No highland rivers person must be the next governour of rivers state, it's time the real riverine people govern their state..

Andre Uweh: The riverine people chooses to call the Ikwerres, Igbo when it suits them. Yet, they have constantly made the Ikwerres to see themselves as Ijaws. Wonders shall never end.
It is not new in Nigeria to bulldoze slumpy towns. A similar thing happened in Maroko Lagos state in the 90's. I suggest Amaechi abandons this plan. I t is very difficult for people to move away from an area where their children and parents are buried. It is painful. But in the event of any demolition, the Okrikas should be properly rehoused.

ya any right tinking ikwere man dat will tell himself d truth knows his ibo ancestry is being traced frm nkwere in imo state ere we migrated to d oresent day rivers.due to seed of discord nd d fear of d unknown nd some mistakes made in d past we decided to change our affinity nd afiliation wit our breathern.to the thread well the question is btwn we ikweres nd the ijaws who ocupied ph fist.secondlt nobody is rubing dem of dia lands but let dem maintaln some level of decency in dia enviroment

This is an old thread resurrected for mischievous reasons. There exists no Igbo hegemony and Ikwerres are good hosts to multiple ethnic groups of which Igbos outnumber others. Igbos and their Ikwerre hosts are in good terms and that is why Ikwerreland continues to flourish. We'll continue to inter-marry, trade and invest for the good of us all. God bless Port Harcourt, God bless Rivers State, God bless Nigeria.

ikwere militant: ya any right tinking ikwere man dat will tell himself d truth knows his ibo ancestry is being traced frm nkwere in imo state ere we migrated to d oresent day rivers.due to seed of discord nd d fear of d unknown nd some mistakes made in d past we decided to change our affinity nd afiliation wit our breathern.to the thread well the question is btwn we ikweres nd the ijaws who ocupied ph fist.secondlt nobody is rubing dem of dia lands but let dem maintaln some level of decency in dia enviroment

Hey a. You do not know your history. Idk about the nkwerre migration. I actually know another ikwerre that told me the same sh1t. That would be an interesting thing to study cause I could have sworn ikwerre had the onitsha, anioma migration. Anyway back to what I was saying. Your people have been in PH for awhile. The first set of people the oyinbo encountered upon their arrival to modern day PH were ikwerre.

Anyway this is a 2009 article. Whatever problem ikwerre and okikrka had is probably resolved by now. Who ever brought it up is trying to be mischievous.

Afam:

I guess the author knows the fact because they are their neighbors in the same state so should know their correct ethnic group.

It does not matter that an Ikwerre man may claim not to be Igbo. We know the facts.

Remember that people become Igbo when it is convenient for the people labeling them.

For example, the first military coup was led by Nzeogwu from the Mid West but all references by Nigeria to justify the senseless massacre of Igbos especially in the north referred to Nzeogwu as Igbo.

Sounds familiar?

Before i start, i wanna know WTH are you trying to say afam?

Andre Uweh: The riverine people chooses to call the Ikwerres, Igbo when it suits them. Yet, they have constantly made the Ikwerres to see themselves as Ijaws. Wonders shall never end.
It is not new in Nigeria to bulldoze slumpy towns. A similar thing happened in Maroko Lagos state in the 90's. I suggest Amaechi abandons this plan. I t is very difficult for people to move away from an area where their children and parents are buried. It is painful. But in the event of any demolition, the Okrikas should be properly rehoused.

@one naira if u cliam u know our history better pls explian d origin of the name ikwere.and for the other lad comenting on the bonny or opobo pepl being ijaw,listen jaja of opobo was an ibo slave dat got his fredom at dcoast were he settled nd married up til nw we stl have ibo traces in dem

ikwere militant: @one naira if u cliam u know our history better pls explian d origin of the name ikwere.and for the other lad comenting on the bonny or opobo pepl being ijaw,listen jaja of opobo was an ibo slave dat got his fredom at dcoast were he settled nd married up til nw we stl have ibo traces in dem

I never claimed to know your history more than you. Biko quote me on where I said that. Is it because I mentioned the nkwerre migration and implicated it need to be studied. You mistook what I meant by " I could have sworn", I was not saying I was accurate and more knowledgeable. All I was saying is that I know another ikwerre that told me the same thing, at first I thought he was just a kid that wasn't aware of his history since we were both little kids then when I was told that, now reading you saying the same thing, it peaked my interest. I thought ikwerre migrated from Benin (or rather what i call onitsha-anioma migration) thus the nkwerre migration theory is something I would like to study upon on. That was what I was saying. I never implicated I know your history more than you. As for the PH thing, I was just addressing your post where you mentioned una migrated there. I was just informing you, that might not be the case cause una were the first people European met when they came to PH for the first time.

Aloy~Emeka:
His Excellency Musa Umaru Yaradua


THREAT TO STAMP OUR COMMUNITIES OUT OF EXISTENCE:  SAVE OUR SOULS (SOS) BY THE OKRIKA-IJAWS OF PORT HARCOURT



The recent announcement by Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State that he would demolish all the waterfront settlements in Port Harcourt, has caused a hysterical wave of emotion to sweep across the length and breadth of Rivers State.  This thunderous announcement to people of Port Harcourt, and indeed, the whole of Rivers State, is a signal that a different type of conflict is about to kick off in the Niger Delta.  We are tired of conflicts in this part, and because we want peace in our homes, we are forwarding this petition to you to save our lives.


2. Since the creation of Rivers State in 1967 with Port Harcourt as its capital there has been a lingering woeful misunderstanding between the Ikwerre-Ibos and Okrika-Ijaws over Port Harcourt.  It is the root of the upland/riverine politicio-tribal dichotomy in the State for some time, though different Governors used political and administrative skill to keep it under control until now when an Ikwerre-Ibo Governor appeared on the scene.

3. For a clearer understanding of our dilemma permit us to give in brief the history of Port Harcourt, the source of the continuing conflict between the Okrika-Ijaws and the Ikwerre-Ibos.  In 1908 when coal was discovered in Enugu, the Colonial Authorities decided to establish a sea-port and railway terminus in these parts to facilitate its export.  Chief Daniel Oju Kalio, the Paramount Ruler of Okrika at the time co-operated and negotiated with them for the acquisition of land for the purpose.  He convinced the residents of the several Okrika villages in the area to surrender their land, assuring them that their interests would be protected not merely by way of monetary compensation but also in terms of adequate arrangement for resettlement in the neighbourhood.   



4. Because the Colonial Government wanted more land than the Okrika-Ijaws could give, the negotiation for the acquisition was extended to the neighbouring Ikwerre-Ibos villages, who, along with the Okrika-Ijaws, eventually executed the 1913 Port Harcourt Agreement with the Colonial officials.  Please find attached a copy of the 1913    Port Harcourt Agreement.

5. In view of the fact that the Okrika-Ijaws had more of the        Port Harcourt land, involving over 25 of their villages, they also received more than the Ikwerre-Ibos (Diobu people and five other villages), of the money paid by the Colonial Authorities, on the acquired land.  And for precisely the same reason, their Paramount Ruler, Chief Daniel Oju Kalio was the Native Ruler appointed to be In-Charge of the whole area as British Colonial Agent, in keeping with the Dual Mandate System of Indirect Rule at the time.

6. The British Colonial Authorities also made arrangement for the resettlement of the displaced natives.  For the Ikwerre-Ibos (the people of Diobu) a place was bought from Omo-Eme (Rumueme) for the new Diobu town and farms because they were farmers.  For the displaced Okrika-Ijaws (the people of Obumuton Chiri) a place was bought too for them from the people of Eleme, but being fishermen, there were no seas or rivers close by for their fishing activities.  This was the crux of their problem.  Thus, whereas the Ikwerre-Ibos of Diobu accepted their new site bought for them, the Okrika-Ijaws of Obumuton Chiri, refused what was bought to resettle them because it was different from their traditional riverine environment in which they could undertake their main economic activity, fishing.  Besides, it was not contiguous with other Okrika-Ijaw settlements.  And so, they decided to stay at the Waterfronts of their original homestead in their respective villages, and have remained there ever since 1913, a period of 97 years.



7. It is rather unfortunate that the Colonial Authorities at the time made no alternative arrangement for the displaced Okrika-Ijaws of Obumuton Chiri.  They failed to understand the plight of the native people whose land had been acquired under what we may describe as abnormal circumstances; indeed abnormal because no community would under normal circumstances, ever agree to give out for acquisition, all of its God-given land on which they have lived from time immemorial, just on the basis of commercial transaction.  Colonialism taking such a devious turn was not only in these parts, it happened elsewhere too, especially, in the Americas and Australia.  Indeed, the colonial situation was not a normal or ordinary situation in which one could say that the scars of others ought to have taught some caution to those who agreed to the acquisition of their land. 

8. We of this generation now know why history is atimes described cynically, as a vast laboratory in which events have made countless experiments with men, with tribes, with states and even with races.  Ours is a vivid example.  Through many wrongs, through all the buffetings of hostile neighbours, we have lived along the Waterfronts of our original homestead for the past 97 years since 1913.  As Nigerians we have no other homes whatsoever but here in Port Harcourt.  And because the offsprings of the Okrika-Ijaws displaced in 1913 have regularly been denied their natural rights and have faced political marginalization in the extreme, they have with much grief and anger, acquired the name ‘Port Harcourt Aborigines (Wakirike)’.  And the worst is about to happen to them.  A man from the rival Ikwerre-Ibo ethnic group having the conflict with the Okrika-Ijaws, is about to put his political weight and authority as Governor on their side, ready to use public resources, using all manner of excuses in order to demolish our villages (the Waterfront Settlements) with a total population of about 150,000 people.   



9. There has been a deliberate plan by the Ikwerre-Ibos to stamp any traces of Okrika-Ijaws out of existence here in Port Harcourt.  First, they have tried to remove the name ‘Okrika’ given to streets/roads in       Port Harcourt.  Right now they have through their sons in high Government positions, recommended that Okrika-Ijaw Local Government Areas should be removed from the Port Harcourt Senatorial District and be made part of the Ogoni Senatorial District. 

10. Besides, they have for long denied equal franchise to all people living in the Okrika-Ijaw area of the Port Harcourt City, that is, the area described as Port Harcourt South.  In 1991 for example, out of a total registered population of 406,738 in Port Harcourt, the Okrika-Ijaw Area numbered 212,696 i.e. about 52%, while the Ikwerre-Ibo area had a population of 194,580 i.e. about 48% at the time.  With a total of 20 Wards in Port Harcourt at the time, the average representation per ward should have been about 20,336 persons per Councilor.  That at the least would have kept representation at par (10 Councilors to 10 Councilors between the two opposing areas).  But that was not to be.  With a population of 212,696, the Okrika-Ijaw area of Port Harcourt was given only 4 Wards to produce 4 Councilors, while with a population of 194,580, the Ikwerre-Ibo area of Port Harcourt was given 14 Wards with 14 Councilors.  Even the two mixed Wards were delineated in such a way as to favour the Ikwerre-Ibos, making them to produce 16 Councilors in all as against the 4 from the Okrika-Ijaw part of            Port Harcourt.

11. With the situation as explained above, the average representation in the Ikwerre-Ibo part of Port Harcourt was one Councilor to 12,161 persons whereas in Okrika-Ijaw part of Port Harcourt, it was one Councilor to 53,174 persons.  By this inequitable and iniquitous basis of representation, the quality of the average vote in the Ikwerre-Ibo area was 1/12,161 as compared with 1/53,174 on the Okrika-Ijaw part of            Port Harcourt was slightly below one quarter (ź) of the value of the average vote in the Ikwerre-Ibo area.  And even now, that ugly and indefensible situation rather than being remedied has in fact, become worse.  Out of the current population of 541,115 in Port Harcourt, the Okrika-Ijaw area has 295,551 i.e. about 55%, whereas the Ikwerre-Ibo area has 245,564 i.e. 45%.  No matter how one looks at it politically, democratically or even morally, it represents one of the worst areas of suppression or marginalization in the history of our nation. 

12. Let us point out with a few specific examples.  One really outrageous case was that of the area consisting of Port Harcourt Township, Nembe Waterside, Gbundu (Bundu), Marine Base, Abuja Estate and Borikiri, all in the Okrika-Ijaw part of Port Harcourt.  It had a population of 130,619 but was given 3 Ward for 3 Councilors. Compare that with the Ikwerre-Ibo area of Ogbunabali and Orije with a population of 18,081 but given 4 Wards for 4 Councilors.  Also compare the situation in which the Okrika-Ijaw area of Amadi-Ama, Ukukalama, Somiari, Fimie, Azuabie, Okuru, Ozuboko and Abuloma, all with a population of 66,587 at the time was given only one Ward for one Councilor, while the Ikwerre-Ibo area also given one Ward with one Councilor was Nkpolu-Orogbum with a population of just 3,267.  It is unimaginable and in fact atrocious for people to permit such despicable disparity between citizens supposed to be equal before the law in this Country. 


13. With the situation as stated above, the Ikwerre-Ibos have controlled the Port Harcourt City Council.  While we have been grossly under-represented, they have enjoyed enormous over-representation.  With 45% of the population the Ikwerre-Ibos control the majority Okirika-Ijaw area with 55% of the population.  And that has made them become over-bearing, often mis-using power by arbitrarily changing names of Streets bearing Okrika-Ijaw names.  The political hostility (or is it tribal hatred?) also shows itself with the invidious plans being hatched to stamp our communities here in Port Harcourt out of existence using excuses such as illegal occupation, squatting, criminal activities and what not.  They have poured on the Okrika-Ijaws the worst insults any community can ever endure for so long.  We have never complained about it.  Rather, we have concealed our anger because, as our elders say, ‘you have to hide your wounded finger, or you will bump it on everything’.  And now, not being satisfied with the political suppression and oppression, they are determined to demolish our communities because we are asking Government to create for us a      Port Harcourt South Local Government Area.  They do not want to see it happen, because they think it is inimical to their ethnic group interest, and so wish to thwart it through the proposed demolition exercise. 





14. Mr. President Sir, viewing the whole bewildering array of political variables that have helped to shape State Government policies here in Port Harcourt, we feel so much perplexed.  Despite the frustrating aspects we have explained, a consistent effort is being made by those in authority and their ethnic backers to deny the very existence of our villages/communities here in Port Harcourt.  They claim and tell the world that Waterfront Communities did not exist in Port Harcourt until the 1990’s.  In their chauvinism and determination to see these settlements wiped out, the Ikwerre-Ibos deliberately closed their eyes on facts of history in the sense of the existence of the communities as recorded more than half a Century ago (60 years to be specific).  In the Supplement to the Eastern Nigeria Gaz. No. 38 Vol. 14 dated 13th May, 1965, Pages B.129 to B.132, there were listed the following Waterfront Settlements:

www.okrikaweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/letterToPresident.doc+delta+state+politics">http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:AxPenyqNwe0J:www.okrikaweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/letterToPresident.doc+delta+state+politics%22+ibo+governor%22&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

So this is what its all about.

I suspect this is an article by [size=15pt]ACN[/size] or [size=15pt]APC[/size] to divide the SE and SS support for President GEJ
The same tactics that they have been using in the past to deceive and molest people from those zones to keep them disunited and open to exploitation.

[size=18pt]The question is
Is PH in Ikwerre land?
If the answer is Yes, i rest my case.[/size]