₦airaland Forum

ekt_bear:
Question for Igbos I have: How and why are there so many of you? What exactly caused it? Was there some sort of population explosion after you guys started interacting with the white man? I don't think you guys could have been the most numerous ethnic group in the 1700s or so. . . otherwise you'd have had more structures on the ground (major cities, etc.) So I'm kind of curious what happened.

Or maybe less negatively affected by the slave trade. . . ? I dunno.

aletheia:
Please stop ventilating your bigotry-fuelled ignorance. The problem with you is that you are deliberately ignorant and you are willfully refusing to educate yourself.

1) I live in the North. I have travelled to several northern states. And before you dismiss me as a Hausa, know that I am not.  

2) Obviously you do not understand what savanna is. You keep mistaking the savanna ecosystem for some sort of desert. What sort of crops grow in the savanna regions? I hope you realize that cereals are more energy-dense than tubers and thus cereals can support a higher population. Please read up on the geography of Nigeria. Stop pontificating on your ignorance. In which part of the country are the cereals of millet and guinea corn grown? Most of the guinea corn, millet, tomatoes, groundnuts etc eaten in Nigeria, where does it come from?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3d/Nigeria_veg_1979.jpg/630px-Nigeria_veg_1979.jpg  

3) Address the facts as posted by myself in the earlier post , and stop appealing to sentiment.
Again I ask you this question: how many rivers drain into the River Niger in the North? How many rivers can you count below.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Nigeriamap.png/759px-Nigeriamap.png

The corollary of which is this: the hundreds of dams in the north are for what purpose? Or the extensive cotton and groundnut farming of the pre-crude oil era; was it in the Southeast that they were grown?

You are the one posting nonsense.

aletheia:
Not true. You are confusing Niger Republic with Northern Nigeria. This is a rehash of myths that have been peddled by Southern pseudo-intellectuals that do not bear up to scrutiny. All over the world, the major population centers tend to lie in the flood plains and along the tributaries of major rivers, whether Nile, Congo, Niger, Euphrates & Tigris, Ganges or Yangtze rivers. With that in mind it should not be surprising that the NW has a high population given that it abuts the River Niger - the 3rd largest river in the world.

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Niger_river_map.PNG[/img]
Map of the Niger River, and Niger River Basin shown in green

Answer this: How many rivers in the North are tributaries of River Niger?
Here is one river:

ekt_bear:
How did you get those #s for Hausa-Fulani? BTW, what exactly do you consider Fulani, when you say that 5 million? There are some Fulani who are herders, some who live in those small hut villages. I don't think there can be up to 5 million of them combined in Nigeria; that sort of lifestyle doesn't support large #s. Probably less than 2 million total in Nigeria of those. Or are you including urbanized Fulani guys like Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in that 5 million?

And why do you think 15 million Ijaw? That is impossible. Bayelsa is their heartland, and probably has 3 million max. Where do you get the other 12 million from? And why more Yoruba than Igbo? That I'm not sure about; it could go either way. But I think Igbo are more, personally.

ekt_bear:
Comments:
1) Likely under 8 million Ijaw in Nigeria. 5% is a better estimate than 10%.
2) #s for the three major ethnic groups, dunno. But populationwise, proly Igbo (#1), Yoruba (#2), Hausa-Fulani (#3).
3) I'm a bit surprised that they were too lazy to get updated GDP figures for states. . . using that same 2007 Canback database that they just grabbed from Wikipedia  I wish they'd been less cheap and purchased updated figures. I'd really like to know how the states stack up GDP-wise.
4) Igboland literacy rates for women, phenomenal.

Overall though, seems like a fairly decent summary of naija, I think.

cheikh:
odumchi
@odumchi
How many ethnic nationalities exist in Nigeria? I believe there are over 250 ethnic nationalities and languages. If as you admit that an Igbo(Azikiwe) was once a president etc , Why then are you so hung-up about Igbo this Igbo that for president? What happens to the rest remaining ethnic nationalities who have never come close to the corridors of power? Are they not entitled or fit to become President or rule? I'll strongly suggest that you travel a little around Nigeria and perhaps you'll learn a thing or two about the country. You'll definitely benefit from a few interaction with your fellow countrymen and women. I am amazed that you'll wish for a bad or worse leader so long he or she is an Igbo. Your standards are very low indeed . No wonder the South East states like most other states in Nigeria, are not performing, if most political supporters base their choice solely on "tribe" . I wish you luck in your parochialism.

cheikh:
odumchi
@odumchi

How many democratically elected [/b]presidents have Nigeria produced in 50 years? I have not said that the Igbo shall not lead. Did I?

Why do you focus on just 'Igbo' and not [b]Good Quality and democratically[/b]elected president or leader?. Do you not believe in [b]quality [/b]instead of [b]ethnicity? Which do you prefer? Mediocrity or Achiever/Doer ? Those attributes are not 'ethnic', 'tribe' or 'religion' defined or inspired. Bad leadership is as bad for your health and national psyche as bad medication.

cheikh:
odumchi
@odumchi
It's  democracy not zoning or quota system let alone 'selection'. You or your candidate have to be credible and viable for the electorate to vote for you or your preferred candidate. It's not about Igbo this or that or northerner. That's the beauty of 'democracy'

HTML5:
I don't know what you know about the igbos, but you have to understand that the above mentioned tribes are not and will never have any affiliation with the igbos.

The so-called riverine Ijaw, Ikwere, and Ogoni started speaking Igbo when the igbos started being so powerful around the 60s-70s. The period Ojukwu started agitating for Biafra. The Igbos were so powerful that Ojukwu thought he can create a Nation out of the eastern Nigeria through sectional power.

Know that a sane Ibibio man will never speak Igbo as his/her common language, an Ibibio man who've never been to Igbo land will not understand Igbo language. The Ibibios single-handedly lead to the fall of Biafra - from the fall of Port-Harcourt and Enugu, the Ibibios opened Oron and Calabar for the Nigerian Army sub-marines to penetrate and the rest was history.

If you need more on their origin, as and I will give you a low down, The Efiks are Ibibios.

aribisala0:
i think this is your wish rather than reality.
i am yoruba and grew up in port harcourt i do not recognize this igbo spoken fluently throughout. otherwise i would be an igbo speaker(my yoruba is quite poor). it is impossible to grow up in  ibadan,enugu, kano and not understand the local language. the port harcourt i know has pidgin english as its lingua franca.some people might want port harcourt as an igbo colony but the inhabitants have a different idea. it is this kind of attitude that fuelled the abandoned property crisis in port harcourt. many of my rivers friends cannot speak their languages(kalabari,kolokuma,ogoni etc) never mind  igbo. stop this propaganda

sibenye:
Translation for these names in Igbo would be;

Michael: Okeke or Nweke

Raphael: Okafor or[i] Nwafor[/i]

Gabriel: Okonkwo or Nwankwo

Reuel: Okorie or Nwoye