Who Is An Igbo(ibo)?

I think there's a topic similar to this somewhere, I just can't find it. Anyway. . .

Here are my thoughts. . . Igbo is an ethnicity. I define Igbo by definition of ethnicity. Whether or not someone born into Igbo decides to identify with it or not, they are still Igbo, by definition. Take for example European (english, specifically). That individual can choose to not identify with being English and choose instead to identify with being a different ethnicity, in Africa, for example, but by definition he/she is still English.

As for mutually uintelligible dialects. . . I've always wondered so myself. I, for example, am Igbo. My father is Ngwa, and my mother is Alayi. Ngwa is basically the only dialect spoken in our home. So when my mother speaks Alayi, it's very foreign. I understand a good deal of Alayi, but my siblings only understand little to nothing. Even moreso, when I was younger, I used to have trouble understanding anything outside of Ngwa. As I grew older though, other dialects and subdialects became more and more understandable. I believe that although there are mutually unintelligable dialects, anyone who understands Igbo will recognize that dialect as something that sounds familiar and my even be able to understand bits and pieces of it, if not all of it. I remember a time when I was younger and we had a guest in the house. I was asleep when the guest came and I didn't know there was anyone in the house until I woke up at around 2 or so in the morning. I heard what sounded like Igbo, but I couldn't understand it. The next day, I asked my father if the person that came to our house was Igbo and he answered yes. Linguistically, and culturally, we are very similar. We also practice Endogamy. So I don't believe there's any reason to separate the different dialectal & subdialectal groups. Just my take on the issue.