₦airaland Forum

pleep: ^ thats the saddest part.

The eygptians didn't have all the stone they needed either... they had to conquer the people in south, and transport 30 ton blocks of stone up the nile river and others were dragged hundreds of miles though the gotdamn dessert!

Mali had enough money to buy all the stone he needed, and pay people to carry it across the Sahara. But they would rather just use mud

You do not fully understand what you're arguing about. Ancient Egyptians only built their temples and other important buildings out of stone, nothing else.[link].

The greatest cities as proclaimed by foreigners were made almost entirely out of mud and some stone. The early version of what become the great pyramids, the mastaba, were made out of mud bricks. In order to keep the multi-layered mastaba (which ultimately became a pyramid) standing they switched to limestone.

This map shows where limestone caves are found:

https://www.reec.nsw.edu.au/geo/cave/caves/images/ybmapw.gif

The Chinese you are raving about didn't build the majority of their buildings out of stone, but wood.

pazienza: Nri was pushed southwards by the igala,into an already igbo occupied area, the ezza and izzi were equally pushed into a more southern direction by the benue groups, nsukka wasnt able to do much better against their non igbo neighbours, the southern igbo groups never knew the importance of sea access, the eastern flank got whopped by the ibibios and efiks,and they fled into territories already occupied by igbo tribes whom they shamelessly take glory in stating that they won in a battle and displaced them into the central igbo areas today, but pride wouldn't let them tell us how they were displaced from their original itu abode. *grins*

These ancient igbo niggas were cowards in my book,their strenght starts and ends against fellow igbo tribes, they were 'Agu uno' in every sense of that word.

I don't think they would have survived the usman dan fodio invasion that awaited them,if the whites didn't alter the natural order of things.

Only the Anioma are worthy of praise,thanks to their organisation and bravery, we still maintained our western borders.

Arochukwu is built on Ibibio lands though, and until the early 20th century the Nri were crowning Idah (Igala) kings. I'm not saying an Igbo group counted no losses, but it's an exaggeration to say all of them were pushed out of an original homeland.

Actually, I don't know an Igbo group that was pushed out of their homeland, except if by another Igbo group to a new land.

People should be reminded that Nze isn't a completely new word for the title, Nze the title means 'guardian', while Ozo means saviour.

Abagworo: Ngwa doesn't use "wu" but I don't know Umuahia town(Ibeku) real dialect but Oboro and Ikwuano that I know uses "bu" but when they want to speak a more centralized Igbo they could switch between the 2. This song was done in spoken Central Igbo used around Owerri axis and nothing like a dialect.

As for Ika, their similarity with Owerri is very uncommon to me based on what I've seen Agbotaen write as Ika. Even "Dein" is used in Owerri to refer to a senior or superior.

Ngwa uses either "bu" or "vu" depending on the sub-dialect. "O vu l'ezhi" in Ngwa means "O bu ezioku" or truth.

No, standard Igbo only uses bu. I may have been wrong about Ngwa, but I can guarantee 100% that some parts of Umuahia at least use wu. Central Igbo was based on the Ohuhu dialect of Umuahia with some other influences and changes such as the wu to bu.

The only way to be sure is to ask an Umuahia person.

Abagworo: Those people that use "ifon", "ifen" or "iphe" are mostly Crossriver Igbos that live North of Umuahia to Abakaliki and greet with "Ka" or "Jokwa". No Abia dialect uses "wu" instead of "bu". I think "wu" starts around Imo State and ends at the Egbeda axis of Ikwerre via Ohaji. Every other Igbo dialect I've heard uses "bu".

Ask anyone from Umuahia, they definitely use wu. Oh, and Ika also uses wu. Doesn't Ngwa even use wu as well? Listen to this, it's Umuahia music:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mGeidkhUNo

pazienza: I am sorry bro, no part of abia speaks anything close to onitsha dialect.

I'm writing from first-hand experience of what I've heard. Ife, bu, replacing of h with f, I've heard it among Abia villagers.

There are parts of Abia whose native language sounds similar to Onitsha, Igbo language is that diverse.

odumchi: You're failing to realize that the world is not, has never been, and will never be a fair place. Throughout human history, the demand for labor has always exceeded the supply. As a result, societies around the world have devised various creative methods, both forceful and peaceful, in order to feed the demand for labor.

Let me remind you that greed is a part of human nature. Every man is born with the desire to gain control over others and supersede them in order to secure his own well-being. Analyzing it from a purely economic perspective, slavery, in the precolonial African context, was a social structure that allowed the strong to manipulate the weak and supply themselves with human labor. However, as with all things human, we tend to easily corrupt whatever we do. The Europeans, whose attitudes towards slavery differed starkly from that of most Nigerian peoples, played a large role in the commercialization and "racialization" of slavery.

The demand for labour doesn't make the transatlantic trade in humans any more moral or natural. If you look at it from a social and political point of view it was what led to the collapse of the Igbo society and many other African societies through erratic conflicts which made it much easier for European colonists and missionaries to invade West Africa. The point is that the people trading slaves knew that what they were doing was wickedness, but they didn't care because of the immediate economic gains that they were getting which eventually led to the destruction of their way of life. "The world has never been a fair place", well that doesn't mean you kidnap 5 year olds at night and sell them off to monsters.

splashbaby: @OP on a lighter note...the Egbas are never in search or in doubt of their ethnic origin...Igbos on the other hand are in serious search of ethnic Identity... from Jews to Bantu and now Igbo mina and Egba...the confusion crisis is taking a new dimension of uncertinty even as far as the Americas where recent efforts at dishing out modern myths as facts by relating more established ethnic group language,names and place as having Igbo influences because of their similarity in sounds.

Yet Oduduwa was said to be from Saudi Arabia in traditional folklore.

ChinenyeN: Oyigbo is not a people. It's an LGA that was named (or renamed) from Obigbo town, which was established in the 20th century by hinterland Igbo immigrants who were looking for work in the new oil industry. The indigenes of Oyigbo are Asa and Ndoki, but Obigbo has since been integrated to the point that it is now an Ndoki community. In my honest opinion, Obigbo is practically no different from "Izugbe", but that's just them. The other [indigenous] communities don't sound like that, and instead sound more like communities in Ukwa and Ngwa areas.

I think it's coal industry, since they say the migrants were part of the people that built the railway from 'Iguocha' to Enugu.

mathskill: We know who the british met with their own tax system,mode of writing,governance,education,law etc and traded with the outside world we also know on the other ones,the real savages,those that lived in cave era at the time the white man came they had no system of authority nor governance,practiced cannibalism,inherited women,worshiped idols and indulged in witchcraft.Owning a laptop an access to internet won't make you change history.

What do you even know you're talking about? What in the things you listed was not found in southern Nigeria and was not a product of Arab handouts?

HAH: Are french and English African language , arabic is spoken in north africa mind you the whole of north africas population is not up to northern nigeria talkless of adding other countries in west and central africa plus sudan and libya and for your infomation the sudanese president mother is a sudanese hausa

Egypt is the second largest country in Africa. Everywhere Hausa is spoken, there is also a presence, if not a dominance, of the Arabic language. The Hausa language itself has loaned many words from Arabic.

Eziachi: This had always been the most unfortunate and counter productive, senseless and meaningless stereotype-that Hausa/Fulani folks are all stupid by many misguided southerners.
Even after what has happened before our eyes in the last 50 years? Big mistake, if you ask me.

What happend over the 50 years was influenced by the British hierarchy, which was created because certain leaders of certain groups were more willing to become playthings for them.

Justyaxx: Go siddon for one corner joor.

You're not making any kind of sense.

Justyaxx: Haters! Why not go get it and stop hating around this thread? Am a northerner and I know muhfakaz hate to like me and I love it. Cos when I ask "what did I do?" Speechless. Its just cos God chose to create me in northern Nigeria. Make person go fight God abeg!!! Kun ci kutumar ubanku mahassada shegu haka zaku kare aladun banza.

Why are you quoting that post?

anataala: hausa is second most spoken language after swahili, you can google and see, the language is spoken in almost most west african countries and some Central African republic countries

Hausa is not spoken more than French, Arabic, and English.

Personally, I see more similarity between Jamaicans and Ghanians/Congolese. The guys that remind me of Igbo culture are usually in the smaller English-speaking Caribbean islands like Barbados, and some African Americans.

Hausa is not the second most spoken language in Africa, I guess you guys mean language stemming mostly from Africa?

The reason why there's not Igbo or Yoruba service is because there's no audience for it. If Yoruba and Igbo people really wanted their own BBC service they'd have one.

You mentioned the Igbo presence when responding to a discussion about Yoruba prescence. That was why I had to set things straight.

The Ghanaians were influential throughout the British Caribbean, most notably in Suriname. The Fulani had a little presence, but there are a few Jamaican words that are from the language.

shymexx: My comment was directed to MSD's claim that Yoruba slaves weren't "badazzes" - yet the two biggest revolts in the new world were by Fon(Haitian revolution) and Yoruba(Imale Bahia Brazilian slave revolt)... The Imale revolt was so great, they had to deport some of the slaves back to Africa... The truth is that Igbo slaves were more suicidal than rebellious, to be honest... You may cite Barbados, however that doesn't change the fact that the Yoruba culture is still more dominant in the Barbados than Igbo culture... There are loads of Barbadians with Yoruba first names - and their President's house is also named after Yoruba people... Heck, some of Barbadian sprinters and beauty queens of the past have/had Yoruba names...

I never said Igbos were not dominant in Jamaica - if you go back ad read my post again... You'll see that I cited Jamaica as having more Akan and Igbo people than Yoruba people... I was just alluding to the Jamaicans that I've met with Yoruba first names..

Igbo slaves were the last to arrive in USA - how come they didn't leave the same imprint and impact the Yoruba slaves had from Louisiana to South Carolina?? The only place synonymous with Igbo slaves in USA is Virginia... However, Yoruba slaves were everywhere in the South... Heck, more than 50% of those doing the DNA ancestry thing have Yoruba ancestry... Kareem Abdul Jabar never needed ancestry DNA testing to know he's Yoruba - his pops told him as a kid... The same goes for Pele(fooballer) and rapper Nas' pops... I watched Nas' interview with the Actor's Studio yesterday, and he alluded to the fact that he kind of grew up as an African kid because his dad played Yoruba music and Fela Kuti's songs all the time...

Another thing to look at is when the New Afrika Movement started in USA in the 60s/70s, how come most of them preferred Yoruba names to other African names?? How come they also preferred the Yoruba Danshiki to other African clothes How come they preferred Yoruba gods to other African gods?? Heck, every time I watch Afrocentric AA videos - they all cite Yoruba culture than any other culture from West Africa... That's the impact the Yoruba culture have/had in the new world - no other culture is close, to be honest...

The New Afrikan movement and other Ankh waving movements are neo-Africanist movements based on information gotten from books. The Yoruba were the last people to arrive in places like Brazil and Trinidad and were able to retain their culture in South America this way which made the biggest impact on the Africanists. Same way the widespread use of Swahili lead to them adopting Swahili speaking cultures, and the grandiosity of Ancient Egypt lead them to pick that up even when these cultures have little to do with their ancestors. You're hanging onto your Barbados theory because of Obadele Thompson as if African Americans called Keisha are proof of major Kenyan influence in America. Let's ignore the fact that there are people who also picked up Igbo names like Kojo Nnamdi who took an Igbo name as an actual family name and Jamaican Oku Onuora who did the same.

I'm talking about influence. Let's talk about Ebo landing (which remains in African American folklore till today). Let's talk about Red Eboe. Let's talk about slave notices in the South about "Eboe" runaways. Barbadians do not know anyother type of African shamanism except Obeah, there is no Yoruba nickname used for Barbados. This Imale revolt you're raving about led to nothing, no significant European casualties if any, not as large or even nearly as significant as Nat Turner's slave rebellion, the biggest in US history, which took place in Virginia, you've already noted why Virginia is significant.

Pele's name has nothing to do with any African language. You say Nas, again, I say Nnenna Freelon and Keisha Cole. Its of no Significance. We've already established the fact that Ebo landing is in South Carolina and the tale goes throughout the south. There is no tale of Yoruba slaves in New Orleans. We also need to know that one of the first presidents of Liberia, Edward James Roye, was repatriated from the US and claimed to be of Igbo descent.

You should have just left the Igbo out of your discussion.

odumchi: The thing that escapes my understanding is why people think that the modern-day moral perspective through which we analyze things like slavery can be applied to past eras. I have always said this and I will continue to say it: slavery is an issue which is best discussed in the context of the time period within which it occurs. Just a we cannot condemn an ancient Incan for sacrificing a human being to his people's sun god (since human sacrifice was a perfectly understandable social norm in that particular day and society), it is equally wrong for us to condemn an African for participating in slavery and the slave trade.

The truth is that those who continue to utter statements like "Africans are wicked for selling off their brothers" continue to display their irritating level of ignorance on issues regarding precolonial African economics and social organization.

I disagree. Would you say the same for the Europeans on the other side? People 300 years ago were modern humans and weren't dumb. Slavery was driven by one thing and that is greed, so human-sacrificing was driven by another greed for power and control. None of those desires have changed. I highly doubt the African slave traders thought what they were doing was normal, since many were even into kidnapping. If it were not wickedness, then what would you say to the victims if this were 300 years ago?

shymexx: MSD

Hey sis, don't generalise by using what happened in Jamaica(a country that never had that much Yoruba slaves apart from the few taken to New Cross) as a yardstick for what happened all over the Caribbean and South America during slavery... How could you call the Akan badazzes and critique the Yoruba in the same sentence?? You mean the same Akan people that were crushed by the Yoruba in Africa - and had to pay tributaries to Oyo for a long time, no?? Just because the Maroons were rebellious and they left an imprint on Jamaica - that doesn't mean the Akan were stronger than the Yoruba slaves... Heck, I've met Jamaicans/Rastas out here who still believe most Jamaicans are of Yoruba descent... And there are a lot of Jamaicans with Yoruba first names out here as well... As for the Igbo slaves, they were not rebellious - they were suicidal... A lot of Igbo slaves committed suicide in the new world...

No matter how you look at it, every country in the new with a decent population of Yoruba slaves had a Yoruba imprint on it - from Tobago to Venezuela... Heck, even the presidential villa in Barbados has a Yoruba name... Despite the fact that most of the slaves taken there were Igbo and Yoruba....

Another thing you failed to point out is that the biggest/greatest slave revolt in South America was initiated and executed by Yoruba muslims called: Imale... So, they were not badazzes, yet they organised a well-planned revolt in Bahia, no?

How can you say the Igbo weren't rebellious then shoot yourself in the foot by mentioning Barbados, the most Igbo place in the Western hemisphere. The nickname for Barbados, Bem, is Igbo, the national hero and major slave revolt leader of Barbados, Bussa, is Igbo. Igbo people have rebellions named after them in Jamaica like the 1815 Igbo conspiracy, and 1816 Black River rebellion.

You keep making noise about Igbo not having any presence in Jamaica as if the biggest contributors to Patois aint Igbo, or as if the main shaman system, Obeah, isn't Igbo. Igbo people have a whole African-American folk-story centered around them, forget a village, they had an entire section of Belize City named after them. Can you show me another Equiano, with an African name calling themselves African and specifically identifying with their ethnic group? Can you tell me any African word that used as much as 'unu' and 'de/di' in the Caribbean?

Ndipe: I can trace my history to my greatgrandfather who, along with his younger brothers, founded my village and the neighboring one. Actually, where I hail from was founded by my greatgrandfather, and the village still bears its name uptil now that I am writing it. The adjoining village was founded by his younger brother, while the next village immediately after the second village was founded by the third brother. I know little about their own origins, like where they came from to become founders of our village. And it's something that I wished I inquired from my dad. From my maternal side, her maternal grandfather was a judge during the colonial era, but died when my grandmother was very young. He was a very progressive man who saw to it that his daughter went to school. Alas, my grandmother dropped out when her father passed on. One of my late uncles, my mother's brother, who became a professor, conducted some research in London and saw a picture of his grandfather (my greatgrandfather, the judge) in a British Archive.

Interesting topic, I believe it's useful to learn of our origins. Countries like Guinea and Senegal rely on griots to narrate their family history.

So your village was founded in the 20th century?

donroxy: U re wrong in ur above narration within Nigeria context....... If there is Southeast Nigeria,there would be Southsouth Nigeria.........


Eastern Nigeria should not imply the same thing as South-east Nigeria.....

Eastern Nigeria implies East Axis of Nigeria !!!!


When u divide Southern Nigeria again, the East Axis of Southern Nigeria equals South-East Nigeria....


Which kain Geographical knowledge equates SouthEast Nigeria to Eastern Nigeria.............?


Eastern Nigeria is more than IGBO.......while SouthEast Nigeria is predominantly IGBO........ezeagu,na other ethnic glory u dey allude to ur people oo

Ezeagu, u re WRONG.......!!!

I'm not the one to blame if you are ignorant enough to believe there is such a thing as a south-south in geography. What is the point of repeating things we already know.

donroxy: When u divide Southern Nigeria again, the East Axis of Southern Nigeria equals South-East Nigeria....


Which kain Geographical knowledge equates SouthEast Nigeria to Eastern Nigeria.............?

Did this make sense when you wrote it, or do you not understand what the term 'southeast' means?

Is this all you people can hang on to discredit the thread when I can easily discount anything that isn't out of Igboland for the facts?

ijaw citizen: @Ezaegu
You don't know me too well to think I'd be angry with the rubbish you're writing about my people. I think the right word for what I'm feeling is pity. Are you this pathetic?

Are you not facing the brunt of oil pollution, some of the worst the world has ever seen? Are you not sitting down and taking it, the same way you can't even sit down and take an Igbo buying a home fairly in your lands with her own money? Are you not ridiculed as fishermen and creek people all over Nigeria now? Were you not the same people who aided the rest of Nigeria with the perceived destruction of the Igbo because you people couldn't figure out how to fairly rise to the same economic/cultural power?

Deep down an average Nigerian thinks of an Igbo as a threat to their personal wealth and, most importantly, their ego. The average Nigerian sees the Ijaw as canon-fodder for their war against the Igbo, that is why you were used and dumped, this is why Odi happened just a few years after you were capsizing Igbo women and children in lakes, but also why Col, Ojukwu, a rebel, could use his two legs to walk into a country he fought against for 3 years.

The thanks you get for "dealing with the Igbo" is evident in the life of Issac Adaka Boro. The thanks you deserve is in the legacy of Chevron and Shell.

Anyway back to the topic, every important "Ijaw" town is Igbo speaking. Wall, meet head.

shymexx: Ezeagu,

You haven't said nothing about the Arochukwus - who're these people??

The Arochukwu confederacy rose up around the Cross River in the 1600s from a migration of various Igbo groups. The Kingdom was based on Arochukwu which was established on territory captured from the Ibibio. The confederacy held power in the region through an oracle known as Ibin Ukpabi or the Long Juju as it was known by the British. The confederacy was defeated in 1901/1902 after a 3 month stand-off with British led African frontier troops. They were renowned for their multi-storey buildings, their organisation and innovative use of trenches during the war. Read more here: http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/CALWC-CGTAC/pubs/bushwarfare/BushWarFare.pdf (from page xvii.

ijaw citizen: OVERSHADOWS?? Really

No, the right word I was looking for was eclipses. I can move to Mars and find an aspect of Igbo presence/culture. That's why you're really angry.

ijaw citizen: The truth is after we dealt with the Igbos who failed to respect our (Ijaw) territorial integrity during the civil war, we are still waiting for Igbos to "ENCROACH deep into our consciousness". But so far, it seems they've not been able to do that. Rather, they go online misinforming the uninformed Nigerians about the Ijaws.

You guys are suffering from millions of barrels worth of oil spillages, deal with that. The Nigerian state used you and dumped you, and yet again look at who you're angry at. The most comfortable/healthy/wealthy ethnic group in West Africa.

ijaw citizen: Really? please tell us about it.

You should know the leader of Igbo-phone Opobo, ask him instead.

ijaw citizen: So far, you haven't made a single sense from all the crap you've been typing. What a waste of internet space!

I can take a ride down to the very edge of the Atlantic Ocean and take a train all the way back to southern Benue and people will understand Igbo brilliantly, that's why you're really angry.

shymexx: Thebes, Carthage, Axum, Alexandria, and Avalite still exist... Thebes(now called Luxor after the Greeks) is still there and Carthage is still alive...

I don't want to derail the thread but both Ife and Benin date back to the 4th century BC...

There is no living recognised king of those ancient empires. There is no living king of Alexandria, the original culture of these places don't even exist anymore. If it were a case of the oldest kingdom in the world by date established and not by present existence (which I believe you're confusing) then it would be impossible to know since this could be anything from 6 to 10,000 years ago. Ife settlement dates back to that date, but the present monarchical establishment started with someone from around the 12th century.

CAMEROONPRIDE: Thanks. i have always thought so, but the amount of insults i received from voicing it out on this forum made me think Bantu was an insult in Igboland .

but i don't think you can be the precursor of something and not being the thing.

the first gay was a gay

Most Igbo people don't know what Bantu is. The pre-cursor means that the Bantu may have migrated out of the lands while the Igbo stayed, and the Igbo language isn't classed with the Bantu branch.

shymexx: So, Igbos are related to Ijaws, Tiv, Calabar and other bantuoid groups in Nigeria, no?? Interesting stuff...

Yes.