₦airaland Forum

otokx:
God bless Nigeria, there is no substitute to real Education.

Maybe you should educate yourself about African Americans before making yourself look like a fool. There are only 45 or 50 million African Americans; 20% of which have college degrees. That is 10 million people and on top of that another 3.0 million African Americans were enrolled in college as of the 2013, which was up from 2.6 million people in the 2010 census. 83.7% of African American had at least a high school diploma as of the 2010 census and 1.7 million African Americans had advanced degrees.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmcensus1.html
http://www.care2.com/causes/30-percent-of-americans-have-a-college-degree.html

I don't think that those number are that bad, considering that African Americans were slaves and it was against the law to teach them how to read or for them to go to school. Not to mention the fact that African Americans had to deal with segregation and discrimination in higher education for over a century.

Do 83.7% of Nigerians have a degree in secondary education? I already know the answer.

But as a Nigerian you should know that if it wasn't for the struggles of African Americans in the U.S. then Nigerians nor any other Africans would be coming to the U.S. for education. It has been a long fight; black people need to stop fighting each other and start working with each other. If black people would have worked with each othen there would have been no slavery and no colonialism which was slavery too.

Blackfire:
Are we cursed or the cause?

I don't know if you know anything about the history of the USA, but riots do not happen until after the police have beaten or killed a young black man. That is not even considering the stuff that police do to young African Americans that are not even talked about or rioted over. The USA is a very racist country. This just stuff that has happened in large cities over the last year or so. This is not even every large city, this is just Chicago and New York mostly and thing is that there is a lot worse stuff that people never even hear about:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/staten-island-man-dies-puts-choke-hold-article-1.1871486http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/05/nyregion/officers-in-bronx-fire-41-shots-and-an-unarmed-man-is-killed.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-police-detective-manslaughter-trial-0421-met-20150420-story.html#page=1
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/15/chicago-police-misconduct_0_n_2883433.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/10/rekia-boyd-settlement-fam_n_2849382.html
http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/7/71/520893/city-council-approves-5-million-settlement-stemming-fatal-police-shooting
http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/04/12/newday-pkg-blackwell-ok-tulsa-taser-shooting.cnn
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/25/justice/south-carolina-trooper-shooting/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/08/us/south-carolina-officer-charged-with-murder/index.html
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/man-in-critical-condition-after-shooting-near-have/nZwTb/
http://www.innocenceproject.org/free-innocent/improve-the-law/fact-sheets/dna-exonerations-nationwide
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-jon-burge-prison-release-met-20141002-story.html

liberty300:
I must admit; am a history buff myself. I enjoy history a lot cos Obama once said "you can't know where you're going if you don't know where you're coming from". But most Nigerians would tell me to forget history cos I can't get any good from it just because they feel uncomfortable telling the biafran story

Those people say that because they know crimes against humanity that their ancestors committed against the Igbo and Yoruba people that lived near them during the slave trade. So they don't want you seeing their dirt so they won't tell you the dirt, because it will show that their ancestors told lies and those lies caused the lives of millions of Africans in and out of Africa.

bigfrancis21:
Welcome home, my brother. From your DNA result, you are 84% black. How about the remaining 16%?

An african american, Polite, confirming his Igbo origins (75%):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j09jj9mX54

And he looks very much Igbo.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxfTnZ7v_oo

As for establishing of return programs, Nigeria has so many issues it is dealing with right now that it isn't focusing on establishing connections with diasporan communities at the moment. However, individuals are growing who feel the same way as you do, me too. I do believe that the people most likely to reach out to diasporan communities would be concerned Igbo citizens in Igbo land who feel for the diasporan cause.

Right now, the lower niger of Nigeria (Igbo, Ibibio and Ijaw) is agitating for self-independence from Nigeria due to mismanagement of natural resources coming from this region which accounts for over 70% of Nigeria's economy. We enjoin diasporan Igbo and Ibibion citizens to join in the cause with lower niger citizens to create an independent country of ours. That is the right step in the right direction.

Actually I am probably 86% to 90% African, because I have Senegal, Mali and North African DNA too. This stuff is incredibly interesting and important to African Americans, because the White people continual lies about Black people is enough to make you not even want to deal with those folks anymore. We are not even human to those folks. No black person anywhere is seen as human to them.

I read up on the Biafran War and the way that things went. That was really sad. I hope that bloodshed can be averted this time around, but if there is any chance that the White man will lose any of the money that he is stealing from Black people; then he is going to put his black lackey leaders up to war against any black people seeking freedom.

On a side note, I truly don't understand why Igbo leaders don't reach out to African Americans; because it is common knowledge that 60% or more of African Americans are part Igbo. Think about that. There are about 45 millions African Americans in the US, so that means that the Igbo are kin to about 25 million African Americans that are descended directly from slaves. The Igbo people in Nigeria are not reaching out and connecting with their kinsman across the ocean, so they feel like they are fighting alone. That is the fault of Igbo people everywhere. We never stick together. We always fight alone. When the White man in England fights anybody anywhere; the White man in the USA joins him. When an Igbo in Nigeria fights, he fights alone and his kinsman across the ocean never even knew that he had kin fighting or what they were fighting for. That is Igbo leaders Nigeria's fault. They need to start blitzing African Americans and reconnecting just like Ghanians did. I will now get down off my soap box.

PhysicsQED:
There is no "minimizing" of roles intended here. The only thing intended is to have at least some historical accuracy and to apportion the appropriate roles to the appropriate states. You grouped the Bini with Dahomey and the Aro Confederacy with regard to the slave trade, which is ridiculous (and I mean no disrespect to the Fon or the Aro by that statement, but the reality is that the slave trade was never as big a factor in Benin's economy as it was in those states). What's ironic is that many of the slaves the Benin kingdom traded during the brief periods it traded slaves wound up in southern Ghana and Sao Tome rather than outside of Africa (though the Bini did not know where the traded slaves would ultimately end up, of course). I agree with you that the transatlantic slave trade had a hugely negative effect on Africa's development and on the lives of black people worldwide, but what I don't get or agree with is why you think Benin played some "big role" in the destruction of Africa. I think this issue is an instance where the details actually matter.

The slave trade wasn't a significant portion of the Akan people kingdoms either, but they were involved in it. The Akan people made their money from the gold trade and they (particularly the Ashanti) typically only captured slaves as a result of war to expand their kingdom. They weren't particularly interested in slaving, but they sold the slaves that they took in warfare to the Europeans. However minimal the Akan people role was; the impact was huge and their actions did the Continent no favors.

Btw, I am not even criticizing the Bini people, but the fact of the business is that they were involved in the trade as well as numerous other people including Igbos, Kru people, Akans, etc. It is what it is. There were no winners except White people. The African people that weren't taken in the slave trade probably thought that they were the winners, but come to find out the White man just turned around and colonized them and made them slaves in their own homeland.

PhysicsQED:
Your post was interesting and you made some good points, but just one correction: the Bini were not huge players in the transatlantic slave trade and the transatlantic slave trade was of limited importance to the precolonial economy of the Bini. In fact in precolonial times, the Bini were not even engaged in the transatlantic slave trade for most of their history. I have seen people just assume that the Bini had some sort of major slave trading state without checking if this is true or not on multiple occasions, and unfortunately, the reason for the assumption (without doing research) pretty much every time is because of preexisting stereotypes about precolonial African history.

If they played a role at all then they played a big role in the destruction of the motherland. There is no minimizing of roles. There were real lives that all of the slave traders ruined, no matter how big or small that role may have been. The impact has been horrible and the horror just keep getting worse 200 years after the trade ended. Look at all of us sons and daughters of Africa. We are hated and despised all over the World, because of the actions of those ancestors that did those abominable acts.

Now the White man is walking around telling everybody everywhere how horrible black people everywhere are. They tell the Nigerians that African Americans are terrible people with no class. They tell African Americans that Nigerians are terrible crooked people with no class. The truth be told it is White people that terrible and crooked and have no class. But instead of African Americans and Nigerians getting together and seeing the real problem; we are only interested in showing compliance to the White man. We all are one big lost tribe and our women and men are despised and they hate themselves for being what God made them, which is brown and black; and for that we have the ancestors to thank.

Antivirus92:
The Aro people or Aros is an igbo sub-group with Akpa and ibibio elements who originated from Arochukwu kingdom in present day Abia state,southeastern Nigeria. The Aros can also be found in about 250 other settlements mostly in the southeastern region and adjacent areas.The Aros today are mostly classified as eastern or cross-river igbos due to their location,culture and dialect.Their god ibini ukpabi,was a key factor in establishing the Aro confederacy as a regional power in southeastern Nigeria during the 18th and 19th centuries. HISTORY AND ORIGINS-The history of the Aros predates igbo migration and founding of the kingdom of Arochukwu.Before igbos started arriving to Aro region in the 17th century,ibibios arrived from the Benue and Plateau areas and founded states such as obong okon ita and ibom west of the cross-river.Igbo migrations led by the Eze Agwu clan from the north into the Aro region started in the mid 17th century which led to tensions.The Aro-ibibio wars and the migration of the Akpa from the east of the cross-river,formed the nation during the turning point of the 17th to 18th century.The igbo and akpa alliance,defeated and assimilated the original ibibio inhabitants after long years of warfare.By this time,the palm oil and slave trade was popular in the hinterland.By the mid 18th century,there was a mass migration of Aro business men to the igbo hinterland and adjacent areas.This migration,influence of their god, ibini ukpabi through priests,and their military power supported by alliances with several related neighbouring igbo and cross-river militarized states (particularly ohafia,Abiam,Abiriba,Afikpo,Ekoi etc)quickly established the Aro confederacy as a regional economic power.However,Aro hegemony was threatened by the penetration of europeans,mainly british colonists.Tensions finally led to bloodshed and the Anglo-Aro war took place from 1901-1902.The Aro conferacy stoutly resisted the british but were eventually defeated.This helped the british to occupy the rest of what is now known as Eastern Nigeria. TRADITION-The Aros have rich tradition.one factor is the ekpe society which is a sacred cult originally from east of cross-river.The highly religious and and judicial cult took part in Aro cultism.The use of the writting system nsibidi,was based on secret societies like ekpe and uli was another writting system mostly used as body art.Another factor is the ibini ukpabi shrine who was mediating god among the Aros.They influenced neighbours and allies before the british invasion.The shrine was later corrupted,commercialised and used for selling slaves during slave trade.The ekeleke masquarade activity was important in Aro settlement rather than ekpe,brought from the Aros in the western niger delta,it eventually spread to the oguta area.They also were known for wearing the popular "george"cloth.The ikperikpe warrior dance was very popular among warriors in the olden days and continues to be practiced. LARGEST SETTLEMENTS-Aro Ajatakiri-ikwuano, umuahia,Abia state. Aro Achara-Ama-asa,isiala ngwa,Abia state. Aro umunkpe-isiala ngwa,Abia state. Aro mbawsi-isiala ngwa,Abia state. Aro okporoenyi-ikwuano area,Abia state. Aro umuru-ikwuano area,Abia state. Aro ndizuogu-ideato area,imo state(the biggest of all the settlements) Aro ajalli-Anambra state. Aro nzem-Ebonyi state. Aro amokwe-udi area,Enugu state. Aro isuochi-Abia state. Aro isiokpo/igwurita-ikwerre area,Rivers state. Aro abagana-Anambra state. Aro oru-Imo state. Aro ngwa-Abia state. Aro ezeagu-Enugu state. Aro achi-Enugu state. Aro kalabari-Rivers state. Aro opobo-Rives state.

All that they are remembered for is being slave traders of their own people.

[quote]LOL the white man gave you nigger, so it's okay to call yourselves ngga?

Anywaz. . . .
[/quote

Isn't that slur actually a corrupted form of the word Niger? Not all people taken in slavery was from the Niger river area.

Kanoro:
Sorry if this is the wrong forum category but I couldn't find one more appropriate. Europeans and Asians have been developing cast iron for centuries. Africans definitely had well developed iron technology but when you look at history, European technology was slow to be adopted by Africans. For example, though many African Kingdoms made wide usage of firearms, they still relied HEAVILY on imports to keep their arsenals full. The Japanese on the other hand adopted firearms quickly from Europeans and went on to produce their own local versions as well as improve upon European designs. Did Africans ever produce European weapons locally? If not, why? Did they lack certain technological requirements such as cast iron?

I know some other people will have more information on this subject and this may not be an answer to your question, but Europeans were not the first people to develop guns. I am pretty sure the Chinese were the first to develop gun powder and guns. I think that Arabs were the first to use them in warfare. I think that the Arabs introduced them to the Europeans. I don't know about the casting of iron, but it stands to reason that the Arabs taught the Europeans, because the Arabs taught the Europeans everything including the need to take a bath.

VudulessAyisien:
afro-Americans are much less connected to African culture as a whole because America is a racially biased European country. Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad etc are African-based countries. We Caribbeans know who we are, we even speak with African words and know what tribes were from (those of us who actually care unlike the Americanized ones). You'll find more afro-conscious Americans in the south like Louisiana. Or places like Nea York where groups of the diaspora mingle (and where culture revivals have happened like in Harlem and Brooklyn).

in America, Africa is seen as devil-land. Whereas in Jamaica, Africa is seen as home. In Haiti, Africa is Ginen (Guinea) land of the Ancestors. We have love for the motherland. But don't worry, more Aframs are waking up and reconnecting with their culture. They are more diverse than Caribbeans (they mixed with too many diff tribes to name) but I have questions....

In Jamaica we call okra "okra", an Akan word. But the Americans call it Gumbo which I hear is Congo (Bantu). Is this true? Both words are used in Haiti (Haiti has a significant Congo influence besides Fon and Wolof).

Anyone here recognize deity names Simbi, Ganga? The Congo ancestors were included into the Haitian variant of Vodou, alongside the Fon deities

What you wrote is completely untrue. African Americans are deeply interested in their culture and they have been amongst the most active group of Africans anywhere in leading Africans everywhere out of this mess that we have found ourselves in. To begin with most African Americans trace their ancestry to Igbo, Akan, Mande and Yoruban people; but particularly to Igbo and Akan.

What a lot of Africans from the Continent don't know and seem happy to not know is that it was against the law for African Americans to speak any of their ethnic languages or to pass down anything about your culture. Against the law as in "being tortured and killed." So most African Americans never knew anything about Africa, because there was never anybody to teach them and the White man convinced African Americans that Africa was a jungle; the people where cannibals and they didn't have any history. Who was there to teach African Americans any different?

The good thing is that a lot of African Americans have roots in the Southern part of the United States and we learned a lot from our old relatives about family, customs and culture. We didn't realize that they were actually passing on African lineage to us. They may not have even been aware of it, but used words, phrases and music clearly connects African Americans back to the continent of Africa. However, we had no way of connecting to any particular group because that was not something within our ancestors knowledge.

Now if you want to discuss how the Cuban-Africans; Bahamian-Africans; Brazilian-Africans; Cuban-Africans; Jamaican-Africans, etc.; knew more about Africa than African-Americans, then here is your answer: those groups were kept on large plantations and they could keep speaking their languages and practicing their African religions like Santeria. The vast majority of African-Americans were not kept on large plantations; they were by and large kept on small farms and they lost all contact with their heritage. The few groups of African-Americans that were kept on large plantations in States like Virginia, South Carolina, Louisiana and Georgia ended up keeping a lot of their African customs and culture and you will see many Igbo, Yoruba and Gullah settlement in all of those places. But by and large African Americans were kept on smaller farms and it was common to have their mothers, fathers, grandparents and siblings sold off to other farms in other States. So how was a little baby supposed to know anything about Africa or Africans if the people to teach them were gone?

As for your initial post, it is fully of conjecture that you know is not true if you know the history of African Americans. One most watched programs in US History was "Roots." Which was a program about a Mandika taken from Gambia to Virginia. The show follows his descendants as they take their American journey from Virginia to North Carolina and eventually into Tennessee. That is show is what typically happened to Africans taken in the slave trade. How was Kunta Kinte's relatives supposed to keep up with African culture once Kunta Kinte died? As it was they kept up with words and phrases, but as the television show showed; without other African people there how were the descendants of Kunta Kinte supposed to know much about Africa when all that that they had around them were Europeans?

Here is the thing; African Americans set up their own universities even when they were not allowed to attend White universities. Scholars like WEB DuBuois, Malcolm X and numerous other Americans knew the history of Africa and African Americans; so in later times we became knowledgeable about Egypt, Ghana, Mali, Songhan, Oyo, Nri and Akan people . So African Americans have always studied African history, but without anyway to connect it to your experiences then it is hard to understand the people and languages. And it didn't and still doesn't help when Africans come to school in America and act all arrogant as Hell and act as if African Americans are beneath them because we don't understand the history, language and people of Africa. Here is a newsflash; African Americans don't understand the history of Africa, because the ancestors of the Africans that come to America for school sold the ancestors of African Americans into slavery. So if someone is going to look down on something or someone; then African students should be looking down on their own ancestors because they were the heartless ones that caused all of us to be lost and the ancestors actions eventually allowed the Europeans to colonize Africa, because the Ancestors virtually depopulated Africa by selling slaves. That is the reason that all Africans are in the position that they are in right now. And it wasn't just the people of Dahomey or the Bini people; it was the also the Aro-Confederacy, an Igbo people that sold out of Calabar and the Bights of Benin and Biafra.

That is a long rambling answer, but African Americans are taking DNA test at all time, to locate where their ancestors are from. African Americans also visit Africa a lot, especially Ghana, because the Ghanain government has apologized for there role in the slave trade and Ghana's first president and all the rest of the that Country's President has come to America and made appeal after appeal to African Americans to come as tourist to visit the slave forts and castles and to invest in the Country. Is there any mystery as to why so many African Americans know so much about Ghana and why people from Ghana know so much about African Americans or why Ghana is doing so well economically? There are African Americans that live in and retire to Ghana and now they are looking to do the same thing in the Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Cameroon is another place that African Americans are visiting more. Look for more investments to go there.

The question I have is why hasn't Nigeria made a plea to African Americans to come as tourists? Why hasn't Nigerian cultural officials come to American Historically Black Universities, grammar and high schools to talk to kids about the slave trade and explain how most African Americans ancestors originated in Igboland, Yorubaland or in what is now Cameroon. Why aren't the slave ports in Calabar, Biafra become a tourist attraction; because African Americans want to know? What haven't Nigeria's government over the years made it a point not to align with African Americans the way the Ghana has? Long rambling answer but there is a lot of crap floating around about African Americans that is not true and a country like Nigeria is not doing all it can to repair relations with African Americans. Fwiw, my DNA test results are 48% Igbo and 36% Akan.