₦airaland Forum

Eze Promoe: [color=olive]It's a big lie! Maybe since you mentioned Benue, they concluded that you're Hausa. The common Igboman (that hasn't travelled out) thinks that anything coming from the north is Hausa. But its not their fault, when their relatives' corpse are being brought back home from the North on daily basis. They feel that their daughter is likely to face the same fate. If it's a man from South South, they will accept him (if him get money o)[/color]

I wouldn't necessarily say that Igbo people think of Benue people as Hausa. Come to think of it, there isn't much difference between an average Nsuka man and an average southern Benue Idoma man. In fact, many of the communities in southern Benue along the Benue-Enugu border are Igbo-speaking, and vise-versa. If the South's boundaries were redrawn, I think it should include Benue.

NRI PRIEST: In a core Igbo family setting the first girl is viewed as the pride of her family and she is suppose to set a good example for others,hence the emphasis on marrying from your own people. Nevertheless,I have seen some first girls who married from other tribes. Note; the first girls are the real "Ada" na eli ukwu anu and they control a lot of respect in the family.

Kpom kwem.

In an Igbo household, the oldest daughter has her fair share of responsibility. She and the okwara (first son) are expected to become the leaders of their household.

ogugua88: [size=13pt]Biko nu [/size]

Nne, I fulu email gi?

o'boy:
because they dont speak it in your dialect dosen't mean its wrong or anything
the same way a Guy told me that it is not "ife" it is "ihe",i just laughed

What they're discussing is the watering down of the Igbo language by the construction of English-influenced words and phrases like ututu oma, ehihe oma, and the rest.

In my opinion, whether or not you speak/write Igbo transliterally actually does affect the overall richness and depth of the Igbo language because what you speak/write will, in one way or another, affect others and their comprehension of the language. I think that when translating, people should seek to express the idea rather than the literal words.

Ah, I see now.

The key is to talk about something relevant and interesting to the both of you. When you meet someone for the first time, begin by introducing yourself, whilst making eye contact. Tell her what you do [for a living]. Have her tell you what she does, and from there you guys can hopefully spark a conversation.

Sample conversation: you decide to approach a female you see at an event.

-Hello. My name is Afam, and you are?
>I'm Chinwe.
-Nice to meet you Chinwe, what's a girl like you doing here?
>I'm Bleep (If she (is) rude/doesn't like you, she'll ask how it concerns you)
-Oh really, that's nice what do you do?
>I'm an accountant, and you?
-I'm a currently employed with Nairaland. I'm into the moderating business.
>Wow, that sounds interesting.

Etc.

PhysicsMHD: Thanks Odumchi (I'm assuming it was you) for un-hiding that old post I corrected and unbanning the PhysicsQED moniker.

No problem. I apologize for the inconvenience. Like I said earlier, I'll speak with Seun and Mukina about this spambot issue so that they can see what can be done about it.

2legit2qwt: https://www.nairaland.com/1178021/why-nigerians-problem-self-disclosure

Please consider for fp odumchi

Thanks

No problem. But next time please use the appropriate thread: https://www.nairaland.com/1004554/promoting-culture-board-frontpage

"The world has spoiled. You no longer know who is who" is what comes to my mind whenever people discuss this topic. In my opinion, we Nigerians, and Africans in general, do not readily give factual information about ourselves (age/name/birthdate) because we have exist in a culture influenced by various superstitions and fears.

For example, I grew up thinking that it's not right to brag about yourself because you never know which one of your "friends" is actually a friend, and to some extent it's true. For example, in the 1920s the first person to build a "modern" zinc house in my community was poisoned by enemies who were jealous of his progress. The man's death has sort of served as an example of the effects of the hatred that exists in this world. That's why for many of us, humbleness is the best option.

Afam4eva: I'm waiting for the day that we'll stop looking for the meaning of English words in Igbos. English is the determining factor for Igbo language as it is. We're trying to please English language.

What do you mean?

manny4life: O bu otu-amu....

Let Odumchi answer this question, he's our cultural instructor...

Nna, biko nke a nyiri m.

Wadeoye: These towns you mentioned (ohafia, Arochukwu, etc), are they suburb in mugadishu or nigeria? I have never heard those names before.

I think they're in England; a few miles west of London.

aribisala0: If this is the case surely There must be some reference documents,though my understanding is that script was very elementary and actually developed in Akwa Ibom or Cross River

Yes, Nsibiri is still alive today. It originated among the Ejagham (in Cross River State) but spread to parts of Abia and Ebonyi. I don't think it reached much of Akwa Ibom.

o'boy:
no i know what i heard,its "Omenneji"

"Omenneji" is a name used to call someone who treats everyone like a brother.

Broken down, it's:

"Ome-ka-otu-nne-ji" - someone who treats another like they come from the same mother. In many southern and eastern dialects, "nneji" also means "brother/sister".

Nightshift: Nwa onye Igbo nwere ya ka egwu mgbede. Your understanding of history is what you've written here, and not necessary the facts . The history of Ndigbo is complicated as Ndigbo . We never developed a written language culture before the coming of westerns, otherwise we would have documented a large part of our history centuries ago. We can argue all night long here about what we think our history is or ought to be.

People tend to over-hype the reliability of written history. In our part of Africa, the art of storytelling is very rich and revered and is used as a means of passing down relatively accurate information. In our [Igbo] culture and in the cultures of others, stories/songs/names are used to preserve/remember events, significant deeds and people. This is why there are names such as Ahamefule/Afamefuna/Avamevukwa and it is also why in the Igbo language, the word "history" is "nto ala" (literally meaning: song of a land).

If you don't know, in every Igbo community there are people whose lives are dedicated to recounting the history of their particular community and these people are also capable of giving detailed accounts of the histories of every family in that community. Therefore, I don't see the need to doubt the reliability of a people's oral history when it has been developed to such an extent.

Furthermore, prior to the Europeans, we Igbo actually had means of recording information. In what is now Ebonyi and Abia, the Ekpe institution created guilds in which members learned to read and write using the Nsibiri script. They used this script to record significant events, keep track of debts, to relate secret information, and etc. So then, I don't see any reason to doubt the accuracy of Aro history.

Nightshift: You really need Google to know about your history ? List the Eze Aro you googled here. Go find out your history from the elders and stop depending on your history from Europeans.

Jumping to silly conclusions, I see.

I simply asked you to google "Eze Aro" so as to teach yourself what you [apparently] don't know. As for myself, I know the complete history of my people. If you never knew that there have been Eze Aro long before Britain even dreamed of entering West Africa, then I don't know what to say.

aribisala0: Is it not likely if the British did not come that there would have emerged forces,whether external or internal , moving the Igbo in the direction of one nation

My speculation is that if Europeans hadn't stepped foot on the shores of eastern Nigeria, things would've remained the same.

Nightshift: If an Eze Aro with monarchical powers really existed before the British came he would have been popular like Oba Ewuare of Benin kingdom or King Jaja of Opopo. The feared priests of shrines had more powers than anybody in pre-colonial Igboland beside Onicha.

The simple fact is that you don't know. Please google "Eze Aro".

Nightshift: What do you mean by sub-ethnicities in an ethnic nation like Igboland? Ndigbo is one ethnic group with different dialects . Have you ever heard or read about King of Ngwa, Okigwe or Udi before the British arrived Igboland?

The Igbo are not a single people; they are a collection of similar and related peoples (sub-ethnicities), Ngwa being the largest (population-wise) of them. Not all Igbo sub-ethnicities had monarchs. Prior to the British, there were monarchs in: Arochukwu, Ohafia, Afikpo, Agukwu Nri, Agbor, Aboh, and other places.

Nightshift: The chief priest of 'Ebini Ukpabi' had more powers than anybody in pre-colonial Arochukwu, including 'Eneachioke'.

This isn't true. Ibini Ukpabi never had a sole chief priest. It was attended to by several high priests and shrine servants. The truth is that Ibini Ukpabi was harmless and everyone in Arochukwu knew/knows that, however outsiders didn't. The Aro manipulated it to spread fear among outsiders. Therefore, the most powerful/influential man in Arochukwu is the Eze Aro.

asha 80: i think the Enachioken of Arochukwu also belongs there.

Enachioken is the king of Abiriba. The king of Arochukwu is Eze Aro.

Moreover, I think people are misunderstanding the meaning of "Igbo amaghi eze". "Igbo amaghi eze" means that the Igbo nation (all the sub-ethnicities of Igboland) do not have one sovereign who rules over all of them. It doesn't mean that the Igbo never had kings.

achi4u: Bia torch,maria alula di onye yoruba ebe ojere ime service.

OKWU EBIELA.

GBAM.

Ya ga zuo ike ka madu nuru ihe. Mgbe niile Maria jere Maria lara.

Afam4eva: After what i heard from an Anioma man this evening i think Ndigbo should leave this people to call themselves whatever. Anybody from that part of the country that wants to associate with Igbos should do so individually. Let's stop trying to lump all these people as Igbos. We're better off trying to use that time to unify the SEastern states further. Let Igbo==South East.

What did you hear?

On the "Ndi Igbo" Facebook page, there was post asking people to write down how their towns greet "good morning". Many people from Anambra wrote down "i saala" and "i boola". I'm guessing they're not correct since most of (if not all) Anambra doesn't say "la".

Tosh ihe yikwara gi o. I dikwa sure na o bughi photo gi bu ihe a?

toshmann: Anya ufu wu ihe ojoo

Ekwuola m ya o. Umu agbogho Nairaland, o kwa unu huru Tosh a? O ji igba oringo mere aka oru chefuo nwunye ya na nwa ya o pa.

Unu gbafuoro ya o. O bata ulo unu apuo; o banye bus unu arituo!

Tosh, nwoke m, o nwaanyi ga egbu gi!

Go for it.

Ugboro ole ka m ga gwa unu? I'm 17.

I'm glad that you find it interesting and somewhat inspirational. It's also funny that you found it hard to understand lol. I'm guessing it's the accent. Anyway, those biblical videos in Izza/Ezilo/Ekpeye are what really inspired me to do this, and hopefully I'll be doing more of this in the future.

Madam Bebe, o kwa I huru nwoke a no mu n'elu? Zere ya. Otu aha ya wu "Ochumunwaanyi".

Agbaalara m gi ama. N'onye asila na ekwughi m.

More work is being done in this man's absence than in the entire tenures of many governors.

I recently made an audio recording of myself reading Genesis (from the Bible) in Aro and I've been meaning to share it but haven't had the time. Anyway, for all of you guys who want to know what Aro sounds like, here it is:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1n_50LSJuw

ChinenyeN: Not to be confused with Asa in Abia.

I made a mistake. That's actually Ezilo dialect (Ebonyi). For some reason, the uploader named it "Asa".

Andre Uweh: @Eze NdiIgbo Odumchi.
The problem is that we do not have a lot of posters from those border Igbo communities in the politics section. We are lucky to have Wesley80 who represents Ukwuani effectively and Eze Promoe who represents Ikwerre. We should encourage them as well as other proud Igbo sons from those areas.

Nwoke m, ezi okwu ka i kwuru. I agree, but the problem is that many of people on this website lack exposure to diversity (in the Igbo context) and thus react somehow when people who are different from them surface. I'm sure you've seen what is going on on that "What is Imo state best known for" thread? If people continue to react that way, our brethren from the different corners of Igboland would be discouraged from participating.