the idomas have many igbo surnames. examples are onyekachi and okute.they have towns with igbo names e.g onicha igo. the title of their ruler,'ochi idoma is ogbo. it means ruler of the idomas. so my question is ,are they igbo?if they are not then why do they have traditional igbo names?

he he he heeee, another "igbo origin" thread

igbo people go do strike for nairaland o o o haba.

israel, then egypt, some say east africa, some even said afghanistan, usbekistan, lol

now idoma

others say the black americans are igbos, some say jamaicans . . igbo this, igbo that if no where they came from, it is where they went. haba
used to get me angry, then it got me mad, then makes me wonder, now it makes me laugh

Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia reveals that "Their ancestors are from Igboland", talking about the Idomas.

In my opinion, I do not think the totality of Idomas are Igbos. However, some Igbo communities may have erroneously been carved into Benue State during state creations.

I must confess that the Idomas have proven to be good neighbours of Ndigbo overtime. They are perhaps one of few, if not the only Igbo neighbours that identify with us.

Unfortunately, many Igbo communities that are in South South and even in South East have consistently denied their Igbo origin. For example, the people of Asaba, Onitsha, Ogbaru, Ukwuani, Ikwere, Etche, Egbema, Uguta, Agbor etc. These only claim to be Igbos when it is convenient. By the way who cares? Igbos are more than enough! Igbo Kwenu!
Kwenu!! Kwezuonu!!!

Why would those groups deny being Igbo? Is being Igbo seen as a bad thing in Naija or something?

Hero:

Why would those groups deny being Igbo? Is being Igbo seen as a bad thing in Naija or something?

No It's on the contrary.
Inferiority complex and guilty conscience has made them not to take a full stand as Igbos.
Some of them their grandfathers betrayed the almighty Biafrans during the liberation war while some tagged the properties of well being Igbos as an abandoned property. So comming now to see the so called Igbos that they thought that would have been perished out of hunger and starvation, are now progressing and multiplying in a vast way. They prefer committing suicide rather than eating what they vomited.

Ndu Ndi IGBO.

No the Idomas (from Benue State) are not Igbos. But they share a lot of boundaries though. My village borders one of the towns in old Anambra State (either Obolo-Afo or Obolo-Eke) we have similar market days and some names (like Ada, Onuche, Ede, Eke). There has been a lot of inter tribal marraiges naturaly and inter town trades on market days. But the tribes are different.

yes some Idoma's are of Igbo ancestry originally Nsukka area people
The look Igbo and marry Igbos

Just like some Igbos ended up in Rivers state,some also ended up in Cross River  some in delta and some in Benue.
That is a fact.
whatever anyone claims due to Nigerian politics is their cup of tea.
We are not campaigning for Igbo membership.
We are a complete nation on our own.

Igbo ndi oma Kwezuonu

Hero:

Why would those groups deny being Igbo? Is being Igbo seen as a bad thing in Naija or something?

igbo is the hated tribe.
evidence?
take a look around nairaland.

Thr Igbos in Rivers State and Delta State still speak Igbo (or at least a semblance of it). There is no distinguishable similarity between the Idoma dialect and that of the Igbo's however. Having some similar names is not a proof of similar ancestry. Tribes can sample names from neighbouring tribrs. There are similiarities between Idoma names and Tiv Names (eg Ako/Akor) and with the Igalas (of present Kogi State) (eg Idoko, Eje). Should all these neighbouring tribes also lay claim to the Idomas?
Whatever similarities that can be observed is due to cultural exchange between both tribes.
Will it make sense to deem the English as being of French origin because a lot of English words and names have French origins?

ok o

This thread brought back old memories. Has anyone here traveled from Jos to Enugu, there is this very small village I don't know the name, but it's just before obolo afo It's in Benue state but the speak Igbo like Nsukka people. My dad would always stop there to get palm wine. He says they have the best palm wine in the whole of Igbo land.

OgidiBoy:

This thread brought back old memories. Has anyone here traveled from Jos to Enugu, there is this very small village I don't know the name, but it's just before obolo afo It's in Benue state but the speak Igbo like Nsukka people. My dad would always stop there to get palm wine. He says they have the best palm wine in the whole of Igbo land.

I know the area,that was my point.Some Igbos are in Benue that I know for a fact

The village in question is my village. It's name is Owukpa. Its part of the New Ogbadigbo LGA. We even have alot of Igbos livin there but trust me we don't speak Igbo as a primary language. It's a language we learnt from our neigbhours and we use it to comunicate with them and not to ourselves. I speak fluent Hausa but that does not make me hausa. I've started picking up yoruba as well since I live in Lagos.

Everyone should be proud of their tribes but no one should annex another tribe (you guys are not Sadam afterall).

@tomX:

The village in question is my village. It's name is Owukpa. Its part of the New Ogbad[b]igbo [/b] LGA. We even have alot of Igbos livin there but trust me we don't speak Igbo as a primary language. It's a language we learnt from our neigbhours and we use it to comunicate with them and not to ourselves. I speak fluent Hausa but that does not make me hausa. I've started picking up yoruba as well since I live in Lagos.

Everyone should be proud of their tribes but no one should annex another tribe (you guys are not Sadam afterall).

So Tomx what is your native language then?

@tomX:

The village in question is my village. It's name is Owukpa. Its part of the New Ogbadigbo LGA. We even have alot of Igbos livin there but trust me we don't speak Igbo as a primary language. It's a language we learnt from our neigbhours and we use it to comunicate with them and not to ourselves. I speak fluent Hausa but that does not make me hausa. I've started picking up yoruba as well since I live in Lagos.

Everyone should be proud of their tribes but no one should annex another tribe (you guys are not Sadam afterall).

This is not a fight young man, it was just a simple question and nobody is annexing you if you care to know. what is your language by the way?

Simple answer-
NO

LRNZH:

Simple answer-
NO

Haha, these things never have a "simple answer".

The village in question is my village. It's name is Owukpa. Its part of the New Ogbadigbo LGA. We even have alot of Igbos livin there but trust me we don't speak Igbo as a primary language. It's a language we learnt from our neigbhours and we use it to comunicate with them and not to ourselves. I speak fluent Hausa but that does not make me hausa. I've started picking up yoruba as well since I live in Lagos.

Everyone should be proud of their tribes but no one should annex another tribe (you guys are not Sadam afterall).

TOMX is right. Ogoja people in cross river speak and understand igbo much better than you and me but they are not igbos. It's because of the proximity to Ebonyi state that made them speak as such.

So Tomx what is your native language then?

Idoma.

i have been meaning to ask this question to but i found out that they are not. All the Benue (Idoma) people at my skool all have igbo lastnames, infact, I alwayz assume they are until they say nope and call Idoma

idoma ancestary can be traced back to kwararafa kingdom(lower benue valley) they are related with igallas,jukun,chamba tribes

Hero:

Why would those groups deny being Igbo? Is being Igbo seen as a bad thing in Naija or something? 

Igbo People are amongst the most educated and accomplished ethnic nations within the continent of Africa.

Being amongst one of the accomplished Peoples in Africa isn’t bad.

Igbo People tend to have an ‘inner’ mentality anyhow; they’re not the type of People to claim others as their own. This idea of us claiming them and they rejecting us is preposterous, what exactly do they have to offer us?

rokoye said that Idomas have nothing to offer the Igbos.yet there is a loud cry for idoma membership of Igbo. could this be a fall out of rejection by the igbos settled in non igbo parts of the south east and the the south south?

Being related is not same as being thesame.idomas and igbos are related and it stops at that.an idoma needs to learn igbo as a 2nd language but all those that are igbos hear central igbo as 1st language,for example every ikwerre and ezza understands central igbo and has eze and Chi,while they cannot understand each others dialect.

to the Idomas check out the post i just added and contribute

We are relatives, we have similar cultures, looking at the history books, some parts of Benue State (parts of Idoma land) were carved out of Igboland. all the "no we are not, we don't need you" talk is unnecessary. I embrace my culture, I love it so much but I also recognize my roots and love the fact that my ancestors are from a rich culture despite us being given a new home. I love my "relatives" in the South East and some of them have love for their Idoma brothers and sisters.

dai513:

We are relatives, we have similar cultures, looking at the history books, some parts of Benue State (parts of Idoma land) were carved out of Igboland. all the "no we are not, we don't need you" talk is unnecessary. I embrace my culture, I love it so much but I also recognize my roots and love the fact that my ancestors are from a rich culture despite us being given a new home. I love my "relatives" in the South East and some of them have love for their Idoma brothers and sisters.

Are you Idoma, or a Benue Igbo? there's some mix-up in your post.

She just told you she is Idoma.

Excanny, it did sound confusing. I am Idoma, maternal side is from Nsukka like a lot of people from my part of Idoma land (You can easily jog from my grand father's house to certain parts of Nsukka), so there is a lot of mingling. My roots are in 2 beautiful cultures that I continue to learn about everyday.

Idomas are not Igbos and do not share similar ancestry. Your observations of similar names are due to intermingling and intermarriage.

Idomas are related to the Igalas, Egbira and Jukun people.

Over time due to the areas where the Idoma have settled and their overly welcoming nature (farmer traits) the southern / western Idoma parts have mixed with Nsukka natives. Similarly, there are Idomas grading into Ogoja speakers at the Boundary with Cross Rivers State, and some tribes central to Nassarawa in the more northern parts of Idoma land.

Sharing ancestry with the Igalas vs the Igbos for example is not a plus neither is it a loss.

It is just nice to have a clear understanding of these facts.