₦airaland Forum

obyphy: Oguta- Imo State
How are you? Omena aha
Do you want to eat now? I choro iri ini duduna

cheers

Thank you, my brother.


@All
Here's the list so far. Will we get any more? I'm hoping to see Edda.

Arochukwu
Isinweke
Ugbo
Onicha
Abiriba
Owere
Item
Agbor
Nsuka
Nkanu
Ikwere
Riverine/Ukwuani/Oguta/Oru
Idemili
Elai
Isiala Mbano
Ohafia
Ututu
Awka
Aboh ni Ndoni
Ihechiowa
Arondizuogu
Mbaise
Ezeagu
Nike
Afikpo
Ngwo

finezlord: English Abiriba.

how are you? ime aghu or ime aghi

come and eat. bia rie ife

i love you . afumughu enya or ifeghi dim mma

what it your name? iza ngini

how is everything? ife di aghi

money okpogho

Greatings. we say kaa for both morning,afternoon and evening.

happy new year. apigbuo nne oyere.

come and see me off. bia dupum

well done . toghu hu

good night. ka abali cheghi

wife. mie

husband. ji

yam. ndi

God. obasi di elu though we sometimes use chukwu.


a thief. onye oshi

Abiriba kwenu! Nwanne imeela
You have represented the Abiriba people well.

finezlord: let me rephrase the post again, i think what Arochukwu in pictures means is not showing us masquerades and social events rather edifices,ancient dwelling houses and modern arochukwu of today and not showing pictures of dignitaries attending social events.please we are still waiting for the pictures because i have not been to that place before though we have things in common as an Abiriba man.

Enyi, such pictures are very hard to come by and are rare online, however I will continue to search and will post more pictures of Arochukwu. I might even go to Aro and take more pictures myself. I appreciate your interest.

Here are some names:

Ejiofor (general Igbo) - the one who holds the staff?
Ovi (Aro) - ?
Okoroji (general Igbo) - strong/powerful/prominent man
Oji/Orji (general Igbo) - a great tree (oke osisi)/short for "Okoroji"

NRI PRIEST: Oops! Odum,never mind. I see you were talking something different. But i will give translations later.

No problem lol. Thanks for the translation.

@Ify
I was just joking lol my name can never be "Mgboro" (because it's meant for females). If you won't tell us your name can you atleast tell us its English meaning so we can guess?

@General

Does anyone know the meaning of names like:

Nwosu
Nsofor

which are general Igbo names?

NANYA1887: Lovely contributions everyone. I had to bookmark this page cuz I'l like to refer to it for help with names when I start having my kids (in the nearest future hopefully ) So here's my humble contribution:

NWABUNDO - child is shelter literally but it could also mean My child is my shelter

Its a lovely deep name and its not so popular anymore.
P.S its also my name

Thanks for the contribution. I'm very happy that this thread will prove beneficiary to you in the future.

NRI PRIEST: IFy, if you tell me what it mean achotalum gi nwa Onicha gulu akwukwo,maa mma nwoke ma nwee okpogho ga anu gi. And you know what that means;you will be married into the Ezechima lineage,your mothers people(ikwu nnei).

LOL. Ify egwuigo onweya na ala Aro. Aro people are going to take back their daughter.

ifyalways: Nri Priest,Imela.

I remembered something now and think I have another translation for "Iwenofu".When i was a kid and crying over a thing,my mom always say "O zugo nofu" meaning its ok/you've cried enough.Going with that 'nofu',IMO means its OK hence i think "Iwenofu" = Don't be angry again/control your bad temperament.

Moving on,can we translate the ffg names:
Nmuokwugwo(Anambra don't know the specific town)
Onukwuba(not Onukwube)
Agbakoba
Nwanosike

I was just about to post a variant of that name lol.

Anyway, it's Onuyaba (Okigwe axis) and it means 'the mouth should speak'. In fact, it was my maternal great grandmother's (who hailed from a town called Isuochi in Okigwe l.g.a.) name.

ifyalways: Rofl @ Mgboro.I'm not sure i would bear such a name oh,hoha.Forgive me but its too mgbekelicious and trust me,i have one mgbeke name like that too,from Aro,nne m ochie gave me that.I would force myself to smile when she calls me by that name but fight anyone else that dared to mention that name anywhere close to me.

She died and that name was buried with her.Love her lots kama aha ahu nwere nnukwu "K-leg".Pronounciation and spelling was both "no comment" LOL.Even abbreviating it makes it worst.How does one abbreviate a name like "Mgbeke" sef?Things can only get terrible from there. . .Mgby?

LMAO.

Even though I'm a boy, that's my middle name you're laughing at (long story)

Anyway, Ify please tell us the name. We are itching with anxiety to know.

NRI PRIEST: Ifeoma,Ifeoma, okwa ngwalui na ibu a bad girl na ebute ogbaghari na etiti umu okolobia!
Daalu maka ukpa ekene ibunyelum. . .Obulu na onwee ife ina aghotaro na Igbo Onicha juo mu maka amam onu Igbo Omanbala ofuma.

Oyi, Gini bu 'ukpa'?

ifyalways: Nri,dalu so.E wepu na i kwulu now,a maghim ihe "nkpuke" putalu na agbanyeghi na ama m ihe ime nkpuke bu.Dalu Odogwu.

@Pozzy,ndewo.I bu nwoke ka i bu nwanyi?A nam acho di,o buru na uche gi di ya,mee ka m mara.

Odumchi,nde aga ide?Ehen,ndi Aro ana ekwu "i mere olia?" and "Nnawo" for weldone or goodmorning.

Ify ihe nile digba nma. Ndaa kwan aga gonwo mere?
Odighi Aro anaghi ekwu "I mere olia". "I mere olia" putara "Ndaa aga I mere" na Aro mokwan "Ele otu I mere" na Izugbe. Kama anyi na asu "Nnawo". O putara "Good morning". A na asujere ya ndi ochie-oche.
The response to it is "nnenyi ibola" meaning "good morning my friend are you awake?" "Well done" wu "imeela".

NRI PRIEST: Odumchi, "nkpuke" putalu "woman's quarter",hence "nwa ime nkpuke" translates to "child begat in a woman's house". You have to also understand that the house doesnt necessarily belongs to the woman but given the fact that the mother wasnt married made her abode a womans house. I hope I was able to made an impact in my translation.

Ehh aghotalam. Da'alu.

They won't stay there long. Cross River's lush tropical landscape doesn't support animal grazing.

NRI PRIEST: Comprende! In Idenmili we call a bastaard "nwa ime nkpuke"

M'ga edetu ife a na akwukwo mkpulu okwu Igbo'm. Imego. Kedu ife 'nkpuke' putalu?

Pozzy: Ala Aba mma mma nu !!!

Yah!

Nri, o bulu na icholu ikwu "I am confused" na Aro, ife ima asi bu "anya agbanwujuolam". Kama ife onhu m'delu aburo Aro. O bu Izugbe. Ndi Aro enwero ife di iche ha na akpo "bastard". "Bastard" bu "onye enwee nna".

What about one in Abia or Imo state?

An airport in Imo would serve Owerri, Aba, Umuahia, Orlu, and Okigwe.

I support the idea of an airport in or near Onitsha. Onitsha already boasts sub-Saharan Africa's largest market and the addition of an airport would greatly benefit the area and other local economies.

NRI PRIEST: Odumchi,nke abuo idelu oputalu,"is everything ok" ?

Ehhh o bu ife o putalu. (let me follow you and write Anambra )
Ke ka i ije uwa si dili gi?

Eh-eh!

O bu ugbua k m'huru unu. M'chere na uno agala Easter break osiso.

Ify lewennu otu aru gi ga ekuputa umu okorobia ka ebe egbe huru umu okuku na akpagari.

Nri, Ndaa kwan? Ihe dum onaha ejezikwa?

Igbo ebee ka unu no?

It's possible. There are rivers that curse people who fish in them and others that drown people who bathe in them so there must be rivers that do that. I think most of it is supernatural.

Personally, I think taking care of one's parents is embedded in our culture. It's our duty to take care of our parents and, in this case, I support Mrs. Ohimwe.

I'd like to hear what you guys think about this and your opinion on the differences In parental duty in Western vs. African culture.

The other day, I was opportuned to witness a very interesting conversation/debate.

A woman (who for confidentiality's sake will have to go by the name of Mrs. Ohimwe) was sitting among a group of other adults and proudly said that by the time she would reach retirement age, she would permanently move into her daughter's home. The other people laughed and told her that it won't be so easy. They told her that it is never good for an a parent to live in the matrimonial home of a child for an extended period of time since it is bound to cause problems. Mrs. Ohimwe then said that it isn't true. She said that the bond between parent and child is very strong and that her daughter will take care of her.

The other people laughed. They then said that any retiree must not depend on their children for sustenance (especially if they live in America) since they will find his/her prolonged stay as a nuisance. They said that any retiree must make adequate provisions for retirement such as a building oneself a comfortable house and etc. Mrs. Ohimwe objected! She said that she took care of her own mother for such a long time and would never dare to abandon her since she made her who she is. She then went on to say that her mother gave her the money to start her business which made her the first woman in all of Biniland to own a palmoil mill and that if not for her mother she wouldn't be who she is today.

As I expected, the others laughed and said that her children will ship her off to a nursing home if she decides to live with them forever since she will demand content care, attention, and supervision. Mrs. Ohimwe rejected it saying "God forbid" ( ) and snapping her fingers she said that at retirement she would sell all of her possessions in Nigeria and would move into her daughter's house with her daughter and her future son-in-law.

Lastly, she ended by saying, "Before any man asks for my daughters hand in marriage, I will ask him, are you ready to take care of me when the time comes?"

I'd like to ask you guys, will you allow your parents to move into your home with you permanently? And do you think taking care of one's parents is exclusive to 'Nigerian culture' or would you prefer a nursing home to do it for you?

Did this take place in two states?

shymmex: Keep living in your fools' paradise! The Biafra took 18 months because Nigeria had a small army, no navy, no airforce back then - and with that, 70% of Biafra was captured within 6 months. MEND and Boko Haram is just politics - in a real war, NO REGION IN NIGERIA can stand the NIGERIAN ARMED FORCES. You will be bombed into oblivion within two weeks.

Nigeria had over a hundred thousand troops at it's disposal as opposed to Biafra which never had more than three thousand armed troops at ony one time. Nigeria was supplied with military equipment by the Great Britain and Russia. And also, Nigeria was given a few retired British battleships and cruisers (which it used in the bombardment/invasion of Calabar beachhead) and new Soviet-made mig bombers (flown by Soviet pilots) but yet it still took three years to squeeze the life out of little Biafra.

Hmmm.

shymmex: "X" and "Y" came together because Nnamidi Azikwe wanted it to be like that - and we've to live with it. Nigeria is the brainchild of our founding fathers - and we have to live with it.

I don't know why some of you are suicidal in nature - can you defeat the Nigerian army in a REAL WAR?

'X' and 'Y' came together because of Sir Lugard or wasn't Azikiwe born into Nigeria? We were doomed when the first Portuguese man landed in Lagos lagoon.

I don't know why you want me in your country so badly even against my will and then complain when resentment shows itself in the form of tribalism (although there really is no excuse for much of this 'Nairaland tribalism'). To tell you the truth, if you're ready to lift up a gun against me to make sure I remain your 'countryman', I'm equally ready to do the same thing to make sure that my freedom is not compromised.

'I don't hate you, I just want to be on my own' is the mentality I'm sporting.

shymmex: You know what happened the first time - and I won't mind joining the Nigerian army this time to stop disintegration. If giving my life is what's going to take to keep Nigeria as one, I'll gladly do it. My life is precious but I want a better life for my unborn kids. We have to keep Nigeria as one to stop an unending civil war that will engulf the whole region, if Nigeria disintegrate. You lot think it's going to be easy but it's not.

I don't see Igbos sticking to only their God given land - I know you lot will want to expand to other people's territories for access to the Atlantic ocean, and the same goes for the Ijaws and the Hausa/fulani. I also don't see Yorubas giving up Yoruba regions in Kwara, Kogi and Delta state.

Oh please. Spare me the 'patriot to the end' act.

The root of all of this perceived tribalism is the fact that we were all lumped together as one (not that there aren't any positives). If everyone were on his own, there wouldn't be a need for this discussion. Prior to colonization, we peacefully coexisted in kingdoms, empires, and confederacies of our own design so why is it so risky to do it again now?

Don't say that 'Igbos can't live with x' or 'x can't love with y' because, in the face of all of our problems now (suicide bombing, corruption, economic decay), there is no group that wouldn't jump at the opportunity to secede. If Igboland (in it's entire size) were to secede today, the Ibibio and others would be clamouring at why they were not allowed to secede also. And again with the borders. The geography of the East is quite unique. Rivers state is 25% water. Were a port to be built along one of the rivers that empty into the Atlantic, a direct sea route would-be established.

Also the Igbo and other Eastern peoples have been trading with Europeans at ports such as Opobo and Calabar for centuries so why can't we do it again today? And of course there is always Onicha port along the Niger...

shymmex: I guess you can't accept that part of the Yoruba race owns 95% of the oil wealth in Delta state, huh? Live with it buddy!

Wasn't this the guy clamouring for an end to tribalism?

I rest my case.

shymmex: How did I dissect Igbos? I was just trying to paint a picture (the pictures I painted make mona lisa look like fake art ) why Igbo separatists need to embrace Nigeria - and stop hallucinating about their Biafran pipe dream. Listen, MASSOB + MEND + BOKO HARAM together don't stand a chance against the Nigerian armed forces in a REAL WAR. Nigeria has invested more than $150billion in the last 12 years to enhance our military, and you can never match that in the next 50 years. Vent your anger on the elites, and leave the average Nigerian out of your daily grandiose delusions.

The dues of freedom are taken lightly until requested in blood.

Everyman born of woman has the right to wish that his father's soil and all that is in it be one day in his hands.

shymmex: When I first came across NL - I thought it was a medium for me to learn more about Nigerian history, and a place for me to find real-time news about what's going on in my beloved Nigeria - but I was wrong. My first two weeks on NL were amazing - the culture section provided me with loads of information about Nigerian history. I was amazed with the brilliance and intelligence of erudite guys like Katsumoto, Negro_ntns, PhysicsQED, Udezue and the CAP Pan-African Solicitor from London (I can't remember his screen name right now) - but clueless posters like Kobojunkie, Chino11 and Dede1 were off- putting, though. I instantly became a NL addict, and NL became my favourite website.

I initially thought NL was a place to bridge the gap between Nigerians in Nigeria, and Nigerians in the diaspora - but I was wrong. NL is another junk website that mirrors everything wrong with Nigeria and Nigerians, and a place to show how pathetic the Nigerian mentality is. Tribalism is the enemy within - and if we don't rid ourselves off this mundane way of life - we will continue to be divided. And when people are divided - they will continue to be exploited. The romance section is also filled with so much hatred and daily infighting between Nigerian men and women. I used to think that was an African American thing - but I guess Naija no dey carry last for stupidity.

Please, can a black man get a break? There is racism against him in the Western world and far east - yet myopic tribalists won't give him a break in his home country - and you wonder why the black man is always at the bottom of the social ladder, wherever he finds himself, go figure. It's just pathetic that we've to fight two unwinnable wars on two fronts - one against racism and the other is tribalism - and with terrorism becoming a norm in Nigeria; I guess the demise of the Nigerian man is fast approaching.

From my personal research, I think what fuels the tribalism on here is the Biafran war. The Biafran war happened four decades ago, and it was declared as: "NO VICTOR and NO VANQUISHED" - it's time to move on. Yes, millions of lives were lost on both sides, but we can't change history nor give lives back to the dead (adieu) - and history is history for a reason. Countries like Rwanda, Liberia, Angola, Burundi, Uganda, Sierra Leone etc. went through worse civil wars than we did - but these people have since moved on. We can use Angola and Rwanda as a case study for Nigerians. If we feel Angolans and Rwandans are not synonymous with Nigeria - can we use the YORUBA KIRIJI WARS (CIVIL) as a case study? All the Yoruba subgroups have since moved on from this painful episode of their history and forged unbreakable alliances, we all see ourselves as Yorubas before thinking about our subgroups.

Please, my Igbo brothers - it's time to move on and embrace Nigeria. Breaking Nigeria into different entities is just an avenue to create a never ending war because we're too divided to achieve the tripod entities you guys daydream about. If Nigeria is to be divided, it will have to be divided into at least fifty countries to achieve the 'pure ethnic' identities you lot crave for - due to the following reasons:

- I can't see an Itsekiri, Edo and Urhobo man in the same country as an Ijaw man.
- I don't think an Annang, Urhobo, Olukunmi, Ika, Ikwerre, Ibibio and Efik man would want to be in the same country as an Igbo man.
- Yorubas in Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Edo and Delta won't want to separated from their brothers in the Southwest.
- The Middle-belt is like another Nigeria - because it has too many small tribes - and I don't see them forming separate countries, staying together, nor being subordinate to the Northern oligarchy.
- And what will happen to the Bariba people of Western Nigeria? Are we going to send them to Benin republic or allow to become a separate country?

Keeping Nigeria together is a task that must be achieved! We all know our common enemies, which includes: corruption, religion, elitism, classism, tribalism etc. Why can't we just come together, and fight these vices - which have made our blessed and beloved country the 'hellhole' it is today - rather than spend all day being aggressive for no reason, and spewing pure drivels? Enough of this mumbo jumbo about how "my tribe is better or stronger than yours" or "my house is bigger than yours" nonsense - it's getting boring now. We shout all day like lunatics about how our tribe is superior to other tribes - but when it's time to fight for our collective rights as Nigerians - we develop hissy fits.

I love Nigeria and Nigerians - and if I die right now - I would love to come back as a Nigerian.

N/B: I'm yoruba and I'll like to marry a woman from one of the other tribes. I grew up as a Pan-Africanists but that's like a pipe dream now - so, I had to re-invent myself into being a Pan-Nigerianist God Bless Nigeria, God Bless Mama Africa, and God Bless the Black Race.....

Honestly, the bolded part was unnecessary. You have just created more disorder and disunity among your 'countrymen' by doing that. From what you said it seems that you've observed that those are really touchy subjects and are the crux of most of this site's 'ethnocentrism'.

I would've made some correcting remarks regarding the borders you drew for both the Igbo and the Yoruba in your statement, but it doesn't seem necessary. All I'll say is that you just divided Igboland into three pieces while extending Yorubaland into Delta state in the name of 'fighting tribalism'.

I commend your effort, if it truly is sincere.