the greatest mistake the idoma nation has ever made in their life in my opinion is that; they did not join the igalas (their brother) for a separate state. well this is just my opinion. and i think they would have been better off

Thank God is an expression of ur opinion which u re entitle to.Contrary to ur observation, Idoma wouldnt b better in the present Kogi than were they are now. At any rate, u didnt give any reasons 2 justify ur opinion. I'll be glad if u can state some reasons y u feel d way u do.

i feel this way becos the reason the tiv people are taking the whole thing is that, they believe they are an overwhelming majority. so if that is the reason why the idoma people have not really got anything in benue, then they would have been better off if they had stayed with those who do not outnumber them. in that way, the idoma and igalas would share all things equally. not like now that the tivs get 3 for every 1 idoma gets. another reason is that the idoma people share so much similarity with the igalas. this is by history, culture and also by ancestry. they are the only ones the idomas are related to in nigeria.

gst101: the greatest mistake the idoma nation has ever made in their life in my opinion is that; they did not join the igalas (their brother) for a separate state. well this is just my opinion. and i think they would have been better off

Gst 101, I beg to disagree with you on the need for the idomas to join the Igalas in kogi. Whereas it is true that they have a lot in common, both culturally and historically, the Idomas are better off in Benue State than in Kogi, because in Kogi they will have not only the Igalas to contend with but also the Igbiras, Okuns and Ogoris. While in Benue they have just the Tivs.

The inability of the Idomas to be governors in Benue State isn't because they lack the numbers. Rather it is because of her political naivety. Political offices are not tossed at people just because, the say they want it. No. You have to plan and work for it. Even though the Tivs are probably one of the most 'politically enlightened' tribes in Nigeria today, the Idomas have remained the traditional kingmakers in the state. That is because, the Tivs are always splitting their own votes amongst themselves, hence whoever wins the majority votes of the Idomas, carries the day.

Yet, the idomas have never had the simple initiative of putting forward a single candidate and filing behind him. They have also never deemed it necessary to negotiate a 'befitting deal' for themselves before donating their votes en bloc to their tiv brothers. So as you can see, even if they had gone to Kogi with the Igalas, there still would never be an Idoma Governor.

The idomas are quite like the ibos in this regards. It is almost impossible for them to present a single candidate and stand behind him. An Idoma man is only strong when he is fighting a fellow idoma man. Outside that, he losses his voice. So until the Idomas learn to play politics properly, there would never be an Idoma Governor in the state.

I don't think the Idomas have particularly done badly in benue state considering the fact that they're the second largest group in thatv state. If they had gone with the Igalas, things would have been worse off for them because they will have the Igalas, Okuns and other groups to contend with.

when i said we should be put together, i mean we should be put together with no one else. Had it been the idomas decided to go with the igalas, they both would have stayed together alone in a single state.

gst101: when i said we should be put together, i mean we should be put together with no one else. Had it been the idomas decided to go with the igalas, they both would have stayed together alone in a single state.

I'm sorry, but what do Idomas have in common with Igalas that makes you think that if the two groups are given a state, there will be some sort of brotherly love among them.

when i said idoma is left out, i did not mean the govnors office. I mean infrastructure wise. Look at the two universities. They are all located in tiv part of the state. There is no nigerian millitary base in the whole of idoma land. The otukpo water board is not functional. The idomas have practically nothing in that state. And this is becos,when the not too big wealth the state is shared, before it gets to zone c it is finished. And what pains me more is that idoma is a tribe has helped this country so much.

@afam4eva, at least there will be no 'minority' thing that tends to overlook a tribe when it comes to sharing wealth and dev. As for the relationship, i want you to observe the two tribes more again in their history, culture, language etc. And you will confirm what exactly i mean. I dont have the time i would have discuss it with you. The idomas are not known to be troublesome and thats why we have remained at peace with those the tivs cannot be at peace with.

@afam, thanks for the analysis that was insightful

@gst101. I wonder what you think as u claimed to be an idoma man and still don't understand how much difference there's in culture and believes between Idoma and Igala. I'll be happy if u can name few of those that they have in common. I can remember vividly, during the campaigns for elections last year when some political groups in zone C make some bold statements such as any Idoma man that campaign against D.Mark is an enemy of Idoma nation. When all the so called D.Mark could think of is just all about himself. There are still some streets in the heart of otukpo which after grading were left untared till today just because people living in those streets are not supporting PDP. Solve your internal problems and the harms you people causing to youself first before you think of what the Tivs are causing to harm you....

gst101
when the igalas were still part of benue state,the tivs had an overwhelming majority over both tribes combined while the igalas had an overwhelming majority over idomas hence the sharing of political office between tiv and igala.
when kogi was about being created,it was the idomas who refused joining kogi and preferred being in benue for the simple reason that in kogi they wouldn't be only marginalised by the igalas but also by a combination of igbirras and okun.
you should note that benue was created out of benue-plateau mainly for tivs and idomas,the igalas were brought in from kwara to join the new benue state! affirnity prior to the creation of benue was always between tiv and idoma and not idoma igala. in a religious sense the tribes that were bundled in kogi have a 50-50 mix of islam & christianity while the tribes left in benue are almost completely made up of christians!

I think the igbirra and yoruba of kogi state should be moved back to kwara state.then igala and idoma can stay in kogi state.

The problem with the idoma people is "the idoma people".. A typical idoma man can only fight his fellow idoma man just to gain favour from a non-idoma, also selfishness and political naivety have really affected the people negatively,they keep voting in David Mark as senator since 1999 because he promised to make "apa state" a reality.. How naive can a people be, thesame man on four different occassions with thesame promise. I bet in 2015, they will still return him to the senate based on thesame reason 'apa state'.. Thesame David Mark who flies helicorpter from Abuja to his compound in Otukpo because of the bad state of our roads. Otukpo which is supose to be the most developed part of idoma land looks like a brazilian ghetto! Idoma leaders are failures and our youth living in benue are not helping matters, they are only well known for womanizing, partying and drinking.. Until we tell ourselves the truth, things will never change!

@masico. There are indeed similarities. It is a known fact that these two share so many names. If you grew up onyangede or ugboju ifete, you will definitely understand igala like wise if you grew up in some parts of igala, you will definitely understand idoma. The secret chants in traditional worship in idoma religion are actually igala dialect. This, i saw in wikipeadia. I also saw in that same wikipeadia that idomas are related to the igbos. But why i am not taking it is that; nothing was said to butress that point. If you know the two tribes linguistically it will not be dificult for you to draw up a link. Although igala sounds yoruba

Why is it so impossible for some of these ethnic groups to have their own state? I.e., one for the Idoma, one for the Igala, one for the Tiv.

It is as if someone purposefully created some of these states with the intention of causing strife and bad blood.

gst101: @masico. There are indeed similarities. It is a known fact that these two share so many names. If you grew up onyangede or ugboju ifete, you will definitely understand igala like wise if you grew up in some parts of igala, you will definitely understand idoma. The secret chants in traditional worship in idoma religion are actually igala dialect. This, i saw in wikipeadia. I also saw in that same wikipeadia that idomas are related to the igbos. But why i am not taking it is that; nothing was said to butress that point. If you know the two tribes linguistically it will not be dificult for you to draw up a link. Although igala sounds yoruba

if you share a common border with someone you are bond to understand their languages and share certain things in common. the same way some idoma understand tiv and share common names eg AGBO,IDU(H)

@torkaka
this arguement serves your ego of dominance just because the idoma's are reserved in any sense of the word. to make the assertionn that idomas lack political awareness is disputable, because we all know that politics is a game of numbers.

the idomas have cultural and traditional affinity with the igalas and it is evident in our languages. i personally can understand igala intuitively, but trust me i dont understand a word in tiv. have you ever come to ask yourself why most people mistook idomas for igalas and vise versa.

to make any idoma look dumb is to deny the immeasurable achievements of the idoma kingdom to benue state as a whole.

@torkaka. Thanks for making it clear to the op. Even though I'm a yoruba by nature, I can say I know much about benue and Otukpo precisely more than my home state of kwara cos I was born and bred here. The thing is Idoma people are themselves problem. He made mention of no any single barrack army in Idoma land but I can say to the op that he got it wrong there. There was an army barracks before in otukpo a long time ago but Idoma people themselves protest against the barrack that the soldiers are sleeping with their women and their wives before they later shift the barrack to Makurdi. Infact the staff quarters of the barrack is still alive til today and people are still living there. Go to Gboko and see how great and develop it is. What has the Idoma people done to develop their town? Nothing and all they know is opopowulu [D. Mark]. I pity them sha cos Otukpo or any other town in the whole Idoma land is still like a remote village compare to other state towns.

excondido: @torkaka
this arguement serves your ego of dominance just because the idoma's are reserved in any sense of the word. to make the assertionn that idomas lack political awareness is disputable, because we all know that politics is a game of numbers.

the idomas have cultural and traditional affinity with the igalas and it is evident in our languages. i personally can understand igala intuitively, but trust me i dont understand a word in tiv. have you ever come to ask yourself why most people mistook idomas for igalas and vise versa.

to make any idoma look dumb is to deny the immeasurable achievements of the idoma kingdom to benue state as a whole.

if you are looking for people that have cutural affirnity to idomas then you moght as well go and join the jukun in taraba and rekindle the old kwararafa kingdom

Mesico2: @torkaka. Thanks for making it clear to the op. Even though I'm a yoruba by nature, I can say I know much about benue and Otukpo precisely more than my home state of kwara cos I was born and bred here. The thing is Idoma people are themselves problem. He made mention of no any single barrack army in Idoma land but I can say to the op that he got it wrong there. There was an army barracks before in otukpo a long time ago but Idoma people themselves protest against the barrack that the soldiers are sleeping with their women and their wives before they later shift the barrack to Makurdi. Infact the staff quarters of the barrack is still alive til today and people are still living there. Go to Gboko and see how great and develop it is. What has the Idoma people done to develop their town? Nothing and all they know is opopowulu [D. Mark]. I pity them sha cos Otukpo or any other town in the whole Idoma land is still like a remote village compare to other state towns.

i only heard of an army barrack but that was then and its no longer there.

@torkaka. I never knew idoma and tiv share names. Thats quite a revelation and thanks. But if those name you mentioned are the names we share, then i would say thats an idoma influence on the tiv people.becos those names are more synonimous with idoma. And for the 'understanding each other becos of proximity', i would say that; the idomas understanding igala is way beyond geographical closeness. It is by blood! While the idomas understanding tiv is only becos of proximity.

gst101: @torkaka. I never knew idoma and tiv share names. Thats quite a revelation and thanks. But if those name you mentioned are the names we share, then i would say thats an idoma influence on the tiv people.becos those names are more synonimous with idoma. And for the 'understanding each other becos of proximity', i would say that; the idomas understanding igala is way beyond geographical closeness. It is by blood! While the idomas understanding tiv is only becos of proximity.

i am not arguing that,idomas along with jukun,igala,chamba etc were once part of a kingdom however their ancestral roots are not traced together as the igalas lean more towards yorubas!

This is an interesting post. I'm an Igala by tribe and to be sincere, the Idoma and Igala people are the closest people in everything except language. As I can speak both Igala and Idoma and have roots in both, I've come to understand that the core Igala traditional griot chant is a mixture of Igala and Idoma. Also, that of the Alekwu (to be specific) is also a mixture of Idoma and Igala. We share almost all our name with the Idomas and some core Igala villages, far away from the Benue border are coined from Idoma proverbs (eg Alagilani, Ochadamu). The Idoma culture is like the exact replication of the Igala culture, our traditional religions hold the same values, the same protocols, the same prohibitions, and the same ceremonies and festivals, the highest among the festivals in both tribes which is Ote Egwu for Igalas and Eje Alekwu for Idomas and each of these names in both languages translate to mean the same thing, 'wine for the ancestors'. I'm also aware of some village in Idoma land that claim direct dissent from one Attah/Onu or the other and still greet themselves using the traditional titles of those descended from such Attah or Onu. It a historical fact that the Oche of Adoka was hitherto beaded by the reigning Attah of Igala and in accordance with the Igala ceremonies. Even when we speak different languages, the structure are the same. ie, one can perfectly be translated to the other without losing meaning or portrayal of emotions as we share all proverbs, idioms and popular sayings. Because of all these, outside home, an Igala feels closest to an Idoma man than any other tribe. We are also easily confused by other tribes for each other.

sorry to bore you with all these...

Despite the above, I'm opposed to Igala and Idoma sharing a state. Now that we are found in two different states, we share solidarity and sympathy. Bring us together and we would become the worst of enemies.

Hahaha. . I thank God for you man. We the Okun (Yoruba) in Kogi state are regreting every day for leaving Kwara state to join the Igalas. They have deprived us of every thing called development and infrastructure. They are in charge of the state college of education, the state polytechnic, the federal poly, the state university and all of it faculties, the federal university, school of nursing, school of midwifery, college of health tech, top governmental seats in the state. The proposed airport also in their land. The same Igalas have been rotating the governor's seat for the past 10years. . .leaving us with 2 to 3 commisioners.

Our roads are bad, no infrastructure, no development. If you leave okun land for ten years, you will come back and meet the same thing you left behind as long as an Igala man is on seat.

My brother, these are the things we have been facing in Kogi state. An average Igala man would rather recommend his blind brother to drive a car than a healthy Okun man.

A state comprising of 3 major tribes is now been controlled by one tribe.

Once again sir, I thank God for you.

@ mesico you can learn the similarities between the two brother tribes from the clowns post. I told some that i am idoma and he said 'agba' to me immediately. That confirms the clowns point that the two tribes are often mistaken as one.

If the two tribes where to be alone in the same state, whats happening between igala and the other kogi people will not happen between idoma and igala. This is becos, there will be no clear majority in land area and population and also resouces.

The igalas in their current state have 7 LGAs while idoma in benue have 7 LGAs together with igedes 2 making 9 LGAs. In population, there is no clear diff and most importantly, they are almost the same people.

I even think the idomas will have an upper hand. This is becos they will always have the support of the igedes.

It is in the light of the above that i believe it was a mistake not to have joined the igalas in '91

i think igala should have their own state.. the yorubas are in support of an igala state. it is big enough . kogi state should be split into two.. east and west.

The Clown:
Despite the above, I'm opposed to Igala and Idoma sharing a state. Now that we are found in two different states, we share solidarity and sympathy. Bring us together and we would become the worst of enemies.

Hehe

This is the Nigerian story, period.

igala and idoma are the same

I'm here to gain Knowledge

i learnt alot from here