Afam4eva:

Do you guys understand when an Igala person from Kogi speaks and vice versa?

We barely can hear them except for some terms we share in common.

Klinee:
It depend on the part of kogi Igala the person speaks, like Southern Igala(Ibaji) we understand it and they also understand us. But for Northern Igala like anyimgba, Dekina I don't understand at all even though I know that it is that they are speaking.

Ok thanks for sharing this. What i'm taking from this is that when certain anambra communities say they shared relations with Igalas in the past probably it was the Ibaji-type of Igala they were referring to, and not actually the 'core' or upland/northern Igalas.

Klinee:
It depend on the part of kogi Igala the person speaks, like Southern Igala(Ibaji) we understand it and they also understand us. But for Northern Igala like anyimgba, Dekina I don't understand at all even though I know that it is that they are speaking.

It probably sounds similar to when an Izzi man from Ebonyi is speaking his dialect to an Onitsha man from Anambra, who would find it difficult to understand him, even though they are both Igbo. I had two room mates at uni, from these states who did not understand each other's dialects.

laudate:


It probably sounds similar to when an Izzi man from Ebonyi is speaking his dialect to an Onitsha man from Anambra, who would find it difficult to understand him, even though they are both Igbo. I had two room mates at uni, from these states who did not understand each other's dialects.

Exactly

HisMajesty1:

We barely can hear them except for some terms we share in common.

Which Igala dialect is considered the easiest, lightest or most prestigious, sort of, to speak? Just like Onitsha Igbo is in Igboland.

laudate:


It probably sounds similar to when an Izzi man from Ebonyi is speaking his dialect to an Onitsha man from Anambra, who would find it difficult to understand him, even though they are both Igbo. I had two room mates at uni, from these states who did not understand each other's dialects.

I'll actually like to know if there's any such thing as central Igala just like central Igbo becus ethe Izzi man can communicate in central Igbo to the Onitsha man and vice versa. is there any such relationship between an Igala person from Anambra and one from Northern Igala?

@klinee, HisMajesty1

Afam4eva:

I'll actually like to know if there's any such thing as central Igala just like central Igbo becus ethe Izzi man can communicate in central Igbo to the Onitsha man and vice versa. is there any such relationship between an Igala person from Anambra and one from Northern Igala?

@klinee, HisMajesty1

There is a central igala but it applies mostly to them in Kogi state. This is because even among the Igalas in kogi, some parts like ankpa and idah have a little bit of their own dialect, however, they can still communicate with themselves using the central igala. However, we are Anambra barely understand both their dialect and central igala. Only the Ibaji people in kogi state have 80% igala dialect sameness with us. Let me add that the Ibaji people are regarded by most of the rest of igalas in other part as igbos because their own dialect is also a bit distant from the central igala and also because of their proximity to Anambra. In plain terms, we th Igalas in Anambra speak a dialect that is only close to that of ibaji people in kogi state but largely different from the rest.

bigfrancis21:


Which Igala dialect is considered the easiest, lightest or most prestigious, sort of, to speak? Just like Onitsha Igbo is in Igboland.

Actually every part will claim their igala dialect is easier, hence, i'll say it ours. Although ours is mixed with a fair bit igbo for obvious reasons.

This thresd is nearing three years now, so, what"s really happening? What's the level of development in these communities now/

If southern and Northern Igalas cannot communicate with each other effectively then why exactly are they members of the same ethnic group yet the same stupid reason will be given to why some Igboid groups are not Igbo even though these people's dialects are intelligible to other Igbos and they can also speak central Igbo.

Am from Anambra, when i was younger and lived with my parents, my father who is more or less a local bald although not professionally usually sing of the relationship btw igbos of Anambra and igala... Contrary to many origin postulations in the earlier comments here he maintained in the song that the relationship stemmed from the fact that one of the igbos progenitor's daughter was married by an igala man and so therefore up to this days igbos and igalas visit and relate to each others as in laws... I must say my great grand mother was a professional local bald for my community and my father picked this stories from her.

But what my father never told me was dt some igalans are in Anambra state maybe becos of their insignificant number... I had to learn about this when a young man came from onitsha to Abuja where I reside, to service machines for some companies I had dealings with, after his work, he was looking for somewhere to sleep over cos it was already late... He had heard me speak Igbo earlier over the phone, he quickly approached me and spoke in Igbo dt he was stranded, I asked him his name, he said he is Emeka and from Anambra, I didn't hesiatate , I told him to come with me dt am also from Anambra... To cut the long story short , I gave him a room to sleep in and while he was settling into it, his phone rang and he spoke entirely sometin difrnt from Igbo, I thought he has lived in another state and picked the language there and I asked him which language was dt, he told me is igala and I asked is like u lived in kogi and to my surprised he said no that he is the igalas in Anambra and I was suprised... We talked length into the night, his Onitsha Igbo was so interesting to me having grown mostly outside Anambra... I learnt a lot dt day and later did research and confirmed yes there are truely igalas in Anambra although very insignificant compare to igbos... That was several year ago now!

Chysler:


Am from Anambra, when i was younger and lived with my parents, my father who is more or less a local bald although not professionally usually sing of the relationship btw igbos of Anambra and igala... Contrary to many origin postulations in the earlier comments here he maintained in the song that the relationship stemmed from the fact that one of the igbos progenitor's daughter was married by an igala man and so therefore up to this days igbos and igalas visit and relate to each others as in laws... I must say my great grand mother was a professional local bald for my community and my father picked this stories from her.

But what my father never told me was dt some igalans are in Anambra state maybe becos of their insignificant number... I had to learn about this when a young man came from onitsha to Abuja where I reside, to service machines for some companies I had dealings with, after his work, he was looking for somewhere to sleep over cos it was already late... He had heard me speak Igbo earlier over the phone, he quickly approached me and spoke in Igbo dt he was stranded, I asked him his name, he said he is Emeka and from Anambra, I didn't hesiatate , I told him to come with me dt am also from Anambra... To cut the long story short , I gave him a room to sleep in and while he was settling into it, his phone rang and he spoke entirely sometin difrnt from Igbo, I thought he has lived in another state and picked the language there and I asked him which language was dt, he told me is igala and I asked is like u lived in kogi and to my surprised he said no that he is the igalas in Anambra and I was suprised... We talked length into the night, his Onitsha Igbo was so interesting to me having grown mostly outside Anambra... I learnt a lot dt day and later did research and confirmed yes there are truely igalas in Anambra although very insignificant compare to igbos... That was several year ago now!

Forgive my spelling of "bald". ..I think " bard" is correct

Chysler:
Am from Anambra, when i was younger and lived with my parents, my father who is more or less a local bald although not professionally usually sing of the relationship btw igbos of Anambra and igala... Contrary to many origin postulations in the earlier comments here he maintained in the song that the relationship stemmed from the fact that one of the igbos progenitor's daughter was married by an igala man and so therefore up to this days igbos and igalas visit and relate to each others as in laws... I must say my great grand mother was a professional local bald for my community and my father picked this stories from her.

But what my father never told me was dt some igalans are in Anambra state maybe becos of their insignificant number... I had to learn about this when a young man came from onitsha to Abuja where I reside, to service machines for some companies I had dealings with, after his work, he was looking for somewhere to sleep over cos it was already late... He had heard me speak Igbo earlier over the phone, he quickly approached me and spoke in Igbo dt he was stranded, I asked him his name, he said he is Emeka and from Anambra, I didn't hesiatate , I told him to come with me dt am also from Anambra... To cut the long story short , I gave him a room to sleep in and while he was settling into it, his phone rang and he spoke entirely sometin difrnt from Igbo, I thought he has lived in another state and picked the language there and I asked him which language was dt, he told me is igala and I asked is like u lived in kogi and to my surprised he said no that he is the igalas in Anambra and I was suprised... We talked length into the night, his Onitsha Igbo was so interesting to me having grown mostly outside Anambra... I learnt a lot dt day and later did research and confirmed yes there are truely igalas in Anambra although very insignificant compare to igbos... That was several year ago now!

Deep-level story. His people are bilingual, and he probably learned anambra igbo same time as ibaji igala in his village while growing up. From what I've gathered many of them either visit or spend time in Onitsha, Onitsha or Asaba being the closest modern town to their Island. Personally I would like to pay a visit to this area. Probably when I visit Nigeria.

People / communities change their name due to some reasons, which I have witness, but I have not seen any Igboman born in 60s who changed his SURNAME to non-Igbo name except ENGLISH.

Note: I am using born in the 60s as a reference because of the age of the priest in question.

have you seen any Igbo person bearing English name as surname?

Tonylyte:
When i said d oda day that the onitsha peoples are not igbos, but originated from benin, some ignorant anambra indigienes went sentimental and started insulting me. They laid claims that the onitsha people speaks igbo and go by igbo names, what has dat got to do with the fact that they(onitsha people) are not igbos?

Go to Onitsha and tell them that they aren't Igbos,

coolebux:
This is just ordinarily one of the features of a country

Nobody is tracing the core Ebonyi people's accent
Or is it because they are in the s/east, most of these peeps are not Igbos.

are they Hausa? Have you heard Ebony people lay complaints that they aren't Igbos?

Klinee:
The Igala in Anambra comprises of many towns;NZAM(headqauter and also the largest town in Anambra west, also the largest oil deposit in Anambra state), INNOMA, OWELLE,UKWALA, ODEKPE,IGBEDOR, IGBOKEYI,ODE, ALLAH and ONUGWA. We lies at the river Niger and omambala coast. Located in Anambra west L.G.A. We have 98% of oil deposit in anambra state. Predominantly farmers,fishing, we are the food basket of nation. Our language is gradually going into extintion. We speak Igala but most our young ones today speak Igbo more than our language. I dont know if they are feeling shy to speak the language, i remember meeting one of my town person at onitsha, i greeted him in Igala he answered me in Igbo ,it goes like this" ME: John kayi dee? JOHN: nnaa! Udo di,ME: kabe enale? JOHN: nnaa! Ka munwa fu madu ebaa." I think the government of Anambra state is not doing well to Igala language just as they do to Igbo language. I know that we are minority language in Anambra with about 5% of the population. It dosnt mean that we shouldnt be value. The government only recognise and promote Igbo language, where igbo language is being taught in every basic and post primary schools in the state. I remember in my primary school days in village where the teachers(IBOS) normally constrain us not to speak Igala in forecorner of school,is either we speak Igbo or English. In the government media companies; Abs 1 & 2 radio, Abs awka tv, Abs onitsha tv, purity radio, Nta awka tv, Nta onitsha tv and many other private radio and tv stations in Anambra. Out of all these media companies only one station allow Igala language that is Abs 2. And the programme takes 10mins only in a day with just two occurance in a week. We have two languages in Anambra; Igbo and Igala. The government need to help and promote our language. I think inferiority complex is affecting our young ones due to the fact that the language is not being promoted to people of Anambra. If we are conversing in our language maybe in any of the major cities in anambra, the igbos around normally refer us as foreigner in the state because many never know that we are full blooded Anambrian. Imagine commissioner of information,tourism & culture(now former) Hon. Maja Umeh saying in a live interveiw that he did not know that igala is in anambra. We have also had discrimination mostly people from anambra central&south,enugu,abia,imo claiming that we are not anambrian. I want to use this medium to appeal to government of anambra state. If it will be possible to appoint two or three igala indigene as commissioner or any appointive position. Secondly to charge the medias to employ igalas to enable them create a programme where the language will be desseminate to people.

bro am from anambra enugwu ukwu an I love igala people cause they are our brothers I don't speak igala but I understand them I also have igalas as my good friends and when we are together I don't even notice the difference, I never new we had igala as part of us so bro you are welcome and have equal right with any igbo speaking dailet believe me when I say I love you guys so bro I suggest you should love us too. Unlike in benue state we they treat the igbo speaking communities like savages Igbos are nice especially the anambrains, so bro forget I speak igala and I speak that you are as much anambrain as the next man one love

Et te Igala? Is Igala also among Biafra?

This is a lovely thread, I must say I have learned a lot. I enjoyed reading from the beginning to the end.

I am an Igala boy from Olamaboro LGA of Kogi State. My surname is Idoko, I got curious when I saw Igbos bearing my surname, so I decided to do a research for myself.

Trust me, I relate well with Igbos. I have lived in Lagos all my life and I still don't have a youruba friend. I love Igbo food and people mistake me for an Igbo guy every time. Nobody needs to tell me that there's a connection between the Igalas and Igbos

MEILYN:
This is a lovely thread, I must say I have learned a lot. I enjoyed reading from the beginning to the end.

I am an Igala boy from Olamaboro LGA of Kogi State. My surname is Idoko, I got curious when I saw Igbos bearing my surname, so I decided to do a research for myself.

Trust me, I relate well with Igbos. I have lived in Lagos all my life and I still don't have a youruba friend. I love Igbo food and people mistake me for an Igbo guy every time. Nobody needs to tell me that there's a connection between the Igalas and Igbos

Chisos!

MEILYN:
This is a lovely thread, I must say I have learned a lot. I enjoyed reading from the beginning to the end.

I am an Igala boy from Olamaboro LGA of Kogi State. My surname is Idoko, I got curious when I saw Igbos bearing my surname, so I decided to do a research for myself.

Trust me, I relate well with Igbos. I have lived in Lagos all my life and I still don't have a youruba friend. I love Igbo food and people mistake me for an Igbo guy every time. Nobody needs to tell me that there's a connection between the Igalas and Igbos

The Igbos you met answering your surname must be Nsukka Igbos. That's the only part of Igboland that has Idoko, plus other Igala names like Onoja and Asadu (from Achadu), etc.

scholes0:
Chisos!

Don't tell me you believed him? How can a man say he lived in Lagos all his life, yet he doesn't have a Yoruba friend? What exactly is wrong with him, or what type of mannerism does he exhibit, that they find offensive? Most Igalas I know, get along with almost everybody!

laudate:

Don't tell me you believed him? How can a man say he lived in Lagos all his life, yet he doesn't have a Yoruba friend? What exactly is wrong with him, or what type of mannerism does he exhibit, that they find offensive? Most Igalas I know, get along with almost everybody!

Hahaha, his story is very unbelievable!

Let us assume he is like 21 years old, he is implying that he lived ALL his life in Lagos, but has never had any Yoruba school mate, nice helper, Random person, etc which he found good enough to be friends with, but on the other hand has found a shitload of Igbos to be friends with in the same city.
lol, is his brain living some kind of selected reality?

AbakalikiPress:
Hahaha, his story is very unbelievable!

Let us assume he is like 21 years old, he is implying that he lived ALL his life in Lagos, but has never had any Yoruba school mate, nice helper, Random person, etc which he found good enough to be friends with, but on the other hand has found a shitload of Igbos to be friends with in the same city.
lol, is his brain living some kind of selected reality?

Hehehe......

laudate:


Hehehe......

lol, na so we see am o... Even Igbos themselves have a shitload of Yoruba friends in Lagos, not to mention an Igala. :
On the other hand, the other parts of his story are quite believable. He is from Olamaboro (Akpanya axis) which is already nearly in Enugu state) so it is understandable how he relates well with Igbos and has seen a lot of Igbos with Igala surnames, since that area is just by his area.

People should just be more careful next time they decide to lie about not having "Youruba" friends.

AbakalikiPress:
lol, na so we see am o... Even Igbos themselves have a shitload of Yoruba friends in Lagos, not to mention an Igala. :
On the other hand, the other parts of his story are quite believable. He is from Olamaboro (Akpanya axis) which is already nearly in Enugu state) so it is understandable how he relates well with Igbos and has seen a lot of Igbos with Igala surnames, since that area is just by his area.

People should just be more careful next tie they decide to lie about not having "Youruba" friends.

The guy is just yarning crap. There is no Olamaboro man that will come to Lagos and spend years in that city, and would have only Igbo friends. Even Ibaji Igalas that live in Lagos, whose hometowns share the closest border with the Igbos do not do so, how much more an Olamaboro man?

laudate:

The guy is just yarning crap. There is no Olamaboro man that will come to Lagos and spend years in that city, and would have only Igbo friends. Even Ibaji Igalas that live in Lagos, whose hometowns share the closest border with the Igbos do not do so, how much more an Olamaboro man?

You know people aren't their tribe. Put his comments into context.

laudate:

Don't tell me you believed him? How can a man say he lived in Lagos all his life, yet he doesn't have a Yoruba friend? What exactly is wrong with him, or what type of mannerism does he exhibit, that they find offensive? Most Igalas I know, get along with almost everybody!

Relax, I don't have anything to gain by lying. I know you to be a trouble maker but I will leave all that aside and explain to you.

This isn't a tribe thing, I don't really care about tribe before I relate with people, I relate with people on individual basis. I am an introvert, I don't really keep friends or show myself too much. I relate with Igbo boys more because there's almost an instant connection between me and Igbo boys.

All the Yoruba boys think I feel too big and I must say they have their reasons for not wanting to associate with me. And lastly, they don't share my ideas and many of them aren't in my line of business, the very few who are in my line are very selfish with information, they think you would take over their business when they share information with you. This is something an Igbo guy wouldn't care about. He would share information with his friends without being afraid. He's not afraid of competition.


The only Yoruba friend I have is my sister's husband, great guy. I'm not the type who would come to your house to stay or speak with you on the road for a very long time. I'm always minding my business. Of course, I know few Yoruba guys at street level. We greet and that's the end, there's no strong relationship or business partnership.

Igbos on the other hand relate with me really well. Both on business level and friendship level. They share ideas and they always help in my business life. Everybody loves anyone who adds value. And to be honest, I don't really keep close friendship with anyone who doesn't add value to me.

I don't want to sound tribalistic, but I think Igbos share my thoughts. I love people who would ginger my spirits because I'm lazy when it's comes to making money. I have all the brains in the world to make money but I am always content at a certain point, my Igbo friends make me realize no amount of money is too big. I need people who would talk sense into my head and advice me to work really hard to make it in life. I must say Igbos do this job very well and that's why I relate with them.

Sorry to Yoruba people, I don't have a personal hate for Yorubas. I think they are a great people but it's not my fault that I don't have any Yoruba friend. Maybe in the future God might provide a Yoruba friend for me and that will be a very great thing..

Lastly, I have dated just one Yoruba girl in my entire life and the relationship didn't last at all (Reason is confidential). All the girls I have dated are Igbos, I have strong love for Imo girls and Igbo food as well. So that explains it all.

See, nobody told me there's a connection between Igbos and Igalas. I always wondered why I relate better with Igbos and why I love their food and way of life. That's when my journey started, I went to Google and I searched "relationship between Igalas and Igbos" . The rest is history.

MEILYN:
Relax, I don't have anything to gain by lying. I know you to be a trouble maker but I will leave all that aside and explain to you.

This isn't a tribe thing, I don't really care about tribe before I relate with people, I relate with people on individual basis. I am an introvert, I don't really keep friends or show myself too much. I relate with Igbo boys more because there's almost an instant connection between me and Igbo boys.

All the Yoruba boys think I feel too big and I must say they have their reasons for not wanting to associate with me. And lastly, they don't share my ideas and many of them aren't in my line of business, the very few who are in my line are very selfish with information, they think you would take over their business when they share information with you. This is something an Igbo guy wouldn't care about. He would share information with his friends without being afraid. He's not afraid of competition.


The only Yoruba friend I have is my sister's husband, great guy. I'm not the type who would come to your house to stay or speak with you on the road for a very long time. I'm always minding my business. Of course, I know few Yoruba guys at street level. We greet and that's the end, there's no strong relationship or business partnership.

Igbos on the other hand relate with me really well. Both on business level and friendship level. They share ideas and they always help in my business life. Everybody loves anyone who adds value. And to be honest, I don't really keep close friendship with anyone who doesn't add value to me.

I don't want to sound tribalistic, but I think Igbos share my thoughts. I love people who would ginger my spirits because I'm lazy when it's comes to making money. I have all the brains in the world to make money but I am always content at a certain point, my Igbo friends make me realize no amount of money is too big. I need people who would talk sense into my head and advice me to work really hard to make it in life. I must say Igbos do this job very well and that's why I relate with them.

Sorry to Yoruba people, I don't have a personal hate for Yorubas. I think they are a great people but it's not my fault that I don't have any Yoruba friend. Maybe in the future God might provide a Yoruba friend for me and that will be a very great thing..

Lastly, I have dated just one Yoruba girl in my entire life and the relationship didn't last at all (Reason is confidential). All the girls I have dated are Igbos, I have strong love for Imo girls and Igbo food as well. So that explains it all.

You wrote a long epistle in response, just because you wanted to buttress your lies? You claimed to have lived in Lagos all your life, but you do not have a Yoruba friend. Then you said: "The only Yoruba friend I have is my sister's husband, great guy." I thought you said you didn't have any Yoruba friends earlier? What peculiar habit or offensive trait in you, did they see that made it impossible for the Yoruba people in Lagos, to be your friend? Provide the answer in 5 words or less....

laudate:


You wrote a long epistle in response, just because you wanted to buttress your lies? You claimed to have lived in Lagos all your life, but you do not have a Yoruba friend. Then you said: "The only Yoruba friend I have is my sister's husband, great guy." I thought you said you didn't have any Yoruba friends earlier? What peculiar habit or offensive trait in you, did they see that made it impossible for the Yoruba people in Lagos, to be your friend? Provide the answer in 5 words or less....

Why you think I beg Yoruba boys to be my friends is appalling. Lol, the opposite is the case. To be honest, Yoruba boys in this part of Lagos tend to influence boys like me in bad ways. Had I moved with Yoruba boys from a very young age I would have been a nuisance. Their attitude and way of life is not something I would like to admire.

I only associate with people who add value and no Yoruba boy in my area has ever showed such sign.

Now, I don't think I will reply you anymore. I know you to be a trouble maker. Is it by force to have a Yoruba friend? Like I said earlier, I relate with Yorubas on street level, there's no personal relationship in anyway.

Ohhhh, my sister's husband and I are friends because we are family.

2 of my sisters got married to Yoruba men and I relate with only one. The other guy and I have nothing to talk about .

3 of my sisters got married to Igbo men and we relate very well. They add value to my life, period!

I was born in Lagos and I don't even understand Yoruba, even the simplest Yoruba. That tells you I don't have Yoruba friends.

MEILYN:
Why you think I beg Yoruba boys to be my friends is appalling. Lol, the opposite is the case. To be honest, Yoruba boys in this part of Lagos tend to influence boys like me in bad ways. Had I moved with Yoruba boys from a very young age I would have been a nuisance. Their attitude and way of life is not something I would like to admire.

I only associate with people who add value and no Yoruba boy in my area has ever showed such sign.

Now, I don't think I will reply you anymore. I know you to be a trouble maker. Is it by force to have a Yoruba friend? Like I said earlier, I relate with Yorubas on street level, there's no personal relationship in anyway.

Ohhhh, my sister's husband and I are friends because we are family.

2 of my sisters got married to Yoruba men and I relate with only one. The other guy and I have nothing to talk about .

3 of my sisters got married to Igbo men and we relate very well. They add value to my life, period!

I was born in Lagos and I don't even understand Yoruba, even the simplest Yoruba. That tells you I don't have Yoruba friends.

Continue, telling us your tall tales and disjointed stories. We are watching and laughing silently at your attempt to deceive yourself, especially as it is quite clear, that you cannot deceive the rest of us.