Let ur tribalism end in ur five states. Can't you read the signs that we don't want you? The sit at home that was accepted by the igbos was rejected by the Ikwerres, this should already tell you the stands of an Ikwerre man. Are you too ashamed to admit that we have rejected you? Wike has already chased most of you, we will chase more
attackgat: Barrister Uche Okwukwu is an Ikwerre man from Elele, Ikwerre Local Government. He is also a former Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. When former Governor Wike denied being Igbo in 2020, Uche Okwukwu wrote this open letter to him which was widely publicised
The statement attributed to His Excellency, Barrister Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State was shocking. He said an illustrious Igbo son, and I believe he was referring to the Honorable Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, was only claiming to be Igbo to further his ambition of becoming Nigerian president come 2023. Wike further disclaimed being Igbo himself.
Agreed, Wike has the right to hold any view so far as it is within the ambit of the law and not counter-productive. He can define himself in any manner he deems fit. But Amaechi, who holds the traditional chieftaincy title of ”Ochi Ariri Ikwerre,” meaning the Defender of Ikwerre in Times of Difficulty, also has the same right to see and define himself as Igbo. Wike does not enjoy the prerogative of determining himself and at the same time defining others.
Amaechi was former National President of the National Union of Rivers State Students, NURSS. He was former Speaker of Rivers House of Assembly, Chairman of the Conference of Speakers in Nigeria, two-term governor of Rivers, Chairman of the Governors Forum of Nigeria, GFN, and two-term Minister of Transportation. He is the first Nigerian to be appointed Minister of Transportation and first Ikwerre to be appointed full-fledged Grade A minister. As an Ikwerre, I am proud of Amaechi. As an Igbo, I am also proud of him.
Coming from the humanities, Amaechi is conscious of history and social anthropology. He said, “Look, I’m Ikwerre. But I’m also Igbo.” By so saying he did not in any way stop any Ikwerre from presenting himself as non-Igbo. Such an Ikwerre who denies his Igbo identity would have to explain himself to the gods.
Amaechi’s assertion of his Igboness on the BBC should not cause anyone a headache.
The Ikwerre Is Igbo
It is important to state for record purposes that historically Ikwerres fully identified themselves as Igbos without suffering harms. Chief Joseph Wobo, member of the Council of Chiefs of Eastern Nigeria, clearly stated he was an Igbo. Nobody can dismiss him as he defended Ikwerreland in colonial Nigeria.
Sir Jackson Mpi, first and last Ikwerre to be conferred with Knight of the Order of British Empire, OBE, by Queen Elizabeth II of England in 1960, identified himself as Igbo. From the ancient Kingdom of Isiokpo, Sir Mpi worked tirelessly for Igbo advancement.
Dr Obi Wali was the first Ikwerre PhD holder, senator and university lecturer. He was also the only Ikwerre in the 1978 Constituent Assembly where he was selected one of the 50 Wise Men that drafted the 1979 constitution. The great Dr Wali identified fully with his Igbo heritage and was gruesomely assassinated defending it.
Okogbule Wonodi, first Ikwerre registrar of any university, first and only Ikwerre poet and Paramount title Holder of Eze Ohiaemeru. Ohiaemeru, where you have present-day Comprehensive College in Borokiri, was his ancestral home before the British vacated them between 1913-1923. Wonodi remained a respected member of Nzukor Igbo and Ohanaeze Ndigbo till the end of his life.
Patriot Emmanuel Aguma was former Mayor of Port Harcourt. As Principal of St John College, Diobu, he was the first Ikwerre to head any college. One of six pre-independence Ikwerre University graduates, former administrator of Port Harcourt Province in the defunct Peoples Republic of Biafra, first Ikwere minister in 1979, Aguma remained a member of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
Emmanuel Oriji was a respected local government administrator, traditional ruler, a commissioner in old Rivers and core Igbo nationalist. The immediate past Deputy Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Isaac Wonwu, is an illustrious Ikwerre son from Elele. He is known to assert his Igbo identity. Equally valid, Chief Jackson Womenazu from Rumukrushi in the Evo Kingdom is a member of the Elders’ Council of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
In colonial documents, written when Igbos had no capacity to influence anything, Ikwerres also defined themselves as Igbos. When Ikwerre leaders presented their case before the 1957 Sir Henry Willinks Commission, Wobo declared that Ikwerres were Igbos and Port Harcourt to Onitsha was Igboland. The cream of Ikwerreland have asserted their Igboness. Most illustrious sons and daughters. Tell me any Ikwerre whose CV can match those of Mpi, Wobo, Aguma, Wonodi, Dr Wali or Amaechi?
The Ikwerre: Space and Survival
We must resolve all outstanding issues occasioned by the military-inspired partition of Ikwerreland as war booty. Our irreducible stand includes:
One, Ikwerres are Igbos and Ikwerreland is so important to the Igbo that they will never take any step to destroy Ikwerres or toy with their destiny. In geo-strategic terms, Ikwerreland is the tongue of the Igbo race to the sea.
Two, we are aware there are plans to landlock the Igbo nation. These plans are rooted in history. My brother and personal friend, Wike, should not be a crusader for such plans because it will be resisted with the sword as no nation will allow itself to be landlocked. All legitimate, moral and spiritual means available to Ndigbo would be used to resist the excise of Ikwerreland from the larger Igboland.
Three, “Obigbo,” means “Heart of Igboland.” It is the right name for that Local Government Area, LGA. “Oyigbo” means nothing and was never and will never be the name of Obigbo. The British met local people on ground who said their world was called Obigbo. Any researcher can go there and verify for himself. None should be persecuted for calling Obigbo its original pre-civil war name. I, Uche Okwukwu, call it Obigbo and I have no apologies for that.
Four, “Ohiaemeru” is the original name for Borokiri. It was the British who removed the indigenous Ikwerre population there before declaring the place Crown Land between 1913-1923. Equally so, “Igweocha” or “Diobu” is the original name for Port Harcourt. We must set the record straight. Five, demographically and historically, Igbos constitute the majority in the Niger Delta. Wike’s idea of the region is flawed considering that nine states make up the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, namely, Imo, Abia, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo, Ondo and Rivers. It is absurd and unacceptable stating that Umuagwo is not in the Niger Delta but Ogoja is. Be that as it may, there is now a statutory definition of the region manifest in the NDDC Act.
Any definition that excludes the Igbo from the Niger Delta, or tends to disenfranchise them from the privileges thereof, is unacceptable. This is because there were plans in the past that destroyed any benefit coming to the Igbo. Boundary adjustments were carried out to remove oil-producing areas from the former East Central State.
Six, in terms of ethnicity and language, Igbos are also in the majority in Rivers. It is fallacious that there are no Igbos here. Igbos are here because Ikwerres are Igbos. Ogbas are Igbos, Ekpeyes are Igbos. Etches are Igbos. Obigbos are Igbos. So no one can talk about Igbos coming in to cause trouble. Igbos are peaceful. Rivers is our home, and we are its autochthones.
Seven, Binis have no cultural or historical link with Ikwerres. We worship different gods, have different market days with different monarchical structures. Our Kingship is not from father to son like the Binis. Our kingship is based on gerontocracy where the oldest person assumes leadership. What brought us together was the 1914 amalgamation. No pre-colonial or colonial record has it that Ikwerres migrated from Benin. The post-war purported claim that Ikwerres are Binis is parasitic, defeatist and self-hate.
Eight, Ikwerreland is heavily garrisoned. Two million Ikwerres in four LGAs are tightly sandwiched by two naval barracks at Iwofe and Borokiri; two army barracks at Port Harcourt and Elele; air force base in Port Harcourt and an army shooting range in Igwuruta. Large swathes of land were appropriated for the building of the international airport, University of Port Harcourt and its teaching hospital, Rivers State University, Ignatius Ajuru University, Nigerian Television Authority, Area 1 Seaport, etc.
We believe in the unity of this country but the Federal Government should dismantle the military formations and return their locations to land-bereft inner-city Ikwerres. Our burgeoning population has no living space and this could lead to the Oromo experience.
Why is Wike denying his Igbo roots?
Wike is an illustrious Ikwerre son. And for emphasis, he is an Igbo man. A kettle might call itself an electric kettle, but it remains a kettle. Wike will do himself great service to forget the purported prejudice of the past and assert his Igboness. You don’t deny your own roots because they may not be there anymore when later you need them. All those who deny their people have always regretted it.
BoldBrainz: 😂. I have nothing to say, until the day the Igbos will decide to attempt the nonsense they did with the Niger Delta region between 1967 and 1968, then we'll discuss, whether with words or pieces of remorseless metals.
franchasofficia: We are still in crude oil political era, by the time we enter natural gas political era, everybody, including Yoruba Muslims will be begging to be linked with Southeast Igbos, na just time
I don't understand the constant NEED and fight to include people who clearly wants to disassociate themselves from you guys. This is the same as Nigeria.
Rivers people saying they are not Igbos - IGBOS fighting endlessly and shamelessly to say they are igbos. Igbo people saying they are not Nigerians - Nigerian government fighting endlessly and shamelessly to say they are Nigerians.
There is no "We" between you and Ikwerre. If you can't grasp this simple concept, then this discussion is pointless. Ndiigbo have no interest in whatever backward place you come from, so you can as well go and stay where the sun don't shine. The Ikwerres who are in Igbo Organization know that there is a "We" between them and other Igbos, the opinions of dissenting Ikwerre people matters and will be put on a plebiscite on the day of reckoning, but your inferior Igbo hating Yoruba opinion trying too hard to mask under minorities of SS is irrelevant.
That's the point.
My brother, I think it's time to let the Ikwerre speak for themselves — just like Barrister Okwukwu has done. They will be the ones to be dealing with the hateful non-Igbos when we keep silent.
As long as 50% claim their Igbo heritage and the other 50% don't, there will always be problems. People like Wike are products of Igbophobic propaganda so we need to move on without them.
wisdomkid: I don't understand the constant NEED and fight to include people who clearly wants to disassociate themselves from you guys. This is the same as Nigeria.
Rivers people saying they are not Igbos - IGBOS fighting endlessly and shamelessly to say they are igbos. Igbo people saying they are not Nigerians - Nigerian government fighting endlessly and shamelessly to say they are Nigerians.
The problem, as the op has proved, is that some of them claim their Igbo heritage. If you read the history books, you will see that the Ikwerre prior to 1967 (including the colonial era) were described as an Igbo group.
We didn't have any conventional kingdom or empires such as Oyo or the Sokoto Caliphate, in which you could pinpoint the ethnicity of each individual. 'Igboness' was largely determined by the language you spoke; the food you ate; the gods you served; market days etc. All these pointed to the Ikwerre being Igbo.
I am not one to force anybody to claim somerhing they don't want to — we live in an age where a man can call himself a woman and a woman, a man. However, you cannot deny history. It dishonour our ancestors.
We should not take the Ikwerre or any sub-group with notable Igbo deniers when we secede. We don't want our country to become another Nigeria.
Why are you saying "we" when you've admitted that you're not Ikwerre? Igboid was right; why are you getting involved?
because unlike the ipob that wants to use Ikwerre as a tool to raise Igbo political influence, I see the Ikwerres more as a neighbor.
Why didn't the igbos claim the Ikwerres since 60's when the Ikwerres were politically irrelevant. Now that Igbos are looking for political numbers, they have started knowing their brothers from Delta, Akwaibom and Rivers.
Madam I was born in the 90's, the Ikwerres has never seen Igbo support, where is the sudden love coming from, the igbos hasn't shown love to their brothers all these while, why must the Ikwerre show love now?
A home is a place where you feel loved and welcome, while the igbos were busy trying to conquer Nigeria, the Ikwerres has been having good relationship with ijos, Ogonis, Okirikas etc. Now the igbos wants to bring them back. people that you don't have interest on ever since, the Ikwerres has since moved on while u are busy fighting North and west.
My brother, I think it's time to let the Ikwerre speak for themselves — just like Barrister Okwukwu has done. They will be the ones to be dealing with the hateful non-Igbos when we keep silent.
As long as 50% claim their Igbo heritage and the other 50% don't, there will always be problems. People like Wike are products of Igbophobic propaganda so we need to move on without them.
Madam, here in the south south, there is not tribalism, even if there is, it is minimal. I am very sure majority of the SS will want to remain as SS than join any of the big three. Just let them be
My brother, I think it's time to let the Ikwerre speak for themselves — just like Barrister Okwukwu has done. They will be the ones to be dealing with the hateful non-Igbos when we keep silent.
As long as 50% claim their Igbo heritage and the other 50% don't, there will always be problems. People like Wike are products of Igbophobic propaganda so we need to move on without them.
Yielding to territorial and ethnic manipulation is one of the signs of weakness at the center. No ethnic nation should yield their territory for outsiders to divide and determine their boundary. After the defeat of Igbos and the creation of new ethnic groups out of the Igbo nation by the federal government and Igbos accepted it then (1970) they became perceived as weak hence the establishment few years later of the Nasir boundary commission to further excise territories thought to be rich in oil resources from then East Central State and Bendel State into Rivers State. This includes Ndoni, Egbema and Obigbo.
Wainey: because unlike the ipob that wants to use Ikwerre as a tool to raise Igbo political influence, I see the Ikwerres more as a neighbor.
Why didn't the igbos claim the Ikwerres since 60's when the Ikwerres were politically irrelevant. Now that Igbos are looking for political numbers, they have started knowing their brothers from Delta, Akwaibom and Rivers.
Madam I was born in the 90's, the Ikwerres has never seen Igbo support, where is the sudden love coming from?
They will be rejected.
So what's your point exactly?
Do you know history sef?
Have you ever heard of the abandoned properties saga After the war?
I doubt You're ikwere
No body is forcing anybody oil era will soon be over
Yielding to territorial and ethnic manipulation is one of the signs of weakness at the center. No ethnic nation should yield their territory for outsiders to divide and determine their boundary. After the defeat of Igbos and the creation of new ethnic groups out of the Igbo nation by the federal government and Igbos accepted it then (1970) they became perceived as weak hence the establishment few years later of the Nasir boundary commission to further excise territories thought to be rich in oil resources from then East Central State and Bendel State into Rivers State. This includes Ndoni, Egbema and Obigbo.
The Ikwerres needs something more than oil. If igbos had treated the minorities with kindness, the establishment of other states would have been fought by the minorities, but here the minorities have accepted that they are different from igbos and some have started denying Igbo heritage.
They may have wiped history from igbo lands but history still lives in SS states and we know who inflicted more pains on us
Wainey: The Ikwerres needs something more than oil. If igbos had treated the minorities with kindness, the establishment of other states would have been fought by the minorities, but here the minorities have accepted that they are different from igbos and some have started denying Igbo heritage.
They may have wiped history from igbo lands but history still lives in SS states and we know who inflicted more pains on us
Ikwerre is not minority. Ikwerre is majority in Rivers State and also part of Igbo ethnic group the most populous in Nigeria.
Here is the history as told by an Ikwerre Chief from Emohua.
Wainey: Madam, here in the south south, there is not tribalism, even if there is, it is minimal. I am very sure majority of the SS will want to remain as SS than join any of the big three. Just let them be
People like this make me laugh. The constitution of Nigeria does not recognize anything called South South and there was nothing called South South until the mid 90's
Someone will just come from somewhere and be claiming brotherhood with more than 40 ethnic groups, most of whom he does not understand their language, their culture and and knows next to nothing about, in the name of geopolitical zone
But when the same person sees any unity between Igbo and Ikwerre who speak the same language, bear the same names and have the same culture, the person will be asking why
What is important in unconstitutional geopolitical zone
Yielding to territorial and ethnic manipulation is one of the signs of weakness at the center. No ethnic nation should yield their territory for outsiders to divide and determine their boundary. After the defeat of Igbos and the creation of new ethnic groups out of the Igbo nation by the federal government and Igbos accepted it then (1970) they became perceived as weak hence the establishment few years later of the Nasir boundary commission to further excise territories thought to be rich in oil resources from then East Central State and Bendel State into Rivers State. This includes Ndoni, Egbema and Obigbo.
When you lose a war you are usually at a weak position. Germany lost huge hectares of land to Poland after losing second world war, it's even worst in Germany case because the native Germans in those lands were forced to leave their ancestral homes and migrate back to lands in modern day Germany under USSR support of Poland. Ikwerre feared similar fate if they retained their Igbo tag, with Ijaws well poised to strike and appropriate Ikwerre lands to themselves with full support of the Hausa-Fulanis and Yoruba controlled Igbophobic FG of post civil war era. This was why they rushed and denounced attachment to Igbos and were able to save their lands, even winning the Ijaws in supreme Court over PH ownership in immediate post civil era. That wouldn't have been possible If they remained proudly Igbo. Every rational Igbo that understands history appreciate why Ikwerre had to play Igbo denial game they played in old Rivers state post civil war. The Igbophobic Hausa Fulani and Yoruba Government of the day would have thwarted justice, if Ikwerre remained proudly Igbo.
You only have to Look at how Ututu people in Arochukwu LGA lost half of their lands immediately after the civil war to people from Odukpani LGA cross River that they accomodated as customary tenants in their lands in pre colonial era. If Ututu were not Igbo, that wouldn't have happened. Losing a war comes with a price and Ikwerre refused to pay that price by cunningly severing ties with Igbo, it's understandable.
My grouse with them is that the post civil war era is gone, Igbos are no longer so weak and the Hausa-Fulanis and their Yoruba partners are no longer wielding military veto power. Zik and Ukiwe have helped them cage Ijaw in Bayelsa, so why then does Ikwerre people still see the need to continue the Igbo denial game? It hasn't helped Odili( I know he is Ndoni but it's same game they are all playing), it hasn't helped Amaechi, it hasn't helped Wike, and it will never help any of them at the federal level.
The Ijaw threat has been eliminated by pinning them in Bayelsa, the Ikwerre are in full control of PH like they always wanted, the country is under civil rule so the Hausa-Fulanis and Yoruba partners can't wield big veto power and gift their(Ikwerre) lands to their Ijaw partners, as punitive measures against Ndiigbo and reward to their Ijaw partners, without it being challenged fully in supreme court. The Ikwerre current posture is nolonger acceptable to SEners, the general and growing consensus in SE today is that Ikwerre are expandable to our future endeavors and shouldn't be paid attention anymore. There is a limit of humiliation and rejection a people can accept before they moved on. Germany left their territories in Poland and even Tyriol in Italy, yet they are the biggest economy in Europe today. None of those abandoned Germanic territories in Austria, Lichtenstein, Italy (Tyriol), even German speaking parts of Switzerland are as developed and advanced as Germany today.
So yes, Ndiigbo are more than ready and capable of leaving Ikwerre behind and march on to our future. While we rue the loss of those territories and brothers who have turned enemies eager to team up with our enemies to cajole and ridicule us, we also appreciate the fact that what we have in SE is greater than whatever we could have lost in those other places. In Igbo language, we say "Nkemjika" !
attackgat: Barrister Uche Okwukwu is an Ikwerre man from Elele, Ikwerre Local Government. He is also a former Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. When former Governor Wike denied being Igbo in 2020, Uche Okwukwu wrote this open letter to him which was widely publicised
The statement attributed to His Excellency, Barrister Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State was shocking. He said an illustrious Igbo son, and I believe he was referring to the Honorable Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, was only claiming to be Igbo to further his ambition of becoming Nigerian president come 2023. Wike further disclaimed being Igbo himself.
Agreed, Wike has the right to hold any view so far as it is within the ambit of the law and not counter-productive. He can define himself in any manner he deems fit. But Amaechi, who holds the traditional chieftaincy title of ”Ochi Ariri Ikwerre,” meaning the Defender of Ikwerre in Times of Difficulty, also has the same right to see and define himself as Igbo. Wike does not enjoy the prerogative of determining himself and at the same time defining others.
Amaechi was former National President of the National Union of Rivers State Students, NURSS. He was former Speaker of Rivers House of Assembly, Chairman of the Conference of Speakers in Nigeria, two-term governor of Rivers, Chairman of the Governors Forum of Nigeria, GFN, and two-term Minister of Transportation. He is the first Nigerian to be appointed Minister of Transportation and first Ikwerre to be appointed full-fledged Grade A minister. As an Ikwerre, I am proud of Amaechi. As an Igbo, I am also proud of him.
Coming from the humanities, Amaechi is conscious of history and social anthropology. He said, “Look, I’m Ikwerre. But I’m also Igbo.” By so saying he did not in any way stop any Ikwerre from presenting himself as non-Igbo. Such an Ikwerre who denies his Igbo identity would have to explain himself to the gods.
Amaechi’s assertion of his Igboness on the BBC should not cause anyone a headache.
The Ikwerre Is Igbo
It is important to state for record purposes that historically Ikwerres fully identified themselves as Igbos without suffering harms. Chief Joseph Wobo, member of the Council of Chiefs of Eastern Nigeria, clearly stated he was an Igbo. Nobody can dismiss him as he defended Ikwerreland in colonial Nigeria.
Sir Jackson Mpi, first and last Ikwerre to be conferred with Knight of the Order of British Empire, OBE, by Queen Elizabeth II of England in 1960, identified himself as Igbo. From the ancient Kingdom of Isiokpo, Sir Mpi worked tirelessly for Igbo advancement.
Dr Obi Wali was the first Ikwerre PhD holder, senator and university lecturer. He was also the only Ikwerre in the 1978 Constituent Assembly where he was selected one of the 50 Wise Men that drafted the 1979 constitution. The great Dr Wali identified fully with his Igbo heritage and was gruesomely assassinated defending it.
Okogbule Wonodi, first Ikwerre registrar of any university, first and only Ikwerre poet and Paramount title Holder of Eze Ohiaemeru. Ohiaemeru, where you have present-day Comprehensive College in Borokiri, was his ancestral home before the British vacated them between 1913-1923. Wonodi remained a respected member of Nzukor Igbo and Ohanaeze Ndigbo till the end of his life.
Patriot Emmanuel Aguma was former Mayor of Port Harcourt. As Principal of St John College, Diobu, he was the first Ikwerre to head any college. One of six pre-independence Ikwerre University graduates, former administrator of Port Harcourt Province in the defunct Peoples Republic of Biafra, first Ikwere minister in 1979, Aguma remained a member of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
Emmanuel Oriji was a respected local government administrator, traditional ruler, a commissioner in old Rivers and core Igbo nationalist. The immediate past Deputy Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Isaac Wonwu, is an illustrious Ikwerre son from Elele. He is known to assert his Igbo identity. Equally valid, Chief Jackson Womenazu from Rumukrushi in the Evo Kingdom is a member of the Elders’ Council of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
In colonial documents, written when Igbos had no capacity to influence anything, Ikwerres also defined themselves as Igbos. When Ikwerre leaders presented their case before the 1957 Sir Henry Willinks Commission, Wobo declared that Ikwerres were Igbos and Port Harcourt to Onitsha was Igboland. The cream of Ikwerreland have asserted their Igboness. Most illustrious sons and daughters. Tell me any Ikwerre whose CV can match those of Mpi, Wobo, Aguma, Wonodi, Dr Wali or Amaechi?
The Ikwerre: Space and Survival
We must resolve all outstanding issues occasioned by the military-inspired partition of Ikwerreland as war booty. Our irreducible stand includes:
One, Ikwerres are Igbos and Ikwerreland is so important to the Igbo that they will never take any step to destroy Ikwerres or toy with their destiny. In geo-strategic terms, Ikwerreland is the tongue of the Igbo race to the sea.
Two, we are aware there are plans to landlock the Igbo nation. These plans are rooted in history. My brother and personal friend, Wike, should not be a crusader for such plans because it will be resisted with the sword as no nation will allow itself to be landlocked. All legitimate, moral and spiritual means available to Ndigbo would be used to resist the excise of Ikwerreland from the larger Igboland.
Three, “Obigbo,” means “Heart of Igboland.” It is the right name for that Local Government Area, LGA. “Oyigbo” means nothing and was never and will never be the name of Obigbo. The British met local people on ground who said their world was called Obigbo. Any researcher can go there and verify for himself. None should be persecuted for calling Obigbo its original pre-civil war name. I, Uche Okwukwu, call it Obigbo and I have no apologies for that.
Four, “Ohiaemeru” is the original name for Borokiri. It was the British who removed the indigenous Ikwerre population there before declaring the place Crown Land between 1913-1923. Equally so, “Igweocha” or “Diobu” is the original name for Port Harcourt. We must set the record straight. Five, demographically and historically, Igbos constitute the majority in the Niger Delta. Wike’s idea of the region is flawed considering that nine states make up the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, namely, Imo, Abia, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo, Ondo and Rivers. It is absurd and unacceptable stating that Umuagwo is not in the Niger Delta but Ogoja is. Be that as it may, there is now a statutory definition of the region manifest in the NDDC Act.
Any definition that excludes the Igbo from the Niger Delta, or tends to disenfranchise them from the privileges thereof, is unacceptable. This is because there were plans in the past that destroyed any benefit coming to the Igbo. Boundary adjustments were carried out to remove oil-producing areas from the former East Central State.
Six, in terms of ethnicity and language, Igbos are also in the majority in Rivers. It is fallacious that there are no Igbos here. Igbos are here because Ikwerres are Igbos. Ogbas are Igbos, Ekpeyes are Igbos. Etches are Igbos. Obigbos are Igbos. So no one can talk about Igbos coming in to cause trouble. Igbos are peaceful. Rivers is our home, and we are its autochthones.
Seven, Binis have no cultural or historical link with Ikwerres. We worship different gods, have different market days with different monarchical structures. Our Kingship is not from father to son like the Binis. Our kingship is based on gerontocracy where the oldest person assumes leadership. What brought us together was the 1914 amalgamation. No pre-colonial or colonial record has it that Ikwerres migrated from Benin. The post-war purported claim that Ikwerres are Binis is parasitic, defeatist and self-hate.
Eight, Ikwerreland is heavily garrisoned. Two million Ikwerres in four LGAs are tightly sandwiched by two naval barracks at Iwofe and Borokiri; two army barracks at Port Harcourt and Elele; air force base in Port Harcourt and an army shooting range in Igwuruta. Large swathes of land were appropriated for the building of the international airport, University of Port Harcourt and its teaching hospital, Rivers State University, Ignatius Ajuru University, Nigerian Television Authority, Area 1 Seaport, etc.
We believe in the unity of this country but the Federal Government should dismantle the military formations and return their locations to land-bereft inner-city Ikwerres. Our burgeoning population has no living space and this could lead to the Oromo experience.
Why is Wike denying his Igbo roots?
Wike is an illustrious Ikwerre son. And for emphasis, he is an Igbo man. A kettle might call itself an electric kettle, but it remains a kettle. Wike will do himself great service to forget the purported prejudice of the past and assert his Igboness. You don’t deny your own roots because they may not be there anymore when later you need them. All those who deny their people have always regretted it.
this long epistle just because you want to snatch another man's oil and gas! We know you modus operandi. First, you claim the land through ethnic affiliation then heritage and culture, and lastly through birthright. The next step is annexation. Go and annex kogi before you talk of Rivers state.
Wainey: it's not about the resources you have, it is about the way you respect and treat others and also respect yourself.
You think people in SS drink oil as breakfast? Most people here don't even care about the oil, they go about their normal business, gas won't give you any attention either. Allow the SS people to breet
Agbado man stop foaming here like a rabid dog, that article was written by an Ikwerre son. Did you even read through or you just entered the thread and start typing jargons with your usual hate?
Agbado man stop foaming here like a rabid dog, that article was written by an Ikwerre son. Did you even read through or you just entered the thread and start typing jargons with your usual hate?
People like this make me laugh. The constitution of Nigeria does not recognize anything called South South and there was nothing called South South until the mid 90's
Someone will just come from somewhere and be claiming brotherhood with more than 40 ethnic groups, most of whom he does not understand their language, their culture and and knows next to nothing about, in the name of geopolitical zone
But when the same person sees any unity between Igbo and Ikwerre who speak the same language, bear the same names and have the same culture, the person will be asking why
What is important in unconstitutional geopolitical zone
Enice: this long epistle just because you want to snatch another man's oil and gas! We know you modus operandi. First, you claim the land through ethnic affiliation then heritage and culture, and lastly through birthright. The next step is annexation. Go and annex kogi before you talk of Rivers state.
The writer Uche Okwukwu is an Ikwerrian so I guess you did not read well
The writer Uche Okwukwu is an Ikwerrian so I guess you did not read well
The writer has a right to his own opinion but you that posted it to score cheap ethnic political points is the one I'm referring to. The writer can publish whatever he wants. The poster wants to now use the article as if it is a generally accepted norm! Oga you lie, Ikwerres have said they're not Igbo, accept it.
Wainey: Ikwerre this Ikwerre that. Until everybody deny you, you won't have sense. Work on your tribe and you won't be forcing people to be recognized as igbos, they will beg to join you. But for now, the igbos is the least palatable tribe that people will want to associate with, so stop all these long epistle and get to work, bring back the old Igbo that produced people like Nnamdi Azikwe
The present set of igbos are vile, insultive, feral, wicked, ethnocentric and pompous, Nobody wants to associate with that.
When you lose a war you are usually at a weak position. Germany lost huge hectares of land to Poland after losing second world war, it's even worst in Germany case because the native Germans in those lands were forced to leave their ancestral homes and migrate back to lands in modern day Germany under USSR support of Poland. Ikwerre feared similar fate if they retained their Igbo tag, with Ijaws well poised to strike and appropriate Ikwerre lands to themselves with full support of the Hausa-Fulanis and Yoruba controlled Igbophobic FG of post civil war era. This was why they rushed and denounced attachment to Igbos and were able to save their lands, even winning the Ijaws in supreme Court over PH ownership in immediate post civil era. That wouldn't have been possible If they remained proudly Igbo. Every rational Igbo that understands history appreciate why Ikwerre had to play Igbo denial game they played in old Rivers state post civil war. The Igbophobic Hausa Fulani and Yoruba Government of the day would have thwarted justice, if Ikwerre remained proudly Igbo.
You only have to Look at how Ututu people in Arochukwu LGA lost half of their lands immediately after the civil war to people from Odukpani LGA cross River that they accomodated as customary tenants in their lands in pre colonial era. If Ututu were not Igbo, that wouldn't have happened. Losing a war comes with a price and Ikwerre refused to pay that price by cunningly severing ties with Igbo, it's understandable.
My grouse with them is that the post civil war era is gone, Igbos are no longer so weak and the Hausa-Fulanis and their Yoruba partners are no longer wielding military veto power. Zik and Ukiwe have helped them cage Ijaw in Bayelsa, so why then does Ikwerre people still see the need to continue the Igbo denial game? It hasn't helped Odili( I know he is Ndoni but it's same game they are all playing), it hasn't helped Amaechi, it hasn't helped Wike, and it will never help any of them at the federal level.
The Ijaw threat has been eliminated by pinning them in Bayelsa, the Ikwerre are in full control of PH like they always wanted, the country is under civil rule so the Hausa-Fulanis and Yoruba partners can't wield big veto power and gift their(Ikwerre) lands to their Ijaw partners, as punitive measures against Ndiigbo and reward to their Ijaw partners, without it being challenged fully in supreme court. The Ikwerre current posture is nolonger acceptable to SEners, the general and growing consensus in SE today is that Ikwerre are expandable to our future endeavors and shouldn't be paid attention anymore. There is a limit of humiliation and rejection a people can accept before they moved on. Germany left their territories in Poland and even Tyriol in Italy, yet they are the biggest economy in Europe today. None of those abandoned Germanic territories in Austria, Lichtenstein, Italy (Tyriol), even German speaking parts of Switzerland are as developed and advanced as Germany today.
So yes, Ndiigbo are more than ready and capable of leaving Ikwerre behind and march on to our future. While we rue the loss of those territories and brothers who have turned enemies eager to team up with our enemies to cajole and ridicule us, we also appreciate the fact that what we have in SE is greater than whatever we could have lost in those other places. In Igbo language, we say "Nkemjika" !
Wainey: The Ikwerres has always denied that they are not igbos, why are the igbos always trying to tell them who they are?
Oga we are not interested, if igbos tribe is so good as you claim, people will not be denying you. Go and work on ur tribe first, we the SS are not interested.
Ntoor
That letter was written by a well known Ikwerre man, Barr. Uche Okwukwu.
Shouldn't you be happy for him, for identifying with the greater Igbo family?
Or you guys want to meddle again as you meddled in the case of Obi Wali whereby you drunkards went ahead and butchered him for his affinity with his fellow Igbos. I believe Igboid made this point in his writeup above.
Steer clear of this topic. You are neither Igbo nor Ikwerre-Igbo
