GenIgrigi:


**grins** Vacuous crap, Don't you also claim to have more oil than Igboland in ondo and Lagos. Shouldn't we see more "gas flaring" in your land? Are the illumination in Lagos there because of gas flaring only too? Igboland is more industrialized than yorubaland. Keep thinking you are impeding Igbo progress while Igbos keep profiteering from Lagos infrastructures(owned by all) and building their cities. **LOLS**

GenIgrigi:


**grins** The picture i gave you is a zoomed version of the one you have. An expo- travel down here in the east, go to Nnewi, Amawbia,Abiriba Ekwulobia, these are some Igbo budding cities with industries scattered all over them. The owners only rent warehouses in Lagos to reach endusers. You guys don't know whatsup. **LOLS**

GenIgrigi:


**grins** What are you? Itshekiri or yoritshekiri like one Ola johnson from kabba? LOLS. You dey take orijin sip garri. I mentioned It's NASA pictures. Are you angry with America's NASA? Do you have a problem with map-reading? Pls Compare and contrast. **LOLS**

GenIgrigi:


**grins** Wonders will never end.Unexposed yorubas that believe everyone who is not yoruba or hausa must be Igbo are trying to teach about exposure. Your brown town are a symbol of laziness and hedonism. A whole city is full of leaky mud houses and you think you are preserving heritage?. LOLS. Are your towns museums?. There are museum s in Enugu where you'll see replica of old Igbo houses. There is an Igbo village in Virginia, US. Stop shielding your lazy lifestyles with the "heritage preservation" mantra. Start by changing the leaky roofs at least, zinc is not costly, it doesn't have to be wichtech. **LOLS**

johnny1980:


You are not well exposed. I won't blame you.

Brown towns. ? Most of those buildings were built as early as the 60s when you guys still lived in Huts with thatched roofs. Go to any yoruba city. There is always the old city and the new city. it's heritage. We won't destroy such. China, venice, rome, athens pull new visitors and travellers because they have been able to keep their heritage and past intact while developing new cities alond the way.

Visited a Local govt headquarters in Abia just August last year and the best building which i cant even spend just 30 minutes underneath for fear of the building collapsing was a 3 room building that was built by Mariam Babaginda's SOCIETY FOR FAMILY HEALTH as far back as 1996. And this was the same lg that a friend used to boast about while he was in Lagos.

You should travel more. Travelling is education. Ask any of your friends who were lucky to escape with their polyethylene bags from your villages on a Night bus from Onitsha to kano what Sharada Industrial Layout in Kano is like.

rexbuton:
Idumuesah clan

Idumuesah shares boundary with Ute-Okpu clan in the east, in west and south west by Abavo clan and Owa clan in the north. Idumuesah was founded by a group of people that migrated from Ugboha in Ishan, north of Ika community (Forde and Jones 1967; Whiting 1936). Whiting (1936: 22) states that "It is uncertain whether they came to their first settlement in what is known as the Agbo bush between Oyibu and Aliro before or after Odogu". He stated that Ibile, one of the founders, is said to have come from Ugboha in Ishan Division and to have joined with Abu from Aboh in Kwale District in settling in the Agbo bush. Oje and Ilor came from Uromi in Ishan Division and joined them (Whiting 1936). Idumuesah consists of four villages, which may once have been quarters (Idumu):

1. Iliobome
2. Aliobo
3. Alioje
4. Alilor

It should be known that the name Idumuesa means seven quarters (Idumus) but the above list of current villages shows only four villages. It is claimed that, "the other three which were said to have been very small, have returned to their home towns in other districts" (Whiting 1936: 24). This is the fact that proves Whiting is totally wrong.. Idumuesa is a corruption of idumwun-esan which means esan quarters i.e. the ishan quarters which is a pointer to their origins
Whiting (1936) stated in his report that Owa claimed that Idumuesah served the Obi of Owa (Obi Ise) and revolted later but Idumuesah denied this. But the people of Idumuesah, for some controversial reasons, left their first settlement for their present site, which is south east of Oyibu but, according to Whiting, "they are unable to say why they left their old settlement" (1936: 23) Considering the time frame it may not be unconnected to a series of Ishan migrations out of benin in the mid centuries

Mbiri clan

Mbiri clan lies in the north east of Agbor clan and off the Lagos-Benin-Onitsha highway. Mbiri's oral tradition claims that Arun who migrated from Iwaisi, or the native doctor's quarter in Benin founded Mbiri. Arun, a hunter, reached the present site of Mbiri on one of his hunting expeditions and settled down there. Mbiri's oral tradition also claims that Arun had four sons three of whom were responsible for the founding of the following towns: Ewuhimi, Mbiri and Igbanke. The fourth son is claimed to have returned to Benin (Intelligence report 1932).
Mbiri adopted the monarchical system, based on Benin tradition, found in most Ika clans. According to Intelligence report (1932), "1n 1915 the Mbiris attempted to put themselves directly under the Oba of Benin, and sent a large sum of money to the Oba to gain this end. It is obvious that it was at this time that the present Chief went to Benin and received the title of Obi from the Oba, along with the Ada, or ceremonial sword, which forms part of the regalia of this title. They were again visited by the district District Commissioner who told them that they were part of Agbor District and could not therefore come under Benin"(Intelligence report 1932: 10). The Mbiri clan has the same political system as other Ika clans.


Umunede clan

Umunede occupies a strategic location along the Lagos-Benin-Onitsha highway. Umunede shares its borders with Agbor clan in the east, Igbodo in the north, Akumazi in the east, Otolokpo and Owa clans in the south. There are four villages (ogbe) in Umunede:

1. Ogbe Obi
2. Idumuilege
3. Idumugba
4. Idumuile

Although there of the villages above still retain the idumu (quarter) prefix in their names they are villages. These are perhaps some examples of quarters expanding in size and then forming villages.

Umunede's oral tradition, like those of most of the Ika clans, traces their origin to Benin. However, Stanfield (1936: 1) states the following about his observations of the Umunede people:

From legend of their origin are of Bini descent, but in their language and social structure they resemble closely the Ibos of the Ogwashi and Uburukwu clans in the Asaba Division.

According to Stanfield (1939: cool, "there were no titles in Umunede until 1919 when the then Eze (named Niago) obtained an Ada from Eweka, Oba of Benin." This resulted in the first Obi title and the start of the monarchical system like those found in some of the Ika clans.

Otolokpo

Otolokpo shares borders with Umunede and Akumazi clans in the north, Ute-Ogbeje clan in the east, Ute-Okpu in the south and Owa and Umunede in the west. There are seven villages in Otolokpo:

1. Ogbe Obi
2. Idumu -Oji
3. Achala
4. Idumu-Okete
5. Idumu-Obome
6. Umuhu
7. Alugba

According to Stanfield (1936), Gbobo, from Benin founded all villages apart from Umuhu, formed by migrants from Agbor, and Alugba village formed by migrants from Ute-Ogbeje (Standfield 1936).

Akumazi and Igbodo clans

Akumazi clan shares borders with Umunede in the west, Igbodo in the north, Otolokpo in the South and the Anoicha speaking town of Obior in the east. They trace their origin to Benin from where their founder fled (Simpson 1936).

Igbodo occupies an area in the north east of the Ika North local government area. It share border with Akumazi in the south, Mbiri in the west, the Ishan groups in the North and the Anoicha groups in the east. Like many of the Ika clans, they trace their origin to Benin (Fordes and Jones 1967).

In summary, while Owa and Ute-Okpu, Ute-Ogbeje have their origin in both Igbo and Benin areas, Agbor, Abavo Ute-Ogbeje, Akumazi, Umunede, Igbodo and Mbiri trace their clans to a single source, Benin (Fordes and Jones 1967: 47). Idumuesah traces its origin to Ishan but there also are villages that may have been established by people of Ukwuani origin. While Otolokpo traces its origin to Benin there are also villages in Otolokpo that trace their origin to Agbor.

The relationship among all the Ika clans appear to be mainly in their Benin origin as well as a population shift, for various reasons, which resulted in movement or relocation of villages from one clan to another forming new allegiances as well retaining their former relationship with their origin.


OTHER Igbo- Bini hybrid speakers in the region

Igbanke clan

Igbanke clan is north of the Ika south local government area. It is located in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State. Orhionmwon Local government area, except for Igbanke, is mainly an Ishan language speaking area. Igbanke is made up of six villages (Osunde, 2000):

1. Ake
2. Igbontor
3. Ottah
4. Idumodin
5. Umolua
6. Oligie

All six villages speak the Ika language. Farmers from Ishan and Agbor villages who settled in this area, which is within Benin territory, founded the five original villages, namely Ake, Igbontor, Otta Idumodin and Umolua. Oligie village, the sixth village in the Igbanke clan, is claimed by Oligie people to have been founded by Ottor from Benin (Kerr, 1937; Simpson, n.d).

I got the above from a work by Onyeche Ifeanyi Joseph, PhD and make some relevant comments beside italicized errors

Don't let inferiority conflict reduce you to being slaves!! You'd rather admit to being a Bini slave than an Igbo freeborn?

Radoillo:
@ OP.

I think it's time you guys stopped saying Nyandael documented Agbor migration from Benin. He did NO such thing. He only wrote that Benin was depopulated at his time as a large chunk of the people had fled the city.

Many centuries later, Talbot suggested that the people who fled the city could have settled and founded Agbor and Obior. And today many Ika writers want to treat that as fact and attribute words to Nyandael that the man never said.

Agbor is much older than 1702. Heck, in 1702, Agbor was already a fairly powerful state under its (arguably) most powerful king, Adigwe.

internetpirate:
Mr. Rexbuton, in my little experience, it is difficult to change someone's mind, especiaLly if it has been seared by propaganda. The danger with arguments is that anyone can take a position (however erroneous) and find substance to argue it to reality.

Having said the above, please note that ALL igbo towns at the fringes share similar dilemma with Ikas (please research on the Ohafia and Nsukka dialects as good examples). You spent time trying to highlight the similarities between Ika and Benin, and didn't bother to highlight the similarities between Ikas and Igbos? Lol!! How convenient! I'm sure you'd find that what joins us is more than what separates us!

Don't let inferiority conflict reduce you to being slaves!! You'd rather admit to being a Bini slave than an Igbo freeborn? Has it gone so bad?? I can challenge you to a " language similarity test", and you'd find that my dialect is more differentiated than yours from the mainstream Igbo, yet I know I am Igbo.

It may be considered smart to fool others, but it is the greatest foolishness of all when you fool yourself! Like Igbos say, "use your tongue to count your teeth". Nnawooo!!! Good morning!!!

francizy:

You people are saying all these because we are peace loving people. I wish you people were a minority in the northern part of the country, you would have been forced to not only abandon your culture, your language but also your religion, after which you wouldn't still be made to feel among them due to some kind of discrimination.

I believe you are not trying to justify what happens in the North, It is totally repulsive and shameful that people should be killed over ethnicity or religion, but even as it were, national unity should not be an opportunity for others to force themselves on you.. With the ongoing campaign of Igbos claiming SE/SS I felt it was time we analyse it properly. If not for our sakes, but for the sakes of future generations

Personally, I don't know why the Igbo guys here are trying to paint it like we're related when you people always say that we ain't. In my secondary school days, I recalled one Delta Igbo guy telling me that this isn't the case of Biafra that they are not our brothers. I was dumb founded because I never called him or his tribe out as belonging to or being part of us.

He could be your brother on a national level, but tribally he said he wasn't.. And he was correct
If all my people will be reasonable, they should die this matter and forget about who originated from where because it doesn't matter. You can't force one to be a part of you.

I leave this, you only feel oppressed because you choose to and the real people facing oppression would wish to be in your shoes.

Bye

Nobody feels oppressed, the Ikas are a minority in delta state.. That is enough trouble.

MayorofLagos:
@op,
very informative piece, good job!

Look, let me tell you something....there are two ways to lock down Ibo's ego and overkill ambition.

First lets take a psychoanalytic look at Ibo.

1. He is not gifted in self reflection and restraint and thus is led foremost by his impulse to act, he only thinks afterwards, by which time relationships that deserve to be cherished and managed is damaged and ruined.

2. He is developmentally challenged in aspects of social order and ascent.

So how do you deal with him?

Two ways.

1. You can do what the Hausas do to him in North....which is to confront him physically and subjugate him to a position of "The Victim"! This is a direct class warfare and in the end Ibo accepts the Hausa as a upper class and submits himself to fate dictated by his oppressor. In other words, Ibo sees himself as "The Victim!

2. You can do what the Yorubas do to him in West....that is, give him access to what he wants and make it rewarding, then rope it around him in a way that detachment is almost impossible. In that aspect, the one who holds key to the reward also control the behavior of the seeker. In this end, the Yorubas created a labor class that is highly enriched and from whom it derives its own enrichment effortlessly. In this relationship, Ibo has come to recognize Yorubaland as their milk and honey and are so tightly attached to it that they have surrendered their fate and future to Yorubaland and begin to call it their own. Ibos have thus accepted Yorubas as the ruling class and thus always beg them to be accepted for inclusion in the administration.

Anytime the government try to industrialize and develop Iboland Yoruba leaders, same one that call themselves Ibo friends, go behind and kill the project. If Iboland develop, Yoruba policy to have a labor class in Yorubaland will be defeated as Ibos return home....therefore Yorubas develop Yorubaland and tell Ibo to come to West and use it...you dont need one in East.


So where does this put the Ika people?

First, you are claiming you are not Ibo but you continue to name your children Ikechukwu, Nnaji, Emeka, Iheneacho, Ifeanyi, ....if you come to Yorubaland and say " I am Ifeanyi" from Ika and Im not Ibo, how do you expect me to believe you?

Until you dissociate your social identity from Ibo...name, language, dressing, customs, ....you remain Ibo, I dont care if you are from Oshogbo!

pazienza:


Any evidence to prove that Ndiigbo opposed the creation of Anioma state, or did you pull that poo off your ass?

dafuturis:
I am Ika and not Igbo
I rep Oyoko, Abavo

During my days in UNIBEN I joined Ika kparapo and we do have Ika day. The Igbo kparapo have theirs too, so its two different thing.

Op thanks for the good work. You've indeed enlightened me on various part of ika I knew not.

rexbuton:
I am constrained to open this thread as there has been a lot of loop-sided political threads aimed at bending history or obscuring facts. One of the threads by safarigirl yesterday was most disgusting and I was really pained that I was extremely busy at the platform so I could not correct some statements. However tonychristopher has urged the battle further so we will have to discuss on the origin of the Ika people and their relationship with the Igbos, find out if Biafra has any claim over Ika and probably Anioma.
You are welcome to write factual and logical posts only. Thank you

****************************************************************************************************************
Geographically, the Ika speaking people are found in the north west of Delta State. They share borders linguistically in the west with the Edo speakers, in the north with the Ishan speakers, in the East with the Aniocha language speakers and in the south with the Ukwuani speakers.
Politically, Ika speakers are mainly found in two local government areas, Ika North East and Ika South local government areas, both created in 1991 from a single Ika Local Government Area, in Delta State. Ika South and Ika North East local government areas, occupy a land area of 117.45 square kilometres (Delta State Government website, 1999) with a total population of about 240,000 people. There are other Ika speaking people that are political outside the Ika North east and Ika South local government areas. The exact population of speakers of the Ika language or those with Ika as mother tongue is not known since this information was not included in the 1991 census result (1991 census). Ika people do not have any shared physical characteristics distinguishing it from other ethnic or language groups in Delta State.

Ika Structure: Clans, villages (Ogbe), quarters (Idumu) and family units (nmunne)
The words above are similar to their equivalents in the bini dialect.. Villages -Igué, quarters- idumwun, family - Ogbe.. I do not know the exact word for clans in bini.. The word Ogbé can also be used to represent community in bini, and considering the size of these Ika communities, it may not be suprising that they used ogbé for village.

There are eleven clans and a metropolis that make up the Ika collective group, which I refer to as the Ika community. Except for the Idumuesah clan the rest ten are today also referred to as kingdoms as they have the hereditary kingship traditional system. The kings are known and referred to by the title of Obi (king), however the king of Agbor clan has changed his title from Obi to Dien for reasons not clear at this time. The following are the eleven clans and a metropolis that make up the Ika community:

1. Agbor clan,
2. Owa clan,
3. Abavo clan,
4. Ute-Okpu clan,
5. Ute-Ogbeje clan
6 Umunede clan,
7. Akumazi clan,
8. Igbodo clan,
9. Otolokpo clan,
10. Mbiri clan,
11. Idumuesah clan
12. Orogodo/Boji-Boji

I will summarise their history with references shortly..
AGBOR

Agbor is and has always been the largest of the Ika clans. It was to the most politically and militarily powerful of all the Ika clans due to its constant war with Benin until the late nineteenth century (Isichei 1983 and Simpson 1936).

Agbor and Abavo clans make up Ika South Local Government Area while the rest make up Ika North East Local Government Area. Agbor clan consists of twenty-three villages and a metropolis known as Orogodo or Boji-Boji Agbor:

1. Ogbemudein
2. Ihogbe
3. Obielihe
4. Ihaikpen
5. Ogbeisore
6. Ogbeisogban
7. Agbamuse/Oruru
8. Alifekede
9. Omumu
10. Alisor
11. Alilehan
12. Alizomor
13. Ozanogogo (Ozara)
14. Alisimien
15. Ewuru
16. Idumu-Oza
17. Aliokpu
18. Alihami
19. Agbor-nta
20. Alihagwu
21. Oki
22. Ekuku-Agbor
23. Emuhun
24. Boji-Boji Agbor

The villages of Alisor, Alilehan and Ozanogogo are not Ika speaking. They speak an Edoid language known, especially to the Ika speakers, as Oza or Ozara.

Simpson (1936:6) quoted Talbot's reference to the Origin of Agbor documented by the Dutch historian traveller Nyendael that describes an exodus from Benin before his visit in 1702. This exodus involved two families one of them "settled in Agbor while the other went to Obior."


Abavo

Abavo shares borders with Agbor clan in the north, Owa clan in the east, the Edo speaking people of Uronigbe in the south. Abavo clan, also known as Awuu, comprises of five villages:

1. Ogbe-Obi (Abavo Central)
2. Azuowa (made up of four quarters: Ekwueze, Ekwuoma, Okpe, Oyoko)
3. Udomi
4. Igbogili
5. Obi-Ayima

In the account gathered by Forde and Jones (1967) on the founder of Abavo, they learnt that Awu who had the title of Eze (meaning a leader in Igbo) was himself from a place called Awu. This, perhaps, was stating the obvious that Awu was from Abavo. However, Abavo oral tradition claims their founding father, Awu, had migrated directly from Benin (Amokwu and Jegbefume, n.d). According to Abavo oral tradition, their founding father, Awu, was originally from Benin. He escaped from Bini kingdom around the 15th or 16th century to avoid being sacrificed and later settled at Abavo (Amokwu and Jegbefume, n.d)

Owa clan

Geographically, Owa clan shares borders with Agbor clan in the west by the Orogodo River and Abavo clan, in the north Orogodo (Agbor metropolis), in the east by Umunede, Otolokpo and Ute-Okpu clans. Owa clan is made up of the seven villages and a metropolis:

1.Oyibu
2. Alizomor
3.Owa Alidinma
4.Ufie
5. Aliro
6.Owanta
7. Owa-Eke
8. Boji-Boji Owa (a metropolis)

Owa has its origin in Nri, Northern Igbo (Forde and Jones 1967 and Isichei 1983). The founder of Oyibu village (also know as Owa Oyibu) was Odogu son of Ijie of Ute-Okpu (another Ika clan) who is from Nri (Northern Igbo) while "the other villages found in Owa clan are derived from Benin or other Agbor groups" (Forde and Jones 1967: 47). Oyibu village is the political centre of the Owa clan.

According to Whiting (1936), Owa oral tradition has it that Odogu angrily left Ute-Okpu and settled near the present site of Oyibu village because his brother, Okpu, inherited everything after his fathers death, while Odogu was away serving the Oba of Benin in wars. However Ufie, the founder of Ufie village presently in the Owa clan, had already settled in the present site of Ufie village on the directive of the Oba of Benin who had bestowed on him the Obi title. After Odogu settled in Oyibu, it was claimed that Ufie invited Odogu to his Ikenga festival. Odogu, impressed by the festival, decided to celebrate it himself at Oyibu. He then invited Ufie. According to the legend, Odogu deceived Ufie into taking a subservient role during a ritual sacrifice thereby serving him. This action was observed by Odogu's subjects then proclaimed Odogu as greater than Ufie. Odogu then took the Obi title from Ufie. This, it is claimed, accounts for why Ufie is today a village in the Owa clan. Ozomo, Odogu's brother who followed him from Ute-Okpu founded Alizomo village while Omi and his wife Iro who came from Benin founded Aliro village. Okue who came from Benin founded Owanta village. Later, Adie later arrived from Ute-Okpu to found Idumu Adie, a quarter in Owanta (Whiting 1936).

According to oral tradition, Ekei and his wife Abor who migrated from Benin when Ise was the Obi of Owa founded Owa-Eke village (Whiting's 1936). However the village of Owa-Eke initially moved away from Owa due to problems with Ise the Obi of Owa and settled at Owanike in the Benin Kingdom but the Owanike village later split and one part returned to Owa-Ekei in Owa still considering themselves as subjects of the Oba of Benin while serving the Obi of Owa. Ugbebo who was sent there by Obi Gbenoba of Owa to protect Owa traders buying guns and gunpowder from the Kwales founded Alidinma village (Whiting 1936).


Ute-Okpu Clan

Ute Okpu shares common borders with Agbor and Otolokpo clans in the north, Ekuku Agbor in the south, Idumuesa and Owa clans in the west and Ute-Ogbeje clan in the east. Ute-Okpu is made up of eight villages (Marshall 1936):

1. Ibi-Agware
2. Owele
3. Ogbe
4. Idumu Eze Aje
5. Odah
6. Alihe
7. Alumu
8. Enugu

Ute-Okpu Clan

Ute Okpu shares common borders with Agbor and Otolokpo clans in the north, Ekuku Agbor in the south, Idumuesa and Owa clans in the west and Ute-Ogbeje clan in the east. Ute-Okpu is made up of eight villages (Marshall 1936):

1. Ibi-Agware
2. Owele
3. Ogbe
4. Idumu Eze Aje
5. Odah
6. Alihe
7. Alumu
8. Enugu

Ute-Okpu people claim two sources of origin: Benin and the Igbo side of the Niger. In his account of the origin of the Ute-Okpu clan, Marshall (1936) stated that the original founder of Ute-Okpu was called Ute who migrated from Nri near the present Onitsha in Anambra State, Eastern Nigeria, after a quarrel with the Eze of Nshi (Nri). He settled near the present location of the village of Ibi-Agware. He had two sons Okpu and Odogu, Okpu later became the Obi of Ute-Okpu while Odogu later founded Oyibu village in Owa (1936: 3-4).
The dual claim in the origin of Owa clan appears to indicate the presence of an original Igbo group before there was contact with other groups of Benin origin. Isichei (1976) hypothesised that the present Ika region may have been inhabited by a group of people of Igbo origin. Isichei (1976) also hypothesised that there was a possibility that they existed in the location of Owa clan before Odogu became their leader their leader. It is not unusual for most Nigerian clans to trace the origin of their clan to their king's origin. The first King is always considered the founding father of the clan even if some of these kings emerged or were imposed on them long after the founding of the clan.

Ute-Ogbeje

Ute-Ogbeje is made up of four villages (Marshall 1936):

1. Ogbe Obi
2. Ogbe Akpu
3. Emike
4. Akpama

The origin of Ute-Ogbeje, like those of many other Ika clans, is surrounded in myth. According to Marshall (1936), the Ute-Ogbeje people claim that Ogbeje was the brother of the Oba of Benin and came with him to discover a place to live. The two brothers travelled by canoe. As they were paddling along a bird called Ukpoko dropped a snail into Ogbeje's canoe. Ogbeje threw the snail overboard and land immediately surrounded him. Ogbeje decided to settle on this new land while the Oba moved on. Ogbeje then had a son, Inai, who succeeded him. Inai was extremely cruel and many of his subjects fled and formed a new settlement called Ute-Okpu (Marshall 1936). This account, however, seemed to contradict that of Ute-Okpu.

rexbuton:
Good morning all ! Overnight there had been so much insults, name calling and even threats from most Ibos on this thread.. I never intended that this thread would degenerate into a Yoruba- Igbo feud.. I only want us to examine facts. Please let us be very civil in our approach

So far, the only valid point that the Igbos have put forward is that the Ikas speak a dialect which is closer to theirs, and I also put forward the geographical proximity being partly (to a lesser extent) responsible. Furthermore, the Ika people have continually stated that they are not Igbos, I believe every group has a right to self determination and that should be respected always. But the Ikas have remained silent though a few of them have posted that they are not Igbos. The issue of Ohafia and Nsukka does not relate to this at all

The first post concerning the locations and clans and peculiarities was not my work and I credited the author and made corrections to some errors I could find.

rexbuton:
Anioma: Igbo, Ijaw, Itsekiri, Urhobo, Isoko, Leave Us Alone!


I want to preface this write-up by emphatically stating that we are “Anioma,” our region can and should only be correctly referred to as “Anioma” and not “Western Igbos,” “Ika Igbos” or even “Delta Igbo,” all of which presage nothing but “fake Igbos.” Care should also be taken not to refer to us as “Delta North” as we have never heard of “Ebonyi East,” “Lagos North” or “Sokoto South” these derogatory and discriminatory references are threateningly tending to overshadow and send our prestigious name, Anioma to its early grave, so the proper usage of this name is of uttermost concern to me.



Contrary to prevailing circumstances and dilemma which relegate us to the background in Delta State and Igbo politics, such as poor representation in political affairs of the State, lack of amenities, ethnic identity crisis, deliberate marginalization, abandonment by our Igbo kiths and kin from the South East etc, we know we are still a great nation to reckon with. This write-up will therefore focus on the two factors which have been egregiously and heavily weighing down the Anioma ethnicity, and at best have prevented us from finding our bearing, how our Anioma region with innumerable associations, countless social groups, technocrats, political office holders, professionals of Anioma extraction, etc have contributed to the disgraceful predicament of the present state of the region.



The first and major issue of dilemma confronting this region is the problem of ethnic identity, the present state of the region weakened by abandonment and lack of vision has again raised the question on whether Anioma people are Igbo or not. This question has generated a lot of debates in the past and present, and will continue to do so even as it hampers growth and development in this region and presents us with nothing but pauperization. I make bold to comment that the attitude of the Igbo of South East to their Anioma counterparts have not really justified that Anioma are Igbo except on papers, and that if ever the people South East deem this necessary, they have always relied and ended such only with historical support and not more, however actions have failed to justify this.



Evidently the Igbo will always count on us to support the large population density of the entire Igbo nation by for instance stating that the Igbo are 40 million if a thorough and unbiased population census is organized in Nigeria but it does not go beyond this. An Igbo may also want to merely count on similar names existing between the Igbo and Anioma as a reason for justifying the Igboid relationship with both regions, but ask an Anioma just what he has gained from the South East; he looks at you endlessly and tells you “nothing.” We have been in this situation for long, so it is not in the least surprising. The Igbo are taught in school that the Igbo are only in South East, in this case what happen to others? It is for this reason that the phrase “core Igbo” exists in our dictionary today.



I am still racking my brain to remember the last time any Governor from the South Eastern part of the nation officially visited the Anioma region even if it is solidarity one. The place of issues bothering on Anioma is what is missing in Ohaneze Ndiigbo’s agenda, do we not know this? Interestingly, the Igbo have in some way been frustrating the race for the actualization of Anioma State because to them there is no reason why the State should emerge, this apparent when a committee headed by Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu on State creation for the Igbo completely and arbitrarily ruled out the choice of Anioma State for the Igbo because according to them this could mean another State for the South-South geo-political region, but right senses accord us the knowledge that the emergence of Anioma State would make a sixth State for the South East, if the Igbo so desire it to be, Is Onitsha today a community within the South East not an Anioma community I ask? We may for certain reasons, clear or unclear ignore this but history will not because no one can turn back the hand of clock. An Anioma State would have been a full-fledged Igbo State for the Igbo, the great Chuba Okadigbo realized this before his death.



It is a fact that the Anioma people have never been in the agenda of the Igbo contrary to what an Igbo writer like Ogaranya Uju Nkwocha Afuleze tries to force down into our throats. We have now deeply understood from Emma Okocha that when the Republic of Biafra was declared as a secessionist State from Nigeria by Chukwuemeka Odimegwu-Ojukwu, Anioma was not included in the maps of Biafra, instead the declaration only claimed Onitsha, a part of Anioma community now lost to the South East but in the pogrom that accompanied this, Northerners did not spare Anioma people because historically, and to the best of their knowledge, Anioma are completely part of Igbo nation, the result was that we shared in the killings and maiming.



Some Igbo Historians have argued that the events that led to the civil war was caused by the Late Chukwuma Nzeogwu but these Historians fail to understand that first and foremost, Nzeogwu was not the leader of that coup, again he (Nzeogwu) only acted in reciprocity of the bad treatment and marginalization being manufactured by the Northerners and targeted at the Igbo, a race he felt he was part and parcel of but when the battle line was drawn, he quickly realized that he was not in the arrangement of Ojukwu when he was ostracized from the affairs of the then Biafran Republic. I have lost count of the number of Army Commanders of Anioma extraction Biafra had. We died for the lived and died for the Igbo during the Nigeria-Biafra War, in the history of the Biafran War today, there is no Igbo community singly or put together that died as a result of organized massacres than the Anioma communities.



Yet the rejection of Anioma people as proper Igbo or as “fake Igbo” peoplewho cannot speak Igbo properly has continued to this day.



“Again in the 2007 election, as a prelude to that charade, Prof. Pat Utomi {from Ibusa}, whose wife is from the East, went to OHANAEZE to solicit for support for his presidential ambition. Chief Orji Uzor Kalu also went to solicit for his too. A section of OHANAEZE that rejected Pat Utomi, gave me a terrible food for thought. One of them, according to some daily Nigerian newspapers’ reports, hankered abject adroitly : “Is he really a proper Igbo man? Look at him, he cannot even speak Igbo properly.” Others even insinuated that his name did not sound Igbo. I was shocked to the bone marrow. I couldn’t believe what I was reading from prominent Igbo citizens.



Instead of asking the two candidates to present their programmes and manifestoes, they were busy hankering on whether one of them is a “proper Igbo” or not. I was shocked of words. If any Igbo person does not know the meaning of Utomi, then that person should take a suicidal dive into the river Niger .” (Igbos of Delta State and Crisis of Identity (Conclusion) by Ephraim Adinlofu



Interestingly, Pat Utomi is a member of Ohaneze Ndiigbo. We should never beg the Igbo to accept us as their kiths and kin rather the Anioma leaders should devise ways of wining the battles by taking the fate of the region in their hands, is the region must succeed. The status of Anioma is not strange in the polity of Nigeria , consider the seeming ethnic affinity existing between the Isoko and Urhobo, yet the Nigerian constitution and people recognize these as two distinct ethnic groups in the country. The case of Itsekiri who mixed with Benin and Yoruba as the Anioma are mixture of Bini and Igbo is also a case study here, the Itsekiri people are today distinctly an ethnic group separate from the Yoruba as well as Bini. When Peter Okocha was stabbed in the back, Ohaneze never collectively took up his course and addressed it. Instead he was abandoned to his fate.



It is for this reason that I totally disagree with the view of Ogaranya Uju Nkwucha Afuleze linking ethnicity to divinity thus:



“First, it is not up to them to say what they are and what they are not. When God created them, He did not ask them who they wanted to be. He just created them Igbo. The only way you'll know who belongs to what ethnic group in Nigeria is the name and what language the name comes from. Anybody whose name is Amadi or Onyeri, or Eke, or Odili, Wanodi (Nwanodi) does not need to tell you who he is. He is Igbo, his politics notwithstanding”



Perhaps I am the only one in this whole universe who knows that the activities of European Missionaries to Nigeria altered ethnicity and tribes in the country either due to their lack of understandings of these tribes or as a deliberate means of achieving their selfish aims and objects. And this act extends beyond the Nigerian confines. Much of the countries we today refer to as Arabs were never Arabs but were arabized, typical of these countries are Egypt , Syria , and Iran etc.



If a true organization capable of articulating the answers, responses and solutions to the challenges confronting the Anioma ethnicity emerges, the question of whether Anioma are Igbo or not will become a thing of past. This will also take care of the lack of leadership problem challenging the region today as a second factor confronting Anioma. If Ohaneze, Arewa and Oodua exist in Igbo land, North part of the nation and among the Yoruba, why cannot Anioma people sit down and devise a forum for championing the course of the region instead of relying on the Ohaneze’s assistances which never comes anyway?

The fate of Anioma people in the hands of Ijaw, Urhobo, Isoko and Itsekiri also need to be addressed. These our brothers in what is believed to be their own Delta State have arrogantly dominated us since the creation of State. While there is nothing to show in Anioma as part of Delta State , there is everything in these other areas to show they are the “core Deltans” At least warri is the unofficial and economic capital of the State while Oghara is the administrative capital. Chief Ibori made them so. This is purely because we are considered Delta Igbo in foreign lands. The Anioma people need to work harder towards the actualization of Anioma State , and only this will make our crisis of identity a thing of the past

By Emeka Esogbue

tonychristopher:
IF ANIOMA IS NOT IN IGBO AGENDA WHY DO APEX IGBO ORGANIZATION HAVE ANIMA SONS LIKE UTOMI...ETS..IGBOS DONT HAVE ISSUES WITH ANIOMA...STOP DRAGGING ALL ANIOMA IN YOUR MADNESS.


THIS IS ABOUT IKA NOT ANIOMA, YOU CREATED THE THREAD DRAGGED ME HERE NW YOU ARE DERAILING THE THREAD. ARE THIS CONFUSED

rexbuton:
Anioma is My Ethnic-nationality not Igbo

Until we the Anioma People recognize the incontrovertible fact that we are indivisible group of people with one destiny concentrated in Delta and Edo States (Igbankes) we may continue to wallow in ignorance and ultimately end up giving our victory to our opponents or still, end up as what Prof. Ola Rotimi, the late Literary Guru called “A Butterfly that thinks himself a Bird”. In the instance, our opponents are the Igbos (of the South-East) If oral history in its own usual business continue to claim that some of us originated from the Igbos are we still Igbos? We have our own distinctiveness whether cultural and linguistic unique to us. We are united in Anioma and on “Enu-Ani we stand.

At least we have a place in the 250 ethnicities in Nigeria . We are today Aniomas and not Igbos. We have this sense of belonging because we know we have our own place in this Nation that place we shall move on to take with Renewed vigour.

If the Igbos see us as “Delta Igbos” the same way we were seen as “Bendel Igbos” in the past how do we see ourselves? We do not even need history in assisting us know that the Igbos are largely failures in the theatre of Nigerian politics for the reason we cannot rely on them rather we must understand the simple truth that an individual in this Land cannot belong to two different ethnic nationalities. We cannot be Aniomas and at the same time Igbos. Anioma is our own and our home. We have been deceived for too long by the Igbos.

Ohaneze will do us no good or can anybody pointedly tell me what we have achieved from this organization over the years? Instead we await Ohaneze to help us actualize the creation of Anioma state,the oldest state in agitation in Nigeria . If Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu led panel for the creation of additional state in the Igbo land could conclude that the creation of Anioma sate would mean an additional state for the people of south-south geo-political zone then the Aniomas are on their own and cannot count on the Igbos.

If the Governor of Imo state, Chief Ikedi Ohakim has declared the readiness of the governor and people of the state to give necessary backing to the growing call for the creation of Njaba state from the present Imo and Anambra states (see the Punch newspaper, Monday, March 31 2008) We have no place amongst the people of Imo sate.

Is the proposed Njaba state more viable economically than Anioma? It is sad that 48 years after the independence of Nigeria, the Igbos have not yet familiarized themselves with the gimmicks of political competitions in Nigeria such that we begin to wonder if the politicians from this geo-political zone ever consult their Academics, Historians and other political scientists before formulating their “wash-wash” policies.

It is equally very wonderful that the Igbos would prefer to remain as they presently or even shrink in the name for the purpose of creating one additional state for the zone rather than extend and claim their either lost Anioma or Rivers state group. How unimaginable it would appear for the Igbos to carve out one more tiny state out of any of the present existing tiny states of the east.

The Anioma ethnicity has in the past sacrificed quite a lot for the Igbos but our rewards remain nothing but denial for separate existence or even to join them as our believed kiths and kin. During the civil war, almost all the Biafrian commanders were Aniomas. Even the Biafrians invaded the Mid-western region which at that time included the Aniomas. Series of massacres were also carried out in Asaba, Ogwashi-uku, Ibusa and other towns and villages though by the federal troops all of these we had to suffer for the Igbos.

Today, the Igbos would look the Aniomas in the eyes and boldly tell us they the prefer the creation of any out of mushroom names and not states of Urashi, Orlu, Njaba and other villages.

I hope the Aniomas have leant a lesson at least we now know we never for once belonged to the Igbos and that the Igbos do not see us as one of their own. We have discovered our root since 1951 and this can be found in Anioma. We have no inheritance in Ohaneze Ndigbo. The earlier we seek our own ethno-national umbrella the better for us.

Anioma “Ofu-obi kanyi jie je!

By Emeka Esogbue

rexbuton:

Mr. Utomi is what? A POLITICIAN... There is this famous saying about politicians and allegiances..

Secondly, You are getting it mixed up.. There is ANIOMA, ANIOCHA AND IKA..
The term Anioma means 'Good Land' in Igbo and is also an acronym derived from the four original local governments i.e. (A) for Aniocha, (N) for Ndokwa, (I) for Ika, (O) for Oshimili, M and A are common denominators found in the four original local governments. The coinage was made by the founding father, Chief Dennis Osadebay in 1951 and has since remained the preferred indigenous name by which the people collectively refer to themselves. Thus, A-N-I-O-M-A.

tonychristopher:
THIS IS NOT ANIOMA ISSUE BECAUSE MANY ANIOMA ARE NOT CONFUSED IN THEIR IGBO ORIGIN, THIS IS ABOUT IDENTITY COMPLEX OF IKA AND CONFUSION, SO STICK TO YOUR TOPIC AND REDUCE COPY AND PASTE MENTALITY

YOU HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO TELL ME HOW IKA ENDED UP SPEAKING A DIALECT OF IGBO WITH IGBO MARKET DAYS

internetpirate:
Mr. Rexbuton, in my little experience, it is difficult to change someone's mind, especiaLly if it has been seared by propaganda. The danger with arguments is that anyone can take a position (however erroneous) and find substance to argue it to reality.

Having said the above, please note that ALL igbo towns at the fringes share similar dilemma with Ikas (please research on the Ohafia and Nsukka dialects as good examples). You spent time trying to highlight the similarities between Ika and Benin, and didn't bother to highlight the similarities between Ikas and Igbos? Lol!! How convenient! I'm sure you'd find that what joins us is more than what separates us!

Don't let inferiority conflict reduce you to being slaves!! You'd rather admit to being a Bini slave than an Igbo freeborn? Has it gone so bad?? I can challenge you to a " language similarity test", and you'd find that my dialect is more differentiated than yours from the mainstream Igbo, yet I know I am Igbo.

It may be considered smart to fool others, but it is the greatest foolishness of all when you fool yourself! Like Igbos say, "use your tongue to count your teeth". Nnawooo!!! Good morning!!!

rexbuton:

View from this angle.. The Igbos speak a dialect of Ika.. The Igbos have Ika market days.. The Igbos are now more than Ika so they claim originality.. how does that sound?

They are not confused at all.. They bear Edo names as well as Igbo names so they are a hybrid of both areas, the Ika man bears Otabor, Ozakpolor, Uche, onyisi, Osazee, Nduka, Irabor, Okoro etc.. So stop forcing them to be who they aren't. If you really love them clamour for their state creation

MayorofLagos:


Really?
Ordinary Niger bridge, a distance of 1.8km, and the gateway into your land, all five states put together no fit build. Meanwhile Fashola has used revenue taxed from your labor to erect a 1.8km bridge and then stationed a toll gate to further tax you as you ride the bridge to get to Lekki, where it is claimed Ibos own 80% of mansions.

Lol....you get mouth, but Yorubas got brains!

We shall make you a eternal labor slave in Lagos. You want to own Lekki? Come on and get it....go bring all your clan from village. ....but dont ever think of industrializing East, or you will anger our leaders, you dont want to upset Yoruba leaders.

tonychristopher:


YOU DO NOT NEED TO TELL ME THAT, I KNOW ANIOMA MORE THAN YOU, I LIVED IN WARRI MARRIED FROM IGBO SPEAKING PART OF DELTA


ANSWER MY QUESTIONS PLS


WHY IS IT OBI IN IKA NOT OVIE OR OBA
WHY DO THEY SPEAK IGBO DIALECT AND NOT EDO DIALECT
WHAT ARE THEIR MARKET DAYS
WHAT ARE THE MEANING OF BASE WORDS IN IKA SUCH AS BOY, MAN, WOMAN, FOOD, HOUSE, ELDER ETC





PLS ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS NEATLY AND DONT AVOID IT, IF WE CAN CONTINUE WITH THIS DISCUSSION

rexbuton:

1. WHY TIME IMMEMORIAL THE VASSAL STATES OF BENIN WERE TO KEEP THEIR TITLES OR PICK ANY THEY CHOOSE.. THERE IS ONLY ONE OBA.. BUT THEY ALWAYS GOT THEIR CEREMONIAL STAVES FROM BENIN. I have written on this earlier in this discourse

2. DO YOU SPEAK BENIN? HOW THEN CAN YOU CONCLUDE THAT THEY DO NOT SHARE BENIN WORDS TOO? I Cited examples some quarters in Agbor have exactly the same equivalent in benin.. The title of the Agbor war chief Ologbosere is the same as the benin war chief OLOGBOSERE.. There are other language similarities, also we must remember that language undergoes evolution.. The Igbo suffix for 'good' -mma is the same as the bini suffix for good -mma ... That is language for you

3. Market days are similar to Igbo market days and edo market days.. Eke, Orie (Olie/Oye), Afo (Aho/Ahwo), and Nkwo are igbo market days, Eken, Orie, Aho and Okuo are edo market days, so Mr. Tony you see? They are more similar than you think

4. I cant remember the Ika base words but i assure you that they are similar to edo and ibo

tonychristopher:
Why do you enjoy lies..This is why I will not believe whatever you say. I lived in benin also around Egor so i know these areas well. I dont think i can continue with this conversation. but I have to correct your lies

The Bini people have four market days: Ekioba, Ekenaka, Agbado and Eken.



Bye