₦airaland Forum

and oh please, stop the nonsense. bini is not a branch of edo just like esan. bini is edo and edo is bini. in bini language there is only oviedo no ovibini.

infact binis often joke that a badly spoken bini is what is regarded as esan. so esan is like a pidgin bini and so are a lot of all these other dialects in edo state and even delta state. when i was in ogwashi uku. i could understand a few of what they were saying even though it was heavily laced with igbo.

anyway, it is good they didn't name the state after bini, cos the state would have been called the corrupted european name "benin" and by then im sure that's what some fools in the benin state would have capitalised on for their distinction,

and a deluded "igbanke" who thinks is something other that what he is would have said: we are "benins" not "binis"

as if bini and benin are not the same thing, haha

@abagoro:

they don't want to feel dominated by binis and the binis allowed room for it. it seems u just agreed with me on the liberal nature of the binis yet we and our oba(s) are the "high-handed" people.
im waiting for all the anioma and igbo people to pack and leave us alone and see if benin won't survive. cos they are the most non-indigenous people i see in benin who settle in very easily yet they are the ones who label us tribalistic. benin is not the capital of any ndi'igbo state and won't be the capital of anioma state so i don't really see what still connects them to benin that they feel the need to be here.

@abagoro:

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

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

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

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

iguefi, it seems u are earger to post and repeat your diatribe that u didn't even read what said. i never said the benin occupation was for 3yrs, i said civil war last three yrs. and only argued that the biafrans did not pull off the "occupation" without taking lives and further intimidation of the binis. but why wont your eye-witnesses not say otherwise? that is why they are "your" eye-witnesses. but it is like nato is telling the world that they have not killed a single civilian in libya so far and that gaddafi is the only one killing civilians. and u think any sane person believes that? i won't be surprised if an idiot like u believes though.

but anyway u conveniently dodged how the so-called igbanke is a bini dialect. my dads mechanic was igbanke with a proper bini name and whenever he spoke the language we could understand him but no, to u igbanke is anioma and igbo. bini will give u the igbanke now, u still won't leave us alone. 

back then, when it was benin-delta making bendel state and we were all proud bendelites and the yorubas knew us as omo'bendel, people like u said it was benin that is drawing deltans back so u want your own state. u got it and thot the benins won't survive without u, yet there still more deltans in edo than edos in delta state. now it is anioma u want, and want igbanke to be part of it, u will get that now u still won't leave benin alone. wetin benin do una? na so una like us? and then i'm sure u will say oredo, uselu, ovia are all  part of ndi'igbo. na god go punish u.

it seems u like putting words together so go put all your thoughts together and so go write a book and publish it. maybe i will buy and read coz i really don't take u internet advocates seriously cos all u do is talk and won't do a damn thing in real-life.

i think Idia is a very good edo name for a girl child. it does not only sounds nice but it is easy to pronounce, and lord willing if i have a daughter that is what i am going to name her. coz i see no reason why we should be naming our daughters after european queens like Elizabeth, Victoria, Isabella etc while we neglect our own queens.

Idia was a warrior queen who was not only revered for strength but also known for her enchanting beauty. so i dont see why the edo people and nigerians in general are not naming their daughters her.

@ Obiagu1

so why cant the esan be classified as an ethinc group? they have distinct dialects even within esan. the esan spoken in uromi is different from the one spoken in ekpoma. so?

and i don’t know how the “igbo” and “yoruba” lauguage and identity came about but the “edo” came through a particular oba of benin who named the binis – edo coz of a bini indigene called edo who i think died in the process that brought the oba to the throne. so in honour of the indigene, the oba after he assumed the throne, decided to call the binis – edo. so that was how those two identities came about and survived till this day. and that was from the top off my head on edo/bini history so it may not be perfectly correct and i don’t really care coz im not here to do any scholarly work.

however, that is why when a bini man ask you, “oviedo kpataki uwe khin?” he is not asking you if you are from edo state or part of the “edo” language group, he is asking you are you bini? cos there is nothing like ovibini or ovibenin in bini/or edo language.  not that i know of anyways. 

so since bini/or benin as corrupted by the europeans coz the empire was called benin, then all these so-called dialects that made up the empire, from the ones that are heavily laced with bini/or edo langauge to the ones that are loosely laced, are all to be called binis coz that is what the "igbos" and "yorubas" are doing.

and oh, then the most amusing thing is you come here to make statements that “the mindset if the igbo man is survival and to bear no grudges”  blah blah blah, yet your post speaks otherwise. just reading through, any sane person can see that your post reeks of all types of grudges for binis. yet it would seem it is only the igbo man that can hold all these grudges while the binis cant. the igbo man can complain bitterly about how the binis “massacred” them but the binis should bear no grudge of how the igbo man invaded his land and “only city”. no, the binis should shut up and be quiet. they have no interest, no political power, no economic agenda. who the fvck are they anyway? the igbo man can poo on his head, piss in his mouth, invade his land during war and he should say and do nothing. you are a very big and mighty fool. in fact i don’t even know how to describe you.

one of the most profound statement made by Physics that moved me and i could understand what he was trying say is when he said the binis are the most liberal people in Nigeria as far as he is concerned, and i stand by the statement. living in benin alone, you can easily notice that. The binis living in benin city hardly even communicate in bini anymore just to accommodate all these other tribes who cant speak the language yet they are never satisfied. the only time binis speak their language is when they hear your name, then they ask “oviedo kpataki uwe ghin?” meaning "are you the core bini?” because esan though is understood by almost all binis are not binis, and since esan share same names with binis but they have their own identity, not to mention the other tribes who share bini names like the so-called igbanke and even ika people, so thats why the binis ask “oviedo kpataki uwe ghin?” and if you say yes that’s when they speak bini.  but if you say “no, i can't understand what u are saying” or you can pick the question and say “no, im oviesan” or “oviurhobo” or “ovigbo” etc  then they say ok, and speak the language you will understand which is usually english or pidgin english.  so even the bini language is dying due to the liberal nature of binis. and that is why you hardly see other tribes who are living in benin city learn bini because the bini themselves are not speaking the language but rather adopting english or pidgin english just to accommodate other tribes for effective communication, yet idiots like you are never satisfied.

i served in the far east and have spent some time in yorubaland and the igbos and yorubas frustrated me with their language because everywhere i went they were all speaking their language. it was obvious i was foreigner. the igbos will even try and switch to english when they know you are a foreigner but the minute the yorubas realize you cant speak the language that is when they will press fast foward and start speaking the “konk” yoruba. but here a dumb fool like you is calling the binis tribalistic people.

and from the way some you nigerians talk it is if their parts of nigeria is like vienna or paris while the closest town they are talking against is like afghan. so iguefi or whatever you the fvck you call yourself, if you really care about your anioma people so much like you claim, start relocating them from benin now back to the “industrialized” anioma land that has all the amenities and infrastructure that the bini man has never seen and will not see in years to come, so that history will not repeat itself again because the binis will resist any “take over” of edoland especially our “only city” benin. i just dey tell you down now, abeg.

there is no esan that an esan man will speak that i as a bini man will not understand, but you don’t see binis claiming esans are binis or vice versa, and when i listen carefully i can even understand the so-called igbanke because these languages are heavily laced with bini, even the ika is laced with bini and i can pick some words and phrases. whereas a lot of the so-called “igbos” cannot even understand each other, but people like you will continue to say the binis are a “one city” people even though the binis can understand these other languages laced with bini and some of them can understand bini. so yeah,  the binis only have benin city and we will continue to cherish and keep it from deluded “anioma igbos” and likeminded people like you. so igbuefi pass that message to “your people” who are still in benin and tell them to pack and stay the fvck out. please.

and here is another thing i find interesting ogbuefi, benin city is no longer the capital of the midwest, bendel, and delta state, and won’t be the capital of the proposed anioma state. so what are anioma igbos still doing in benin? because i am currently living in benin and some of my friends are anioma igbos and everywhere i go i see anioma igbos and even igbos from the far east with various other tribes including a heavy influx of hausa. in fact, benin city  is now more of a cosmopolitan city where you have enclaves of various tribes, although the anioma igbos are easily visible.

and if igboland (anioma inclusive) have all these infrastructures and industries, why can’t they fvcking stay in their states? are they so greedy that they want to settle and occupy all the cities and towns in nigeria that do not even have infrastructures and amenities to match their own back home? because there seem to be no city or town across nigeria that the indigenes do not share with large occupants of igbos (anioma stock inclusive), and some end up complaining bitterly about them.

the delusion of some igbo people like you who always want to rub the “success” of their states, towns and villages in the face of others while igbos can never seem to stay home. i wasn’t feeling well recently and the nurse who treated me is an igbo girl all the way from umuahia, abia state, working in a privately owned clinic in benin owned by a calabar woman married to a bini man. and naturally i get along well with igbos, so i found myself chatting with her and she invited me to her church and when i attended it was a church full of anioma igbos with a few other tribes. so what are all this people still doing in benin? why cant an anioma pastor start his church in the industrial anioma land? better still, why can’t a qualified igbo nurse who is not only young but beautiful find a job in the entire igboland (anioma inclusive) but now had to come to benin to find one, and she will likely end up settling in benin?

@ ogbuefi

guy, you are now making comments in “invisible” mode?  coz your comment appeared and appears on my phone but as i as login my lappy I cant see it on the thread? lol, really guy, how old are you? anyway i know you can read this post and your atrocious comments that i read was the reason i joined this forum and discussion. and you seem to be one of those who feel their story is the “authentic” one while others are based on hearsay. i will not even bother to go into the risk my very own grandmother (God rest her soul) took for the so-called “anioma man” (who was her tenant) and saved the his life and that of and his pregnant wife from federal troops because that will just be fruitless to someone like you. and you come here to act as if all or most of the anioma people were mostly landlords and property owners in benin and they were all “good and loving” people before the binis betrayed them. please, spare me the bullcrap.

anyway, so an “anioma man” like you who sees himself as “igbo” expected biafran troops who were igbos to “take over” benin city and expected the binis to sit down and watch? you are a fool. and how did biafran troops “take over” and occupied benin city before they binis realized they had to defend themselves? they did that by not even killing a single civilian soul. they must have been fvcking war geniuses who deserve all types of medals.

but here is the deal, the binis have nothing to be ashamed of. it was a war, the same war started by the same igbos. the same war that the binis didnt even initiate and  wanted nothing to do with in the first place, and they defended themselves and their land from invaders. so what the fvck is wrong with that? i am an oviedo kpataki who was not even born before or during the war but that is actually a heroic act to me so i have nothing to atone for. but since you are one of the deluded anioma igbos, you can continue to play the role of a victim as if you did no wrong and carry on with your hate for binis which i kinda find amusing because it would be amusing for the british to ask the binis to atone for whatever british citizens whether civilian or soldier who died while the binis were defending themselves against british invasion. wont that be amusing to say the least? british or, a biafran like you now asking for atonement from the binis because the binis defended themselves against invaders.

but no, don’t stop, keep on crying wolf and carry on with your hatred for the binis because i can see it has developed you mentally and made you want to strive hard for the betterment of your anioma people, good for you. if that is only the good thing that comes out of the hatred, at the end of the day, you will still have the binis to thank for it because it was the hatred for the binis and their perseverance of such hatred (even when unnecessary) that made you strive hard in the first place. so thank me later when anioma becomes a state and earthly paradise.

i did enjoy my stay in igboland though, it made me tough. and if given the chance, i'd do it again coz i'd choose igboland to yorubaland or hausaland when the chips are down. gudnyt.

lol…Andre, i wouldn’t shame on them so quickly because i think the yoruba and igbo identity is one that eroded a lot of other languages because nigeria is often said to have more than 300 languages yet we never hear about them. so maybe those little distinct dialects are the languages we never hear about but they are all called yorubas and igbos.

and i also noticed while we were in camp, a lot of “igbos” couldn’t understand each other even though they were supposedly speaking the same "language". and i noticed that with the yorubas who were there also. they couldn’t understand each other and when i asked why, they will say that particular igbo is a different dialect in igbo, that particular yoruba is a different dialect in yoruba. and i thought wow, if it is igbo and if it is yoruba, then how come you as an igbo or yoruba person cant understand it? that baffled me. and i begin to understand why people always say nigeria has more than 300 languages.

lol, ezeagu, the igbos in owerri (which is actually a beautiful city) were not so different from those at ohafia. in fact, you start noticing the "aggression" the minute you cross the river niger from asaba into onitsha which is less than 30mins or so drive. once you cross niger valley, no one will remind you that you are in igboland

ezeagu:
What makes you say that?

well, as a kid i spent some of my years in ogwashi uku bendel state now delta state when my dad was posted there. and as an adult, i did my nysc in ohafia abia state. the igbos in the far east are very "aggressive" while those in the delta are  more "reserved".

and the bendel state igbo kids said they were ibos because they saw the igbos across the niger as bush people. whatever was their reason, i dont know. but as an adult, i have noticed the sharp contrast between both groups.

and when my enugu ex told me we are the real igbos while delta igbos are the fake ones. i also said, ok cool. you are the real igbos. those delta igbos are the fake ones. and in mind, i remembered my childhood delta igbo friends who didnt want to be called "igbos" anyways.

@ ChinenyeN

ok cool. i actually dont care how people choose to identify themselves. whatever they call themselves is what i regard them as. i was just adding my two kobo to the topic based on what i have experienced.

and oh, the reason why the bendel state igbo kids didn’t want to identity as “igbos” but rather as “ibo” is because they said the igbos (meaning those across the niger) are bush people.  haha, true story.

this whole delta igbo / eastern igbo matter. from my own personal experiences, the delta igbos are more “mannered” and “cultured” than the across the niger igbos. in fact, there is a sharp contrast between the behaviours of delta igbos and across the niger igbos. so i think that is why some delta igbos want to separate themselves from the across the niger igbos and have their own identity. 

and i once dated a girl from enugu and she told me the delta igbos are the fake igbos while we in the east are the real igbos. and as crazy as this may sound, when i was in primary school back then when it was still bendel state, the bendel state igbo kids said we are “ibos” while those across the niger are “igbos” hahahahaha igbo people are funny and i miss my childhood delta igbo friends.

@ Ileke-IdI

Nobody can argue that the headtie began with the Yorubas and we'll continue to modernize it lol.

who said yorubas started the headtie? just because the popular word for headtie in Nigeria is “Gele” does not mean the yoruba started it.
yorubas should stop claiming ish. just like they wanted to make us believe that they started the "Agbada" whereas they stole that ish from the hausas and fulanis. yorubas didnt start the headtie, finito. other tribes have their names for headtie.

@ Ogbuefi 1,

When the Biafran backed Midwest Igbo forces took ove Benin, I insist from all records that not even a single civilian was killed.I challenege anyone to contradict this

Not a single civilian was killed? Not a "single" (1) (One) was killed?
Is that even possible during a war not to mention in a civil war that lasted 3 painful years? Ojukwu must have been a brilliant warlord and that feat should be recorded in the Guinness Book of records.