That is a small but befitting gesture to the late Pillar of Sports, Bashorun Abiola.

Federal and state governments should also consider establishing scholarship funds to facilitate the education of economically disadvantaged but academically gifted Nigerian students, whose background and promise mirror that of Abiola in his youth, under the name of The Abiola Fund.

Such an initiative, above all else, would please MKO, were he present to comment.

About time,


Better late than never,

If any1 or group or even statement government wishes to do so in his honour,i support it very well but not the immortalization shit coz that will only open old wounds.Evry1 has different opinions about the man,good,bad and ugly.

Nigeria is the only place where national monuments are named after criminals and alleged criminals.

Hope people behind this are also preparing to name Arthur Nzeribe after the international airport in Abuja?

nice one

nuzo.
do you mean abiola is a criminal?

miqos02:

nuzo.
do you mean abiola is a criminal?

No, I meant a well known alleged criminal.

This is pointless. Nigerians have their priorities bleeped up. MKO is dead as a dodo. Instead of policy makers to focus on substantive issues that will really affect peoples' lives they are busy naming monuments after dead men. This is stupid.

very soon, we'll get to a place where corruption will be a scarce commodity in our country

To the tribalists: it is beginning with or without y'all

So fuk what

This is one of the main reasons the jungle called Nigeria will never see a better day. How could any person with correct and good functioning social order clamor to immortalize a person known as ITT (International Top Thief)? The inhabitants of the colonial contraption called Nigeria do not have functional lined-phones because MK Abiola’s dubious and irreparable corrupt practices fostered on the masses in cohort with ITT group of companies.

nuzo:

No, I meant a well known alleged criminal.

Thanks a lot

Its a good development

lonewolf:

This is pointless. Nigerians have their priorities bleeped up. MKO is dead as a dodo. Instead of policy makers to focus on substantive issues that will really affect peoples' lives they are busy naming monuments after dead men. This is stupid.

Well said. It would though keep abiola fans happy(M.K.O IS OUR MAN OOOO can't reali remember the full version of the song)

Dede1:

This is one of the main reasons the jungle called Nigeria will never see a better day. How could any person with correct and good functioning social order clamor to immortalize a person known as ITT (International Top Thief)? The inhabitants of the colonial contraption called Nigeria do not have functional lined-phones because MK Abiola’s dubious and irreparable corrupt practices fostered on the masses in cohort with ITT group of companies.

@Dede1 or Dull dee1 or dumbass-dee1 or Dundee-United1 or Dumb&daft1

To hell with you! Everybody is a thief, only those that sun rises on that are real thieves!
Arthur Nzeribe betrayed White investors and turned their fortune to his (You all danced galala and awilo music back then).
Jim Nwobodo stole our Powered generator for Surulere National stadium to east (Idiots like you, instead of telling him to take it back to South West where he stole it from; you all showered encomiums on him and even performed the masquerade dances too).
Rochas Okorocha stole money for eastern development and forever been in exile (Abuja).
Then, Ojukwu the foremost warmonger and fugitive criminal siphoned all the money given to him by French government during the Bia-failed war (he was the first Igboman to ride on Rolls Royce).
Bleep you and everything you stand for!
You claimed everyday you witnessed and fought in Biafran war and you think you know everything about. Mind you I lost my family too during your merciless coup.
On this same forum, not up to two weeks we have discussed more than ten topics concerning Yorubas, all you did was ranting and wabbling on us. What do you want? It’s not all postings you will have to comment and show your anger. If people reciprocate you back, you will play a race card of marginalization.
1) A spoof embossment of Wole Soyinka on five thousand naira note.
2) The speech Adekunle Fajuyi gave before he chose to die with his boss
3) To immortalize MKO Abiola
4) MEND destruction of Alcove depot
5) Yorubas are betrayer because they didn't support your Biafailed war. (Your insincerity makes you feel betrayed).

6) You said Adaka Boro is not an hero but a criminal. What would you call OJUKWU?
Your chicken has come home to roast, you said Igbo colluded with Hausas and Ijaws to create a region out of Western Region, so that would reduce western power. Then, because you had little Igbos among them, you want to enforce Igboness on these people (Ijaws) and they said no! Now, Adaka Boro was a criminal to you; but to all Ijaws he was their hero. You should know already that there are two things involved about Niger Delta (the oil and the geographical location will never let them accept any of your gimmicks to lure them as family.

nuzo:
Nigeria is the only place where national monuments are named after criminals and alleged criminals.
Hope people behind this are also preparing to name Arthur Nzeribe after the international airport in Abuja?

.I thnk u hve a point i will recomend u 4 dat.Its not only Arthur,one day you will even hear OBJ's named after de Abuja National Stadium.funny laugh it off.

nuzo:
Nigeria is the only place where national monuments are named after criminals and alleged criminals.
Hope people behind this are also preparing to name Arthur Nzeribe after the international airport in Abuja?

.I thnk u hve a point i will recomend u 4 dat.Its not only Arthur,one day you will even hear OBJ's named after de Abuja National Stadium.funny laugh it off.

nuzo:
Nigeria is the only place where national monuments are named after criminals and alleged criminals.
Hope people behind this are also preparing to name Arthur Nzeribe after the international airport in Abuja?

.I thnk u hve a point i will recomend u 4 dat.Its not only Arthur,one day you will even hear OBJ's named after de Abuja National Stadium.funny laugh it off.

nuzo:
Nigeria is the only place where national monuments are named after criminals and alleged criminals.
Hope people behind this are also preparing to name Arthur Nzeribe after the international airport in Abuja?

.I thnk u hve a point i will recomend u 4 dat.Its not only Arthur,one day you will even hear OBJ's named after de Abuja National Stadium.funny laugh it off.

Dede1:

This is one of the main reasons the jungle called Nigeria will never see a better day. How could any person with correct and good functioning social order clamor to immortalize a person known as ITT (International Top Thief)? The inhabitants of the colonial contraption called Nigeria do not have functional lined-phones because MK Abiola’s dubious and irreparable corrupt practices fostered on the masses in cohort with ITT group of companies.

History has told us from time to time "there is no fortune without crime." Call Rocha Okorocha, Nzeribe, Ojukwu, Jim Ovia, Jide Ofor, Don Etiebet where they all got their money?
If you think Abiola stole money, at least he spread the wealth around, a lot of Igbo people enjoyed his vast wealth and had money to send back to villages in the east. Sonny Okosun would testify if he was alive. He invested all his money in Nigeria and empowered more than 500,000 Nigerians in his time. You and I grew up hearing Abiola's soccer team, Abiola's concord airline, Abiola's newspaper, Abiola's Burec (battery's company) and Abiola's honeywell. If other greedy people who stacked our money in foreign banks could bring it back home to invest, we would be better off today.

The late politician deserves it.

nuzo:

Nigeria is the only place where national monuments are named after criminals and alleged criminals.

Hope people behind this are also preparing to name Arthur Nzeribe after the international airport in Abuja?

Exactly!!!

:p

Dede1:

This is one of the main reasons the jungle called Nigeria will never see a better day. How could any person with correct and good functioning social order clamor to immortalize a person known as ITT (International Top Thief)? The inhabitants of the colonial contraption called Nigeria do not have functional lined-phones because MK Abiola’s dubious and irreparable corrupt practices fostered on the masses in cohort with ITT group of companies.

@Dog-ass dee1 or dippy-dee1
I am very sorry sir, super-fool old idiot! I forgot that M.K.O. Abiola was an Egba-man too (Igbo people want all our Egba people because they are successful[, ] then, they use that enviness to critcize everything Yorubas do, because of their wealth and enviable successes). Now, I know why the cage birds sing?
You all feigned cries during military Abacha’s regime and showered encomiums on our beloved son. As soon as we turned to democracy, each and everyone of your lachrymose souls flipped. I’m glad you blocked the immortalization, but we also want to name him on our soil in our stadium and you are still ranting and raving. I guess you are not made for good.
You know we are the pacesetter right? We named our national theater, our internal airport and numerous roads on Muritala Muhamed, named numerous monuments and roads on Osuba Nbadiwe, Oba Benin and Igwe effigies, Hamedu bello e.t.c.
The cane that we used to swipe senior wife is kept waiting for the junior wife too!

This is what I got from Igbo quack scientist Philips Emeaguali. He of recently turned to historian, wants to help Igbos re-write history about Yoruba people, why not doing that to Hausas? If you want to doubt that, tell me what he has discovered (and don't tell me computer super super ooooo). A lot of Igbo guys debunked him and it's true what they alleged him for! (Check his website if you are going to see anything about invention other than posing pictures)!

http://emeagwali.com/letters/dear-professor-emeagwali-onye-igbo-ka-nbu.htm


Ishaq D. Al-Sulaimani
Vernon (Alufiel) Grier, Ed.D

THE GREATER IGBO NATION-- IDENTIFYING IGBO VARIANTS DURING THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE


THE EGBA ARE IGBO
Southwest Nigeria is commonly referred to as “Yorubaland” which is home to a mosaic of distinct tribes and tribal states who collectively form the present day Yoruba tribal identity, however the original Yoruba designation exclusively referred to the Oyo, a tribe who at one time lived amongst the Hausas in what is presently Northern Nigeria. In fact the word Yoruba is of Hausa origins.
Misrepresentations of Nigeria the Facts and the Figures by Yusef Bala Usman, PhD – Center for Democratic Development, Research and Training.
“The fact is that the earliest record we have of the use of the very name Yoruba was in the Hausa Language and it seems to have applied to the people of the Alfinate Oyo. Don Masani wrote a book on the Muslim scholars of the Yarriba.”
Over the centuries the Oyo were gradually driven southward where they in turn became the conquerors of the indigenous people of “Southwest Nigeria” who like their Southeastern counterparts were referred to as the Igbo. The Southwestern Igbo were protected by an army of masked warriors known as the Egbo or Egba. Olumida Lucas states that the name Egba is synonymous with Igbo. The Indigenous Igbo(Egba) lived in the forest area surrounding Ife. The name Ife derives from an Igbo system of “divination” called Ifa. It was at Ife that the Igbo(Egba) were first confronted by Odudwa who along with his youngest son Oranyan are remembered as the founders of the Oyo(Yoruba) Kingdom at Ife. At the time of Odudwa’s invasion the indigenous Igbo(Egba) resided under the leadership of Obatala whose name means the Oba or Obi Ala. Obi or Oba was initially an Igbo title of authority and Ala is the land deity of the Igbo. Amongst the Egbo tribes of Calabar the Oba appears in the form of the deity Obassi who is also called Abassi.
Like the indigenous forest dwelling Igbos, the present day Egbas are historically associated with the Obas. In fact the name of the Egba ruling council known as the Ogboni relates to the Igbo word Ogbonna which indirectly refers to an elder.
The Wikipedia Encyclopedia – “Yoruba”
“The numerous Egba communities found in the forests below Oyo’s Savannah region were a notable example of elected Obas though the Ogboni, a legislative judicial council of notable elders wielded the actual political power.”
(The Ogboni “Cult” played a central role in the Brazil slave rebellion of 1809.)
In their initial encounters the Oyo(Yoruba) were unable to penetrate the frightening Egba(Igbo) as these intimidating masked forest dwellers mastered the art of instilling fear into their opponents. In defense of their homeland the Egba(Igbo) went further in raiding and burning down the intruding Oyo(Yoruba) settlements in the town at Ife.
The Egba were first defeated through the scheming of a woman named Moremi who allowed herself to be captured as she used her beauty to seduce the Igbo(Egba) King into revealing the secrets of the masked Egba warriors. She later returned to the Oyo providing her countrymen with the necessary information needed to finally conquer the Igbo(Egba) Kingdom. This defeat of the Igbo(Egba) is celebrated every year at the annual Eid Festival of Ife. In 1835, the Egba declared themselves to be independent of the Oyo(Yoruba) and in response the Oyo along with the Ijebu drove them out of Ibadan, Ife and other towns north of their present day capital of Abeokuta. As a result of contact between the Ijebu and the Indigenous Igbo the city Ijebu-Igbo was established. The founding of the Egba Kingdom of Abeokuta in 1837 is considered to be the last kingdom to be recognized within the “Yoruba federation of tribes”. By this time the term Yoruba had expanded beyond its original usage in referring to the Oyo and now generally applied to all of the inhabitants of Southwestern Nigeria.
The tradition of the masked Egba(Igbo) warriors is likewise documented in Southeast Nigeria amongst the followers of the Egbo Society of Calabar.EGBO – A secret society at one time existing as a political bond between various towns especially Eastern Nigeria. – World Book Dictionary A-K 1974.
In 1876, the Scottish Presbyterian missionary Mary Slessor came to Calabar. According to the accountings of Ms. Slessor in the “Igbo” dominated areas a secret society known as Egbo went around in masks and beat people. She claimed to have chased a group of Egbo and tore off a mask. The image of Mary Slessor would later appear on the 10 pound British Monetary note. (The Egbo/Egba warriors seem to have a problem or weakness in defending themselves against foreign women. First Moremi in the west informs her people to burn the masks of the Egba(Igbo) warriors and later in the east Mary Slessor claims to have ripped a mask off of an Egbo man.)
The Egba of Abeokuta worship a deity called the Oro. Oro is a god who resides in a bush. In honor of Oro a sacred ceremony is performed at a secluded spot inside the bush. This ceremony is called Igbo Oro and is very similar to bush ceremonies observed by the Egbo Society of Calabar. There are many similar practices and rituals performed by both the Egba of “Yorubaland” and the Egbo Society of the east. In this regard it is of interest to note the name of the Biafran Officer from Ejagham(Calabar), the formidable Captain Ndom Egba.
Although the concept of Legba varies it began as an ancestral memorial designed to maintain the Egba identity during times of persecution and hardship. Legba is also known as Eshu and relates to the deity Isua which is honored in the Egbo Society as the Master of Ceremonies. Legba was also activated in the New World as a means to counter modern slavery and its attempts to wipe out the Egba identity of the captives. The deity is described in Yoruba mythology as the “Divine trickster” because of his ability to outwit his fellow gods. Evidences of Legba have been documented throughout the Americas in such places as Brazil, Guyana, Trinidad, Haiti and New Orleans under various names such as Lebba, Legba, Elegbara and Liba. It is the Igbo descended Mina tribes such as the Ewe and Fon who are most readily associated with the Legba variant. The term Elegbara is of great significance because not only does the name appear in the Americas amongst Igbo descended captives meaning the Egba and the Mina tribes, but is also the name of a tribe that lives on the Southern Sudanese, Northern Ugandan border and of whom are likewise related to the Igbos of Nigeria as they are known by the variant of Elegbara being called the Lugbara. When traveling in Uganda I personally met a Lugbara Doctor of Medicine who previously studied alongside of Igbo students from Nigeria. The Lugbara man stated that he could understand much of the Igbo Language which held a great deal in common with his own Lugbara Tongue. Through numerous and prominent cultural and linguistic affinities the Lugbara man was definitely convinced that the Lugbara and the Igbo are akin.
Similar to the Igbo of the east, the western Igbo descended Egba were always known to be revolutionaries in continual revolt against the Colonial British authorities, European missionaries and their traditional Yoruba enemies being primarily that of the Oyo and Ijebu. In 1929 the Igbo market women of the east led a tax revolt against the Colonial British Government which became known as the Abia Women’s Tax Revolt. The Egba women carried out a similar tax revolt in 1947 known as the Abeokuta Women’s Tax Revolt of Egba Market Women. The Egba market women were led by Fumilayo Ransome Kuti, a teacher and wife of a prominent Egba educationalist. The protest of over 10,000 Egba women caused the governing authorities to abolish taxes on women for several years and the Alake who conspired with the Colonial authorities spent three years in exile in Oshogbo.
Many of the positive social and ethical traits which are often associated with the Igbo are historically documented as being characteristic of the Egba as well. Robert Campbell who along with Martin Robison Delaney signed a pact with Egba leaders for the right of resettlement of African-Americans to “Egbaland” states that the Egba are the most industrious people on the face of the earth. (Burton 1863:101) James Africanus Beale Horton concerning the Egba(Akus) “It must be admitted without question that there are no people on the coast who are so hard working and so long suffering in proportion to what they expect in return.” He also went on to say that the Egba as a race are amongst the most industrious, persevering and hard working people on the coast of Africa. (Horton 1969:149)
In terms of education the Egba like the Igbo are deserving of great acclaim. The first Black-African to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature was an Egba man named Wole Soyinka who like the Igbo actively opposed the Nigerian Government during the Biafran War. Soyinka was detained by agents of the state between 1967 and 1969. In this regard Booker T. Washington whose middle name, Tanifeani, attests to Egba origins should be noted as the founder of the famous Tuskegee Institute.
In Brazil an organized Ibo revolt led to the establishment of the Independent “Ibo Republic” of Palmares which lasted 45 years. Being consistent with “Igbo resistance” Palmares ended in a massive suicide of Ibo warriors who preferred death to capture. The city Ibotirama testifies to a strong Ibo presence in the region, however as in the case of Haiti, Afro-Brazilian culture and religious practices are more readily associated with that of the “Yoruba”(Egba) including the worship of Legba. Olukwumu is spoken in Brazil and interestingly enough in a few Western Ibo communities such as Anioma, Idumu-ogu, Ubulubu, Ugbodu, Ugboba and Okwumuzu. In fact communities bearing the name Olukwumu(Olukumi) still exist amongst the Western Ibo. Although this dialect cannot be found in the Yoruba heartland it remains in reference as a “lost dialect of the Yoruba Language”. All of the above clearly indicates that many of the captives in Brazil including those who successfully revolted in the establishment of Palmares were of western Ibo origins and like the Egba are being mistakenly classified as Yoruba. In Brazil the Western Ibo were accompanied by a massive importing of Ebos from Angola and Ibos from Mozambique, the latter further accounting for the dominant and preferable Ibo usage amongst the Brazilian captives.
In Cuba the Olukwumu were referred to as the Olukumi, Lukumi or Akumi. The Egba have traditionally resisted identification with the term Yoruba preferring to be called Egbas or Akus. Slaves in Cuba known as the Lukumi or Akumi meaning of the Egba people were well known for suicide resistance which often found them handing from the branches of the Guasima trees. This being very similar to the “Igbo” resisters of Haiti who were likewise remembered for suicide resistance as understood in the Haitian saying, Ebos pend cor a yo, meaning the Ebos hang themselves. The relationship between the names Olukwumu and Olukumi with that of Akumi(Aku or Egba) further solidifies the common origins which link the Western Ibo and the Egba peoples.
The Egba who like the Igbo were originally known as forest dwellers are acknowledged to have been at one time living east of their present day location. The process which led to the vanquished links of brotherhood between the Igbo and the Egba can be characterized by the often strained relations that currently exist between some of the eastern and western Igbo communities of today.
Biafran Nigerian World Message Board-JAN. 6th 2004 Efulefu of Western Kind.
“… lately some misguided Igbo people of Anioma/Ibusa (in short Western Igbo stock), have been making anti-Igbo noises. I read that a group of 419 purporting to represent Anioma and all Western Igbo issued a statement disavowing their Igboness… If you are from Western Igboland and you no longer wish to consider yourself Igbo you have only one option. Pack your damned bags and leave otherwise we are coming!!!”
History not only records the common origins of the Egba and the Igbo but their common destiny as they are identified as two groups most devastated by the slave trade which is expressed in the following;
“The Egba have suffered more than any other nation in West Africa from the depredation of the slave trade.”

This is completely wrong!, Abiola's money wasnt clean, he was also a CIA agent and helped in toppling Idiagbon's regime. That was one of the reasons IBB didnt hand over to him, because they knew themselves.
There is nothing tribalistic about it. I rather see Fashola's name at the national stadium especially if he continues what he's doing. If the yorubas are worried about tribe let them bring out their sons who are without blood or stain to replace Abiola's name at the National stadium. We want good leaders whom our kids can look on to and emulate not criminals who think they can steal today and come back 20yrs later to use that stolen wealth to run for an election.

okokomeji:

@Dog-ass dee1 or dippy-dee1
I am very sorry sir, super-fool old idiot! I forgot that M.K.O. Abiola was an Egba-man too (Igbo people want all our Egba people because they are successful[, ] then, they use that enviness to critcize everything Yorubas do, because of their wealth and enviable successes). Now, I know why the cage birds sing?
You all feigned cries during military Abacha’s regime and showered encomiums on our beloved son. As soon as we turned to democracy, each and everyone of your lachrymose souls flipped. I’m glad you blocked the immortalization, but we also want to name him on our soil in our stadium and you are still ranting and raving. I guess you are not made for good.
You know we are the pacesetter right? We named our national theater, our internal airport and numerous roads on Muritala Muhamed, named numerous monuments and roads on Osuba Nbadiwe, Oba Benin and Igwe effigies, Hamedu bello e.t.c.
The cane that we used to swipe senior wife is kept waiting for the junior wife too!

This is what I got from Igbo quack scientist Philips Emeaguali. He of recently turned to historian, wants to help Igbos re-write history about Yoruba people, why not doing that to Hausas? If you want to doubt that, tell me what he has discovered (and don't tell me computer super super ooooo). A lot of Igbo guys debunked him and it's true what they alleged him for! (Check his website if you are going to see anything about invention other than posing pictures)!

http://emeagwali.com/letters/dear-professor-emeagwali-onye-igbo-ka-nbu.htm


Ishaq D. Al-Sulaimani
Vernon (Alufiel) Grier, Ed.D

THE GREATER IGBO NATION-- IDENTIFYING IGBO VARIANTS DURING THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE


THE EGBA ARE IGBO
Southwest Nigeria is commonly referred to as “Yorubaland” which is home to a mosaic of distinct tribes and tribal states who collectively form the present day Yoruba tribal identity, however the original Yoruba designation exclusively referred to the Oyo, a tribe who at one time lived amongst the Hausas in what is presently Northern Nigeria. In fact the word Yoruba is of Hausa origins.
Misrepresentations of Nigeria the Facts and the Figures by Yusef Bala Usman, PhD – Center for Democratic Development, Research and Training.
“The fact is that the earliest record we have of the use of the very name Yoruba was in the Hausa Language and it seems to have applied to the people of the Alfinate Oyo. Don Masani wrote a book on the Muslim scholars of the Yarriba.”
Over the centuries the Oyo were gradually driven southward where they in turn became the conquerors of the indigenous people of “Southwest Nigeria” who like their Southeastern counterparts were referred to as the Igbo. The Southwestern Igbo were protected by an army of masked warriors known as the Egbo or Egba. Olumida Lucas states that the name Egba is synonymous with Igbo. The Indigenous Igbo(Egba) lived in the forest area surrounding Ife. The name Ife derives from an Igbo system of “divination” called Ifa. It was at Ife that the Igbo(Egba) were first confronted by Odudwa who along with his youngest son Oranyan are remembered as the founders of the Oyo(Yoruba) Kingdom at Ife. At the time of Odudwa’s invasion the indigenous Igbo(Egba) resided under the leadership of Obatala whose name means the Oba or Obi Ala. Obi or Oba was initially an Igbo title of authority and Ala is the land deity of the Igbo. Amongst the Egbo tribes of Calabar the Oba appears in the form of the deity Obassi who is also called Abassi.
Like the indigenous forest dwelling Igbos, the present day Egbas are historically associated with the Obas. In fact the name of the Egba ruling council known as the Ogboni relates to the Igbo word Ogbonna which indirectly refers to an elder.
The Wikipedia Encyclopedia – “Yoruba”
“The numerous Egba communities found in the forests below Oyo’s Savannah region were a notable example of elected Obas though the Ogboni, a legislative judicial council of notable elders wielded the actual political power.”
(The Ogboni “Cult” played a central role in the Brazil slave rebellion of 1809.)
In their initial encounters the Oyo(Yoruba) were unable to penetrate the frightening Egba(Igbo) as these intimidating masked forest dwellers mastered the art of instilling fear into their opponents. In defense of their homeland the Egba(Igbo) went further in raiding and burning down the intruding Oyo(Yoruba) settlements in the town at Ife.
The Egba were first defeated through the scheming of a woman named Moremi who allowed herself to be captured as she used her beauty to seduce the Igbo(Egba) King into revealing the secrets of the masked Egba warriors. She later returned to the Oyo providing her countrymen with the necessary information needed to finally conquer the Igbo(Egba) Kingdom. This defeat of the Igbo(Egba) is celebrated every year at the annual Eid Festival of Ife. In 1835, the Egba declared themselves to be independent of the Oyo(Yoruba) and in response the Oyo along with the Ijebu drove them out of Ibadan, Ife and other towns north of their present day capital of Abeokuta. As a result of contact between the Ijebu and the Indigenous Igbo the city Ijebu-Igbo was established. The founding of the Egba Kingdom of Abeokuta in 1837 is considered to be the last kingdom to be recognized within the “Yoruba federation of tribes”. By this time the term Yoruba had expanded beyond its original usage in referring to the Oyo and now generally applied to all of the inhabitants of Southwestern Nigeria.
The tradition of the masked Egba(Igbo) warriors is likewise documented in Southeast Nigeria amongst the followers of the Egbo Society of Calabar.EGBO – A secret society at one time existing as a political bond between various towns especially Eastern Nigeria. – World Book Dictionary A-K 1974.
In 1876, the Scottish Presbyterian missionary Mary Slessor came to Calabar. According to the accountings of Ms. Slessor in the “Igbo” dominated areas a secret society known as Egbo went around in masks and beat people. She claimed to have chased a group of Egbo and tore off a mask. The image of Mary Slessor would later appear on the 10 pound British Monetary note. (The Egbo/Egba warriors seem to have a problem or weakness in defending themselves against foreign women. First Moremi in the west informs her people to burn the masks of the Egba(Igbo) warriors and later in the east Mary Slessor claims to have ripped a mask off of an Egbo man.)
The Egba of Abeokuta worship a deity called the Oro. Oro is a god who resides in a bush. In honor of Oro a sacred ceremony is performed at a secluded spot inside the bush. This ceremony is called Igbo Oro and is very similar to bush ceremonies observed by the Egbo Society of Calabar. There are many similar practices and rituals performed by both the Egba of “Yorubaland” and the Egbo Society of the east. In this regard it is of interest to note the name of the Biafran Officer from Ejagham(Calabar), the formidable Captain Ndom Egba.
Although the concept of Legba varies it began as an ancestral memorial designed to maintain the Egba identity during times of persecution and hardship. Legba is also known as Eshu and relates to the deity Isua which is honored in the Egbo Society as the Master of Ceremonies. Legba was also activated in the New World as a means to counter modern slavery and its attempts to wipe out the Egba identity of the captives. The deity is described in Yoruba mythology as the “Divine trickster” because of his ability to outwit his fellow gods. Evidences of Legba have been documented throughout the Americas in such places as Brazil, Guyana, Trinidad, Haiti and New Orleans under various names such as Lebba, Legba, Elegbara and Liba. It is the Igbo descended Mina tribes such as the Ewe and Fon who are most readily associated with the Legba variant. The term Elegbara is of great significance because not only does the name appear in the Americas amongst Igbo descended captives meaning the Egba and the Mina tribes, but is also the name of a tribe that lives on the Southern Sudanese, Northern Ugandan border and of whom are likewise related to the Igbos of Nigeria as they are known by the variant of Elegbara being called the Lugbara. When traveling in Uganda I personally met a Lugbara Doctor of Medicine who previously studied alongside of Igbo students from Nigeria. The Lugbara man stated that he could understand much of the Igbo Language which held a great deal in common with his own Lugbara Tongue. Through numerous and prominent cultural and linguistic affinities the Lugbara man was definitely convinced that the Lugbara and the Igbo are akin.
Similar to the Igbo of the east, the western Igbo descended Egba were always known to be revolutionaries in continual revolt against the Colonial British authorities, European missionaries and their traditional Yoruba enemies being primarily that of the Oyo and Ijebu. In 1929 the Igbo market women of the east led a tax revolt against the Colonial British Government which became known as the Abia Women’s Tax Revolt. The Egba women carried out a similar tax revolt in 1947 known as the Abeokuta Women’s Tax Revolt of Egba Market Women. The Egba market women were led by Fumilayo Ransome Kuti, a teacher and wife of a prominent Egba educationalist. The protest of over 10,000 Egba women caused the governing authorities to abolish taxes on women for several years and the Alake who conspired with the Colonial authorities spent three years in exile in Oshogbo.
Many of the positive social and ethical traits which are often associated with the Igbo are historically documented as being characteristic of the Egba as well. Robert Campbell who along with Martin Robison Delaney signed a pact with Egba leaders for the right of resettlement of African-Americans to “Egbaland” states that the Egba are the most industrious people on the face of the earth. (Burton 1863:101) James Africanus Beale Horton concerning the Egba(Akus) “It must be admitted without question that there are no people on the coast who are so hard working and so long suffering in proportion to what they expect in return.” He also went on to say that the Egba as a race are amongst the most industrious, persevering and hard working people on the coast of Africa. (Horton 1969:149)
In terms of education the Egba like the Igbo are deserving of great acclaim. The first Black-African to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature was an Egba man named Wole Soyinka who like the Igbo actively opposed the Nigerian Government during the Biafran War. Soyinka was detained by agents of the state between 1967 and 1969. In this regard Booker T. Washington whose middle name, Tanifeani, attests to Egba origins should be noted as the founder of the famous Tuskegee Institute.
In Brazil an organized Ibo revolt led to the establishment of the Independent “Ibo Republic” of Palmares which lasted 45 years. Being consistent with “Igbo resistance” Palmares ended in a massive suicide of Ibo warriors who preferred death to capture. The city Ibotirama testifies to a strong Ibo presence in the region, however as in the case of Haiti, Afro-Brazilian culture and religious practices are more readily associated with that of the “Yoruba”(Egba) including the worship of Legba. Olukwumu is spoken in Brazil and interestingly enough in a few Western Ibo communities such as Anioma, Idumu-ogu, Ubulubu, Ugbodu, Ugboba and Okwumuzu. In fact communities bearing the name Olukwumu(Olukumi) still exist amongst the Western Ibo. Although this dialect cannot be found in the Yoruba heartland it remains in reference as a “lost dialect of the Yoruba Language”. All of the above clearly indicates that many of the captives in Brazil including those who successfully revolted in the establishment of Palmares were of western Ibo origins and like the Egba are being mistakenly classified as Yoruba. In Brazil the Western Ibo were accompanied by a massive importing of Ebos from Angola and Ibos from Mozambique, the latter further accounting for the dominant and preferable Ibo usage amongst the Brazilian captives.
In Cuba the Olukwumu were referred to as the Olukumi, Lukumi or Akumi. The Egba have traditionally resisted identification with the term Yoruba preferring to be called Egbas or Akus. Slaves in Cuba known as the Lukumi or Akumi meaning of the Egba people were well known for suicide resistance which often found them handing from the branches of the Guasima trees. This being very similar to the “Igbo” resisters of Haiti who were likewise remembered for suicide resistance as understood in the Haitian saying, Ebos pend cor a yo, meaning the Ebos hang themselves. The relationship between the names Olukwumu and Olukumi with that of Akumi(Aku or Egba) further solidifies the common origins which link the Western Ibo and the Egba peoples.
The Egba who like the Igbo were originally known as forest dwellers are acknowledged to have been at one time living east of their present day location. The process which led to the vanquished links of brotherhood between the Igbo and the Egba can be characterized by the often strained relations that currently exist between some of the eastern and western Igbo communities of today.
Biafran Nigerian World Message Board-JAN. 6th 2004 Efulefu of Western Kind.
“… lately some misguided Igbo people of Anioma/Ibusa (in short Western Igbo stock), have been making anti-Igbo noises. I read that a group of 419 purporting to represent Anioma and all Western Igbo issued a statement disavowing their Igboness… If you are from Western Igboland and you no longer wish to consider yourself Igbo you have only one option. Pack your damned bags and leave otherwise we are coming!!!”
History not only records the common origins of the Egba and the Igbo but their common destiny as they are identified as two groups most devastated by the slave trade which is expressed in the following;
“The Egba have suffered more than any other nation in West Africa from the depredation of the slave trade.”

okokomeji:

History has told us from time to time "there is no fortune without crime." Call Rocha Okorocha, Nzeribe, Ojukwu, Jim Ovia, Jide Ofor, Don Etiebet where they all got their money?
If you think Abiola stole money, at least he spread the wealth around, a lot of Igbo people enjoyed his vast wealth and had money to send back to villages in the east. Sonny Okosun would testify if he was alive. He invested all his money in Nigeria and empowered more than 500,000 Nigerians in his time. You and I grew up hearing Abiola's soccer team, Abiola's concord airline, Abiola's newspaper, Abiola's Burec (battery's company) and Abiola's honeywell. If other greedy people who stacked our money in foreign banks could bring it back home to invest, we would be better off today.

okokomeji:

@Dede1 or Dull dee1 or dumbass-dee1 or Dundee-United1 or Dumb&daft1

To hell with you! Everybody is a thief, only those that sun rises on that are real thieves!
Arthur Nzeribe betrayed White investors and turned their fortune to his (You all danced galala and awilo music back then).
Jim Nwobodo stole our Powered generator for Surulere National stadium to east (Idiots like you, instead of telling him to take it back to South West where he stole it from; you all showered encomiums on him and even performed the masquerade dances too).
Rochas Okorocha stole money for eastern development and forever been in exile (Abuja).
Then, Ojukwu the foremost warmonger and fugitive criminal siphoned all the money given to him by French government during the Bia-failed war (he was the first Igboman to ride on Rolls Royce).
Bleep you and everything you stand for!
You claimed everyday you witnessed and fought in Biafran war and you think you know everything about. Mind you I lost my family too during your merciless coup.
On this same forum, not up to two weeks we have discussed more than ten topics concerning Yorubas, all you did was ranting and wabbling on us. What do you want? It’s not all postings you will have to comment and show your anger. If people reciprocate you back, you will play a race card of marginalization.
1) A spoof embossment of Wole Soyinka on five thousand naira note.
2) The speech Adekunle Fajuyi gave before he chose to die with his boss
3) To immortalize MKO Abiola
4) MEND destruction of Alcove depot
5) Yorubas are betrayer because they didn't support your Biafailed war. (Your insincerity makes you feel betrayed).

6) You said Adaka Boro is not an hero but a criminal. What would you call OJUKWU?
Your chicken has come home to roast, you said Igbo colluded with Hausas and Ijaws to create a region out of Western Region, so that would reduce western power. Then, because you had little Igbos among them, you want to enforce Igboness on these people (Ijaws) and they said no! Now, Adaka Boro was a criminal to you; but to all Ijaws he was their hero. You should know already that there are two things involved about Niger Delta (the oil and the geographical location will never let them accept any of your gimmicks to lure them as family.

All the above in reply to one post "Confirmation of Truth is Bitter"

Abiola deserves more than the national stadium in lagos, i believe abuja national stadium should be named after Abiola, because the man meant different things to our national facets, either politics, sports etc. this man sacrificed his life for the democracy we are enjoying NOW.

@Dede,pls I beg U,pay no mind to that idiot,the kid knows nothing.Pls just make Ur post like the idiot does't count or exists.

rhymz:

@Dede,pls I beg U,pay no mind to that idiot,the kid knows nothing.Pls just make Ur post like the idiot does't count or exists.

I have never, for once, responded to that deranged maggot. I can not lift myself to join issue with a piece of dirt.

Bros, you know very well that the truth tends to induce bitter flavor.