes written as 'Ajuona', but native Nsukka speakers still pronounce it with the 'e' sound.] A knowledgeable Nsukka man once asked me on a public forum if I had any theories on what Ejuona could possibly mean, because his people didn't know. I had a theory that would fit perfectly with the Left-Right-Outside pattern, but I hesitated to share my theory because it involved postulating that Ejuona was a foreign non-Igbo word; and I knew how, in the ethnically charged atmosphere of modern Nigeria, people hate being told they borrowed something from another (rival) group. In modern Igala, ona means 'road'; one could also say 'outside'. It is entirely possible that in earlier times, a longer expression than 'ona' was used. Evidence for an older longer expression comes from Yoruba (Igala's nearest linguistic cousin), where 'road' is 'oju ono'. Oju is the Yoruba word for face. The Igala word for face is Eju. 'Eju ona' would literally translate as ihu ezi. Fits. This lexicon perhaps suggests the character of Nsukka settlements in the period of their growth and expansion: it may be that a key factor in the expansion of Nsukka settlements was the influx of Igala immigrants, as economic, social and political agents, who typically settled in their own quarters; alternatively, it may be that the Nsukka peoples of that age of settlement expansion had acquired some proficiency in what was in all probability a prestige language, and were flexing it; it may be a combination of both.

Apparently, not all Ihite-Ikenga type settlements accommodated growth by birthing an Ezi. Settlements of just the two old divisions, Ibite and Ikeghe, or Ihite and Ikenga still exist, from Enugu to Imo. Settlements that have all three quarters, Ifite, Ikenga and Ezi are common today in the Omambala River Valley, typically the Umueri towns. Elsewhere, it seems the tripartite system existed in the past but has coalesced back into two: an Ifite or Ihite (now representing the core old settlement), and an Ezi (the outer settlement/the settlement on the road), an Ikenga having disappeared as a place-name, perhaps subsumed under Ifite as 'The Old Quarter'. [I do get the sense from the traditions of my neighbourhood that Ivbite is taken to suggest 'ancientness', a new meaning that would have facilitated its becoming a generic name for the core 'Ifite-and-Ikenga' settlement.]

The role of the Isu as the carriers of this settlement system to the south remains unchallenged, but in the Northern Igbo homeland, it seems that the innovators were non-Isu groups in present-day Enugu State.

AjaanaOka lei! I am floored! I don't care if it's a thousand years after I'm dead and gone, if someone has a response they should share it and this, by far, is such a coherent response that it feels like a satisfying revelation. This makes sooooo much sense. +1 for historical linguistics. Such an invaluable tool in times like this.

Truthfully, you were already selling me with your explanation, but when you factored in the Ejuona part of it all, it practically sealed it for me. Excellent, excellent. It's getting to a point where we're going to have to start publishing things like this in actual text. This revelation deserves to be noted.