₦airaland Forum

[b] "One of their most horrible and extraordinary super-
stitions is that connected with the birth of twins ; an
occurrence looked upon as the greatest affliction that
can happen to an Ibu woman. The little victims are
no sooner born than one or both are taken away, placed
in the neighbouring thicket in earthen pots or baskets,
and left there to become the food of hyenas or other
wild beasts. The unfortunate mother is separated for
ever from her conjugal alliance ; she is obliged to pass
a long period of repentance and purification, in a rude
hut some distance from the town ; and if she outlives
all these trials, mental and physical, and returns once
more to society, she is regarded as an especial object of
Fetiche wrath, and no woman will knowingly sit in her
company, or hold communion with her. No wonder
that it is so much dreaded by all Ibu women ; to whom
it is impossible to offer a greater insult, or one which
rouses their angry feelings more, than to say the word
" Abo-wadakri ;" or by holding up two fingers, signify
that they have had twins.

Another equally absurd, and scarcely less cruel super-
stition, is the sacrifice of such children as unfortu-
nately cut the teeth first in the upper jaw. They
believe it to indicate a wicked disposition"[/b]


Haha! Now, this is as Igbo as they come. We really owe the colonial masters alot for preserving these living evidence.

You come here and talk about shared history forgetting that majority of Anioma history is edoid

Edoid? Your ignorance knows no bound. Other than Oza nogogo that is only but a fraction of Agbor kingdom, can you mention any other Edoid group in Anioma?

The Edos can't even understand Igbanke, an Igboid group that is in Edo state, it's now the Ukwuanis, Ikas and Enuani that they will understand.

Please stop displaying your ignorance here.

PabloAfricanus:
Thats where you are forcing it dude.
No one needs anyone to be under any umbrella they did not choose to be.
It is not obligatory or mandatory that the Aniomas, Ikwerres or any other so called Igbo speaking peoples join any pan Igbo
group or nation.
They are and have always been free to forge their own destiny, politically or economically.
If they decide to cast their lots with their Niger delta neighbours...good for them.
If they decide to take the Bini fixation to a logical conclusion...good for them.
If they decide to adopt Edo language as their national tongue tomorrow so they can finally get rid of the persky "Igbo"
question...it is their prerogative and not yours.
And as I noted...they owe you no apologies nor explanations.
So quit with the pan Igbo nonsense.

Infact if I were Igbo, I will be loath to accept into a pan Igbo fold peoples who denied their ancestry openly and vehemently for political expediency. If human nature is anything to go by, you can be rest assured the resentment and hatred will be lying latent and still on the surface.
You will be having willing fifth columnists and moles in your midst.
If you were a good student of history, you would know that since the Igbos have never had any pretensions to imperial status or statehood,
the drive should be for a confederation of clans under the Igbo umbrella.
Cos it does take conquest and force of arms to keep a people subjugated under a common political umbrella.
And you and I know, the republican Igbos find state politics or conquest an alien concept.
Infact it is more likely that the Aniomas will find a pan Igbo setting more disorganized and characterized by clear leadership hierarchies
which they are not accustomed to...that is in contrast to their monarchical systems where leadership was not found wanting.
A look at their pride in their Bini styled monarchical systems should tell you why they will eventually resent any pan Igbo stuff.
Methinks it boils down to the fact that the Igbos are new to state politics and have never had political leaders.

I don't know where you got the idea that I am forcing Igbo identity on Ukwuanis from.

So far, no Ukwuani monarch has come out to deny Igbo identity, I have Friends from Ukwuani who are proud of their Igbo identity, ukwuani has no institutionalized Igbophobic policy.

Why then should I take the words of probably descendants of Hausa slaves in Ukwuani over those of free borns and their Okpala ukus and Obis?

[b]
The people live apparently to a good age, for many
were observed to be more than seventy years old. The
number of domestic slaves is very large, in some towns
being aJ^^Dst equal to the free inhabitants: they are
well treated, and many of them become free. Those
at Aboh are liberated when they build proper dwellings,



252 THE king's visit.

but they continue to pay a tax of forty yams each
season, and a small tithe of their goats, fowls, &c. By
thus incorporating them with the free people, many are
induced to " sit down" quietly who would otherwise
try and escape. There was a strong case in point
with Ali Here, who was formerly, in 1832, as on the
present occasion, lent by Obi as pilot. He was a young
Haussa slave belonging to Obi, and was taken to
Fernando Po in the * Albiirkah,' where he might have
obtained his freedom, but he preferred returning to
his master. On a similar offer being now made to him,
he said he was married, and although he knew he was
a slave, he had commenced a little trading on his own
account, was quite satisfied with his lot, and did not
wish to leave his country. [/b]





Notice that because of Ezzeh Obi Ossai involvement in slave trade, many slaves of non Igbo( Aboh) origin were incorporated into Ukwuani area as free borns. Some of these slaves are even Hausa slaves, as we saw from this Colonial document above, and in some instances the number of these freed Slaves are just as equal as those of real Ukwuanis.

These alien slaves were assimilated as Ukwuani indigenes following the abolition of slave thread, and make no mistake about it, their descendants are still present in Ukwuani today and in large numbers as in before and their ancestors already told them their history, they know they are not Igbos, but since they can't claim their slave roots, they invent a Bini story as a cover up.
This is a very significant factor in the Igbo denial elements in Ukwuani area that is often not discussed.

When these people tell you that they are not Ibos, they are probably right, and I don't argue with them on that, I only come in, when they say that Ukwuani area is not an Igbo area.

I only hope that just as Obi of Owa, the Nri representive in Owa stood up to be counted when needed, that the real Igbos of Ukwuani, the descendants of Ezzeh Obi Ossai will stand up to be counted, by puting these Hausa and northern slave blood descendants that are attempting to hijack Ukwuani true identity to hid their own slavery ancestry.

"All the country to the eastward of the Niger at this part is called Ibo, or Ibu, but is independent of Obi. Our interpreter, Simon Jonas, was a native of this dis- trict. He said that each town has its own separate chief. The principal place of worship is called Anno ; and is much larger than Aboh. The houses are high. The general trade is in slaves from the interior. The town is situated on the banks of the River Immo, which, above, flows through a rocky country ; the water is clear, and very rapid. Canoes can communicate with the River Immo at Anno, by means of connecting creeks from Aboh, by way of n'Doki. This river is probably the old Calebar, or Cross, explored by Beecroft in 1 84 1 . At the nearest point on that river, about seventy miles due east from the Niger at Onechah, there is a town called by that experienced navigator Acoono-coono ; above which the river actually passes through a rocky country. The clearness of its waters would appear to indicate its pas- sage through a lake higher up. Above Anno, Simon Jonas called it Abam-him, " the meeting of the waters." His account was confirmed by another native of that country.
Abreast of the Onechah River was an island or sand- bank, then overflowed, where the market called Onikh, or Kiri, before alluded to, is held. Near it, at Assaba, the natives of Benin come to trade by land."

oweniwe:
1. Based on point one, since there was nothing like igbo back then, do you think ukwuani, ikwerre, ika etc folks are right to reject being called "igbo "?

E.g.... "I am Ukwuani... I am not igbo because there was nothing like "igbo " before the white man came "...

Ngwa man is simply Ngwa... Osha man is simply Osha... Ndienigu are simply Ndienugu... Ukwuani is simply Ukwuani... Ikwerre is simply ikwerre.... There's nothing like "Igbo "

Do you see ' reason ' in the above statement?

No. I see no reason.
We as a people had passed over that stage of clannish tendencies and independence.

The colonials met us a fragmented people, but being in the same country with bitter rivals who were non Igbo speaking, saw us merge together as one Ibo people politically.

We have passed the clannish stage in our evolution. And won't allow some people draw us back to that stage, simply because we lost a war. Mbanu!

Ukwuani can still maintain its distinctive nature, but it has to be under the Igbo banner, because even in SE, clans like Ngwa,Nsukka,Ndoki,Asa, etc, still retained their distinctive nature, they have their own languages with dialects, and even organizations, but it's all still done under the Igbo umbrella.

This is not the same with what Igbo denials in Anioma are seeking.

oweniwe:
@ PabloAfricanus, Igboid, SlayerSupreme ....

Do you agree with the notion that [b]there was nothing like Igbo before the white man came? [b/]

The Igbo speaking people knew each other, but they didn't fly under one Igbo banner.

No one was Igbo per say, but they subconsciously knew they were related people.

Obi Ezzeh Ossai in that 1841 British expedition I was posting, did acknowledge the existence of "Ibu" speaking people across the Niger, over whom he had no control.

He never addressed their Igaboh, brass, Ejoh and Bini neighbors as such.

Simon Jonas, the "Ibo" man that served as the interpreter between the British voyage of 1841 and Ezzeh Obi Ossai was an Igbo man from Eastern Igboland,he had never been to Aboh before, yet he needed no interpreter to understand all Obi Ezzeh Ossai of Aboh Kingdom spoke, and relayed them in English to the white man. Also Obi Ezzeh Ossai had no problem understanding Simon Jonas Igbo dialect, even though we know that he( Simon) was probably speaking Isuama Ibo dialect to Ezzeh Obi Ossai and not Aboh/Ukwuani dialect.

SonOfEl:
Onye abia making ndigbo proud....

Yes o! No part of Igboland is a burden, every part pulls it's weight.
No dulling. Ndi Abia ndewonu o!

Ndiigbo mmamanuo!

Anyway, when is this thread going to reach the Front page?

Lalasticlala, Seun,,Mukina2,

I know that this is not the usual bad news about Ndiigbo, but I can ensure you that any News about Ndiigbo is a traffic magnet, whatcha say?

JohnnyAmhan:
What are all these tribal forms of statment and reply for. My brother something like "An Illustrious Nigeria Does It Again" would have been non Ethnically Egocentric, instead of using the phrase" an Igbo man", and for the commentators picking up what we assume to have left in the trash which is tribalism that the colonial masters tried to fully instilled in us would have buttress maturity. It's high time we moved on from our ethnic cocoon into a realm of national co-existence. We are educated seeking light to illuminate our country, inter-ethnic co-existence is what we need. One for all, all for one. Love you all.

Hypocrite. Go and sit down. How come we don't see you in Igbo crime threads where you fellow hypocritical Nigerians single Igbos out for ridicule and condemnation.

How come I don't see non Igbo one Nigeria apologists like you there telling the world that they should be seen as Nigerians and not Igbos.

I just wish it's possible to give someone an e-slap, I would have.......

Let me invite Ndiigbo here.

cc: Adaure4ever, B2mario, Inyinyagboku, Emmaugoh, Ugomba,aka47mann, Oweniwe, Ikechu1, Goldmaxx, Slayersupreme,honourhim,Scholes007,Rose2014,Ojiofor,

Igbo kwenu!

Since our enemies are only interested in posting news of Igbo criminal. here, I have taken it upon me to show our shining stars here.

May the gods of Igboland strike any Nigerian that will want this news accredited to Nigeria and not Igboland, after all you hypocrites were no where to be found when your co travellers were singling Ndiigbo out for abuse for a crime supposedly committed by Nigerians who happened to be of Igbo descent.

[b] Dr. Ogbureke named King James IV Professor; first of African descent

Dr. Kalu U. Ogbureke

Kalu U. Ogbureke, BDS, DMSc, JD, of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Dentistry, has been named a King James IV Professor for 2016 by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in the U.K. He is the first person of African descent to receive the prestigious award, which is presented annually “in open competition to practitioners of surgery or dental surgery who have made a significant contribution to the clinical and/or scientific basis of surgery.”

Ogbureke delivered the 2016 King James IV Professorship lecture and formally received the award April 22 at the annual meeting of the British Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology in Edinburgh, Scotland.

UTHealth School of Dentistry Dean John A. Valenza, DDS, said the honor is well deserved. “This award affirms to so many others what we here at UTSD have known since Dr. Ogbureke’s return to the School of Dentistry -- and that is his tremendous contribution to the clinical and biomedical sciences in dentistry,” Valenza said. “We are all most proud of him and this recognition.”

Ogbureke joined the UTHealth School of Dentistry faculty in October 2012 and currently serves as chair of the Department of Diagnostic and Biomedical Sciences and professor of oral, maxillofacial, head and neck pathology at the School of Dentistry, as well as professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at UTHealth McGovern Medical School.


Professor Ogbureke holds the following professional membership and title:

Diplomate, American Board of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology (ABOMP);Diplomate, American Board of Medical Malpractice (ABMM);Diplomate, American Board of Legal Medicine (ABLM);Fellow, American College of Legal Medicine (ACLM);Fulbright Alumnus (Scholar, University of Lagos, 2010-2011);Fellow, American College of Dentists (FACD);Professor of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology;Professor, Pathology & Lab Medicine, McGovern Medical School;King James IV Professor, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (2016);Professor and Chair, Department of Diagnostic and Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas.

http://archive.org/stream/narrativeofexped01alle/narrativeofexped01alle_djvu.txt
[/b]

[b] At a little distance from Obi's dwelling, and rather
to the right, we came unexpectedly on a large earthen
idol, placed in a thicket surrounded by high trees ; this
we believe to be the image to which most of their sacri-
fices are offered. Some persons who were near when
we moved towards the direction of this sacred spot,
made earnest signs for us not to approach, exclaiming,
" Tshuku — Tshuku," and just as we had obtained a look
of the figure, one of the Ju-ju men, or priests, came up
in a menacing manner, and would not allow us to remain,
or further to examine the neighbourhood. He appeared
to be very much exasperated, and disposed to punish
our temerity, which probably was only escaped by the
presence of a good double-barrelled " Nock." This
jealous care of the idol, and the exclamation " Tshuku —
Tshuku'* would lead to the supposition that it is the
visible representation of a mysterious being or deity,
whom they consult as an oracle under the same name.
His votaries believe him to exist far off in the bush ; that
he has the power of speaking and understanding all
languages ; is cognizant of every thing that takes place
in the world, and that he can punish evil doers. The
priest whilst holding communion with Tshuku, is sur-
rounded miraculously with water, and will perish
instantaneously if he attempts to deceive. As all these
absurd stories originate with the Ju-ju men, whose
object is to mislead their too credulous dupes, we may [/b]

Ezzeh Obi Ossai, the king of Aboh worshipped Chukwu( Tshuku) as his God, and not Osanobua. It doesn't get more Igbo than that.

[b] Physical characteristics of the Ibus — Religious superstitions — Idols
numerous — Horrible practice on the birth of twins — Large earthen
idol — Tshuku or the Great Spirit — Absurd stories of the priests —
Aboh Creek — Beautiful birds — Native dwellings — Ezzeh Obi
Osai's mud palace — The Harem — Human sacrifices — Insalubrity
of Aboh — Ornithology — Rare animals shot by accident — Plants —
Domestic slavery — Obi Osai's second visit to the * Albert' — Obi
Osa'i kneels down with the white men to worship their God — His
sudden fear — The " arrisi" or idol called for — The presents — Obi's
anxiety to establish trade with England — Departure from Aboh —
Ogou ladies — Proceed up the river — Body of a female floating in
the stream — Ali Here, the Ibu pilot — Beauty of the country —
"Osochai" — Aboh trade-canoes — Okoh — Splendid sunset — Fishing-
huts — Appearance of the hills — Anno — Abain-him or the " meeting
of the waters" — Adda-Mugu or Abela — SuflFerings of the former
Expedition at this place — Circular huts first met with — The Edoh
examined — Uliain village — King William's Mountain — Anchor off
Iddah.

The natives of Aboh are comparatively tall for West
Africans ; well-made and muscular, but the hands and
feet are large. The most prevalent colour of skin is
yellowish or brownish-black. The features are truly
negro, the nose expanded, lips rather thick, and without
that pleasing outline observed in some negroes. The
forehead is broad and less retreating than in their more
intelligent neighbours the Eggarahs, but the maxillary
bones are more prognathous or protruding, and the
facial angle consequently less favourable.



242 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

The national mark is triangular, tattoed on each
temple in the males, while the softer sex have various
starlike distinctions on the breast and abdomen. The
women are large, and inclined to " embonpoint,'* the
effect probably of the fattening process they go through
to arrive at the Ibu standard of female beauty. The
countenance of these people is at once expressive of good
nature and restless inquisitiveness.

The religious superstitions of Aboh are as various and
degrading as at any place we visited, and the Fetiches, or
idols, as numerous ; every hut having one or more, as well
as amulets, or charms, suspended from sticks in the
quadrangular courts. Many of the idols had pots of
water and food placed near them.

The accompanying sketch is taken from a Ju-ju,
presented to Doctor McWilliam by one of Obi's sons. [/b]

We learn from a neutral perspective, the physical characteristics and ways of the Aboh( Ukwuani),

[b]" We ascertained that the name Ibu belongs to a large
tract of country lying on both sides of the Niger, but
is more extensive to the eastward of it, and containing
possibly many independent tribes, of which Obi rules
over the villages in the immediate neighbourhood of the
river, and it appears that his power does not extend
much beyond the reach of his canoes. The real name
of his chief town, we find, is Aboh, and not Ibu or
Eboe, as Lander called it.

Obi is called the Ezzeh Obi Osai. The first being
his title, answering to king or chief; the second his
patronymic, and the last his cognomen. His sovereignty
is acknowledged for about fifty-five miles along both sides
of the river ; Oni^h being his lowest village on the right
bank, near the Benin branch ; Owiah Okbe, the highest.
On the left bank, fi-om Ip^tanih upwards to Akra-atan,
near the Onechk River, and aU the villages included
between these. Notwithstanding all his proud de-
claration of absolute power, it is doubtful whether it
can be considered as really more than a preponderating
influence, of variable nature.

He had asserted his authority to be despotic and here-
ditary ; but we were informed by our friend, Ukasa, that "[/b]


Here we get to learn about the king of Aboh Kingdom, Ezzeh Obi Ossai, who had a son named Chukwuma and a daughter named Adaezeh( Adzeh).

At noon we passed a large village called Utok,
inhabited by a mixture of the Ibu and Egaboh tribes.
They are both celebrated for the cultivation of the yam,
which is found in perfection in these districts. The
chief of Utok came on board decked in a drummer's
jacket, given him by Lander, and bearing in his hand
his staff of office, an iron rod, ornamented with brass
rings and terminating at the top in a sort of crescent.

The Igabos are the Isokos, while the Sobos were the Uhrobos. Rigby from the beginning, the Europeans knew the difference between Isoko and Uhrobo.

The Igaboh( Isoko) and Ibu( Ibo) mixed town the white described there, can all still be found in Ndokwa.

It means that the people( Igabo and Ibus) settled on the same place, it does not connote relationship, like I see Ukwuanis make when they go on about their Ukwuani ethnicity being a mixture of many non Igbo groups.

http://archive.org/stream/narrativeofexped01alle/narrativeofexped01alle_djvu.txt

Here is how the Europeans found Aboh.

It has always been Igbo.

Too many trash written here by Ishilove.

The tragedy of Ukwuani, is that unlike other Igbo denial clans, Ukwuani( Aboh Kingdom) was one of the first places the British visited in Igboland. And the history is well documented.

I Will be back to dig them all out.

Nothing is annoying as reading bunch of rubbish from an Ignorant Igbo man.

This author is not just ignorant, but silly, for aheknows next to nothing about Ndiigbo or our history, yet he won't keep quite.

He needs to be pitied. This his poor excuse of article is full of so many contradictory and ignorant statements.

The money spent on his education is a waste for he lacks the ability to think rationally.

.

Makes so much sense! Nigeria is built on parasitism, everyone sucking his best before she dies.

lacasera14:
well i feel obliged to correct a delusional kid here's the list

1. Lagos
2. Abuja
3. Port Harcourt
4. Ibadan
5. Kano
6. Benin
7. Calabar
8. Uyo
9. Kaduna
10. Owerri
11. Enugu
12. Onitsha

You can. Always list yours without quoting mine. This Ikwerre man.

Lezzlie:
@ the emboldened, Delta state has no constitution, the official language we have in Delta are 5.

Igbo, Urhobo, Ijaw, Isoko and Itsekiri. There are no other official distinction from this. I respect your personal stand on this.

But there has been no official effort by the Obi or its elders from Ika to carve out a separate tribe (not ethnicity) from Anioma position which is a subgroup of Igbo.

It's been a while I watched the Delta TV evening news but it's always Igbo for Delta north , Urhobo, Itsekiri, Isoko and Ijaw respectively. There's no different one designated for Ika

You are right about Delta state government not recognizing Ika officially as a separate ethnic group away from the Igbo cluster.

But you are wrong on the Delta TV part. I watched Delta TV news in Onitsha around 2006-2010, and they always broadcast the news in Ika, Enuani/Igbo, Ukwuani and the rest of non Igbo languages of Delta state.

I don't know if they still do so now.

Lezzlie:
Everyone including Onitsha indigens who chant the Igbo denial song know it's all a hypocritical political expediency.

Western Igbos are part of Ohaneze. And Onitsha saying they aren't Igbo is also another way of alluding to their oral history of emigrating from Benin by their patriarch Eze Chime.

Onitsha of today are proud Igbos. The Igbo denial generation are almost close to their graves.

Listen to the Obi of Onitsha: https://www.naij.com/444165-bring-your-businesses-home-obi-of-onitsha-tell-igbos.html

With time, that Ezechime story will be cracked and more factual and Igbo one accepted, all that is holding this is "one Nigeria".

ikechu1:
I didn't plan on posting on this thread cause I refuse to give the yoloba op the satsification but this your post caught my interest as it is extremely stupid. You cannot force others to follow your mindset, you allow them the chance to follow their own mindset. Whether eventually join your own set is okay, if not, let it go and move on. After all, as Ugomba said, the deniers in Aniomaland are reducing on almost yearly basis and it has nothing to do with SE rambling online, it has everything to do with no one paying attention to them and the leaders getting more evolved.

For example: in the past the aka Ikega group were pro anioma/ika and anti-igbo. Currently, the group is the opposite...from what the media keep reporting, the group is going around calling themselves "igbo think thank group, etc". Do you think SE has a hand in that? No you did not. You played absolutely no factor to it, excluding maybe Nnamdi Kanu. The factor that very likely changed their mindset is because the obi of owa and obi of idumuje unor spoke. In addition to the recently found book written by the past Dein of Agbor played a factor into it, Not SE.

Constantly pushing your own opinion on others is just flat out stupid.

No one is pushing any opinion on others. The Igbo is too proud a race to beg anyone to be part of us. This very fact should be obvious to you, seeing as you are Igbo,

Yes, there exists elements of Igbo denial in Anioma, and most of them are built around ignorance. Constant discussion of issues at hand will always help both sides understand the issues better.

And not silence.

Endtime research koodi study. The researchers need their heads examined. Ndiigbo have NOTHING in common with Yorubas, except for the single fact that we share the Same continent. Before the arrival of the British, we knew not of the existence of Yorubas, the Edos were a potent buffer zone between our world and theirs, and so will it remain post Nigeria.

Realman87:
You are also correct. But the thread was opened by a hater to cause division. It wasn't opened by a delta igbo or SE igbo. It was opened by a yoruba who claims her boyfriend.... Since the op is a hater, you shouldn't fall for her tricks. And this ukwuani, ika ... has been dealt with severally in the past.

The problem is that the Bini slaves descendants in Anioma are in the minority but are a very vocal minority in their attempt to impose a non Igbo identity on Anioma.

The proudly Igbo ones simply ignore them and go about their daily activities.

InyinyaAgbaOku:
Do, which spread will it do igbos if they claim they are not igbos

We would have had another Abandoned property saga on our hands, with Ndiigbo declared strangers and land grabbers in Onitsha.

But by keeping Onitsha, we have drowned Onitsha Igbo denials over time, and through that, we are reaching out to the rest of Anioma and will ultimately draw them into the fold.

Blacklight:
Laugh on sir! Your laughter matters very little to me but could mean a lot for you.

Why should it mean a lot to him? Ukwuani has no other meaning other than the one Igbo language assigned to it.

Ukwuani= Ukwu( low) + Ani( land) = Lowland.
As opposed to Enuani= Highland.

Realman87:
I agree with you. The thread should have died when it was exposed that the op is yoruba. If it were yorubas, they would either abandon the thread or mock the op; but my igbo friends will continue messing themselves. Truly, the yorubas are smart.

I disagree, issues like this need not be swept under the carpet, doing so don't solve them, or make them go away. They need to be discussed, so that we know those with us and those not with us, rather than merely assuming that because you speak same language with a person, the person is automatically allied to you.