₦airaland Forum

exotik:
lol, so what are u now saying? that edo people are of nri origin? plus yoruba people whose one of their deities is orisha? maybe u are the one who needs to travel and know that nri may not be of igbo-origin after all. and who knows maybe nri is actually odududwa, hahaha

Yorubas= Oduduwa

Hausa = Bayajidda

Igbo= Nobody

You see why the origin thing plays little or no role in identifying who is Igbo or not.It is purely a language affair.The language in itself is as diverse as the origin of the various groups that make up Igbo.The Oru of which I belong has Edo,Nri,Aro,Awka,Igala and Ijaw amongst its origin.The Onitsha has Bini,Nri and Awka.The Aro has Akpa,Ibibio and Igbo.The Ika has Nri and Edo just like most Delta Igbos.If you look at Oru which has up to 5 progenitors and Ika which has basically 2 and probably slight Igala which one is more diverse in origin?

@negro-nts,this is not the best thread for your arguments.This thread was created so that anybody from an Igbo group could write his tradition of origin as told by his parents or as found in history books.

Any write-up you disagree with,just simply put up another account of the history and we can appreciate your contributions.

NB.
You can start a new thread on Igbo hating,land grab and biafra.

@negro nts.What I think you failed to understand is that each of those history was taken from the site of the indigenes.Abiriba,Nnewi,Nri,Awka etc.
If I want to add Ekpeye,I will just go to Ekpeye.com and copy and paste what they have there.

Your reactions is supicious and might be aimed at derailing the thread but I will seek for more sources and still put them down.You aim to assume that all Igbos must be of the same origin and any one not of that origin is not Igbo.Igboland is far from singular origin and that is why the boundary of what is Igbo is very difficult to draw.

So just read and educate yourself about this fascinating conglomerate of various nations united by similarity in language.

With a projected 1st week sales of nearly a million,Gaga's "Born This Way" will probably be this years biggest seller.That aside the album is generally good but seems over-gagacious to me.

Songs to watch out for

Edge of Glory

Americano

Marry The Night

Scheibe

Controversial Songs

Born This Way

Judas

Black Jesus

Bloody Mary.

This topic is too disgusting for politics section.It does not deserve romance session.I think they should create gay section for the gays.Lesbians I love you all.4k gays.

exotik:
@abagoro:

which one is im fvcking up? i chose to say bini instead of edo. so if i say esan and igbanke are dialects of edo? correct. but if i say esan and igbanke are dialects of bini? wrong? so how is bini different from edo? in case u don't know bini and edo is same thing. just becos the binis had two identities they identified with does not make them different. the empire was called bini, bendel was a combination of bini/delta not edo/delta. the present edo state could have been easily called bini state so won't that have made every dialect spoken in state binis just like they are called edos today? i think the binis opted to call the state edo so that groups like esan or igbanke can have their own identity, all that still shows the liberal nature of the binis yet we and our oba(s) are the ones who are labelled as 'high-handed'

The truth is that I am not from Edo and hence has little authority to make a very solid comment but I wrote based on what Historians recorded and what Esan and Etsako friends of mine feel about Bini.Naming a State based on history of a city should ordinarily not be an issue.Examples are Kaduna,Oyo,Lagos,Enugu,Katsina etc, The truth is that Esan and Etsako will reject Bini as their State name not because it is a bad idea but because they will feel dominated by the Bini.The name Edo gives room for everyone.Bini is a branch of Edo just like Esan.

Obiagu1:
The Igbo identity was not 100% accepted in the whole Igbo communities but many identified as Igbo and the spread was all over Igboland and not localized. If it was localised, then you can claim only a group or clan identified as Igbo but many clans have Igbo as the name of their towns and identified as Igbo.

In some cases, "A"  town calls "B" nwaIgbo but the same "B" calls "C" nwaIgbo. It was a very confusing situation in some areas.

You guys need to stop assumptions.Go home and make enquiries from your people.The Europeans often used the term "Ibo Country" rather than tribe.This was so because everyone kept denying being the Igbo proper.The Igbo proper are actually the Isu and Nri groups of which Obiagu1 and co originate from.They bear Igbo as name and have communities named Igbo like Amaigbo and Igbouku.The Delta Igbos are mostly of Nri and Isu origin and identified them(Nri/Isu) as Igbo even prior to the coming of Europeans.

Fk all yall!!!!.This thread is useless.

Ok Abagworo is Igbo, Eku-bear is Yoruba ,Alloy-emeka is Ogoni(surprised?) ,alj Harem is Igbo(wow!!!)

Next!!!

exotik:
@obiagu,
so break them down and let's see all the 300 languages/tribes in nigeria. at least bini has broken theirs down why can't igbos? bini could easily call all the languages/dialects/or whatever u want to call it  in edo state and environs bini but they haven't.

the "igbo" and "yoruba" language/identity are contemporary languages/identities anyways but u guys will never admit.

but good luck with claiming every tribe want to claim coz binis don't care coz we can identity ourselves and don't need anyone to do it for us.

Guy you are 4king up!Esan is in no way a Bini dialect.Infact Esan is bigger than Bini.Bini,Esan,Etsako,Urhobo and Isoko all speak different brands of language rooted in Edo and not Bini.Calling Esan a Bini dialect is like calling Ngwa an Abiriba dialect.You all are Edo.

The case of Igbo is quite difficult because there is nobody called Igbo.Igbo is just a coinage used in addressing various loose clans that spoke related languages.Yoruba is not much different from Igbo if not that Oyo somehow conquered all of them and influenced their structure.

One interesting postulation that you never knew is that an estimated one out of five Igbo or Yoruba has Edo roots but dislinked from Edo because of Benin past Obas highhandedness.

ifyalways:
Abagworo methinks it shld be "Uzoroma",never seen anyone bearing just "uzor".

So Orji Uzor Kalu is actually Uzoroma or Uzoma.Lol@ dat

ezeagu:
Uzor is a 'chi' name.

Uzor means road and has nothing to do with Chi.Chibuzor or Uzorchi is different.

Mgbeke
Mgborie
Mgbokwo
Mgbafor
Orji
Uzor
Kalu
Mbakwe
Ngwakwe
Igbokwe
Onwukwe
Nnakwe
Ikwechegh
Maduake
Ojo
Uju
Ola
Udoma
Ihuoma
Otuonye
Oseloka
Osakwe
Ihunna
Nwanne
Abagworo
Ekeoma
Mang
Iti
Oti
Uti
Omaka
Iheanyi
Abama
Oli
Nyenke
Onyeoma
Onyesom
Nwagbara
Nwokoma
Nwokocha
Nwokoro
Nwobo
Nwobiarije
Iroh
Onyia
Ochiabuto
avoghilefu
Ihesiaba
Akomas
Emenike
Amaechi
Mojekwu
Udenwa
Ohakim
Enwerem
Nzeribe
Iwuanyanwu
Mbadinuju
Onoh
Onovo
Dibie
Ibezim
Alozie
Adele
Anele
Afoma
Nwike
Ozurumba
Obinta
Orlunta
Adanta
Nnanta
Orlunma
Mirikwe
nneke
Oputa
Obasi
Nworisa
Nebolisa
Orisaemeka
Nwapa
Ukoh
Inyiri
Adawai
Ukefi
Nwadibia
Apugo
Ibeh
Ibekwe
Amadi
Nwamadi
Odili
Achibiri

ezeagu:
Why wouldn't you think the eastern Igbo are aggressive, you were in Ohafia! Not only is that bush, but they are the archetypal warriors in Igboland. Anyway, Igboland isn't split culturally or socially only into eastern and western sections.

The culture(?) division I see in Igboland includes:

The main three:

Northern
Anambra, Enugu (Benue small communities), Ebonyi

Southern
Abia, Imo, Rivers

Western
Delta (Edo small communities)

They can be split down further to

North
True North (Nsukka, Ngwo, Enugu, etc)
Northwestern (Ebonyi, Some parts of Abia)
North central (Nri-Awka-Nnewi, etc)

South
True South (Ikwerre, Port Harcourt, Ndoki, etc)
South west, (Owerre, etc)
South east (Umuahia, Ngwa, Mbaise, Aro etc)

Western
True West (Ika, Igbanke)
West central (Aniocha, Asaba, etc)
South west (Ukwuani)

The culture most people see as core Igbo culture is North central, most internal conflict in all of Igboland is because of this group who are seen as dominating, when an Ikwerre person or an Ika says they are not Igbo, they are not necessarily saying they are no longer kin with those in the south, or they aren't brothers with those in the West.

The most distant people in Igboland are the Westerners, particularly the True West.

The most undermined culture is that of the North west, but they have retained their culture better than most.

The most cultured, in my opinion, are the True North.

The most aggressive are definitely the South east.

You made a very grave mistake in that southern Igbo classification.Mbaise,Ngwa,Asa,Ohuhu,Etche and Ndoki definitely belong.Ikwerre and Oratta(Owerri) are more closely related while Ogba,Egbema,Oguta,Ohaji and Ndoni belong to another class.

Nigeria’s total foreign debt has risen to $5.23bn, according to the Debt Management Office.

Statistics obtained from the DMO on Monday showed that the nation’s foreign debt increased from $4.58bn at the end of last year to $5.23bn as at March 31, 2011. This represented a 14.16 per cent increase within a period of three months.

According to the DMO, the increment resulted from the $500m loan obtained from the International Capital Market by the Federal Government recently, as well as variations in exchange rates.

A segmentation of the nation’s debt profile showed that a greater proportion of it came from the World Bank Group, as this source contributed $3.79bn to the total external debt stock.

The African Development Bank Group, on the other hand, accounts for $398.75m, while commercial loans account for $188.61m.

The country also owes $161.33m in bilateral loans in addition to the $500m ICM loan.

The domestic debt component, on the other hand, has risen to N4.87tn from the N4.5tn, which DMO declared at the end of December 2010.

Much of the domestic debt was incurred through the Federal Government of Nigeria bonds, issued on monthly basis by the DMO and with maturity dates ranging from three to 20 years.

The FGN bonds accounts for N3.06tn or 62.78 per cent of the total debt profile.

The Nigerian Treasury Bills contributed N1.44tn or 29.57 per cent to the debt stock, while Treasury Bonds accounted for N372.9bn or 7.7 per cent.

The Director-General, DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, had explained that the nation’s growing domestic debt was necessary to deepen the market and provide a vital source of funding for government’s budget deficits.

He said, “The DMO reintroduced the issuance of sovereign bonds in 2003 but started regular bond issuance in 2005, based on a programmed monthly issuance calendar. With external borrowing limited to the concession windows, borrowing from the domestic market became the main source of raising capital by the Federal Government for funding its activities.

“The policy shift towards the development of the domestic market was anchored on the desire to not only finance government budget deficits, but also provide the much needed platform for raising long-term capital for funding public and private sector projects. It is also to insulate the domestic economy from external contagion, develop the domestic capital market and provide a benchmark for pricing other financial instruments in the system in line with global best practices.”

Consequently, as at December 31, 2010, domestic debt accounted for 86.71 per cent of the nation’s total debt stock, which stood at about N5.19tn.

The DMO’s Annual Report and Statement of Accounts 2009 showed that the country spent $3.18bn on debt servicing in 2007. This increased to $4.05bn in 2008 and dropped to $2.34bn in 2009.

In terms of proportion, the domestic debt component accounted for 67.91 per cent, 88.54 per cent and 81.67 per cent of the debt servicing expenditure in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively.

External debt, on the other hand, accounted for 32.09 per cent, 11.46 per cent and 18.33 per cent of the total debt servicing expenses in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively.

Nwankwo said the concern of Nigerian citizens on the level of the nation’s debt had been taken into consideration by the Federal Government.

For this reason, he said, deficit financing had been reduced from 6.02 per cent in 2010 to 3.62 per cent in 2011 and would further reduce to 2.88 per cent and 2.62 per cent in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

He added that the nation’s domestic debt had not reached the level where the public sector could be said to have crowded the private sector from the debt market as the World Bank had alleged.

According to him, the DMO is developing a plan for helping the private sector to access the bond market for long-term funding needs.

On May 23, 2011 · In News

LAGOS – Global Fleet Group at the weekend in Sao Tome took over 100 per cent shareholding of Oceanic Bank, Sao Tome. The bank was handed over to Jimoh Ibrahim as the new chairman in Sao Tome at a completion board meeting at weekend.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Jimoh Ibrahim, signed on behalf of his company Global Fleet UK while the Managing Director of Oceanic Bank; Mr. John Aboh-led eighth subsidiaries of the bank to Sao Tome where the bank was handed over.

The development witnessed first completed sales of a bank since the present reform of the Central Bank of Nigeria under Malam Sanusi Lamido. The bank was set up in 2008 and licensed by the Central Bank of Sao Tome to carry out banking business.

In her last financial statement, the bank which made a loss of $600,000 had a contingency balance sheet of about 166.4 billion Dobras (Sao Tome currency).

Ibrahim, who said the bank will be repositioned and turned round quickly to return to profit, stressed that the take-over is strategic to position external relations between Sao Tome and Federal Government of Nigeria Joint Venture project.

Almost six months into the fiscal year, the Federal Government is still restating its objection to the 2011 Appropriation Bill by the National Assembly. The Presidency itself set the tone for the delay when it sent its proposals to the parliament only on December 15, 2010, just 16 days before the budget ought to come into effect. President Goodluck Jonathan had presented a budget estimate of N4.2 trillion for 2011, with crude oil price pegged at $65 per barrel.

Even as the legislators began to discuss the bill, federal officials were sending amendments and addenda to the initial N4.2 trillion estimate. Though the National Assembly finally passed the bill on March 16, it has since not been signed by Mr. President. The Presidency is equally contemplating presenting a supplementary budget to NASS, even while presidential assent to the N4.971 trillion 2011 budget hangs in the balance. Group Business Editor, ROTIMI DUROJAIYE, reports that Nigeria’s executive and the legislature have, for over a decade, been unserious in planning the national budget.

•Jonathan •Mark

2011 Appropriation Bill still in limbo

Director-general of the Budget Office based in the Presidency, Bright Okogwu, lamented recently that the impasse over the 2011 budget has lingered for long. He said because, unlike the original document with a deficit of three per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the legislators passed a N4.97 trillion budget, with the deficit being four per cent of GDP.

“The Minister of Finance (Olusegun Aganga) has said it is not implementable. We want to make it more implementable,” Okogwu said, adding that the Presidency and the National Assembly (NASS) have been discussing for some time, and both recognise the need to come back to a more realistic budget deficit level, because the Fiscal Responsibility Act stipulates the budget not exceed two per cent of GDP deficit level.

“Both sides recognise that this is the case. I am optimistic that even at preliminary discussions, we will arrive at something rewarding. I am optimistic because we both took this into account in terms of the pace of work we set out to do. Both sides recognise that this has to be sorted out before the new parliament comes into being. So we have a very tight target that we both recognise and we are working towards,” Okogwu stressed.

The DG spoke in Lagos at the launch of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s semi-annual sub-Saharan African Regional Economic Outlook.

He assured the gathering of IMF, Finance Ministry and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) officials, members of the private sector, and the media that even when the budget has not been signed, the law allows the government to spend a certain percentage of previous year’s budget meanwhile.

Aganga, represented at the forum by Danladi Kifasi, Permanent Secretary of the Finance Ministry, said Nigeria has a lot to learn from the global financial crisis which has taught other countries great lessons in terms of policies and interventions needed for macro-economic stability and growth.

He noted that Nigeria’s economy grew 7.85 per cent last year, higher than the estimated 3.9 per cent global growth rate and the 4.7 per cent average for sub-Saharan Africa.

With an average growth rate of 6.65 per cent over the last five years, Nigeria’s growth continues to out-perform those of many other economies.


Presidency plans supplementary budget

The Presidency is said to be contemplating presenting a supplementary budget to NASS, even while presidential assent to the N4.971 trillion 2011 budget hangs in the balance.

While details of the N4.971 main budget are yet to be fine-tuned, the supplementary one is expected to cater for what is left out of it.

Sources close to the Senate Appropriation Committee had told our sister publication, Daily Independent, last week that the NASS is looking forward to the extra budget, “though we have adjusted some figures in the 2011 budget which was passed into law two months ago.”

It was learnt that the delay in presenting the 2011 Appropriation Bill to President Jonathan for assent is due to the delay in transmission from NASS, which has now promised to sort out the remaining details and send it to him.

Asked why Nigeria has no current budget five months into the year, a presidential source explained that “the Constitution allows the president to authorise and expend funds up to six months in any fiscal year before a new budget comes into effect.

“The last budget expired in March, but Jonathan can spend at least 50 per cent of the total budget approved by the National Assembly for 2011.”

On resumption of plenary on May 3, the legislature explained that delay in signing the budget into law was due to some “details” being ironed out.

Senate spokesman, Ayogu Eze, confirmed to reporters that the review of the approved budget by lawmakers is legitimate in as much as Jonathan is yet to sign it.

His words: “I am aware that efforts are being made for the details of the 2011 Appropriation to be finalised, so that he (Jonathan) can sign it and possibly present a supplementary appropriation which the government has already hinted will come up.

“I am not aware that he (Jonathan) has refused to sign it, because the details were not even worked out before we went for election, and those details are being worked out before they sent it for his assent.

“The budget can only be reviewed if it is returned as a substantive bill. My understanding is that the supplementary appropriation can take care of whatever misgivings may arise in the budget.

“That is the way to cure whatever defect is in that budget. We are human beings; everybody was going for election and they wanted the budget passed. But we have found out that we need to do a supplementary appropriation; so we don’t have any problem with that.”


Fears over budget failure

Last March, Aganga warned that the 2011 budget passed by NASS is too unwieldy to be implemented. Aganga said the only way the Federal Government can implement the budget is by slicing off a chunk of the fiscal appropriation act recently approved by the lawmakers.

http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=34167

Only the truth can move us forward. Fraudulent election brings about illegitimate government who is alien to the masses and hence cares not about them.

Btw.Does anyone know Keyamo's user name on nairaland?

hillsate:
Sincerely speaking, all the bla bla bla we are uttering here will change nothing. But lets point out some truth.
1. PDP rigged the election
2. CPC too rigged the election
3. The smartest rigger had the day
4. CPC initiated, supported, encouraged and even attempted justifying the violence before and after the elections.
5. CPC should allow the elected government face the task they were elected for by giving up all the court tribunal brouhaha
8. Buhari should bury his sword, congratulate the president and offer his services towards a better Nigeria.

This is the mentality dragging us backwards as a nation.If there is evidence of CPC doing it,then they should be brought to book.

I personally believe CPC supporters burnt the Emirs and prominent PDP chieftains properties but PDP sponsored the killings to discredit the protests.

Please you guys should not crucify him for the past is beyond our knowledge.One thing for sure is that there is Ado in Igboland and there is Ado in Yorubaland.Olukunmi or Igala might be our missing link.I bow out.

vicenzo:
Nkwelle ezunaka should be in oyi lga of anambra.I think there is a village in ogidi named nkwelle-ogidi which shares a common boundary with nkwelle ezunaka
  I doubt if orumba dialect will use nkwelle rather than nkwere,orumba dialect is 90% the same with those of isuochi and nneato in umunneochi lga of abia state,especially those orumba south communities such as umunze,ogbunka,ifitte,owerre ezukalla,ihie,nkerehi/umuchukwu.
 Orumba dialect is so distinct from the igbo dialects in onitsha and awka axis,which is usually the igbo dialect associated with anambra people who normally use "fa" for they, unlike orumba who normally use "ha" like most abians.

You are on point brother.

nwaigbo_mg:

yes my brother, ikwerre was never a name of any sub-igbo group or ethnic group, ikwerre has always been a name of a town, there is a Local Government in rivers state  called ikwerre, so ikwerre being an ethnic group was the handiwork of elechi amadi

another town that has a significant meaning is the headquarters   of anambra east local government  OTUOCHA

I'm mad at you brother for typing this crap.Even the colonialists knew Ikwerre was a distinct sub-group and classified it as that.Iwhuruohna has always known themselves as that or Ikwerre-Asaa which comprises of the seven Ikwerre clans.There is no town known as Ikwerre except Ikwerre-Etche which is in Etche and not Ikwerre.On a larger scale Ikwerre is an Igbo group and not a town.

matemate:
The new map of Biafra

lol@ Taraba being larger in land mass than the entire former Eastern region.

wesley80:
@Abagworo
Bros I dey Warri if you want see me I'lld be glad to send u my addy.

Ok then.Since you are not from Imo why not stick your tiny D*ck in the filthy gutter of Effurun swamp and stop fantasizing about another man's *ss.

Abiriba And Ohafia: Two Of A Kind
BY EBERE AHANIHU

For over 200 years, the people of Ohafia and Abiriba have shared a common
boundary. Yet, they have shared diametrically opposite world-views. While
the one lived in a pre-colonial world where the love of military glory was a
consuming passion, the other was a wealthy black smith and a long distance
traveller. To date, they have maintained two parallel lines: while the one
loves education, the other loves business
OHAFIA and Abiriba, two communities located in the northern part of Abia
State, are like twins separated by a few kilometres of expanse of land. But,
even as they share a common boundary, one sharply contrasts the other in so
many ways. Sometimes, nature, in its infinite wisdom, helped in scripting
what has come to make one distinct from the other. As the saying goes in the
two communities, it takes only a trained eye to see the difference.
Yet, Ohafia and Abiriba share certain fundamental practices in common. It
appears that after over 200 years of living close to each other, they could
not help sharing some practices, one being the matrilineal system, in which
a woman inherits property from her father's home. The child from such a
marriage still traces his descent through his father, but relies more on his
maternal side for his upbringing.
This practise has been used to explain why Ohafia and Abiriba women hardly
married outsiders, until in recent times. In the two communities, women are
seen as assets to their families. An Ohafia or Abiriba woman would never get
so serious with a stranger as to marry him. If she does, it implies that she
has depleted the family's resources. On its own, the act will be a breakaway
from the norm.
Another common feature is the age-grade system. Over the years, the system
has become a vehicle for development, more especially in Abiriba, where all
projects in the area are associated with one age grade or the other. There
is an inexplicable sense of mission among succeeding generations to take up
projects in the community that will surpass the performance of their
predecessors.
Beyond that, the Ohafia and Abiriba people have maintained their
distinctness, and a stranger who understands the rules can easily separate
one from the other. The dialects of Igbo language spoken in both areas vary
in a way. While the Ohafia man rebukes a mischievous child by saying: "Ifula
nwantaa!", the Abiriba man says: "Kalaa nwantoo!". The Abiriba man says,
Iwo, for anger, while his Ohafia counterpart says, Iwe. Husband is Ji, in
Abiriba, and di, in Ohafia. To say, 'Look at it', in Ohafia, they say Le ya,
and Kala ya in Abiriba.
Nature has also played a part in it, if the contrasting topographies of the
two communities are taken into consideration. Unlike Ohafia, which is on a
plain land, Abiriba is clustered over an undulating hilly outlay, and
boundaries demarcating villages are hardly seen. Some of the exotic
architectural designs that can be found in Nigeria dot the hilltops, giving
the community the name, 'Small London'.
Although the people of Ohafia are beginning to match their Abiriba
counterparts in terms of infrastructure, the area still wears a more rural
outlook than Abiriba. In Abiriba, the Abiriba Communal Improvement Union,
through the use of mutually competitive age-grades, spearheads development
efforts in such a way that electricity, pipe-borne water and tarred roads,
without the assistance of the government, reach a greater part of the
community. There appears to be a deliberate attempt among the people to
remain close to each other all the time.
Abiriba is a community of shrewd businessmen. The Abiriba man loves and
follows the whiff of money to wherever it takes him, and no matter the risk
involved. Over time, the quest for wealth has led him through thick and
thin, to have business links traversing the entire West Africa, with
tentacles stretching as far as Europe, America and the Far East.
Abiriba is a specialist trading community and one of the wealthiest
communities in Igboland. A striking feature of trade and industry in Aba is
the prominent role played by Abiriba people. Unlike Nnewi, in Anambra State,
where businessmen have located the bulk of their industries at home, the
Abiriba man has practically no industry in his land.
Instead, the traders and industrialists have, since the end of the Nigerian
Civil War in 1970, tended to concentrate their activities in Aba, where they
have good relations with Ngwa people and little difficulty gaining access to
land. Of the 29 companies, including the two largest employers listed in Tom
Forrest's Makers and Making of Nigerian Private Enterprise published in
1994, 11 of them are owned by Abiriba businessmen.
The Abiriba man is restless and always on the move. When he is fortunate to
move up the ladder, he takes along somebody from his community. He does not
believe that he should be the only cock that crows in the town. "No man",
the saying goes in Abrirba "no matter how successful, can bury himself when
he dies. He needs other successful people to give him a befitting burial".
Or, "No one person, no matter how rich or successful, can kill a cow and eat
it alone. The enjoyment of it is in the sharing".
As the Abiriba man travels, pursuing his business interests from one end of
the globe to the other, there is an unwritten rule among the people that he
must bring home whatever he finds in foreign lands that will be of benefit
to his people. He does not build a house simply because he needs a roof over
his head. When he does, he leaves his personality imprinted on the
architectural design, and the building has to be the first of its kind in
the community.
In all of these, the Abiriba man has one shortcoming: he did not embrace
formal education when his neighbour, the Ohafia man, did and, so, the first
generation of Abiriba businessmen was largely illiterate. To the Abiriba
man, it was money before any other thing. But, in recent times, education
has become vital to him. Somewhere along the line, he seemed to have
realised that he may have all the money, but that without education, he may
not know how to control or reinvest it.
It took the Abiriba man a long time to realise the importance of education.
But, before he did, his Ohafia counterpart had made hay, entrenching himself
in the bureaucracy. He began with the teaching profession. Education was the
main industry in the area. To the Ohafia man, no profession was as noble as
teaching. It became so much of an obsession that every child born in the
area looked forward to becoming a teacher.
Today, while the Abiriba community boasts of wealthy traders and
industrialists, the children of these teachers in Ohafia are found in the
academia, and the professionals and control the political machinery in the
area. Before you can count on your five fingers Abiriba men who have
attained the academic rank of professor, Ohafia has counted over 50 of them
and more politicians, both at the federal and state levels.
Indeed, the Ohafia man had a head start. But, does he know that he owes it
all to Eke Kalu, the former slave and an unsung hero, who was born about
1875 in Elu Ohafia and sold into slavery; who went as far as the present
Cross River and Rivers states; was sent to school; and later promoted the
overseer of the house of his master, Chief Mini Epele of Opobo, before his
triumphal return to his family in Ohafia?
IT is not certain how Ohafia and Abiriba came to be in their present
locations. There are as many versions as there are people telling the
stories. However, the stories agree that the two communities originated from
different sources. While some trace their origin to Israel, others trace it
to Egypt and, sometimes, to the Bantus in East Africa. All the accounts
agree that the forebears of Ohafia people migrated from Isi-Eke, from a
place called Umuajiji, in Ubeku, Umuahia, while those of Abiriba migrated
from Ene, in today's Cross River.
The Ohafia people, the story goes, left Andoli and settled in Isi-Eke, from
where they ran away. One night, it was said, the people heard the rattling
sound of calabashes. The sound was interpreted to mean that they were being
invaded. A commotion ensued. As some of them escaped toward Ngodo, others
went towards Isuochi. At one point, some of them headed towards Abam.
Leading the group heading to Abam, was a man known as Ezeama Atita, and two
sons called Uduma Ezeama and Onyereobi Ezeama. When they got to Abam,
Onyereobi's wife, who was heavy with pregnancy, could no longer walk. He,
therefore, remained in Abam with his pregnant wife, while the group
continued on the journey. In the present location of Ohafia, at a place
called Ugwumgbo, Ezeama Atita, and his second son, Uduma, settled. After
many years, their offspring established the 26 villages that make up today's
Ohafia.
The ancestral headquarters of Ohafia is in Elu Ohafia. Each village is
governed by an eze ogo. All the eze ogo's come together to form the Eze
Ogo-in-Council, which, with the amala, decide how the community is to be
governed. The overall traditional ruler, Udumeze, who lives in Elu Ohafia,
intervenes only when there is a matter between an eze ogo and a subject.
In the past, the culture of Ohafia was hinged around one's prowess in war.
They were constantly on the lookout for wars in which to take part. They
became something like mercenaries and the people of Arochukwu, who were all
over Igboland 'hunting' for slaves, harnessed this warlike spirit in Ohafia
people to their own advantage.
The practise of beheading a fallen foe was a favourite pastime. A human
skull was valued as a souvenir, and it was a proof of a man's courage, which
brought to the Ohafia man different types of honour. Only those who brought
home a human head could join the Ogbu-Isi society and wear the eagle plume
of courage. The love of military glory became a consuming passion and the
focus of all social values.
On the other hand, Abiriba, the people say, means Ebiri-Abaa, which roughly
translates to, a fertile land that enriches those who live in it. Whether
the people migrated from Israel, Egypt or from East Africa, the different
accounts agree that they arrived Abiriba from Umon, in Cross River State,
through Ena, Eberiba, Udara Abuo in Ohafia, and then Agboha, in the present
Abiriba.
The leader of the group was a man known as Oke Ukpabi, who had a son, named
Ukpabi Oke. Father and son lived at Ndi Ogogo, where the father died. Ukpabi
Oke, in turn, had four sons, named in order of seniority as Inyima Ukpabi
Oke, Chukwu Ukpabi Oke, Ali Ukpabi Oke and Oko Ukpabi Oke. While Inyima
Ukpabi Oke remained at Ndi Ogogo, Chukwu Ukpabi Oke moved to Amogudu, Ali
Ukpabi Oke settled in Ihungwu, Oko Ukpabi Oke moved to Ama-Elu Nta.
Theoretically, Abiriba is divided into three geo-political zones - Ameke,
Amaogudu, and Agboji. But, practically speaking, Abiriba remains one. The
boundary line separating one village from the other is blurred. They abhor
anything that will bring division among them. For this reason, they have
refused the creation of autonomous communities in the area, in spite of its
expedience.
As in Ohafia, Abiriba is organised in a confederal system of government. The
three geo-political zones have their ezes, who legislate on residual issues.
There is an overall eze, the Enachuoken, who lives at Ndi Ogogo, in Ameke.
He is said to be a ceremonial head and concurs to decisions reached by the
Enachuoken-in-Council, made up of representatives of the three zones. The
Otisi, a deity, is the mess of the Enachuoken-in-Council and stands as the
symbol of authority. Any law proclaimed in Abiriba, without the Otisi cannot
stand the test of time. Otisi can only be seen in the public when laws are
going to be enacted or repealed.
The Abiriba man had not the war-like traits of his Ohafia counterpart. He is
not a warrior in that sense. The only insight history gives into his past is
that he was a wealthy black smith and a long distance traveller, who worked
on raw iron from what is described as the mines of Okigwe-Arochukwu ridge.
AS a result of the abolition of slave trade, internal warfare declined and
it became safe to travel. The Ohafia people, whose warlike exploits made
peaceful travel impossible, were now able to work abroad. By 1913, most of
them were trading at Itu, in Akwa Ibom State, and Calabar, in Cross River
State.
Before now, the Ohafia man, with his entire war prowess, went through a
ritual, to purge him of his war-like traits. Perhaps, he needed to be told
by no less a force than the colonial might the old order had passed away.
And it came about in 1901, when a unit of the Royal West African Frontier
Force (RWAFF) based in Calabar laid a siege on Ohafia and Ebem. It was in
response to the destruction of Obegu, in today's Abia south, by fighters
from the two communities.
The Ohafia people had looked forward to that encounter. The people were in
high spirit, sharpening their machetes and loading their dane guns with
gun-powder. As usual, it was another opportunity for them to cut human
heads. But, in their ignorance, they failed to realise that the firepower of
the white man was far and above their crude weapons.
Enter Eke Kalu, the former slave. He had since returned from Opobo and was
now visiting Calabar as a businessman, when preparations to raid Ohafia and
Ebem were in high gear. The sight of RWAFF soldiers marching in Calabar,
coupled with his experience in Eket when he was a gun carrier, compelled him
to seek a way of saving his people.
Eke Kalu knew from experience that his people, the famous and dreaded
warriors of ancient Ohafia, the lions of the jungle, the proud and gallant
sons of Uduma Ezema, would challenge the soldiers. He realised also that
though the military tactics of the Ohafia warriors might surpass that of the
RWAFF, yet their weapons were crude and nowhere near the firepower of the
rifles and machine guns of the RWAFF soldiers.
He, therefore, hurried out of Calabar in a canoe and, passing through Ikun,
arrived Ohafia. It was an eke day and, on arrival, he went through the area,
warning the people against challenging the soldiers. Four days after his
return, the British soldiers were on their way to Ohafia, taking the Akoli
Adda route. Passing through Elu, they arrived in Ebem, where they pitched
their tents at Ifi Iri-opu. Captain Mowatt commanded the soldiers.
No sooner did the soldiers arrive than an Ebem warrior, Idika Echeme, was
said to have charged at them. Thereafter, the order to open fire was given
on the other side of the line. Soon, trees and human beings began to fall.
Each time cannon balls went off, trees and charging Ebem warriors were cut
down. The pillar of Ikoro Nde Anaga also came down. When they saw what was
happening, the surviving Ebem warriors panicked and took to the forests for
refuge.
After Ebem was reduced to rubbles, the British soldiers turned their
attention to Ohafia. As they approached, Eke Kalu was waiting for them, not
with machetes or dane guns. He had a long bamboo, at the top of which he
tied a white handkerchief, which he waved frantically in the air, saying to
the hearing of the approaching soldiers: "Ayi kwere na ndi beke", meaning:
"We surrender to the British".
Given his exceptional courage, Captain Mowatt was said to have demanded to
know Eke Kalu's identity. Coming close to the captain was an opportunity the
former slave needed to demonstrate, before his people, his ability to speak
English language. To the captain's question, he proudly replied: "I from Elu
Ohafia; my fadda, Imaga Agwunsi, say he no wan war". The captain was pleased
and to another question, he replied: "I is de onle man for Ohafia hear
English". When the British soldiers left Ohafia, the profile of the ex-slave
rose among his people. The fact that he could engage a white man in a
conversation earned him respect and honour. Consequently, they appointed him
their adviser.
The event that changed the course of Ohafia people forever occurred shortly
after, and Eke Kalu was, again, at the centre of it. There was, in Ohafia, a
man identified simply as Vincent, a Sierra Leonean, who was the Native Court
Clerk in the area. He was said to be "extremely wicked in his dealings with
Ohafia people". The day came when he locked some men in the prison for what
was described as a trivial offence. The men broke out of the prison and were
intent on beating him up, when he reported the matter to one Major Cobham,
who despatched some policemen to his rescue. The prisoners were promptly
rearrested and fines were imposed on them.
After this event, Ohafia people started looking for a way out of what had
become regular persecutions in the hands of the Sierra Leonean. As the
solution to their problem, Eke Kalu, advised them to build schools and
educate their children who, knowing what the clerk knew, would better
challenge him and his successors in future. The first school was opened at
Ndi Imaga Shed. From now on, the desire for education swept through Ohafia
like a bush fire.
ABOUT two major waves of migration to Calabar have been identified in
Abiriba. The first wave took place during the slave trade. When the
obnoxious trade was abolished, the second migration started, beginning with
black smiths and, later, traders. Two black smiths, identified as Nwafor and
Udehi, led the migrants. The story has it that Nwafor settled at Umonta,
while Udehi settled at Umon, near a plantation where he fashioned out hoes,
cutlasses and other farm tools. As time went on, Udehi moved over to Umonta
and both men opened a workshop.
With time, Abiriba people began to abandon iron work. It was now considered
to be tedious profession and not profitable enough. By the turn of the 20th
Century, the Abiriba man had gone into buying and selling with Europeans.
From now on, the economic history of Abiriba began to show a shifting
pattern of migration and commercial specialisation, in response to changing
economic opportunities.
In the 19th Century, and early in the colonial period, trade in palm produce
developed to the south, down the Igu tributary of the Inyang River, which
joined the Cross River in the Itu area. The area was where Abiriba traders
came to establish their business. There also developed a strong trade in
smuggled gin from Fernando Po. A separate line of trade, associated with the
smithing items, moved in the direction of Bende and later to Uzuakoli, where
there was a large Abiriba quarters, and along the rail line from Umuahia to
Port Harcourt.
By the early 1950s, the direction of the migration began to change. The
Abiriba businessman began to move towards Aba. In the days of pre-colonial
times, Aba had had a market place, near the Aza River, known as Eke Oha.
After the Arochukwu expedition, Aba became an administrative centre and a
garrison town. Its location on the railway aided its growth as a market
centre and rewrote the economic geography of the area.
It was in Aba that the Abiriba man made his first business breakthrough in
second-hand clothing, popularly called okirika, a period that marked his
entrance into international trade. Apart from okirika, he was also involved
in the importation of sewing machines, gramophones, stockfish and cement.
From 1954, he started importing large consignments of stockfish from Norway
and Iceland. By 1956, Abiriba men, such as the late Chief Nnana Kalu, had
visited Iceland.
Then came the Nigerian Civil War, during which Igbo people, including
Abiriba businessmen, lost their properties. At the end of the war, the
Biafran currency became worthless. Between 1970 and 1973, Abiriba men who
were able to return to big-time business were able to do so through loans
and advances by their pre-war overseas trading partners.
By January 1972, two years after the war, an Abiriba businessman, Chief
Obewu Ukegbu Onwuka, had begun importing containerised goods through the
Apapa ports. By 1973, the businessmen had entered into what one of them
described as the "innovation of importing cement in bulk, through a charter
party agreement".
In 1976, when a ban was placed on the importation of stockfish and
second-hand clothing, it was like pulling the rug from the foot of the
Abiriba businessman. Again, he tried to adapt, shifting interest from
trading to the manufacturing business. Today, he ranks among one of the
foremost industrialists in the country. From Aba, he has reached the four
ends of the globe pursuing his business interest.

BY  VINCENT UJUMADU
Erstwhile Information and Communications Minister, Prof. Dora Akunyili, has dismissed Tuesday’s rerun election in Anambra Central senatorial district as a charade.

She said: “The Independent National Electoral Commission set out to conduct credible elections, but desperate politicians, such as Dr. Chris Ngige of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, were determined not to see that happen. Ngige has once more done what he knows best, which is stealing the vote.”

Narrating her ordeal in a press statement signed by her Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Isaac Umunna, Akunyili said: “In all my life, I have never witnessed the kind of thing I saw on Tuesday. The level of intimidation of our party agents and disenfranchisement of my supporters was unprecedented. In some places, this shameful conduct was perpetrated by the thugs of the ACN as security agents who were supposed to checkmate them looked the other way. In a place like Nkpor, my agents were chased away and people who came out to vote for me were turned back.”

“As the party in power in Anambra State, APGA could have easily mobilised to physically challenge this brazen disregard for the provisions of the Electoral Act by renowned election riggers who see politics as a do-or-die affair but we chose to do otherwise so as to prevent bloodshed. This is in keeping with my commitment to clean politics, having earlier taken an irrevocable decision never to engage even a single thug as I do not see my political ambition as good enough reason to cause trouble or shed the blood of anyone.”

Akunyili said that in view of the circumstances under which Ngige was declared winner with 69,725 votes as against the 69,236 votes credited to her, she had no reason to congratulate him.

“I would have been the first person to congratulate Ngige if the rerun election was free and fair because I am sensible enough to know that, as is the case with every contest, there could be only one winner of the election. I, however, have no reason to congratulate him because this was a clear case of daylight robbery,” said Akunyili, who led with about 1,000 votes before the rerun ballot held in areas where the April 16 voting was declared inconclusive by INEC.

The one-time NAFDAC Director General noted the mournful mood in Anambra State after the announcement of Ngige as winner of the rerun election, saying it was strong evidence that the will of the people had not been respected.

According to her, “There would have been spontaneous celebrations across Anambra Central in particular if Ngige actually won the election, but the reverse was the case. I will, however, not be surprised if, in keeping with his tradition, he hires a crowd of celebrants one of these days so as to give the false impression that the people are happy with his stolen mandate.”

Urging her supporters to remain calm and law-abiding, Akunyili assured them that what has happened is a temporary setback.

houvest:
What is the purpose of this thread please? why are you laughing at your fello Igbos? What joy will you derive if a fellow Igbo is in hell and you are in paradise or even a fellow nigerian or just any human? . Are you now moving the contest from Humans vs the devil to Blacks vs others to Nigerians vs corruption to Ndigbo vs others to Imo vs Other Igbo States? Wake up and smell the capuchino. We shall all rejoice if eventually Rochas is annointed but why brag about Imo over other Igbo states? Ndigbo are on a journey from egypt to the promised land and have probably put their feet on the Jordan river if Rochas is declared winner but have not crossed over yet. Please quit being shortsighted and see the larger picture.

No you got me wrong.Ezeuche is a PDP apologist.I love every Nigerian including Igbos.They voted Orji again after his 12 years of active participation in the running down of Abia State.

@andre.Yes in NBF one Ogbuefi from Ika engaged him in a complex,intellectual and very revealing argument.

Here is a link on Abiriba.Anyone who reads it will understand why Abiriba has no identity crisis.No Igbo will argue about the next town's origin.



http://jigbani..com/

Kudos for allowing the will of the masses prevail.GEJ will forever be remembered for this

Kanuri people are generally envious of Igbos.

Abagworo's ban was without reason.
@Afam4eva,I suggest you use Afam4eva1 so that we would recognise you.