afam4eva:

@eastofwest
You people have to understand that just as Ikwerre has it's own unique culture(names, food etc) different from the greater Igbos, so does Ngwa, Owerri, Asaba, Onitsha and co have their own unique culture. Or are you insinuating that all Igbos in the south-east speak alike?

In the interview with President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ralph Uwechue, published in the Daily Sun March 10, the President was asked what efforts he was making to unite Igbo in Rivers and Delta states, he said: “First of all, it should be understood that these factions who now deny the fact they are Igbo did so only after the civil war; take for instance the Ikwerre people… fully identified with us during the pre-civil war era but because the Igbo lost the civil war, a kind of stigma was smeared on them making a lot of people to start adjusting their names to sound less Igbo…”. This statement is misleading and not correct.

First of all, Ikwerre is not Igbo. We have made this clear even before the civil war and that was why some Igbo accused Ikwerre of sabotage during the war. Second, in all efforts by the minorities in the former Eastern region to agitate for their own political, social and economic recognition and liberty in the Eastern region and Nigeria at large, Ikwerre participated fully: hence, the late Chief E. J. A. Oriji and others represented Ikwerre before and during most of the conferences set up to address the fears of the minority ethnic groups in Nigeria. Third, in May 1963, Ikwerre people formed the Ogbakor Ikwerre Convention to state that Ikwerre is a distinct ethnic group from any others in Nigeria. Fourth, in the 1964/65 elections into the Federal House of Representatives, National Council of Nigeria and the Camerouns (NCNC) nominated an Igbo man named Mr. Eluguronu to represent Ikwerre in the House. Ikwerre rejected it and fielded young Nwobidike Nwanodi as an independent candidate and he won. Fifth, Ikwerre’s participation in all the movements for the creation of COR and later Rivers States clearly shows Ikwerre’s rejection of been Igbo.

Let the point be made that right from about the 16th century, the Igbo has been in touch with Ikwerre (through slave trade, Arochuku activities, goods trading, hiring of labour for farm work, marriages and politics) and had always wanted to dominate, colonise and take over Ikwerre at all cost and by all means possible. This is natural especially where the dominated people are better endowed than the colonising power, coupled with the ever tendency of a bigger group to swallow a smaller one and whenever the latter refuses, the former resorts to cheap propaganda. That is exactly what Chief Uwechue and Ohanaeze Ndigbo are bent on doing to Ikwerre. In this unholy enterprise, they appear confused: for example, while some of them claim that Ikwerre sabotaged the Biafra project, Uwechue has said that Ikwerre did not. Truly, Ikwerre did not, just like every other minority ethnic group in the former Eastern region. How could we when the Igbo were in absolute control of the region? So, we fought for Biafra. When another colonising super power (Nigerian forces) arrived, Ikwerre had no option than to surrender and cooperate with them. Hence, Ikwerre actually fought the war on and for both sides.

After the war, some of the ill activities of the Igbo in Ikwerre were corrected. In the case of names, the Igbo first changed the original Ikwerre names into Igbo names in an attempt to force Ikwerre to become Igbo. So at the end of the war, some Ikwerre decided to assert their original names; hence, Igirita was changed to Igwuruta, Isoba was changed to Choba, Amaweke was changed to Rumuokwuta, etc. Even individuals suffered the same humiliation when their names were forcefully changed from Ovunda to Obinna for example. Even the original name of the Ikwerre ethnic group, which is Iwheruoha was changed to Ikwerre by the Igbo. Some names have been retained (like my surname) to reflect part of the Ikwerre colonial journey, just like a Yoruba Nigerian bearing the name Matthew. Does this make the Yoruba man an English man? No!

On a more serious note, if the Igbo insists that Ikwerre is Igbo, they should provide concrete sociological and historical evidences to prove their case beyond the whimsical factors of appearance, language and name, which no longer can correctly and truly define a people in today’s world.

Henritwist:

greedy igbos, ikwerrans are nt igbo and can never b igbo. Y do u pple dnt allow ikwerri 2 rest, there must b a hiden agenda. Is ur land nt milk nd fertile? Then wat is ur problem. Enough of all dis

ChinenyeN:

NO. He will never get it, unless he comes to the understanding himself. Don't serve it to him on an open platter.

eastOFwest:

Guy leave matter, have you lived amongst Ikwerre's before? There's nothing in their demeanour, lifestyle or work ethic that suggests Igbo.

eastOFwest:

I want that open platter. Serve it to me, I no run.

eastOFwest:

Guy leave matter, have you lived amongst Ikwerre's before? There's nothing in their demeanour, lifestyle or work ethic that suggests Igbo.

Ngodigha1:

Quit being silly here. The Ikwerre are close to Riverine people and as a result have borrowed the riverine way of life. It is just as Aros are close to Ibibio and has some Ibibio traditions. Ikwerre people are 100% Igbo.

eastOFwest:

Going by your analogy - Nigerians, Ghanaians and Sierra Leonians speak English and bear English names, therefore we are English? Forget the language and name thing, investigate the culture and traditions. People might acquire names and lingua by close association or by being dominated.

dayokanu:


The bolded.

Some m0rons on the edo Thread claimed they can differentiate 2 Southern Nigerian by looks. What could be more id10tic.

pazienza:

Ikwerre tribe will not add anything special to the other tribes that chose to remain in the larger igbo nation,they are not that important,you guys should stop making them feel important,of more importance are those igbo people indigenious to bonny,they are the ones we should be talking about,they can give us access to the sea,ikwerre is landlocked,Ph is not an ikwerre city now,the okirika(ijaw) people have a stake in that city now,ikwerre's  oil wells are not that much now.Left for me,they should be allowed to stay,they are not important.

Btw,can anyone tell me more about those wonderful igbo people indigenious to bonny?

eastOFwest:

You can quite easily say too, that ikwerres are riverine poeple that are close to Igbos and as a result have borrowed some Igbo elements.

emmalexabl:

@poster, who are these ppl sef. .we all know that an average ikwere man is laziness personified and a liability if u happen to stay wit them. .they only know hw to sell land and rear goats, i fink hausas are even far better. .

naijaking1:

Tribe?
I guess you don't know the meaning of that word. Your so-called Ikwerre tribe was founded after the civil war the defeat of Biafra? What about Asaba tribe, Onitsha tribe, Nsukka tribe, and of course Enugu tribe

PStylish:

@All
So far I have come to understand the difference between mainland Yorubas and Igbos as regards their relationship with their people indigenous to states outside their geopolitical zone.

The Igbos
The Igbos find themselves in a desperate bid to associate themselves with Igbos outside the SE and claim them as brothers which they may actually be. They even go as far as claiming Edo state and even Yoruba.Only that in the latter case, they see us as the same people with different dialects.
But this attitude breeds suspicion.Why not let these outland Igbos be the ones shouting and spelling it loud and clear that they are Igbo. I have met many Delta Igbos who outrightly chastised me for calling them Igbo and warned me against making such mistake again.These guys - male and female -  bear pure Igbo names to the best of my understanding.

The Yorubas
Yorubas in the SW not give a rats arse what the Yorubas in Kwara, Kogi, Edo, Delta (Itsekiri) and Niger (Jebba) call themselves.
Infact it is these guys that keep sounding it loud and clear at the slightest opportunity that they Yorubas.
In our daily interactions with them, only 2 factors matter - their Yoruba names and their ability to speak Yoruba - for them to enjoy Yoruba benefits wherever whenever.
[b]As regards Awori not wanting to be Yoruba, [/b]I am hearing that for the first time on Nairaland.So funny. The interesting part of that "misyarn" is that Igbos have finally accepted that Lagos is not a no man's land,that it is owned by the Aworis only that the Aworis are not Yoruba.Very funny.
Lest I forget, I read a newspaper publication some months ago. It was a rejoinder from some Ilaje leaders.They had written to fault Olusegun Osoba on his wrong assertion that they were Ijaws. In doing this they went down history lane and asserted their Yorubaness in very strong terms.I was proud of that. This is how the non SE Igbos should be allowed to fight for their Igboness rather than have it forced down their throat by the mainlanders.
My close friend has told me several times we are not Yoruba.It is now left for me to tell him NO irrespective of whatever points he may have.
All Yorubas have dialects - from simple to undiscernible - but we all converge in the general Yoruba.

One love.

pazienza:

Dayo,ikwerre people are not too important to other igbo tribes,they are not the only igbo tribe with oil,Asa ,ndoni(anioma),egbema,ndoki tribes also have oil,but ndiigbo don't depend on oil,the most important igbo tribe today,are those igbos indigenious to bonny,they offer the igbo nation what we lack,ikwerre is landlocked.

osifred:

It is only the ibos dat force other pple to be dia clan men. haba we hav said we r nt part of ibo is it by force? am from Ogba in Rivers State n everyday i get to argue wit ibos abt dis. we may share certain cultural similarities buh dat doesnt mean we r ibo. tracing our ancestry history u wil discover we hav tieds with the Benin Kingdom nt ibo

nevertheless i stand to be correct if am wrong.

pazienza:

I reckon that ogbuehi francis ellah,tried his best to cure ogba people of this madness when he was still alive,well,the wise man is no more,and the madness has finally ravished you guys.

The goodnews is that Ogba has more to gain from igbo nation,than it has to offer,ndiigbo will not mis your backward town,ijaw people can find better thing to do with it,Ogba is landlocked

patriot2:

link=topic=866064.msg10153996#msg10153996 date=1328737758]
I get your point, If anyone says he isnt something just leave him alone and dont argue

if African Americans come tomorrow and say they dont have a link to Africa, it would be silly of me to start arguing with him and trying to convince him he is from Africa


If you are from Enugu and say you are not Ibo, na your palava be that, if you are from Ibadan and even have tribal marks yet say you are not Yoruba but norwegian, na you sabi

http://lubetube.com/video/Sexy-babe-Blond-Cat-slowly-strips-on-camera

patriot2:

link=topic=866064.msg10153996#msg10153996 date=1328737758]
I get your point, If anyone says he isnt something just leave him alone and dont argue

if African Americans come tomorrow and say they dont have a link to Africa, it would be silly of me to start arguing with him and trying to convince him he is from Africa


If you are from Enugu and say you are not Ibo, na your palava be that, if you are from Ibadan and even have tribal marks yet say you are not Yoruba but norwegian, na you sabi

http://lubetube.com/video/Sexy-babe-Blond-Cat-slowly-strips-on-camera

I understand where you are coming from,igbo people have no problem with ikwerre people trying to break away from the union,after all,without them,we are still doing well,what pains most of us is the lies they keep manufacturing,in their bid to run away from their shadow.

iiiyyyk:

 
ikwerre is 2 n half L G A in river state their major occupation is land selling.  Most of them are now tenants to      boys in PH.  

Nigerians make una no kill igbos too much success they  worry them.

igbos remember many will out of jealousy, hate and talk you down becouse you people are the most succesful ethnic nationality in nigeria.  base on your individual hard work not from national looting

dayokanu:


Co-signed.

Yorubas dont care if you are from ibadan and say you are not Yoruba, no one would fight youfor it.

Actually you would see many groups from Benin, Cuba, brazil, Sierra leone etc coming to say they are related to yoruba, Yorubas wont be going to claim them and actually fighting with them

But for Ibos its always like that.

Per your example. I have a friend whose whole family bear Ibo names like Chinyere, Ifeanyi, Nduka, Ugochukwu yet still tells me he is not Ibo that he is Ndokwa.

I have never heard any Ekiti, ilaje, Ijebu, Egba, Ijesha claim they are not Yoruba before

Huge difference

Word on the road abi word on the street?