i would also like to add that quite unlike ijaws we still bear oru till this day.we are actually the only oru remaining and we speak igbo,we say 'oru n'igbo bu nwanne' which means we and igbos are brothers and not ijaw or yoruba.the only difference is that we have riverine terrain quite unlike the rest of igbos.so ijaws believe they are oru offshoot.that might be true but there is no such story here.

Abagworo:

i would also like to add that quite unlike ijaws we still bear oru till this day.we are actually the only oru remaining and we speak igbo,we say 'oru n'igbo bu nwanne' which means we and igbos are brothers and not ijaw or yoruba.the only difference is that we have riverine terrain quite unlike the rest of igbos.so ijaws believe they are oru offshoot.that might be true but there is no such story here.

Which part of Igbo are you from?

You may be original Oru, but you may have adopted Igbo customs and language like many Oru's have.

Igbos are also made up of Oru's mixed with Bantus and Ugbos

However, we remain the most undiluted Oru's in Nigeria today. Some parts of Eastern Ijaw have no dilution in them at all. Our language remains the original Oru language, which is peppered with 'iri' in many of the words we speak.

Ibime what language is been spoken in Opobo?

Opobo speak Ibani, a dialect of Ijaw.

Ibani just means Bonny (anglicised). There is no difference between Opobo's and Bonny people. Jaja just moved Ana Pepple house from Bonny Island to Opobo and made a new tribe. This was only 140 years ago so there is no divergence between Opobo people and Bonny people in language or culture.

Oru in Imo state.we never miss saying we are not igbo but oru.also that igbo is our true brother.as for languge adoption,i doubt if igbo could have influenced our original language because igbos are good language borrowers.i rather believe igbos adopted our original language.

@ibime how related are the ibani with the original ubani in abia state?i'm asking because their language sounds thesame to me and i understand it.

Lmaooooo 
you can understand it? pls Ibani is far different from Ubani or abia dialect, whatever you call it.
haha if I write in Ibani for you, can you interpret?
Igbani is Ijaw 95%

Insert Quote
Oru in Imo state.we never miss saying we are not igbo but oru.also that igbo is our true brother.as for languge adoption,i doubt if igbo could have influenced our original language because igbos are good language borrowers.i rather believe igbos adopted our original language

.

@abagworo

Who are the igbos?

Ibime:

Opobo speak Ibani, a dialect of Ijaw.

Ibani just means Bonny (anglicised). There is no difference between Opobo's and Bonny people. Jaja just moved Ana Pepple house from Bonny Island to Opobo and made a new tribe. This was only 140 years ago so there is no divergence between Opobo people and Bonny people in language or culture.

many of them speak Igbo too.
and say ike m for myself
when ike means buttocks in Igbo

Why dont u Ijaw gal write n Ibani for him to see if he can interpret.

wasn't jaja of Opobo an Igboman from Imo state area?

Opobo ppl also speak Igbo. ofcourse different dialect.

Ubani mara nma!!!

I asked what they speak in Opobo because i just finished watching a documentary on the people of Opobo and quite frankly what they where speaken sounds very much like the dialect been spoken in the present day nkwerre,isu,njaba axis.

Ubani mara nma!!! Is a popular greeting in opobo.i dont know whether that is ibani.

Mi ye ma ibim ina!!  thats how igbanis greet, interpret that

Eastern Ijaws--igbani(opobo and bonny) people, Okrika, kalabaris can speak igbo, because of the presence of igbo slaves during the slave era
the native people.majority of the people speak Ijaw

Yes Jaja is an Igbo man and he is not the only Igbo to migrate to Opobo. Opobo got its strong Igbo roots. Only a bigot will try to deny it. Opobo and Bonny ppl are like a hybrid of both Igbo and Ijaw ppl.

Ubani mara nma!!!

Is this not igbo.I think it is hightime we acknowledge that igbo is a language continum with varying dialects across former eastern nigeria.

This thread is aimed at re-inventing our lost ties and not trying to force ethnicity on anyone.igbos and ijaws mingled a lot in the past.it should be noted that aba was founded by opobo people.

Mi ye ma ibim ina!! oo

Eastern Ijaws--igbani(opobo and bonny) people, Okrika, kalabaris can speak igbo, [b]because of the presence of igbo slaves during the slave era[/b]the native people.majority of the people speak Ijaw

give me a break
Is that what they teach you guys?
How come they don't speak Efik and Ibibio,were all the slaves in Ubani (Bonny) Igbo?
How come Americans don't speak Igbo,Yoruba and Ijaw if slaves had that much influence on a language of a people such that 300 years later,Igbo is still the dominant native language there.

http://ibaniawo.org/
bonny and opobo are the Eastern Ijaw natives of Opobo and Bonny, We are actually original Ijaw people who have been mixed with igbo people, The only similarities we have with igbo people is some of us can speak the language because of the presence of igbo people in the 1800's(slave era)


@Osisi

were all the slaves in Ubani (Bonny) Igbo?

ninety nine percent of the slaves were igbos

@Abagworo

That is why i asked you the question who are the igbos because you said the 'igbos' are good at copying and that they copied your oru language.You do not seem to realize that that statement does not create an atmosphere for reconciliation.

@ijawgirl.kalabari and okirika speak igbo like igbos speak yoruba or hausa.opobo and bonny however speak igbo as indigenous language but that does not mean that they dont speak a dialect of ijaw too.okirika has a whole lot of mbaise mixture but they obviously speak a dialect of ijaw.

Plaese  Okrika and Kalabari people(some) can speak igbo because of the presence of igbo slaves during the slave era

Ibime can give you some history lessons on that,

Can someone give me a good reason why this thread should not be moved to the Culture Section?

ijaw_girl:

Plaese Okrika and Kalabari speak igbo because of the presence of igbo slaves during the slave era

ask Ibime,

So, the slaves were so influential that they managed to make the freeborns speak their language? Why do despise Ndi-Igbo so much? You just had to type "Igbo slaves" to make you feel good, eh?

Please have you been to Bonny or Opobo before? In a meeting between elders, Ijaw is strictly spoken, all our songs/proverbs are in Ijaw, our greetings are in Ijaw
just because some people speak igbo does not mean its an indigenous language in our land

huh hate igbo people? If I hate igbo people, why do I support Biafra? am just telling you guys the relationship between igbo and Igbani people

ijaw_girl:

huh hate igbo people? If hate igbo people, why do I support Biafra? am just telling you guys the relationship between igbo and Igbani people

Just answer my question: How did slaves make non-slaves speak their (slave) language?

I just want to learn. Thanks.

this thread is meant to be on how we should all support Goodluck Jonathan,Orji Uzor Kalu,Peter Odili and Chibuike Amaechi for presidency in 2011 and not about our origins.we should form a formidable force and end the divide and rule amongst us being promoted by nigerian state.

How did slaves make non-slaves speak their (slave) language?

Lmao thats so easy, intermarriage and trade
apart from the language what else? What other similarities? do we have