₦airaland Forum

Actually, we used to have an Ette indigene on nairaland here, by the name lordlexy.

He is from the Idoma majority of Ette, and From the exchanges I had with him, I gathered that the Idomas of Ette just like the Idomas of Enugu Ezike( the Adukwus that had since assimilated and became Igbo) are more than willing to become Igbos.

Only that they face discrimination at the hands of the Igbos in Ette and Nsukka area as a whole, who don't consider them as " real Igbos".
I got the impression that once these people are properly assimilated and made to feel equal to the rest of Ndiigbo in Nsukka area, they would always make sure the Igalas there are put in check.

According to sources, the area which is in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state was populated by Igbo, Idoma and Igalla communities who had been inter-marrying for ages.

However, the agitation by a section of the community to be merged with Kogi State started sometime in 1980, during the administration of Chief Jim Nwobodo as governor of old Anambra State, just as the Igbo speaking part of the area had been opposing them, insisting that merging them with Kogi State would put them in minority.

NSUKKA—Enugu State government has closed down about 16 primary and one secondary schools, as well government offices, including the local government secretarait in Ette, a border community with Kogi and Benue States following disturbances by some of the indigenes agitating to be merged with Kogi State.

According to sources, the area which is in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state was populated by Igbo, Idoma and Igalla communities who had been inter-marrying for ages.

An indigene of Etteh, Mr Tony Ogidi is cuurently representing the Igboeze North 11 Constituency in the Enugu State House of Assembly.

However, the agitation by a section of the community to be merged with Kogi State started sometime in 1980, during the administration of Chief Jim Nwobodo as governor of old Anambra State, just as the Igbo speaking part of the area had been opposing them, insisting that merging them with Kogi State would put them in minority.

Sources told Vanguard that the matter which had defied political solution was thrown out by the Supreme Court on February 8, 2007 for lack of jurisdiction.

The court in its ruling read by the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Alloysius Katsina-Alu stated that it was the duty of the National Boundary Commission to delieanate boundary between Enugu and Kogi States, prompting the commission to the visit the disputed areas about two years ago.

Other members of the panel which sat on the case at the Supreme Court included Justices Umaru Kalgo, Mahmood Mohammed, Walter Samuel Onnoghen, Francis Talba and Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed.

It was not known if the boundary commission had made the demacartion but the matter was alleged to have degenerated during the last national census when some youths prevented officials of the National Population Commission, NPC, from coming to the area throughout the exercise.

However, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, were chased away from some parts of Etteh during the registration of eligible voters by those protesting the inclusion of Etteh in Enugu State, resulting in the inability of some voters to be registered.

An official of the Enugu State government who spoke on the issue on the condition of anonymity said, ‘’it is true that Etteh community is under siege by pro-Kogi youths in the area.

Though Etteh has always been a flash point in Enugu State, the situation worsened as pro-Kogi youths of Ette, possibly aided by the Kogi State government, sacked all Enugu State Government’s institutions at Etteh, including the Igboeze North West Development Centre secretarait, a magisrate court, the education authority, and all about chased teachers in about 16 primary and one secondary schools out of their area.

’’During the last WAEC/NECO examinations, candidates who registered in Ette were moved to the neighbouring schools at Umuopu, Umuogbo and Aji as happened during the last general house of assembly election which was won by an indigene of the area, based on the zoning polical offices in Igboeeze North 11 Constituency (Umunana).

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/07/communal-clash-enugu-closes-schools/

.

Igboid:
The only marker of Igbo identity is Igbo language. And Maybe our four market days, Afiajioku/Ihejioku/ Ifejioku, reverence to Ani/Ala/Ali/Ana deity, reverence for Kola nut.
Once you have those markers, you are definitely Igbo.

This was the part of my post you were talking about.
My second part of in that Post where I used the plurals l "those", and "markers" instead of "that" and "marker".
Clearly showed that I consider those other factors markers too and not only Igbo language, just that I consider Igbo language a bigger marker.

ianSweet:
Who also made u a final say on what terms should be used in classifying who is Igbo or not? That's very shallow.

I can ask you the same. Who made you a final say on the idea that any Igbo speaking town in Kogi is Igala but Igala speaking towns in Anambra and Enugu are not Igbos but Igalas?

ianSweet:
Pls u really do not know anything about northern history, so i guess u stick to arguments on Igbo history.
First of Fulanis never conquered all the tribes in the north, they never conquered Kanem Bornu (Kanuri empire), they never conquered Plateau, Wukari (kwararafa kingfom), so there was absolutely no way they would have been able to force hausa language on these people. Islamic Emirates have never ruled the Kanuris, Plateaus or Souther Tarabans, they have only been ruled by their traditional rulers.
These people only embraced hausa as a trade language or Bible language (the bible for northern christians was first translated in hausa).

And pls, not all fulanis adopted Hausa as lingua franca, it was only those that settled in Hausa land that adopted hausa. The fulani emirates founded in Adamawa, Gombe and Muri (Taraba) never adopted hausa as a lingua franca and that is why till date if u go to Adamawa u find many fulanis who cannot speak hausa.

They never needed to conquer all of those groups. They only needed to conquer the largest of them all, the Hausas, and create a strong powerful Hausa core in North that sucked in the rest of the smaller tribes there to fall in.

Even at that. Those non Hausa groups speak Hausa only as a language of trade and socialization. They still have their own non Hausa languages and. Cultures.
I refuse to see how this applies to Igbo speaking communities, who also speak Igala.

ianSweet:
The point i am trying to prove is that not everyone that speaks your language or shares cultures with u must identify with u. Esans, Binis and Etsakos share so much cultural and linguistic similarities but they identify differently.
I see that Igbos usually argue that Anioma people are Igbos (not as if i care) but these igbos forget that Binis and Anioma people too share so much cultural and ancestral ties too. So it would not be out of place for Anioma people to decide that they are not Igbos. People have the right to decide where they want to belong irrespective of language or cultural similarities with anyone.

Exactly, those communities who are bilingual in Igala and Igbo in Anambra and Enugu identify with the Igbo nation.
So you might as well take your own advice here.

I'd advise you stay off Anioma issue, as you know next to nothing about it. Uwaechue, an Anioma son was the immediate past president of Ohanaeze Ndiigbo, and you don't know about his identity more than him.

Seriously i wonder why u guys love to claim everything to be igbo. This is why many minority tribes call u guys land grabbers.
Igbo is a large tribe and as such would have influenced their neighbouring minority tribes. Almost every one in Borno and Yobe states speak hausa as a 2nd language, due to hausa influence but hausas will not claim these places as hausa land.

I'd say you are a confused fellow.

This was the part of your post that brought about the current argument we are having.
You tried to falsely create the impression that there was an existence of big Igbo nation prior to Colonialization that could have influenced Igala. You tried to make parallel of this by drawing to attention the Hausa language in the North.

When in truth, the Fulanis had colonized the entire Hausaland and United them under their Emirates system, making a unit out of them. Same wasn't applicable to Ndiigbo, I had argued, as there was no existence Of A large Igbo unit that could have influenced southern Igalas like you tried to paint, instead Igalas as unit interacted with smaller Igbo units like Nsukka areas and Northern Anambra areas which they ended up dominating and influencing.
Igbo groups existed as minorities and dealth with minorities in SS and NC ndependently in precolonial era.

dEastActivist:
You've answered yourself with the bolded?
If I may ask you, why should you that claims you are a pro Biafran try to use ipob popularity and dominance to push for your own idea/ideology?
Remember ipob was someone's idea and people buying into it shares the same idea why then do you think you can come from nowhere and impose yours and you think it will work especially when you know it involves both Igbo elites and non Igbo elite.

Guy I no understand you.
Am not pro anything but pro Igbo but overall I seek justice and fair to all and sundry. You are not being fair here.
Pls Don't say this again

I don't understand what this post is supposed to mean.

Things stand on things. If IPOB is not flexible to accepting New ideas and 're inventing itself as needs arise, then it will soon or later go the way of MASSOB.

If IPOB cannot be a foundation upon which Igbo freedom secession ideas can be built on and taken to the next stage. If it can't be a shoulder upon which future leaders of this Igbo agenda can stand on and grow faster, then it's obviously going to end up like MASSOB.

Dalton established atomic theories, men like JJ Thompson, Chadwick, millikan, Geiger stood on his shoulders but still ended up cancelling all his theories and replacing them with the better ones we have today.

If Kanu is going to be an all knowing alpha and omega, whose idea of what IPOB should be and represent is not open to suggestions, then I pity the future of his struggle.

ianSweet:
An empire is not and can never be the only reason why a neighbouring tribe may adopt the language of her neighbours, far from it!
I am a student of history, so i have studied many ethnic groups in Nigeria and all over the world and i have seen cases where neighbouring tribes pick up each other's language without an empire or kingdom being involved. So, saying because igbo land never had an empire is a reason why anybody who speaks igbo today must be igbo is very very wrong. Ethnicity to a large extent today should be based on choice.
Germans, Austrians and majority of Swiss people speak German, but they choose to maintain different ethnic identities. The Portuguese and Spanish are practically the same people who speak a similar language and have same origin and cultures but they chose to identify differently, even the Catalonians and Galicians who are of Spanish nationality reject being labelled ethnically spanish.

There are Igala indigenes in Benue and many of these igalas speak idoma too, at the peripheral areas they speak each others language.
I have a friend who is Esan by tribe from Edo state but her people speak Ika as their mother's tongue. I made inquiries about that town and i found out that these Esan people were influenced by their Ika neighbours (Agbor) and their Esan language has now been replaced by Ika and only the elders still speak Esan, the younger ones have switched to Ika but the people's culture remain primarily Esan, can we now say that these people are Ikas or Igbos?
Most Plateau and Borno state people speak Hausa fluently and some of them are even dropping their languages for Hausa, but neither Hausas nor fulanis ever conquered Plateau or Borno people.
Yorubas never conquered or ruled Nupes, Baribas, Ogori magongo or Akoko edo at any point in time in history but many of these people speak yoruba in their homelands even more than their own native languages.
Calabar people never had an empire but many of their neighbours to the north in cross river still understand Efik. There are many more instances of these in Nigeria and the world over.

Talking about market days, Igalas and Idomas share the same market days with igbos, i guess this has made us igbos. Baseless.

Well, German speaking Austrians and Swiss are of the same stock with Germans in Germany, only that they were not part of the German tribes United by Otto von Bismarck to form Germany, likewise Lichtenstein. They don't deny being of same stock with those in the Rhines region of Germany.
And I never remembered saying that empire is the only reason a people might choose the language of their neighbors.
I only brought it up because you seemed to be painting a picture of all big and powerful ancient SE that dominated small Igala,which I already proved that no such big Igbo nation existed. So I will chalk off this part of your essay as irrelevant.

Portugal and Spain are two independent countries, I understand we are talking about intra country relationships . Spain is a country, not a nationality, just like Nigeria. Everyone knows that Spain is made up of distinct nationalists like Castilia, Catalonia, Basque, Galicia, et.c. so I don't know the point you are trying to score with bringing Spain into the discussion.

Yes, everyone knows about Ekpon, the Ika speaking Esan town, but we all know that Ekpon still kept all the Esan markers, like festivals, method of burial, music styles, culture, traditions, etc. And that even some sections of Ekpon still speak Esan. Once again, this is an epic failure from you, everyone knows Ekpon was originally Esan and that their town is still contagious with Esan speaking communities. So I don't understand the point you were trying to prove by bringing them into our discussion.

Fulanis conquered Hausas and adopted Hausa language as the lingua franca of their new Islamic emirate, in the North. Northern non Hausa tribes speak Hausa because of strong Fulani emirate system in place, subtly forcing everyone to learn Hausa as a language of communication, if they must fit into the society. Yet those non Hausa groups still have their own non Hausa first languages and cultures.

Akoko Edos don't speak Yoruba, infact, it's the Akoko ondos that speak languages many Yorubas struggle to understand.
Nupe and Yorubas had many clashes in the past, who is to say how many Nupe people today are actually assimilated Yorubas? Was Oyo ile not ransacked by the Tsoede Nupe in the past? Nupe conquered parts of Yoruba territories which explains Yoruba influence in Nupe.

Efik neighbors understand Efik, they don't speak Efik and certainly don't partake in most EFik traditions and culture. So once again, I don't understand the point you intended to make with this your long epistle.

Igala and Igbo market days are not exactly the same, neither Igala nor Idoma revered Ana/Ali/Ala/Ani the earth goddess, they obviously don't revere Kolanut like Ndiigbo do, don't think they have Afiajioku/Ifejioku/Ihejioku culture.
You simply have no point.

That's the only pragmatic means of taking the struggle to the next level, I had suggested it to them( IPOB/MASSOB) many times on this forum and other forums, but they turned it down on each occasion.

So I had decided to let them be, after all they are not stopping me or any other pro Biafran out there from building a pro Biafran secession political party in Nigeria.

I don't support IPOB/MASSOB approach towards achieving Biafra, as I don't think their method is effective, but I wish them well, as I long for Independent Igbo nation, which is IPOB goal.

ianSweet:
Seriously i wonder why u guys love to claim everything to be igbo. This is why many minority tribes call u guys land grabbers.
Igbo is a large tribe and as such would have influenced their neighbouring minority tribes. Almost every one in Borno and Yobe states speak hausa as a 2nd language, due to hausa influence but hausas will not claim these places as hausa land.
Most Nupe and Bariba people in Kwara and Niger speak yoruba fluently (especially at the boundary areas) as an additional language, Ogori magongo people of Kogi answer mostly yoruba names and speak yoruba as an additional language but yorubas never claim them as part of yoruba land.

If most minority tribes around igbos adopt igbo as a second language, i think u guys should see it as a plus and an increasing territorial influence of your language and try to work out some sort of social integration with these tribes. This will not work by claiming these people who speak your language as Igbos. It will only lead to arguments.
Hausas never claim other northern minority groups as hausas, all they did was to find a general name AREWA which helped to define all northernerns.
That is what u igbos should do instead of looking for ways to claim or argue with your neighbouring minority tribes on tribal areas. Things like this will only make your minority neighbouring tribes dread and resent u the more.

I have seen igbos arguing with Edos here over Igbanke, i have seen u guys arguing here with ijaws over Opobo and Bonny, u guys arguing over Benue igbos, arguing over Anioma, Ikwerre and even Akwa Ibom and Cross river. This is just terrible.
How many times have u guys seen yorubas arguing with Nupes, Egbirras, Baribas, Edos, Ogoris e.t.c over tribal boundaries? We igalas even speak a yoruboid language which many yorubas can understand to an extent, but they have never claimed us.

Igbo as a large tribe is a recent construct. It's a colonial construct.
Igbo clans saw themselves as distinct entities before the arrival of the colonials.
So don't try to confuse the Igbo scenario with those of Yorubas who had an Oyo empire and Oduduwa myth to unite them all.

Igbo nation didn't interact with Igalas, instead distinct Igbo clans who were not larger than Igala interacted with Igalas. And this interaction was unknown by the rest of us in the hinterland until modern era. So don't make it seem like Igalas were up against the entire south East. Igalas were only up against Nsukka and Aguleri part of Igbo land, who were not bigger in population than Igalas.
As a matter of fact, it was Igalas who were the aggressors who sought to colonize those distinct Igbo clans.

The only marker of Igbo identity is Igbo language. And Maybe our four market days, Afiajioku/Ihejioku/ Ifejioku, reverence to Ani/Ala/Ali/Ana deity, reverence for Kola nut.
Once you have those markers, you are definitely Igbo.

Yorubas had an aggressive empire that went on colonizing their neighbors, so they know that not all that speak their language are Yorubas. Ndiigbo never had such empires.
Instead we were pushed from the west by expanding Bini empire, North by the Igalas and Idomas.

And lastly. No Igbo cares about Igala or any non Igbo speaking clan origins. The Yorubas don't drag Igalas because they know you are not part of their odua group myth story, neither were you part of their Oyo empire or other independent Yoruba kingdoms that challenged Oyo. The Yoruba commonwealth is well defined. And Igala is not part of it.

There are many non Igbo speaking towns in Edo, Rivers and Delta today with Igbo ancestry, but you don't see Ndiigbo talk about them. Because they are not Igbo speaking,and it's as simple as that.

ianSweet:
U are not idoma and i dont think u have the right to speak on behalf of idomas.
Idomas and Igalas are brothers, the issue would be very well settled by Middlebelt elders when the need arises, just that people dont see this as a big issue now.
There are idoma speakers in Kogi as well as Igala speakers in Benue due to boundary misadjustments. The igbo migrants in Ette town are just hiding under Idoma umbrella to make it look like the town does not want to join Kogi.
Igalas and idomas are used to each other, we were together in old Benue state for decades b4 Kogi creation.

The traditional leaders and titles of Ette town are all Igalas and in Igala, that shows who actually owns the towns

I'm telling you the situation of things on ground and you are talking trash, like you have the right to speak for Idomas yourself. Idomas in Ette are cut off from contact with Idomas in anywhere else. They are aware of Igala plans to drag them to Kogi and use their majority status in Kogi to take away the current advantage the Idomas hold in Ette. They will resist every plan by Igalas to drag them to Kogi, together with Ndiigbo.

Ndiigbo in Ette are more than ready to accept and assimilate the Idomas there. And Ette is already part of Igboland. The status quo favours the Idomas in Ette, they wouldn't want to change it by getting dragged to Kogi and handing the initiative to the minority Igalas in Ette.

Igbos are also good neighbors of Idomas. Igbo indigenous communities have been co existing in peace with Idomas in places like Okpokwu, Obi, Oju LGAs of Benue state.
So don't make it seem like only Igalas have links with Idomas.

The Igbos in Ette are not Migrants. They are indigenous natives of the land.

sissoko22:
Logically correct

Lol!
Make I laugh small. In what land does the tail wag the dog? In Igalaland?

In my conclusion, the mentioned market name is an igala name borrowed by the igbo speaking speaking people of Nigeria.

I hope this is a joke.

With the kind of inferiority complex these Igbo border communities exhibit. I am sure that if this Nupe general, Adukwu invaded Enugwu Ezike a century before the colonials came with written records.

Adukwu would have formed a kingdom out of Enugwu Ezike and infused many Nupe words for governance in the monarchy stool.
And Enugu Ezike oral story will now be telling us how Ezike people were Nupes who became Igbos with no trace of Nupe language whatsoever remaining today. That their founding father, Adukwu was a Nupe Prince who migrated with their people to their present abode.
When the truth is that he was an invader who met an already Igbo speaking Enugu Ezike people on ground.

Even at that, Enugwu Ezike is still running and trying to claim Bini origin. When it is well known that Enugwu Ezike migrated from Enugwu Ukwu.

This inferiority complex and need to attach to non Igbo origin by Igbo speaking groups is becoming embarrassing.

ISLAM IN ENUGU-EZIKE

"According to Eze. O, Islam was brought to Enugu Ezike through a Nupe Muslim trader, Ibrahim Adukwu who came down from his hometown, Bida with his mother and siblings and settled at Umuogodo, Amufie.

He was described by C.K. Meek as an ambitious and powerful Nupe man. He was said to have acquired Quaranic education under a Mallam versed in Arabic language back home in Bida in the present Niger State of Nigeria.

Ibrahim Adukwu was used by the British in the administration of Nsukka area hence his appointment as a Warrant Chief. This appointment helped in deepening and expanding the frontiers of Islam in Enugu-Ezike. In 1918, when the Native Court of Enugu-Ezike was formed, Adukwu was a principal member. His towering personality not only dragged his 120 servants to Islam but was also a source of assurances and guarantees to many more Muslim immigrants.

The unmitigated spread of Islam in Enugu-Ezike was, however, checkmated by the presence of Christian missionaries who established schools. Such schools became centres for religious instructions.

Ibrahim Adukwu is remembered for the introduction of St Luke’s Anglican school in Amufie in 1931 not minding that he was a Muslim. It could, however, be because some of his sons needed western education which only the missionaries were the gateway. Some of the sons took Christian names to actualize their dreams of acquiring western education. His sons dominated the public positions open to Africans in the Enugu-Ezike Native Authority Areas. They included Johnson Bawala C. Adukwu, William Momoh Adukwu, Alfred Abubukar Adukwu and Richard Audu Adukwu.

It must be noted that in the long run, his romance with Mission school brought the dwindling fortunes of Islam in Enugu-Ezike where it has continued to play a second fiddle to Christianity. The mission schools provided western education which presented high prospects for the leaders of tomorrow as against Quaranic education which is more on Arabic literacy.

It is equally noteworthy that the first female graduate from Enugu Ezike in the person of Stella Nkem Adukwu of Amufie came from Ibrahim Adukwu’s family. She graduated in 1978. The second and third positions went to Benedette Eze of Imufu and Bridget Mayiri Iyida of Olido respectively. Benedette graduated in 1979 and Mayiri in 1981. The three of them came from the Umuitodo clan of Enugu-Ezike.

In the male category, the first was Johnson Eze from Amachalla. He graduated in 1962. Nduka Eya from Amufie came second while the third position went to Gabriel Ugwuanyi of Olido. He graduated in 1965. The three are also from the Umuitodo clan of Enugu-Ezike where Ibrahim Adukwu had the greatest influence".

http://kenugwu.dinstudio.com/blog_1_65.html

let me state that igala land has been reduced to a small state the igalas have once conquered more than half of present day igbo land ,there are many igala speaking tribes in igbo land from delta to anambra and so on

Igbo have suffered.

How can someone wake up and type this type of rubbish?
Igala influence stopped at Northern Anambra, Northern Enugu and Ebu in Delta North.

And they were well checkmated by Nsukkas in Enugu North border.
How exactly the above scenario translates to conquering half of present Igboland is a product of your delusions.
Igala speaking people that invaded towns in Northern tips of Anambra and Enugu are rapidly being assimilated into Igbo culture and Igbo language. it's not like they have any option.

TRendlona:
If he'll handle the both matches the way he handled City's game vs Barca, I see City trashing the both teams 4-0 or even higher..

Lol!
Dream on! Pep will be lucky if he gets 1 point from those two matches.

kokaneprodigy:
Ladies and gentlemen Harry Kane is back.

Yea! But so will be Walcott,,Bellerin, and luckily Carzola.

InvertedHammer:
/
They have every right to feel whichever way they want.

It is senseless to see and feel that someone did nothing for one and then turn around to worship the same oppressor.

GEJ did less for ndi Igbo than OBJ. OBJ had a lot of Igbo folks in his cabinet too. He executed the contract for Osha-Owerri expressway. OBJ handed over to Yar'Adua. GEJ had Igbo folks in his cabinet. He executed the contract for Enugu airport. Igbo people claimed that the real OBJ's father is an Igbo man from Onicha. That didn't sell. Igbo people claimed also that GEJ is Igbo and it didn't sell either. The trend is clear.
In 2019, one charlatan will collect money from Abuja and tell Igbo people that Buhari's great grandfather is from Awka. Guess what? Igbo people will line up behind Buhari. It has already started. They named him Okechukwu in 2015.

How politcally gullible and silly can a tribe be? In all of these, the Igbo folks' fate goes with the wind. Will they learn?
\

You really need some mental evaluation. I wonder why Afonjas think and behave like you. Could it be the kind of food you guys eat over there?

Can you show me just one reputable Igbo cultural organization that called GEJ an Igbo man. Just one.
And then show we the one that called OBJ an Igbo man.

Why are Afonjas worshiping Buhari? What has Buhari ever done for you people that is noteworthy? Are you towns not still under developed?
Why the level of support and Hero worship Buhari enjoys in SW? His Fulani people conquered and subjugated your people in Ilorin, you know their dictatorial machinations, yet you all still worship Buhari.

GEJ called us his people, and we swore never to have a hand in any plan to kill his political career, this is what is paining Afonjas.
You wanted us to join you and your Northern masters in your gang up against a lowly man from a very minute tribe called Ogbia, and we refused. You wanted us to support your tyrant who truncated our nascent democracy in 1983 but now expect to benefit from democratic process, and we said no!

You can continue hitting your heads on the floor, but Ndiigbo will never join you to castigate GEJ, while you celebrate and worship a corrupt military dictator.

Pchidexy:
You are well traveled bro. I don't know why some people will stay in their various houses and conclude some rubbish.

Once again, good one sir!

Thanks. I try my best. Jesus bu Eze.

By Igala history, the Igalamela people are Igbos by origin. They are not descendants of Abutu Ejeh. But today, they are all known as Igala people.

This has always been my suspicion.

I suspected that Igala people might have occupied a more Northern territory in the past, but were pushed southwards, where they met indigenous Igbo communities, whom they overpowered and assimilated, leaving traces of Igbo influence in the process.


Whenever you read the origin stories of communities in Igbo Etiti LGA of Enugu state like Aku, Ekwegbe etc, they all seem to believe they migrated to their present location from Igala, and that they were Igalas, while parallel Nshi origins there are muted.

But what I thought when I critically analyzed their stories was that these people were probably displaced from their original locations that could be in present Igalamela, Olamboro, Ibaji areas by the Igalas in the ancient time, while some of them stayed behind and assimilated as Igalas in those places( Igalamela, Olamboro, Ibaji).

You can read about the Igala stories of Igbo Etiti people here:
http://igboetiti..co.ke/2010/10/history-and-tradition-of-people-of-igbo.html?m=1
The problem is that Igbo communities consider it exotic to hype on perceived links with cultures outside Igboland, while non Igbo speaking communities with Igbo ancestries outside Igboland, consider it a political necessity to conceal whatever links they have with communities in Igboland.

bigfrancis21:
Ok. Akpanya people majority Christians and 95% of the town speaks Igbo. However, a lot of Hausa muslims live in the area and the town being located in Kogi state where there is presence of Islam, Igbos who converted to Muslim migrate to live in the town as well, given the language similarity with the people and the religious freedom and acceptance in the place. Akpanya natives who speak Igbo are mostly Christians but Igbo muslims, who are migrants not natives, also live in the town due to Islamic religious acceptance in the town. You get now?

Ok. I understand it better now.

Thanks.

The Igbo Muslim community of Akpanya are not originally from the village, but made "hijrah" to the community after their ancestors converted to Islam. They have a very long history in the Akpanya community and are fully integrated into the community and its life.

I don't understand this part of the post. It's a bit ambiguous.

cc: bigfrancis1

bigfrancis21:
Ya the Igala conquest occurred around the mid to late 1800s. From histories I have read, I have often wondered the penchant for Igboland the Igalas and Binis had. In the past you read of many Igalas heading towards Igboland to settle for many reasons. There seems to be a general fondness for Igboland ancient Igalas had, and which may explain why many of them left their hometowns and headed southwards and later settled.

I saw this still express itself when my Igala roommate back in my first year in 2008, who was very bitter against Igbos, told me that very soon they would conquer Nsukka land again.

The guy is pure Igala anyway, from his looks, most likely upland Igala.

I dont think it was fondness for Ndiigbo that pushed Igalas south towards Igboland.

I think it was environmental and human pressure. Everything south of Sahara was gradually being pushed south as the Sahara desert expanded, inadditon to the entrance of Fulanis into Northern Nigeria, the territorial war was fierce there. Even the Yorubas were said to have been occupying a more Northern position than the one they currently occupy, they were gradually pushed down southward by Waring tribes up North.

I suspect the same was done to Igala, causing them to Encroach into Northern Igbo territories.

Who knows, areas of southern Igala could have been Igbo strong holds that were overwhelmed by Igalas and the people assimilated into Igala wwith traces of Igbo language remaining as evidence of such.

Maybe if the colonials didn't come, we could have also lost Northern Anambra and Enugu to Igalas too. The coming of the colonials seem to have stopped the Igala wave, at a point they were yet to totally overwhelme and "Igalanize" the Igbos occupying those parts of Northern Enugu and Anambra.

#Justthinkingoutloud

oglalasioux:
The Nsukka and most Ebonyi Igbos' culture and traditions are purely shaped by Tiv, Idoma and the Igala cultures and traditions. From masquerades to marriages and foods and burials.

Where exactly did you get this trash from?

Everything rooted in antiquity in Nsukka, and Ebonyi are all Igboid.

Culture is dynamic, so they borrowed some cultures and words from their non Igbo neighbors, but their culture is still more than 90% Igbo.

Thank you.

ianSweet:
@BigFrancis, There are no indigenous ethnic igbos in Kogi.
Many Igalas from southern igala speak Igbos as a second language and may share Igbo origins, but today, we are all Igalas by ethnicity.
There are also igala speakers in Enugu and Anambra and Igbo speakers with Igala origin in these states.

This is funny.

The Igala speakers in Northern Enugu and Anambra are adjudged native Igalas, while Igbo speakers in southern Igala can't be adjudged native Igbos.
You wish.

OgaEngr:
I know of Akpanya in Igalamela/Odolu LGA. They all speak Igbo. Everyone born and bred in the town speak Igbo. The ones that speak Igala are those that had travelled - mainly the elders.

Their market is Orie, also an Igbo Market day.

This is cool.

LorDBolton:
It's now a crime to be a polite & 'welcoming' people, I pity the yorubas they keep forming sophisticated allowing igbos settle in their main economic states (lag, ogun, oyo) instead of giving them the northern treatment once in a while so history will remember who owns the land lols

If we start talking about how onitsa is corrupted edo lingua onitse they will start raining invectives on me.

But tell them igbos founded lagos n watch as they reach for the vaseline.

Stop talking trash!

Onicha is found all over Igboland, from Onicha Uboma in Imo, to Onicha Ngwa in Abia, to Onicha Uburu n Ebonyi state and Onicha Ndiagu, Onicha Enugu Ezike in Enugu.

Its a bit silly to start saying that such word like Onicha with etymology deep rooted in Igbo language is a corrupted word from small Bini. I think Philip Emegwali was the originator of that retarded theory, when he tried currying favour from Yorubas by insinuated that Onicha was derived from Oritsha, when he( Emegwali) knows next to nothing about the history of other Igbo communities except that of Onicha- mili.