1. it is your stealing igbo forefathers that tried to steal our land in ika and we expelled you.
2. if igbos want to get ika land through the back door as they failed in 1966 , then we are watching and up to the task of sending you back, and who wants an expired product ,we do want igbo period we are ika, and if you think i am alone , have you ever asked your self why thousands of ika people rejected being igbo during the civil war ? or is it agbontaen that formulated their rejection ? or was the one who also formed the highest socio-cultural group for ika called ogua/onu ika headed by sunday osifo ?
3. our former nationalleader was chief fortune ebie ,he is almost 80 years old and he believes in ika ethnic nationality and ika people will listen to him and not your ohaneze ndigbo or any other igbo group, and now the mantle of leadership has fallen on osifo and before ebie , it was with chief goerge orewa all of them are from agbor , while the secretary is retired general usiade from owa kingdom, then we have ika elders forum headed by justice ehiwarior from owa kingdom and secretary is chief ehikwe from agbor .
3. when nduka obaigbena of this day newspaper was interviewed by new york times , he said he is from ika a small ethnic group in delta ,and chief steve omojafor from agbor is right now presidednt of APCON , All these men believe they are ika and they are the opinion moulders in ika land ,so we already know where we belong and who we are , and i will advice you as an igbo man to go and search where igbos came from or she na from isreal or igbouku or from nri , please go and do more studies and stop dabling into ika ethnic group .
4. for your information our ethnicity is ika , and majority of ika people will never fill a form and put igbo , but what we will put is ika, it is you igbos that keep adding ika-igbo and there is nothing like that , its either you are ika or you are igbo ,period.

[quote author=Abagworo][/quote]

@ abagworo

I'm glad you finally realized what i was trying to tell y'all earlier. Agbotean is one man with little to zero influence who wishes to make himself known. A person should know his fighting a lost battle if the most influential person in your community (i.e your eze, obi, your leader) disagree with you completely. He claims the community disagreed with the leader yet not providing evidence to support such disclaim. I've witness him calling names of ppl he claims agree with him and ironically enough two of those individuals I've met and had a conversation with so i know for sure those men are not in line with him thus making me suspicious of the other names he's been mentioning. Plus the whole bojiboji thing, and the new lie he's just made up to address Igbo boy hit something to me. The poor guy just hates the truth about everything thus feel the need to compensate in effort to uplift his hatred of his reality. Like I've mentioned before, If una want to know how people in any community in anioma think of themselves, just go leave with them for few months. Go and stay with them with an open mind, not a prenotion about them and you'll see something completely different from what displayed on NL. I noticed you started addressing the coup as a western Igbo affairs, which i know it's because of ignorant buffoons like agbotean that caused you to go that route but one thing i will like to inform you is do not mind the deniers on NL. We are not ungrateful. If not for the fact I know this community because it is my family. I will literally have the impression that the deniers in aniomaland outnumber the proud ones based on what i see on NL. The actuality is this people are minorities, we don't know how much we can stress it. On NL, it gives the impression that deniers among anioma community is 1out 5 but in reality they are 1 out 10,000 or higher. You can quote me on this and even go and ask around in anioma land if you want. This people exist we no go lie but it is kinda like onitsha. Granted some say they have met onitsha that deny being Igbo but it is super rare to meet them. Equally for us. NL is a safe heaven for am from what i can see that's why they come here. They are seen as lepers, most people avoid them back home but NL they got people that actually listen to them and want to fight them (i.e: SE Igbo), they got ppl that support them (i.e themselves and non anioma/Igbo that are clueless on the event but want to speak on the matter) so naturally on NL and the internet they are something but in reality they are avoided like a plaque. It kinda similar to the Neo-Nazi website when you go there you'll think the racist out numbers the non racist but in reality they are minorities. I'm glad you've finally stopped arguing.

@one naira,you are not communicating,just keep saying what you want to believe as well as your igbo(n) cohorts..Abuse all you wish,majority of ikas are proud of their identity,agbontean is a example of that,am from umunede,and am from ileje quarters,proudly ika,as well as other quarters that makes up the ancient kingdom of umunede.....Peace out.

sonya4all: @one naira,you are not communicating,just keep saying what you want to believe as well as your igbo(n) cohorts..Abuse all you wish,majority of ikas are proud of their identity,agbontean is a example of that,am from umunede,and am from ileje quarters,proudly ika,as well as other quarters that makes up the ancient kingdom of umunede.....Peace out.

First class baboon, how many times have you said it, why are you and agbontaen always repeating your silly selves. Must you write if you have nothing to offer, get a life baboonei.

@ngo,you are really frustrated.Start learning.

check owa website www.ndiowa.com and you will see that it says we are owa /ika ethnic nationality, chech owa on facebook , language spoken is called ika and not igbo , check umunede website ,it says they are ika people .if i am one man ,please can you answer why thousands of ika people rejected being igbo during the war ? you will nevr answer this question because you are so chicken to answer it,
2. majority of ika people dont want anything to associate them with igbo people ,because mosts igbos are propagandist always shouting this or that , all my life i mix with different people and most people respect ika ethnicity and right to be different , even our neighbours/brothers the edo people always know the difference between igbo and ika ,and atleast we were part of their empire before ,but our igbo brothers from accross the niger , do not seem to undestand the difference between igbo and ika.
3. before many anioma community was fluid as there were influx from many communities into the area,there was no iron cast ethnicity like some will want to force today and it will surprise you to know that the obi of nsukwa in delta was the father of agho obaseki ,who later became prime minister of benin and ruled after oba ovarenwen was captured by the british.the famous obaseki family of benin are great grand children of obi of nsukwa,but originally they were from benin and they moved to that part of the empire and later moved back to benin,that is what happened in most anioma kingdoms , and so also were igbo migrants too ,coming from igbo land into anioma areas too, and igala , and yorubas too.
4. it is on record in 1702 by a dutch nyendal who visited agbor/benin -he wrote many families migrating from benin into agbor and obior.so we know who we are , my father told me that when he was young owa kingdom had two languages the ika and ekunrun spoken by the mother /elders of the village ,but today this language is extinct,and things do change with time,just like the old yoruba spoken by some kingdoms in anioma is getting thinned out

agbotaen: check owa website www.ndiowa.com and you will see that it says we are owa /ika ethnic nationality, chech owa on facebook , language spoken is called ika and not igbo , check umunede website ,it says they are ika people .if i am one man ,please can you answer why thousands of ika people rejected being igbo during the war ? you will nevr answer this question because you are so chicken to answer it,
2. majority of ika people dont want anything to associate them with igbo people ,because mosts igbos are propagandist always shouting this or that , all my life i mix with different people and most people respect ika ethnicity and right to be different , even our neighbours/brothers the edo people always know the difference between igbo and ika ,and atleast we were part of their empire before ,but our igbo brothers from accross the niger , do not seem to undestand the difference between igbo and ika.
3. before many anioma community was fluid as there were influx from many communities into the area,there was no iron cast ethnicity like some will want to force today and it will surprise you to know that the obi of nsukwa in delta was the father of agho obaseki ,who later became prime minister of benin and ruled after oba ovarenwen was captured by the british.the famous obaseki family of benin are great grand children of obi of nsukwa,but originally they were from benin and they moved to that part of the empire and later moved back to benin,that is what happened in most anioma kingdoms , and so also were igbo migrants too ,coming from igbo land into anioma areas too, and igala , and yorubas too.
4. it is on record in 1702 by a dutch nyendal who visited agbor/benin -he wrote many families migrating from benin into agbor and obior.so we know who we are , my father told me that when he was young owa kingdom had two languages the ika and ekunrun spoken by the mother /elders of the village ,but today this language is extinct,and things do change with time,just like the old yoruba spoken by some kingdoms in anioma is getting thinned out

Let us now  take a closer look at the idealogy behind some of our Ika native names. We shall get to know their English interpretation and meanings later. Afamefune, Ikakanma, Rapuluchukwu, Konyegwachie, Okwudonye, Kidochukwu, Ifeomagwuwa, Ngozichukwuka, Nkemdilim, Osogom, Chianugo-Ekpele, Ogochukwu, Nduka-Ego, Adimabua, Babazim, Chukwukaweh, Odinbu, Odibe-onyeonye, Onyekanna, Nnadozie, Eluemuno, Ikechukwu, Chukwujindu, Chukwuemeke, Njikoka, Bebaba, Onyenwezulu, Onyelome, Oguguamakwa, Loteogo, Nwanneka, Udodi, Ndudi, Udoka and others. 

In conclusion, I hereby respectfully call on all Ika Parents all over the World to impact their Children's life with good Ika Native names, thereby positioning them with the capability to effectively take over from us, those valued and most cherished gift of nature which our fore fathers handed over to us, particularlly our "Native names and Native Language.

Our tomorrow as Ika people of Delta State, Nigeria cannot not be negotiable or compromised in the interest of our Children and the generation yet unborn.

Ni Ika Linma! Yaka Anyi Cho!

http://www.ikaworld.com/index.php?cmd=/public/blog/view/id_51683/

1. from what you wrote it is quite clear that the person that wrote that article is from igbodo kingdom,and in that particular eastern axis of ika land their language is both ika an aniocha ,due to their nearness to that area and even the ika spoken there has been adultrated ,i have told you severally that ika has three basic types or dialects the central ika, western ika and eastern ika .variations and we know all the influences that made the language so ,
2. out of the 11 kingdoms that make up ika land in delta and some in edo state ,i will tell you the variants spoken by-
agbor ,owa, idumuesah, abavo,and uteokpu,and others, particularly i am an owa man , and agbor is the largest and most populous ika kingdom, followed by owa kingdom. agbor is headquarters for ika south ,while owa is headquarters for ika north east.
3. most of those names you listed are not ika names , but igbo/aniocha names which many ika people out of influence of christianity or education or influence from our neigbouring towns or outright ignorance bear ,that is why i have undertaken to write a book called 500 ika names and english meanings. i will give you a list of the names.
4. ika people prior to the time the british came believed and called God osenobue or oselobue , and we believed that the guardian spirit was called ehi ,and as against what igbos called chi , and the word chukwu was not known as GOD IN IKA.but when the british used aniocha and igbo teachers from onitcha to teach our people then they brought the word chukwu, and chi into ika language.
5. let me give you a few real ika names and their meaning , as true knowledge will destroy ignorance and propaganda
1. ehioma- god is good
2. ehiedu- god is leading me
3. ikpanminose- god i thank you.
4. ehiabor- gods blessing or blessing of god.
5. ukpeose- light of god
6. ighogho- happiness
7. ighoghose- happiness of god
8. ernumuh- gold
9. otsun- staff of honour
10. ebonka- family is greatest
11. ogiso- king
12. ogisoka- king is greatest
13. gbenoba- iseek refuge in the king
14. igbenose- i seek refuge in god
15. agbedion- we do not kill our elders
16. agbobu- we do not kill a native doctor
17. omiken- mercy
18. omiken ose- gods mercy
19. oyo- joy
20. ehichuya- god removed suffering
21. ehiyemofe- god gave me freely
22. isere- a person born outside the house
23. ogbe- family
24. ogbebor- may my family be blessed
25. ogbekile- may my family not fall
26. ebonma- it is the family that knows
27. agbonma-th is the family that knows
28. ikhu-refuge
29. ikhuose- refuge from good
30. uwaya -child born on the road
31. usifo- may my fame not dissappear,this is from the ika sentence usi me efori ile
32. iyetor- solid foundation
33. ukpehi- light of god
34. ifonron- brithness
35. jazunehi- who has died and come back
36. abiemuwe- my father has come back again
37. okpohoka- woman is greatest
38. okpohose- woman of god
39. okpohoma- woman of knowledge
40. okenyenehike- man is great
41. aduaran- giant amongst men
42. origueku- talking in the midst of multitude
43. efereku- do not mid gossips
44. ikenehi- power of god
45. mgbejume- one man cannot form a quorum
46. ehiobu- god of the priest or god is priest
47. ojobu- chief priest
48. idigun- as strong as iron
49. asomuya- i reject suffereing
50. uyamasi- suffering is not good
51. ihianelehi- man is not god
52. obuseh- priest of god
53. ogodonamasi- evil is not good.
54. eghowuosihian- money is friend of all
55. obiwonosi- the king has friend
56. osiegbu- friendship will not kill
57. erere- profit
58. erereose- profit from god
59. osewuedionma- god is senior
60. oseri- god exist or lives
61. ehiri- god exists
62. ikponfiasuya- the dustbin does not reject suffering
63. ebonkokomen- the family has gathered
64. ozegbe- good things/blessings
65. orokotor- good things .
66. ehimeninomiken- god has shown me mercy
67. egba- protection
68. ekika- shinning and of multi-colours
70. owabor- blessings of owa kingdom
71. utebor- blessings of ute kingdom
72. okunbor- blessings like that of the ocean
73. efeose but shortened as efose- wealth of god
74. eseose called esose- godly sacrifice
75. ewere- luck or lucky
80 - isioma- luck or lucky
81. isiwe- my head brings wealth.
82. isitor- my head brings longlife
83. ehigiator- long life comes from god
84. noboi- it will be well with you/me
85. eghoahuaza- money does not ring a bell
86.eghoyibo- white mans money
87. agbonebo- in the white mans generation or civilization.
89. emuaghuihian- laughter does not kill
90. obaigbena- the king will not kill this.
91- eseagbuihian- sacrifice does not kill
92. okpanose- receptacle of god
93. ojebor- may you be blessed like a king
94. ubidon- tiger
95. eduke- lion hearted.
96. udumen- lion hearted
97. ebonne- mothers lineage is great
98. adugan- proudly
99. ujehose- dance of god
100.jose- who can hold god
101. erikunmeh- patience
102. okpohowuku- woman is a good inheritance.

and so many hundreds of ika names not written hear , ika people name their children according to events , and incidents,we have many names we dont need to go aborrowing when we have good names , as some of the names many ika people bear today does not have any bearing with our tradition and culture

agbotaen: 1. from what you wrote it is quite clear that the person that wrote that article is from igbodo kingdom,and in that particular eastern axis of ika land their language is both ika an aniocha ,due to their nearness to that area and even the ika spoken there has been adultrated ,i have told you severally that ika has three basic types or dialects the central ika, western ika and eastern ika .variations and we know all the influences that made the language so ,
2. out of the 11 kingdoms that make up ika land in delta and some in edo state ,i will tell you the variants spoken by-
agbor ,owa, idumuesah, abavo,and uteokpu,and others, particularly i am an owa man , and agbor is the largest and most populous ika kingdom, followed by owa kingdom. agbor is headquarters for ika south ,while owa is headquarters for ika north east.
3. most of those names you listed are not ika names , but igbo/aniocha names which many ika people out of influence of christianity or education or influence from our neigbouring towns or outright ignorance bear ,that is why i have undertaken to write a book called 500 ika names and english meanings. i will give you a list of the names.
4. ika people prior to the time the british came believed and called God osenobue or oselobue , and we believed that the guardian spirit was called ehi ,and as against what igbos called chi , and the word chukwu was not known as GOD IN IKA.but when the british used aniocha and igbo teachers from onitcha to teach our people then they brought the word chukwu, and chi into ika language.
5. let me give you a few real ika names and their meaning , as true knowledge will destroy ignorance and propaganda
1. ehioma- god is good
2. ehiedu- god is leading me
3. ikpanminose- god i thank you.
4. ehiabor- gods blessing or blessing of god.
5. ukpeose- light of god
6. ighogho- happiness
7. ighoghose- happiness of god
8. ernumuh- gold
9. otsun- staff of honour
10. ebonka- family is greatest
11. ogiso- king
12. ogisoka- king is greatest
13. gbenoba- iseek refuge in the king
14. igbenose- i seek refuge in god
15. agbedion- we do not kill our elders
16. agbobu- we do not kill a native doctor
17. omiken- mercy
18. omiken ose- gods mercy
19. oyo- joy
20. ehichuya- god removed suffering
21. ehiyemofe- god gave me freely
22. isere- a person born outside the house
23. ogbe- family
24. ogbebor- may my family be blessed
25. ogbekile- may my family not fall
26. ebonma- it is the family that knows
27. agbonma-th is the family that knows
28. ikhu-refuge
29. ikhuose- refuge from good
30. uwaya -child born on the road
31. usifo- may my fame not dissappear,this is from the ika sentence usi me efori ile
32. iyetor- solid foundation
33. ukpehi- light of god
34. ifonron- brithness
35. jazunehi- who has died and come back
36. abiemuwe- my father has come back again
37. okpohoka- woman is greatest
38. okpohose- woman of god
39. okpohoma- woman of knowledge
40. okenyenehike- man is great
41. aduaran- giant amongst men
42. origueku- talking in the midst of multitude
43. efereku- do not mid gossips
44. ikenehi- power of god
45. mgbejume- one man cannot form a quorum
46. ehiobu- god of the priest or god is priest
47. ojobu- chief priest
48. idigun- as strong as iron
49. asomuya- i reject suffereing
50. uyamasi- suffering is not good
51. ihianelehi- man is not god
52. obuseh- priest of god
53. ogodonamasi- evil is not good.
54. eghowuosihian- money is friend of all
55. obiwonosi- the king has friend
56. osiegbu- friendship will not kill
57. erere- profit
58. erereose- profit from god
59. osewuedionma- god is senior
60. oseri- god exist or lives
61. ehiri- god exists
62. ikponfiasuya- the dustbin does not reject suffering
63. ebonkokomen- the family has gathered
64. ozegbe- good things/blessings
65. orokotor- good things .
66. ehimeninomiken- god has shown me mercy
67. egba- protection
68. ekika- shinning and of multi-colours
70. owabor- blessings of owa kingdom
71. utebor- blessings of ute kingdom
72. okunbor- blessings like that of the ocean
73. efeose but shortened as efose- wealth of god
74. eseose called esose- godly sacrifice
75. ewere- luck or lucky
80 - isioma- luck or lucky
81. isiwe- my head brings wealth.
82. isitor- my head brings longlife
83. ehigiator- long life comes from god
84. noboi- it will be well with you/me
85. eghoahuaza- money does not ring a bell
86.eghoyibo- white mans money
87. agbonebo- in the white mans generation or civilization.
89. emuaghuihian- laughter does not kill
90. obaigbena- the king will not kill this.
91- eseagbuihian- sacrifice does not kill
92. okpanose- receptacle of god
93. ojebor- may you be blessed like a king
94. ubidon- tiger
95. eduke- lion hearted.
96. udumen- lion hearted
97. ebonne- mothers lineage is great
98. adugan- proudly
99. ujehose- dance of god
100.jose- who can hold god
101. erikunmeh- patience
102. okpohowuku- woman is a good inheritance.

and so many hundreds of ika names not written hear , ika people name their children according to events , and incidents,we have many names we dont need to go aborrowing when we have good names , as some of the names many ika people bear today does not have any bearing with our tradition and culture

This is the third time you have pasted the same junk here. I wonder if others are not bored by the same crap you post all the time. Very shameful.

@andre you should be more shameful,for being blind to all the facts he has been throwing at ur stupid assumptions,yet your thick brain seems to have 1mega byte of memory,so he wil keep saying it until you upgrade,choosing what u want to believe for propaganda purpose is foolishness of the highest order... My brother..Thank you very much for ur efforts at revamping the ika cultures and names....Dont mind the land grabbers.

Can't believe this thread is still going!

sonya4all: @andre you should be more shameful,for being blind to all the facts he has been throwing at ur stupid assumptions,yet your thick brain seems to have 1mega byte of memory,so he wil keep saying it until you upgrade,choosing what u want to believe for propaganda purpose is foolishness of the highest order... My brother..Thank you very much for ur efforts at revamping the ika cultures and names....Dont mind the land grabbers.

Most names up there are simply Igbo. Changing Chioma to Ehioma or Chiedu to Ehiedu sounds desperate to me. He's only trying to mix Igbo and Benin to form a hybrid. Speaking and accepting Igbo as your language does not change who you believe you are. Ika is a version of Igbo language and linguistic experts have done thorough study and concluded that it is one of the older versions of Igbo language.

If you are not Igbo then stop putting your rotten comments up here. The topic is for Delta Igbos or Ika-Igbos. So if you are Ika-Bini, then join the Delta Bini thread.

Igbo has been grouped into 6 versions and in more recent works even more versions have emerged but they are simply subgroups of larger Igbo language.

[font=Lucida Sans Unicode][/font]SO WHY DO THEY ANSWER IBO NAME COS I MARRIED THERE AS AN IBO, ITS A CASE OF SPAIN N AND PORTUGAL, THEY MAY HAVE DIFFERENT IN LAMEANGUAGES BUT THEY ARE CALLED IBERIANS,ASK ANYBODY AND THEY GENERAL LANGUAGE IS IBERIAN A SUBGROUP OF LATIN. ONCE YOU SAY IBERA IT MEANS PORTUGAL AND SPAIN SO IKA IS IGBO AND ARO IS IBO

SAME WITH GERMANS AND AUSTRIANS AND YORUBA AND EGUNS[b]SO WHY DO THEY ANSWER IBO NAME COS I MARRIED THERE AS AN IBO, ITS A CASE OF SPAIN N AND PORTUGAL, THEY MAY HAVE DIFFERENT IN LAMEANGUAGES BUT THEY ARE CALLED IBERIANS,ASK ANYBODY AND THEY GENERAL LANGUAGE IS IBERIAN A SUBGROUP OF LATIN. ONCE YOU SAY IBERA IT MEANS PORTUGAL AND SPAIN SO IKA IS IGBO AND ARO IS IBO

SAME WITH GERMANS AND AUSTRIANS AND YORUBA AND EGUNS[/b]SO WHY DO THEY ANSWER IBO NAME COS I MARRIED THERE AS AN IBO, ITS A CASE OF SPAIN N AND PORTUGAL, THEY MAY HAVE DIFFERENT IN LAMEANGUAGES BUT THEY ARE CALLED IBERIANS,ASK ANYBODY AND THEY GENERAL LANGUAGE IS IBERIAN A SUBGROUP OF LATIN. ONCE YOU SAY IBERA IT MEANS PORTUGAL AND SPAIN SO IKA IS IGBO AND ARO IS IBO

SAME WITH GERMANS AND AUSTRIANS AND YORUBA AND EGUNS

Why is it that it is only the ibos that STRUGGLES SO MUCH to impose their identity on others? Let's even agree that there exists some kind of interpolation of language, that does not automatically make them ibos.the itsekiri language is very close to Yoruba but I don't see the yorubas fighting tooth and nail to claim the itsekiri as one of them.I mean it's up to them to determine who they are and all silly references to language group is a crass misnomer. If that were the case,we all belong to the Congo! If the okada say they are not ibos, let them be!that is why we are insisting on a sovereign conference where every ethnic group will come and present their position on whom they are and with whom they want to be affiliated so we can put all these ara flings to rest once and for all

Why is it that it is only the ibos that STRUGGLES SO MUCH to impose their identity on others? Let's even agree that there exists some kind of interpolation of language, that does not automatically make them ibos.the itsekiri language is very close to Yoruba but I don't see the yorubas fighting tooth and nail to claim the itsekiri as one of them.I mean it's up to them to determine who they are and all silly references to language group is a crass misnomer. If that were the case,we all belong to the Congo! If the ika man says they are not ibos, let them be!that is why we are insisting on a sovereign conference where every ethnic group will come and present their position on whom they are and with whom they want to be affiliated so we can put all these wranglings to rest once and for all

4chi: Why is it that it is only the ibos that STRUGGLES SO MUCH to impose their identity on others? Let's even agree that there exists some kind of interpolation of language, that does not automatically make them ibos.the itsekiri language is very close to Yoruba but I don't see the yorubas fighting tooth and nail to claim the itsekiri as one of them.I mean it's up to them to determine who they are and all silly references to language group is a crass misnomer. If that were the case,we all belong to the Congo! If the ika man says they are not ibos, let them be!that is why we are insisting on a sovereign conference where every ethnic group will come and present their position on whom they are and with whom they want to be affiliated so we can put all these wranglings to rest once and for all

You are a big F.OOL for insinuating the bolded. Now define Igbo for us;tell us what makes one Igbo; tell us the people you referred to as Igbos claiming others.


In case you don't know, our argument has been about language and not ethnicity. Itsekiri is similar to Yoruba in speech the same way Ekpeye is similar to Igbo. There are two types of Igboid language which is Ekpeye and Igbo. Ika belongs to the Igbo language cluster but agbotaen has been arguing blindly.

4chi: Why is it that it is only the ibos that STRUGGLES SO MUCH to impose their identity on others? Let's even agree that there exists some kind of interpolation of language, that does not automatically make them ibos.the itsekiri language is very close to Yoruba but I don't see the yorubas fighting tooth and nail to claim the itsekiri as one of them.I mean it's up to them to determine who they are and all silly references to language group is a crass misnomer. If that were the case,we all belong to the Congo! If the ika man says they are not ibos, let them be!that is why we are insisting on a sovereign conference where every ethnic group will come and present their position on whom they are and with whom they want to be affiliated so we can put all these wranglings to rest once and for all

The above post is very idiotic and laughable. Nigga, did you not see where Ikas argued that they are Igbo, but your only functioning eye prevented you from reading it.

1. let me start by givig kudos to a great ika/nigerian who has just donated one billion naira to flood victims , he is jim ovia , founder of visafone nigeria, ika people are really setting the trail, be that as it may be mr igbo or whatever you call your self, and your propaganda , so your people have not left this propaganda ,even after the war ?
2. if majority of ika people rejected being igbo or supporting igbo in 1966 , so you think they will support you now ? please wake up , our language is called ika and not igbo , you people are great at using your numbers to write stupid things about other, our language called ika is a high brid between benin and igbo language, it is not igbo or benin , but you can see the two languages in action, i am a royal descendant of owa kingdom ,and so i am well versed in our language and lores and stories ,and if i sing some for you now , you will still come back and choose whatever you want to believe or you will accuse me of repeatition ,but when you repeat things you do not see that,
3. you said some body called ijeoma will claim ,he is not igbo ? are you also aware that ,that same person has a benin or edo name ? and in fact ,the persons surname is usually an edo name as in the case of majority of ika people,so are you going to say they are benin people? infact in nigeria , you are more known for your surname or family name and not your first name and we have seen that in ika , the igbo names are sometimes the first names and they are recent names of ika people,
4. let me give you some examples-
nduka obaigbena is from owa, his first name is nduka ( an igbo name) while obaigbena is an edo name,his fathers name is ukperi obaigbena,and his grand father was steven ikokoh obaigbena( obi of owa in 1922) while is great grand father was aigbedion okundaye ( obi of owa in 1913), whose father was eboigbodin igbeoba ( the obi of owa in 1906,who fought the british for months)
2. jim ovia is from agbor , jim is an english name while ovia is a benin name,
3. nduka irabor is from owa , his surname irabor is a benin name,
4. steve bamidele omojafor is a guru in advertising and president of APCON , he is from agbor , and his surname is benin.
5. ehpraim usiade is a retired major general from owa , and usiade is a benin name
6. chukwuma osaretin is a chief in owa , chukwuma is an igbo name , but osaretin is a benin name
7. dr. agho okungbowa is from agbor and both names are benin names,
8. nick agbogun is a retired general from agbor ,and his surname is benin
9. my names are omojie- our family name is omigie,bt my father was godwin,whose father was mgbejume igbudu omigie,whose father was uturu agbontaen, whose father was osunhon omigie, whose father was ovwiagbon and up till igbedigin( the obi of owa) so with all this edo names , do we claim that we are benin ? the answer is no , we are ika people ,and to say we are igbo is just a joke of the century.
so your arguement about an ika person bearing chioma and because of that he is igbo odes not hold water, we also bear non-igbo names.
5. in owa our greetings follow the patterns used in edo areas,
1. we greet liye oooo
2. obori
3. laiweze ooo in benin it is lavbieze
4. ojogun for old men who are priests of ogun- good of iron
5. when eating , it is kada, same as in many edo areas,
6. after meal greetings to elders like thank sir, is lakpoma ooo.

6. the basic greeting for the king (obi) or ogiso( king) are-
agbogidi iyare ,
ojenebo iyare,
ogiso iyare,
obi ni tor ne fe i ,
ise.
in benin the last word is oba ghator kpa ye ,
ise,
this words are clearly higbrid edo / igbo languages.
7. our market days in owa ,however follows the igbo market days such as eken, orie,nkwo( ogbe)and afor.
8. so we do not deny igbo influence , but we cannot also put away our edo nature because of igbo propaganda.
9. we know who we are and we are ika people , all ethnic groups was created at a point and it is a political union,ika people do not wish to be in a union with igbos and we have never been , so they should carry their propaganda to other delta community that believes they are igbo, we were in benin empire ,to western nigeria, to midwest, to bendel ,to edo and delta state.so i dont see how we share same ideology , and like i told you ika people do not reckon with tribes with a proper monarchy , we view them as not organised.
.
3.

1. anioma was coined using four ethnic groups or group of people , which is aiocha,ndokwa,ika and oshimili, they took the first letters and added oma to it, out of this ethnic groups those that claim igbo in majority are from aniocha/oshimili, but ika people in their majority has always remained steadfast in their belief that they are not igbo,and that was same pattern of events even during the ill fated biafran civil war,biafra got her main support from many aniocha/oshimili communities,while majority of ika people did not support biafra, because of our belief in the fact that we are a seperate ethnicity from the igbos.
2. anioma is a political union made up of different peoples, and about 11 languages are spoken in the whole of anioma, and this peoples are descendants of many tribes, even in aniocha and oshimili areas where this we are all igbo ideology is more propagated , there are igala and olukunmi old yoruba people there , like ugbodu kingdom, ukunzun kingdom formerly called in yoruba ekoefun-because of large deposit of native chalk, and others , and evbu which are igala people , although these peoples also speak basic aniocha dialects , they however know their origin,that they are igala and yoruba people later mixed with others.
3. in ika communities in delta , two languages are spoken -the ika which majority speak and ozara -an edoic language spoken in parts of agbor kingdom,even in owa kingdom initially there was an edoic language spoken called ekunrun,which is almost extinct ,
4. of recent the olukunmi peoples of delta state are trying to revive their identity and language , and to assert their yoruba ness , which we the ika people do not object to as we can work with all our anioma people , even if they assert their different ethnicity or origin .but the only people who become greatly troubled are the igbo propagandists who want every body in anioma to claim igbo , and those at the fore front are igbos from acrross the river niger.
5. majority of ika people are also aware of the strong igbo feelings of some of our igbodo and ekwuoma brothers due to migration and nearness to igbo cultural areas ,we are also ready to accomodate them as that is their views.

agbotaen: 1. anioma was coined using four ethnic groups or group of people , which is aiocha,ndokwa,ika and oshimili, they took the first letters and added oma to it, out of this ethnic groups those that claim igbo in majority are from aniocha/oshimili, but ika people in their majority has always remained steadfast in their belief that they are not igbo,and that was same pattern of events even during the ill fated biafran civil war,biafra got her main support from many aniocha/oshimili communities,while majority of ika people did not support biafra, because of our belief in the fact that we are a seperate ethnicity from the igbos.
2. anioma is a political union made up of different peoples, and about 11 languages are spoken in the whole of anioma, and this peoples are descendants of many tribes, even in aniocha and oshimili areas where this we are all igbo ideology is more propagated , there are igala and olukunmi old yoruba people there , like ugbodu kingdom, ukunzun kingdom formerly called in yoruba ekoefun-because of large deposit of native chalk, and others , and evbu which are igala people , although these peoples also speak basic aniocha dialects , they however know their origin,that they are igala and yoruba people later mixed with others.
3. in ika communities in delta , two languages are spoken -the ika which majority speak and ozara -an edoic language spoken in parts of agbor kingdom,even in owa kingdom initially there was an edoic language spoken called ekunrun,which is almost extinct ,
4. of recent the olukunmi peoples of delta state are trying to revive their identity and language , and to assert their yoruba ness , which we the ika people do not object to as we can work with all our anioma people , even if they assert their different ethnicity or origin .but the only people who become greatly troubled are the igbo propagandists who want every body in anioma to claim igbo , and those at the fore front are igbos from acrross the river niger.
5. majority of ika people are also aware of the strong igbo feelings of some of our igbodo and ekwuoma brothers due to migration and nearness to igbo cultural areas ,we are also ready to accomodate them as that is their views.

it is now people are calling these ethnic groups...in those days these were mere geographical locations and not an ethnic group. Nobody will say he is aniocha, he is ndokwa and so on....These were name of places

It is surprising that this thread is still running and finally has given proof to my insinuation[Agbontaen/Solomon is a heavily Yoruba influenced Owa(Ika-Igbo) man who over the years have come to HATE anything Igbo]. I have followed this thread for over a year now always noticing how he demeans anything Igbo but eulogizes Benin/Yoruba in his contributions. The Yoruba aspect until recently has been subtle that is why I was hesitant to comment. Agbontaen, you do not need to insult the general Igbo as 'land grabbers' to make your point for a separate ethnicity. Igbos hold language as a link to kinship that is why they still regard Ika as Igbo- mind you the Europeans equally saw the similarity. Igbos want to cling tenaciously to any group of people sharing similar language because of the denial of some well known Igbo groups to be Igbo which ONLY came shortly before and after the civil war, so you shouldn't blame us.
Now, I must commend your zeal and effort in pursuance of your Ika ethnic group as a separate identity. I have seen you comments many other sites. If majority of Ikas want it, then I wish you all the best but if only a few disgruntled elements are the ones fanning the embers of balkanization, then they will utterly fail. WHEN the Igbos get a leverage in the polity of Nigeria, I hope not to see your churning some verbal fervour to counter all you have written here. One thing I will say is that the general Igbo will surely miss the Ika-Igbo(because of the human resources there) but will get along well in her quest for the good of Alaigbo. On the other hand, will the Ikas miss the general Igbo in their quest too? I will leave that question to you(Agbontaen and Sonya4all). Ka odili anyi nile nma.

This is just one of the numerous reasons why SE govs dont want to support the creation of Anioma state. Cos if they do, the retards in ika will see to it that the state is ceded to the SS and @ the end of the day we'll have a river state situation where the Ikwerres vehemently deny their Igbo identity. I think it's high time we stopped 'begging' this people to be Igbo, we should to let them be on their own, let me see how they'll make any political progress in Nigeria without the backing and blessings of the Igbo. Even the Ijaws with their numbers couldnt have won the presidency for their kinsmen without Igbo vote. Agboaten or whatever your name is, your people will come beg to lick our a sses in the future. Be sure of that. Anuohia!

INNO18: This is just one of the numerous reasons why SE govs dont want to support the creation of Anioma state. Cos if they do, the retards in ika will see to it that the state is ceded to the SS and @ the end of the day we'll have a river state situation where the Ikwerres vehemently deny their Igbo identity. I think it's high time we stopped 'begging' this people to be Igbo, we should to let them be on their own, let me see how they'll make any political progress in Nigeria without the backing and blessings of the Igbo. Even the Ijaws with their numbers couldnt have won the presidency for their kinsmen without Igbo vote. Agboaten or whatever your name is, your people will come beg to lick our a sses in the future. Be sure of that. Anuohia!

This is a clear case of misplaced anger. Nwanne,agboetan is on his own,even his obi is not with him. I would advice you give unreserved apology to our anioma brothers for this your vitriolic outburst.

pazienza:

This is clear case of misplaced anger. Nwanne,agboetan is on his own,even his obi is not with him. I would advice you give unreserved apology to our anioma brothers for this your vitriolic outbust.

I wasnt refering to Anioma ppl, if you could read between lines you'd have noticed that i singled out Ikas only!

INNO18: I wasnt refering to Anioma ppl, if you could read between lines you'd have noticed that i singled out Ikas only!

That's exactly what i was saying. Not all ikas are as mad as agbotaen, if you had followed this thread from the beginning,you would have noticed some ika sons like ogbuefi that came and debunked agbotaen claims,ezeagu,an agbor man himself, at a point posted a the link to a book written by the obi of owa,agbotaen's home town,where the the obi said he and majority of owa people came from nri.

So,nwanne next time,direct your anger at agbotaen and his likes,and not ika people,as not all ika people partake in agbotaen's madness.

Dalu kwa.

pazienza:

That's exactly what i was saying. Not all ikas are as mad as agbotaen, if you had followed this thread from the beginning,you would have noticed some ika sons like ogbuefi that came and debunked agbotaen claims,ezeagu,an agbor man himself, at a point posted a the link to a book written by the obi of owa,agbotaen's home town,where the the obi said he and majority of owa people came from nri.

So,nwanne next time,direct your anger at agbotaen and his likes,and not ika people,as not all ika people partake in agbotaen's madness.

Dalu kwa.

well in that case i tender my unreserved apology to the good people of Anioma

1. where is ogbuefi from ? he is from igbodo ,an ika town near igbo area and whose ancestors were probably igbo and so thats his right to claim igbo and that is not the view of majority of ika people , and for your information if the obi of owa loves igbo so much why did he lead and assited the nigeria troops to expel biafra from ika land ? because you make this arguement as if it is my invention ,and why did biafra declare this same obi of owa wanted dead or alive ? and why did majority of ika kingdoms and people refuse to support biafra ? and why did they all say they are not igbo , and is the obi of owa a member of ohaneze ndigbo ? why do you igbos love propaganda so much , and when did you see a prominent ika person at fore front of igbo ethnic agenda ? and what are we going to miss , where ika people ever with the igbos , apart from the the useless broad classifications of many people by europeans as igbo ,which our fathers rejected , there was also a time ika was classified as benin too and we rejected it in 1930,
2. let me tell you in 1913 and 1930 british intelligent report on owa kingdom -this is what they said ,owa has both benin and igbo pattern of migration, because of stories or legends and some aspects of culture , so if we recount history and say owa or ika has igbo or edo cultures , we do not say we are igbo or that we are benin ,but the core founders of owa kingdom were benin people from ikoha in ovia in benin,before igbo people later came, that is our firm believe ,and for your information the obi of owa is still bearing a benin name called efeizomor and so was his ancestors too , so that goes for that.
3. igbo was not an ethnic group untill europeans helped to form it , and so were others and so we have formed ika , it was the doings of our fathers and the ika people made a UNIVERSAL DECLARATION IN 1930- saying they are not part of any known ethnic group in nigeria, and so we abide by that ,we have survived for over 1000 years as a people and so it is not this new bogus ethnicity called igbo that is not even up to 200 years that will guaranty our survival .
4. our ethnicity is piloted by ogua /onu ika and not by ohaneze ndigbo or any other igbo ethnic agenda group.
5. igbos dont like truth that is why they always fall into trouble , there are yorubas , edos, igala and other in anioma and for your information language alone does not form ethnicity , as americans speak english but they are not britons or english.so get that right , and ika language is not igbo .
6.jonathan was voted for by all nigerians and not igbo alone , the south east has lowest population in nigeria ,so get that right , the yorubas , edos, even middle belters and hausas voted for him.

agbotaen: 1. where is ogbuefi from ? he is from igbodo ,an ika town near igbo area and whose ancestors were probably igbo and so thats his right to claim igbo and that is not the view of majority of ika people , and for your information if the obi of owa loves igbo so much why did he lead and assited the nigeria troops to expel biafra from ika land ? because you make this arguement as if it is my invention ,and why did biafra declare this same obi of owa wanted dead or alive ? and why did majority of ika kingdoms and people refuse to support biafra ? and why did they all say they are not igbo , and is the obi of owa a member of ohaneze ndigbo ? why do you igbos love propaganda so much , and when did you see a prominent ika person at fore front of igbo ethnic agenda ? and what are we going to miss , where ika people ever with the igbos , apart from the the useless broad classifications of many people by europeans as igbo ,which our fathers rejected , there was also a time ika was classified as benin too and we rejected it in 1930,
2. let me tell you in 1913 and 1930 british intelligent report on owa kingdom -this is what they said ,owa has both benin and igbo pattern of migration, because of stories or legends and some aspects of culture , so if we recount history and say owa or ika has igbo or edo cultures , we do not say we are igbo or that we are benin ,but the core founders of owa kingdom were benin people from ikoha in ovia in benin,before igbo people later came, that is our firm believe ,and for your information the obi of owa is still bearing a benin name called efeizomor and so was his ancestors too , so that goes for that.
3. igbo was not an ethnic group untill europeans helped to form it , and so were others and so we have formed ika , it was the doings of our fathers and the ika people made a UNIVERSAL DECLARATION IN 1930- saying they are not part of any known ethnic group in nigeria, and so we abide by that ,we have survived for over 1000 years as a people and so it is not this new bogus ethnicity called igbo that is not even up to 200 years that will guaranty our survival .
4. our ethnicity is piloted by ogua /onu ika and not by ohaneze ndigbo or any other igbo ethnic agenda group.
5. igbos dont like truth that is why they always fall into trouble , there are yorubas , edos, igala and other in anioma and for your information language alone does not form ethnicity , as americans speak english but they are not britons or english.so get that right , and ika language is not igbo .
6.jonathan was voted for by all nigerians and not igbo alone , the south east has lowest population in nigeria ,so get that right , the yorubas , edos, even middle belters and hausas voted for him.

Continue fooling yourself. Ewu hausa

The Igbo people have had heavily fragmented and politically independent communities.[18] The origin of Igbo people is not without its controversies. With most subgroups offering their own versions of their root. Igbos have strong relationship with their neighbours and share allot of similarities in culture </ref>

Due to the effects of migration and the Atlantic slave trade, there are descendant historical Igbo populations in countries such as Cameroon[16] and Equatorial Guinea,[17] as well as outside Africa; many African Americans and Afro Caribbeans are assumed to be partially of Igbo descent.
History
Origin

Pottery dated at around 4500 BCE showing similarities with later Igbo work was found at Nsukka, along with pottery and tools at nearby Ibagwa; the traditions of the Umueri clan have as their source the Anambra valley. In the 1970s the Owerri, Okigwe, Orlu, Awgu, Udi and Awka divisions were determined to constitute "an Igbo heartland" from the linguistic and cultural evidence.[19]
Nri Kingdom
Main article: Kingdom of Nri
Bronze from the ninth century town of Igbo Ukwu, now at the British Museum.[20]

The city of Nri is considered to be the foundation of Igbo culture.[21] Nri and Aguleri, where the Igbo creation myth originates, are in the territory of the Umueri clan who trace their lineages back to the patriarchal king-figure Eri.[22] Eri's origins are unclear, though he has been described as a "sky being" sent by Chukwu (God).[22][23] He has been characterized as having first given societal order to the people of Anambra.[23] The historian Elizabeth Allo Isichei says "Nri and Aguleri and part of the Umueri clan, [are] a cluster of Igbo village groups which traces its origins to a sky being called Eri."[24]

Archaeological evidence suggests that Nri hegemony in Igboland may go back as far as the 9th century,[25] and royal burials have been unearthed dating to at least the 10th century. Eri, the god-like founder of Nri, is believed to have settled the region around 948 with other related Igbo cultures following after in the 13th century.[26] The first Eze Nri (King of Nri) Ìfikuánim followed directly after him. According to Igbo oral tradition, his reign started in 1043.[27] At least one historian puts Ìfikuánim's reign much later, around 1225 AD.[28]

Each king traces his origin back to the founding ancestor, Eri. Each king is a ritual reproduction of Eri. The initiation rite of a new king shows that the ritual process of becoming Ezenri (Nri priest-king) follows closely the path traced by the hero in establishing the Nri kingdom.
E. Elochukwu Uzukwu[29]

An Igbo man with facial scarifications, known as ichi, early 20th century [30]

The Kingdom of Nri was a religio-polity, a sort of theocratic state, that developed in the central heartland of the Igbo region.[26] The Nri had seven types of taboos which included human (such as the birth of twins), animal (such as killing or eating of pythons),[31] object, temporal, behavioral, speech and place taboos.[32] The rules regarding these taboos were used to educate and govern Nri's subjects. This meant that, while certain Igbo may have lived under different formal administration, all followers of the Igbo religion had to abide by the rules of the faith and obey its representative on earth, the Eze Nri.[32][33]
Traditional society

Traditional Igbo political organization was based on a quasi-democratic republican system of government. In tight knit communities, this system guaranteed its citizens equality, as opposed to a feudalist system with a king ruling over subjects.[34] This government system was witnessed by the Portuguese who first arrived and met with the Igbo people in the 15th century.[35] With the exception of a few notable Igbo towns such as Onitsha, which had kings called Obi, and places like the Nri Kingdom and Arochukwu, which had priest kings; Igbo communities and area governments were overwhelmingly ruled solely by a republican consultative assembly of the common people.[34] Communities were usually governed and administered by a council of elders.[36]
Three Igbo women in the early 20th century[37]

Although title holders were respected because of their accomplishments and capabilities, they were never revered as kings, but often performed special functions given to them by such assemblies. This way of governing was immensely different from most other communities of Western Africa, and only shared by the Ewe of Ghana. Umunna are a form of patrilineage maintained by the Igbo. Law starts with the Umunna which is a male line of descent from a founding ancestor (who the line is sometimes named after) with groups of compounds containing closely related families headed by the eldest male member. The Umunna can be seen as the most important pillar of Igbo society.[38][39][40]

Mathematics in traditional Igbo society is evident in their calendar, banking system and strategic betting game called Okwe.[41] In their indigenous calendar, a week had four days, a month consisted of seven weeks and 13 months made a year. In the last month, an extra day was added.[42][43] This calendar is still used in indigenous Igbo villages and towns to determine market days.[44] They settled law matters via mediators, and their banking system for loans and savings, called Isusu, is also still used.[45] The Igbo new year, starting with the month Önwa Mbụ (Igbo: First Moon) occurs on the third week of February,[46] although the traditional start of the year for many Igbo communities is around springtime in Önwa Agwụ (June).[47][48] Used as a ceremonial script by secret societies, the Igbo had a traditional ideographic set of symbols called Nsibidi, originating from the neighboring Ejagham people.[49] Igbo people produced bronzes from as early as the 9th century, some of which have been found at the town of Igbo Ukwu, Anambra state.[20]
Igbo Trade Routes before 1900 (click for larger image)

A system of Indentured servitude existed among the Igbo after and before the arrival and knowledge of Europeans.[50][51] Indentured service in Igbo areas was described by Olaudah Equiano in his narrative. He describes the conditions of the slaves in his community of Essaka, and points out the difference between the treatment of slaves under the Igbo in Essaka, and those in the custody of Europeans in West Indies:

…but how different was their condition from that of the slaves in the West Indies! With us, they do no more work than other members of the community,… even their master;… (except that they were not permitted to eat with those… free-born and there was scarce any other difference between them,… Some of these slaves have… slaves under them as their own property… for their own use.[51]

The Niger coast acted as a contact point between African and European traders from the years 1434–1807. This contact between the Africans and Europeans began with the Portuguese, then the Dutch and finally the British.[52] Even prior to European contact, Igbo trade routes stretched as far as Mecca, Medina and Jeddah.[53]
Transatlantic slave trade
Main articles: Transatlantic slave trade and The Igbo in the Atlantic slave trade
Paul Robeson was a multi-lingual American actor and writer whose father was of Igbo descent.[54]

The transatlantic slave trade which took place between the 16th and late 19th century affected the Igbo heavily. Most Igbo slaves were taken from the Bight of Biafra (also known as the Bight of Bonny).[55] This area included modern day southeastern Nigeria, Western Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and parts of Northern Gabon.[56] Major trade ports for goods and slaves in the area included Bonny and Calabar Town. A large number of slaves from the Bight of Biafra would have been Igbo.[57][58] Slaves were usually sold to Europeans by the Aro Confederacy who kidnapped or bought slaves from Igbo villages in the hinterland.[59] Most Igbo slaves, however, were not victims of slave raiding wars or expeditions, but were sometimes debtors and people who committed what their communities considered to be abominations or crimes.[60] About 15 percent of slaves were taken from the Bight of Biafra between 1650 and 1900, the third greatest percentage in the era of the transatlantic slave trade.[61] Igbo slaves were known for being rebellious and having a high rate of suicide in defiance of slavery.[62][63][64] For still unknown reasons, Igbo women were highly sought after[65][66]

Contrary to common belief, European slave traders were fairly informed about various African ethnicities, leading to slavers' targeting certain ethnic groups which plantation owners preferred. Ethnic groups consequently became fairly saturated in certain parts of the Americas.[67] The Igbo were dispersed to colonies such as Jamaica,[2] Cuba,[2] Haiti,[2] Barbados,[68] the United States,[69] Belize[70] and Trinidad and Tobago,[71] among others.

Elements of Igbo culture can still be found in these places. For example, in Jamaican Patois the Igbo word unu, meaning "you" plural, is still used.[72] "Red Ibo" (or "red eboe" describes a black person with fair or "yellowish" skin. This term had originated from the reported prevalence of these skin tones among the Igbo but eastern Nigerian influences may not be strictly Igbo.[4][73] The word Bim, a colloquial term for Barbados, was commonly used among enslaved Barbadians (Bajans). This word is said to have derived from bi mu in the Igbo language (or bem, Ndi bem, Nwanyi ibem or Nwoke ibem, which means "My people", but may have other origins (see: Barbados etymology).[74][75] A section of Belize City was named Eboe Town after its Igbo inhabitants.[76] In the United States the Igbo were found most commonly in the states of Maryland and Virginia, where they remained the largest single group of Africans.[77][78] Recent Igbo-speaking immigrants have also settled in Maryland, attracted to its strong professional job market.[79]
Colonial period
Main article: Colonial Nigeria

The arrival of the British in the 1870s and increased encounters between the Igbo and other ethnicities near the Niger River led to a deepening sense of a distinct Igbo ethnic identity. The Igbo proved remarkably decisive and enthusiastic in their embrace of Christianity and Western education.[80][81] Due to the incompatibility of the Igbo decentralized style of government and the centralized system required for British indirect rule, British colonial rule was marked with open conflicts and much tension.[50] Under British colonial rule, the diversity within each of Nigeria's major ethnic groups slowly decreased and distinctions between the Igbo and other large ethnic groups, such as the Hausa and the Yoruba, became sharper.[82]

Colonial rule drastically transformed Igbo society as depicted in the book Things Fall Apart. British rule brought about changes in culture such as the introduction of Warrant Chiefs as Eze (traditional rulers) where there were no such monarchies.[83] Christianity had played a great part in the introduction of European ideology into Igbo society and culture, sometimes shunning parts of the culture.[84] The rumours that the Igbo women were being assessed for taxation sparked off the 1929 Igbo Women's War in Aba (also known as the 1929 Aba Riots), a massive revolt of women never encountered before in Igbo history.[85]

Living conditions changed under colonial rule. The tradition of building houses out of mud walls and thatched roofs died while houses started being built with cement blocks and zinc roofs. Roads for vehicles were built. Buildings such as hospitals and schools were erected in many parts of Igboland. Along with this change came electricity and running water in the early 20th century. Electricity brought new devices such as radios and televisions which are now common place in most Igbo households.[86]
Nigerian–Biafran War
Main article: Nigerian Civil War
Flag of the Republic of Biafra (1967–1970), sometimes regarded as the ethnic flag of the Igbo.[87]

A series of ethnic clashes between Northern Muslims and the Igbo (and other peoples) of Eastern Nigeria living in Northern Nigeria took place between 1966 and 1967. This was followed by the assassination of the Nigerian military head of state General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi by elements in the army[88] and by the failure of peace talks between the military government that deposed Ironsi and the regional government of Eastern Nigeria at the Aburi Talks in Ghana in 1967.[89] These events led to a regional council of the peoples of Eastern Nigeria deciding that the region should secede and proclaim the Republic of Biafra on May 30, 1967.[90] General Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu had made this declaration and became the Head of state of the new republic.[91] The war, which came to be known as the Nigerian Civil War or the Nigerian-Biafran War, lasted from July 6, 1967, until January 15, 1970, after which the federal government reabsorbed Biafra into Nigeria.[90][92] Several million Eastern Nigerians, especially Igbo, are believed to have died between the pogroms and the end of the civil war. In their brief struggle for self-determination, the people of Biafra earned the respect of figures such as Jean Paul Sartre and John Lennon, who returned his British honor, MBE, partly in protest against British collusion in the Nigeria-Biafra war.[93]

In July 2007, the former leader of Biafra, General Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, renewed calls for the secession of the Biafran state as a sovereign entity. "The only alternative is a separate existence...What upsets the Igbo population is we are not equally Nigerian as the others".[94]
Recent history (1970 to present)

After the Nigerian–Biafran War, Igboland was devastated. Many hospitals, schools, and homes were completely destroyed in the war. In addition to the loss of their savings, many Igbo people found themselves discriminated against by other ethnic groups and the new non-Igbo federal government.[95] Some Igbo subgroups, such as the Ikwerre, started disassociating themselves with the larger Igbo population after the war.[96] The post-war era saw the changing of names of both people and places to non-Igbo sounding words such as the changing of the name of the town of Igbuzo to the Anglicized Ibusa.[97] Due to the discrimination, many Igbo had trouble finding employment, and the Igbo became one of the poorest ethnic groups in Nigeria during the early 1970s.[95][98][99] Igboland was gradually rebuilt over a period of twenty years and the economy was again prospering due to the rise of the petroleum industry in the adjacent Niger Delta region. This led to new factories being set up in southern Nigeria. Many Igbo people eventually took government positions,[100] although many were engaged in private business and constituted and still constitute the bulk of Nigerian informal economy.[101] Recently, there has been a wave of Igbo immigration to other African countries, Europe, and the Americas.[102]
Culture
Anklet beaten from a solid brass bar of the type worn by Igbo women. Now in the collection of Wolverhampton Art Gallery. The leg-tube extends approx 7cm each side of the 35cm disc.
Main article: Igbo culture

Igbo culture includes the various customs, practices and traditions of the Igbo people. It comprises archaic practices as well as new concepts added into the Igbo culture either through evolution or outside influences. These customs and traditions include the Igbo people's visual art, music and dance forms, as well as their attire, cuisine and language dialects. Because of their various subgroups, the variety of their culture is heightened further.
Language and literature
Main article: Igbo language
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, perhaps the most popular and renowned novel that deals with the Igbo and their traditional life

The Igbo language was used by John Goldsmith as an example to justify deviating from the classical linear model of phonology as laid out in The Sound Pattern of English. It is written in the Roman script as well as the Nsibidi formalized ideograms which is used by the Ekpe society and Okonko fraternity, but is no longer widely used.[103] Nsibidi ideography existed among the Igbo before the 16th century, but died out after it became popular among secret societies, who then made Nsibidi a secret form of communication.[104] Igbo is a tonal language and there are hundreds of different Igbo dialects and Igboid languages such as the Ikwerre and Ekpeye languages.[7] In 1939, Dr. Ida C. Ward led a research expedition on Igbo dialects which could possibly be used as a basis of a standard Igbo dialect, also known as Central Igbo. This dialect included that of the Owerri and Umuahia groups, including the Ohuhu dialect. This proposed dialect was gradually accepted by missionaries, writers, publishers, and Cambridge University.[105]

In 1789, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano was published in London, England, written by Olaudah Equiano, a former slave. The book featured 79 Igbo words.[106] In the first and second chapter, the book illustrates various aspects of Igbo life based on Olaudah Equiano's life in his hometown of Essaka.[107] Although the book was one of the first books published to include Igbo material, Geschichte der Mission der evangelischen Brüder auf den caraibischen Inseln St. Thomas, St. Croix und S. Jan (German: History of the Evangelical Brothers' Mission in the Caribbean Islands St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John),[108] published in 1777, written by the German missionary C. G. A. Oldendorp, was the first book to publish any Igbo material.[106] Perhaps the most popular and renowned novel that deals with the Igbo and their traditional life was the 1959 book by Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart. The novel concerns influences of British colonialism and Christian missionaries on a traditional Igbo community during an unspecified time in the late nineteenth or early 20th century. The bulk of the novel takes place in Umuofia, one of nine villages on the lower Niger.[109]
Performing arts
For more details on this topic, see Igbo music.
A contemporary Igbo masquerade, Umuahia

The Igbo people have a musical style into which they incorporate various percussion instruments: the udu, which is essentially designed from a clay jug; an ekwe, which is formed from a hollowed log; and the ogene, a hand bell designed from forged iron. Other instruments include opi, a wind instrument similar to the flute, igba, and ichaka.[110] Another popular musical form among the Igbo is Highlife. A widely popular musical genre in West Africa, Highlife is a fusion of jazz and traditional music. The modern Igbo Highlife is seen in the works of Dr Sir Warrior, Oliver De Coque, Bright Chimezie, and Chief Osita Osadebe, who were among the most popular Igbo Highlife musicians of the 20th century.[111]

Masking is one of the most common art styles in Igboland and is linked strongly with Igbo traditional music. A mask can be made of wood or fabric, along with other materials including iron and vegetation.[112] Masks have a variety of uses, mainly in social satires, religious rituals, secret society initiations (such as the Ekpe society) and public festivals, which now include Christmas time celebrations.[113] Best known are the Agbogho Mmuo (Igbo: Maiden spirit) masks of the Northern Igbo which represent the spirits of deceased maidens and their mothers with masks symbolizing beauty.[112]

Other impressive masks include Northern Igbo Ijele masks. At 12 feet (3.7 m) high, Ijele masks consist of platforms 6 feet (1.8 m) in diameter,[112] supporting figures made of colored cloth and representing everyday scenes with objects such as leopards. Ijele masks are used for honoring the dead to ensure the continuity and well-being of the community and are only seen on rare occasions such as the death of a prominent figure in the community.[112]

There are many Igbo dance styles, but perhaps, Igbo dance is best known for its Atilogwu dance troops. These performances include acrobatic stunts such as high kicks and cartwheels, with each rhythm from the traditional instruments indicating a movement to the dancer.[114]
Visual art and architecture
Main article: Igbo art

It is near impossible to describe a general Igbo art style because the Igbo are heavily fragmented. This has added to the development of a great variety of art styles and cultural practices.[112] Igbo art is generally known for various types of masquerade, masks and outfits symbolising people animals or abstract conceptions. Bronze castings found in the town of Igbo Ukwu from the 9th century, constitute the earliest sculptures discovered in Igboland. Here, the grave of a well established man of distinction and a ritual store, dating from the 9th century AD, contained both chased copper objects and elaborate castings of leaded bronze.[20] Along with these bronzes were 165,000 glass beads said to have originated in Egypt, Venice and India.[115] Some popular Igbo art styles include Uli designs. The majority of the Igbo carve and use masks, although the function of masks vary from community to community. Igbo art is also famous for Mbari architecture.[116]
Thatching with palm leaf mats, early 20th century

Mbari houses of the Owerri-Igbo, which are large opened-sided square planned shelters, are examples of Igbo architecture. They house many life-sized, painted figures (sculpted in mud to appease the Alusi (deity) and Ala, the earth goddess, with other deities of thunder and water).[117] Other sculptures are of officials, craftsmen, foreigners (mainly Europeans), animals, legendary creatures and ancestors.[117] Mbari houses take years to build and building them is regarded as sacred, therefore new ones are constructed and old ones are left to decay.[117] Everyday houses were made of mud and thatched roofs with bare earth floors with carved design doors. Some houses had elaborate designs both in the interior and exterior. These designs could include Uli art designed by Igbo women.[118]

One of the unique structures of Igbo culture was the Nsude Pyramids, at the Nigerian town of Nsude, in Abaja, northern Igboland. Ten pyramidal structures were built of clay/mud. The first base section was 60 ft. in circumference and 3 ft. in height. The next stack was 45 ft. in circumference. Circular stacks continued, till it reached the top. The structures were temples for the god Ala/Uto, who was believed to reside at the top. A stick was placed at the top to represent the god's residence. The structures were laid in groups of five parallel to each other. Because it was built of clay/mud like the Deffufa of Nubia, time has taken its toll requiring periodic reconstruction.[119]
Religion and rites of passage
Main article: Odinani
See also: Religion in Nigeria
Igbo Roman Catholics in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, California

Today, the majority of the Igbo people are Christian, well over half of whom are Roman Catholics.[120] There are a small population of Igbo Jews. The ancient Igbo religion and traditions are known as Odinani.[22] In Igbo mythology, which is part of their ancient religion, the supreme God is called Chukwu ("great spirit"; Chukwu created the world and everything in it and is associated with all things on Earth. Chukwu is a solar deity. To the ancient Igbo, the Cosmos was divided into four complex parts: creation, known as Okike; supernatural forces or deities called Alusi; Mmuo, which are spirits; and Uwa, the world.[121]

Chukwu is the supreme deity in Odinani as he is the creator in their pantheon and the Igbo people believe that all things come from him[122] and that everything on earth, heaven and the rest of the spiritual world is under his control.[123] Linguistic studies of the Igbo language suggests the name Chukwu is a portmanteau of the Igbo words: Chi (spiritual being) and Ukwu (great in size).[124] Alusi, alternatively known as Arusi or Arushi (depending on dialect), are minor deities that are worshiped and served in Odinani. There are a list of many different Alusi and each has its own purpose. When an individual deity is no longer needed, or becomes too violent, it is discarded.[125]
Wooden sculpture of Ikenga, an Alusi, in the British Museum

The Igbo believe in reincarnation. People are believed to reincarnate into families that they were part of while alive. Before a relative dies, it is said that the soon to be deceased relative sometimes give clues of who they will reincarnate as in the family. Once a child is born, he or she is believed to give signs of who they have reincarnated from. This can be through behavior, physical traits and statements by the child. A diviner can help in detecting who the child has reincarnated from. It is considered an insult if a male is said to have reincarnated as a female.[126]

Children are not allowed to call elders by their names without using an honorific (as this is considered disrespectful). Children are required to greet elders when seeing them for the first time in the day as a sign of respect. Children usually add the Igbo honorifics Mazi or Dede before an elder's name when addressing them.[127][128]
Burials

After a death, the body of a prominent member of society is placed on a stool in a sitting posture and is clothed in the deceased's finest garments. Animal sacrifices may be offered to them and they can be well perfumed.[129] Burial usually follows within 24 hours of death. The head of a home is usually buried beneath the floor of his house.[128] Different types of deaths warrant different types of burials. This is affected by an individual's age, gender and status in society. For example, children are buried in hiding and out of sight, their burials usually take place in the early mornings and late nights. A simple untitled man is buried in front of his house and a simple mother is buried in her place of origin in a garden or a farm-area that belonged to her father.[130] Presently, a majority of the Igbo bury their dead in the western way, although it is not uncommon for burials to be practiced in the traditional Igbo ways.[131]
Marriage
See also: Polygamy in Nigeria

The process of marrying usually involves asking the young woman's consent, introducing the woman to the man's family and the same for the man to the woman's family, testing the bride's character, checking the woman's family background and paying the brides wealth.[132] Sometimes marriages had been arranged from birth through negotiation of the two families.[133]
A modern Igbo wedding, Nnewi, Nigeria

In the past, many Igbo men practiced polygamy. The polygamous family is made up of a man and his wives and all their children.[128] Men sometimes married multiple wives for economic reasons so as to have more people in the family, including children, to help on farms.[134] Christian and civil marriages have changed the Igbo family since colonization. Igbo people now tend to enter monogamous courtships and create nuclear families, mainly because of Western influence.[135] some times Western marriage customs, such as wedding in church, is adopted After the lgbo cultural traditional Marriage.[136]
Attire

Traditionally, the attire of the Igbo generally consisted of little clothing as the purpose of clothing originally was to conceal private parts, although elders were fully clothed.[137] Children were usually nude from birth until they reach puberty status (the time when they were considered to have something to hide) but sometimes ornaments such as beads were worn around the waist for spiritual reasons. Uli body art was used to decorate both men and women in the form of lines forming patterns and shapes on the body.[138]
Men wearing the modern Isiagu with traditional Igbo men's hat Okpu Agwu

Women traditionally carry their babies on their backs with a strip of clothing binding the two with a knot at her chest, a practice used by many ethnic groups across Africa.[137] This method has been modernized in the form of the child carrier. In most cases Igbo women did not cover their breast areas. Maidens usually wore a short wrapper with beads around their waist and other ornaments such as necklaces and beads.[137] Both men and women wore wrappers.[137][138] Men would wear loin cloths that wrapped round their waist and between their legs to be fastened at their back, the type of clothing appropriate for the intense heat as well as jobs such as farming.[137][138]

In Olaudah Equiano's narrative, Equiano describes fragrances that were used by the Igbo in the community of Essaka;

Our principal luxury is in perfumes; one sort of these is an odoriferous wood of delicious fragrance: the other a kind of earth; a small portion of which thrown into the fire diffuses a most powerful odor. We beat this wood into powder, and mix it with palm oil; with which both men and women perfume themselves.
Olaudah Equiano[139]

In the same era as the rise of colonial forces in Nigeria, the way the Igbo dressed changed.[138] Clothing worn before colonialism became "traditional" and worn on special occasions. Modern Igbo traditional attire, for men, is generally made up of the Isiagu top which resembles the Dashiki worn by other African groups. Isiagu (or Ishi agu) is usually patterned with lions heads embroidered over the clothing and can be a plain color.[140] It is worn with trousers and can be worn with either a traditional title holders hat or with the traditional Igbo striped men's hat known as Okpu Agwu.[141] For women, a puffed sleeve blouse along with two wrappers and a head tie are worn.[137][138]
Cuisine
Yam porridge (or yam pottage) is an Igbo dish known as awaị[142]
Main article: Igbo cuisine

The yam is very important to the Igbo as it is their staple crop. There are celebrations such as the New yam festival (Igbo: Iwaji) which are held for the harvesting of the yam.[10] During the festival yam is eaten throughout the communities as celebration. Yam tubers are shown off by individuals as a sign of success and wealth.[143] Rice has replaced yam for ceremonial occasions. Other foods include cassava, garri, maize and plantains. Soups or stews are included in a typical meal, prepared with a vegetable (such as okra, of which the word derives from the Igbo language, Okwuru)[144] to which pieces of fish, chicken, beef, or goat meat are added. Jollof rice is popular throughout West Africa.[145] Palm wine is a popular alcoholic beverage among the Igbo.[146]
Demographics
Nigeria
See also: Demographics of Nigeria

The Igbo in Nigeria are found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Delta and Rivers State.[147] The Igbo language is predominant throughout these areas, although Nigerian English (the national language) is spoken as well. Prominent towns and cities in Igboland include Aba, Owerri, Enugu (considered the 'Igbo capital'),[148] Onitsha, Abakaliki, Afikpo, Agbor, Nsukka, Orlu, Okigwe, Umuahia, Asaba and Port Harcourt among others.[149] There is a significant number of Igbo people found in other parts of Nigeria by migration, such as in the city of Lagos.[86]

The official population count of ethnic groups in Nigeria has remained controversial as a majority of these groups have claimed that the government deliberately deflates the official population of one group, to give the other numerical superiority.[150][151][152] The 2010 edition of the CIA World Factbook put the Igbo population (including the various subgroups of the Igbo) at 18% of a total population of 152 million, or approximately 27 million. The 2012 edition retained the "18%" figure, but now gives the total population of Nigeria as 170 million, so that (if the 18% is still accurate) the Igbo population of Nigeria would be roughly 30 million as of 2012.[153]

With 18% of population, the Igbo form the third-largest ethnic group of Nigeria, following Hausa-Fulani (i.e. the Hausa and the Fulani counted as a single group, at 29%) and the Yoruba at 21%.

Southeastern Nigeria, which is inhabited primarily by the Igbo, is the most densely populated area in Nigeria, and possibly in all of Africa.[154][155] Most ethnicities that inhabit southeastern Nigeria, such as the closely related Efik and Ibibio people, are sometimes regarded as Igbo by other Nigerians and ethnographers who are not well informed about the southeast.[156][157]
Diaspora
See also: Nigerian diaspora, Igbo American, Nigerian American, and Nigerian British
Igbo people celebrating the New Yam festival in Dublin, Ireland

After the Nigerian-Biafran War, many Igbo people emigrated out of the traditional Igbo homeland in southeastern Nigeria due to an absence of federal presence, lack of jobs, and poor infrastructure.[158] In recent decades the Igbo region of Nigeria has suffered from frequent environmental damage mainly related to the oil industry.[159] Igbo people have moved to both Nigerian cities such as Lagos and Abuja, and other countries such as Gabon,[160] Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Prominent Igbo communities outside Africa include those of London in the United Kingdom and Houston, California, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. in the United States.[161][162][163][164]

About 21,000 Igbo people were recorded in Ghana in 1969.[165] A small number (8,680) in Bioko island in 2002.[166]

Small numbers live in Japan [167] and in the Americas (Igbo Canadian, Igbo American, Igbo Jamaican) and elsewhere.[168]
Population genetics and the African diaspora

With genealogy tracing by means of DNA testing, the roots of the African diaspora is being uncovered by descendants of the victims of the atlantic slave trade who are researching their family history. In the 2003 PBS program African American Lives, Bishop T.D. Jakes had his DNA analyzed; his Y chromosome showed that he is descended from the Igbo.[169] American actors Forest Whitaker, Paul Robeson, and Blair Underwood have traced their genealogy back to the Igbo people.[170][171][172]
Organizations

The 1930s saw the rise of Igbo unions in the cities of Lagos and Port Harcourt. Later, the Ibo Federal Union (renamed the Ibo State Union in 1948) emerged as an umbrella pan-ethnic organization. Headed by Nnamdi Azikiwe, it was closely associated with the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), which he co-founded with Herbert Macaulay. The aim of the organization was the improvement and advancement (such as in education) of the Igbo and their indigenous land and included an Igbo "national anthem" with a plan for an Igbo bank.[173][174]

In 1978 after Olusegun Obasanjo's military regime lifted the ban on independent political activity, the Ohaneze Ndi Igbo organization was formed, an elite umbrella organization which speaks on behalf of the Igbo people.[175][176] Their main concerns are the marginalization of the Igbo people in Nigerian politics and the neglect of indigenous Igbo territory in social amenities and development of infrastructure. Other groups which protest the perceived marginalization of the Igbo people are the Igbo Peoples Congress (IPC).[177] Even before the 20th century there were numerous Igbo unions and organizations existing around the world, such as the Igbo union in Bathurst, Gambia in 1842, founded by a prominent Igbo trader and ex-soldier named Thomas Refell. Another was the union founded by the Igbo community in Freetown, Sierra Leone by 1860, of which Africanus Horton, a surgeon, scientist and soldier, was an active member.[178]

Decades after the Nigerian-Biafran war, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), a secessionist group, was founded in September 1999 by Ralph Uwazurike for the goal of an independent Igbo state. Since its creation, there have been several conflicts between its members and the Nigerian government, resulting in the death of members.[177][179][180] For the promotion of the Igbo language and culture, the Society for Promoting Igbo Language and Culture (SPILC) was founded in 1949 by Frederick Chidozie Ogbalu, and has since created a standard dialect for Igbo.[