Abagworo:

Go through this thread and you'll notice that the issue of affiliating with Ijaw is not here as we all seem to acknowledge that in recent years that affiliation seems to have been solidified by oil politics and some other factors but the people that comprise Opobo were not basically Ijaw as they comprised of a group led by a man of Igbo roots and later got swelled by further influx of Igbos, Ijaws and Ibibios. The land Opobo itself was occupied by Aro/Ibibio groups before Jaja's entourage. Some people are trying to lie and twist history that Opobo were speaking another language then Igbos came and changed it.

Here is an Opobo guy's blog

http://cookeyforchange..com/2009/07/my-home-town-opobo.html?m=1

Anyone interested can contact him on more about Opobians and what they believe.

ChinenyeN: Abagworo, why continue to invest your time in this topic? Those whom you are engaging with have consistently proven themselves eager to wage war over things that were never said.

Abagworo:

Lol. I believe its more of insecurity and inferiority complex.

ChinenyeN: Abagworo, why continue to invest your time in this topic? Those whom you are engaging with have consistently proven themselves eager to wage war over things that were never said .

1 shortblackboy: ^^^^ oya abagworo sorry o I apologise.

Abagworo:

You have consistently proven yourself eager
to wage war over things that were never said.

1 shortblackboy: ^^^^ oya abagworo sorry o I apologise. We are all igbo, all d people of southern Nigeria are all igbo we and all our ancestors I hope u are now happy and I hope u will now rest and put an end to this ur hobby of opening igbo expansionist thread now that u have finally conquerd all ethnic groups....on the internet. Abagworo d'alu o !

classicEntity: If guys lyk drag frm nw til tomorrow, u cnt change d fact that JaJa (Igboman) established the town and thus ther was heavy Igbo migration as well, u cnt change d fact dat d city is far frm d main Igbolands in Rivers state, u cnt change d fact dat d town is located within d territories of ibibios, u cnt change d fact dat they speak Igbo lang evn as I am typing this nw, u stil cnt change d fact dat an average Opobo indigene sees himself as neighther Igbo nor evn Ijaw bt as opoboman, and u cnt change d fact dat opobo ppl can communicate with ova 40 mil ppl in Nigeria with ease, nd stil reserve d right will of freedom of association wen d right tym comes, so pls let dis stupi:d arguement stop.

Chiwude:
The thing about most Ijaws is that they know the truth, yet they try as much to spread false propaganda, by trying to obliterate completely the Igbo ties of the Opobo people.
1. Opobo of today may align politically with Ijaws does not make them ethnic Ijaws.
2. Opobians from Opobo town, Queens town, Epellema, Kallaibiama, Down-Below and other satellite towns of the kingdom simply identify themselves as Opobians. Neither are they Ijaws nor Igbos in spite of having a mixed heritage of Igbo, Ijaw, Ibibio and Ogoni.
3. Opobo people speak Igbo language spiced up with pidgin. But Igbo is more pronounced and intelligible to every Opobian (a clan language of such). Unlike Bonny that speak Igbo added with a bit of pidgin and ibani to form a sort of creole language.
4. The major cultural festival in Opobo and even Bonny is the Nwaotam festival, originating from Ndokiland.
5. The kingship system of both Opobo and Bonny is Ijaw styled. The king is known as Amayanabo, while different canoe house (Wari) is headed by an Alabo - the Alabo is a chieftaincy title given to the head of each family (canoe house). Apart from being a son of a polo (a direct family compound), Every Opobian trace their village to a Wari. You know an Opobo man (even a Bonny man) from his surname. Unlike a typical surname begotten from a direct grandfather, the Igbani people bear their village name as surname. For instance a man from Cookey-Gam wari (quarters) is identified by the surname Cookey, the same goes with the Urantas, the Jajas, the Petersides, the Minimas etc. Infact, a popular Nigerian music video director goes by the name Adasa Cookey.
6. The native attire of the Opobians is the 19th century British styled robe and a black Fedora hat. The dress is worn by people from the riverine areas (from Calabar down to Warri). But in order to differentiate themselves from the lot, the Opobians (along with the Bonny's) wear a cultural kind of cap specifically for numerous home occasions. For social gatherings they wear a sort of reddish cap designed with a gold-like relics on its surface. While for the Nwaotam festival and the boat reggatta, they wear a typical Igbo Mazi head gear.
7. The ancestral home of the Opobo people is Bonny. But the most revered and epochal is Amaigbo, the ancestral home of the towns founder and King (Jaja). The community usually send representatives to Amaigbo during festive periods. In Amaigbo town, for example, the Opobians built a secondary school in honour of Jaja.

bigfrancis21:


Is Bonny Igbo quite understood by a non-Bonny Igbo person? How mutually intelligible is it to central Igbo?

Radoillo:


Bonny-Opobo Igbo is basically like Ndokki (Ukwa) Igbo. An Ukwa/Ndokki man would have no problems understanding it. But I think for Igbos who come from farther inland, it might not be all that easily understood.

Deltagiant:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO3xLlXf-8M



I believe any Igbo from the hinterland can fairly communicate with a native Opobian as can be seen from the video link above.

Deltagiant:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO3xLlXf-8M



I believe any Igbo from the hinterland can fairly communicate with a native Opobian as can be seen from the video link above.

Radoillo:


Bonny-Opobo Igbo is basically like Ndokki (Ukwa) Igbo. An Ukwa/Ndokki man would have no problems understanding it. But I think for Igbos who come from farther inland, it might not be all that easily understood.

Chiwude:
Yeah, a typical Southern Igbo guy would easily understand the Opobo-Bonny dialect. But, people from Ndoki flawlessly communicate with the Igbani's. I remember during my short stay at Waterlines P/H, I had numerous Igbani friends who spoke flawless Igbo along with their whole family. One of them bore the name Hillary Hart ( his quarters is a reknowed wari in bonny island). So all the while, I thought he was from Abia state, not until he gave me the shocker of my life. He told me one day, that though his village folks speak Igbo, yet, they were'nt Igbo, but Igbani. He even went as far as saying that from his grand mum down to his great-grand mum all were from Ndoki. And that in his community, it is a taboo for a man to marry from another tribe if not Igbo. His mum is Ngwa, and most of his aunts are from Imo state. However, he informed me that there is a concerted effort in his community to bring back the long dead Ibani language. He also said that currently, a part of Bonny almost close to Kalabari land, called Finima - currently hosting the NLNG gas plant - speaks Ibani. But from the palace of their Amanayabo to the other breath of Bonny, their native languge is Igbo, which they call Ubani or Igbani. Note : their Igbo dialect which they call Igbani is different from the Ibani (Ijaw dialect) spoken in Kalabari.

Chiwude:
Yeah, a typical Southern Igbo guy would easily understand the Opobo-Bonny dialect. But, people from Ndoki flawlessly communicate with the Igbani's. I remember during my short stay at Waterlines P/H, I had numerous Igbani friends who spoke flawless Igbo along with their whole family. One of them bore the name Hillary Hart ( his quarters is a reknowed wari in bonny island). So all the while, I thought he was from Abia state, not until he gave me the shocker of my life. He told me one day, that though his village folks speak Igbo, yet, they were'nt Igbo, but Igbani. He even went as far as saying that from his grand mum down to his great-grand mum all were from Ndoki. And that in his community, it is a taboo for a man to marry from another tribe if not Igbo. His mum is Ngwa, and most of his aunts are from Imo state. However, he informed me that there is a concerted effort in his community to bring back the long dead Ibani language. He also said that currently, a part of Bonny almost close to Kalabari land, called Finima - currently hosting the NLNG gas plant - speaks Ibani. But from the palace of their Amanayabo to the other breath of Bonny, their native languge is Igbo, which they call Ubani or Igbani. Note : their Igbo dialect which they call Igbani is different from the Ibani (Ijaw dialect) spoken in Kalabari.

1shortblackboy:
anybody from rivers state will laff at this ur long statement. Its either ur memory of what ur friend told u is failing or ur just confused. What did u say d kalabaris speak again ?

bigfrancis21:


I think he meant to say the Ibani spoken in Ijaw-speaking-part of Bonny ie Finima.

Chiwude:
Yeah, a typical Southern Igbo guy would easily understand the Opobo-Bonny dialect. But, people from Ndoki flawlessly communicate with the Igbani's. I remember during my short stay at Waterlines P/H, I had numerous Igbani friends who spoke flawless Igbo along with their whole family. One of them bore the name Hillary Hart ( his quarters is a reknowed wari in bonny island). So all the while, I thought he was from Abia state, not until he gave me the shocker of my life. He told me one day, that though his village folks speak Igbo, yet, they were'nt Igbo, but Igbani. He even went as far as saying that from his grand mum down to his great-grand mum all were from Ndoki. And that in his community, it is a taboo for a man to marry from another tribe if not Igbo. His mum is Ngwa, and most of his aunts are from Imo state. However, he informed me that there is a concerted effort in his community to bring back the long dead Ibani language. He also said that currently, a part of Bonny almost close to Kalabari land, called Finima - currently hosting the NLNG gas plant - speaks Ibani. But from the palace of their Amanayabo to the other breath of Bonny, their native languge is Igbo, which they call Ubani or Igbani. Note : their Igbo dialect which they call Igbani is different from the Ibani (Ijaw dialect) spoken in Kalabari.

Radoillo:
So I watched the video, and based on the little information I have on Bonny-Opobo Igbo and Ndoki Igbo, I don't think the man was speaking Opobo-Bonny Igbo. He appears to be speaking SCI. I also had an Opobo friend when I was in PH who spoke fluent SCI. The Ikwerre are also able to communicate fluently in SCI in addition to speaking their own dialect which most Igbos (but not all) have problems understanding.

Deltagiant:


I heard many years ago that the Igbo Bible was even written in the Igbani-Igbo dialect. Though some of our Ijaw friends would never accept that Igbani has/had anything to do with Igbo language.

Concerning your friend, why would his Igbo speaking community forbid non Igbos from marrying in the community even as they claim not to be Igbos themselves? Does it make any sense? Could it be they're of the stock of the original Umu-Ubani Ngwa co-founders of Bonny and indirectly hiding it as a result of the war?

Deltagiant:


This is undiluted Opobo. This is what i hear Jacob Obomanu, my good friend, speak always with his Opobo wife.