Well According to Asari Dokubo:

"BIAFRA IS NOT A DREAM!!! Biafra which is corrupted from the KALABARI(Ijaw) word biafulo meaning undone(not well cooked) soup....The Ijaws of Kula named the estuary of Santa Barbara River BIAFULO because of the constant turbulence of the spot...In that context it means unruly or dangerous sea.The Spanish and Portuguese corrupted Biafulo to Biafra and first named the estuary Biafra later THE WHOLE COASTLINE STRETCHING FROM THE CAMEROON TO Lagoon WAS CHRISTEN THE BRIGHT OF BIAFRA.After the genocidal war the name Bright of Biafra was vindictively changed to Bright of Benin.
Therefore Biafra belong to all the people of the former independent state of Biafra and now the people of defunct BENIN REPUBLIC,WHICH IS TODAY EDO AND DELTA STATE.The march 28th voting clearly showed where we belong."

This is a new meaning to " Biafra", and an intellectual challenge to many scholars that have be researching the etymological meaning of "Biafra". This will also enlighten those that think that the Ijaw people do not support or believe in Biafra.

http://.com/forum/index.php?topic=41.0

Makes more sense.

I'm surprised you bought that.

Biafra was named after a coast called " the Bight of Biafra" now called "the Bight of Bonny"... The word itself has no particular meaning, its just the name of a place... Ok, for example, what is the meaning of France?
For Nigerian histories, culture and traditions, legends, places and lifestyle in the 70s: visit www.oldnaija. and thank me later.

leederrty1997:
Biafra was named after a coast called " the Bight of Biafra" now called "the Bight of Bonny"... The word itself has no particular meaning, its just the name of a place... Ok, for example, what is the meaning of France?
For Nigerian histories, culture and traditions, legends, places and lifestyle in the 70s: visit www.oldnaija. and thank me later.

Every countries name has some meaning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France#Etymology

ezeagu:
Well According to Asari Dokubo:

"BIAFRA IS NOT A DREAM!!! Biafra which is corrupted from the KALABARI(Ijaw) word biafulo meaning undone(not well cooked) soup....The Ijaws of Kula named the estuary of Santa Barbara River BIAFULO because of the constant turbulence of the spot...In that context it means unruly or dangerous sea.The Spanish and Portuguese corrupted Biafulo to Biafra and first named the estuary Biafra later THE WHOLE COASTLINE STRETCHING FROM THE CAMEROON TO Lagoon WAS CHRISTEN THE BRIGHT OF BIAFRA.After the genocidal war the name Bright of Biafra was vindictively changed to Bright of Benin.
Therefore Biafra belong to all the people of the former independent state of Biafra and now the people of defunct BENIN REPUBLIC,WHICH IS TODAY EDO AND DELTA STATE.The march 28th voting clearly showed where we belong."

This is a new meaning to " Biafra", and an intellectual challenge to many scholars that have be researching the etymological meaning of "Biafra". This will also enlighten those that think that the Ijaw people do not support or believe in Biafra.

http://.com/forum/index.php?topic=41.0

Makes more sense.

This, I can understand. This makes the most historical sense out of everything put forward to date.

Perhaps the ijaws migrated from portuguese guinea and brought the name with them while doing so.


That's the only explanation that makes sense.

loooool...... Some people say Biafra means 'Come and Join"?....Lmao
Come and Join ko, Come and Fart ni.....

Biafra, is derived from the word "Biafada" which is the name of a West African tribe found in Guinea Bissau, (a former Portuguese colony), and cassamance in Southern Senegal. The Portuguese discovered this tribe during their slave acquiring expeditions down the African coast, corrupted the name of these people to "Biafar" and thereby projected the name to refer to the entire stretch of Africa's West coast.
Nnamdi Kanu and his minions thinks Nigeria has no meaning, but at least it describes a geographical area "The land around the Niger river AKA Niger-Area)

Biafra merely means the name of a small African tribe taken as slaves.... worse still, the tribe is in no way related to Igbos or any other ethnic nationalities in present day Nigeria.... to make matters even more interesting, the majority of Biafada people today are Islamic.
Read more about the Biafada people here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biafada_people

They also speak the Biafada or Biafar language:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biafada_language

scholes0:
loooool...... Some people say Biafra means 'Come and Join"?....Lmao
Come and Join ko, Come and Fart ni.....

Biafra, is derived from the word "Biafada" which is the name of a West African tribe found in Guinea Bissau, (a former Portuguese colony), and cassamance in Southern Senegal. The Portuguese discovered this tribe during their slave acquiring expeditions down the African coast, corrupted the name of these people to "Biafar" and thereby projected the name to refer to the entire stretch of Africa's West coast.
Nnamdi Kanu and his minions thinks Nigeria has no meaning, but at least it describes a geographical area "The land around the Niger river AKA Niger-Area)

Biafra merely means the name of a small African tribe taken as slaves.... worse still, the tribe is in no way related to Igbos or any other ethnic nationalities in present day Nigeria.... to make matters even more interesting, the majority of Biafada people today are Islamic.
Read more about the Biafada people here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biafada_people

They also speak the Biafada or Biafar language:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biafada_language

Biafra wasn't used for the whole of the west African coast which brings into question of why they would name the Cameroon coast after the Biafra people.

ezeagu:


Biafra wasn't used for the whole of the west African coast which brings into question of why they would name the Cameroon coast after the Biafra people.

Oh yeah it was.
In case you aren't aware, Portuguese people were the first set of European to explore Africa's west coast.
And I said Biafada people... there are no Biafra people anywhere.

scholes0:


Oh yeah it was.
In case you aren't aware, Portuguese people were the first set of European to explore Africa's west coast.
And I said Biafada people... there are no Biafra people anywhere.

Show me a map where the whole west African coast was referred to as Biafra or any similar word.

ezeagu:


Show me a map where the whole west African coast was referred to as Biafra or any similar word.

This thread is about the Origin of the name.
And as proven, it has nothing to do with Igbos...
case closed.

After 5 years, ur still searching for the answer?

scholes0:


This thread is about the Origin of the name.
And as proven, it has nothing to do with Igbos...
case closed.

So those this mean you were wrong and can't find a map that refers to the whole of west Africa as Biafra?

ezeagu:


So those this mean you were wrong and can't find a map that refers to the whole of west Africa as Biafra?

Such maps are hard to find... i doubt there are even up to 5 historical maps on the whole internet with reference to the word.
So, you don't expect me to start stressing myself over such an issue, when even the Igbos don't have any relationship nor historical linkages to the word ....

scholes0:


Such maps are hard to find... i doubt there are even up to 5 historical maps on the whole internet with reference to the word.
So, you don't expect me to start stressing myself over such an issue, when even the Igbos don't have any relationship nor historical linkages to the word ....

Every informed Igbo already knew the word isn't derived from the Igbo language. But this claim of yours that all of West Africa was once known to the Europeans as 'Biafra'... sorry, no evidence exists that proves that. What we know from European accounts is that different portions of the West African Coast were known by different names. The 'Bight of Biafra' only referred to the Eastern Niger Delta, and the coastal regions eastwards as far as the Cameroons. The region to the west was the 'Bight of Benin'.

@topic: The 'Biafada' connection sounds interesting, but the great distance between Senegal and Nigeria east of the Lower Niger makes it seem rather too far-fetched for me. Dokubo's explanation also sounds too much like a folk etymology to me.

But I'm convinced the word is of local provenance, probably derived from the languages of the Cross River Valley area. There are lots of place-names beginning with 'Bi-' in that and adjacent areas: Biase, Biakpan (this one sounds quite close to 'Biafra'), Bianko, Bioko, etc. Somewhere there, I'm convinced, lies the source of 'Biafra'.

The places you mentioned might be derived from portuguese as well, unless you can prove the meaning from the local language.

They all sound like the word Bianca which is not of local origin.

Radoillo:


@topic: The 'Biafada' connection sounds interesting, but the great distance between Senegal and Nigeria east of the Lower Niger makes it seem rather too far-fetched for me. Dokubo's explanation also sounds too much like a folk etymology to me.

But I'm convinced the word is of local provenance, probably derived from the languages of the Cross River Valley area. There are lots of place-names beginning with 'Bi-' in that and adjacent areas: Biase, Biakpan (this one sounds quite close to 'Biafra'), Bianko, Bioko, etc. Somewhere there, I'm convinced, lies the source of 'Biafra'.

Two things.

1. The original word used by the European travelers was not Biafra but Biafara, Biafar and sometimes also Biafares. (They corrupted the name of the Biafada people to a more comfortable, Portuguese sounding form)
2. The exact origin/etymology of Biafra is Unknown. According to some maps, the European travelers used the word Biafara to describe the entire region east of River Niger going down to the Mount Cameroon region, thus including Cameroon and a large area around Gabon. However, the majority of times, it referred to the central African hinterland, not Nigeria.
The word Biafara also appears on maps from the 18th century in the area around Gambia. The word Biafra means nothing in Igbo nor any Cameroonian languages.

Thin About it, If Guinea Bissau (the country of the Biafaran/Biafada) people was a Portuguese colony, The Portuguese also gave cameroon it's name (Camaroēs - meaning shrimps), long before the Brits, French and Germans had a presence in the area.. What exactly makes you think the name has to be of a different Origin?

tpiadotcom:
The places you mentioned might be derived from portuguese as well, unless you can prove the meaning from the local language.

They all sound like the word Bianca which is not of local origin.

I didn't actually set out to prove that those words couldn't possibly have Portuguese etymologies. All I'm saying at this point is that a Biafada/Guinea-Bissau connection seems rather far-fetched...and that the presence of 'Bi' place-names there (i.e., in the Bight of Biafra, now Bight of Bonny) makes the Biafada connection even more far-fetched.

I will however make the tentative suggestion that a 'bi'-containing root appears to connote 'a geographical place' or a 'town' in some of the Cross River languages, and that this could mean that the places I mentioned did not derive their names from Portuguese.

Biakpan did not have direct contact with the Portuguese, so it will be hard to convince anyone that the town's name is Portuguese. Bioko was known to the Portuguese as Fernando Po, not Bioko ; Bioko was the native name. Suggesting that both the native name and the Portuguese name came from Portuguese...that is most unlikely.

scholes0:



Two things.

1. The original word used by the European travelers was not Biafra but Biafara, Biafar and sometimes also Biafares. (They corrupted the name of the Biafada people to a more comfortable, Portuguese sounding form)
2. The exact origin/etymology of Biafra is Unknown. According to some maps, the European travelers used the word Biafara to describe the entire region east of River Niger going down to the Mount Cameroon region, thus including Cameroon and a large area around Gabon. However, the majority of times, it referred to the central African hinterland, not Nigeria.
The word Biafara also appears on maps from the 18th century in the area around Gambia. The word Biafra means nothing in Igbo nor any Cameroonian languages.

Thin About it, If Guinea Bissau (the country of the Biafaran/Biafada) people was a Portuguese colony, The Portuguese also gave cameroon it's name (Camaroēs - meaning shrimps), long before the Brits, French and Germans had a presence in the area.. What exactly makes you think the name has to be of a different Origin?

Sorry, but is this Wikipedia? I had a deja vu feeling reading it. It just sounded too familiar.

My argument is simple: A number of settlements in the Bight of Biafra area have Bi-names. Given that fact, doesn't it make more sense to argue that Biafra probably derives its origin from another local Bi-name (corrupted by the Portuguese, apparently) rather than from an ethnic group on the far western end of West Africa? I have already implied that I believe that there's just a chance that that Bi place-name could (COULD) be the inland town of Biakpan. (Note that the Portuguese believed their 'Biafra' to be an inland 'kingdom' somewhere in the interior of West-Central Africa....Biakpan qualifies.) The similarity in sound with Biafada could then be just coincidental.

I think it may also be a mixture of different terms. It could be that the Portuguese just jumbled all these Bi- names and gave it the name of the most relatable to them (Biafara).

There's also a Bafia town in Cameroon, and a Bafia people around where the map says Bafia was, although the name is said to come from Germans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bafia

The German story is probably apocryphal.

Note the abundance of Bi and Ba place-names among the villages of the Bafia people.

Radoillo:
The German story is probably apocryphal.

Note the abundance of Bi and Ba place-names among the villages of the Bafia people.

True, and there's although similar town names around Cameroon, I think Biafra probably came from these Bafia people though.

Cameroon generally has place names which mirror Nigerian ones.

its not only the Bia stuff.