1. for whatever any igbo person thinks, ika is an ethnic nation just like igbo or yoruba or bini , we have never said that all ika people come from benin or ishan or yoruba or igbo land , but we came from many places some from benin, some from igbo and other places but after having lived for hundreds of years together we call ourselfs ika , and a proper stance was taken in 1930 , and no igbo properganda can change that , we are ika nation .










ALLOW THE IGBOS TO SAY WHRE THEY STAND AND STOP USING WE BUT USE I, IT SAYS ALOT HAVE YOU GONE TO IKA WEBSITE LATELY

By Emeka Esogbue

Ika communities mostly comprise the following: Agbor, Owa, Umunede, Mbiri, Abavo, Orogodo, Otolokpo, Igbodo, Ute-Okpu, Ute-Ugbeje, Idumuesah, Akumazi, Ekpon (Edo State), Igbanke (Edo State), Inyelen Edo State).

The Ika people are specifically located in the North-West of Delta State but some like Igbanke, Inyelen and Ekpon are presently located in Edo State.

Other Ika communities found in Edo State are Owanikeke, Owa-Riuzo Idu and Igbogili. Specifically, Ika people occupy Ika North East and Ika South Local Government Areas of Delta State and a land area of about 117.45 square kilometres. Since the 2006 population census did not stipulate the official figure for ethnic groups, the total population figure of the Ika people remains officially unknown.

The dialect of Ika people is Igboid group (Williamson, 1968). This according to him is because it has no noticeable difference from the general Igbo language spoken within the Anioma area only weak phonological and lexical difference separates it from the variety of dialects spoken within the Anioma confine. In actual fact, Ika dialect is a mixture of Igbo and Bini which evidently suggests it’s the influence of proximity with the Aniocha/Oshimili and Edo groups. This is also reflective in the names that the people bear. The whole of Ika communities speak Ika dialect while Igbodo speaks dual Ika and Enuani dialects. If we go by Williams’ hypothesis, then we will arrive at the postulation that Ika people speak Ika, a branch of Igbo language.

The history of the name “Ika” shows that the term “Ika” has not always been particularized to the present Ika area and its people but has been generally used to loosely accommodate the entire people once referred to as “Western Ibos” by the British colonialists but now Anioma by natives (Forde and Jones, 1967). With time however, the name “Ika” became limited to the present Ika areas of Ika North East and Ika South and their people including Igbanke, Inyelen and Ekpon and the people’s dialect. What is said here is that although, we refer to this present group of people as Ika today, original documents of the early European missionaries once viewed the general Anioma people as “Ika”. These missionary writers later added the suffix “Ibo” to the name to make it sound “Ika-Ibo”. However, the reason for the retention or limiting of the name to the group already described above is unclear to historians. Only deep researches will ascertain it in due course. Be that as it may, the people of Ika have always maintained their independence of Bini or any other ethnic group in the country.

ORIGIN

That the Ika people do not trace their ancestry to common origin is truism. The various clans that make up Ika have heterogeneous origins. In general terms, Ika people do not have common or related origin. As we have already known, it was only after some time that the name “Ika” that has once been used to loosely refer to the “Western Ibos” became limited to this group of people. Chukwu Ebuke and Iwueze Awele Success affirm it when they wrote that “Members of a clan may sometimes not be able to tangibly prove a blood relationship”. This may also apply to a situation whereby it is difficult to “derive from lineages that become too large or too dispersed to keep track of their genealogies” (Bates, 1996). Although, Ika villages or Ogbe sometimes claim a common descent that could be described as nonunilineal (Bates 1996), differences still exist in some ways. The situation painted here which applies to the Ika people of Delta and Edo States necessitates that these Ika clans be studied here separately. In this discourse consequently, we shall deeply study some of these Ika communities town by town to strongly highlight on their origin and to an extent their development among others.

- See more at: http://thepointernewsonline.com/?p=15886#sthash.G6oHm0OY.dpuf

RE: THE TRAVAILS OF IKA IGBO

he article written by one Adewale Adeoye regarding what he wrongly termed “The Travails of Ika Igbo” (The Nation, 20 September, 2009) represented an exercise in futility, for it revealed nothing new. The Ika Igbo of Delta state do not face any special handicap different than what the larger Igbo ethnic group, in particular, and other Nigerians, in general experience daily within the Nigerian ‘federation’. Were Nigeria a properly constituted state talk of half-Igbo, full-Igbo, Delta Igbo, Anioma Igbo, Ikwerre Igbo, core Igbo, marginalization, resource control, federal character, true federation, state police etc will not see the light of day. These divisive tendencies gain currency owing to the systemic collapse of the Nigerian Project, due to structural imbalance which the ruling classes refused to address in statesmanlike manner. Decades ago, Chief Obafemi Awolowo observed and rightly asserted that Nigeria was merely a geographical expression. This wisdom holds true even today!




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In the checkered history of Nigeria, the Igbo of Southeast Nigeria have never been known to look down on their kith and kin across the Niger let alone those within original Eastern Region. All this Igbo denial began immediately after the Biafra-Nigeria civil war. When Igbo people located outside the greater Igbo heartland found themselves subject to all manner of attacks by groups from the victorious federal side. To escape ethnic persecution and humiliation, they embarked on self-denial and ethnic renunciation. The Ikwerre of Rivers state, in particular, under the oppression of the Ijaw, with full Federal Government support, embarked upon an exercise in futility by adding “R” before every Igbo place name such that “Umueme” became “Rumueme”, “Umuola became “Rumuola”, “Umuokwuta” became “Rumuokwuta”, “Umuokoro” became “Rumuokoro”. Did this development change the fortune-economic, political- of the Ikwerre people in old Rivers state? Currently, the Ikwerre Igbo, realizing the futility of such action have started replacing the “R” prefix with “O” so instead of, say, “Rumueze”, it is now “Omueze” etc. Why indulge in this self-humiliation especially when you belong to a major ethnic group? Did economic and political liberation for the Ikwerre Igbo not come after the creation of Bayelsa state despite decades of futile attempts to please the Ijaw and other Nigerians in old Rivers state? Were Ijaw still the dominant group in new Rivers state, would the Ikwerre and other Igbo groups dreamt of ever producing an executive governor for the state let alone in succession?

The reason I used the Ikwerre analogy is to highlight the fact that it is not the Igbo who determine which group is Igbo or not especially because Ikwerre land used to be part of old Owerri Division. Other Nigerians are the ones who rightly remind those self-denying Igbo that, indeed, they are full-blood Igbo, denial or not notwithstanding. The Igbo are grateful to these Nigerians for doing this very important job of enlightenment for the Igbo free of charge. And we commend them for it. The Igbo found in Delta state have never been within the same political administration with the Igbo of Southeast. This unfortunate development was not the fault of the so-called core Igbo or the non-core Igbo, as it were. Rather, it resulted from the economic and political treachery of British colonial authorities. This situation which still persists saw the Igbo whether of the Western Region, Midwest Region, Bendel State, and now Delta state to exist as a minority within a minority-dominated political space. As such, they became subjects of ethnic jingoism of the most bestial degree. The situation of Igbo of Delta North is similar to the fate of a cockroach in a gathering of fowls- it could never be deemed innocent.

Furthermore, in the said article the subject-matter, a certain Chinedu Iraboh, did not face the situation he allegedly experienced in his pursuit of (government?) contract because of the nature of his last name. If so, why is that we have Nigerians bearing Arab and English surnames, yet these Nigerians represent Nigeria at the highest levels of Government both within and outside Nigeria? He is adult Nigerian and should have known that contracts are awarded based on certain criteria such as proven experience, firm’s liquidity and solvency, connection- school, marriage, or business- and, at times, corruption. Did he offer the proverbial ten percent to the contract award committee? Did he arrange for prostitutes and women of loose morals to go fool around with the commissioner for works or finance or the director general? Did he organize a lavish birthday party for the governor, commissioner, or permanent secretary’s wife or child?

Igbo land is an integral part of Nigeria so is not immune from some of the governmental chicanery which keeps the federation castrated. If he is whining about losing out of a contract award, what does he expect Nigerian owned firms that loose out to Chinese, Korean, German, American, British, French firms to do? Was Mr. Chinedu Iraboh not in Nigeria during the first GSM bidding rounds? What happened to the bid efforts of Chiefs Mike Adenuga and Annie Okonkwo’s firms? Did Mr. Irabor not read about Gbenga Obasanjo’s allegation that his father, former President Obasanjo, preferred to patronize his (Gbenga’s) wife with contracts than he, his son? In the award of contracts across the world, several variables come into play and these variables are tripled in Nigeria. My advice to Mr. Iraboh and his ilk is to seek connection with the centers of power in any state or local government he is seeking for contract. Nigeria has not developed or advanced to the stage where contracts are awarded purely on merit, ability and experience.

In Anambra state, for instance, both regimes of Chief Chris Ngige and Dr Peter Obi, have patronized and continue to patronize the civil engineering firm Inter Bau, a company owned by Chief Nathaniel Okechukwu, an Igbo from Delta state. The contracts both governors awarded and continue to award to Inter Bau, dwarfs any that was awarded to civil engineering firms owned by Anambra state indigenes or other Igbo. This patronage is not borne out of ethnic solidarity rather because Inter Bau has demonstrated that if given the opportunity to prove its engineering feat, foreign firms were not better at executing contracts than it. Again, Governor Peter Obi in a resolve to shore up the internally generated revenue base of Anambra state, commissioned a Yoruba-owned firm for that purpose. In doing this, the governor was looking both at experience and result, not tribal affiliation. Other firms owned by other Nigerians, whether from Delta state, Delta north, other parts of Nigeria and foreigners alike are all over Igbo land, executing various contracts just as Igbo-owned firms are awarded contracts across Nigeria.

Furthermore, much as I have great respect for the Ijaw, Urhobo, Isoko, and Itsekiri of Delta state and other Nigerians alike, is it not madness for a Delta Igbo to exhibit signs of inferiority in the presence of these groups to the extent that, whereas these other peoples are at home speaking their various languages in the presence of an Igbo from Delta state, the Delta Igbo would rather speak pidgin English before this people so as not to be “found” out as Igbo. Supposed that the Delta north people are the only Igbo people in Nigeria; would they not assert their equal stake both in the Delta state and Nigeria? Why should they display timidity in the presence of these other groups? What informed such attitude? Even in schools-universities, polytechnics, and other higher institutions- Delta Igbo always feel intimidated by groups with whom they share the same state. Why? Because the denial and denunciation of their Igbo origins render them numerically inferior to the combined numbers of these other groups. This self-inflicted injury is happening in a Nigeria where Igbo students constitute the largest students’ population after the indigenous students’ population in higher institutions. Since they vehemently deny being Igbo, they invariably alienate themselves from the larger and vibrant Igbo student population. On the other hand, minority student groups do not accept them as integral part of their group because they know they are misguided Igbo. In such situation, they are viewed with suspicion by both groups and are left in limbo.

Additionally, the Apoi Ijaw in Ondo state despite adopting both the Yoruba language and culture still identify fully as Ijaw and with Ijaw causes. Also, the bloodline between the Itsekiri of Delta state and the Yoruba of Southwest Nigeria is not as tight as that between Delta Igbo and their kith and kin across the River Niger, a distance of less than 5 miles, yet Itsekiri leadership recognizing the strength and opportunities inherent in belonging to a larger group, consider themselves an extension of the larger Yoruba community and fully participate in Yoruba cultural, economic and political causes. They do not nurse any shame about such identification. But, regrettably, Delta Igbo, under the guidance of centrifugal forces, continue to deny being Igbo, as if such denial provides any material benefit. Even the experience of Dr Peter Odili, an illustrious Igbo son and two-term governor of Rivers state, during the presidential nomination processes seem not to have registered with the Delta Igbo and South South Igbo in general.

Using the agency of the South South Peoples Assembly, a group founded and funded by Governor Odili himself, non-Igbo South South leaders exploited the organization to scuttle the presidential aspirations of Peter Odili. For them, it was better the presidency remained in the Southwest or returned to the North than for a South South Igbo to hold the office for the region. Why’s that? According to Chief Edwin Clark, a so-called Ijaw leader, “South south cannot be represented by someone with double loyalty”, which indirectly refers to Dr Odili’s Igbo roots yet Odili, like millions of other Igbo, belongs to the South south geo-political zone. If it happened to Odili, it could happen to Chief Austin Opara, Chief Peter Okocha, Chief Chibudom Nwuche, and Chief Benjamin Elue among several illustrious Igbo from the South south. In Germany, for instance, Germans from former Soviet Union are busy retracing their ancestral roots and returning back to Germany. These returnee Germans do not face any noticeable persecution in the states they are returning from. They return because they recognize the strength in belonging to a large group. Jews all over the world are flooding to Israel because they wish to be in a state where they do not constitute a minority or, worse, a minority within a minority. Delta Igbo should copy these examples and do what is right for present and future generations of their people.

Moreover, sometime state creation is often cited by a section of Delta Igbo as a sign of Igbo hatred towards them. The 1996 state creation exercise of the Abacha junta, for instance, is always used as a demonstration of this ‘hatred’. In recorded history, Delta Igbo, in their quest for an administrative region of their own, have always received full support from the larger Igbo group. It was such solidarity that saw to the creation of Midwest Region in 1963. Without the unalloyed support, material, moral, and political, of Zik of Africa and Dr Michael Okpara, Midwest Region could never have been realized. Without support from those luminaries, Chief Dennis Osadebey, an Igbo from Delta north, would not have become the first premier of Midwest Region.

In the case of issues surrounding the states creation exercise of 1996, Anioma state was one of the three states recommended by Ohaneze Ndigbo for the entire Igbo nation without considerations of geographical or regional location of such a state. However, Abacha decided to create just one state for each of the six geo-political zones. In Nigeria’s geo-political arrangement, Anioma is in the South South zone, not in the Southeast. For the South south, Abacha carved out Bayelsa state from old Rivers state. In the Southeast, he chopped off parts of Abia and Enugu states to form Ebonyi state. So where did the Igbo go wrong here? We should remember that during Abacha’s junta, not one Igbo was a member of his so-called Provisional Ruling Council until Commodore Amadi Ikwechegh was introduced into the body, much later in the life of the dictatorship.

Finally, Delta Igbo like the greater Igbo group should put its house in order and stop crying wolf where none exists. The civil war affected the Igbo generally and terribly. However, the Igbo, by dint of hard work and unmatched determination, have scaled some of the wedges placed in their way since after the war. In attaining this height, the Igbo did not rely on any internal or external forces for assistance. The Delta Igbo equally paid dearly during the period of the conflagration. No one could ever forget the Asaba and Umuechem cold-blooded massacres of innocent men, women and children. The Ikwerre, too, suffered just like other Igbo groups.

However, such group suffering should form the basis for ethnic stocktaking and reconciliation that might lead to ethnic rejuvenation and collective survival within the Nigerian state. It should not form the basis for the championing centrifugalism amongst the Igbo; for at the end of the day, those Nigerians who know the boundaries of Igbo land will remind the irredentists among the Igbo that they are Igbo. Having survived what amounted to a near ethnic annihilation at the hands of fellow Nigerians, the Igbo are busy now gathering their flock that were scattered across the globe. The results have been encouraging so far. Igbo sons and daughters are not lacking in any sphere of human endeavour both in Nigeria and overseas. This newly found consciousness needs be consolidated by all and sundry. Group which thought the Igbo were finished are now envious of Igbo attainments. Let not unreasonable in-fighting amongst segments of the great and indomitable Igbo nation derail this nascent vigour.

tonychristopher: [b]The Ika people are a subgroup of the Igbo people commonly called the Western Igbo. The Ika people number around 240,000.[1]The Ika people are found in north west Delta State. They share borders linguistically in the west with the Edo speakers, in the north with the Ishan speakers, in the East [i]with the Anioma language speakers [/i]and in the south with the Ukwuani speakers.[2]
History [/b]



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ika_people

wikipedia is not an authoritative scholarly reference point.
secondly, nothing such as anioma speakers. The word Anioma is a made up name which didnt exist 70 years ago....

Keep on fooling yourself @christopher.Foolish fool.U wil soon go and copy wikileaks and snowdens documents and paste..Ozuor

sonya4all: Keep on fooling yourself @christopher.Foolish fool.U wil soon go and copy wikileaks and snowdens documents and paste..Ozuor

Shut up your dirty mouth illiterate hermaphrodite. He has countered your foolish arguments with references while you have none in your empty skull.
Give it up lil Ika miscreant.

Shebi mouth abi..Ur imbecilic brains didnt tell u that this a forum where u type ur thoughts,and not a voice enabled forum,whre u tell who's mouth stinks or not..Am sure mtn has restored ur 10mb data...Explore ur foolishness...Igbotic anu mpam.

tonychristopher: Ehinze – Language Contact: Ika Igbo and Esan pp: 104-111
Journal of Igbo Language & Linguistics (JILL) No. 3 December 2011
104
Language Contact: The Influence of the Esan Language on
Ika-Igbo
S. N. Ehinze
Abstract
Language contact phenomenon has a lot of implications among which are
bilingualism, multilingualism, borrowing, code switching, pidgin etc. Such
occurrence between Ika Igbo and Esan language has not only linguistic
implications but cultural and socio-political implications. Esan and Igbo language
have linguistic boundary like other languages. Language contact phenomenon
presupposes exchange of linguistic and cultural features between the two groups.
This work therefore is a study of the linguistic features that are amenable to
socio-linguistic analysis. It seeks to discover the extent to which Esan language
exerts linguistic effects on the Igbo language. The results of the analysis show
that the effect of the contact between the Igbo and Esan languages is bi
directional.
1. Introduction
In a speech community, when two languages come together, certain
linguistic changes or developments occur. Language contact between two
people speaking different languages can have a wide variety of outcomes.
In some cases only a few words are borrowed; in others whole new
languages may be formed. The result of such language contact differs
according to several factors, including the length and intensity of contact
between the groups, the types of social, economic and political
relationship between them, the functions which communication between
them must serve and the degree of similarity between the languages they
speak.
Ika-Igbo language has been influenced at one time or the other by
Esan language contact, resulting in varying degrees of transfer of features
from one to the other. Against this background, the need arises to
investigate the possible linguistic and cultural influences existing in IkaIgbo language due to contact with Esan language and to determine
whether it is bi-directional or uni-directional.
Esan and Igbo languages share boundary like other languages.
Urhobo-Igbo, Edo, Yoruba Languages etc. The phenomenon of language
contact presupposes exchange of linguistic and cultural features between
the two groups. This paper seeks to determine the extent to which Esan
language has influenced the different linguistic levels of the Igbo
language. It is equally important to know whether linguistic changes from Ehinze – Language Contact: Ika Igbo and Esan pp: 104-111
Journal of Igbo Language & Linguistics (JILL) No. 3 December 2011
105
the contact between Igbo and Esan affect Igbo alone or Esan alone or both
and the level of significance
2. Literature Review
The bilingual nature of some speech communities has made it
possible for two or more dialects/languages to be in existence, in such
speech communities. This has been a universal phenomenon in world
languages. The use of one dialect/language vis-à-vis other
dialects/languages derives from the attitudes of the language/dialect users.
Mbah (2005:276) in her study of sociophonology in Oba Igbo opines
that one of the factors that influence the selection of a particular variant is
contact. The degree of contact which speakers of Oba dialect have with
speakers of the more mutually intelligible dialects of Igbo is of great
significance in influencing their choice of the binary variant of the lexical
and morphological variables. It appears that contact factor works hand-inhand with the regional factor in Oba. Ugwuona (2004:23) in her study of
language choice and attitudinal differences in Nsukka Urban, discovers
that Owerre and Onitsha dialects of Igbo language are the prestigious
dialects among other dialects of Igbo including the host dialect, which is
Nsukka dialects. The reason for the dominance is that Owerre and Onitsha
dialects have historical, economic, educational and political advantage
over other dialects. In her conclusion, Ugwuona affirmed that there are
multiplicity of different Igbo dialects which influence one another. The
interaction of the different dialects has given rise to the phenomenon of
code – switching and code – mixing, among the dialects. As a result,
hardly can any educated person in Nsukka Urban engage in a sustained
discourse especially in a relaxed, informal context in Igbo language
without mixing some elements of his indigenous dialect.
Uwalaka (2001) in Igboanusi (2001:50) investigated the anguish of
Igbo as a mother tongue. Internal and external conflicts and revealed
crucial issues on factors affecting and underlying language choice
especially in Igbo as a mother tongue. One of the interesting things in her
study is the Igbo internal conflicts. Uwalaka defines language internal
conflicts as “the phenomenon in which for political, economic or socio –
economic reasons, dialects of a given language vie for ascendancy”.
Language external conflicts are cases in which for whatever reasons
language of a given country competes with one another or compete with a
foreign language or languages, she concluded. Okeke (2006) studied
language attitude and language shift in Nkpor dialect and reports that
there is complexity of dialect. stuation in Nkpor – Agu region of Nkpor.
Some of these dialects are Nsukka, Owerre, Umuahia, Udi, Abakaliki, Ehinze – Language Contact: Ika Igbo and Esan pp: 104-111
Journal of Igbo Language & Linguistics (JILL) No. 3 December 2011
106
Onitisha, Ohafia, Mbaise, Oyigbo, Ikwere, Ngwa, Oka, Nteje, Ogbinuike,
Aguata, Obosi, Ogidi, Ezeagu, Enugu, Ngwa, Izzi, Ibagwa, Efiom, Nkpor
etc. The attitudinal indifference of the language users in Nkpor dialect is
similar to that of Tamil dialect speakerss because that dialect situation in
Nkpor is complex, and these different dialects have different traditional
backgrounds as it is in Tamil.
However, he concluded that because of urbanization that came to
Nkpor – Agu through the influence of the commercial city of Onitsha, the
town is affected linguistically by urban life. Again, a lot of people
migrated to the town for the purpose of commerce and as such made the
town multidialectal (because they all came with their languages and other
Igbo dialects). This influenced the dialect greatly. From the discussions
about language contact, it comes out clear that the field of language
contact in African languages in general and Igbo language in particular
in particular has not received much attention in spite of huge
amount of data on the subject in other languages. By this token, it
becomes necessary to advance the field knowledge in the area of Igbo
Language contact.
3. Lnguistic Influences
The various Linguistic changes of the language contact exercise
between Esan and Ika-Igbo are discussed in this chapter. They are,
however, being discussed under two headings vis a viz Linguistic and
cultural influences respectively. The linguistic influences are further
categorized under such sub-headings as lexical variations, phonology and
morphology and syntax.
Lexical Variation
ENGLISH IKA-IGBO EKPON
You Yu Yuno
We Enyi Eno
All Welecha Enolecha
Many Oda Ebuke
Bird Nnunu Ununu
Dog Nkite Itite
Louse Izu Ezu
Tree Osisi Osi-h
Seed Mkpuru Akpuh
Egg Ekwaran Ekur
Tongue Ire IgheEhinze – Language Contact: Ika Igbo and Esan pp: 104-111
Journal of Igbo Language & Linguistics (JILL) No. 3 December 2011
107
Ear Nti Itin
Hair Ntutu Ururu
Moon Ifon Okegwe
Water Mmiri Umi
Ash Ntu Utu
Round Okiriokiri Ghahime
Claws Mbuo Ubuo
Although these differences in words are all free variations but they
came about due to a proposed deviation (unintentional) from normal,
which was not achieved by these Ekpon speakers. The intention to drop
the Ika-Igbo words and perhaps substitute them with that of Esan or
probably new inventions, but this was to be a hard task as they are caught
between where they were coming from and where they are going to.
However, they have only succeeded in creating sub – Ika dialect from the
main Ika dialect of Igbo language.
Phonology
In this domain, we discovered some deletion of sounds and segments
as the case may be.
m – deletion
Mme me = me
o – deletion
Okpoho Okpoh
= woman
Syllable deletion:
Osisi Osi-h
= tree
Ekwukwuo Ekhwo = leave
Ekwaran Ekun = Egg
The last sounds in these cases are aspirated. This is because most of Esan
words are aspirated and have short and very fast levels of pronunciation,
mostly followed by high tones. Most of Esan words begin and end with
high tones e.g. Ekoh (ear), eke (belly), Inyie (breast), Oria (person) aran
(blood) awa (dog), ehen (fish), ibe (liver) akon (Tooth) anyo (drink)
eloloh (eye) okppia (man) etc. All these have affected the Ekpon dialect
in terms of tone and aspiration of sounds.
In summary, we can affirm that the speakers of Ekpon have a peculiar
pronunciation which tends to influence their contiguous speech
communities.Ehinze – Language Contact: Ika Igbo and Esan pp: 104-111
Journal of Igbo Language & Linguistics (JILL) No. 3 December 2011
108
Morphology and Syntax
There are few instances of variations in sentence constructions and
production of words as evident in the following examples:
1. Enyi a nu we ebuo (Ika) enyi a nu welebuo (ekpon)
We do understand the two (languages). The difference here is the “L”
insertion in the word “welebuo”.
2. Me ri Agbor eben (Ekpon)
‘I live Agbor here’
‘Agbo ebeni ke mbi’ (Ika)
‘Agbor here I live’
I live in Agbor
The first person pronoun “M” (I) does not appear in initial position with
“Me” form but “M” form and in some cases “Mme” form. The “Me” form
in Ekpon is borrowed from the Esan language. For instance the above
sentence in Esan will read;
Agborme yie
Agbo Iive (I live in Agbor)
3. Onye Ekpon ya me wu (Ekpon)
I Ekpon that I am
Onye Ekpon ke m wu (Ika)
I Ekpon that I am
I am from Ekpon or native of Ekpon.
The “ya” and “ke” are variants as they have the same meaning. The
pronoun changes form in Ika due to position in the sentence viz a viz
initial, middle or final but it remains Constant in form at whatever
position in Ekpon which is a characteristic of Esan for e.g. will read –
“Ovwie Ekpon me khin” from (Native) Ekpon I am.
4. Cultural Influences
The socio political status of Ekpon people is one that is rooted in Esan
culture. This is a society of people whose origin is traceable to Ekpon in
Esan west local government area of Edo State while they live in Esan
South – East Local Government Area of the same Edo State but
linguistically they belong to Ika dialect of Igbo language and live at the
linguistic boundary between Ika (Igbo) and Esan languages. Their
traditional institution is rooted in Esan culture. They have no Obiship or
Eze system of leadership like Igbos but an Onogie who is appointed or
approved by the Oba of Benin. To rule with the Onogiie are Chiefs –Ehinze – Language Contact: Ika Igbo and Esan pp: 104-111
Journal of Igbo Language & Linguistics (JILL) No. 3 December 2011
109
Ogele, Ihiami etc who help the Onogie to carry out his royal functions and
tributes to the Oba who made all of them who they are in the land.
The mode of obtaining chieftaincy titles in Ekpon is synonymous
with Esan ways. Every festival taking place in Ekpon is according to Esan
tradition. For instance, ceremonies like marriage, child naming are in no
way similar to Ika culture. The burial ceremony for example which runs
for seven days in Ekpon is what obtains in Esan land contrary to four days
burial activities in Ika/Igbo culture. This shows that apart from language,
the Ekpon life style is similar to that of Esan.
5. Summary and Conclusion
Language contact phenomenon has a lot of implications among which
are bilingualism, multilingualism, borrowing code – switching, pidgin and
so on. Such incident between Igbo and Esan languages has not only
linguistic but cultural, and socio-political implications. From the study of
the influence of Esan language on Igbo due to their contact, it was
discovered in the first place that the speech community at the language
boundary between Igbo and Esan – which is Ekpon could neither identify
themselves as Ika nor Esan speakers but Ekpon speakers. However, from
the linguistic point of view they belong to Ika dialect speakers of Igbo
language.
It was discovered also that there are a lot of variations between the
Ika dialect speakers and that of the other speakers of Ika that are residing
in Agbor and its environs. For instance, there are changes in words like
“Okele” for Ekele (greeting), “Onwole” for “Onweni” (nothing). There is
change in syntax e.g. “Me ri Agbor ebeni” for “Agbor ebeni kemri (I live
in Agbor).
Culturally, there is little or no relationship with the Igbos (Ikas) as
their culture is in consonance with Esan culture. The various festivals and
rituals running from the beginning to the end of the year are synonymous
with Esan culture. Politically, they are affiliated to Esan style of
traditional leadership.

just like I've observed from Agbotaen's past Ika sentences, Ika is very similar to pure Oratta dialect of Owerri. The question on my mind is "How come?". They share no direct boundary with Owerri and the people between them and Owerri speak more of Isu and Nri dialect groups.

ust like I've observed from Agbotaen's past Ika sentences, Ika is very similar to pure Oratta dialect of Owerri. The question on my mind is "How come?". They share no direct boundary with Owerri and the people between them and Owerri speak more of Isu and Nri dialect groups.



its simlmple.... ika speaks like owerri,they ven call their king dein and in owerri oratta dialect thy call elder dee and woman daa..i was born in owerri of Anambra origin so i know this.. the issue of why dont they have a boundry is migration... i am from Amichi NNewi south.. we migrated from Aro Ndizogu(Ndi ogbuonyeoma) our dialect is ndizogu but we are far from imo so its migration...... yes ika has benin migrants but they are not benin.... my friend who from oguta even told me that ukwuani are their relatives...i was like NO WONDER UKWUANI SOUNDS LIK UGUTA. but are the close


POPL SHOULD TRAVEL AROUND.... I DONT KNOW WHY I AM SO PROUD BEEN AN IGBO BOY FROM ANAMBRA

@sonya4all(m): 9:42pm On Jun 25
Keep on fooling yourself @christopher.Foolish fool.U wil soon go and copy wikileaks and snowdens documents and paste..Ozuor



IF YOU SAY YOU ARE NOT AN IGBO.... THATS OK, IT MAKE US AN IDIOT...PLS GO ASK A BENIN MAN,UROBO MAN,AUCHI MAN OR UR NEIGHBOURS ESAN WHICH TRIBE IS IKA AND KWALE THEN COME BACK TO ME........ SONS OF BENIN REFUGEE AND FUGITIVES

ANIOMA IS NO TRIBE BUT WESTRN IGBO IN DEELTA LIK ISUOMA ARE IGBOS FROM ORLU REGION WHIL ORATTA ARE IGBOS FROM IKWERRE OWERRE REGIONS THEY SPEAK ALL IGBOS PLS MY BROTHERS

HAPU NU AGBONTEA NA EWU BU NWANNE YA AFA YA BU SUNNY4ALL ISHI ARI NWO MMA,

tonychristopher: ust like I've observed from Agbotaen's past Ika sentences, Ika is very similar to pure Oratta dialect of Owerri. The question on my mind is "How come?". They share no direct boundary with Owerri and the people between them and Owerri speak more of Isu and Nri dialect groups.



its simlmple.... ika speaks like owerri,they ven call their king dein and in owerri oratta dialect thy call elder dee and woman daa..i was born in owerri of Anambra origin so i know this.. the issue of why dont they have a boundry is migration... i am from Amichi NNewi south.. we migrated from Aro Ndizogu(Ndi ogbuonyeoma) our dialect is ndizogu but we are far from imo so its migration...... yes ika has benin migrants but they are not benin.... my friend who from oguta even told me that ukwuani are their relatives...i was like NO WONDER UKWUANI SOUNDS LIK UGUTA. but are the close


POPL SHOULD TRAVEL AROUND.... I DONT KNOW WHY I AM SO PROUD BEEN AN IGBO BOY FROM ANAMBRA

Oguta is actually Ukwuani and Aboh in dialect and we have shared history. It is however different from Owerri-Ika because we have boundary with Ukwuani and Ndoni whereas Owerri is several miles away from Ika.

1. igbos are just shameless liers and propagandists, our fathers chased you out of ika land during the civil war , when you made same claim of ika being part of igbo land or did i also invent that ? or is it a lie that majority of ika people said they we ika and not igbo and helped the nigeria troops to chase your igbo brothers out of ika and midwest area ?
2. was it not in that process that biafra declared the obi of owa and some owa and ika chiefs as wanted dead or alive ?
3. up till today the same ika people you want to kill your self for still avoid any igbo ethnic organisation meetings and as such no prominent ika person is a member of ohaneze ndigbo or speaks for igbo people , may be with exception of some people in igbodo and ekwuoma communities .
4. it is also a well known fact that majority of ika people dont want any thing to do with igbos as some months ago , the people of igbodo community almost chased their king away for marying an igbo woman from ebonyi , as they said they said an igbo woman cannot give them a heir apparent , and that their traditions says an obi must mary an igbodo person or an ika person or at least an anioma person, so that also shows that even in a place like igbodo where many say they are igbos , the ika people there still has their say and know who is an igbo or who an ika person is , that is food for thought for many igbo people.
5. even if igbos like quote wikipaedia or posts written by igbo propagandists that will not change ika stance in rejecting igbo and that will not make ika people to support igbos , and in case you dont know if any thing happens you will see that ika will never support igbos , let the civil war issue be a lesson for you , but if you like continue to fool your self on internet , and say whatever you like our stance is that ika is an ethnic group and is not part of igbos ,this stance has been made in 1930 .
6. ika is very very different from igbo , and we thank god that other delta and edo people know the difference between ika and igbo , but as for the igbos they are very good in crying and strong propaganda , what will we say of a people that were being defeated in a war and yet they were telling the world that they are winning .
7. if you are not ika , you just cant be ika and the ika people call igbos igbon , you know what it means , it is ika for live

@AGBONTEA AND CO...... PLS BEFORE YOU START MAKING YOURSELF LOOK FOOLISH, I KNOW YOU HAVE BEN ON STUPIDITY PART PLS DO A SIMPLE SURVEY.... GO AS BENIN MAN, ESAN MAN,URHOBO MAN WHICH TRIBE IS IKA AND UKWUANI... PLS DO NOT ASK ANY IGBOMAN . WHATEVER THEY SAY COM BACK....

THEN SECONDLY PLS TELL YOUR KINGS TO STOP BEARING IGBO NAMES AND HAVING IGBO MARKT DAYS, IT WILL HELP IN IKA AMBIGUITY AND LASTLY STOP USING THE WORD WE BUT USE I. GO TO IKA WEBSITE AND VISIT HOME NOT ALL IKA ARE SEEING THIS FROM UR IDIOTIC VIW, IGBODO,OWA AND UMUNEDE PEOPLE DONT SEE THIS, AGBOR AND IGO AKIRI CAN GO... THEY ARE IRRELEVANT

it is your outdated tribe called igbo that is stupid igbon and izouor and ilolo that is what you are , ika have rejected you long ago , so stop killing your self ika cannever be igbo , we are ika and if you want to be igbon -slave that is your business , dont sell an expired product called igbo to us , leave us alone , we have spoken with one voice during civil war that we are not igbo and we helped chase your brothers and fathers away , so what do you want ,
2. you are just plain stupid , it is like telling igbo people like alex ekuweme to give up english names , that is the perogative of the owner of the name if i like i can bear a russian name , wetin concern you there or let me speak ika to you , ki biri e ? it means what is your own concern ? face your igbo history as even you igbos are confussed as to where you come from , 1. some igbos say they are jews, some said they came from nri , 3. others say they came from igbo-ukwu and others say nri or eri came from the sky , so face your culture , i dont know how the culture of ika concerns the igbo , and if you are looking for political expansion , into ika area , it cannnever work , your fathers tried it before and they failed , so look else where.
3. go and read a short history of benin , written in 1930, it says eka , it did not say igbo , the benins and others know the difference between ika and igbo , and most of you are not from delta , so you dont know our culture ,
4. an ika man cannever subject himself to an igbo because our people look at most igbos as not having a proper culture and especially because they dont have a proper system of monarchy , our people consider them uncultured.
5. my advice to you is that you should go and clear your so called igbo tribe of all the negativities so that it can be saleable, right now it is a damn inferior product , so no proper ika person wants to buy , and you know we ika people are very proud of who we are and we do not allow people to subdue us , our identity is sacred to us ---------------
6. when benin tried to subsum us in 1930 as part of benin -our fathers said no , we are ika , and in 167 -when igbos also tried it , they met thier waterloo in ika area as we rejected them, i think that is enough lesson,
7. language borrowing is part of nigerian culture , when people mix , and so no one can say give me my language , because you dont even know who spoke the language originally , as ika today is a hybrid of many cultures and languages ,and we are proud of it , and we shall revive ika language as the highest organisation in ika nation the ogua/onu ika has said , from 20016 ,our children shall learn ika properly in schools in ika land , instead of the half baked ika most people speak today , and books have been written as to that ,
onu wu omun igbon jenkorda henrin ihunai,
ojuwu ke gi onu gbe akpakali,
eti eti ko onu gha egbe,
onu jen kor da kwan nmani,
ufere ighonghai ke gbe onu,
gha itebite ru itebite,
we mekornin unun omiken, kaka,
onu ahunkor ukpe le ifonron,oselobue,
iseh.
this is the prayer i have for IGBOS THAT WILL NOT LEAVE IKA PEOPLE ALONE, it will only be for those who understand proper ika and as you igbos , you can guess and translate what i wrote , since you think proper ika is aniocha or igbo or owerri language , oya now , help me translate this prayer

Agbotaen you have been advised to use I and not We...YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.

1. i dont know why igbos dont like to shut up ? why dont you ask your fathers why majority of ika rejected being igbo during the civil war?
2. have you ever asked why majority of ikas fought alongside nigerian army and expelled the igbos from ika land?
3. have you ever asked your fathers why the obi of owa was declared wanted dead or alive during the civil war ?
4. have you ever asked your fathers why general muritala mohammed made owa kingdom his base during the war ? why he was made a chief during the war in owa ?
5. have you ever asked your self that if majority of ika kings, chiefs , nobles and people really believe they are igbos as most igbos come on the net to say , why do they avoid ohaneze ndigbo or any igbo ethnic organisation like a plague ? and they are not member ,
6. when did you ever hear that any igbo ethnic organisation had a say in ika land ?
7. in delta state we know those who are part of ohaneze ndigbo and they are usually from aniocha/oshimili local govt, it is not the ika people as we are not intersted in any thing igbo

You igbons are just wasting your useless time..We yes WE.. Are ika and never igbons..Am proudly UMUNEDE,while agbontean is owa..And i give 100% affirmation to all he has stated here,if u dont like it,go and hang ur miserable selves..Dats how u igbons went about changing the middle name of president goodluck EBELEMI gonathan,to EBERE..Simply because its always written as EBELE,all in ur coverteous bid to claim anything good.. We i repeat,are ikas..And never igbotic goons....Translate agbontean's prayer na.. If ika na igbo..Rubbish

sonya4all: You igbons are just wasting your useless time..We yes WE.. Are ika and never igbons..Am proudly UMUNEDE,while agbontean is owa..And i give 100% affirmation to all he has stated here,if u dont like it,go and hang ur miserable selves..Dats how u igbons went about changing the middle name of president goodluck EBELEMI gonathan,to EBERE..Simply because its always written as EBELE,all in ur coverteous bid to claim anything good.. We i repeat,are ikas..And never igbotic goons....Translate agbontean's prayer na.. If ika na igbo..Rubbish

You are just messing up. Ika is a poor area and the Igbo nation are not looking for any part to join us. However the language you speak is Igbo and nothing can change that. What we've been arguing here is centered on language and not your personal belief. Some Ikas believe they are igbos while others don't and each Ika has the right to the ethnicity he/she wants. In language, you don't have a choice but to accept what you see.

Agbotaen, stop deceiving urself

You are just messing up. Igbo is a poor area and the IKA nation are not looking for any part to join us. However the language you speak is Igbo and nothing can change that. What we've been arguing here is centered on language and not your personal belief. Some Igbos believe they are jews while others don't and each Igbo has the right to the ethnicity he/she wants. In language, you don't have a choice but to accept whatyou see.

Sonya4all and Agbotaen,i still strongly disagree with you two.Remember i am from delta and i have heard many opinions from indigenes of these ika areas and they dont think as you two do and thats a very good sign.I still maintain,dont say we but say i okay.

sonya4all: You igbons are just wasting your useless time..We yes WE.. Are ika and never igbons..Am proudly UMUNEDE,while agbontean is owa..And i give 100% affirmation to all he has stated here,if u dont like it,go and hang ur miserable selves..Dats how u igbons went about changing the middle name of president goodluck EBELEMI gonathan,to EBERE..Simply because its always written as EBELE,all in ur coverteous bid to claim anything good.. We i repeat,are ikas..And never igbotic goons....Translate agbontean's prayer na.. If ika na igbo..Rubbish

He resorted to insults,a sign of his inability to make logical and a sound arguement. Barking like a sissy.

olisaokere: Sonya4all and Agbotaen,i still strongly disagree with you two.Remember i am from delta and i have heard many opinions from indigenes of these ika areas and they dont think as you two do and thats a very good sign.I still maintain,dont say we but say i okay.

Exactly! Nairaland has been turned to a place whereby any body with little access to the internet comes up here to spread his fantasies and wishful thinking. They come to spread false realities much different from what is actually happening. I believe we've given this Agbotean man enough energy and credit than he deserves. Ignore him let him continue his rant. He has every right to believe what he wants.

Afterall, the so-called Ika he scatters all over the thread is not even spoken in reality. Modern Ika people speak 100% Igbo and he's so sad and angry at the same time at his utter powerlessness at changing that. Clearly, he has no point. Not even a single point. But our continued attention to him will continue to fuel his fantasy and desire to continue. Ignore him, let him post his usual list of 12 commandments. He always wants to be the person who posts lasts to give him the impression that if nobody replies him then we've accepted his thrash. If he posts last and we don't reply him, what makes him think we believe him anyway?

agbotaen: 1. igbos are just shameless liers and propagandists, our fathers chased you out of ika land during the civil war , when you made same claim of ika being part of igbo land or did i also invent that ? or is it a lie that majority of ika people said they we ika and not igbo and helped the nigeria troops to chase your igbo brothers out of ika and midwest area ?
2. was it not in that process that biafra declared the obi of owa and some owa and ika chiefs as wanted dead or alive ?
3. up till today the same ika people you want to kill your self for still avoid any igbo ethnic organisation meetings and as such no prominent ika person is a member of ohaneze ndigbo or speaks for igbo people , may be with exception of some people in igbodo and ekwuoma communities .
4. it is also a well known fact that majority of ika people dont want any thing to do with igbos as some months ago , the people of igbodo community almost chased their king away for marying an igbo woman from ebonyi , as they said they said an igbo woman cannot give them a heir apparent , and that their traditions says an obi must mary an igbodo person or an ika person or at least an anioma person, so that also shows that even in a place like igbodo where many say they are igbos , the ika people there still has their say and know who is an igbo or who an ika person is , that is food for thought for many igbo people.
5. even if igbos like quote wikipaedia or posts written by igbo propagandists that will not change ika stance in rejecting igbo and that will not make ika people to support igbos , and in case you dont know if any thing happens you will see that ika will never support igbos , let the civil war issue be a lesson for you , but if you like continue to fool your self on internet , and say whatever you like our stance is that ika is an ethnic group and is not part of igbos ,this stance has been made in 1930 .
6. ika is very very different from igbo , and we thank god that other delta and edo people know the difference between ika and igbo , but as for the igbos they are very good in crying and strong propaganda , what will we say of a people that were being defeated in a war and yet they were telling the world that they are winning .
7. if you are not ika , you just cant be ika and the ika people call igbos igbon , you know what it means , it is ika for live

Your post is full of irregularities and lies,which you have been peddling since this thread was created. You have been countered on many occasion and were duelly corrected. Igbodo people were not against their Obi for marrying an Igbo woman because Igbodo is an Igbo town,rather,they were against him for not marrying from IGBODO! As it seems,even if he marries from Agbor they would have still disapprove it,so,Agbotaen,stop spreading lies. You are a very shameless man,full of lies and deceit and nothing good comes from evil. You run in here everyday speading lies and falsehood with the hope it may become truth oneday but we got you inbetween our large balls. I laugh when you said Ika chased Igbo out; If it took Nigeria and their allies close to three years to defeat Biafra I wonder what makes you think Ika can stand in our way...lol

IDIOTS KEEP ARGUING IDIOTS LIKE SONNY4ALL AND AGBONTEA

http://ndi-owa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16:the-histories-of-owa-kingdom&catid=4:owa&Itemid=44








THE HISTORIES OF OWA KINGDOM


The Origins of Owa

Contrary to the observed tendency of situating origins in mythical past, the different versions on the origins of Ndiowa, in spite of their differences, seem to place them within historical dates and geographical space. Thus the proposed origins are not too distant from our present, thereby reflecting continuity from the past to the present.


According to available records, both oral and written, Ndiowa are said to have had primordial relationships with Anambra and Edo States of Nigeria. These records, which are both verbal transcriptions of stories from our progenitors and written accounts of colonial officers, tend to indicate that the origin of the present day Owa could be put at about 12th century A.D. However, it may be necessary to bear in mind that, although this date has been proposed, yet there is room to state that the present land mass identified as Owa land had been inhabited by indigenous communities, constituting the earliest inhabitants of such places. Moreover, given the fluidity and population fluctuations due to successive waves of migration, prevalent within this period, it may not be easy to establish with accuracy the origins of the earliest indigenes of the settlements.


There are essentially three versions concerning the origin of Ndiowa, especially with regards to the place of the origin of the founder of Owa dynasty, Odogwu.


The first version and by far the most popular states that Ndi Owa are of Nri origin, i.e. from Awka in Anambra State. According to Onwuejeogwu (1970) and based on linguistic, archaeological and genealogical data, the migratory movement started at about 900 A.D. and continued till early 20th century. This migratory flow led to the establishment of towns and villages to the west of the Niger. But more importantly, immigrants from Nri, between the 12th and 13th centuries settled at Ute-Okpu under the leadership of Ijueh, who thus established the dynasty of rulers of Ute-Okpu. It was therefore from Ute-Okpu that Odogwu later established the Owa dynasty.


The second version traced the descent of Ute-Okpu and Owa to Idu (Benin City) following the great migration that took place in Benin Empire during the reign of Oba Ogun who later became Eware. It was during this period that Ijueh and some people fled Bini kingdom and founded an abode at Ute-Okpu. Later, the assistance of this renowned warrior and powerful medicine man, Ijueh, was sought by Oba Eware to help the latter put down the Akure rebellion.


The third version believes that some Igbo people crossed the river Niger and moved beyond the present day Agbor and Kwale and settled around these areas. Then came the Edo expansion eastward in the 16th century. It was during this period that Oba Esigie sent one of his war chiefs to the powerful warrior, Ijueh to assist him with soldiers to help fight the war against Idah.


As can be observed from the different versions, there is a consensus to the fact that it was in answer to the Oba’s call that Ijueh’s first son, Odogwu, assembled some fighters and went to fight in both Akure and Idah wars. In this absence, his father passed on, and since the monarchy did not allow for any vacuum, Odogwu’s younger brother was crowned as the ruler of Ute-Okpu.


On his return to Ute-Okpu, Odogwu was confronted with this reality. Naturally, he felt offended at the apparent injustice. But in order to avoid any from of confrontation and disunity within the family, Odogwu reconciled with Okpu, and subsequently left Ute-Okpu with the remnants of the retinue that accompanied him during the Benin expedition; his brother, Ozomor, and a host of other loyalists and subsequently founded Owa dynasty in Owa-Oyibu, at a place called “Ihu-Odogwu Oyibu”. Thus, he became the first monarch of Owa dynasty. His brother, Ozomor went further and settled at the present Owa-Alizomor, named after him.


It should also be noted that, in moving to Owa, he took his father’s special medicine for expansion and established the ancestral deity of “Aajan” also at Owa-Oyibu. Thus “Aajan” connection constitutes an intrinsic link between Owa-Oyibu and Ute-Okpu till today. Furthermore, the brotherly love that existed between Ute-Okpu and Owa, being from the same ancestral father, is concretized in a pair of shorts called “uteh-le-owa", implying that they remain inseparable.


On arrival in Owa land, Obi Odogwu had contacts with people of diverse origins for, generally Owa people came into this territory in different waves of migration, led by different leaders from different directions and at different times for different reasons. Indeed the founding of Owa settlements appears to have grown s a result of influx of immigrants from different parts of Nigeria, especially Edo, Delta as well as east of the Niger.


Thus establishing Owa kingdom implied bringing under his rule, not only settlements existing before his arrival at Owa-Oyibu, but also all others which were in existence before they were brought under his authority as part of the present Owa kingdom. For instance, it has been observed that such villages as Owa-Ofie and Owa-Ekei were founded essentially by Bini and Ishan immigrants, and functioned as communities before the Odogwu dynasty came into existence.


It is to the credit of Obi Odogwu that he succeeded in carrying out this unifying task of b ringing under his authority these disparate settlements. As a renowned military strategist, he used all sorts of antics: outright conquest, cajoling and al other diplomatic manoeuvres to accomplish this feat. Consequently, he was able to establish a united kingdom spanning a vast area stretching from Owa-Oyibu, Owa-Alizomor, Owa-Ofie, Owa-Nta, Owa-Ekei, Owa-Alero, and then Owa-Idumuesah. It was one thing to gather these disparate groups under the same roof, but another to keep them together under the same ruler considering the risks of resistance and outright revolt. But Odogwu put in place a good administration and appointed chiefs within the towns and villages with adequate authority and responsibilities. Thus, through this strategy and accepting the disparate nature of the various elements constituting Owa kingdom, Odogwu and his successors were able to guarantee the permanence of their power

this is a good post , its one of the posts on owa official website ,and others that went into detail about how the different owa villages and towns were founded.
2. i have always maintained that owa is a heterogenous kingdom , just like ika ethnic nation, owa has migrations from different places, some from bini, ishan, ora, igbo, other ika areas and even ukwani and aniocha areas, and the different villages know where they came from, but what makes them owa kingdom is that they have lived together and intermarried and fought wars of conquests together and have agreed to be called owa kingdom,but still seperating thier towns , as either owa-oyibu or owa -alero, or owa -ofien or other owas .
3. every owa indegene knows that odogun came from ute okpu , and brought together the various existing peoples of owa and became the first obi of owa kingdom , but he did not found owa , as people were already living there for about 400 years before he migrated into owa.
4. we know that the oldest town or communities in owa is the owa-ofien , people who founded owa and came from ikoha in ovia in edo , led by the man called adagba , and the next to migrate was owa-ekei town , they also came from benin led by the warrior called ugbasogun ,later we had people from oyibu, later people from ute okpu, ukwani and abavo, agbor , and others .
5. we also know that on edogun or odogun who was a prince from ute okpu ,his father ijue was said by some tradition to come from nri in anambra , while some elders also believed he came from benin.
6. in 1913 the british intelligent report state that owa kingdom has dual migratory patterns of which one was edo and the other was igbo ,and these two inter play also reflects in our culture and language ,and we are ika ethnic group, no omre no less , and no propaganda from the igbo will make an ika an igbo man , unless the igbo wants to become ika , we shall welcome them into our fold and start to teach them ika culture and language and traditions .
7. i thought i asked igbos to translate my former writings in owa dialect of ika ? why did they not respond to it ?
8. i thought i also asked our know all igbo people why did majority of ika people and their leaders reject the theory that ika was igbo during the civil war ? and why did the people of ika help the federal troops to chase igbos away from ika teritory ? and why did they rejoice , when the federal troops expelled biafran in ika ?
why did biafra declare the obi of owa , wanted dead or alive during the war ? why did ika kings belong to midwest leaders of thought during the war? and finally why are ika kings , intelligesias, politicians , and people in majority avoiding joining any igbo ethnic meetings ? and why have the ika people developed their own ethnic organisation called ogua /onu ika ? and why did the igbodo people who some of them usually say they are igbo reject their obi for marying an igbo woman from ebonyi ? these are questions waiting to be answered .

1. when an igbo man cannot translate ika , he says it is not ika , how sad , an igbo will teach us what ika is and what ika is not , have you gone to inner ika villages to know what they speak, if you go to owa alizomor , you will understand or owa oyibu ,you are not an owa or ika man so you cannot teach me what ika is , i am only speaking ika as my father and uncles taught me , not as an ndigbo man will tell me to speak .
2. some igbos on this net , who do copy and past make me laugh , they dont even know that they are writing about ika , i am a pure original ika man my ancestory in owa can be traced to 13th century , we have an unbroken family link , and i am a descendant of a king in owa , and so i was taught many things about owa , you will never see in a book ,whether you copy wikipaedia or some write ups from some ignorand people , please answer my questions as to how ika people avoid igbo like a plague ?
if really they are igbos?
3. stop parading your foolishness on the internet , as ika does not have a population of 2334,0000 thousand as you igbos write , ika is a vast enclave ,
the presnt population of ika in delta is about 500,0000 thousand right now , and we have several thousands of ika people also living in many ika towns in edo state of nigeria , so stop this your rubbish copy and past that you do , like i told you igbos , most of you writing on this site are not from delta state and i dont think , you have ever lived in ika before , may be except from meeting some ika people or passing through ika to your various igbo areas , because if you do , you will have an idea of how much population ika has .
.i make bold to say ika people should stop giving their children igbo names as these degrades ika culture

agbotaen:
4. we know that the oldest town or communities in owa is the owa-ofien , people who founded owa and came from ikoha in ovia in edo , led by the man called adagba , and the next to migrate was owa-ekei town , they also came from benin led by the warrior called ugbasogun ,later we had people from oyibu, .

Agbotaen you are going off our arguments here. Let me remind you just in case you've forgotten.

1) Ika is a separate dialect of Igbo language

2) Odogwu who organised Owa and established the kingdom was from ancient Nri or Nshi.

3) Obi Efeizomor testified to his Nri ancestry in his book.

You and Sonia are deviating by making bogus claims that Igbos are trying to force you on your choice of ethnicity. Igbos do not care about your choice of ethnicity but when people like Ezeagu and Ogbuefi say they are Igbos, we gladly accept and when you and Sonia say you are something else, we also gladly accept.