Igbo is the name of the ethnic group found majorly in the Eastern part of Nigeria with a significant number West of the Niger. If you are reading this, the odds are high that you are Igbo (or a friend of Igbos) so the need for a definition becomes what it is, an attempt at an elementary intro. And glaringly so.

But have you ever wondered how the people came to be called Igbos?

We have thought of this and we have researched this. Our conclusion is that no one can say for certain when and how the Igbos came to be called Igbos and who gave them the name. But like everything to do with Igbos, there are interesting stories surrounding the origin of the name. Stories and theories. Or theories and stories.

Theories of the origin of the name Igbos

Theory 1: Olaudah Equiano named Igbos

Olaudah Equiano was a slave boy sold from ancient Igboland to the Caribbean, got freed, moved to London, got educated, and wrote a book. He claimed to have come from "Essaka" which scholars have defined to be Isseke in Ihiala Local Government Area in present-day Anambra State. He referred to his people as Eboe.

This Eboe could have been misspelled Ibo by the British colonizers.

But there is a problem with this theory. Equiano referred to his village as being part of the Benin Kingdom. There is no written, oral, or archaeological record to show that Isseke which is near the border of Anambra and Imo States was ever a Benin vassal. Onitsha and other towns close to the Niger were part of the Benin Empire at the latter peak, but never as far as the edges of Orlu.

But even if Essaka/Isseka was never a Benin vassal town (and Equiano used it for descriptive convenience) it doesn't falsify the fact that "Eboe" that Equiano called Ndigbo could be what gave birth is a name they bear today.

What we could do is to ask why Equiano called Igbos Eboe people. The book he wrote, "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African" (1789) mentioned the fact that some group of people called Oye-Eboe traded with his people on guns, gunpowder, fish, etc.

Whoever these people are or wherever they come from, they might have been the ones for whom the Igbo group is named.

Continue reading https://www.anaedoonline.ng/2021/06/15/igbo-origin/

It's good in life to be proud of one's tribe but do you should have something else going on in your life besides tribe

First you are a person before your tribe or religion.

No one is saying don't be proud of your tribe but please try and seek some self awareness besides your tribe .

agadez007:
Did you know that Yoruba comes from the Hausa word for cunning,dishonest "bayeribe"
Many sane Yorubas have reject the name Yoruba

Some even Yoruba came from Hausa word "Yaribanza" or whatever..

..but the good thing is We do not have to be ashamed of what we are. As sentient beings we have wonderful backgrounds. These backgrounds may not be particularly enlightened or peaceful or intelligent.
Nevertheless, we have soil good enough to cultivate; we can plant anything in it.

proudly Omo Oodua.

Hebrew___ hebo__ibo__igbo
If you know you know