₦airaland Forum

IT'S TIME TO BUY GUNS AND CUTLASSES.
It's time that we Christian's need to act not just prayer alone. Just last week Sunday a pastor friend who live in Kaduna call me and was crying over the phone. He sent me pictures of another pastor church, who was having service on Sunday and how over six hundred mumber's was kill inside the church when service was going on. It pain me so much that many Christian's don't understand the scriptures. How can men kill over four thausand Christian is Kaduna, and we Christian's aren't doings anything about it. All we do is to pray, keep praying until they kill your family mumber's first before you react. The truth is that we need to defend ourselves. It's time to buy guns and cutlasses. Hear that Jesus has to said. Luke 22:35 And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing. 22:36 Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. 22:37 For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. 22:38 And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough. HE THAT HAS NO SWORD, LET HIM BUY ONE. Jesus didn't say let him pray for one but let him buy one, If Christian's don't defend themselves, they will soon be no Christianity in Nigeria. What stop the killing of Christian's during the Romans Empire is not just prayer but when the Christian's act by defending themselves.

RedboneSmith:
IPA means International Phonetic Alphabet, and SAMPA means Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet. They are acronyms. They are written before two different pronunciations of 'land' to indicate two different phonetic alphabet systems for pronouncing the word. But this uncomprehending simpleton can't even use the internet right.

Look, akpasukwana m iwe this hot afternoon.

I tell you all they do is give direct Igbo translation to any words they come across. It's so funny. This people will argue with you about your age. Very strange people

bigfrancis21:
You can't be so sure about this until you go back in time to study the history of slavery in Igboland and the history and usage behind 'Igbo'.

actually, I know this has nothing to do with slavery because I think the slavery route in Igbo land is Enuani towards Ukwani area/Aboh. It's just a derogatory term.

RedboneSmith:
Look sometimes, you people have to pause and think before posting. It is people like you that say Ubani (Bonny) means wealth of land, when 'ani' doesn't even mean 'land' in the southern Igbo lands. Don't be trying to use your Owerri or Umuahia dialect to explain our name. We don't call land ala; we call it ani. The Ala i'm talking about is not even pronounced like your ala for land. Our name, Ala/Illah means exactly what i told you it means. It is an Igala word



Olumbanasaa is an Igbo word, I agree. It doesn't mean 'voice of seven towns'.
The way you keep translating these words tells me you are an Imo or Abia man, and you don't know the Anambra River/Oshimili zone very well. If it meant 'voice of seven towns', the name would have been Onumbanasaa, not Olumbanasaa, going by the Igbo dialect of the area.

Olu means 'riverine', and was in many circumstances used by both Oshimili people and Aguleri to refer to Igala people, especially of the Ibaji district. Olumbanasaa means 'Seven Olu (Igala in this case) communities'. That is the collective name their Igbo neighbours gave them. The individual communities of Olumbanasaa all have names that are for the most part, if not completely, Igala names.

They try to do direct translation of every term they come across without trying to understand the history of those term. It's possible for two words to have similar spelling but very different pronunciation and meaning, especially when it's from two different languages

bigfrancis21:
To add here,n there are 6 supposed olukwumi speaking villages. 3 are completely Igbo speaking now. Of thhe remaining 3, Ugbodu village is the main village where there are olukwumi speakers. Someone from that village mentioned specifically that one quarter specifically is olukwumi speaking, and the others speak Igbo. It is also here that the 'purest' olukwumi is spoken. The next village that follows is ukwu nzu, the olukwumi here is mixed much with igbo. The reason for the survival of olukwumi in ugbodu is due to its extreme location on the farthest end of anioma land. Infact after ugbodu you cross the uhe stream or so and you are in Esan land. The isolation of this village compared to the others ensured the least anioma acculturation compared to other villlages. In fact, if not for the latest awareness made recently as to the existence of this language, it would have died out completely by the next 2 generations. Majority of its speakers are bilingual adults.

I know you're Igbo. thanks for being honest and not trying to twist fact just to win online argument

ChinenyeN:
Did you even read the post RedboneSmith made before responding to it? You've asserted that he is feigning ignorance, only to end up essentially repeating his words.

I guess you didn't understand my comment. I said "they" and the "theys" know themselves

Ngozi123:
You've now changed your argument from "typical Onitsha indigene" to "some"... There are a minority of people who have a considerable amount of Bini DNA in Onitsha but they know who they are and we know who they are, they are not the "typical Onitsha indigene", as you so erroneously said. You've completely turned that saying upside down and the fact that you've actually used that to explain why Onitsha people don't see themselves as Igbo suggests that you are lying about your identity. Like I said, Onitsha people are some of the proudest Igbos in the world. Let's see if you'll understand this double entendre.

read my comment. I said typical because to me the typical Onitsha indigenes are the Bini migrants including the Umudeis that have the royal quarters. But I also said some and did you miss the word "STILL". How exactly did I change my comment? You are the one changing tones now

RedboneSmith:
It is oversimplification to assume that language changing is always due to invasion and conquest. Rome also conquered many other people who did not adopt a Latin language, e.g., Greece. The Arabs also conquered many people who did not adopt Arabic, eg., Northern India. If invasion and conquest is the most important factor, all these places should have switched their languages. Heck, Africans today should all be speaking solely English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Sometimes, in fact, in many cases, peaceful influx of people can drastically alter or even change the spoken language of a settlement more than armies and conquests can, especially if the in-comers have a large population.

Greek was already dying as a spoken in Marseilles by the time Caesar got there. Granted, Romanization speeded up the process, but it would have happened anyway because Marseilles is just one colony in a sea of Gallic speakers. It was inevitable that they would get swallowed up.

Also you are wrong about Alexandria and Arabs. The Greek spoken by the founders of Alexandria had already been replaced by Coptic (the language spoken in other parts of Egypt at the time) before the Arab invasions. I don't need to tell you that this replacement had nothing to do with war, and everything to do with the strength of numbers.

The Igala colonies of the Lower Niger faced the same predicament viz-aviz the Igbo. Igboland was/is one of the most densely population areas in all of Africa, and as a result people were always moving out of its congested areas to people neighbouring sparsely populated areas. Some Igbo areas today are known to have formerly belonged to other ethnic groups, e.g, parts of Abakiliki region, Arochukwu, even Afikpo and parts of Ngwa. It shouldn't be hard to understand how Asaba, Illah and Oko among others could have started out as small Igala settlements and then be swamped by influx of Igbo-speakers from the East.

Look at what Ika-speakers had done to the Esan language of Ekpon. It did not involve war and conquest. Look at what Igbo people who came in as slaves did to the language of Bonny. It did not involve war and conquest. If the slave trade did not stop when it did, perhaps even the outlying settlements that still speak Ibani will all be speaking Igbo today. Look at what migrant Igbo farmers are currently doing to the Igala language of Akpanya. If the current trend doesn't change, that town could become a full-blown Igbo-speaking town in a matter of decades.

So don't tell me war and conquests are the only way languages change. I'm too knowledgeable to be told that. I know population strength and large-scale immigrations can equally do the trick.

I'm sure they know this but choose to feign ignorance. Influx of people in large numbers to anywhere whether for business or farming can greatly influence the original inhabitants of that place. Especially when it's from a major and larger ethnic group like Igbo.

Ngozi123:


Lmao. Ikechu1 was right about you. Please, nobody take this poster seriously. LMAO.

I said even till now that they are surrounded by Igbos, some of them still deny their Igboness which means some have started accepting the name. If you didn't know that Onitsha indigenes deny Igbo then I doubt you're from around there like you claimed. So you didn't know about how Onitsha people call other Easterners Nwa onye Igbo?

blues20:
The guys is shameless. See how he metamorphosed into an emotional crying sissy, instead presenting facts to counter arguments. Which one be population and fabrication again? I just wonder when Proudly Anioma Proudly Igbo FBP, moderated by Osita Mordi, an Ika son, became an Igbo page. It will be fair to ignore him henceforth. He ain't worth the time.

80%of the members in that page are from the East. Is it the moderator that makes the comments on post? He is one person and only comment for one person.

NB: I gave you all the facts and if you think bursting all your lies is crying like a sissy, so be it. You don't know me in real life and don't have a clue of who I am. So stop talking nonsense. I'm one person taking on 5 or 6 of you at once, bursting all your lies you take time to fabricate, what time do you expect me to bring out more facts? Probably divide myself I guess. Your population is your only advantage.

cheruv:
So the Tory don shift from Igbo to urhobo now
Guy you've a problem

You are the one that has a big problem if you don't know that "talks leads to talks" , so to say

Ugomba:
CHOI. IMPOSTER ALERT
which one is Anioma LGA?
u are a disappointment. fake imposter

You are the one that lacks comprehensive ability. You're the imposter here.

Ugomba:
he has run away. gosh i came late to dis thread.
he is an edo guy living in agbor,
IMPOSTERS

There was an interview flying about on nairaland purported granted by one (OBI OF UKWANI IN ANIOMA LOCAL GOVERNMENT ALREADY of Delta State), in which he told Okowa to shut up that he is an Igbo man. Of course, the interview was faked but you people masturbated to that news for month even after knowing it's not real. That's Igbo people for you. Fakeness is written all over your face

All the links you're posting don't have anything new but your delissoned mind is tell you it's corroborating your fabrication.

There is a reason no Anioma is interested in engaging you guys online and that is because your only weapons are population, propaganda, lies and deceit, concoction and fabrication of stories, interviews and some go to the extent of faking websites. I know your tactics but you can only deceive the gullible.

Now you people have the population, you're 5 and I'm one and in your mind you think you have won? Ha ha ha!!! My ethnicity is not something that can be won on the Internet. It's innate and inborn in us. We know who we are. no matter how many Igbos impersonate, no matter how many fake websites you try to clone (ikaworld is real and nothing there points Ika as Igbo and the Facebook page is an Igbo page with majority Igbo people with some Enuani and lesser Ukwani and Ika), no matter how many Wikipedia pages you edit, no matter how much effort you put in shouting any authentic Ika person down because you have the population or labeling him a Bini man or a recent migrant it doesn't change the self perception of an Ika man. So try harder and harder but you can never succeed in making Ika Igbo. You people should keep on trying by hook or by crook, it's not going to change how an Ika man sees himself. It's innate, natural and inborn in us. We cherish our cultural heritage more than anything else

cheruv:
Nne I huwonu ya
The kinda soup Cire80 and his cohort ehikwe are cooking for us here is one whose ingredients are lies,deceit, falsehood, brigadery, distortions of astronomical proportions whose purpose is just to paint in shame not only the Ika whom they claim to be but the larger Anioma community, thereby making us look stupid in the eyes of Edos and Igbos respectively
Just legodu ehikwe and his Anioma LG I can't imagine the pain Dennis Osadebei and the late Obi of Agbor would be going through in their graves on account of the foolishness many Anioma sons exhibit these days

You lack sense. The Obi of Ukwani from Anioma LGA was written by one of your Igbo concoctionists but we easily caught him because the so called interviewee doesn't exist.

cheruv:
Hmmm
It seems you find it difficult to learn
Di anyi is different from Dein/Dei/Dee
Di Anyi means our husband
Dein/Dei/Dee is like a title used to refer to an older male...similar to the Koreans who say "Hyung".

I already told you what Dein means in Agbor and Anioma. Dein and dear are not even similar. During the brewing period of looking for a meaning to ascribe to Dein, some propounded the theory it might be from Di anyi and all Igbos on nairaland were arguing on that until later they formulated the theory of dee dee.

Dein doesn't have any relationship with Dee dee

ariesbull:
Stop blaming Urhobo making you strangers...they are innocent and they are not the governor now



take am again



Origin of the name Ika

Although earlier colonial documents have referred to the present Ika people as Ika speaking people (Marshall 1936, Whiting 1936, Simpson 1936, Denton 1937, and Stanfield 1936), the present Ika people have not always been the only group known by the name, Ika. Forde and Jones (1967) used the term Ika for a wider community, which included the present Ika group. Ika was used by Forde and Jones (1967) to represent the inland parts of the four groups that make up the western Igbo group (Aniocha, Oshimili, Ika and Ukwuani) found in present Delta State away from the shores of the river Niger. The remaining members of these groups that are on the shores of the river Niger i.e. Asaba, Aboh and others were referred to as Riverain Ibo (Forde and Jones 1967: 49-50). Within this Ika group the present Ika community was classified as Northern Ika along with Aniocha and Oshimili while the Ukwuani group was classified as Southern Ika (Forde and Jones 1967). However the origin and meaning of the name Ika and when only the present Ika community and their language began to be known and referred to by that name, which they retain until today, is not clear.


http://ikaworld.com/207/



Igbokamma Igbogadiriri wrote

I am from Agbor in Delta State and I am a FULL BLOODED IGBO. We have ethnic Igbos in Edo (Igbo Igbanke), Delta North (ANioma), Benue (Obi LGA), Rivers (All upland areas), Akwa Ibom (Ika LGA -Akirika Obu) Cross River (Abi LGA) etc. Google it. HATERS Stop limiting Ndi Igbo to the 5 states, the satanic creation by homosexual evil military bastards who wanted to make us as small as a atom. Bleep nigeria.


http://www.chidiukwu.com/ze-igbokamma-igbogadiriri-wrote-i-am-from-agbor-in-delta-state-and-i-am-a-full-blooded-igbo/

I know this igbokanma igbogadiriri of a guy. He is an Igbo member and not from anywhere near Anioma. And what if one Ika man says he's Igbo. What difference does it make? And the ikaworld website, I didn't see anything that indicates Ika is Igbo

Cire80:
You just don't know about the politics of Delta State. I can't explain this to you. If an Urhobo person is in charge of updating that website, then he didn't even write much. Urhobo wants to make us strangers in our own State by all means because we were not originally supposed to be part of Delta State but we ended up having the capital against Warri.

There is a serious political rivalry going on between Anioma and the Urhobo. Urhobo was dominating the Delta State political sphere while we the Anioma were taking up all the Delta slots for federal appointments which was obviously by merit but this doesn't go down well with the them. Coupled with the fact that we were given the capital of a State were were not in the original plan against their well known city of Warri which was far more viable as a State capital makes it all worse. Now they try as much as possible to hold on to their power in Delta. They also try to make us as Igbo as I to emphasize that we shouldn't be part of their State with them. This is politics. Apart from politics, we live very fine with them.

ariesbull:
Onitsha doesn't and have never used dein before...Jesus

How can you be this way

Dein is dialectical version of Dee used in Owerri

Can you please read up owerri migration to present Agbor


It's a historical fact

Onitsha just like all other Anioma Kingdoms use Dei. Dei is of Agbor origin and there is a history behind it. It means royal family and the Kings household/quarter. Just like Agbor has Mmudein and Owa has Omudein, Onitsha people have Omudei quarters. What does the Owerri/Aba dee or dee dee means. Or the other versions of di anyi

ariesbull:
Is it not Ika people that put it

You are certainly daft to type this

blues20:
Are you in any way insinuating that Igbos are slave?

that's what we call them

ariesbull:
This guy is daft..do you want from Ika website ? ok wait

The fact is, website doesn't tell us who we are. We know who we are and only we have the exclusive right to tell our story. But is government website not supposed to be .gov.ng?

ariesbull:
Official Delta State Site


Ika North East Local Government

Owa-Oyibu, a growing town near Agbor, is the headquarters of Ika North East LGA, and like their brothers in the south the people speak Ika, an Igbo dialect. The LGA was created in September 1991, occupies a land area of 28.45square kilometres and has a population of about 144,270 . There are nine clans, namely, Owa, Ute-Ogbeje, Ute-Okpu, Umunede, Idumuesah, Igbodo, Otolokpo and Mbiri spread out into fourteen (14) wards. Each of these clans operates as a separate and independent entity under its own traditional ruler. They are well known for their farming prowess producing yam, cassava, melon, maize, tomatoes and plantain.



http://www.deltastate.com.ng/Local-Government/ika-north-east-local-government.html




No be me write am again...keep the lies and I keep the facts

You just don't know about the politics of Delta State. I can't explain this to you. If an Urhobo person is in charge of updating that website, then he didn't even write much. Urhobo wants to make us strangers in our own State by all means because we were not originally supposed to be part of Delta State but we ended up having the capital against Warri.

ariesbull:
Can you shut up Pls


The Ika people are a sub-Igbo group found in Delta and Edo states of southern Nigeria. The Ika people speak Igbo language. They share borders linguistically in the west with the Edo speakers, in the north with the Ishan speakers, in the East with the Aniocha language speakers and in the south with the Ukwuani speakers.[1]

The Ika people are specifically located in the North-West of Delta State but some of their communities like Igbanke, Inyelen and Ekpon spilled over into Edo State. Ika communities mostly comprise the following: Agbor, Owa, Umunede, Mbiri, Abavo, Orogodo, Otolokpo, Igbodo, Ute-Okpu, Ute-Ogbeje, Idumuesah, Akumazi, Ekpon (Edo State), Igbanke (Edo State), Inyelen Edo State). Other Ika communities found in Edo State are Owanikeke, Owa-Riuzo Idu and Igbogili.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ika_people

Wikipedia? Really? You guys are very funny.

ariesbull:
Speculation...Is that what you said

Do you know that Agbor and Owerri almost speak alike

I'm from Agbor and Owerri sounds like Greek in my ears. The r factor is not enough ground to start making up an imaginary Owerri movement in Agbor which never existed

blues20:
The article written by one Adewale Adeoye regarding what he wrongly termed “The Travails of Ika Igbo” (The Nation, 20 September, 2009) represented an exercise in futility, for it revealed nothing new. The Ika Igbo of Delta state do not face any special handicap different than what the larger Igbo ethnic group, in particular, and other Nigerians, in general experience daily within the Nigerian ‘federation’. Were Nigeria a properly constituted state talk of half-Igbo, full-Igbo, Delta Igbo, Anioma Igbo, Ikwerre Igbo, core Igbo, marginalization, resource control, federal character, true federation, state police etc will not see the light of day. These divisive tendencies gain currency owing to the systemic collapse of the Nigerian Project, due to structural imbalance which the ruling classes refused to address in statesmanlike manner. Decades ago, Chief Obafemi Awolowo observed and rightly asserted that Nigeria was merely a geographical expression. This wisdom holds true even today!

In the checkered history of Nigeria, the Igbo of Southeast Nigeria have never been known to look down on their kith and kin across the Niger let alone those within original Eastern Region. All this Igbo denial began immediately after the Biafra-Nigeria civil war. When Igbo people located outside the greater Igbo heartland found themselves subject to all manner of attacks by groups from the victorious federal side. To escape ethnic persecution and humiliation, they embarked on self-denial and ethnic renunciation. The Ikwerre of Rivers state, in particular, under the oppression of the Ijaw, with full Federal Government support, embarked upon an exercise in futility by adding “R” before every Igbo place name such that “Umueme” became “Rumueme”, “Umuola became “Rumuola”, “Umuokwuta” became “Rumuokwuta”, “Umuokoro” became “Rumuokoro”. Did this development change the fortune-economic, political- of the Ikwerre people in old Rivers state? Currently, the Ikwerre Igbo, realizing the futility of such action have started replacing the “R” prefix with “O” so instead of, say, “Rumueze”, it is now “Omueze” etc. Why indulge in this self-humiliation especially when you belong to a major ethnic group? Did economic and political liberation for the Ikwerre Igbo not come after the creation of Bayelsa state despite decades of futile attempts to please the Ijaw and other Nigerians in old Rivers state? Were Ijaw still the dominant group in new Rivers state, would the Ikwerre and other Igbo groups dreamt of ever producing an executive governor for the state let alone in succession?

The reason I used the Ikwerre analogy is to highlight the fact that it is not the Igbo who determine which group is Igbo or not especially because Ikwerre land used to be part of old Owerri Division . Other Nigerians are the ones who rightly remind those self-denying Igbo that, indeed, they are full-blood Igbo, denial or not notwithstanding. The Igbo are grateful to these Nigerians for doing this very important job of enlightenment for the Igbo free of charge. And we commend them for it. The Igbo found in Delta state have never been within the same political administration with the Igbo of Southeast. This unfortunate development was not the fault of the so-called core Igbo or the non-core Igbo, as it were. Rather, it resulted from the economic and political treachery of British colonial authorities. This situation which still persists saw the Igbo whether of the Western Region, Midwest Region, Bendel State, and now Delta state to exist as a minority within a minority-dominated political space. As such, they became subjects of ethnic jingoism of the most bestial degree. The situation of Igbo of Delta North is similar to the fate of a cockroach in a gathering of fowls- it could never be deemed innocent.

Furthermore, in the said article the subject-matter, a certain Chinedu Iraboh, did not face the situation he allegedly experienced in his pursuit of (government?) contract because of the nature of his last name. If so, why is that we have Nigerians bearing Arab and English surnames, yet these Nigerians represent Nigeria at the highest levels of Government both within and outside Nigeria? He is adult Nigerian and should have known that contracts are awarded based on certain criteria such as proven experience, firm’s liquidity and solvency, connection- school, marriage, or business- and, at times, corruption. Did he offer the proverbial ten percent to the contract award committee? Did he arrange for prostitutes and women of loose morals to go fool around with the commissioner for works or finance or the director general? Did he organize a lavish birthday party for the governor, commissioner, or permanent secretary’s wife or child?

Igbo land is an integral part of Nigeria so is not immune from some of the governmental chicanery which keeps the federation castrated. If he is whining about losing out of a contract award, what does he expect Nigerian owned firms that loose out to Chinese, Korean, German, American, British, French firms to do? Was Mr. Chinedu Iraboh not in Nigeria during the first GSM bidding rounds? What happened to the bid efforts of Chiefs Mike Adenuga and Annie Okonkwo’s firms? Did Mr. Irabor not read about Gbenga Obasanjo’s allegation that his father, former President Obasanjo, preferred to patronize his (Gbenga’s) wife with contracts than he, his son? In the award of contracts across the world, several variables come into play and these variables are tripled in Nigeria. My advice to Mr. Iraboh and his ilk is to seek connection with the centers of power in any state or local government he is seeking for contract. Nigeria has not developed or advanced to the stage where contracts are awarded purely on merit, ability and experience.

In Anambra state, for instance, both regimes of Chief Chris Ngige and Dr Peter Obi, have patronized and continue to patronize the civil engineering firm Inter Bau, a company owned by Chief Nathaniel Okechukwu, an Igbo from Delta state. The contracts both governors awarded and continue to award to Inter Bau, dwarfs any that was awarded to civil engineering firms owned by Anambra state indigenes or other Igbo. This patronage is not borne out of ethnic solidarity rather because Inter Bau has demonstrated that if given the opportunity to prove its engineering feat, foreign firms were not better at executing contracts than it. Again, Governor Peter Obi in a resolve to shore up the internally generated revenue base of Anambra state, commissioned a Yoruba-owned firm for that purpose. In doing this, the governor was looking both at experience and result, not tribal affiliation. Other firms owned by other Nigerians, whether from Delta state, Delta north, other parts of Nigeria and foreigners alike are all over Igbo land, executing various contracts just as Igbo-owned firms are awarded contracts across Nigeria.

Furthermore, much as I have great respect for the Ijaw, Urhobo, Isoko, and Itsekiri of Delta state and other Nigerians alike, is it not madness for a Delta Igbo to exhibit signs of inferiority in the presence of these groups to the extent that, whereas these other peoples are at home speaking their various languages in the presence of an Igbo from Delta state, the Delta Igbo would rather speak pidgin English before this people so as not to be “found” out as Igbo. Supposed that the Delta north people are the only Igbo people in Nigeria; would they not assert their equal stake both in the Delta state and Nigeria? Why should they display timidity in the presence of these other groups? What informed such attitude? Even in schools-universities, polytechnics, and other higher institutions- Delta Igbo always feel intimidated by groups with whom they share the same state. Why? Because the denial and denunciation of their Igbo origins render them numerically inferior to the combined numbers of these other groups. This self-inflicted injury is happening in a Nigeria where Igbo students constitute the largest students’ population after the indigenous students’ population in higher institutions. Since they vehemently deny being Igbo, they invariably alienate themselves from the larger and vibrant Igbo student population. On the other hand, minority student groups do not accept them as integral part of their group because they know they are misguided Igbo . In such situation, they are viewed with suspicion by both groups and are left in limbo.

Additionally, the Apoi Ijaw in Ondo state despite adopting both the Yoruba language and culture still identify fully as Ijaw and with Ijaw causes. Also, the bloodline between the Itsekiri of Delta state and the Yoruba of Southwest Nigeria is not as tight as that between Delta Igbo and their kith and kin across the River Niger, a distance of less than 5 miles, yet Itsekiri leadership recognizing the strength and opportunities inherent in belonging to a larger group, consider themselves an extension of the larger Yoruba community and fully participate in Yoruba cultural, economic and political causes. They do not nurse any shame about such identification. But, regrettably, Delta Igbo, under the guidance of centrifugal forces, continue to deny being Igbo, as if such denial provides any material benefit. Even the experience of Dr Peter Odili, an illustrious Igbo son and two-term governor of Rivers state, during the presidential nomination processes seem not to have registered with the Delta Igbo and South South Igbo in general.

Using the agency of the South South Peoples Assembly, a group founded and funded by Governor Odili himself, non-Igbo South South leaders exploited the organization to scuttle the presidential aspirations of Peter Odili. For them, it was better the presidency remained in the Southwest or returned to the North than for a South South Igbo to hold the office for the region. Why’s that? According to Chief Edwin Clark, a so-called Ijaw leader, “South south cannot be represented by someone with double loyalty”, which indirectly refers to Dr Odili’s Igbo roots yet Odili, like millions of other Igbo, belongs to the South south geo-political zone. If it happened to Odili, it could happen to Chief Austin Opara, Chief Peter Okocha, Chief Chibudom Nwuche, and Chief Benjamin Elue among several illustrious Igbo from the South south. In Germany, for instance, Germans from former Soviet Union are busy retracing their ancestral roots and returning back to Germany. These returnee Germans do not face any noticeable persecution in the states they are returning from. They return because they recognize the strength in belonging to a large group. Jews all over the world are flooding to Israel because they wish to be in a state where they do not constitute a minority or, worse, a minority within a minority. Delta Igbo should copy these examples and do what is right for present and future generations of their people.

Moreover, sometime state creation is often cited by a section of Delta Igbo as a sign of Igbo hatred towards them. The 1996 state creation exercise of the Abacha junta, for instance, is always used as a demonstration of this ‘hatred’. In recorded history, Delta Igbo, in their quest for an administrative region of their own, have always received full support from the larger Igbo group. It was such solidarity that saw to the creation of Midwest Region in 1963. Without the unalloyed support, material, moral, and political, of Zik of Africa and Dr Michael Okpara, Midwest Region could never have been realized . Without support from those luminaries, Chief Dennis Osadebey, an Igbo from Delta north, would not have become the first premier of Midwest Region.

In the case of issues surrounding the states creation exercise of 1996, Anioma state was one of the three states recommended by Ohaneze Ndigbo for the entire Igbo nation without considerations of geographical or regional location of such a state. However, Abacha decided to create just one state for each of the six geo-political zones. In Nigeria’s geo-political arrangement, Anioma is in the South South zone, not in the Southeast. For the South south, Abacha carved out Bayelsa state from old Rivers state. In the Southeast, he chopped off parts of Abia and Enugu states to form Ebonyi state. So where did the Igbo go wrong here? We should remember that during Abacha’s junta, not one Igbo was a member of his so-called Provisional Ruling Council until Commodore Amadi Ikwechegh was introduced into the body, much later in the life of the dictatorship.

Finally, Delta Igbo like the greater Igbo group should put its house in order and stop crying wolf where none exists. The civil war affected the Igbo generally and terribly. However, the Igbo, by dint of hard work and unmatched determination, have scaled some of the wedges placed in their way since after the war. In attaining this height, the Igbo did not rely on any internal or external forces for assistance. The Delta Igbo equally paid dearly during the period of the conflagration. No one could ever forget the Asaba and Umuechem cold-blooded massacres of innocent men, women and children. The Ikwerre, too, suffered just like other Igbo groups.

However, such group suffering should form the basis for ethnic stocktaking and reconciliation that might lead to ethnic rejuvenation and collective survival within the Nigerian state. It should not form the basis for the championing centrifugalism amongst the Igbo; for at the end of the day, those Nigerians who know the boundaries of Igbo land will remind the irredentists among the Igbo that they are Igbo. Having survived what amounted to a near ethnic annihilation at the hands of fellow Nigerians, the Igbo are busy now gathering their flock that were scattered across the globe. The results have been encouraging so far. Igbo sons and daughters are not lacking in any sphere of human endeavour both in Nigeria and overseas. This newly found consciousness needs be consolidated by all and sundry. Group which thought the Igbo were finished are now envious of Igbo attainments. Let not allow unreasonable in-fighting amongst segments of the great and indomitable Igbo nation derail this nascent vigour.


https://www.nairaland.com/3568512/travails-ika-igbo#52741191

Ika has never accepted being Igbo neither has Ika ever been Igbo. Igbo is like Igbon in Ika language which means slave. Aniocha land is referred to as Ozhi'igbon by Ika people which means road to slavery . The slavery here is the East. The Igbon is from the name Igbo. This shows that we in Ika area regards the East as Igbo and slaves as well and the Enuani areas as where you pass through when going to Igbo land. This is in no way derogatory against the Enuani but it's targeted at the Igbos.

Redbonesmith1:
It is not historical fact. The Owerri migration is historical speculation by Onwuejeogu and nothing more.

All they do is concoction, speculation and propagation (in cheruv's) words.

laudate:
Don't mind them. They are revisionists. But wait o... isn't the king of Onitsha referred to as the Obi of Onitsha? I am scratching my head, trying to figure this out.

Because the typical Onitsha indigenes don't call themselves Igbo. Even now that Igbo is all around them and they're in the South East, some of them still don't like to be called Igbo.

cheruv:
You and concoctions again,OK...what does "ovbi" mean in Bini?? How can you say that Obi isn't an Igbo title when almost all the traditional rulers in Anioma and Anambra states use it as their titles??
. Go and say it to all Ika clans aside Agbor that use Obi title...that's even far,come to Abō that's within my LG and tell their king his title isn't Obi go to the Adama country where all their rulers excluding Eze Nri use Obi and say this BS I wonder where you got this particular piece of info from...probably one of your Bini induced psychosis

Osim
Dei and Dein are the same thing...the only difference is nasalization. Dein in Agbor is same as Dei in Onicha also same as Dee in Aba. They're all the same thing...moreover Dein didn't originate from agbor,this present king switched his title from Obi of Agbor to Dein of Agbor in reverence of the founder of the present ruling house whose name was also Dein. Its similar to King Felipe of Spain waking up tomorrow and saying that his title will now be Philip Bourbon of Spain in honor of Philip who founded the Spanish Bourbon dynasty
All other Ika use Obi as their title.. Just like their brothers allover Anioma and Anambra state

.
Look at the amount of fallacious fallacies you've made...you should've also denied too that iwa ji is Igbo too na

Dodo can you name them please Don't just make unsubstantiated facts here


If your Bini ancestors could come and grab Anioma land in the name of "conquest",how sure are we that you their descendants won't try or are not even grabbing our land currently Kos the rate you guys now try to rewrite Anioma history to fit your Bini psychosis is becoming alarming. Igbos were never conquerors, we Oru people never had stories of Igbos coming to conquer us so I wonder where you get your Igbo land grabbing stories from... Probably you're trying to project your bad attributes to us,isn't it?
Anyway just know you've failed already

There is no king in Igbo land that uses the Obi title. Obi doesn't mean king in Igbo language. It's only recently you see some adding Obi so so and so, Eze of so so and so. Now they're even borrowing Ada and Ebeni from us.

All the Kingdoms that use Dein/Dei are Anioma people. Dein originated from Agbor and it's in use all over Ika and some Anioma area. Recently, I started seeing some Igbo write nonsense about what Dei means in Igbo. Dei doesn't mean in Igbo but you people tried to ascribe Igbo meaning to it but it's dead on arrival. How can you say Dei is from di anyi? They are not even close at all. This is the ridiculous meaning you guys ascribed to it.
It's like saying Igbanke is from Igbo akiri when it's well known that Igbanke is coined from the names of the two largest villages of Igbontor and Ake. Some people here some time ago wrote about how Agbor was founded by Omini Eze Ijie from Umuleri because the name of Agbor was Ominijie. Ominijie is an Edo name. Doesn't have anything to do with your imaginary Omini from Aguleri. Ain't you guys ever tired of propaganda?

Are you arguing about igala culture in Anioma land?

cheruv:
Osim
You're still up with these emotional stuffs you're writing
Considering Anioma as a whole..there are three main influences viz Igbo, Igala, Edo. Comparing these three influences, we can see that
1] Edo: its influence is mainly in the cultural sphere, thats why you see that almost all the titles excluding Obi or Deìn are Bini in name.the personal names of the people are Igbo together with their customs like Iwa ji.the only identifiable Edo group are the Oza who form part of agbor township.
2] Igala: its influence is mainly in trade..most of them came as traders who traded along the Ohimiri river.this made them establish settlements along the banks of the Niger especially North of Onicha. That's why if you look closely,you'd notice that nobody South of Onicha or Asaba claims to have Igala origins.
3] Igbo: its influence was in practically in all spheres..they were the aborigines there,even then some of our fathers went to Idu to live and later came back in the 15th century. It was these returnees that imposed Idu political systems on the Igbo aborigines.titles like Iyase, Isama;concepts like ehi/ahi were brought back by these Igbo returnees from Idu.

Unfortunately due to the nature of these interactions, its no brainer that Igala influences disappeared by the turn of the 20th century while Edo influence is on its way out too. Apart from the Oza, who are Edo in all respects just like the Ishan,every other thing in Anioma is built on a solid Igbo base,that's why when the wind of time blows,every other attachment to Anioma fades away

You are wrong again. Some people say Obi is a corrupt form of the Edo word, Ovbi which may be true. Obi is not an Igbo title and Obi doesn't mean king in Igbo language. No Igbo village uses the Obi title. Any Igbo you see putting Obi after Eze is a recent invention. Dein is not an Igbo name. Dein and dei are not even close at all. Another concoction. Tell me what dei means in Igbo. Dein originated from Agbor Kingdom. Not even Bini and all Ika area use that word. Any Igbo town you see using that word borrowed from Agbor.

Edo influence in Anioma encompasses all spheres from language, culture and customs, kingship, chieftancy, all traditions, music and dancea, traditional attire, way of life, world view, cuisine and food, traditional believe system, cultural heritage, religion, mythology, ancestry and every other ways. There are many festivals in Anioma but Iwaji is the only Igbo festival in my place.

It's true that the Igala influence is wanting but Igala customs and traditional still exist in many Anioma villages. Even some Igala festivals are celebrated in many Anioma villages

There is no prove of any reverse migration in Anioma land. That is just a term invented by Igbo land grabbers looking for people to claim. All migration story and oral traditions in Anioma land indicate where there founders came from and I don't remember any that said anything about reverse migration. If there was reverse migration, the people would know. Now that it's not in our oral tradition, you as an outsider can't come out and start speculating it

This MTN guys are very vindictive. Deactivating MTN DND is not supposed to affect other 3rd party SMS but only theirs but they joined it together to prevent people from deactivating it

blues20:
I just modified my response to you.... can you throw more light on the founding of Onitsha and Asaba by the Binis and Igala. Please, use historical records, not tales by moonlight.

Could be that Oluadah is Igbo from the Western part of the Niger with knowledge on the Inri culture.

Im sure you already know that your assumption of him being from eing from the Anioma with knowledge of Nri customs doesn't hold water. I'm sure you already know about the confusion surrounding his origin and you went ahead to bring it up here to win argument. Sometimes, I wonder if you people already know the point you're making is not accurate and still go ahead to make it in order to make a false impression and deceive the ignorant.

Some people say he was kidnapped at 7, some say 11, but all the same, he was too young to know much about his people not to talk about know alien customs. Some things in his book are too confusing to historians that's why they find it hard to pin point the exact place he came from.

And what exactly do you mean by tales by moonlight? And what exactly do you mean stories that are told to deceive ourselves? So to you, our oral tradition and history handed over to us by our ancestors are tales by moonlight? And it's the Igbos that only knew their history when the British brought Christianity to Nigeria that know their correct and accurate history?

I'm not going to dwell on Onitsha and Asaba history. I'm sure you already know Onitsha indigenes claim Edo origin, but in case you don't know before, Asaba is of Igala origin. The founder of Asaba, Nnebisi was an Igala man with an Igbo mother. Asaba still practice some Igala culture till date.