Andre Uweh:

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

Lol Also ask her why Oba people marry each other.

Am sure you have selective amnesia,thats why you didnt read properly,i said the royal family,but you have attributed that to the whole benin.. That means all benins are royals in ur chicken brain.. Who needs a brain here...Igbon ni ozuor.

Agbotaen is just decieving himself, there's no such thing as i'm ika. Ika is a Local Govt(comprising ika north and south). Igbo is not and will never be a local govt. Its just like people denying their ethnicity and saying i'm not yoruba( i'm ikeja or ilesha) or dat i'm not igbo(i'm agbani or mbaise). Grow up for once

[b][/b]
we do have ika indignes, we do have ika with benin blood these are children of felons,refugees that weer eithr exiled from bnin or running away from thir kinga, that doesnt make all ika bnin.....

thes dudes are daft especially sunny4all and agbontea..... ok if tthey are benin they should say my family or i am a benin man not all ika are benin? have they made the simple intellectual exercise/assignment i gave them

have they gone to urhobo,esan,auchi,yoruba,igalla and edo and ask them which tribe is IKA and then come back and conclude....... its only a child that is not legitimatee or that is not pure blood of a family brings shame to the family......

@tony,seemingly your entire generation that has no roots is made up of felons and outlaws....Die in your sorry state...Igbon(slave)

Sunny or whatever you call yourselves, don’t you know that there is what we call natives and migrants….. these are two different things, have you ever wondered how 97% of your language and culture is Igbo to the extents that all the ika villages and their kings bear igbo names, something must be wrong or liw here, it is either igbos colonized ika or the Benin theory is a lie.

We spak English that means its its either we are English or colonized by English but we are not English so we are colonized by English…..


Now lts face this foolish ika that say that I am not igbo, I know that they are so stupid that they are just minority in their village, minority In their minority, minority in their clan and even minority in their blog sites. Go to official list of tribes in Nigeria pls tell m where you see either ika, ukwuani… boy stop been foolish and wak up civil war is over igbos have taken over look at economy from military, police, economy and finance , check aviation….
MY DEAR BELIEVE THIS IF YOU WANT WE HAVE TH NATIVES AND WE HAVE FUGITIVES THAT CAME INTO IKA LAND AND THESE PEOPLE ARE EITHER EXILED,FELONS AND THEY HAVE OFFSPRING TODAY AND THEY STILL BEAR THIR BNIN NAMES AND WE KBNOW THM HERE

sonya4all: @tony,seemingly your entire generation that has no roots is made up of felons and outlaws....Die in your sorry state...Igbon(slave)

Dude,you have been intellectually decimated but I have noticed something common in you and Agbotaen,you both have no shame. You will rather remain a Benin slave than assume your real identity. You people have low self esteem and never see any good in yourself that's why you come here and openly eat Benin people sshit and lick their yanch for satisfaction. May the Ogwugwu deity strike me dead the day I deny my identity! I spit on you !

And what's up with this dregs calling people slave ? Where tha hell did that come from ?

@ odenigbon,in as much as we have stated here repeatedly that ika is neither igbo nor benin/edo,but a distinct tribe of its own,you igbotic brains has failed to assimiliate that..Wel then... I'd rather stick and lick the ars of benins than have anything that makes me be regarded as an igbon...What is ur own story about the igbon origin... Are you also a fugitive or felon that ran away from isreal ? Anu mpam.Ezi nwuruanwu...Dats ur name in ur language.

sonya4all: @ odenigbon,in as much as we have stated here repeatedly that ika is neither igbo nor benin/edo,but a distinct tribe of its own,you igbotic brains has failed to assimiliate that..Wel then... I'd rather stick and lick the ars of benins than have anything that makes me be regarded as an igbon...What is ur own story about the igbon origin... Are you also a fugitive or felon that ran away from isreal ? Anu mpam.Ezi nwuruanwu...Dats ur name in ur language.

Only a mentally deranged psychopath will offer to eat his fellow man's sshit. You have no valour nor dignity in you and this runs deep in your bloodline. If you don't see anything wrong in what you just wrote then you are not human but a "common slave"! Look at you,a grown aass man who openly agreed to lick another man's shhit,out of his own weaknesses ? You are definitelly not an Igbo but the Obi of Owa is a decendant of Nri,of which I happen to be one. We know there were Benin immigrants in Ika land and you and Agbotaen definitely belong to that class but the real Ika-Igbo like the Obi of Owa knows his lineage that's why he proudly wrote about the greatness of the Nri nobles whose influence spread all through southern Nigeria

You are really frustrated... And so shall you remain with your kits n kins... If you are so disturbed about my writing then help your miserable life by hugging a wet transformer or possibly hang your dirty pants on a high tension cable... Igbon.

I might I add that you are an unintelligent street urchin. You come over here barking like a mad dog with nothing in your skull. You claim to know your origin but the Benin's you like ssucking their ddick don't even know their origin. You are a shameless ccunt and you will never achieve greatness in your pathetic and miserable life. There is nothing that you say on this thread will make people to even consider you serious. You are a "Benin people sshit eater" and you said so yourself. You aren't smart,dunce.

sonya4all: You are really frustrated... And so shall you remain with your kits n kins... If you are so disturbed about my writing then help your miserable life by hugging a wet transformer or possible hang your dirty pants on a high tension cable... Igbon.

"Benin people sshit eater",what tha fffuck is igbon ?

I thought ika is igbo..Why not interpret its meaning...Ozuor

sonya4all: @ odenigbon,in as much as we have stated here repeatedly that ika is neither igbo nor benin/edo,but a distinct tribe of its own,you igbotic brains has failed to assimiliate that..Wel then... I'd rather stick and lick the ars of benins than have anything that makes me be regarded as an igbon...What is ur own story about the igbon origin... Are you also a fugitive or felon that ran away from isreal ? Anu mpam.Ezi nwuruanwu...Dats ur name in ur language.

stop fooling urself. Ika is not an ethnic group, Ika is not a country, Ika is not a state. Ika is not a tribe. IKA IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE A LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN DELTA STATE. So stop fooling urself with all these ancestral rubbish

sonya4all: I thought ika is igbo..Why not interpret its meaning...Ozuor

Yet again,you are here displaying your full fledged ignorance. Igbo dialects varies from state to state,town to town and even village to village. I'm from Idenmili and Umuoji to be precise; We call night "uchichi",while most Igbo call it "abali/abani". Does that make Idenmili a different ethnic group ? Like I told you before,go sit your ppunk aass somewhere and read some danm book,OZU!

I think it’s a fact to be factual a truth to be truthful….. God forgive me if I didn’t say what I should have said and if I didn’t do what I should have done. When an elder see wrong and didn’t say it out… the thing will kill the elder and when an elder says it out but the child didn’t heed the child is decimated.

Its this stupid ika mentality that made igbo akiri not christened igbanke to be moved to Edo stat…. the question is how are they faring? How is S.OGBEMUDIA…..the shameless man that changed his name

Sunny4all and Agbontae from th write-ups I can see they lack logical reseaoning cos they have flaws and its obvious. U am an nnewi man full blooded nnewi man and married to ukwuani woman and my in laws see thmslvs as igbo they prefer thir kids marrying from anambra or oguta… that’s by the way

Do you know how stupid these fllows are (Sunny4all and Agbontae) they said they used to sing benin songs makes them benin….. the most foolish argument of the millennium in this intellectual age… so me saying long life the queen makes me a british hmmmmmmm I think education has be wasted on them

They say benin language forgetting that languages borrow from nighbours or influencers let me give you an example. We call God CHUKWU,OSEBULUWA AND OBASI… NOW EFIK CALL GOD OBASI DOES IT MAKE ME EFIK OR CALABAR MAN. I DID MY NYSC IN EDO AND THEY BNIN CALL GOD OSALUBUA AND WE CALL GOD CHUKWU,OLISA OR OSEBULUWA DOES IT MAKE ME EDO

DOYOU KNOW THAT THE WORD FOR HEADSCARFE (headscarf) called ichafu is not an igbo word but borrowed from European Missionary and the call it l’chifon. Do you know that the word for prostitute in igbo is ashawo but we borrowed it from Yoruba ashewo cos we don’t use have that act in igbo culture, do you also know that the word for tout in igboland is agboro which we borrowed from Yoruba culture and they call it agberu. Does these words mak me Yoruba… mbanu na tufiakwa!!!!!!!!!!!!

All languages borrow have you heard of spanglish before.. do you know that English borrowed somany words from latin and French like labour in English is laborare, mensis in latin is table, juris is latin for law and THE is borrowed from German do you know that kindergarten is a German word. I have a diploma in latin and I did humanity in university so pls do know these…..

Well debating or arguing with you is an infra dig on my own side.

DO YOU AGREE THAT THERE WEERE RUNAWAYS FROM BNIN EMPIRE TO IKALAND(THE WORD IKA IS AN IGBO WORD MEANING GREATER)THAT WERE GIVEN REFUGE AND ASSIMILATED BY TH NATIVES…… THESE RUNAWAYS WERE FELONS,LOW LIFE,FUGITIVES AND CONVICTS THAT SOUGHT SANCTUARY IN IKA AND WE KNOW THEM BY THEIR NAMES …… MAYBE TRAC YOUR HISTORY ARE YOU A SON OF SOIL OR DESCNDANT OF A FELON

HAVE YOU DONE THE SIMPLEST SAMPL E TEST I GAVE YOU BY ASKING URHOBO,ESAN,EDO,AUCHI,IJAW WHICH ETHNICITY IS IKA? HAVE YOU CHECKED THE OFFICIAL LIST OF ETHNICITY IN NIGERIA AND SHOW ME IKA…. PLS DO AND STOP BEEN A DISGRAC TO YOUR FAMILY AND MANHOOD MIND YOU NOT IGBO

tonychristopher: I think it’s a fact to be factual a truth to be truthful….. God forgive me if I didn’t say what I should have said and if I didn’t do what I should have done. When an elder see wrong and didn’t say it out… the thing will kill the elder and when an elder says it out but the child didn’t heed the child is decimated.

Its this stupid ika mentality that made igbo akiri not christened igbanke to be moved to Edo stat…. the question is how are they faring? How is S.OGBEMUDIA…..the shameless man that changed his name

Sunny4all and Agbontae from th write-ups I can see they lack logical reseaoning cos they have flaws and its obvious. U am an nnewi man full blooded nnewi man and married to ukwuani woman and my in laws see thmslvs as igbo they prefer thir kids marrying from anambra or oguta… that’s by the way

Do you know how stupid these fllows are (Sunny4all and Agbontae) they said they used to sing benin songs makes them benin….. the most foolish argument of the millennium in this intellectual age… so me saying long life the queen makes me a british hmmmmmmm I think education has be wasted on them

They say benin language forgetting that languages borrow from nighbours or influencers let me give you an example. We call God CHUKWU,OSEBULUWA AND OBASI… NOW EFIK CALL GOD OBASI DOES IT MAKE ME EFIK OR CALABAR MAN. I DID MY NYSC IN EDO AND THEY BNIN CALL GOD OSALUBUA AND WE CALL GOD CHUKWU,OLISA OR OSEBULUWA DOES IT MAKE ME EDO

DOYOU KNOW THAT THE WORD FOR HEADSCARFE (headscarf) called ichafu is not an igbo word but borrowed from European Missionary and the call it l’chifon. Do you know that the word for prostitute in igbo is ashawo but we borrowed it from Yoruba ashewo cos we don’t use have that act in igbo culture, do you also know that the word for tout in igboland is agboro which we borrowed from Yoruba culture and they call it agberu. Does these words mak me Yoruba… mbanu na tufiakwa!!!!!!!!!!!!

All languages borrow have you heard of spanglish before.. do you know that English borrowed somany words from latin and French like labour in English is laborare, mensis in latin is table, juris is latin for law and THE is borrowed from German do you know that kindergarten is a German word. I have a diploma in latin and I did humanity in university so pls do know these…..

Well debating or arguing with you is an infra dig on my own side.

DO YOU AGREE THAT THERE WEERE RUNAWAYS FROM BNIN EMPIRE TO IKALAND(THE WORD IKA IS AN IGBO WORD MEANING GREATER)THAT WERE GIVEN REFUGE AND ASSIMILATED BY TH NATIVES…… THESE RUNAWAYS WERE FELONS,LOW LIFE,FUGITIVES AND CONVICTS THAT SOUGHT SANCTUARY IN IKA AND WE KNOW THEM BY THEIR NAMES …… MAYBE TRAC YOUR HISTORY ARE YOU A SON OF SOIL OR DESCNDANT OF A FELON

HAVE YOU DONE THE SIMPLEST SAMPL E TEST I GAVE YOU BY ASKING URHOBO,ESAN,EDO,AUCHI,IJAW WHICH ETHNICITY IS IKA? HAVE YOU CHECKED THE OFFICIAL LIST OF ETHNICITY IN NIGERIA AND SHOW ME IKA…. PLS DO AND STOP BEEN A DISGRAC TO YOUR FAMILY AND MANHOOD MIND YOU NOT IGBO

Your reasoning is twisted. In one breath you mentioned that there were Bini runaways into Ikaland. That makes them Binis living amongst Ikas.
You could not logically conclude that Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia could claim descent from your runaways.
Not that I believe your story just showing the defect in your reasoning.
And,bros, Igbanke has absolutely no relationship with Igbo,not to talk of, Akiri.

Actually,it is Eka not, Ika. Ask the locals.

bokohalal:

Your reasoning is twisted. In one breath you mentioned that there were Bini runaways into Ikaland. That makes them Binis living amongst Ikas.
You could not logically conclude that Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia could claim descent from your runaways.
Not that I believe your story just showing the defect in your reasoning.
And,bros, Igbanke has absolutely no relationship with Igbo,not to talk of, Akiri.

Igbanke has obvious Igbo relationship. Forget about ethnicity but it is quite glaring from their language and culture that their basic language make up is Igbo with Edo borrowings. This thread has lingered too long recycling same points. At the end of the day Agbotaen and sonya rejected Obi Efeizomor's(Obi of Owa) book on Owa and also rejected the most approved ethnologue in the world.

http://www.ethnologue.com/subgroups/igbo

http://books.google.com/books/about/Perspectives_on_Owa_kingship_and_kingdom.html?id=LWB0AAAAMAAJ

So there is no need to continue with this since they can't accept glaring evidence.

Abagworo:

Igbanke has obvious Igbo relationship. Forget about ethnicity but it is quite glaring from their language and culture that their basic language make up is Igbo with Edo borrowings. This thread has lingered too long recycling same points. At the end of the day Agbotaen and sonya rejected Obi Efeizomor's(Obi of Owa) book on Owa and also rejected the most approved ethnologue in the world.

http://www.ethnologue.com/subgroups/igbo

http://books.google.com/books/about/Perspectives_on_Owa_kingship_and_kingdom.html?id=LWB0AAAAMAAJ

So there is no need to continue with this since they can't accept glaring evidence.

Jamaicans are British from their language and culture. Abi?

bokohalal:

Jamaicans are British from their language and culture. Abi?

You are still going off my point. Jamaicans are Africans from their language and culture with a mix of English and traditional America which are obviously borrowed like Ika obviously borrowed Edo words or rather share some words with Edo but the root of the language structure is Igbo. I've been arguing about language and not ethnicity just in case you are new to the debate.

Ethnicity is a thing of the mind and not even language, culture, origin or phenotype can determine the way someone sees himself.

Examples exist where people speak almost same language but view themselves as different ethnic groups like Urhobo/Isoko, Ibibio/Annang or Edo/Esan. Agbotaen argument is that Ika language is not a sub-Igbo language and has been producing borrowed words from Edo to justify that claim. He also lied that Odogu is from Benin while Obi Efeizomor wrote that Odogu was from Nri and that the lineage of the Obis are from Nri. That is a distortion of fact by Agbotaen and Abagworo doesn't like distortion of facts. After all my clan of Igboland also have a story of Benin origin and our Kingship is also Benin styled.

Abagworo:

You are still going off my point. Jamaicans are Africans from their language and culture with a mix of English and traditional America which are obviously borrowed like Ika obviously borrowed Edo words or rather share some words with Edo but the root of the language structure is Igbo. I've been arguing about language and not ethnicity just in case you are new to the debate.

Ethnicity is a thing of the mind and not even language, culture or phenotype can determine the way someone sees himself.

Examples exist where people speak almost same language but view themselves as different ethnic groups like Urhobo/Isoko, Ibibio/Annang or Edo/Esan. Agbotaen argument is that Ika language is not a sub-Igbo language and has been producing borrowed words from Edo to justify that claim. He also lied that Odogu is from Benin while Obi Efeizomor wrote that Odogu was from Nri and that the lineage of the Obis are from Nri. That is a distortion of fact by Agbotaen and Abagworo doesn't like distortion of facts. After all my clan of Igboland also have a story of Benin origin and our Kingship is also Benin styled.

I cannot see how you are going to win this argument.
Firstly,Jamaican patois is a mixture of Western European languages and an almost negligible sprinkling of African.
Secondly,there is no aspect of Jamaican culture,that is wholly like in Africa. It is either European or a mixture of European an African.
Thirdly,if you believe that ethnicity is a thing of the mind, why then do you have a problem with people that want to be different from Igbo? Your Bini/Esan and Urhobo/Isoko is a good example of the fallacy of your statement.
Dutch,Danes,Swedes etc are different people.
Agbontaen and co. have never denied some Igbo in Ika heritage. All they are saying is that they are Ika! Binis are not fighting Esans. That is the Igbo mistake.
Bini and Esan , Urhobo and Isoko, are by far closer in language and culture than Igbo and Ika.

bokohalal:
I cannot see how you are going to win this argument.
Firstly,Jamaican patois is a mixture of Western European languages and an almost negligible sprinkling of African.
Secondly,there is no aspect of Jamaican culture,that is wholly like in Africa. It is either European or a mixture of European an African.
Thirdly,if you believe that ethnicity is a thing of the mind, why then do you have a problem with people that want to be different from Igbo? Your Bini/Esan and Urhobo/Isoko is a good example of the fallacy of your statement.
Dutch,Danes,Swedes etc are different people.
Agbontaen and co. have never denied some Igbo in Ika heritage. All they are saying is that they are Ika! Binis are not fighting Esans. That is the Igbo mistake.
Bini and Esan , Urhobo and Isoko, are by far closer in language and culture than Igbo and Ika.

And who told you other Igbo groups are united and fighting Ika? I don't have a problem with whatever anyone choses to be and I believe it is the same with most Igbos or other ethnic groups. You seem not to understand the basis of this whole arguments as you are stuck on a biased perception. I was the one that made mention of Urhobo/Isoko, Benin/Esan and Ibibio/Annang and not Agbotaen or you. Ika language is separate dialect of Igbo language but that does not mean all Ikas accept or belong to Igbo ethnic group. Ika language is not a fusion of Igbo and Edo languages but rather Igbo language with Edo influence.

Read this book by an Ika

http://www.linguisticsafrikana.com/pdf/Ehinze%20paper%20JILL%203.pdf

Abagworo:

And who told you other Igbo groups are united and fighting Ika? I don't have a problem with whatever anyone choses to be and I believe it is the same with most Igbos or other ethnic groups. You seem not to understand the basis of this whole arguments as you are stuck on a biased perception. I was the one that made mention of Urhobo/Isoko, Benin/Esan and Ibibio/Annang and not Agbotaen or you. Ika language is separate dialect of Igbo language but that does not mean all Ikas accept or belong to Igbo ethnic group. Ika language is not a fusion of Igbo and Edo languages but rather Igbo language with Edo influence.

Read this book by an Ika

http://www.linguisticsafrikana.com/pdf/Ehinze%20paper%20JILL%203.pdf

Edo language share many words with Igbo. Edo is Igbo or a dialect of it?

bokohalal:

Your reasoning is twisted. In one breath you mentioned that there were Bini runaways into Ikaland. That makes them Binis living amongst Ikas.
You could not logically conclude that Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia could claim descent from your runaways.
Not that I believe your story just showing the defect in your reasoning.
And,bros, Igbanke has absolutely no relationship with Igbo,not to talk of, Akiri.

Igbanke is an Igbo town in Edo State. They are of the Ika people family stock in Delta State, Nigeria, which also constitutes Agbor, and up to the border towns of Alifekede (Ala Ifekede) down[clarification needed] to Umunede. Today's Igbanke village is constituted by Umoluah, Obiogba, Idumuiru, Igbontor, Idumodin, Ake, Olije, and Ottah, all of which have different histories of migration. The original name of the town is "Igbo Akiri", but it has recently been misspelt Igbanke. The people have organized various movements to change the name of the town back to "Igbo Akiri", which is its true name.
The government of Igbanke is presided over by Enogie (Anochie), Dein (Dee, Deede), odiowere (ndi owere), Ndichie, Dikens (Dike), okhiolors (okenye ulo), and Okhialis (okenye ala). Each of these heads has his jurisdiction. The jurisdiction could be stratified into three: The family level, the clan or hamlets and the villages. At the family level, the okhilor (he is usually the oldest man in the family) presides. At the village quarters, the okhilor is the head, while the eze rules over the entire village. Igbanke is chiefly a patrilineal society and as such its women are seen as performing passive roles. The language spoken in Igbanke is the Ika dialect of Igbo.













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














Igbo parts of Edo state

Not many Igbos know that there are several Igbo communities located in present day Edo State, in South South Nigeria.

These communities are found in Esan South-East, Orhionmwon, Igueben, and Uhunmwode local government areas of Edo state. They include Ekpon/Ekpo, Igbanke/Igbo-Akiri, Owa Iru Uzo, Oza, Iru, and Inyelen/Inyele, Owa Iru, Owa Ikeke, Owa Iguaza, Ute Oheze/Ohaeze, and Igbogiri.

We call on Igbos elsewhere to extend a hand of cultural fellowship to these Igbos in Edo State. It shall be well with the Igbo and Afro American people (who are of mostly Igbo origin).

I LOVE REFRENCES,FACTS,EVIDENCES,STATISTICS,SURVEY AND INTELLECTUAL DISCUSS AND FORUM SO HAVE YOU I AM NOT IGBO DUDES ASKED OTHER TRIBES, IF NOT BIKO GO ASK NOW.... OR ARE YOU AFRAID OF SIMPLE INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE... DONT LET ME ASSUME EDUCATION IS WASTED ON YOU BENIN WANNA BE....

I DONT CARE WHATEVER YOU CLAIM BUT I FEEL ASHAMED WHEN A GROWN UP MAN THAT BEARS IGBO NAME CLAIMS BENIN.... ITS STUPIDITY AND IDENTITY CERISIS OF THE HIGHEST ORDER... HAVE YOU EVEN ASKED THE BENIN YOU CLAIM WHAT TRIBE ARE YOU. IF YOU CLAIM BENIN WHAT PART OF BENIN DID YOU MIGRATE FROM LETS KNOW TH VILLAG.

IN USA WE HAVE IRISH,ITALLIAN MIGRANTS THAT ARE FREE BORN AND THEY CAN PINPOINT THEIR COUNTRIES TO COUNTIES OF ORIGIN,ALL MIGRANTS GROUP CAN DO THAT EXCEPT AFRICAN AMERICA COS THEY ARE DESCENDANT OF SLAVES, SAME WITH AFRIKAANS IN SOUTH AFRICA WITH THEIR DUTCH ORIGIN... I AM FROM NNEWI BUT I CAN TELL YOU TO THE NAME THE VILLAG MY FORE FATHERS MOVED FROMIN ARONDIZUOGU BUT WHAT ABOUT I AM NOT IGBO IKA DUDES.

YOU MIGHT NOT BE IGBO WITHIN YOU BUT OTHER NIGRIANS SEE YOU AS IGBO AND WE KNOW THE PURE BLOOD IN IKA LAND AND WE KNOW SONS OF RUNAWAYS, SONS OF FELONS AND FUGITIVE THAT SOUGHT SANCTUARY IN IKA..... BY THEIR FRUITS AND NAMES WE KNOW THEM





http://www.igbodefender.com/blog/2012/09/17/igbo-parts-of-edo-state/

The Igbanke National Progressive Alliance has, after due consultations with the generality of Igbanke indigenes at home and in Diaspora as well as other stakeholders, upheld the age-long choice and agitation for Igbanke to be included in the proposed Anioma State that will be carved out of Delta State. This can be actualized if the people are simply included in closer Ika Local Government umbrella where we rightly belong. The present situation in which our people have been unduly separated from the rest of their Ika kith and kin was borne out of the wish to satisfy the desire and selfish interest of those who sought to increase the kingdom they survey. The dumping of our town, Igbanke in Edo State is an age-long oversight that has brought nothing but neglect, untold attendant socio-political and economic hardship and the feeling that we are outcasts or outsiders, having been treated as such. Now is the time to correct this anomaly that we have been subjected to over the past two decades,” the group stated in a email statement Wednesday.

“We welcome with rapturous joy the determined resolution and efforts of the current National Assembly of Nigeria to create more states in the country……. and believe that the National Assembly and others who believe in the creation of more states in the country as a way of bringing development closer to the people, are on the right track as the course of action will correct the imbalance in which some ethnic groups have existed only in names, being dominated by others in the nation. The exercise should also offer the existing geo-political zones of the country equality and fairness with the accompanying developmental values for the nation,” it added.

The group in the statement signed by Eric Uwagbai, Executive Member; Godday Oyibo, Executive Member; Gloria Eluebo Adagbon, Convener, Igbanke National Progressive Alliance and General Secretary, Umu Anioma Worldwide, gave the following reasons why Igbanke should be aligned with the proposed Anioma State:

“(i) Igbanke is an autonomous community with villages, each with sovereign traditional ruler called Eze’ that are not answerable to any monarch in authority whether in Edo or elsewhere.

(ii) Igbanke people are of Ika stock thickly concentrated in the North West of Delta State, linguistically sharing border in the west with the Edo speakers, Ishan speakers in the North, in the East with the Aniocha language speakers and in the south with the Ukwuani speakers. Historically, Igbanke is believed to have been founded by Agbor, Mbiri and Ishan migrant farmers
(iii) Igbanke is closer to Agbor, Mbiri, Owa and Abavo than it is to Benin City.

(iv) Igbanke has a long history of ancestral relationship with Agbor than Benin City which we have continued to maintain till date.

(v) In recent times, our people have had to rely on facilities put in place in neighbouring Agbor community by the Delta State Government such as hospitals, banks, petrol stations, state ministries and government parastatals so that the Delta State Government is now the surrogate cater-taker for Igbanke and Ekpon communities. The situation has always been that if our people have a choice to make in running to Benin or Agbor, they will surely prefer to, and gladly too, Agbor for linguistic reasons.

(vi) Igbanke has never been a tenant or vassal community of Benin or any other community in history not even in this century.

Our view is still that states should be created along the lines of ethnic nationalities with each group kept together as intact as possible. It is unfortunate that a major group is still claiming to own a minority group in these present times but collectively, the message from our people is that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. We cannot all be slaves to another distant ethnic group in an independent nation like Nigeria where unlimited equality is guaranteed as enshrined in the constitution. We warn that anything short of our placement in the proposed Anioma State where we rightly belong will be resisted by the good people of Igbanke no matter the threat of invocation of curses on anyone or activities of sell-out minority of Igbanke chiefs with infinite chieftaincy titles from foreign lands. A boundary adjustment that would move us to Ika in Delta State, where we rightly belong, is the only other alternative we are prepared to accept.

In response to the rumours making the mills in Edo State, let us put on record that while still part of Edo State, the people of Igbanke will not accept anything short of her own Local Government Area with its Headquarters at Igbanke. We have population, we have the resources and we have the economic centre to run our Local Government Area effectively. We will resist any attempt by anyone giving us a Greek gift of an Igbanke Local government area with headquarters at Oronigbe. Igbanke is part and parcel of Nigeria; we are Nigerians and we are no longer prepared to tolerate any nonsense from anyone, whether from the state government, any traditional ruler, or the ‘sell-out’ elites and selfish Igbanke politicians.
We call on the National Assembly to expedite action on the commencement of the constitutional amendment process that will support the creation of more states and boundary adjustments in the country, which will in turn assure us of speedy exit from Edo State. Anything short of this will continue to make certain, our unnatural confinement in the hands of our oppressors. The earlier we are constitutionally relocated to the Anioma area, the better for our people.

Our people have been an integral part of the Anioma nation and are actively participating, in official capacities, in Anioma organizations and Associations; this will send the signal of seriousness on our part to pessimists and all the doubting Thomas about our intentions to fight for our right. We have the full backing of Anioma people

MAN KNOW THYSELF------------SOPHOCLES

The chairman of the lecture, Obi Edozien, re-emphasised this point: “we Igbo people are one. We must stop fighting over irrelevancies and emphasise the essential.”

This point arose out of the tendency among Igbo people to regard some groups as not “real” Igbos on basis of dialectal differences. It also exists in the form of clearly Igbo-speaking people with Igbo names and cultural patterns declaring themselves as “not Igbo” but ethnic minorities.

This is very rampant among Igbo groups in the South-South zone who believe that by so self-declaring publicly, they would be more acceptable among the real minorities and allowed to take their places as ethnic minorities.

Experience has, however, shown that this self-delusion hardly ever produces their desired results. Whenever the push comes to the shove, the real minorities remind them that they are Igbo people who are out to take what belongs to the minorities through the back door.

This phenomenon was evident in 2006 when former Governor Peter Odili of Rivers State (who loved to call himself a “Rivers man,” as if Rivers State is a tribe) was running for president. Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark openly declared Odili an Igbo man, arguing that the South-South president that the minorities have been agitating for was not meant to go to “an Igbo man.”

Given this situation, there has been an increasing shift of paradigm. Many Igbo groups, especially in Delta State, have decided no longer to play the masquerade. The Obi of Asaba, Professor Edozien, actually laid out conditions he believes will cement Igbo unity permanently.

Obi Edozien then called on the people of the South-East zone to support the creation of Anioma State and another for Igbo-speaking people of Rivers State to make for seven states, all of which will be lumped together in one zone or region.

Can someone please answer this question.
Are Urhobos also Delta Igbos? ..their language is completely from Igbo.
Are Ukwuani people also Igbos? I've heard some speaking and though the language sounds very different from general Igbo, if you listen carefully some of the words are very similar to Igbo words with the same meaning.
Also, all the Ukwuanis I've met seem to understand Igbo when it's spoken to/around them or at least understand some words, put it together and get what the person's saying. This is different for the Igbos I know, most of them don't understand Ukwuani yet the Ukwuanis understand Igbo. Why is this so?

N_girl: Can someone please answer this question.
Are Urhobos also Delta Igbos? ..their language is completely from Igbo.
Are Ukwuani people also Igbos? I've heard some speaking and though the language sounds very different from general Igbo, if you listen carefully some of the words are very similar to Igbo words with the same meaning.
Also, all the Ukwuanis I've met seem to understand Igbo when it's spoken to/around them or at least understand some words, put it together and get what the person's saying. This is different for the Igbos I know, most of them don't understand Ukwuani yet the Ukwuanis understand Igbo. Why is this so?

You are making a mistake,that's why you are confused.

You can't compare Ukwuani with Igbo language because, igbo language is but an artificial construct,made by picking out words from different igbo dialects and some of these dialects can be difficult for an igbo who is not those igbo tribes/towns, no igbo town speaks igbo language, because there are actually no igbos in igbo land. What we have in igboland are ngwa,asa,idemili,nkanu,egbema,ndoki,bende,umuahia,etc people. These are the tribes/towns that united to form the conglomerate known as igbo.

Every igbo tribe speaks it's dialect. The ngwa, asa,nsukka, idemili,nkanu,aro,ezza,izzi,etc, all speak their dialects,for example,an izzi man don't speak igbo language in his home town in ebonyi state,he speaks izzi, but when he meets an ngwa man from abia, the izzi man would have to communicate to ngwa man in igbo language,as the ngwa man will find it difficult to understant izzi dialect,and the izzi would find it difficult to understand ngwa.

Every igbo tribe understands igbo language which we call igbo izugbe, igbo izugbe or central igbo was created to enable all igbo tribes to communicate with each other.

The ukwuani people like you rightly observed understands igbo izugbe or central igbo, same thing is applicable to all other igbo tribes,but just like an ezza man would struggle to understand ukwuani,so will an ukwuani struggle to understand ezza,but both the ukwuani and ezza would easily understand igbo language,as igbo language is but an artificial construct made to allow any two igbo tribe( in this scenario, ezza and ukwuani), to communicate easily.

So, it would be wrong to compare ukwuani with igbolanguage, the right approach would be to compare ukwuani and ezza,as both of them,are dialects of an artifical construct,called igbo language.