Alright. He has replied last. Can you go and rest now?

1. Igbos generally surfer from amnasia and I think they tell them self too many lies.if there are 100 ika people and 90 say they are ika and not igbo .is that not enough prove of who they . Ika rejected igbo enmase is that not enough huniliation from ikas during the war.
2. Today majority of ika people avoid igbo ethnic organisation like a plague or is is agbontaen that told all ika kings and nobles and majority of our people not to go near ohaneze ndigbo.
3. Why do you igbos like to lie.you quote a wrong figure
Of ika population . Let me tell you igbo copy and paste people that ika in delta is about 5000000 people and not your rybbish 200000
4. The only places you will see some ika who claim igbo is igbodo and ekwuoma and they seems to have strong igbo migration and they are near igbo areas and that was why they supported biafra and suffered the consequencies.
5. Why was the obi of owa against biafra and assisted muritala and nigeria to expell igbos and he was also one of the key leaders that rejected the notion that ika is igbo.
6. Our noble prince from owa kingdom nduka obaigbena told new york times that he is from ika tribe.tribe.he did not say he was from ika igbo or igbo as some ignorant igbo people usually say.
7. What is not in doubt is the fact is the fact that it was edos that founded owa and most ika land as adagba and ugbasogun founded the two most ancient owa comnunities,
8. Yes igbos also migrated to owa but all available record shows the binis as the furst inhabittant into owa and ika area
9 let me answer your question on odogun .he came from ute okpu and ute history has two version 1. Is that his father ijue is from nri and 2. Another version quoted by obi agholor of ute okpu states that odogun and his father came from benin .
10. Some owa elders also say odogun was from nri and some say he was from benin
11. Our observatuon was that as at 12 th century both edo and igbo people have started migeating into ute and also intermarriage was practiced but on a further examination we found out that ijue was A bini name and he had children like edogun which later changed to odogun please note that its bot odogwu and ogbeje .and ozomor and igbedigin and these were all edo names
12. Another thing we observed was that after ijue died okpu became obi and after okpu died ohue became ob
13. In owa after odogun in 13th century the obi was ugbedigin no gidugan and after that owodo after ewuare after ozolua .after orghogbua and other edo named king and the style of rulership odogun adopted was bini uselu style which was different from that praxticed in nri and so I like to believe the elders that say odogun was from benin
14. But what was not in doubt was the fact both igbo and edo have migrated into ute okpu and owa kingdom and this mix of edo and igbo gave birth to ika ethnicit
15. If igbos like let them continue a propaganda that will do them more harm that good as ika kings will never join igbo ethnic meetings but can felicitate with them as a brotherly ethnic group to ikas just like ika will always see benins as a brotherly ethnic group too
16. Ika nation wa
s
declared officially in 1930 with the universal declarAtion that ika is not a part of any known ethnic group in nigeria and I hope igbos are hearing

1 let me answer you if you want to have an idea about owa history go and read ndiowa and her monarch written by professors .chiefs .elders and princes of owa and that is the only book sold owa royal palace and even in the book written by efeizormor he talks about nri and benin as giving rise to owa and he was also assisted by professor ownejrogu the igbo professor and in one of the books the proff said owa was founded by nri in 9th to 14th century and edo of 14th century and ika civilization of 4000 years and so he dated ika civilization as being older than nri and edo.
2. In response to some of the things that the professor owunejeogu wrote in his writings and some times in obi efeizomors writting the owa consultative assembly raise a 5 man professor team including chiefs and elders and royal family members to trace owa history and this time all of them where owa people and the book was published and giving the obi of owa as the official book on owa history

Greetings/Position/Ohanaeze



Compliments of the season!



Great gratitude for all your support. I couldn’t reach you all along because of my injuries. Thank you Mr. Ogbo, President, Anioma Union and Anioma Women Group who performed, Anioma Union Texas, President Uraih and the Asaba Union, Ogbueshi Nwokobia. My host Mr. and Mrs. Nwajei Dr. Ashibogwu, Mr. Okonkwo, and Mr. Mokogwu, Ngozi Okocha, Umeadi and her husband Chukwurah, the Asaba Union Dallas, the Onianwas (Ibusa) the Ijehs (Ogwashi Ukwu) and the entire Anioma Union, Washington D.C., the California Chapter etc. The surprise came from Atlanta, those brothers that landed and helped in our campaign in Ezi, Nsukkwa, Obulu Kingdom etc…



Your support elevated our platform and despite the betrayal of APGA and the proven massive rigging of the PDP "Emma Okocha was second to PDP in the Anioma area!" (See Dr. B.I.C. Ijomah Director of Strategy PDP, Press Interview after the elections)



Your support indeed has kept us busy. Every other opposition candidate has either picked up appointments with the Ibori government, or fizzled out.



Within this period we went ahead to increase the volume of our political movement by re-establishing the Ohanaeze in our area. As the only Anioma member of the group present at the meeting we asked for two positions, the General Secretary and the Deputy President General. We got all, Colonel Achuzia and Obi Nwaka from Ibusa are now in the cabinet.



I understand why the debate is on. I have just finished a 48 page paper on Ohanaeze, Izu Anioma; the South South; whether the Western I[g]bo?



If I'm invited by any Anioma Group within the coming year I would make my findings available, we shall discuss the various parameters and probably arrive at a better appraisal.



For now my motivations in reaching the accord with the Eastern leaders, their governors, etc. arise from the following.



i) There was already a paper from the Itsekiri leaders of thought at Abakaliki seeking the Igbo support in their war against the Urhobors and Ijaws. The Itsekiris did not copy that letter to Izu Anioma.



ii) My group Oasis of Hope, discovered that the same Itsekiri went further to invite the OPC to Warri. OPC, Yoruba and consequently Obasonjo’s Federal Government support for the Itsekiri was decisive and shifted the balance of that war. Until now the small Itsekiri nation have the initiative in the Warri crisis.



iii) Anioma as of now has lost its vanguard teeth. Ika, Ndokwa nations are out. Anioma has shrunk.



iv) Ohaneze is like Ibo Union. Ibo union was founded by Dennis Osadebay and Oguegbunan Dafe. Later the Ogbarus Justice Kaine became the President in 1938. Ohanaeze first board director was Osadebay when it was founded. Like I mentioned in my speech at the World Igbo Congress (W.I.C.) 2001, it was Enugu that offered Osadebay and Oba of Benin £8,000,000 – for the fight to create the Midwest. During the crisis 1966, Colonels Okonweze, Igboba, etc. were all killed because they were I[g]bo, so also were senior officers from Asaba, Ishiagu, Ibusa, Ogwashi Ukwu, Igbodo etc. During that war our people did not run towards Benin or Warri, they naturally ran towards the East and most were received well.



v) Delta, South South, I have over 150 pages clippings of invitations of the so called "Niger Delta, South-South, proper Delta" peoples. Our people are never invited. On the contrary, The Ohanaeze keep inviting our people and the Ikwerre Etche Ahoada group who suffer from the same identity problem (see Dafinone’s Union of Niger Delta Guardian Monday, February 28, 2000).



vi) During the Oputa Panel Investigations, the Ohanaeze invited our people and that was the first time under the sun we took our genocide case to the outside world.



Critically, our core interests; endangered language, culture, official discrimination, Asaba as capital of Delta, the Nzeogwu Revolution spilling of Igbo blood, merit, Christianity, education, etc. converge with the interest of the Igbo. If the Itsekiri group could invite the Yoruba and change the tide in their crisis, why can’t we look out for our kith and kin? The Nigerian Politics is fueled on by numbers, ethnicity, and ability to weave influential alliances. We should embrace our brothers of the East and at the same time look out for our Igala brothers and others from the Middle Belt, while we parley with those who have our interests at heart.



Having said this, the Easterners are to be blamed for our lethargy in embracing them fast. Have they told us what happened to Nzeogwu? Have they condoled us on the massacre of our people? Have they tried to rehabilitate the aging officers who fought for their Biafra? The Western Ibos were not in the Biafra map. The II divisions made of mainly Ika I[g]bo] never surrendered and under Colonel Nwawo defended Nnewi the only major Biafran city that never fell until the end. Has Ojukwu or anybody bothered to ask after his health or other senior officers of the Midwestern Command since the end of the war? Right now Colonel S. Nwajei (Ibusa) is suffering from stroke, Colonel Trimmel is dead (Abor) and the Commander of Biafran Navy Anukwu (Agbor) is dead and his house in Boji-Boji burnt! These officers have never been paid anything…pension nothing and nobody from the East bothered.



They are not the same as Biafran officers…who agreed and declared Biafra. These people were Nigerian soldiers. Why have the state Eastern governors abandoned the Ika I[g]bo? During Okpara era, Midwest was funded by Enugu and our people gave them loyalty which led to the war solidarity. Now Enugu dismisses our civil servants, teachers, etc. Delta would never reabsorb them. To rub it in governors of the East have been appointing non-Igbo Deltas, Yorubas, and Urhobos into their cabinet. Our position remains that we must move in volumes otherwise you would be limited playing the "Politics of the Hermit."



Signed,

Hon. Emma Okocha

I am a member of the Igbo Youths UK (www.icsn.co.uk), and the president of this famous body is an Ika son and a proud Igbo.
One of the girls in the executive body of this organisation and the largest Nigerian socio/cultural organisation is from Rebisi. Wherei s Rebisi?.
You do not have the right insight to speak for those Igbo groups as your arguments here baseless and unfounded.
Why are they heading Igbo organisations if they are not Igbo?.
We mark Iri ji festival in the UK and a well established Ika monarch flows in from Nigeria as the Royal father of the day. What does that tell you?.
Common boy, grow up.





FROM AN IKA MAN

http://icsn-dev1.s16043276.onlinehome-server.info/page/membership-join-icsn


https://www.nairaland.com/407419/pixes-major-kaduna-nzegwus-grave/1

IKA AND IDENTITY AND I AM NOT IGBO CRISIS BUT THIR KINGS BEAR IGBO NAMES,CALL GOD CHUKWUE, DO OUR FESTIVALS AND HAV EKE,AFOR,NKWOR ORIE.....

MY TAKE ON THE CREATION OF FUTURE STATES FOR IGBOS IN DELTA AREAS
Please do not type ignorantly.I coincidentally happen to have links with both divides.Stay on your lane or learn before you spew out.Ikwerres are Igbos while Anioma is not a kingdom but a group of people with different traditions of origin but metamorphorsed to an Igbo identity.I personally would not want Agbor and co as part of Anioma because a lot of them have identity crisis.

Ojukwu, Biafra and I, by war commander, Col Achuzia

Category: Tribute Published on Sunday, 18 December 2011 00:03 Hits: 5405




Nigeria’s war time Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, at the end of the Nigerian civil war in1970 announced ‘’No victor, no vanquished’’, a slogan, many thought, was meant to give those on the side of the defunct Biafra a kind of psychological relief and ‘sense of belonging’ in the affairs of the country. However, one of the top Biafran war commanders and a very close, trusted associate of Ojukwu the Biafran leader, Col Joseph Achuzia a.k.a “Air Raid’’, “Hannibal’’ or “Achucriminal’’ was thrown into jail for seven years after the war on the orders of the Federal Government under Gowon.

A British trained Aeronautic engineer and one-time Secretary General of the apex Igbo sociocultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Achuzia spoke inside his sitting room at his Asaba residence. Excerpts:
Could you comment on the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu you knew ?

Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu has always been known to me right from my secondary school days, when we were in Kings College together. Then later we met in Britain. And by the time Nigeria became independent, in October 1960, and I came home, we met again. By then he had already become entrenched within his position in the Nigerian Army.

We did not interact before the first coup took place; and immediately after the coup I left back to Britain. And I was following events because he was a key player in the scenario that was unfolding. Then the next landmark in my relationship with him took place when he was appointed the Governor of Eastern Region and Ejoor (General David Ejoor, rtd) was also appointed a governor.

Ejoor was sent to Enugu and Ojukwu protested, which made the then Head of State, General Johnson Thomas Umunakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi to change the postings and sent him to Enugu while Ejoor was posted to Benin.

When we got to Enugu the situation was such that a townsman of mine was also the Secretary to the Eastern Regional Government in the person of C. C. Mordi, from Asaba here. A lot of things were going on: the killings in the North, pogrom; so many Igbos from the North were rushing down home; and what was taking place made me to have a closer look into the sort of programme the then governor of Eastern Region, in the person of Odumegwu Ojukwu held for the Igbo people because the trauma being created by the extensive killing was such that it required somebody with a proper insight in dealing with human tragedy to handle. Soldiers, civilians, civil servants were affected.

In fact, what took place affected the core inner group that held Igbo citizenship together, something that made the Igbo Union, which one regarded as all supreme in everything, of which Ohanaeze today, the Igbozuruome of today, were modeled after. Igbo Union had to retreat to the East. And in doing so, every Igbo person, male, female, child everything, for survival, was heading eastward.


Why did Ojukwu protested Ejoor’s posting to Enugu

It seemed that Ojukwu, who probably foresaw tomorrow, knew what would happen in the future. Perhaps that was the reason he protested against Ejoor being sent to Enugu because I am quite certain, in my mind now, not on hindsight but from what I saw around that time that the posting wasn’t correct and that Ojukwu was right to protest.

From then on my interest became more firm and solid, in terms of support, which I made up my mind to give to him. He came to Enugu, we met, discussed briefly, then I left back to Britain. It was while I was back in Britain that 1p.m news, in the afternoon, in London, it was announced that, Chief Obafemi Awolowo said that if the East goes, the West will go. So I realised that the whole of this thing was heading towards a shooting match; and I felt that with the loss of so many experienced, trained officers from the East that they, Eastern Region, would need every hand available on deck.

That made me to board a plane coming back to Nigeria then to meet another coup, the July 1966 coup, which brought Gowon on board. I spent two days at Airport Hotel in Ikeja. When Murtala Mohammed was a Major, I knew him. George Miller, a friend of mine married to a German that I was going to stay in his house knew him (Murtala) but the instruction at the airport when we came out of the plane was that nobody goes out anywhere.

So we were taken to the Airport Hotel. George Miller, being friendly with Murtala, brought him and we met. We discussed and he assured that I should wait for a day or so and there would be flight to Benin. He kept to his words. Two days later, the route to Benin was opened again. And myself, my wife and child were taken to the plane which we boarded to Benin.

From there we headed to the East. By this time the situation was getting critical that second coup that we met was so devastating that it wasn’t only the army but everybody of Igbo origin or that came from the Eastern Region, including those Igbos from the Midwest became involved in the selective killings that were taking place.

And the vision which Ojukwu saw, when he protested now crystallized itself because the Midwesterners, Western Igbos, that were returning from the North and from the West, heading home, on reaching Benin, were not welcomed. Reliefs that were being distributed were not given them. Placements in the civil service departments where they were working, to enable them obtain salary or whatever would be given for succour were not allowed. They were told to go and meet their people in Enugu.

So they all trooped out and headed for Enugu. We were also around to assist in receiving them. In fact, that was when Ika Igbo Association was formed, just as today you are hearing Anioma, Anioma; Anioma wasn’t in our lexicon then. What we had was Ika Igbo. And our interaction with Ojukwu and his government was concretised at that time.

From then, even though the army in the Midwestern Command, the high echelon, was more of Midwestern Igbos, the civil service cadre that should have lent weight to them and support were no more available. Most of them had headed across the Niger. And it must also be borne in mind that the Nigerian boundaries vis a vis East and West were not as they are today, where you have as Ogbaru and those places used to be Midwest, Midwestern Region, the Niger wasn’t a natural boundary, it was the effect of the war that brought about the Niger, at the end of the war being regarded as a natural boundary and the configuration that took place since then still makes it difficult for the Igbos to settle down properly.


The Ojukwu I knew

As I was saying, you are talking about Ojukwu. Here was a man because of his vision, somehow prepared by God or providence, whatever it is, prepared him and placed him at this point in time in history at a place where he was to act as Moses for his people. This was the reason why all his pronouncements had always been that efforts must be made to make sure that the Igbos still remain recognised within the set up and arrangement called Nigeria.

He made a lot of pronouncements and also, at the same time made a lot of requests from the Igbo people. I remember that there was a meeting he called of Leaders of Thoughts. During that meeting, he said what we are asking for is not separation but what we are entitled to by being partners in the arrangement called Nigeria. He said we were being pushed with intention of pushing us out of Nigeria, and this we will resist.

For the first time he was the one who clarified what we mean in my mind and conditioned my attitude during the period of warfare, in the battle field. He said they can push us, we will take our stand in our own soil with our back against the wall but we will not give up what we have already created in Nigeria.

He said, in terms of civilised norms implanted into Nigeria, it is the Igboman alone that feels he must build a decent house, not only to accommodate his family, but to accommodate those in whose land, in whose territory he acquired wealth and built these things. He said the Igbo man by education, self help, both within the commercial business group, the civil service, the entrepreneurship are the Igbos that we can’t abandon. We must resist the push.

Having heard all these, one wonders why, what do we do to redress the needless ferocious attack and traumatisation by the pogrom. Everybody encouraged him to go to Aburi. He went. What he came back with emboldened us to mobilise our people to wait for the onslaught of Police action when the army was unleashed on the Eastern Region as if they were intruders.

We tried to resist, hoping that it would be just something that well, in a month or two, Nigeria would get tired; we will get back to the roundtable to discuss issues. But what we were getting back from senior civil servants that were out and envoys that we had outside was that this attack unleashed on us wouldn’t last long, that if they pushed any further that there were countries within the civilised community, who will then come to our aid.

So everybody guarded their loins ready to continue resisting to be pushed out so as to give time to and chance for help to come. That help never came. The help that came from a few African countries and the half-hearted help from the French side seemed to be the only help that we could expect.

In the meantime, through his propaganda machinery and the way he interacted with the grassroots of our people, everybody was ready to lay down their lives to defend the cause he believed in, which he made us believe in. This was the reason why young students, graduates from University of Nigeria, Nsukka, everybody was clamouring “Ojukwu give us guns” ‘’we will defend ourselves’’. The guns were not there and those that were there were not sufficient to even equip the army, let alone giving young graduates, who did not know how to handle guns.


Why we forced Ojukwu to declare Biafra

All of a sudden, we were given a date that on such and such a day the federal government is going to carve up Eastern Region. Ojukwu then called a Consultative Assembly of the people, among which were the Ika Igbos, also given a pride of place as part of the Igbo nation. Our traditional rulers from the Midwest, the Igbo speaking areas attended that conference.

I was privy. I was there. And around 1pm a news flash came. What we were hearing as rumour became a reality: Eastern Region was carved. They carved out Rivers State and South East State. So we went into the afternoon recess and by the time we came out of recess and went into afternoon session, a decision was quickly reached that we can’t sit back and see ourselves divided, so the best thing to do was that we must ask Ojukwu to declare the State of Biafra.

Before that there has been a lot of argument, here and there, over the issue of what name do we go by. So many different names and configurations were bandied about but finally we asked the group of lawyers assembled to prepare a communiqué declaring the state of Biafra.

Even that meeting, Ojukwu wasn’t there, he was still in Government House. This meeting was being held within Hotel Presidential. So by the time the decision was reached, this was carried to him, we were surprised that he said no. He will not do it. He said that he will not declare. We thought either they didn’t teach the military what is meant when somebody is trying to cut you to bits. If he didn’t understand, we did. So message was sent back to him and an ultimatum was given him that if by 8:00 O’clock that night he didn’t declare the state of Biafra, not only will we remove him, we will declare and decide who leads us.

Later in the evening he finally announced the state of Biafra. So we all rejoiced that now, at least, if Nigeria continued attacking us, we now knew how we were going to fight. The Eastern Region was one whole entity notwithstanding the earlier announcement by federal government creating three states out of Eastern Region.


Ojukwu as a magician

First to keep the morale of the people going, Ojukwu performed like a magician. People say, ah Okokon Ndem, Uche Chukwumerije, so many of them within the propaganda machinery, it was somebody that gave them the inspiration. Without Ojukwu, they wouldn’t have risen to the occasion. The army quickly changed by creating a situation where civilians were quickly mobilised into what was called Civil Defence.

It is this Civil Defenders that became the backbone of the Biafran Army and one should not forget that the Biafran Army is the Nigerian Eastern Command, whoever is recruited there belongs to Nigeria and is part and parcel of the Nigerian Army. The strength infused in them by Ojukwu made for the staunch, gallant defence of that realm by that army.

When there were shortage of arms and equipment, Ojukwu called on the Biafran educated engineers and they met and he said go and find an answer. Supposing we don’t get arms from anywhere or no money to buy since Nigeria was changing her currency, find an answer to these equipment scarcity.

We quickly formed the Research and Production (RAD). The story of what RAD did I will tell at a future date, not now. BOF was created, the story of who and what happened, I will tell at a later date because I was at the helm of all these groupings, to give direction and show them what to do.


Were you in the Nigerian Army before the war?

No!


Are you saying that Ojukwu was not interested in the Eastern Region pulling out from Nigeria because many say his stubbornness and personality led to the war?

No! Like I said we followed his actions from the first coup. If it wasn’t for Ojukwu and the role he played, the North would have been the battle ground because Nzeogwu was holding the North and the army firmly in his hands. And the North could have been the battle ground. But that aspect of Ojukwu’s action which favoured the people who are now saying that he caused the war, if he didn’t take the steps he took, the story would have been different.

The people who should be criticising Ojukwu are the Igbos because every Igboman, including the Northerners, were happy with the situation when the first coup took place. And the role Ojukwu played, like I started by saying that he objected to his posting as governor that he would rather be posted to Enugu, to the East and let Ejoor go to the Midwest.


How should Ojukwu be buried, as an officer of the Nigerian Army; as a General of the Biafran Army or Eze Gburugburu of Ndigbo?

Any of the caps fits him. I repeat, any of the caps fits him. But you ask me, in everything there are always stakeholders, notwithstanding, the relations, which, under our tradition, are the first port of call for burial, by his position. He is now a public figure belonging to the Igbo race, belonging to Nigerian army, while at the same belonging to the Nigerian civil populace.

Every one of these arms gained by the experience of coming in contact with Ojukwu. So, the burial should be such that all stakeholders should feel a sense of belonging within the process of his final interment.

The people called the Anioma people are more or less a people of different cultural backgrounds bound together by a single collective factor – the fact that they share Igbo blood. Although some Anioma people choose to identify with the Benin-axis of their history rather than the Igbo side, some of these sub-groups of the Anioma population have just reasons for doing so.

Nwanze explores the Anioma heritage solely from the Asaba perspective and most people who don’t come from the region are largely unaware of the history of the people and the reasons why they share Igbo as a collective language. It is easy for an Igbo man from Enugu to call the people of Onicha-Ugbo or Issele-Uku hypocrites for acclaiming Bini blood when he has no idea of their history.

The Anioma people are not a singular tribe but a diverse one that shares a similar linguistic identity, they come from different places and the history of one subset of the Anioma’s is not the same as the rest. Anioma towns such as Ogwashi-Uku and Ubulu-Unor may be minutes apart but they were all inhabited by different people at different times coming from different places. Even Asaba which Nwanze comes from bears a dual heritage which is derived partly from the Igbo’s and partly from the Igala’s, any true Asaba man will confirm that and I doubt Nwanze would disagree.

The people of Ibusa are rather recent settlers in the Anioma scheme of society, the term Ibusa itself is a bastardization of the word Igbo-bi-n’Uzor, which means Igbo’s that stay along the way, a crude term used to refer to the fact that the people of Ibusa were recent settlers that came from across the Niger in times as recent as the 20th century. The people of Ogwashi-Uku share an almost similar heritage, their ancestry derives partly from Anambra state and the rest we have today is as a result of inter-marriage with people who derive some of their origins from the Bini’s such as the people of Onicha-Ugbo, Onicha-Olona and the Ubulu’s.

Nwanze being an Asaba man is no doubt uninformed about the history of others who do not share the same proximity his subset of the Anioma group enjoy with the Igbo’s across the Niger.

It is a known fact that Igbo people do not have kings, the whole issue of Igwe-this, Igwe-that is a recent development, yet the people of the Anioma who share part of their heritage with Benin, have had kings long before communities like Ogwashi-Uku and Ibusa were established and long before any Igbo “kingdoms” saw any Igwe and long before Igbo-inclined Asaba saw an Asagba.

The Obi’s (Kings) of Onicha-Ugbo, Issele-Uku and other parts of the Anioma subset of cultures that share a regal affinity with the Bini’s, used to go to Benin in the olden days before they could be crowned as Obi’s or kings. Every new Obi had to be vouched for by the Oba of Benin, why would our kings do that if they had no relationship with the Bini’s? As recent as some Igwe titles are, do Igbo chiefs go to Kings in Yoruba land to collect their titles?

For centuries, before a new Oba of Benin was crowned, it was customary to pay a visit to the Obi of Ubulu-Uku for him to prepare medicinal herbs and charms that would enable him live long and rule in peace. Again, this tradition existed before the first Ibusa settlers settled in the area where they are today. What business does the Oba of Benin have with the Obi of Ubulu-Uku if not for shared heritage?

The Obi’s of Issele-Uku in Anioma are direct and confirmed descendants of the Oba’s of Benin; this is confirmed history and not hearsay like Nwanze would love us to believe. In fact the Obaseki’s (remember Jackson Gaius-Obaseki) of the Benin Kingdom today migrated from Issele-Uku to Benin in the olden days sometime in the 16th century, at a time that Asaba possibly didn’t exist.

The current self-styled Dein of Agbor (or Obi of Agbor) was heir to the throne at a very young age and had to cede his rights of rule to a regent to rule in his stead, when it was apparent that his life was in danger due to the regents ambitions, the current Oba of Benin was the one who housed him before he departed abroad from where he returned after years of sojourn to claim the throne of Agbor. Why would the Oba of Benin house a child-king of the Anioma’s if not for shared heritage?

To cut a long story short, we are Anioma’s and we speak variations of the Igbo language which may or may not contain inflections that are derived from our relationship with the Bini’s . We have a mixed heritage and some of us who have Bini blood are proud to acclaim that heritage as well as our Igbo blood, some do not however we all accept our collective Anioma identity. However the mixture of various cultures is what makes us refer to ourselves as the Anioma. The fact that we have a collective factor that binds us together (the Igbo factor), doesn’t mean that we should neglect our individual histories and age-old cultural relationships just to satisfy the whims of those who wish they were closer to brethren across the Niger.

The people of Asaba are fortunate enough to have tasted development due to the fact that they were made a state capital but they should not forget the fact that others inhabited other areas of the Anioma territory long before they did. Other people had kingdoms and fought wars on a scale they wouldn’t imagine. Even as developed as Lagos is, they still won’t claim precedence over older towns such as Oyo and they respect the hierarchy of things. Asaba people shouldn’t take their recent forays into modernity as an excuse to rewrite the history of the rest of the Anioma’s without their input and based on their opinions and wishes.

It is painful to see people dismiss our heritage and mock us as absurd due to the fact that we claim a certain factual and historically recorded link to the Bini’s, whereas our Igbo brethren across the Niger refer to themselves as Jews from Israel and expect to be taken seriously.

Ambassador Ralph Uwechue is a fine, respected man among our people but he is not the first Anioma to belong to the Ohaneze ndi Igbo and others who share a closer affinity to our brethren across the Niger have done so in the past, especially those from Ibusa. However Uwechue and other Anioma’s who have chosen to join Ohaneze should please make it clear whose interests they go there to represent. No one appointed them the voice of the Anioma people, if they go there to represent their own subsets of the culture fine, but no one sent them there to speak for the rest of us or rewrite our history to their choosing without our input simply because they think the rest of us are not paying attention.

this is a great write up , the problem with some aniomas is that they do not do enough research on their history and we also have many igbos who are bent on rewriting the history of anioma.
2. the ika nation continiously rebelled and fougth wars against benin inorder to maintain their independence and we did not allow any body to consume us , but we also understand and respect our relationship with benin , but we also respect our relationship with igbo , but we are quite aware of our differences with both igbo and benin,and we are proud of our ethnicity called ika , and ika people are also proud to belong to the anioma nation
3. the igbo nation was formed by the help of europeans as there was no ethnicity like igbo as of 200 years ago , what we had were towns and villages , even yoruba was formed too like that , and so no one should be alarmed that our elders formed anioma or ika , it is a comming together of people with shared interest. as for ika , it was concretized in 1930 ,when our elders told the british that ika was not a part of any ethnic group in nigeria.
4. the problem we have in anioma is that some anioma are so overtaken by their zeal to force others to say they are igbos and that is where they got it all wrong , those that want to be igbo will say and those that want to be proudly ika or anioma will say ,and majority of ika people have made their stance clear sa per that in 1967 civil war and as of today their refusal to go near the ohaneze ndigbo , and that is our free will to self determination . while the ASABA PEople are a part and parcel of ohaneze ndigbo and that is their own free human right.
5. if most of the igbo people were from delta , they would have known that despite the language realtionship between isoko and uhrobo , they are two different tribes, and if they are from edo , they would know that the ishan and bini share similarities in language but they are two different tribes , and so we dont see any thing special about a tribe sharing many language similarities , but remain seperate tribes.
6. when i was born ,the first story my father told me was that i am from owa and i am ika , and then when i asked him, where our family ancestor came from he said benin , and when i asked for his name , he said omigie ,a prince of owa kingdom , who was the son of obi igbedigin of owa in 13th century , this is how family and village history is passed via oral and not through wikipaedia or whatever write up ,that a person who knows little of our culture will write, even the great zik of africa heard from his mother that many people from onitcha came from benin,but definitely some are igbo and some were igala, but today i have seen a concious effort by igbo people to cancel that aspect of onitcha tradition that says some of them came from benin,which even shows in their name as onitcha ado nidu .
7. ika is a seperate ethnicity , and we do not wish to be subsumed by igbo or benin or any other group, except to become part of anioma.

agbotaen: this is a great write up , the problem with some aniomas is that they do not do enough research on their history and we also have many igbos who are bent on rewriting the history of anioma.
2. the ika nation continiously rebelled and fougth wars against benin inorder to maintain their independence and we did not allow any body to consume us , but we also understand and respect our relationship with benin , but we also respect our relationship with igbo , but we are quite aware of our differences with both igbo and benin,and we are proud of our ethnicity called ika , and ika people are also proud to belong to the anioma nation
3. the igbo nation was formed by the help of europeans as there was no ethnicity like igbo as of 200 years ago , what we had were towns and villages , even yoruba was formed too like that , and so no one should be alarmed that our elders formed anioma or ika , it is a comming together of people with shared interest. as for ika , it was concretized in 1930 ,when our elders told the british that ika was not a part of any ethnic group in nigeria.
4. the problem we have in anioma is that some anioma are so overtaken by their zeal to force others to say they are igbos and that is where they got it all wrong , those that want to be igbo will say and those that want to be proudly ika or anioma will say ,and majority of ika people have made their stance clear sa per that in 1967 civil war and as of today their refusal to go near the ohaneze ndigbo , and that is our free will to self determination . while the ASABA PEople are a part and parcel of ohaneze ndigbo and that is their own free human right.
5. if most of the igbo people were from delta , they would have known that despite the language realtionship between isoko and uhrobo , they are two different tribes, and if they are from edo , they would know that the ishan and bini share similarities in language but they are two different tribes , and so we dont see any thing special about a tribe sharing many language similarities , but remain seperate tribes.
6. when i was born ,the first story my father told me was that i am from owa and i am ika , and then when i asked him, where our family ancestor came from he said benin , and when i asked for his name , he said omigie ,a prince of owa kingdom , who was the son of obi igbedigin of owa in 13th century , this is how family and village history is passed via oral and not through wikipaedia or whatever write up ,that a person who knows little of our culture will write, even the great zik of africa heard from his mother that many people from onitcha came from benin,but definitely some are igbo and some were igala, but today i have seen a concious effort by igbo people to cancel that aspect of onitcha tradition that says some of them came from benin,which even shows in their name as onitcha ado nidu .
7. ika is a seperate ethnicity , and we do not wish to be subsumed by igbo or benin or any other group, except to become part of anioma.

Coming from bini is not,and can never be the same thing as being a bini. Ezechima once resided in bini,but that does not make him a bini.

Akwukwu-Igbo is one of the Anioma communities that originally traces its origin to Nri, Igbo. Popular oral tradition of the people credits the foundation of the community to Okolie-Agu said to be the brother of Adaigbo, founder of Ogwashi-Uku. The duo were said to have left Nri their ancestral home together and settled first in Ogwashi-Uku were they lived together. It was from Ogwashi-Uku that Okolie-Agu an elephant hunter left for his usual hunting expedition and in the process discovered the present the wild forest, which he named Akwukwu-Igbo.
Added to these migrants was Edini, one of the founders of Ibusa. They left carrying pots of charms on their heads, prepared for them by their father who was the king with the instruction to settle wherever the pot dropped. Edini’s pot dropped in Ani Udo (Land of peace) in present Ibusa while Adaigbo’s pot dropped in Eke, Ogwashi-Uku where Adaigbo. Okolie Agu decided to live with Adaigbo before he discovered the forest he named “Akwukwu-Igbo”. “Akwu (Farm) and “Igbo” (Igboland, where he journeyed from)
This is why the people of Akwukwu-Igbo have the popular saying that an Akwukwu-Igbo person does not shed the blood of an Ogwashi-Uku person. It is an abomination. The same goes for an Ogwashi-Uku person who is forbidden from taking the life of his Akwukwu-Igbo brother no matter the circumstance. Today, however, these three communities belong to the wider Anioma family group. They are now Anioma and nothing less. The reference to the people of Ikelike as the first settlers of Ogwashi-Uku is not neglected.
Akwukwu-Igbo, the headquarters of Oshimili-North Local Government Area is the home of Dr. Newton Jibunor, the famous Sahara Desert Warrior; the Agbamuches; Pius Ikedia and Godfrey Chukwudifu Osakwe.
Ibusa is the home of Prof Pat Utomi, Uche Nwaezeapu and Ifeanyichukwu Onianwa while Ogwashi-Uku is the home of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Ausin Jay Jay Okocha and Emmanuel Nwaokolo.

1. my friend that some of the ika peoples ancestors came from benin is not a controversy , we can still trace the families till date , and that some of the ika families came from igbo land is also not in doubt , and if some came from igbo as of the ancient times does not make them igbo today , just like if the families came from benin also does not make them benin, but due to intermarriage and so many factors they are now proudly of ika ethnicity , we do not claim to be benin neither do we claim to be igbo , but for record purpose we do know it was edos that first migrated into ika land , pure and simply.
2. the reining dein of agbor is same family blood line with oba of benin , and so it is forbidden for present agbor royal family to marry the family of the oba of benin , because they are same family blood line, so we are very much aware of our culture , there was also a prince from owa kingdom who is a relative of mine , and he is called obaze , he told me that when the 16th obi of owa was alive , obi oboh efeizomor the first , they used to visit oba akenzuwa of benin and some of the prince use to serve him and when they asked the obi , he said akenzuwa hailed from their family and is their family head ,however this does not make owa people to call themselve as benins.
we are related to both edo and igbos and even others , and that is why our nationality is seperate

MY NEXT ARTICLE WILL BE ON IMPORTANCE OF NAMING CEREMONY AMONGST IKA PEOPLE ,IT IS CALLED IGBE-IDAYI OR IGBEMKPOUDU ,

Clap for yourself prof chinua achebe Agboaten...literary giant you are...keep writing

agbotaen: MY NEXT ARTICLE WILL BE ON IMPORTANCE OF NAMING CEREMONY AMONGST IKA PEOPLE ,IT IS CALLED IGBE-IDAYI OR IGBEMKPOUDU ,

u ppl should hold him biko. Who knows how long dat boring epistle will be.

He has been posting 'articles' without announcement, but dis time around.........
Guy, nobody reads ur posts to d end, we only see igbo names u label Ika. Wtf!

AGBOTAEN stop being silly.You are just trying hard to twist everything from making ika look like aliens.Quit trying dude.We have ika sons and daughters that are proudly igbo but that doesnt stop them from being ika.You copy that?...if you have other ika online groups you are registered to,let me know and i will join you there and i can put up a poll in there and we will all see their opinions.Obviously it will be totally different from yours.

It has been said over and over again that ika is a seperate ethnic group,we r neither igbo or edo.UMUNEDE for instance,we have four villages..Ileje,oba,ile,and obi.. The people of oba cannot marry from the benin royal family because they are related...You people just sit down and try to tell us our history...Igbon indeed.

who said that ika is not igbo.... GO TELL UR OBIs THAT COS MANY OF THEM UPHOLD NRI ANCESTORY GO TO IGBODO,GO TO EKWUOMA,GO TO OWA THN GO TO UMUNNEDE... THE ONLY IKA THAT HAVE ISSUE WITH IGBONESS ARE IN TINY MINORITY AND THEY ARE IN IGBANKE THE ORIGINAL NAME IS IGBO AKIRI.... WHY DONT YOU DO A VERY SIMPLE SURVEY,,,, MEET AN URHOBO MAN,EDO MAN, UR NEAREST NEIGHBOURS THE ISHAN AND AUCHI PEOPL AND ASK THEM WHICH TRIBE IS IGBANKE,AGBOR THEN WHAT EVER THEY TELL YOU BELIEVE IT..... TO ME YOU SONY4ALL AND AGBONTEA ARE NOT IGBO AND EVEN IF YOU CLAIM IGBO... U AR A FAKE ONE. IGBOS ARE PROUD,RESSILIENCE AND HARDWORKING PEOPLE THAT DO NOT DEPEND ON ANYBODY LIKE FG NOR RESOURCES LIKE OIL BUT ON OUR CHI AND BRAIN TO SURVIVE.... THAT IS AN IGBO MAN. WE HAVE BROTHERS AND WE KNOW OUR BROTHERS.YES WE HAVE SONS OF SOIL IN IKA LAND AND THEY ARE IGBO AND ALSO WE HAVE SONS OF FUGITIVES AND REFUGESS FROM BNIN AND THEY ARE NOT IGBO BUT SPEEAK A BASTARDISED FORM OF OUR ESTEEMED LANGUAGE. SO WHICH ONE ARE YOU.

OUR IGBO BROTHERS IN DEELTA,IKA AND OTHER PLACES WE RLATE TO THEM AND FUGITIVES LIK YOU WE DESPISE.

LASTLY GO TO IKA WEBSITE AND SEE WHAT YOUR BROTHERS ARE SAYING.


THINK OF IT, IF IKA ARE BENIN WHY DONT THY STILL SPEAK A FORM OF EDO LANGUAGE LIKE THE WAY WE HAVE AFRIKAANS SPEAKING A FORM OF DUTCH, THE WAY WE HAVE AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH MIGRANT SPAKING ENGLISH,THE WAY WE HAVE OFFA,OKUN,ITSHEKIRI AND KWARA YORUBA MIGRANT SPEAKING YORUBA

DO YOU KNOW THAT IGBO AND IGALLA ARE RELATED BUT W KNOW THAT IGALLA IS IGALLA BUT IGBO IS IGBO... DO YOU KNOW WE HAVE IGBO IN CROSS RIVER STATE. LIYEL IMOKE THE PRESENT GOVERNOR IS FROM THERE AND NEVER DENIED IT.... PLS GOOGLE LIYL IMOKE AND STILL COME BACK.... DO YOU KNOW WE HAVE IGBO IN BENU,AKWAIBOM,RIVERS ETC. EVEN IN EQUITORIAL GIUNEA. MY DEAR YOU ARE INSIGNIFICANT EVEN IN UR KINDRED THY DONT AGREE WITH YOU

WAKE UP...CIVIL WAR IS OVR...IGBOS ARE MOVING ON....BUILDING CARS,COMPUTERS,PHONES,TABLTS,CONGLOREMARATES ETC.... YOU ARE A MINOR MINORITY...IKA AR MY BROTHERS WE RELATE WELL HEERE IN LAGOS

ALL OF US ARE NDI ONU NUO.....

IKA IS A TRIBE IN IGBO,ISU,EZZA ARE TRIBES IN IGBO ETHNICITY AND THESE PEOPLE SPEAK A FORM OF IGBO LANGUAGE CALLED DIALEECT





WAKE UP

1, i dont know why some igbo people are just plain stupid , i thought igbos were wise people , or how come they cant understand that ika has always said they are not bini and they are not igbo .
2. the only ika people you will see who claim they are igbo and that is some of them are the people from igbodo and ekwuoma and their population is very few amongst the ika people , infact igbodo is the smallest ika area in population , and if you dont know i can get you the last population census of ika or the 1963 census ,and these two communities were also the one that supported your fathers in their ill attempt to claim ika land and you know what happenned majority of ika people assisted in ejecting your fathers out of ika land , end of story and if you still attempt it today we will still assist the federal troops to send you back to the east where you belong.
3. igbos coming here to say ika is igbo should be ashamed of themselves , because you should know that ika in majority rejected being igbo .during the civil war.
4. you should also be ashamed today , that with all your igbocentric propaganda , ika nation along with all their kings, chiefs and majority of their people are not members of ohaneze ndigbo , and they avoid igbo like a plague ,
5. i am very proud of the fact that i am ika a civilized group of people , better than an ethnic group that has millions of people but has a very bad name where all kinds of vices reign supreme.
6. ika has come to stay and no igbo or igbon man will stop us .
7. the nri is a dead civilization , but ika has a living civilization , as exemplified by the deinship of agbor and other ika kings who continously since the 12th century has kept an unbroken tradition of kingship , unlike you money and petty chiefs called igwe , whom the british helped to install .
8. whatever i write about ika is read by knowledgeable people , and it is not the business of any igbo man , as i will advice you to stop selling a bad product called igbo ethnicity , as ika people will never buy it , for even the fact that ika people consider that igbos dont have a proper kingship, we think you people are bush and not cultured , end of quote , and so it will be an abormination for an ika to follow an igbo man , end of quote.
9. i am proud of ika as an ethnic nationality , even the official website of owa kingdom and agbor kingdom reads that the language of ikas is ika and our nationality is ika, and our highest socio-cultural body is onu/ogua ika headed by osifo sunday .
10. let igbos go and solve their numerous problems as they also dont know where they come from as some will say they are --------------
1. from nri in anambra state,
2. some igbos will say they are from igbo ukwu ,
3. some will say they are from isreal or they are jews ,
igbos should go and solve the fact that amongst all nigerian tribes they dont even have a proper history , and they are the worst copy cats , they did not have kings before but when they saw other people having kings they quickly started creating kingdoms and kingship where none existed , and they are not even honest enough to say they copied it ,

finally benin culture is very great and the igbos will never equall it , if they like let them hate to hear the word benin, in ika area ,the word benin cannot die , because it is in our stories , folklores, culture , song and tradition .and they have set the pace for us ika to follow .

if igbos like let them bang their heads on a wall , as i sing in my ika owa dialect of the songs we sing in praise of the obis during igue and ibiewere festivals , and i guess you know where igue festival is from , ? but i wont be surprised if an igbo propagandist says igue and ibiewere is a festival from nri in igbo land , ha ha ha , igbo people self una no de tire for lies and propaganda ?
1. ojenebo , no ojenebo ooooooo, oooooo, ojenebo ,
ojenebo ni sikirigbaooooo, oo ojenebo,
ojenebo , no jenemakolor , ooo ojenebo, ---------
ojenebo ooo, iyare ooo , oo ojenebo ,

2. obi lalaa ,iyare ooo,
agbogidi lalaa , iyare ooo,
obi lala iyare , obi lalaa ooo,
obi oworwor, obi oworwor , iyare


3. obaseki iyare,oooooo,
obaseki iyare, ooooo,
obi lalaa ooooo,
obi lalaa iyare,

4. obazuaye iyare oooo,
obi lalaa oooo e ,
obazuaye iyare , obi lalaa oooo e ,

5. omo ile igbonba ooooo,
obi lalaa ooo, omo ile igbonba ,

6. obi ri ohanye oooo,
obi ri ohanye oooo,
obi ri ohanye ,
obi lalaa iyare,
7. obi kenyin akpanmin oooo,
obi kenyin akpanmin ooo,
obi kenyin akpanmi oooo,
do do do , iyare do ,
8. ukpe kenyin we lani oooo,
ighogho ro oooh, ukpe kenyin we lani ooo,
ighogho ro
9. obi dodo oooooooooooo,
uroro-ami ooooo,
olokun dodo , uroro-ami oooo,


obi iyare , ni tor neyin fe iseh.


this are songs used in owa kingdom during festivals , and it has great significance , in most of them you will find out that bini is mixed with igbo words ,as usual of the owa ika dialect .
ojenebo - means deified king, and sikirigba means the king that works in a dignified and wobling manner , becaue during the festival the king works in a sylish manner ,
our culture is preserved in our native songs and culture .which is unique to ika and not to igbo or any other tribe ,

agbotaen: if igbos like let them bang their heads on a wall , as i sing in my ika owa dialect of the songs we sing in praise of the obis during igue and ibiewere festivals , and i guess you know where igue festival is from , ? but i wont be surprised if an igbo propagandist says igue and ibiewere is a festival from nri in igbo land , ha ha ha , igbo people self una no de tire for lies and propaganda ?
1. ojenebo , no ojenebo ooooooo, oooooo, ojenebo ,
ojenebo ni sikirigbaooooo, oo ojenebo,
ojenebo , no jenemakolor , ooo ojenebo, ---------
ojenebo ooo, iyare ooo , oo ojenebo ,

2. obi lalaa ,iyare ooo,
agbogidi lalaa , iyare ooo,
obi lala iyare , obi lalaa ooo,
obi oworwor, obi oworwor , iyare


3. obaseki iyare,oooooo,
obaseki iyare, ooooo,
obi lalaa ooooo,
obi lalaa iyare,

4. obazuaye iyare oooo,
obi lalaa oooo e ,
obazuaye iyare , obi lalaa oooo e ,

5. omo ile igbonba ooooo,
obi lalaa ooo, omo ile igbonba ,

6. obi ri ohanye oooo,
obi ri ohanye oooo,
obi ri ohanye ,
obi lalaa iyare,
7. obi kenyin akpanmin oooo,
obi kenyin akpanmin ooo,
obi kenyin akpanmi oooo,
do do do , iyare do ,
8. ukpe kenyin we lani oooo,
ighogho ro oooh, ukpe kenyin we lani ooo,
ighogho ro
9. obi dodo oooooooooooo,
uroro-ami ooooo,
olokun dodo , uroro-ami oooo,


obi iyare , ni tor neyin fe iseh.


this are songs used in owa kingdom during festivals , and it has great significance , in most of them you will find out that bini is mixed with igbo words ,as usual of the owa ika dialect .
ojenebo - means deified king, and sikirigba means the king that works in a dignified and wobling manner , becaue during the festival the king works in a sylish manner ,
our culture is preserved in our native songs and culture .which is unique to ika and not to igbo or any other tribe ,

All those bini songs were the effects of bini colonialism,nothing more and nothing less, just like we sing english songs(national anthem) when we are celebrating in nigeria,and our leader goes by the the english title 'president', like wise our other authoritative posts, they are all in english language,the language of the people that colonized us,it doesn't make us english and u would never see an englishman claiming us,just as we would never see the bini claim anioma. Their relation with anioma including ika was purely political,it wasn't that of ancestral lineage.

Agbotaen,emancipate yourself from bini mental slavery,bini is no longer powerful enough to trouble anioma,they are but minorities now, use your brain.

[quote author=tonychristopher]The people called the Anioma people are more or less a people of different cultural backgrounds bound together by a single collective factor – the fact that they share Igbo blood. Although some Anioma people choose to identify with the Benin-axis of their history rather than the Igbo side, some of these sub-groups of the Anioma population have just reasons for doing so.

Nwanze explores the Anioma heritage solely from the Asaba perspective and most people who don’t come from the region are largely unaware of the history of the people and the reasons why they share Igbo as a collective language. It is easy for an Igbo man from Enugu to call the people of Onicha-Ugbo or Issele-Uku hypocrites for acclaiming Bini blood when he has no idea of their history.

The Anioma people are not a singular tribe but a diverse one that shares a similar linguistic identity, they come from different places and the history of one subset of the Anioma’s is not the same as the rest. Anioma towns such as Ogwashi-Uku and Ubulu-Unor may be minutes apart but they were all inhabited by different people at different times coming from different places. Even Asaba which Nwanze comes from bears a dual heritage which is derived partly from the Igbo’s and partly from the Igala’s, any true Asaba man will confirm that and I doubt Nwanze would disagree.

The people of Ibusa are rather recent settlers in the Anioma scheme of society, the term Ibusa itself is a bastardization of the word Igbo-bi-n’Uzor, which means Igbo’s that stay along the way, a crude term used to refer to the fact that the people of Ibusa were recent settlers that came from across the Niger in times as recent as the 20th century. The people of Ogwashi-Uku share an almost similar heritage, their ancestry derives partly from Anambra state and the rest we have today is as a result of inter-marriage with people who derive some of their origins from the Bini’s such as the people of Onicha-Ugbo, Onicha-Olona and the Ubulu’s.

Nwanze being an Asaba man is no doubt uninformed about the history of others who do not share the same proximity his subset of the Anioma group enjoy with the Igbo’s across the Niger.

It is a known fact that Igbo people do not have kings, the whole issue of Igwe-this, Igwe-that is a recent development, yet the people of the Anioma who share part of their heritage with Benin, have had kings long before communities like Ogwashi-Uku and Ibusa were established and long before any Igbo “kingdoms” saw any Igwe and long before Igbo-inclined Asaba saw an Asagba.

The Obi’s (Kings) of Onicha-Ugbo, Issele-Uku and other parts of the Anioma subset of cultures that share a regal affinity with the Bini’s, used to go to Benin in the olden days before they could be crowned as Obi’s or kings. Every new Obi had to be vouched for by the Oba of Benin, why would our kings do that if they had no relationship with the Bini’s? As recent as some Igwe titles are, do Igbo chiefs go to Kings in Yoruba land to collect their titles?

For centuries, before a new Oba of Benin was crowned, it was customary to pay a visit to the Obi of Ubulu-Uku for him to prepare medicinal herbs and charms that would enable him live long and rule in peace. Again, this tradition existed before the first Ibusa settlers settled in the area where they are today. What business does the Oba of Benin have with the Obi of Ubulu-Uku if not for shared heritage?

The Obi’s of Issele-Uku in Anioma are direct and confirmed descendants of the Oba’s of Benin; this is confirmed history and not hearsay like Nwanze would love us to believe. In fact the Obaseki’s (remember Jackson Gaius-Obaseki) of the Benin Kingdom today migrated from Issele-Uku to Benin in the olden days sometime in the 16th century, at a time that Asaba possibly didn’t exist.

The current self-styled Dein of Agbor (or Obi of Agbor) was heir to the throne at a very young age and had to cede his rights of rule to a regent to rule in his stead, when it was apparent that his life was in danger due to the regents ambitions, the current Oba of Benin was the one who housed him before he departed abroad from where he returned after years of sojourn to claim the throne of Agbor. Why would the Oba of Benin house a child-king of the Anioma’s if not for shared heritage?

To cut a long story short, we are Anioma’s and we speak variations of the Igbo language which may or may not contain inflections that are derived from our relationship with the Bini’s . We have a mixed heritage and some of us who have Bini blood are proud to acclaim that heritage as well as our Igbo blood, some do not however we all accept our collective Anioma identity. However the mixture of various cultures is what makes us refer to ourselves as the Anioma. The fact that we have a collective factor that binds us together (the Igbo factor), doesn’t mean that we should neglect our individual histories and age-old cultural relationships just to satisfy the whims of those who wish they were closer to brethren across the Niger.

The people of Asaba are fortunate enough to have tasted development due to the fact that they were made a state capital but they should not forget the fact that others inhabited other areas of the Anioma territory long before they did. Other people had kingdoms and fought wars on a scale they wouldn’t imagine. Even as developed as Lagos is, they still won’t claim precedence over older towns such as Oyo and they respect the hierarchy of things. Asaba people shouldn’t take their recent forays into modernity as an excuse to rewrite the history of the rest of the Anioma’s without their input and based on their opinions and wishes.

It is painful to see people dismiss our heritage and mock us as absurd due to the fact that we claim a certain factual and historically recorded link to the Bini’s, whereas our Igbo brethren across the Niger refer to themselves as Jews from Israel and expect to be taken seriously.

Ambassador Ralph Uwechue is a fine, respected man among our people but he is not the first Anioma to belong to the Ohaneze ndi Igbo and others who share a closer affinity to our brethren across the Niger have done so in the past, especially those from Ibusa. However Uwechue and other Anioma’s who have chosen to join Ohaneze should please make it clear whose interests they go there to represent. No one appointed them the voice of the Anioma people, if they go there to represent their own subsets of the culture fine, but no one sent them there to speak for the rest

THE WRITER OF THIS ARTICLE NEEDS A BRAIN TRANSPLANT,I HAVE NEVER SEEN FOLLY DISPLAYED IN PUBLIC LIKE THIS BEFORE.

sonya4all: It has been said over and over again that ika is a seperate ethnic group,we r neither igbo or edo.UMUNEDE for instance,we have four villages..Ileje,oba,ile,and obi.. The people of oba cannot marry from the benin royal family because they are related...You people just sit down and try to tell us our history...Igbon indeed.

Stop using 'We', use 'i', not all ika partake in your bini mental slavery. See how you strive to be related to bini royal family,a family whose interest in anioma was nothing but imperial. It seem like you and your kind have developed a form of psychiatric disorder whereby the victim developes love for his tormentor.

You will never see bini claim ika,it's usually the other way round, Oba of bini must be laughing at the psychiatric disorder that have engulfed the brain of you lots.

Emancipate yourself from bini mental slavery.

agbotaen: 1, i dont know why some igbo people are just plain stupid , i thought igbos were wise people , or how come they cant understand that ika has always said they are not bini and they are not igbo .
2. the only ika people you will see who claim they are igbo and that is some of them are the people from igbodo and ekwuoma and their population is very few amongst the ika people , infact igbodo is the smallest ika area in population , and if you dont know i can get you the last population census of ika or the 1963 census ,and these two communities were also the one that supported your fathers in their ill attempt to claim ika land and you know what happenned majority of ika people assisted in ejecting your fathers out of ika land , end of story and if you still attempt it today we will still assist the federal troops to send you back to the east where you belong.
3. igbos coming here to say ika is igbo should be ashamed of themselves , because you should know that ika in majority rejected being igbo .during the civil war.
4. you should also be ashamed today , that with all your igbocentric propaganda , ika nation along with all their kings, chiefs and majority of their people are not members of ohaneze ndigbo , and they avoid igbo like a plague ,
5. i am very proud of the fact that i am ika a civilized group of people , better than an ethnic group that has millions of people but has a very bad name where all kinds of vices reign supreme.
6. ika has come to stay and no igbo or igbon man will stop us .
7. the nri is a dead civilization , but ika has a living civilization , as exemplified by the deinship of agbor and other ika kings who continously since the 12th century has kept an unbroken tradition of kingship , unlike you money and petty chiefs called igwe , whom the british helped to install .
8. whatever i write about ika is read by knowledgeable people , and it is not the business of any igbo man , as i will advice you to stop selling a bad product called igbo ethnicity , as ika people will never buy it , for even the fact that ika people consider that igbos dont have a proper kingship, we think you people are bush and not cultured , end of quote , and so it will be an abormination for an ika to follow an igbo man , end of quote.
9. i am proud of ika as an ethnic nationality , even the official website of owa kingdom and agbor kingdom reads that the language of ikas is ika and our nationality is ika, and our highest socio-cultural body is onu/ogua ika headed by osifo sunday .
10. let igbos go and solve their numerous problems as they also dont know where they come from as some will say they are --------------
1. from nri in anambra state,
2. some igbos will say they are from igbo ukwu ,
3. some will say they are from isreal or they are jews ,
igbos should go and solve the fact that amongst all nigerian tribes they dont even have a proper history , and they are the worst copy cats , they did not have kings before but when they saw other people having kings they quickly started creating kingdoms and kingship where none existed , and they are not even honest enough to say they copied it ,

finally benin culture is very great and the igbos will never equall it , if they like let them hate to hear the word benin, in ika area ,the word benin cannot die , because it is in our stories , folklores, culture , song and tradition .and they have set the pace for us ika to follow .

Of course,the word 'britain' can never die in the history of all nigerian tribes,our various indigenous languages have since assimilated and corrupted various english words,as if it were our own, britain and it's influences on various nigerian groups will forever live in our folklore,culture and songs( biafran national anthem was written in english and not igbo), the english through the introduction of modern science and technology to us,have set the pace for all nigerian groups to follow.

But none of the above changes the fact that were are not englishmen, rather we were colonized and influenced by them. It would amount to stupidity and folly,if we claim otherwise.

We can't deny the english influence on us,we can see it in our clothings,language,food, celebrations,songs, marriages(white wedding), religion(xtianity), housing, etc. But still,we are not english/british.

agbotaen: if igbos like let them bang their heads on a wall , as i sing in my ika owa dialect of the songs we sing in praise of the obis during igue and ibiewere festivals , and i guess you know where igue festival is from , ? but i wont be surprised if an igbo propagandist says igue and ibiewere is a festival from nri in igbo land , ha ha ha , igbo people self una no de tire for lies and propaganda ?
1. ojenebo , no ojenebo ooooooo, oooooo, ojenebo ,
ojenebo ni sikirigbaooooo, oo ojenebo,
ojenebo , no jenemakolor , ooo ojenebo, ---------
ojenebo ooo, iyare ooo , oo ojenebo ,

2. obi lalaa ,iyare ooo,
agbogidi lalaa , iyare ooo,
obi lala iyare , obi lalaa ooo,
obi oworwor, obi oworwor , iyare


3. obaseki iyare,oooooo,
obaseki iyare, ooooo,
obi lalaa ooooo,
obi lalaa iyare,

4. obazuaye iyare oooo,
obi lalaa oooo e ,
obazuaye iyare , obi lalaa oooo e ,

5. omo ile igbonba ooooo,
obi lalaa ooo, omo ile igbonba ,

6. obi ri ohanye oooo,
obi ri ohanye oooo,
obi ri ohanye ,
obi lalaa iyare,
7. obi kenyin akpanmin oooo,
obi kenyin akpanmin ooo,
obi kenyin akpanmi oooo,
do do do , iyare do ,
8. ukpe kenyin we lani oooo,
ighogho ro oooh, ukpe kenyin we lani ooo,
ighogho ro
9. obi dodo oooooooooooo,
uroro-ami ooooo,
olokun dodo , uroro-ami oooo,


obi iyare , ni tor neyin fe iseh.


this are songs used in owa kingdom during festivals , and it has great significance , in most of them you will find out that bini is mixed with igbo words ,as usual of the owa ika dialect .
ojenebo - means deified king, and sikirigba means the king that works in a dignified and wobling manner , becaue during the festival the king works in a sylish manner ,
our culture is preserved in our native songs and culture .which is unique to ika and not to igbo or any other tribe ,

Didnt want to be part of your self-imposed emacipation but I couldnt resist to tell you that all the Ika people Iknow all say they are igbos but they are commonly called Ika.

I am not even interested in this irrelevant argument but just to set a record straight.

Good Day.

1. mr igbo or whatever your name is , probably some ika people you are seeing who claim to be igbo are some people from igbodo and ekwuoma , and they are near igbo cultural area and many of them had their ancestors migrating from igbo land , but i have not seen an agbor,owa, umunede,abavo,and other ikas claim igbo and if they even exist , they are in their minority and they cant sway the opinion of majority of ika nation, this is what occurred in 1967 , even when some few ika people in igbodo and ekwuoma said they were igbos and suppored biafra, that did not sway the believe of over 98 percent ikas that they are ika and not igbo ,and that informed their not going along with igbo people , end of quote.
2. right now the igbos in kano are battling themselves on who is eze igbo in kano, so i urge the igbos here to go there and stop them as they are just bastardising the kingship institution, is it not funny ,to have an obi of owa ,outside of owa kingdom or dein of agbor in caLAbar? what a funny set of people ,what you copied , please copy it well , as your initial tradition never had kinship , .
3. benin empire was great , and since ancient times till date , and no igbo culture or village or town can ever equal it , they gave the world the art of ruling and kingship along with insignias of office , copied by many tribes ,and i dont know why igbos like denying that benin was great , please igbos should learn to appreciate other people, as for us ika we are aware of our past connections with benin and we are proud of it , and we are not in a state of denial as of what they gave us.
4. ika people are also proud of our ancestors resistance to the power of benin , and the fact that we created a powerful and great culture ,called ika almost equal to that of the benins , as our agbor kingdom was powerful and grand in ancient world too, although we did not have an empire status like benin.
5. as for the ignorant igbo man that said that benins dont acknowledge ikas, he must be a joker as in 1930 , the great benin historian , who is still respected till date pa jacob egharevba in his book a short history of benin says that ika people migrated from benin in 12th century before they were mixed with igbos and other people , and if you see any benin website, you will see that they say ikas are benins in diaspora ,just as you will also find igbos listing ika people as igbos in their web pages ,but who are we?
6. we are ika ethnic group, we are neither igbos or benins.
7.if you say the songs are as a result of colonisation , that is your business , as i have asked you that between benins who are very close to agbor and ika , who will get to ika , ? or is it igbos that will cross niger river and are very far from ika land ?
8. up till date there are still certain chieftancy titles you will want to get in ika area and before they put you on that title, they will first send you to benin with native chalk and if they accept you there , before they will now send you back to ika for the title proper , an example is the chietancy title called ugbasogun in agbor , do you know the reason? it is because the first ugbasogun migrated into agbor in 10th century ,he came from obasagbonugu in benin , and his descendants still hold the title in agbor , so they have to go there first.
9. no ika person has ever said there is no igbo culture or migration in ika land, we acknowledge that the new yam festival ,is or was brought by igbo migrants into ika , as well as ikenga ,and some other cultural practices,but we are appauled by the constant lack of understanding of many igbo people as to the cultures of ikas and even many anioma people , and they should be aware that yorubas, igalas, and others including ijaws also migrated into anioma area too.
10. right now there is freedom of chossing who you are or which country you want to belong to , as for ika people in our majority we have already shown that we are not interested in being called igbo or belonging to a seperate country of igbo people ,unless as in a multi ethnic country like nigeria.and these we have said by our decision not to support the agitation of biafra for a seperate country or for ika people to be regarded as igbos,
11. the only union ika will consent to is the anioma union ,but should the anioma union want to subsume itself into igbohood , ikas will opt out and go with people with our cultural and spiritual afilliation.

agbotaen: 1. mr igbo or whatever your name is , probably some ika people you are seeing who claim to be igbo are some people from igbodo and ekwuoma , and they are near igbo cultural area and many of them had their ancestors migrating from igbo land , but i have not seen an agbor,owa, umunede,abavo,and other ikas claim igbo and if they even exist , they are in their minority and they cant sway the opinion of majority of ika nation, this is what occurred in 1967 , even when some few ika people in igbodo and ekwuoma said they were igbos and suppored biafra, that did not sway the believe of over 98 percent ikas that they are ika and not igbo ,and that informed their not going along with igbo people , end of quote.
2. right now the igbos in kano are battling themselves on who is eze igbo in kano, so i urge the igbos here to go there and stop them as they are just bastardising the kingship institution, is it not funny ,to have an obi of owa ,outside of owa kingdom or dein of agbor in caLAbar? what a funny set of people ,what you copied , please copy it well , as your initial tradition never had kinship , .
3. benin empire was great , and since ancient times till date , and no igbo culture or village or town can ever equal it , they gave the world the art of ruling and kingship along with insignias of office , copied by many tribes ,and i dont know why igbos like denying that benin was great , please igbos should learn to appreciate other people, as for us ika we are aware of our past connections with benin and we are proud of it , and we are not in a state of denial as of what they gave us.
4. ika people are also proud of our ancestors resistance to the power of benin , and the fact that we created a powerful and great culture ,called ika almost equal to that of the benins , as our agbor kingdom was powerful and grand in ancient world too, although we did not have an empire status like benin.
5. as for the ignorant igbo man that said that benins dont acknowledge ikas, he must be a joker as in 1930 , the great benin historian , who is still respected till date pa jacob egharevba in his book a short history of benin says that ika people migrated from benin in 12th century before they were mixed with igbos and other people , and if you see any benin website, you will see that they say ikas are benins in diaspora ,just as you will also find igbos listing ika people as igbos in their web pages ,but who are we?
6. we are ika ethnic group, we are neither igbos or benins.
7.if you say the songs are as a result of colonisation , that is your business , as i have asked you that between benins who are very close to agbor and ika , who will get to ika , ? or is it igbos that will cross niger river and are very far from ika land ?
8. up till date there are still certain chieftancy titles you will want to get in ika area and before they put you on that title, they will first send you to benin with native chalk and if they accept you there , before they will now send you back to ika for the title proper , an example is the chietancy title called ugbasogun in agbor , do you know the reason? it is because the first ugbasogun migrated into agbor in 10th century ,he came from obasagbonugu in benin , and his descendants still hold the title in agbor , so they have to go there first.
9. no ika person has ever said there is no igbo culture or migration in ika land, we acknowledge that the new yam festival ,is or was brought by igbo migrants into ika , as well as ikenga ,and some other cultural practices,but we are appauled by the constant lack of understanding of many igbo people as to the cultures of ikas and even many anioma people , and they should be aware that yorubas, igalas, and others including ijaws also migrated into anioma area too.
10. right now there is freedom of chossing who you are or which country you want to belong to , as for ika people in our majority we have already shown that we are not interested in being called igbo or belonging to a seperate country of igbo people ,unless as in a multi ethnic country like nigeria.and these we have said by our decision not to support the agitation of biafra for a seperate country or for ika people to be regarded as igbos,
11. the only union ika will consent to is the anioma union ,but should the anioma union want to subsume itself into igbohood , ikas will opt out and go with people with our cultural and spiritual afilliation.

please stop decieving yourself, were those ur imaginary bini ancestors ur grand parents or great grandparents. Do u knw their names? Saying that ika is an ethnic group is like saying that Nsukka, Ohafia and Ezza are ethnic groups because their language is distinct.

Hmmmm I call this bioplar disorder if ika sing Benin song in a festival makes them Benin then me singing english song during Christmas or Halloween makes me an english .... What an idiotic argurment

If they are not igbo why can't any of their kings come out publicly and put the records straight even ikwere kings didn't do that

If igbos never had kings how come we have words for kings and palace in our lexicon .... Igbos had kings but their kings are not that powerful and over respected by subjects just like what was applicable in Greece and Rome some societies are republican while others are monarchist

We took the republican path and it brought the best

To settle this debate why don't ika dudes arguing their case take a simple survey ask other tribes which tribe is ika under

They are not even officially recognised in deltas nor nigerian tribes

Do a simple research

tonychristopher: Hmmmm I call this bioplar disorder if ika sing Benin song in a festival makes them Benin then me singing english song during Christmas or Halloween makes me an english .... What an idiotic argurment

If they are not igbo why can't any of their kings come out publicly and put the records straight even ikwere kings didn't do that

If igbos never had kings how come we have words for kings and palace in our lexicon .... Igbos had kings but their kings are not that powerful and over respected by subjects just like what was applicable in Greece and Rome some societies are republican while others are monarchist

We took the republican path and it brought the best

To settle this debate why don't ika dudes arguing their case take a simple survey ask other tribes which tribe is ika under

They are not even officially recognised in deltas nor nigerian tribes

Do a simple research

you should the read earlier comments. The king of agbor wrote a book. In the book, he revealed the origin of agbor people is nri kingdom. agbotean of course insulted the book and declared it as something majority ika people disputed. agbotean of course didn't provide any proof to support such claim but his opinion is majority's opinion according to his myopic inputs.

The whole argument should have ended months ago. you all have been arguing with the same person for months now and his opinion is not changing and ditto for you all.

Other ika's arguing with you all against him already left. other delta igbo's arguing with you all against him also left. I think the few remaining should do the same

sonya4all: It has been said over and over again that ika is a seperate ethnic group,we r neither igbo or edo.UMUNEDE for instance,we have four villages..Ileje,oba,ile,and obi.. The people of oba cannot marry from the benin royal family because they are related...You people just sit down and try to tell us our history...Igbon indeed.

Yet Bini people marry each other, buy some brains please.