ijaw citizen: As always, the major problem of the Igbos has always been lack of comprehension. Pls point out to us what is Igbo about these people from the links provided above.

Just take note that I will always look past your insults and ignorant statements because I am above you, all of you.

Here's your link and what is inside.

www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73722:nwaotam-masquerade-in-opobo-kingdom&catid=74:arts&Itemid=683

THE origin of Nwaotam Masquerade in Opobo
Kingdom is traced to Ndoki people of South-eastern
Nigeria in the present Abia State of Nigeria.
Traditions indicate that the Ndoki people have had
long time relationships with the Ibani people of
Bonny and Opobo. In fact, historical documents
claim that the Ndoki founding fathers were migrants
from Ijaw as the founding fathers of Bonny.
Apparently, since the founding of Bonny, the Ibani
people have always travelled upstream through the
Imo river to the Azumini area for trades, cultural
and social interactions.
The Nwaotam cult emerged from the deity of
ancient Ibani people called the Ottam people. These
people were brought in mostly to satisfy the
Europeans’ quest for human commodities in the
18th and 19th century.
According to the memories of late captain High
Crow of Liverpool (1791: P 201) who visited Bonny
for trade, “the Ottam tribe are stout and robust and
of a deeper black than any other tribes at Bonny.
Their bodies and face are carved and tattooed in a
frightful manner.”
[b] The Ottams were not only notable for the worship of
spirits they called ‘Mmoh’(Igbo); but were also brought
into Bonny as adults, therefore the description
‘Ottam Mmku’(Igbo) was made popular in Bonny. It was
also in this line, that their working strength, tribal
marks and rascality gave them another local
phrase, Ottam Ahiriha(Igbo).
The Ibani tradition has it that the Nwa-Ottam(Igbo)
originated from a dark mythical grove in Mkpajekiri
around Ohambele Ndoki(Igbo). By this time, the Ndoki
native, which included the Ottam tribes men, had
started serving this ‘Mmoh’(Igbo) gods believed to be
heterosexual; and would organise dance during a
season of the year.
Those dances were mostly organised based on age
grade systems; and after several years, the deities’
head was changed to masquerade head of the
Nwaotam.
The nucleus of the Nwaotam masquerade at that
time metamorphosed into a cult, because this
domestic deity at Ndoki had acquired a great deal of
ritual authority. It was at these instances that
Opobo people of the Captain Uranta family adopted
the cult of Nwaotam called ‘Ntuma Mkpa’(Igbo) and then
ferried the male native original totem (mummified
Nwa-ottam head) through Azumini(Igbo) river to Imo river,
then to Queen town by 1920 on the authority and
assistance of King Arthur Mac Pepple, the then
Amanyenabo of Opobo kingdom.

Abagworo:

I'm Oru myself from Oguta incase you didn't know. And what I wrote about the Oru is something I know very well about.

Then obviously you don't even know what you are!
Just type "ORU PEOPLE" on google and tell us how it feels to know that you're an Igbo man with Ijaw ancestry.

ijaw citizen: Then obviously you don't even know what you are!
Just type "ORU PEOPLE" on google and tell us how it feels to know that you're an Igbo man with Ijaw ancestry.

That's the problem most Nigerians have. Oru is different from Igbo and Ijaw as the later was a recent creation. Some Oru's are in present day Ijaw while others are in present day Igbo and Igala. Oru is more ancient than all. What I just wrote is an oral tradition in my family and not based on google.

Yeah you're right, Oru is more ancient than Igbo & Ijaw yet Oru is the same as Ijaw .
Oru 〓 Ijaw
http://www.earthrights.net/nigeria/history.html

ijaw citizen: Yeah you're right, Oru is more ancient than Igbo & Ijaw yet Oru is the same as Ijaw .
Oru 〓 Ijaw
http://www.earthrights.net/nigeria/history.html

I was reading an article titled “Press release by Ijaws of
Egbema Clan: Rejoinder”, and I was particularly
interested in sections that dealt with the history of the
Ijaws and our neighbours.
It is the duty of historians to investigate and arrive at the truth concerning the history of peoples. In truth the
history of the Ijaws and our neighbours the Itsekiris,
Urhobos, Binis, Edos, Yorubas and Igbos are intertwined
as we go further back in time. And it is because
historians have not come to terms with this fact, that
people can make claims and counter-claims as to who
owns the land, and who arrived in a region first.


@bolded. In the past inside what we now call Ijaw territory, Igbo territory, Yoruba territory etc people were speaking different languages and living alongside one another. The evidences still exist till today. As at then we were not asked to choose ethnicity. It was this hard choice of choosing ethnicity that brought about all these ethnic crisis to Africa. Some Orus live as far inland as Ideato in Imo State while some Igbos lived as far down south as Bonny. Sometimes these people were accepted and absorbed into the communities but their roots remained traceable. So today when you find yourself in an ethnic territory then you belong to that ethnic group but your history remains with you about your origin.

7842I: Ijaws are people that water carried from Igbo lands river shores like fishermen whose boats capsized or thieves and murderers thrown into the river to die and the river carried them far, banged their heads on the mangrove roots and they fell unconscious, when they woke up they forgot how to speak Igbo language.

Ijaw is to Igbo what Australia was to the British in the olden days.

Lwtmb what a clown you are I enjoyed joke though, happy easter.

bashr8: ijaws are ijaws , igbos are igbos , we dont claim them and they dont claim us ,goodnight

Where have you been? It's been long!

Abagworo:

I was reading an article titled “Press release by Ijaws of
Egbema Clan: Rejoinder”, and I was particularly
interested in sections that dealt with the history of the
Ijaws and our neighbours.
It is the duty of historians to investigate and arrive at the truth concerning the history of peoples. In truth the
history of the Ijaws and our neighbours the Itsekiris,
Urhobos, Binis, Edos, Yorubas and Igbos are intertwined
as we go further back in time. And it is because
historians have not come to terms with this fact, that
people can make claims and counter-claims as to who
owns the land, and who arrived in a region first.

I gave you this link not for you to find out how INTERTWINED our histories were but to FIND OUT WHO THE ORUS REALLY ARE, but here you are trying to change the topic. Nice try!

Abagworo: @bolded. In the past inside what we now call Ijaw territory, Igbo territory, Yoruba territory etc people were speaking different languages and living alongside one another. The evidences still exist till today. As at then we were not asked to choose ethnicity. It was this hard choice of choosing ethnicity that brought about all these ethnic crisis to Africa.

I don't know if you realize how contradictory your statement is sounding to our ears?

As for the "ethnic crises in Africa part" you're trying to imply that it was the difficulty in people trying to choose their ethnicity that brought about Ijaw/Itsekiri crisis, Tutsi/ Hutus crisis( Rwanda genocide), and all other ethnic crises in africa?
You just keep exposing yourself, don't you?

Abagworo: Some Orus live as far inland as Ideato in Imo State while some Igbos lived as far down south as Bonny.

While it is true that Orus (Ijaws) founded those areas in Imo state, same CAN NOT be said of Igbos foundind communities in Bonny or Opobo. Till today, there are no Igbo communities there, none of the Ancestral Families there are Igbos and there are no INDIGENOUS igbo people there. If you think there are, pls point them out.

Abagworo: Sometimes these people were accepted and absorbed into the communities but their roots remained traceable. So today when you find yourself in an ethnic territory then you belong to that ethnic group but your history remains with you about your origin.

What you need to understand here is that, so far people interact with each other, the movement of people ACROSS BORDERS is inevitible, but the ethnic borders remain essentially intact no matter what and that is what counts.

Abagworo:

Here's your link and what is inside.

www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=73722:nwaotam-
masquerade-in-opobo-
kingdom&catid=74:arts&Itemid=683

Yeah I read the link too and here are the facts presented
1. Nwaotam masquerade is of Ndoki origin and Ndoki people are Ijaw people engulfed by the Igbos. The closest relatives of the Ndoki people being the Ibani Ijaws ( natives of Bonny & Opobo) kept/maintained ties with the Ndoki people since earliest times when they (Ndoki) were still Ijaw speaking up till now even though Ndoki is now Igbo speaking.

Digressing a little bit to clarify some aspersions: It is the Ndoki people who come to Bonny and Opobo at will (though not as natives, their native land is Ndoki land) that constiitute the majority of the Igbo speaking population in Bonny and Opobo who still consider them as the relatives while the larger Ijaw people see Ndokis as Igbos.

2. It was in 1920, ( a relatively recent date) that the Captain Uranta family of Opobo brought (purchased actually) the masquerade and its dancers to Opobo and later to Bonny

3. Nwaotam masquerade didn't attempt to prove an Igbo origin for the Bonny/Opobo people unless you're trying to say Bonny & Opobo were founded in 1920. It only proves that Ijaws INTERACTED with the Igbos just like we did and still do with all our neighbours.

SHALOM!

ezeagu:

No, the right word I was looking for was eclipses. I can move to Mars and find an aspect of Igbo presence/culture. That's why you're really angry.



You guys are suffering from millions of barrels worth of oil spillages, deal with that. The Nigerian state used you and dumped you, and yet again look at who you're angry at. The most comfortable/healthy/wealthy ethnic group in West Africa.



You should know the leader of Igbo-phone Opobo, ask him instead.



I can take a ride down to the very edge of the Atlantic Ocean and take a train all the way back to southern Benue and people will understand Igbo brilliantly, that's why you're really angry.

It is not surprising to me how your fellow Igbos are lauding your mediocrity, I'm really not surprised at all 'cos that is what they are good at.

ezeagu:

Are you not facing the brunt of oil pollution, some of the worst the world has ever seen? Are you not sitting down and taking it, the same way you can't even sit down and take an Igbo buying a home fairly in your lands with her own money? Are you not ridiculed as fishermen and creek people all over Nigeria now? Were you not the same people who aided the rest of Nigeria with the perceived destruction of the Igbo because you people couldn't figure out how to fairly rise to the same economic/cultural power?

Deep down an average Nigerian thinks of an Igbo as a threat to their personal wealth and, most importantly, their ego. The average Nigerian sees the Ijaw as canon-fodder for their war against the Igbo, that is why you were used and dumped, this is why Odi happened just a few years after you were capsizing Igbo women and children in lakes, but also why Col, Ojukwu, a rebel, could use his two legs to walk into a country he fought against for 3 years.

The thanks you get for "dealing with the Igbo" is evident in the life of Issac Adaka Boro. The thanks you deserve is in the legacy of Chevron and Shell.

Anyway back to the topic, every important "Ijaw" town is Igbo speaking. Wall, meet head.

The same Igbo mediocrity!

Abagworo:


What you succeeded in doing is still in support of my stand. Bonny and Ndoki are a mix of what we call Igbo and Ijaw today but Bonny went Ijaw way while Ndoki went Igbo way. But there's obviously more of Igbo in both going by the language and culture like Nwaotam and the terms used.

Is that what you read from the link or is it lack of comprehension?
www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73722:nwaotam-masquerade-in-opobo-kingdom&catid=74:arts&Itemid=683

Onlytruth:

I used to tackle you for being militant against Ijaw then, I have to say that I was wrong and you were (are) right. Please accept my apologies.

I believe that Jonathan is truly God-sent to Ijaw people, because if he is not as cool and wise as he is, he would never have even emerged Nigeria's president at all. Remember that it was Dora Akunyili that broke ranks with everybody, to openly call for him to be sworn in during the Yar adua absence. He has been remarkably wise and sane, unlike most Ijaw I've met on this forum.

Honestly, if Nigeria were to descend into another civil war, I would personally focus on our southern borders to the sea. Aboki would have the Northern minorities to worry about, even before getting to Igbo land. The civil war basically stole large swathes of Igbolands and tossed them into the control of unintelligent and ungrateful lots to our south. Every land of our ancestors must be retrieved back from ants claiming giant status because of mere accident of history.

The Ijaw fool here can continue his self delusion.

MORE OF THE NATURAL IGBO MEDIOCRITY!

Onlytruth: All the links provided by this Ijaw fool even shows that every place he refers to in Bonny and Opodo has Igbo heritage and even language.
The more he argues, the more he exposes the truth (though injuring himself in the process, lol. ).

Gone are the days when we will remove our eyes from our southern borders, only to be stabbed by ingrates.

ANOTHER IGBO MEDIOCRE!

WHEN MODERN AFRICAN ARE STRIVING TO DEVELOP THEMSELVES & CATCH UP WITH THE EVER-CHANGING DEVELOPING WORLD, SOME PRIMITIVE PEOPLE ARE THINKING OF HOW TO COVET IJAWLAND INTO THEIR "SOUTHERN BORDERS".

LET ME BREAK THE NEWS TO THEM,
AFRICANS ARE DONE BUILDING EMPIRES, I'M SURE YOU'VE HEARD OF OYO EMPIRE, BENIN EMPIRE, TIMBUKTU EMPIRE ETC, YEAH THEY WERE FASHIONABLE IN THOSE DAYS BUT NOT ANYMORE.

SOME YORUBA FOLKS IN OTHER THEADS ONCE SAID IGBOS' EVOLUTION PROCESS WAS CUT SHORT BY WESTERN CIVILIZATION, I THOUGHT HE WAS TOO GROSS BUT NOW I'M EXPERIENCING FOR MY SELF THAT IGBOS JUST ARRIVED AT THE PAST. PLS READ THIS AGAIN:

Onlytruth: Gone are the days when we will remove our eyes from our southern borders, only to be stabbed by ingrates.

LOLS!! MADNESS IN ITS HIGHEST ORDER!

Abagworo:

That's the problem most Nigerians have. Oru is different from Igbo and Ijaw as the later was a recent creation. Some Oru's are in present day Ijaw while others are in present day Igbo and Igala. Oru is more ancient than all. What I just wrote is an oral tradition in my family and not based on google.

http://www.earthrights.net/nigeria/history.html This link proves that Ijaws are the Oru people who are in fact the most ancient people in Southern Nigeria who inhabited the coastal parts (Niger Delta and the riverine areas of River Niger)

ijaw citizen: http://www.earthrights.net/nigeria/history.html This link proves that Ijaws are the Oru people who are in fact the most ancient people in Southern Nigeria who inhabited the coastal parts (Niger Delta and the riverine areas of River Niger)

Do you know that there are Olu/Oru settlements in Northern Anambra ? They claim to be the most authentic Igbo. For example,Oyi local goverment are Olu-Igbo. Yes,the lg where Chuba Okadigbo hail from. There is a phrase in Anambra that says "Olu na Igbo bu Ofu". How come you say Olu/Oru are originally Ijaw? I'm confused and mind you Olu/Oru people practice exactly the same traditions as Nri-Igbo. Please,you are not Olu/Oru! Your root isn't in Igboland nor even Nigeria. I don't know where you guys came from but don't claim us!

Odenigbo Aroli:

Do you know that there are Olu/Oru settlements in Northern Anambra ? They claim to be the most authentic Igbo. For example,Oyi local goverment are Olu-Igbo. Yes,the lg where Chuba Okadigbo hail from. There is a phrase in Anambra that says "Olu na Igbo bu Ofu". How come you say Olu/Oru are originally Ijaw? I'm confused and mind you Olu/Oru people practice exactly the same traditions as Nri-Igbo. Please,you are not Olu/Oru! Your root isn't in Igboland nor even Nigeria. I don't know where you guys came from but don't claim us!

@ BOLDED
No Igbo of Oru extraction ever claim to be the "most authentic igbos". On the contrary, they fully acknowledge that Igbos came from a farther eastern homeland to settle amongst them. That brought about the term "Oru na Igbo bu ofu"

As at today, they are FULLY integrated into Igboland and nobody is contesting that, yet they still insist on their Oru ancestry and still practice aspects of modern Oru (Ijaw) culture.

ijaw citizen:
@ BOLDED
No Igbo of Oru extraction ever claim to be the "most authentic igbos". On the contrary, they fully acknowledge that Igbos came from a farther eastern homeland to settle amongst them. That brought about the term "Oru na Igbo bu ofu"

As at today, they are FULLY integrated into Igboland and nobody is contesting that, yet they still insist on their Oru ancestry and still practice aspects of modern Oru (Ijaw) culture.

You are creating an unnecessary argument. I've told you previously that "Oru" people are older than Igbo, Ijaw and Igala but now exist as part of the 3. I have a feeling that you are one of those that assume riverine culture is exclusively Ijaw. I once took a friend of mine from Bayelsa to my village and he said we are not Igbos, that we are Ijaws. Guy you need some traveling to acquire more knowledge. I'm even sure an Oru in Ijaw will still tell you he is Oru before the Ijaw new creation. Nembe people were likely Oru people because they worshiped the same "Ogidi" that most Oru-Igbos worshiped.

Abagworo:

You are creating an unnecessary argument. I've told you previously that "Oru" people are older than Igbo, Ijaw and Igala but now exist as part of the 3.

Just to be clear, The Igala people have no relationship whatsoever to Oru. I'm emphasising once more to you and everyone reading this that the Orus are Ijaws and the Igbo groups claiming "Oru ancestry" are actually emphasising their non-Igbo ancestry.

Abagworo: I have a feeling that you are one of those that assume riverine culture is exclusively Ijaw. I once took a friend of mine from Bayelsa to my village and he said we are not Igbos, that we are Ijaws.

Stop creating the impression that Ijaws people see you guys as Ijaws, 'cos we don't. You guys are not the only riverine neighbours we're having so there is no way an Ijaw man will mistake you guys for Ijaws if not for any thing but for the fact that none of our riverine neighbours are having the 'Riverine Dexterity' of the Ijaw people.

Abagworo: Guy you need some traveling to acquire more knowledge. I'm even sure an Oru in Ijaw will still tell you he is Oru before the Ijaw new creation. Nembe people were likely Oru people because they worshiped the same "Ogidi" that most Oru-Igbos worshiped.

Just like I suspected, Abagworo does not know what he is saying or writing as the case may be. Oru is not an aspect of Ijaw people as you try to portray here. We Ijaws had always known ourselves to be Oru people. I can bet that the word "Oru" have no meaning whatsoever in mainstream Igbo or even amonst those Igbos claiming Oru. I challenge you to produce the meaning of Oru in igbo language!

Yes, Nembe people are Oru people because they are Ijaw people not because of an insignificant deity called Ogidigan (which you called Ogidi). Ogidigan was a deity purchased by a town in Nembe, it is NOT the diety of the entire Nembe people. Ogidigan is not even of Igbo origin, it is of Itsekiri origin. The deity along with its priest and worshippers were brought to Nembe where they stay for a while before they were driven out for attempt to establish an 'Itsekiri Kingdom' in the heart of Ijaw land (something they accomplished in the western Ijaw kingdoms of Ogbe Ijoh, Gbaramatu & Egbeama.)

They probably ascaped to northwards to Oru-Igbo to imposed Ogidi on them. Hope you've learnt something new today?
Shalom!

ijaw citizen: Just to be clear, The Igala people have no relationship whatsoever to Oru. I'm emphasising once more to you and everyone reading this that the Orus are Ijaws and the Igbo groups claiming "Oru ancestry" are actually emphasising their non-Igbo ancestry. Stop creating the impression that Ijaws people see you guys as Ijaws, 'cos we don't. You guys are not the only riverine neighbours we're having so there is no way an Ijaw man will mistake you guys for Ijaws if not for any thing but for the fact that none of our riverine neighbours are having the 'Riverine Dexterity' of the Ijaw people. Just like I suspected, Abagworo does not know what he is saying or writing as the case may be. Oru is not an aspect of Ijaw people as you try to portray here. We Ijaws had always known ourselves to be Oru people. I can bet that the word "Oru" have no meaning whatsoever in mainstream Igbo or even amonst those Igbos claiming Oru. I challenge you to produce the meaning of Oru in igbo language!

Yes, Nembe people are Oru people because they are Ijaw people not because of an insignificant deity called Ogidigan (which you called Ogidi). Ogidigan was a deity purchased by a town in Nembe, it is NOT the diety of the entire Nembe people. Ogidigan is not even of Igbo origin, it is of Itsekiri origin. The deity along with its priest and worshippers were brought to Nembe where they stay for a while before they were driven out for attempt to establish an 'Itsekiri Kingdom' in the heart of Ijaw land (something they accomplished in the western Ijaw kingdoms of Ogbe Ijoh, Gbaramatu & Egbeama.)

They probably ascaped to northwards to Oru-Igbo to imposed Ogidi on them. Hope you've learnt something new today?
Shalom!

Well,the Olu we have in Anambra has no relation whatsoever to the Ijaw,however,in northern Anambra there is an Igbo town known as Ojor and they are famous for their water skills in that Omanbala river area but they are Igbo just like Aguleri and Umuleri. Again,the Olu of Anambra has absolutely nothing in common with Ijaw and yes they know they are Igbo just like Nri,Onicha and Adagbe. There is nothing that connects them to Ijaw people. Not their culture,traditions nor history. They are not Ijaw ! Get it in your thick skull,dude. Danm!

And if I may ask you; What are the examples of a "modern" olu culture? I'm saying this because I have relatives at Ogbunike,which is an Olu town and I know their traditions very well.

I challenge you to produce the meaning of Oru in igbo language!

(Different pronunciations)
Oru - slave
Oru - work
Oru - a foreign/strange/faraway town

Ijaw Citizen, you are representing the nationalistic "Ijaw" side of this discussion. Your familiarity is with nationalistic "Ijaw" and not nationalistic "Igbo". To that effect, I really do believe you should calm down and simply learn to engage in discussion as opposed to trying to argue things with people. Honestly, you have no real grounds for disagreeing with or arguing with someone else on something you would have limited to no familiarity with.

That said, I'm not trying to argue with you. I am just telling you straight-forward...Oru has an actual meaning in Igbo language, being "marsh land" or "riverine". In Anambra area, the dialectal variant is Olu. Oru/Olu are used by Imo and Anambra people respectively to refer to those who indigenously live by river Niger, nearing the delta and other connecting rivers/marsh lands. Oru/Olu is also not a "nickname" for these Igbo groups, but rather it is the name that these people have since indigenously know themselves by.

Take note: This is not something for you to argue. This is just me sharing knowledge as a representative of a side which you are unfamiliar with.

Ala Ngwa lee! You have spoken well.

The Olu/Oru people are just like the Ngwa of southern Igbo but we share identical culture and traditions but they are more related to the Aguleri/Umuleri than they are to Nri and never claimed claimed any dinstiction. Pete Edochie is an Olu/Oru.

Odenigbo Aroli: Ala Ngwa lee! You have spoken well.

The Olu/Oru people are just like the Ngwa of southern Igbo but we share identical culture and traditions but they are more related to the Aguleri/Umuleri than they are to Nri and never claimed claimed any dinstiction. Pete Edochie is an Olu/Oru.

You're going to have to explain this part to me. I'm not sure I follow your comparison here.

ChinenyeN:

You're going to have to explain this part to me. I'm not sure I follow your comparison here.

The "Olu" have a dialect that varies from the accepted Anambra standard Igbo,they still practice some of the most ancient Eri-Awka traditions that are not found in Idenmili but they are still Igbo. They have their distinct like culture,though similar to the Idenmilis because of the Nri presence but they are as Igbo as it gets. I believe Ngwa is an Igbo group with such mild distinction tthat is obtainable in all parts of Igboland. I hope this helps.

Oh okay. That helps. Thank you.

Odenigbo Aroli:

Well,the Olu we have in Anambra has no relation whatsoever to the Ijaw,however,in northern Anambra there is an Igbo town known as Ojor and they are famous for their water skills in that Omanbala river area but they are Igbo just like Aguleri and Umuleri. Again,the Olu of Anambra has absolutely nothing in common with Ijaw and yes they know they are Igbo just like Nri,Onicha and Adagbe. There is nothing that connects them to Ijaw people. Not their culture,traditions nor history. They are not Ijaw ! Get it in your thick skull,dude. Danm!

Its funny how you call them OLU in the original igbo accent, other igbo variations being Ohu and Orlu, all typical igbo pronounciations for Oru which is clearly not of igbo origin. I'm not making any claims that the Oru igbos are not making themselves.
1. They were not of igbo origin but welcomed igbos who migrated from a further eastern location, probably Nri igbo hence the saying "oru na igbo bu ofu" and today they are fully integrated into igboland yet still maintain their oru ancestry.

2. Since they have been Igbonized for a far longer time than the Ndoki Ijaws, very few aspects of their ancient oru culture still bleeds thru' in contemporary times eg the Owu masquerades. I'm sure you have no idea what Owu masquerades are but you might get a clue when you read the page titled 'Ijaw People' on wikipedia.org/ijaw_people .

3. This attitude of rejecting an ijaw origin for these igbo people is primarily borne out of erroneous histories of ijaw origin held & told by igbo people. what ChinenyeN would call Nationalistic Igbo View I've heard lots of igbo account ranging from ijaws being "european porters" thru' "boat people" who followed the europeans from ghana into a niger delta originally dominated by igbos, and other nonsense stories. Even a repected igbo historian K.O Dike actually postulated that Ijaws were pushed to the coast by the southward expansion of the Igbos.

4. Igbos were the ones who are 'Google Engineering' non-existent histories/stories of ijaw clans having igbo ancestry and being founded by igbos, but in the real sense the reverse is the case as evident in the Oru igbos.

Igbos should humble themselves and learn the true history of the ijaws who have been proven to be the the most ancient people in southern nigeria before you claim us as "our closest eastern neighbours" as if ijaws were only found in the eastern reigon.

ChinenyeN: Ijaw Citizen, you are representing the nationalistic "Ijaw" side of this discussion. Your familiarity is with nationalistic "Ijaw" and not nationalistic "Igbo". To that effect, I really do believe you should calm down and simply learn to engage in discussion as opposed to trying to argue things with people. Honestly, you have no real grounds for disagreeing with or arguing with someone else on something you would have limited to no familiarity with.

That said, I'm not trying to argue with you. I am just telling you straight-forward...Oru has an actual meaning in Igbo language, being "marsh land" or "riverine". In Anambra area, the dialectal variant is Olu. Oru/Olu are used by Imo and Anambra people respectively to refer to those who indigenously live by river Niger, nearing the delta and other connecting rivers/marsh lands. Oru/Olu is also not a "nickname" for these Igbo groups, but rather it is the name that these people have since indigenously know themselves by.

Take note: This is not something for you to argue. This is just me sharing knowledge as a representative of a side which you are unfamiliar with.

Thank you very much Chinenye. You just summarized everything I've been trying to explain to your people, except the part where you fail to admit that Oru is Ijaw.

As for the meaning of Oru in Igbo languages as provided by your brother Odumchi,

odumchi: (Different pronunciations)
Oru - slave
Oru - work
Oru - a foreign/strange/faraway town

Please which of the following do the Oru igbos see themselves as? I'm asking not to argue with you but in humility so as to learn from you just as you've asked me to.

Shalom!

ijaw citizen:
Thank you very much Chinenye. You just summarized everything I've been trying to explain to your people, except the part where you fail to admit that Oru is Ijaw.

As for the meaning of Oru in Igbo languages as provided by your brother Odumchi, Please which of the following do the Oru igbos see themselves as? I'm asking not to argue with you but in humility so as to learn from you just as you've asked me to.

Shalom!

As an Oru-Igbo myself, I've told you that we are not Ijaws but there definitely exists some shared culture because of the proximity. The Owu maquerade exists in almost the entire Imo State from the Isuama area to Oratta and Oru area and Southern Abia-Ngwa/Ndoki and Igbo speaking Rivers-Ikwerre/Etche/Ogba/Ndoni. Like I've always told those interested, ethnic groups in Nigeria were not exactly this way in the distant past. Oru people range from Igala area through Igbo and then Ijaw. Oru in Igbo means riverine. The reason why Ijaws have recently started trying to make Oru an exclusively Ijaw thing is because of one book where a European writer erroneously referred to all Orus as Ijaw because he didn't research thoroughly. All Orus are not Ijaw and all Ijaws are not Oru. At least we all know that Jaja of Opobo was "Isu" from Amaigbo. Same applies to Igbo and Igala.

Ijaw Citizen, before I give an actual response, I'd like to address something I saw in your response to Odenigbo Aroli.

ijaw citizen: Its funny how you call them OLU in the original igbo accent, other igbo variations being Ohu and Orlu, all typical igbo pronounciations for Oru which is clearly not of igbo origin.

If I am to be blatant, I would tell you that you are actually mistaken. The terms you've mentioned above are not synonymous (they are not variations of one another).

Orlu (pronounced "aw-lugh" ) is the name of a people in Imo state, who are part of the Isu group.

Ohu (pronounced "oh-huu" ) is an Igbo word used to describe something along the lines of 'indentured servants'.

Oru (pronounced "oh-ruu" ) is, as I explained earlier, the name of a people who indigenously reside along the river Niger. Oru ("oh-ruu" ) also is an actual Igbo word with an actual meaning, being "marsh land" or "riverine".

As you can see, it was wrong of you to equate those three together as being synonymous. Orlu is not a pronunciation for "Oru". Orlu and Oru are two different groups (they consider themselves distinct from one another) in Imo state, and they actually live contiguous to one another. They are immediate neighbors who share a border.

I hope now we are on the same page as to the differences between Ohu, Orlu and Oru.

ijaw citizen: Thank you very much Chinenye. You just summarized everything I've been trying to explain to your people, except the part where you fail to admit that Oru is Ijaw.

The bolded phrase is showing me that you may not have fully understood my statement.
See below...

ChinenyeN: That said, I'm not trying to argue with you. I am just telling you straight-forward...Oru has an actual meaning in Igbo language, being "marsh land" or "riverine". In Anambra area, the dialectal variant is Olu. Oru/Olu are used by Imo and Anambra people respectively to refer to those who indigenously live by river Niger, nearing the delta and other connecting rivers/marsh lands. Oru/Olu is also not a "nickname" for these Igbo groups, but rather it is the name that these people have since indigenously know themselves by.

This above explanation was in no way to state whether Oru people are "Ijaw" or "Igbo". Instead, the only reason for that explanation was because you earlier claimed that the term "Oru" had no meaning in Igbo language, which was an assertion I aimed to promptly correct. Now, I can understand and respect that you, as an Ijaw nationalist (that is what your behavior shows me), are maintaining the nationalistic "Ijaw" stance. Nevertheless, I cannot, in my right mind, "admit that Oru is Ijaw". That does not make sense to me. In fact, I find that bolded statement "failed to admit that Oru is Ijaw" to be very inconsiderate and needlessly quarrelsome, in the sense that it is neglectful and unnecessarily one-sided.

ijaw citizen: As for the meaning of Oru in Igbo languages as provided by your brother Odumchi, Please which of the following do the Oru igbos see themselves as? I'm asking not to argue with you but in humility so as to learn from you just as you've asked me to.

Shalom!

The answer is none of those. Oru Igbo see themselves as "Riverine", which is what their name actually means. The name "Oru" for the Oru Igbo is different from the "oru" for work, slaves or foreign, strange or faraway town.

I honestly do believe that when it comes to this discussion of "Oru", you are overstretching your claims.

Abagworo:

As an Oru-Igbo myself, I've told you that we are not Ijaws but there definitely exists some shared culture because of the proximity. The Owu maquerade exists in almost the entire Imo State from the Isuama area to Oratta and Oru area and Southern Abia-Ngwa/Ndoki and Igbo speaking Rivers-Ikwerre/Etche/Ogba/Ndoni.

It seems you guys are just bent on countering everything I say even when we're saying the same thing. I've never said Oru-Igbos are Ijaw people, all I've been saying is that they have Ijaw roots (ancestry). We all know that they WERE not Igbos initially but have now evolved into the larger Igbo Nation.

Abagworo: Like I've always told those interested, ethnic groups in Nigeria were not exactly this way in the distant past. Oru people range from Igala area through Igbo and then Ijaw. Oru in Igbo means riverine.

I have Igala friends, I've also read an Igala history book, they have no relationship whatsoever with Oru people.

Oru is the ancestral name of a people who were previously not Igbos but now used CONNOTATIVELY as the description of the people indigenous to the lands around the River Niger. Oru is not the Igbo word for "riverine", it is only a descriptive word for the indigenous people living by the river niger. Igbo language(s) have specific words meaning "riverine".

Abagworo: The reason why Ijaws have recently started trying to make Oru an exclusively Ijaw thing is because of one book where a European writer erroneously referred to all Orus as Ijaw because he didn't research thoroughly.

Different colonial writers identified Ijaws as Orus, not "ONE BOOK". Here are some few compilation of such quotes

"... The early British explorers applied the curious name
"ORU" to the Ijo west of Brass from the Nun entrance to
Taylor creek, Dr Baikie said of them in 1854. 'From the
mouth of the river (NUN) up to this point (TAYLOR
CREEK), the country on either side is named ORU. The
people are of the same tribe as who inhabit the tract of
country up to the Rio Formoso where however they are
called EJO or OJO by which name they are known at Abo,
at Brass and even Bonny, by English palm oil traders.
They are often termed Jo-men. Throughout this district
but one language is spoken with but little dialectical
difference....Dr Bakie does not explain where he got the
name Oru as the appropriate term for Ijaw. the word
means "a God" in Nembe and it is clear the explorer did
not get it from a Nembe source….In 1906 Major Arthur
Glyn Leonard listed a number of tribes of the Delta,
distinguishing an Oru as well as an Ijo tribe..."The Oru
occupy the tract of country on each side of the Nun
branch of the Niger and along the coastline between it
and the Ramos river. Then in the triangle formed by the
Nun and the Gana-Gana, also outside it, to a small extent,
both eastward and westward, dwell the Ijo the most
important tribe in the lower Delta, and indeed after the
Ibo in the whole of Southern Nigeria..."[1]
“..About three hours from Sunday Island, we came to
inhabited villages; we induced two canoes to come off,
from who we learnt that the people between Brass and
Aboh are called Oru…”[2]
“….July 2:…Some of the neighbouring chiefs of Oru came
off, with whom we had conversation about legal
trade…”[3]
“…November 3: weighed early this morning, and
anchored of Agberi, the first Oru village below the Aboh
district…”[4]
“…The Oru or Ijo or Udso of Koelle are identical with
Brass, at the mouth of the Nun on the coast, otherwise
called Hebu or Nempe by their Ibo neighbours. This
language is spoken to the extent of 100 miles from the
mouth of the Nun, to the boundary of Abo territory: how
far inland towards Benin, on the right and towards the
Ibo country on the left is yet unknown…”[5]

It is now clear to everyone that these writers didn't write in error, they wrote what they learnt from the people they interacted with. The error in question is the fact that they (european writers) were not informed that some of the people they thought were Igbos were in fact of Oru (ijaw) ancestry. They were also not informed that the Ijaws as far westwards as Arogbo in Present day Ondo statte are also Orus, probably because they didn't ask. They only asked about the surrounding as described above.

Abagworo: All Orus are not Ijaw and all Ijaws are not Oru. At least we all know that Jaja of Opobo was "Isu" from Amaigbo. Same applies to Igbo and Igala.

At least we now know better that all Orus are NOT ijaws but ALL IJAWS ARE ORUS.

I really don't know where yyou got that Igala crap from