₦airaland Forum

Igboid:
The above was same reason Igbo speaking kings in Western Igbo went to Bini to get staff of office. Sometimes princes are even sent to Bini palace to learn Bini court and monarchy ways and such princes usually returned home to be kings in Anioma with Bini names they acquired while in Bini. Such Bini names survived as Bini sounding surnames today, which these lots now use to support their irrational Bini origin stories. Tufiakwa!


Infact the reason Asaba is not attached to Bini or have irrational Bini origin story is that during a period when the multiple Obis in Asaba were dragging for supremacy on who to be recognized as overall Obi, ie Asagba of Asaba, one of the Obis rushed and went to Bini to collect recognition in form of Ada and Eben from Oba Bini, but another Obi heard of it and rushed to Nri to collect his own staff as the overall Obi of Asaba.
When the one that went to Bini came back, he unfortunately realized another also went to Nri to get staff of recognition thereby rendering his own useless.
This was how the Asaba remained free of senseless Bini origin stories.

the greatest pride of the Aboh man is that we have a history we are proud of. In fact, in the whole of Delta State and perhaps SS/SE(except the Bini) Nigeria no people have a rich history as the Aboh, the only possible exception being the Itsekiri people.
Talking about the Itsekiri, there is a part of Aboh that the people are descended from the Itsekiri. These people are called Umu-iwele. They do not speak the Itsekiri language anymore but both they and the rest of Aboh know they are descended from Itsekiri, which was known as Iwerre and became Warri. You may want to tell us how these people lost their Itsekiri language or if the Itsekiri tribe was so prestigious that they decided to claim Itsekiri heritage.
The Itsekiri like the Abohs had access to the trade waters and are widely dispersed, many having lost their language. Like efewestern said you find Itsekiri surname such as Majemite and Tsekiri in Uvwie, an Urhobo area, there is an Itsekiri settlement called Igbogidi in Orhuwhorun, an Urhobo town. Such is the nature of such historical people around the Niger and coast(the Igalas too)

I do not blame you or find your offensive posts annoying because you are from a region that was cut off historically, locked out in the forest with minimal contact with the world around them. How can you then understand the dynamism of ethnogenesis. You will NEVER understand these things unless you open your mind and choose to learn.

Igboid:
Laughable.
Both Aboh and Bini are too small in population and recent in terms of antiquity in comparison to Nsukka.
It's ridiculous and outright delusional the sort of things you guys believe and project over there.
I can only shudder at how warped your mindsets are.

If at all there is transfer, it Should be from Nsukka to Igala and from Igala to Aboh.
Because Igbo Nsukka is very old and is one of the founding members of Igala ethnic group alongside the Yorubas, Junkun and Okpotos.

So the only plausible way the transfer you propose could have happened is from Nsukka to Igala and from Igala to Aboh.

But alas, Igala don't bear the name Ossai, so off goes that your little fantasy.

Keep running in circles.

so his come you have Bini surnames in Onitsha an "Igbo land". You argue without sound logic or maybe you embarrass yourself just because you use illogical points just to twist narratives to suit you

Igboid:
Nsukka has no history of interactions with Ndokwa people. Nsukka people were not trading along river Niger.
Move on bro.
I don't know where you got your attached picture from, but it doesn't make sense.

let us place a bet. We contract a 3rd party to investigate if there are more Ossais in Ndokwa/Ukwuani axis than Nsukka. Whoever loses would close their NL account. Deal?

RedboneSmith:
Aboh was not known for distant INLAND expeditions. Generally, places far out of the reach of their canoes were beyond the pale of their activities.

Thus their activities were for the most part restricted to the Niger and its tributaries. Aguleri, Nsugbe and Anam which are riverine, and actively involved with Aboh do not bear Ossai, but somehow the name crops up in very significant numbers in Nsukka axis far in the hinterland where there is not the slightest sliver of Aboh traditions. No, you cannot explain that by invoking Aboh colonisation. Some other explanation has to be sought.

I have not asserted here that Aboh colonized Nsukka, I only made the assertion that Aboh people who settled in Nsukka most likely took the Surname Ossai to that axis.

You are very right when you wrote that Aboh was not known for distant inland expeditions. However, Aboh people were known to have a strong trade and social relationship with the Igalas. It is on record that the Obi of Aboh's son went to Idah to settle a dispute that arose relating to Aboh people in Igalaland in the 19th century. What this means is that Aboh people were settled in Igala at that time. The opposite is also the case as we have people of Igala ancestry who have lived in Aboh for more than hundred years, and are now fully Aboh people(I personally know some).

Some of these Aboh people must have found their way to Nsukka from Igala and took the name Ossai there. Infact, I was amazed once when a friend told me he father's place use to phrase "m'biaka" to say "I am coming" which is exactly what we say in Aboh

Ossai is also a Bini sounding name. If you tell anyone your name is Ossai, you are most likely going to be asked if you are from Edo State. Fact!

You have to study the history of the Aboh people very well to understand some of these things. The Aboh people were very dispersed because of the distant trading nature of Aboh in those times. You also have to understand that those times are not like now when people get stuck to their ancestral homes. During those period anywhere you find yourself that you are accepted becomes home. For example, there is a family called Enebeli in Effurun, the Urhobo axis of Delta State(cc Efewestern). This family are completely assimilated in Uvwie land and have family compound and street there which I have seen with my very eyes. Recently, I was told they are originally from Aboh although not confirmed. But Enebeli is a strong Ndokwa/Ukwuani name like Ossai.

My dad told me a story of how his father took him and his brothers to the East of the Niger to find some of their "lost" family members in the 50s. These family members had lived away from Aboh for many many decades, most of them(adults) were not born in Aboh and had never been to Aboh. His mission was to encourage them to come back home and expand the family. There are many people of Aboh ancestry like them all over the place that when you see any trace of Ndokwa/Ukwuani culture anywhere distant from the Ndokwa axis, your first suspicion should always be Aboh!
Cc Fejoku, Igboid

Igboid:
No Aboh person migrated into Nsukka.
Nsukka is older than Aboh, the Lejja Iron works proves this and the sheer population of Nsukka zone is a pointer as well.
So you might as well look for Aboh Descendants elsewhere, as no one in SE is Bini, we are all Igbo and couldn't have come from a group of Bini people who mysteriously lost their Bini language despite defeating and taking over the land of Igbo speaking Akili people. Imagine cock and bull stories.

Again Nsukka is more populated than the entire Ndokwa Ukwuani region and hence will 100% have more Ossai than Ndokwa/Ukwuani zone, this is again common sense.

The communities bearing Aboh in Igboland have no history of migration from Aboh in Ndokwa, infact most of those communities in SE with Aboh as name are older than recently formed Aboh in Delta.

Like I said before, you argue carelessly, turning assumptions to fact in your fantasy world. Ossai is an Ndokwa/Ukwuani name, fact! The commonality of the name in those parts would only mean that the Nsukka people bearing that name are most likely from that axis. It doesn't mean that Aboh is older than Nsukka.

The Aboh people were some of the most mobile group in the whole of Southern Nigeria like the Igalas. The result is that there are Aboh people that have lived in other places for centuries and lost all trace to their homeland. The reason for the Abohs dispersal is trade, access to the Niger etc.

You are so biased in your arguments its becoming irritating

Igboid:
On Ossai:
This is Ifeanyi Ossai from Nsukka:

"On his part, Coordinator of the group, Ifeanyi Ossai; Chairman, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Enugu chapter, Hon. Solomon Onah; members of National Assembly represented by Hon. Pat Asadu and Hon. Simon Atigwe, as well as members of the state House of Assembly, represented by Hon. Chinedu Nwamba supported Abba’s submission."

https://guardian.ng/news/enugu-group-odinma-nsukka-passes-vote-of-confidence-in-ugwuanyi/

This is Nwa Ossai foundation hospital in Udenu Nsukka Enugu:https://thehospitalbook.com/nwa-ossai-foundation-hospital-and-maternity/

Ossai may be the most common surname in all of Delta state. It is so common that people that bear the name are hardly relatives. If you say more people bear Ossai in Nsukka than in Ndokwa/Ukwuani, it means you make careless statements.

I know Nsukka people bear Ossai (the current Dep Gov of Enugu State bear the Surname) but the only possible explanation for that is that they have people that moved from Delta axis to that location. The people of Aboh are widely dispersed in all of Southern Nigeria, from Igala down to the Coast fyi

Fejoku:
LMAO... Your conjectures are just very funny and can only be treated as a comic relief.
Now to more serious discussions. Esumei Ukwu definitely is an Igbo name which just like Ezechima points them being Igbo. Both Ugbo and Ogwezi are pure Igbo names. The Bini language has no "gw" alphabets which is enough to rule out it being the origin of that names. Only Ozegbe is a Bini name I find there.
No one says a couple of those who migrated with them won't be of Bini descent hence the few Bini sounding names that could be found. Let me ask you this question. Do you really think that Ossai is a Bini name? What are the locations that such names appear? I know that Nsukka people bear that name too and they have no business with Edo/Bini. I encourage you to do more research with an open mind around the East side especially with the various contacts Aboh had in recorded history and not just hearsays. You'll be amazed on what you will find.
Did Onitsha people ever claim that they learnt Igbo language from the new location they found themselves? Some things just don't make sense and shouldn't be used in arguments. Whatever Bini names you see in Igbo territories including Anioma are either of few migrants or just a borrowed one. Here is something I want you to research. Both the Igbo and Edo including the Igalas use the four market days of Eke Órìè Afọr Ǹkwọ with little variations. Who do you think owns it originally? If it was Igbo, how did it manage to permeate the entire Edo if not that there was a time a lot of Igbos lived in that very location? Think Clefstone, think.
Here's a video of a Benin Chief clarifying who Ezechima was and what title he held in Benin shortly before he emigrated out of Benin. I hope it will help you understand better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UfbFEiz7DE

Ossai is an Igbo name? Haha. Tell anybody in Nigeria that doesn't know the name that your name is Ossai and have them guess where you are from. Ugbo is a Bini word and name as you have been enlightened on already. Aboh ancient names are clearly non-Igbo names

Igboid:
Aboh as a name itself is Igbo😀.
There are more than 100 town and villages named Aboh in SE and none in Bini.
In my village Ogidi, one of the nine villages that make up the town is called Aboh-Ogidi. And nope they are not descended from Aboh in Ndokwa, it just happens that when people share language and culture, they tend to repeat words in naming places.

Onicha-Ukwuani
Onicha-Mili ( Onitsha)
Onicha Ngwa(Abia State)
Onicha Uboma (Imo state)
Onicha Enu-Nike ( Enugu)
Onicha Igbo-eze (Ebonyi)
Onicha Ugbo( Enuani)
Onicha Olona( Enuani

Not a single Onicha in Bini land, but Onicha Ukwuani are supposed to be Bini Descendants.
Make it make sense.

so the name Aboh and the many prefixed Aboh towns in the SE are the similar culture you could point at. Very funny. What is the meaning of Aboh in Igbo and why are all the Abohs in SE prefixed on the names of those towns as seen in Aro- bearing towns.

Since you have failed to answer my question, I ask again: aside language what are the cultural similarities between the Abohs and Igbos. Let's start with Igbo enwe eze

Fejoku:
I never shaded any Bini. I'm just trying to push critical thinking to Clefstone. The only Igbo groups with identity crises who point to Benin as their place of origin both in location and ancestry have 15 lgas: Nine in Anioma and six in Rivers. When you add them together both in landmass and population and compare with Benin, common sense will show you the errors of such thought. When you now consider that there are other Edoid speaking communities/ethnic groups who emigrated from the same Benin, their claims now become very shameful. Esan has five lgas, Afenmai and Owan have six lgas. In Delta central and Delta south, urhobos and Isokos have 10 lgas (I didn't include the Itsekiri people for obvious reasons). In Bayelsa, there's the Epie-Atissa people with one lga and in Rivers, there's the degema people with one lga. The total is 23 lgas with an Edoid speaking people who are not Bini. You as an Bini person should sit down and think very well how the Anioma people well surrounded by Edoid speaking people will end up speaking Igbo and having Igbo culture and traditions.

could you please highlight some of those Igbo culture and traditions that the Aboh people have?

Fejoku:
When a man speaks from a position of ignorance, it is always visible. Onitcha doesn't have 'very little cultural similarity' with her neighbours. She had a lot in common cultural wise because she was Igbo just like your very own Aboh.
Do you know that many early Igbo priests used by the missionaries to evangelize in Igboland were from Onitsha? Do you think they never referred to themselves as fellow Igbos before those they evangelized to? Do you know that Asaba though in Anioma isn't of the Anioma stock but from the so called 'Igbo' stock? Asaba's founder came from Nteje- a pure Igbo stock from the eastward of Onitsha. Will that change your perception of them? Ogwashi-Ukwu's founder came from Nri- another pure Igbo stock from the East. The same story goes for many other communities in the present Anioma territory including Ndokwa area.
The point is this; many Anioma groups who don't want to be regarded as Igbos do so because they favour their clan identity (which many other Igbo groups are also guilty of) more than the nationalistic one (Igbo nation). Some think they're more modern/refined than the other Igbo group and insist on that notification to be appreciated whereas some like you insist on a totally different reason for the same rejection of being identified as one. Your likes always claim that your ancestry are from Bini (Bini people speaking purely Bini) but were gradually assimiliated into losing their culture, language, festivities and tradition. It is such groups that will always be laughed at because nothing they say ever makes sense. If your progenitors who left Bini had Igbo names and gave their children Igbo names including the communities they founded, then it should be obvious that they were originally Igbo speakers which makes them Igbos.
Ezechima- the foremost leader of most clans of Anioma including Onitcha was an Igbo man. His name says it all. Onitcha people just like their kins in Anioma never claimed they learnt Igbo by proximity to 'Igbo' communities. If you must know, Bini people used to journey by leg to Asaba area by leg to trade on the River Niger. Don't you think that at least Bini language would have survived in Anioma on account of having real Bini people coming into their midst always?
Finally, is it not alarming that those Igbo groups alone claiming to have come from Bini are almost thrice the size of Bini itself? Anioma has nine lgas and Rivers Igbos have six lgas making them fifteen lgas as against 6/7 bini ones. I didn't include other groups that claimed emigrating from Bini and are still speaking edoid languages.
My advice to you is to study further the SE so you can understand Ndigbo better before coming to a conclusion. My argument about Ukwuani being Igbo isn't based on anything outside the facts from history and on ground. Everything about them points to them Igbo of the Igbo stock. I can't go to Oza-nagogo and call them Igbo. Neither can I do so at the Isokos. I'll appear to be dumb. If your people are very serious to deny their Igbo heritage and grab onto their Bini claims, they should start dropping off Igbo dialect they speak and other Igbo stuffs and call Bini people to teach them their language, culture, traditions and norms of their bini founders.

Very angry man. You think we don't know the Igbo people to the West of the Niger? Even inside Aboh we have people of Igbo stock who have your values. You probably do not have the ability to understand these things because you are from a closed group.

On the names of the Children of the founder. Esumei Ukwu, the founder of Aboh had two children: Ugbo and Ogwezi. Ogwezi's children included Ossai, Ojugbeli and Ozegbe. These names are 90% Edoid names e.g Ozegbe, Ossai, Ugbo. The same is observed in the Surnames/family names of the Onitsha people

The Aboh language is no doubt Igboid, if you like a dialect of Igbo. The Igbo language is said to have originated just south of the confluence area and of course along the Lower Niger where Aboh is located. The language spread to the eastern hinterland as a result of trade along the Lower Niger. The people of today's South East therefore lost their language to this dominant language of trade but we would never know what they spoke before maybe something similar to Ibibio. In those times, trade languages dominated, for example, you would notice that trade items coming from the North bear Hausa names even in the Igbo language as Hausa was another dominant trade language. For example rice in Hausa is Shinkafa, while in Igbo it's Oshikapa, Onion in Hausa is Albasa and in Igbo it's Yabash as the Igbo speaking people along the Niger pronounce the S sound as -Sh. It is very easy to understand why a people that migrated to these parts would lose their original language after centuries to this very strong language of trade which they participated in so actively. The vestiges of the original language of the Aboh people still exist though

RedboneSmith:
The screenshot comes from the work of Dr Henderson, which I have actually used to argue here before. I was just a little surprised to be invited to read something that was already well known to me and which I have used in debates before. Lol.

Anyway, I actually stand by what I said about administrative lines. And the screenshot you mentioned me in is not even in contrast with what I said. If anything, it supports it. Onitsha would have still been non-Igbo today if it was in the Midwest, then Bendel, then Delta. All of Onitsha's Ezechime brothers are in Delta State, after all. Administrative lines are the reasons why it eventually got involved in the pan-Igbo project, while Umuezechime in Delta have largely not gotten involved in the pan-Igbo project. If by some weird stroke Aboh had found itself in the Eastern Region and later maybe in Anambra or Imo, it too would have eventually found itself participating in the pan-Igbo project. I completely stand by what I said there. Oguta in Imo State is another example I can cite here. Linguistically speaking, Oguta is Ukwuani. Listen to the dialect - clearly Ukwuani. If it was in Delta, the way they self-identify today would have been very different. But just like Onitsha, they passed through a phase where they stood against the growing Igbo ethnogenesis, until they eventually also became full participants in it.

And just in case this is not widely known yet, Onitsha and Oguta people are NOT the only people in the East who used "ndị Igbo" in the past to describe other people but would not use the same term to describe themselves. People who haven't studied Igbo history do not know how widespread this practice was in the Southeast, even down to the 1940s. “Ndị Igbo" was widely used to mean "other people except for us". A Dutch historian Dmitri van Beerselaar recently even did a doctoral thesis on the Igbo where this topic was discussed in some detail. One of the architects of Igbo pan-ethnicity, B O N Eluwa, wrote how he and other ethnonationalists were travelling around the Eastern Region even into the 1940s sensitising people about a pan-Igbo ethnic consciousness.

[Just as an addendum, there is something I find interesting about Onitsha's "non-Igboness" in the past. There were a group of people who lived along the river bank of Onitsha who claimed Igala ancestry and were there before the main Onitsha people arrived from Aniocha or Benin (depending on which traditions you believe) . These people of putative Igala ancestry were in charge of certain rituals in Onitsha. Now during some of these rituals, the main Onitsha people were not allowed to be present. So before the rituals, Onitsha people would be asked to leave. The Igala-descent ritual performers would say “Igbo mabo, Igbo mabo“, which means “Igbos run away“.

The same Onitsha people who termed their hinterland neighbours as "ndị Igbo" were themselves called "Igbo" by Igala-descent people living by the waterside. And that was how the word Igbo was being tossed around. Ogidi will call all their neighbours except themselves "ndị Igbo". Nkwele will call all their neighbours including Ogidi "ndị Igbo". Nsugbe will call everybody including Ogidi and Nkwele "ndị Igbo".]

We can actually look at it from a different angle. Now, the Onitsha people lived in their present location for more than 200yrs maintaining their non-igbo identity and avoiding contact with the hinterlanders but maintaining contact with those West of the Niger and along the River. Why didn't their geography force them into communal relationship with those to the east of them in 200yrs? What happened after those 200yrs that forced the sudden change of their orientation. It is the politics of the new country combined with their geography and it's very okay. Now, if the people of Aboh decide not to key in to the Igbo identity, it's also geopolitical and it's okay, since the concept of an Igbo identity aside language is rather vague. What makes no sense is someone saying some people are denying something that was never there

Fejoku:
LMAO. There's nothing sensitive there if only you could read further down the page you posted to see that both Ika and Aboh were still referred to as "Igbo".
Clefstone, you've been on nairaland for very long and should have gone beyond this stage of argument that you are bringing. We don pass this level na. Are you saying that Nnamdi Azikiwe who was already one of the major leaders of the Igbo nation as early as the 1940s didn't see himself as an Igbo man? Are you also saying that Dennis Osadebay of Asaba who was one of the founder of the Igbo Union in 1920s didn't see himself as an Igbo man? Nnamdi Azikiwe even wrote about the ancestry of his people migrating from Benin but never alluded to them being Bini.
There's a big difference between you and the Onitsha people who are referring to others as Igbos and you denying Igbo entirely. For the onitshas, their kins are those in Enuani and they prefer to be identified with them. Language was not a problem as they never claimed to have been influenced by "Igbos" to speak what they were and are currently speaking. Do you understand?
Many Igbo groups also referred to other Igbo speaking groups as 'Igbos' without seeing themselves as being "Igbo". The Ngwa people refer to other Igbo speaking people as "ohuhu" while the "uratta" group of Owerri and her Southern brothers see other non-uratta group as "Isuama people" pronounced "Isoma". The list goes on and on for how various Igbo groups see other Igbo groups different from them.
Lastly, is it most Ukwuani communities that were formed by the Bini migrants or just a few? If it is the majority, how come they lost their language entirely to a smaller and probably a weaker group when Ukwuani land shares boundary with Biniland?

I didn't start any argument here. It was the OP that started the topic: Igbo origin of Aboh. That said, notice how the author who stayed in Onitsha in the 60s carefully used the term Western and Eastern Igbo speakers as opposed to Western and Eastern Igbos. He did that for a reason. As for the term Ika Igbo and Aboh Igbo, that is what the people around the Ika and Aboh called them(today it is Delta Igbo) and the reason is simply that they speak Igbo dialect. However, at no point in history have these people self identified as Igbos. If you can show any evidence to the contrary, I will close my NL account immediately
As for Azikiwe and Osadebey, their motivation was politics and number. I can bet you that no Onitsha man of Azikiwe's time saw himself as Igbo. Everything the writer of the piece I shared was written after 1960, so the Anti-Igbo sentiment of the Onitshas still existed then

From the screenshot Wesley80 shared from an excerpt of Azikiwe's autobiography, the Onitsha people believe they are from the Bini royal lineage, not any fabricated back migration narrative

Infact, if you read the narrative I shared, it becomes even more obvious that aside language, the Western Igbo speakers always had very little cultural similarities with the hinterland Igbo speakers as remains the case today

RedboneSmith:
Not exactly sure why I was mentioned here.

There's a lot of truth here though. Who is Igbo today and who is not has a lot to do with administrative lines that were drawn in the 20th century.

This is why I mentioned you

Fejoku:
Let's assume we agree that he ruled all over Igboland; will that stop you running away from your shadow?
Even Eze Obi Ossai did confirm to them the limits of his territory. As the explorers went up stream (above Aboh), they got a clearer picture.
Good luck to your search for what isn't missing.

oh! So you suddenly realize that the explorers could be wrong because you saw something inconvenient to you. Interesting.

To say the people of Aboh tended towards Warri because they were made a part of the Warri Province would lead me to ask why then the people of Onitsha didn't consider themselves Igbo even into the 1960s. Where they also included in the Warri province or are they geographically separated from the South East? BTW, the Aboh people have never tended towards Warri so don't assume things you do not know

It's ironic that you are the one getting emotional here when you are trying so arrogantly to tell an entire community who they are, a community you most likely have never been. Don't you think I should be the angry one here because you insult me and my people both those now and those that are gone

I want you, redbonesmith, bigfrancis21 and others to read the below. I have avoided sharing this on Nairaland because of the sensitive issues it contains. Who knows, maybe it's already here

https://amightytree.org/the-slave-trade-and-long-lasting-ethnic-stereotypes/

Fejoku:
Aboh well identified as an Igbo town 200 years ago.

and Obi Ossai was identified as the king of the Igbos. Hope we all agree that the Obi of Aboh once ruled over all of Igbo land

wesley80:
I don’t think it’ll be fair to describe Aboh as anything other than of Benin origin - the evidence is compelling except perhaps one chooses to lend credence to the “Nri - born Native doctor migration story from Benin”, a theory I find inherently flawed. What is not in contention is that the people the founded what later became Aboh kingdom migrated from Benin. This is not to say there aren’t sizeable migrants from Igboland and elsewhere that arrived at various times and through various means, heck, my own family has its paternal root in neighboring Ashaka but we’ve lived in Aboh for over 5 generations. When the question of a people's origin is thrown, I believe the right answer is the origin of its founders and once the Akarai distinction is made, all that's left are the original migrants from Benin.

I agree with you 100% but you seem to have written more about founding than ancestry. There is no doubt the founders of Aboh were of Benin origin. However, the indigenous Aboh population today is made up of people of diverse origin and ancestry and they include the descendants of the founders as well as other people of diverse ancestry with the later population more than the former.

Ogedengbe's writing(some snippets I've managed to read) on Aboh helped me understand some aspect of the diversity of Aboh and the unique way the people came to live in peace together. It was difficult for me to understand it when my father would tell us that certain of our family members were not actually related to us by blood, but these family members of ours owned land in our quarters as inheritances. While we are descendants of the founders of Aboh, these members of our family are of other ancestry and sometimes are even of so called slave origin(yes, slave origin). Even within this large family(Ogbe), everybody knows his origin yet we are all fully Aboh people with mostly equal rights

The Aboh people even came up with ways to balance things up between the founders and other settlers, one of them being that the Obi(king) of Aboh must be chosen from the descendants of the founder of Aboh while the Iyasele(traditional prime minister) must be of an origin other than that of the founder. Also the Obi of Aboh(the Obi title most likely originated from Aboh) must be of dual ancestry, that is, paternally of the "founder origin" and maternally of the "non-founder" origin. Also the second in command to the Obi, the Iyasele must be of a paternal non-founder origin and a maternal founder origin. These attests to the fact that the people of Aboh understood their diversity and the need to balance the polity in order to foster peace and unity by sending a message that Aboh belongs to all of us. No way such a place can be regarded as Igbo(I respect my Igbo brothers and acknowledge the fact that we are linked by language and other factors)

I know you know all the above and most likely even better than I do, but I write it for the sake of all those that will read it now and in years to come(nairaland is an archive)

On the Nri-born native doctor migration story, I have read about it here on NL before. It really sounds interesting but it clearly has no oral historical backing and is an obvious cooked up narrative by someone with a predetermined motive

Sizwezi:
That’s alright. How they choose to identify themselves, so be it.

The name Aboh is almost everywhere in Igboland. What and where is the origin of the name ?

Just like the name Aro is almost everywhere in Igbo land. You'd notice that the Abohs in Igbo land are prefixed, for example Aboh-Mbaise. There are also Abohs on the Western side of the Niger, an example being Aboh-Orogun/Ebo-Orogun. There is however only one Aboh town worldwide, that being the Aboh of the mouth of the Niger Delta.

A very plausible answer to your question is that the Abohs in these other communities migrated from Aboh, a once very important and powerful trade kingdom, to their present settlements as is the case of Aboh-Orogun. Infact many places around Aboh have Aboh embedded in their history including the Itsekiris who acknowledge the Abohs as part of their ancestry(later immigrants)

Sizwezi:
If an Aboh person tells you he/she is Igbo, it is fine .

If he/she also tells you they are Benin it is fine.

Make everybody rest.

It's more complicated than this.

In terms if origin/ancestry, the Aboh people are of diverse origin. There are many Aboh people of Igbo origin as there are many of Ijaw, Igala, Isoko, Itsekiri and Yes, Bini origin. Most Aboh people know their origin so it's not a speculation. These people of diverse origin to form a single identity- Aboh

The truth is that whether an Aboh man tells you he is Igbo or not, they do not have the Igbo consciousness

wesley80:
Hi, yes they were got from KO's dissertation. Searched a long time for the book myself before I got a downloadable copy from a university library. I saw a copy online earlier today on this link https://www.proquest.com/openview/3cba5c03c43566230d419e5eb3d855ed/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
I'll be happy to mail you my copy if it doesn't work for you.

Omordi, Please could you mail me a copy. Clefstone2@gmail.com. Thanks

[quote author=bigfrancis21 post=112104689][/quote]there is no doubt that most slaves sold from the southern coast of Today's Nigeria were Igbos from the Eastern hinterland

EBOE

A search through history shows that there is only one place in recorded history that was referred to as Eboe. In his 1832 narrative of his expedition of the Kwora(Niger River), Richard Lander described Eboe as[b] "the city which has no other name than the Eboe country"[/b]. According to Lander, "it is immensely large, contains a vast population and is the capital of a Kingdom of the same name".

Lander's Eboe is no doubt the town today known as Aboh, located in Delta state. It is the capital of Ndokwa-East LGA area.

In the period of Lander's Eboe experience, Aboh was a very influential Kingdom along the banks of the Lower Niger whose influence extended from Idah to the coastal areas of the atlantic.

In contemporary times, there is the false claim that Eboe of the past refer to Igbo, hence, the tendency is to conclude that every historical reference to Eboe actually means Igbo. This simply is not true. In William Baikie's 1856 Narrative of an Exploring Voyage up the Rivers Kwóra and Bínue, Baikie wrote:

"Abó, the Eboe or Ibu of Lander and of Allen, is
the name of a town and also of a district extending
along both sides of the river, from the Orú country
towards Igára. It forms one of the sections of the Great
I'gbo (Ibo) territory ; and though by no means the
largest, is, from its position along the Kwóra, one of the most important. The sovereignty, since the
death of Obí, having, as I have mentioned, been
partly in abeyance, many towns which were under
his rule have ceased to pay tribute, and have become
independent. The dialect spoken along this tract is called also Abó, and it is readily understood over the
whole of I'gbo ; but to this I shall afterwards refer in
speaking of the peculiar customs and rites of this
region."

William Baikie clearly underlined the difference between Abo/Eboe and Igbo/Ibo

The honourable thing to do

Ok

Messi!!!!

Meanwhile, Nigeria not going to the world cup only spares the country the embarrassment that we would have witnessed in Qatar. Even the Ghana that qualified at our expense is dreadful

ChiomaCa:
I'm honest with my story. And I have never for once deny him of sexual intimacy. Infact, most time I make move, almost all the time. I swear to God Almighty. I'm feeling as if I'm ugly and not good looking enough

you are not ugly. Your husband also loves you, he is only fighting his demons. As a wife, you should help him overcome this addiction. I can bet my last card that your husband is not happy with what he is doing, forget all the self righteous people advising you to leave him. Your hubby even have valid reason for falling into the addiction, having been alone for 2 years.

Another point is that it is better for your husband to sleep with prostitutes as long as he uses protection than to have a mistress(girlfriend)

slawormiir:
Damnnn niggar

Those days in university of Benin

Sport complex

Ebelebo

we dey call am ebelebo for Warri side. The best ebelebo can be found in Holy Matrys of Uganda seminary along Okorodudu/Enerhen road, Effurun

I chop that UNIBEN own near library too

aribisala0:
You are looking at YOUR OPINION of the root cause


If you are interested in looking at root cause what is your methodology? You just do Tumbo Tumbo and declare assimilation is the problem. I can declare it is any other word in the dictionary. What is the basis
of your declaration
There are as many opinions as there are people > Your opinion about assimilation is nonsense

Unless I do not know the meaning of the word.

You define what you mean by assimilation because I see Igbos intermarrying and worshipping with others


The issue is they are very similar to the Fulani in seeking to dominate.
Nothing to do with assimilation

It is the Hausa that have the concept of Sabon Gari not Igbos

The fundamental problem of the Igbo is they do not face reality instead they operate on their self image as being greater than the facts reveal and believe they are better than they are

yes sir, they are my opinion only just as I appreciate your position here as you opinion.

The Fulanis and the Igbos differ in how they seek to dominate. The Igbos seek personal glory in their quest for dominance. They seek to dominate for themselves and not for the group including to dominate others of their own tribe, the reason why they are easily defeated. The Fulanis on the other hand seek dominance of his group before personal glory. Totally different ideologies

Again, all my opinion

aribisala0:
You are being diplomatic

The fundamental issue is one of greed , selfishness and dishonesty that were displayed very well in the first republic.
The domineering attitude of Zik and the unbridled nepotism in the first republic culminating in the massacere of Northern and Yoruba Northern leaders whilst sparing their own captures this attitude of thinking they are smart and everyone else is foolish

We are saying the same thing but I am looking at the root cause while you are focusing on the effect. You are a Yoruba man I assume. The Yoruba people have lived with, married and traded with people from Hausaland up to Mali for centuries and even fought wars. What you get from this experience as a people is how to live with others, appreciate their way of life and understand that they are not stupid just because they don't view life as you view it. Living with people is the only thing that teaches you how to live with people.
I have studied the people that today constitute the Igbo tribe. Their history is that of a mostly secluded people that were not exposed to other people until relatively recently. They do not enjoy the centuries long privilege that you the Yoruba man has enjoyed. They are still learning how to live with other people

obynzo:
I would like for you to show me how the igbos state that their values are superior to others. The real issue is that the igbo man is not one that is subservient, allow an igbo man he will come to your village with a torn jeans and slippers poorly unkempt, the locals will be mocking him, but give that man 4years he would rent a flat buy a car and even commence building a new house in his village. An igbo man would in few years with determination overtake you the local in your area. That is what causes the fear from other tribes not the so called respect of values you are talking about.

I appreciate the tone of your response sir, it is greatly lacking here. That said, the bolded clearly explains what I cited as a shortcoming of the Igbo man and answers your question. You assume you overtake the local by becoming the richest person there. That is only according to your value system that places premium on money over everything else. Others are driven by other things which you must respect. The Igbo man just doesn't understand values differ.
Other tribes do not fear Igbos as you assume, the truth is that other tribes do not like Igbos, pardon me but it's true.
Do you agree with me that the Igbos were perhaps the most unexposed major tribe in Nigeria before the 1900s?

The possible outcome of making an Igbo president is as tricky as it is unpredictable. It would indeed decrease the biafra agitation in the short term but not thereafter.
What works most against the Igbos is that they have not culturally assimilated the other major tribes in Nigeria. This is not meant to stir up any useless tribal war here but the truth is that the Igbos as I have studied, seem not to have been exposed to other people before the late 19th century. The result is that the average Igbo man has not learned how to live with other people in mutual respect and understanding. There is this fear, that an Igbo president may by this handicap of history make mistakes that would jeopardize the future of Nigeria(even though a break up may be in the best interest of everyone, emphasis on may)

What the Igbos must do is understand this historical handicap and open up their minds as a people to respect other people's way of life, acknowledging that their values is not superior to others, then they can be trusted with the presidency

If it is left to be run by Nigerians after completion, it will surely fail