From my research, I've discovered a few surprising similarities between the peoples of the Igbo nation and the peoples of the other nations of Southeastern Nigeria. I was wondering if some of you guys could explain them to me and provide answers/thoughts.

Please don't hesitate to post anything that you might've also noticed. Thanks.

When I was reading a document about the Ekpo society, I found out that the Ibibio (excluding Annang) worshipped an earth goddess called 'Ala'. This made me think of the Igbo earth goddess, Ala, (also Ali, Ana, and Ani) and I began to think if this was a mere coincidence.

Is it a mere coincidence that the Igbo as far away as Ogwashi-Ukwu (Delta State) share the same earth goddess with the Ibibio?

Here's the document: http://books.google.com/books?id=2Y5nr5fGiHIC&pg=PA142&lpg=PA142&dq=ekpo+society&source=bl&ots=lonh-So402&sig=oWsAciCoFVNKGZMtZF8WEz3ZzwA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZT0jUL1_8a7QAcOOgegP&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=ekpo%20society&f=false

You don start again

I asked a legitimate question. I don't see anything wrong with that.

odumchi: I asked a legitimate question. I don't see anything wrong with that.

but you've made ur research. Why asking the question again?

odumchi:

you know that everywhere that an igbo man stepped on that he must leave a legacy there. In the olden days, those niger-delta people ibibio,efik,ijaw,ndoma etc traded heavily with ndiigbo. So we influenced them,some parts heavily while some lightly.that's why some have a language of mixed with igbo,some have traces of igbo culture/tradition,some answer igbo names.

Didn't we have a thread similar to this thread if my memory serves me right?

Anyway, my best friend's family are of the ibibio stock and I have asked a somewhat similar question to his family (i.e: why Igbos and Ibibos have similar cultures in some areas?). The answer I got from the family is that it is because Ibibio and Igbos traded for eons plus the two ethnic group mixed up with each other since history can remember thus the two groups copied from eachother cultures and language. Also supposedly, there are some Igbo clans that trace their origin to Ibibios (I'm alittle bit suspicious of that claim though. Other than Arochukwu, who are Igbos mixed with ibibio, I've never heard of an Igbo clan that traced their origin to Ibibio). To answer your question odumchi: it probably isn't a mere coincidence. one of the two groups might have picked up the culture during a trading interaction and it expanded within their community.

Antivirus92: you know that everywhere that an igbo man stepped on that he must leave a legacy there. In the olden days, those niger-delta people ibibio,efik,ijaw,ndoma etc traded heavily with ndiigbo. So we influenced them,some parts heavily while some lightly.that's why some have a language of mixed with igbo,some have traces of igbo culture/tradition,some answer igbo names.

I'm sorry to say this antivirus, but sometimes whenever I read your post, you come off as Ethnocentric. You gotta change that dude

One_Naira:

I'm sorry to say this antivirus, but sometimes whenever I read your post, you come off as Ethnocentric. You gotta change that dude

please tell me how i sound ethnocentric here.

One_Naira: Didn't we have a thread similar to this thread if my memory serves me right?

Anyway, my best friend's family are of the ibibio stock and I have asked a somewhat similar question to his family (i.e: why Igbos and Ibibos have similar cultures in some areas?). The answer I got from the family is that it is because Ibibio and Igbos traded for eons plus the two ethnic group mixed up with each other since history can remember thus the two groups copied from eachother cultures and language. Also supposedly, there are some Igbo clans that trace their origin to Ibibios (I'm alittle bit suspicious of that claim though. Other than Arochukwu, who are Igbos mixed with ibibio, I've never heard of an Igbo clan that traced their origin to Ibibio). To answer your question odumchi: it probably isn't a mere coincidence. one of the two groups might have picked up the culture during a trading interaction and it expanded within their community.

no igbo clan traces their root to ibibio,if not the ibibios in arochukwu.

Antivirus92: please tell me how i sound ethnocentric here.

Re-read your post but this time replace every Igbo reference with Ibibio and replace every Ibibio/ND reference to Igbo. Now tell me how does that sound to you?

Actually I'll do it for you

you know that everywhere that an ibibio man stepped on that he must leave a legacy there. In the olden days, those Igbo people traded heavily with Niger-delta groups like Ibibio, Ijaw, etc. So we, the ibibio, influenced them, the igbos,,some parts heavily while some lightly.that's why some have a language of mixed with ibibio,some have traces of ibibio culture/tradition,some answer ibibio names.

Now how does that sound to you?

Antivirus92: no igbo clan traces their root to ibibio,if not the ibibios in arochukwu.

I assumed as much. Other than arochukwu's, I've never heard of Igbo clan that traced their origins to Ibibio.

One_Naira:

Re-read your post but this time replace every Igbo reference with Ibibio and replace every Ibibio/ND reference to Igbo. Now tell me how does that sound to you?

Actually I'll do it for you



Now how does that sound to you?

thanks for ur correction. But to be sincere,i don't mean to sound ethnocentric here. It maybe as a result of how you understood the post or may be what you've been habouring for me

One_Naira, your assumptions are incorrect. It should be noted that the term Ibibio is often used to categorically refer to Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom people (since they lack a collective name) and aside from Arochukwu, there are other eastern Igbo groups with clear traces to Ibibio. That is actually part of why eastern Igbo are referred to as Cross River Igbo.

Odumchi, it is not a mere coincidence, but a simple matter of cultural diffusion. In the case of Ala cult worship, it is the cultural diffusion of Ogbom music. Ogbom is an ancient genre of music traditionally used by Ngwa and neighboring communities in venerating Ala and carrying out the religio-cultural rites of worship. Ogbom has a heavily institutionalized association with Ala. So when the genre diffused into Annang-Ibibio, it is not surprising that it carried Ala cult worship along with it.

Now, let's revisit the statement about cultural similarities between the Igbo and other eastern peoples. The statement needs some reworking, because technically the cultural similarities are not between "Igbo" and other eastern people, but between specific peoples. We'll use Arochukwu as a case-in-point. The establishment of Arochukwu facilitated the cultural diffusion of the leopard society into other territories. I particularly feel that stating such diffusion as a "cultural similarity between Igbo and other eastern peoples" is a disservice.

ChinenyeN: Now, let's revisit the statement about cultural similarities between the Igbo and other eastern peoples. The statement needs some reworking, because technically the cultural similarities are not between "Igbo" and other eastern people, but between specific peoples. We'll use Arochukwu as a case-in-point. The establishment of Arochukwu facilitated the cultural diffusion of the leopard society into other territories. I particularly feel that stating such diffusion as a "cultural similarity between Igbo and other eastern peoples" is a disservice.

It is more valid to say cultural similarities between Igbo and other eastern peoples, else you'll end up creating several threads on the topic. Moreover, Ala, the example he gave covers the whole Igboland. There may be some similarities that may not even involve Arochukwu.

I don't see how the possible creation of several threads relates to the validity of the statement, but I understand what you mean. Essentially you're saying that the statement is good for confining the general topic into a singular thread. I don't disagree with that.

As for my example with Arochukwu, it was simply as a case-in-point. There are plenty of other examples, but I chose Arochukwu because it is easily recognizable. I was looking to show that Odumchi's measures of cultural similarity were not actually measures of cultural similarity, but instead measures of cultural diffusion.

Thank you all for your responses. I appreciate the quick replies.

Chinenye, I appreciate the in-depth explanation. The reason I initially labelled it as a cultural similarity was because I wasn't sure if there was any relationship between the deities or if they were worshipped independently.

As Obiagu pointed out, this particular question involves most (I am not saying all because I don't know whether or not there are any Igbo subgroups that don't worship Ala) of the Igbo peoples.

One thing that I'll like to ask is this: what is the relationship between the Ngwa (and other Igbo groups on the Akwa Ibom border) and the Ibibio/Annang?

Most of the time when you hear Igbo-Ibibio relations, it's around the Arochukwu axis. However, the case of Ala spreading into Ibibioland via Ngwa Ogbom music suggest that there are extensive cross-ethnic relations between the Igbo and the Ibibio in that area.

Is this true?

Forgot about this thread.

Yes, there are extensive cross-ethnic relations between Ngwa, Asa, Ndoki communities and the Ibibio groups. The relations, though extensive, are actually not that ancient; probably only going as far back as the 15th or 16th century, at best. It also used to be that Ibibio elements used to pay tributes/homage to some Ngwa and Ndoki communities, prior to the 20th century. This was because the land that some of those Ibibio elements had come to settle on belonged to the Ngwa and Ndoki. The interaction led to a lot of cultural and linguistic diffusion back and forth.

Thank you for my long-awaited reply. I've always wondered about other groups' relations with the Ibibio.

Is there intermarriage between the Ngwa, Asa, Ndoki, and the Ibibio in that area?

There is intermarriage.

I see. Thanks.

Where is Ndoki?

ifyalways: Where is Ndoki?

It's in the extreme southeast of Abia, below Ngwaland; Ukwa East LGA.

Really?
My initial thoughts was that twas a town in Rivers state, now I know why.

Thanks.

ifyalways: Really?
My initial thoughts was that twas a town in Rivers state, now I know why.

Thanks.

No problem. You were probably thinking of Ndoni.

Ndoki is primarily divided into two LGA communities, Ukwa East (Abia) and Obigbo (Rivers), south of the main Ngwa body.

The Ibibio word "Nyibi" which means turn in English, is the root of Nyibidi. Nyibidi means turning. The play was usually accompanied with drummings. The drum is called Ibit. The drum for the ruling Crown is called Ibit Itam. Itam means crown, hat, or headgear. Ekpe was indeed the governing deity and Ibit Itam was one of their major plays. Ukara means governance or government in Ibibio. Ukara cloth is worn by those in the government of Ekpe. The Ekpe and even Ekpo masquerade of old used to dance in a circular motion in order to induce a trance-like effect or feeling. Hence Nyibidi. Ibibio is the largest language of the Cross River and Akwa Ibom territories. Efik, Ekoi, Annang, Oron, Eket, Qua, Ibeno, Okobo, etc. are all variations of Ibibio. The Ibibio owned and controlled Arochukwu until they lost it in 1634 to the allied forces of the migrating Igbo and the Akpa. The Igbo slaves of the Ibibio rebelled and joined forces with the Akpa who were themselves of Ibibio origin. The Ibibios left both Arochukwu and their ancient Long Juju, but those who remained continued to run the oracles and influence the Igbo converts/practitioners of Ekpe. The Ibibios and Efiks taught Nsibidi to the Igbos through the Ekpe society. The chief language used in Ekpe is Ibibio. The Ibibios and Efiks knew Arochukwu as Ibom and Mbot Abasi. Mbot means creation. Abasi means God. Therefore, Mbot Abasi means the creation of God or, simply, the people of God. I understand that the Igbos kept the original Ibibio name for Arochukwu, but merely translated it into Igbo language. So, MBOT ABASI(Ibibio for God's creation or the people of God) became ARO CHUKWU which literally means GOD'S CREATION or GOD'S PEOPLE in the IGBO LANGUAGE. While in Arochukwu, the Ibibio leaders had a secret society called Ekpe. Ekpe means leopard or lion. They also practise the Ekpo divination. The leadership operated (and still does)in an esoteric manner. Only members are privy to the innerworkings of the group. They developed an elaborate system of logograms through which their ideas, knowledge, and activities awere recorded. Nyibidi which means turning (going in circles), evolved into Nsibidi. Nsibidi is Ibibio for what is at play or, what's playing? Nso = what. I(as in letter "e"= is. Bidi = play or playing. NSO-I-BIDI (NSIBIDI) or NSO-I-BIRI(NSIBIRI) means what's playing? What's at play? Therefore, Nsibidi means what is playing or, what's at play? Nsibidi was later adopted as the name for the writings associated with Ekpe society. It is true that the Europeans found most of the Nsibidi script among the Ekoi, but it is really of Ibibio origin. Nsibidi is sometimes used in secular settings for communicating messages of love, friendship, business, etc. The Igbos could not fully adapt Nsibidi because translation from Ibibio into Igbo had too many constraints. Original meanings of Ekpe society's Nsibidi often got lost in translation.

"There was no war between Aros and Ibibio -what happened was what one would accurately describe as a coup. The Aros who were assistants (slave by Europeans) at the Ibritam Shrine organized a coup with the help of Ekoi, Akunakuna and Igbos and seized the shrine from their Ibibio masters. Talbot** put the date at 1300 -1400 based on the geneology and calculation of the ages of relatives of informant who claims their forebears were in charge of this shrine -we dispute this because the informant forebears couldn't have been incharge since religious affairs in Ibibio land was entrusted to the group known as Annang today ,and this informant came from a different group. However, Talbot also based his date from Aro informant. We still think that the date was much earlier. However the consensus is that the Aros were in possession of the shrine before trade with the Portuguese and later Slave trade with Efik and later the Ijaws-Bonny and kalabari when Ibibios prohibited transportation of people across their territory."

http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldIgboCongress/message/15772