gidgiddy:
For some reason, Elechi Amadi never really understood that "Igbos" are actually a confederation of people who speak a similar language, practice a similar culture and have common surnames.

Had Elechi Amadi understood this he would have realised that Ikwerre people were no different from the people he was calling Igbo

tinz:
Let me start by saying am ikwerre and from a small town in present day imo State called umuohaka in a village called obile in imo State.

As i grew up i became more curious to know the history of my origin.

According to my dad. We and etche, elele, egbema, omoku and a few other regions in present day Rivers State share same local council and attended same primary school. When the while men came. They usually pass through a omoku down to ubumerin to awara to obile then back to egbema then finally end up in elele by hand carriers.

Although there's a slight difference between the centre igbo language and the ikwerre language but in general they are referred as Ibo.

After the war, a commission was set up by the military government to weaken the igbos through false propaganda and rewriting of its history​. That's is why you see names such as rumuokoma, rumukani instead of umuokoma and umukani. As the fear of victimisation grew after the war. People began to get used to such names which the younger generations got used to.

I have wondered why a place in IMO State speak ikwerre with majority of Rivers too.

As for those who do not read nor find out through history. The first oil well was discovered in present day imo State in 1949 in a small village called ASSA though could be of low commercial quantity but these are fact i have seen with my eyes.

I was really amazed knowing i speak same language with the rivers knowing i come from IMO then it occurred to me that the federal government is playing a divide and rule politics and the people are ignorantly falling for it.

The igbos should open their eyes and not let people divide them.

Oil has been the major cause of the divide. Even in my small village. Shell, Agip have really caused a lot of damage than good. They come, blow up the lands looking for oil when they eventually finds oil well or Gass they go ahead and bribe the few elders they people finds
Out this then lead to crisis.

Fremancipation:
To all wise Igbo people who know what this thread is trying to accomplish, I strongly urge you to avoid it. We have had this type of arguments a million times. It is not worth your time or energy. We have bigger fish to fry. Let those who have ears hear.

bigfrancis21:


You see that's because Ikwerre is an Igbo dialect. 100 years ago, just like Yoruba, the Igbo ethnic consciousness did not exist. Every Igbo speaking clan existed on its own and identified itself according to its clan. Then an Nnewi man would tell you he was Nnewi not Igbo, same for Awka etc. An example of this is that Igbo slaves that were taken to America were surprised to get there and were being called 'Igbo' by the whites and many of them mentioned that they had never heard that name before neither were they called that name back home. This was in the 1700s and 1800s. When these slaves were asked where they came from, they gave their respective village names - okigwe, okwelle, etc. Igbo is simply a collective name for all bia-speaking clans that speak dialects or variants of the same language. The Igbo ethnic consciousness was introduced by the British and reached its height circa the civil war and after the Igbos lost the civil war, some Igbo clans, especially those out of the SE zone, found it convenient to deny being Igbo to curry favour with the Nigerian government. As part of this denial process, they tried to come up with false histories of migration to 'support' their 'distinctness'. It would surprise you that the Ikwerres are mainly descendants of Arochukwu people, Orlu people and Awka people and the so-called Bini tale of migration was started recently, less than 5 years ago. After the civil war, Igbo land was dissected to remove oil-rich areas (for example a big village in imo state, egbema, was divided into two, the oil rich half was carved out of imo state into rivers and the oil-less part was left in imo state. Now oil divides a formerly united village. Going from egbema in imo state into egbema in rivers state, the half in imo tells you they are proud Igbos and the other half in rivers tells you they are not Igbos - and they are one village that shares a common ancestry) and the remaining areas were altogether called 'south east zone'. The Igbo clans outside this SE zone found it easy to deny being Igbo simply because they are not in the SE zone. In other words, for these people being inside/outside the SE zone became an identifier of who is Igbo or not, not the language spoken or the names borne. The Ikwerres, especially, in Rivers state propagated this distinctness the most, they changed their town names formerly in central Igbo (for the ease for many to understand) to their more native Ikwerre dialect equivalents still with the same meanings, just differences in dialectical spellings. Many stopped speaing Igbo with Igbos from other areas and feigned ignorance of the language and would only speak Igbo amongst themselves, even till today in PH.

Many do not realize that boundary lines are very artificial and can be easily adjusted. The solution to this problem is a simple one. For example, if Ndoni in Rivers state (speak similar dialects with Ukwuani of Delta state and are located close to the boundaries with Anambra) had been included in Anambra state since its creation, there would be no dissident voices amongst them about being Igbo or not. Or simply put, adjust boundary lines to include Egbema in rivers state, Etche and Ogba in rivers state etc. into Imo state where they linguistically belong, Ndoni in Rivers state to Anambra and Obigbo/Ndoki in Rivers state to Abia state where they linguistically belong and watch these people take on the new identity of their state. You would find out that being in a state can really shape the identity of the people within. If today the polity of Rivers state is dissolved, the identity of the people would be changed or modified, because the identity of the people within rivers state is what it is today simply because they are in Rivers state.

Finally, I think that this Ikwerre issue is being given more attention than is deserved. The Igbo bulk from the SE zone and parts of Delta Igbo have longed moved on since the civil war to create good names for themselves. However, the Ikwerres still seem to be stuck in the 1970s era when it was fashionable to deny being Igbo to increase your chances of being accepted by other Nigerians, getting a job in the civil service etc. Also, the Ikwerres have not moved along with the Igbos since the last 40 years in terms of collective consciousness and behavior. While the Igbos from the hinterland are more determined to work hard, the Ikwerres tend to be more laid-back in general attitude towards life. For this reason, you can count only a very few prominent Ikwerre people who are successful.

I like a significant part of the summations in your post.


I lived in PH and worked in the oil and gas industry from the 1990s.
I had and still have Ikwerre friends who say they are NOT Ibo.
Funnily one of my Ibo friends from Imo flew into a rage when I told him this
and he said "don't mind them, they are Ibo"... I was really amused
by his reaction!


I actually brought up this issue of Ikwerre names sounding Ibo to the knowledge of
my Ikwerre friends... and then I finally realised that there are people who bear Yoruba names
in parts of Ebiraland and some parts of Akoko-Edo who are NOT Yoruba but got
the Yoruba names via acculturation through trading and living close to one another
at the linguistic border areas.

[There are some communities in Edo State such as Usen Town, in Ovia South
West Local Government Area of Edo State, and Egbeta in Ovia North LGA,
whose ancestry is Yoruba from originally Ondo State with Edoid blood in Usen
as well. They constitute part of the larger Yoruba trading communities that
settled in Edo and Delta States]. Even Akure has a quarter called Ado-Akure
Quarters [who have Yoruba full names] but their ancestors came from Edo for
trading purposes centuries back as well.


"Elawure of Usen pays thank you visit to Gov. Adams Oshiomhole"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szuC28a68zw[1:58]
[i]Mar 12, 2016 - Uploaded by Independent Television and Radio

stinggy:

I've been reading silently, but this is just too absurd a claim.
Even though we never begged to be involved in this discussion of yours, come and substantiate your claim or were you thinking no one would see this?

Just before this, you were claiming Kwara & Kogi dialects are far from Central Oyo dialect. How many Okuns(Kogi) have you interacted with to type this rubbish? What part of Kwara were you speaking for (as the Kwara state has not just one Yoruba dialect)? - There's the central Oyo dialect which is spoken by Ilorin, Offa and some others, there's Igbomina dialect which is spoken in Omu-Aran, Ajase-Ipo, Esie, Oro, etc and some parts of Osun state. Which of the two is far from Central Yoruba?

gidgiddy:
For some reason, Elechi Amadi never really understood that "Igbos" are actually a confederation of people who speak a similar language, practice a similar culture and have common surnames.

Had Elechi Amadi understood this he would have realised that Ikwerre people were no different from the people he was calling Igbo

waternogetenemy:
A simple DNA test settles it once and for all time. Maybe alot of this claims should be settled via DNA test.

Bini dat could not make it across the River Niger are claiming Rivers State, isn't that funny. Even the Bini throne has its roots in Eze Nri.

Igbos brought kingship to the western region. (South west)

bigfrancis21:
You're a yoruba man, why do you carry Igbo matters on your head? What is your obsession with Igbos that nearly half of all your posts on nairaland are on Igbo matters?

BlakKluKluxKlan:
SHOCKING ROLLCALL OF Nigeria Communications Commission's (NCC) Executive Vice Chairman/CEOs:
1. Engr. C. IROMANTU (1993 to 1999)-6 years from SOUTH EAST. He employed 168 people. 149 from S/EAST.
2. Engr Emmanuel NNAMA (1999 to 2000) - 6months; from S/EAST. He employed 79 people. 66 from S/EAST.
3. Engr Earnest NDUKWE (2000 to 2010)- 10 years; from S/EAST. He employed 310 people. 288 from S/EAST.
4. Dr. Eugene JUWA (2010 to date) - 5 years; from S/SOUTH. He employed 188 people. 110 from S/SOUTH, 60 from S/EAST!
5. From 1993 till date ALL major Contractors, Consultants, Contracts & Intervention Capital Projects are 90% tilted in favour of S/EAST & S/SOUTH
6.This is a case of NO justice, neither fairness nor equity & lacking in good conscience.
7. More shocking revelations on many scandals in the NCC for the attention of Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.
When you look at the set up of Federal Agencies and parastatals, 80% of their CEOs are from SE and SS, yet we are still talking of Marginalization!

gidgiddy:
For some reason, Elechi Amadi never really understood that "Igbos" are actually a confederation of people who speak a similar language, practice a similar culture and have common surnames.

Had Elechi Amadi understood this he would have realised that Ikwerre people were no different from the people he was calling Igbo

0m0nnakoda:

Elechi was right

HopeAtHand:


Forget about Wikipedia, anyone can write anything there.

gidgiddy:
For some reason, Elechi Amadi never really understood that "Igbos" are actually a confederation of people who speak a similar language, practice a similar culture and have common surnames.

Had Elechi Amadi understood this he would have realised that Ikwerre people were no different from the people he was calling Igbo

Miracle1991:
Land grabbers no go ever change. Now they want to grab Lagos, they have started calling Lagos noman's land.

omonnakoda:

Ibos have been very busy rewriting Ikwerre and Port Harcourt history on Wikipedia

Why have Ikwerre allowed that?

lyricalpontiff:
Do you know that an Igbo man was mayor of port harcourt for years?
God in heaven saved us from the evil plot of these igbo people.
They almost put Aba inside Rivers state infact Aba was the de facto capital of Rivers State.

Biafman:
A MUST READ: "We Are Igbos, But Denied Igbo Because Of Biafran War" Says Ikwerre Youths

By Adiele Samuel
Ikwerre youths have said that according to history, the people of Ikwerre are actually Igbos. The youths, in an epistle signed by one of their leaders, Adiele Samuel said that the reason why they were forced to

deny their Igbo roots was to avoid being shortchanged in Nigeria during and after the Civil War.

Read for yourself: “We the youths of Ikwerre extraction, Elele, Ubima, Isiokpo, Ogbakiri, Omademe, Obiri Ikwerre, Rumuigbo, Rumuola, Rumukurushi, Rumuokoro, etc wish to make known our position as regards to Biafra movement.

The Ikwerre is a sub group of Igbo in the Niger Delta headquartered in Isiokpo Ancient Kingdom, we are some time classified as a separate ethnic group in Rivers State, if you call us Igbo you are not wrong and if you call us Ikwerre you are equally not wrong.

There are reasons behind the creation of Rivers State, one was to frustrate the Biafran dream and two was to divide the Igbo ethnic group being regarded as separatist tribe.

The division of old Eastern Nigeria no doubt was based on popular demands by the non Igbo speaking communities due to fear of marginalization, loosing their identity and other lies peddled by Nigeria Government.

When Rivers State was carved out from the east, there was need to divide the Igbo, on the process, part of Igbo communities were carved into Rivers State which resulted to identity crises, as some started rewriting the Ikwerre history to please the North.

The name Ikwerre is as if you are asking a question and then someone from Imo State replies you “Nkwerre” which is an LGA in the State.

The problem of most of our youth is that they rely on what their grand fathers told them without studying wide. In Eli kwerre, if you have not married from Imo you are not in line, most Ikwerre wives are Imolites and we speak Igbo even more than some Igbos who claims to be original Igbo.

The identity crisis in Rivers State started immediately after the war, some claim Bini origin, notable of them is Elechi Amadi the author of the Concubine, in all his books has promoted the Igbo culture but in a surprised move denounced his Igboness before Justice Oputa who reminded him of his Igbo names and Igboid language, No Igbo speaks the same. We can not admit our Igbo identity except during elections like Amaechi”. Ikwerre Meka

http://www.igberetvnews.com/28323