criuze:
it's true sha

but people have fought, died and defended a name called America as a matter of fact, that not withstanding you haven't demystified the biafra name


but in what ever name igbos need to stay alone

gidgiddy:
Whether Biafra is a Portuguese word or a Japanese word, what matters is that a group of Africans once chose that name as the name of their new country. The Eastern Nigeria Consultative Forum mandated Ojukwu to declare the Eastern Region a separate country and an Ijaw called Frank Opigo suggested the name Biafra

Compare that to "Nigeria", a name that a British officers(Lugard) girlfriend, Flora Shaw, foisted on some clueless West Africans and they have been running with that name ever since.

favor914:
Igbo is a language, what makes you Igbo, or Nigerian, because you speak a language doesn’t make you Igbo, I speak English but I am not British, for your information, there is no difference between a so called Igbo & an Edo, Ijaw or Youruba man, no difference whatsoever, so stop deceiving your shallow self.

favor914:
In spite of the truth you still choose to deceive yourself? Even Odumegwu Ojukwu has said the war was a mistake, if you are ready to die, go and say goodbye to your mother, find where the so called ESN is recruiting & join them.

DeltaFire:
DEMISTIFYING THE WORD “BIAFRA”

These are some facts:

• Biafra is NOT an Igbo word.

• Ancestors of Ndi Igbo would not have heard the word “Biafra”. Biafra is completely unknown to them.

• What of the name "Biafra"? We are told that Ojukwu convened a meeting of leaders and a certain Chief Frank Opigo, an Ijaw man from today’s Bayelsa, came up with the name BIAFRA for the region, and those present liked it. Biafra is NOT an Igbo word.


ORIGINS OF “BIAFRA”
1. Biafra is the name the Portuguese used to refer to the present Cross River , Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa , parts of Edo, Delta States, Rivers States of Nigeria ; South East Cameroon , Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Look at maps drawn by cartographers in the 15th Century. Meaning of “Biafra” and location. Little is known about the literal meaning of the word Biafra. The word Biafra most likely derives from the subgroup Biafar or Biafada of the Tenda ethnic group who reside primarily in Guinea-Bissau. Manuel Álvares (1526–1583), a Portuguese Jesuit educator, in his work “Ethiopia Minor and a geographical account of the Province of Sierra Leone”, writes about the “Biafar heathen” in chapter 13 of the same book. The word Biafar thus appears to have been a common word in the Portuguese language back in the 16th century. Biafra is NOT an Igbo word!

2. In an article in the Africa Journal of October 1946 titled Les Portuguais dans la Baie de Biafra au XVieme Siecle (‘The Portuguese in the Bay of Biafra in the Fifteenth Century’), Monsieur J. Bouchard had stated that the word, Biafra, is not of Portuguese origin as some people think, and does not come from any place or tribe within the region. It is simply a corruption by the cartographers of the sixteenth century of the word Mascha, which was the name of a mountain marked near this region on the map of Africa by Ptolemy.‘By 1515, Mascha had become Mafra and by some error, Biafra.

Some say, “Biafra is a call for freedom”. It may be. Biafra is NOT an Igbo word! We use the word Hallelujah, but it is not an Igbo word. Biafra is NOT an Igbo word!

The point is this: Biafra is NOT an Igbo word!

Some Igbos want to call themselves Biafrans. That’s their choice. Such groups can call themselves whatever they like. But Igbo is the name of a powerful ethnic nationality, Biafran is just what a group from among this great ethnic nationality have wanted to call themselves.

The ancestors of Ndi Igbo know nothing about Biafra. They never identified themselves as Biafrans, they were always, Igbo. Biafran is a new term that came just recently in 1967, and can never be in the same class as “Ndi Igbo”.

The vast majority of Igbos call themselves by our true and ancient name of Ndi Igbo. Only a tiny portion of Igbos refer to themselves as Biafrans. Biafra is NOT an Igbo word!

Yoruba call their land by a Yoruba name their ancestors would have known: Oduduwa. They are not using a foreign name. Germans call their land by a German name: Deutschland. They are not using a foreign name. Spanish call their land by a Spanish name: España. They are not using a foreign name. Ndi Igbo too need an Igbo name for ourselves, and our land/new country.

Igbo ancestors would have known Nri and Igbo Ukwu. Not Biafra. Biafra is NOT an Igbo word! Biafra is not part of Igbo tradition. Biafra has brought only death (genocide) and calamity to Igbo. Even now, the noisy agitation group with “Biafra” in its name, is only bringing death and destruction to Ndi Igbo, and looks set to bring more disaster upon us.

The great majority of Ndi Igbo will not embrace that word “Biafra”. It has not brought us good, only troubles and death. It is not known by our ancestors. It is also a foreign word, not an Igbo one. We are nobody’s slaves, and so, will have our own Igbo words/names for ourselves. Such as Nri, Igbo Ukwu, and any other Igbo names/words of greatness (not calamity and death like the foreign word Biafra).

Please make these facts known to Ndi Igbo worldwide.

DeltaFire:
DEMISTIFYING THE WORD “BIAFRA”

[s]These are some facts:

• Biafra is NOT an Igbo word.

• Ancestors of Ndi Igbo would not have heard the word “Biafra”. Biafra is completely unknown to them.

• What of the name "Biafra"? We are told that Ojukwu convened a meeting of leaders and a certain Chief Frank Opigo, an Ijaw man from today’s Bayelsa, came up with the name BIAFRA for the region, and those present liked it. Biafra is NOT an Igbo word.


ORIGINS OF “BIAFRA”
1. Biafra is the name the Portuguese used to refer to the present Cross River , Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa , parts of Edo, Delta States, Rivers States of Nigeria ; South East Cameroon , Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Look at maps drawn by cartographers in the 15th Century. Meaning of “Biafra” and location. Little is known about the literal meaning of the word Biafra. The word Biafra most likely derives from the subgroup Biafar or Biafada of the Tenda ethnic group who reside primarily in Guinea-Bissau. Manuel Álvares (1526–1583), a Portuguese Jesuit educator, in his work “Ethiopia Minor and a geographical account of the Province of Sierra Leone”, writes about the “Biafar heathen” in chapter 13 of the same book. The word Biafar thus appears to have been a common word in the Portuguese language back in the 16th century. Biafra is NOT an Igbo word!

2. In an article in the Africa Journal of October 1946 titled Les Portuguais dans la Baie de Biafra au XVieme Siecle (‘The Portuguese in the Bay of Biafra in the Fifteenth Century’), Monsieur J. Bouchard had stated that the word, Biafra, is not of Portuguese origin as some people think, and does not come from any place or tribe within the region. It is simply a corruption by the cartographers of the sixteenth century of the word Mascha, which was the name of a mountain marked near this region on the map of Africa by Ptolemy.‘By 1515, Mascha had become Mafra and by some error, Biafra.

Some say, “Biafra is a call for freedom”. It may be. Biafra is NOT an Igbo word! We use the word Hallelujah, but it is not an Igbo word. Biafra is NOT an Igbo word!

The point is this: Biafra is NOT an Igbo word!

Some Igbos want to call themselves Biafrans. That’s their choice. Such groups can call themselves whatever they like. But Igbo is the name of a powerful ethnic nationality, Biafran is just what a group from among this great ethnic nationality have wanted to call themselves.

The ancestors of Ndi Igbo know nothing about Biafra. They never identified themselves as Biafrans, they were always, Igbo. Biafran is a new term that came just recently in 1967, and can never be in the same class as “Ndi Igbo”.

The vast majority of Igbos call themselves by our true and ancient name of Ndi Igbo. Only a tiny portion of Igbos refer to themselves as Biafrans. Biafra is NOT an Igbo word!

Yoruba call their land by a Yoruba name their ancestors would have known: Oduduwa. They are not using a foreign name. Germans call their land by a German name: Deutschland. They are not using a foreign name. Spanish call their land by a Spanish name: España. They are not using a foreign name. Ndi Igbo too need an Igbo name for ourselves, and our land/new country.

Igbo ancestors would have known Nri and Igbo Ukwu. Not Biafra. Biafra is NOT an Igbo word! Biafra is not part of Igbo tradition. Biafra has brought only death (genocide) and calamity to Igbo. Even now, the noisy agitation group with “Biafra” in its name, is only bringing death and destruction to Ndi Igbo, and looks set to bring more disaster upon us.

The great majority of Ndi Igbo will not embrace that word “Biafra”. It has not brought us good, only troubles and death. It is not known by our ancestors. It is also a foreign word, not an Igbo one. We are nobody’s slaves, and so, will have our own Igbo words/names for ourselves. Such as Nri, Igbo Ukwu, and any other Igbo names/words of greatness (not calamity and death like the foreign word Biafra).

Please make these facts known to Ndi Igbo worldwide.[/s]

Muna4real:
Let's assume that it's not an igbo word, but so what? Should we fry beans? Does the origin of the name take away the fact that millions of people pray everyday for that country to be actualized?

Is Nigeria a Nigerian word? Does it take its meaning from any ethnic group in Nigeria? Biafra is Biafra and so shall it be forever.