₦airaland Forum

ezeagu:
Let's leave the Bonny and Opobo inhabitants to decide where they are from. That is what matters after all. To gradually start closing this thread let's leave it at this: Igboland's boundaries end where Igbo communities end, and Igbo communities are those that identify as such. This is fair, I think.

Ordinarily, one would not fault the bolded words. But we are dealing with a peculiar problem (sort of). You can make that argument if there had not been a Nigeria/Biafra war which Ndigbo led and lost. That fact alone led to about half of Igbo peoples denouncing their lineage. So, that argument is not only impractical in this context, but plays into the hands of the victors/revisionists. The case of Bonny Igbo being railroaded into speaking Ibani in schools is just one. There have been several others.
One of the attributes that distinguishes a nation/tribe/people is their ability to keep accurate information about themselves. Such information gathering and maintenance is key to the survival of such tribe.

Normally, this topic should not even arise at all, after all, we are supposed to be ONE people by virtue of our history and heavy intermarriage. This topic shouldn't even arise at all. But we have a situation where our neighbor keeps trying to tell us that we have no sea access, even when we have information which proves that they were recent immigrants to those sea access lands. How else do we explain, for instance, that a people who migrated to areas bordering with, and were frequented by a huge tribe, have been systematically gnawing at the neighbors lands even while retaining the neighbors language of trade, only to turn around to claim a different tribe?

If the Ijaw share a political destiny (as they should) with the Igbo, why would anyone remind them how they came?
Is it our fault that European slave merchants brought them, or that the Oba of Benin was a mean dude and they had to flee from him?
So, like I've said before, we are all Easterners and must necessarily share one destiny. But, when anyone tries to be mean and stab Igbo in the back for whatever reasons, then, we owe no such persons any kindness.

If left to their own devises, even some Ngwa people will claim not to be Igbo, because we still have Nigeria with her civil war issues. That is what we are fighting here.

mrmayor:
I made a mistake getting into Nairaland's Politics section past time my "Tribe is Better than Yours". I'll leave this thread with these words.

I see that Biafrans ( Ex- Lost Tribes of Israel) are looking for territories to add to the Great African Country Biafra that is yet to be, especially an oil rich one like Okoloma, the home of Ibanis. I'll do same if I were you! Happy hunting for route to the sea. You are still Land Padlocked.

Finally, when all the lies have collapsed like a pack of cards under scrutiny, the revisionists are defeated. But lo, they turn desperate! Their lies have finally unraveled.
But not to worry. As Ndigbo say: Ubochi isi ka akpuo afu onu!(no need worrying about shaving that bushy beard yet, we handle that on the day we shave the head!).

ow11:
I leave this thread with this quote.

Nah bro! Here's how I leave it:

(1) Igbo founded or co-founded Bonny and Opobo.
(2) Both have Igbo kings in their lineage.
(3) Majority of Bonny inhabitants speak a form of Igbo language and have Igbo ancestry (accepted by both parties).

Since Igbos are the majority in the WHOLE East, chances are that Bonny was actually founded ONLY by the Igbo as was recorded by all the pre-colonization books referenced.

There is no way a minority tribe of 4 million can lord over a majority tribe of 33 million. It was only briefly possible because Igbo lost the civil war. The post civil war history has already cheated Ndigbo enough. That cheating will not continue. In fact it is already dying a natural death with this huge expose on this thread. So, anyone still thinking of removing Igbo claims to Bonny and Opobo better think twice. 

No one will force Ijaw out of both towns, but Ijaw must forget about forcing Igbo out of both towns.

ow11:
I am told by my people and read in some books that this is true YET you and Richyblack have also posted pages proving that Igbos founded Bonny till Ijaw people came and either chased them away or tried to convert them to Ijaw. This point will remain debatable until better evidence is found to verify whose side of the story is true.

In other news, why are Idomas with Igbo surnames NOT Igbo?

If you meet an Idoma with Igbo name, chances are he/she is Igbo. It doesn't mean the whole Idoma are Igbo.
Some Idoma names sound like Igbo but is not. Igbo would never deny anyone his Igboness.

Igbos are not afraid to accept facts the way they are. The general trend of pre-colonial migration in Nigeria was  from north to south, not the other way round.

The outstanding fact on this thread, for me, is that Igbos are part of the founders (and still remain sizable) in Bonny and Opobo. If one was left with the post civil war history, one would never know this fact.

Ijaws did a great job to obfuscate this fact.

Now I know that my tribe has a BOLD stake on the coasts. QED.

asha 80:
How do you do the bolded?I mean a post a link in that manner?

As for 80percent of militants being igbo nna i doubt that.

Okay here's how:

Part A (the thread you want to link)

(1)Go to address bar and highlight the link
(2) Right click to copy the link

PART B (the one you are posting)

(3) Return to your document
(4) Highlight the words you want to link
(5) Click the "insert hyperlink" (the one next to insert flash)
(6) Make sure that the link is behind the highlighted words
(7) Post thread (concluded).

You can correct errors easily if you fail by modifying the posted link.

I hope this helps.



As for the percentage of militants who are Igbo, someone posted a news report based on police report on that thread I linked earlier. They are not my words. I'll find it and repost it  here.
I was shocked too. 

It took [url=https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-500126.0.html this discourse]this discourse [/url]on nairaland for me to know for the first time, that there are aboriginal Igbo speaking people in Bonny and Opobo.

I also learned that about 80% of the militants in the Niger delta are Igbo.

So, for how long would Nigeria keep hiding tribal figures?

This is an African country DETERMINED to take the bull by the horn and tackle some of the most contentious issues facing the country.
In Nigeria,we sweep everything under the carpet.

Where is Kenyaman? lol.

The head of Kenya's census has defended the release of national census figures that include tribal affiliations.

The decision has been criticised by some as stoking ethnic divisions.

In early 2008, more than 1,000 Kenyans were killed and 300,000 made homeless in post-election ethnic violence.

But the census director general said it was better to have indisputable numbers on Kenya's ethnic make-up, rather than politically motivated claims from the groups themselves.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics' census figures show that the East African nation's population has increased by more than a third in the past 10 years to 39 million.

'Nothing political'

The BBC's Peter Greste in the capital, Nairobi, says no single political issue is as divisive in Kenya as ethnicity.
Continue reading the main story
Ethnicity: Kenya's top five groups

    * Kikuyu: 6.6m
    * Luhya: 5.3m
    * Kalenjin: 4.9m
    * Luo: 4m
    * Kamba: 3.8m

Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics

Over the decades politicians have stoked tribal conflict as a way of winning support in elections.

It underpinned corruption and nepotism, often with catastrophic consequences, our correspondent says.

At the launch of the census report, Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya admitted there had been controversy over what figures to release.

"There was a lot of debate on whether to include ethnicity in the census, but we have decided to be transparent," Kenya's East African Standard newspaper quotes him as saying.

The Kikuyu, Luhya, Kalenjin, Luo and Kamba were listed as the most populous ethnic groups.
Continue reading the main story
Technology figures

    * Households with a computer: 3.6%
    * Households with a mobile phone: 63.2%

Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics

Census Director General Anthony Kilele said there was nothing political in the statistics themselves, but rather in the way people used them.

The chairman of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), set up to ease ethnic tensions after the post-election violence in 2007 and 2008, said there was a danger some groups would use the results to obtain more resources.

"That's one of the things that the National Cohesion and Integration Commission is supposed to keep an eye on," Mzalendo Kibunjia told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

"You say because you are a dominant tribe then you are also dominant in terms of resource allocation. That is what is wrong," he said.

Other census figures showed that more than 67% of Kenyans live in rural areas, 63% of households have a mobile phone and 30% of the population has access to piped water.

Mr Oparanya added the high population growth would have an adverse affect on spending, so an aggressive family planning programme would now be launched.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11143914

I'll give you another example. There is an Igbo man by the name of Alhaji Abdulaziz Ude. Assuming his son is also a muslim whose name is Abubakar Abdulaziz, does that make him an Hausa/Fulani? NOPE.
HE still speaks Igbo.

Ibime:
You forget that Anna and Pepple are Perekule house whilst George, Ogan and Abam split from Ado house in 1940's.

We have[b] Ijaw houses[/b], English houses, but no Igbo houses. How come?

You are still not following my argument. How come we have the "David Marks" ,"Maureen Solomon", etc in Nigeria?
Since when did Englishmen settle in Nigeria?
Even today, there are sizable numbers of Igbo people changing their last name to English names, mainly to take their fathers' first names. Those Igbo kings took on English names. Igbo find change of name very easy. We don't hold fast much to Igbo names.

Heck we even take Ijaw names.

Doesn't change who we are.

You only cross a line when you start denying your Igbo ancestry and lineage.

Ibime:
Song by Nembe people:

Erika nimiga ye re biyo bo
Igbobo ebetu tubo re o fe ma
Tubo re o nyana ma, Nembe n'ongu?


Translation:

I ask this out of ignorance
They say he is an Igbo, but who bought him?
And who is his master, people of Nembe?


Lesson:

There are 67 houses in Bonny. Name one house with Igbo name.

I'll answer you with this quote and wait for other knowledgeable folks to answer you.

ijaw_girl:
non yorubas kids in lagos speak yoruba because the pple ard them speak Yoruba(doesnt have to be home)
If you decide to live @ Finima village  in Bonny where everybody speaks Ibani. .you will also learn how to speak Ibani

I come from the part of Bonny where everybody speaks Igbo. If I was among the children taken to Lng to learn Ibani. I will also show no interest at all
The Amanayabo and the Local govt have declared Ibani shld be spoken in Bonny town and other places.
its not going to be easy but erm . .

Ibime, you are still looking for "houses" named after Igbo, while forgetting that Pepple, Anna and George are not African names.

Like a good student, I decided to sit calmly, to learn as much as I can from more knowledgeable folks here.
Thanks to Obiagu1, Richyblack, FACE and others for helping me to learn new things about Eastern Nigeria.
Though some of the European historians were as expected, brutally condescending and unwittingly hilarious, they were remarkably astute, and quite able to articulate very complex details of socio-anthropology of  earlier days Africans of the Niger delta.

What struck me most, is the fact that these works predated colonization and amalgamation. Now, if the British had such level of in-dept knowledge of Nigeria BEFORE amalgamation, then it is safe to conclude that they knew what they wanted to achieve off the bat.  Can't say that about Nigerian leadership post 1960.

I admire the British a lot, not just his classical music. 

sbeezy8:
im out this thread is boring now-

whether yoruba will vote for yoruba or igbo will vote for igbo- I dont really care.

A northerner can be president time and time again with an igbo vp- doesnt matter to me.

lol he didnt rule because of the military not because northerners didnt vote for him- theres a difference.

Im satisfied in knowing that Mko actually won elections.
which is fine wit me.
No need for Zoning in my books. . . peace out

It may surprise you to know that some Nigerians (whose opinions can't be pushed over) still think that he rigged the elections.

He did so by sponsoring the cancellation of the first SDP primaries which was won by Shehu Musa Yar adua (the dead presidents senior brother). He bribed IBB to cancel it, which IBB did.
So don't give the man more credit than he deserves. Nigerians are not fools. We saw it all play out.

sbeezy8:
you own is gone jare- yoruba already had a yoruba elected as president,a dn already had the clown Obj as president.

Mko won elections- which is enough for us to know we dont need fkin.

mko abiola- he actually said he doesnt need igbo votes- and he really didnt.

And he actually didn't rule! hehehe !

That statement was exactly why he never ruled, and actually died for it.
That is called reality check dude.

EzeUche:
True. That is why southern politicians have to work with the north if they want national attention instead of regional attentions. The Northerners continue to be a major power broker.

[size=16pt]Exactly![/size]

Fortunately or Unfortunately. They cannot count on the Yoruba for support because Yoruba only vote for Yoruba. Strange type of selfishness.

EzeUche:
lol He had the audacity to say that.

Name one Yoruba man who won without the support of the Igbo. Never heard of such.

These people are amazingly dumb. I didn't know that extreme tribalism can also make someone extremely dumb.

Nigeria's history is replete with facts about how presidents emerged. Igbo (and any other tribes ) can become president without the Yoruba. Anyone who plans to become president through Yoruba votes will FAIL.
FACT.

Aigbofa:
Good luck with your "organizing" soon it will dawn on you that no ibo can become president of Nigeria without working with the "backstabbing" Yoruba. But a Yoruba can become president without your support. It sucks, but that is the truth.

Oh boy! You wanna bet on that?  

Actually it is the other way round. Yoruba would never vote for another tribe anyway. So anyone hoping on Yoruba votes is barking off the wrong tree.

Zoning was the brainchild of Igbo politicians like Alex Ekwueme. They came together to zone the presidency to the Yoruba in 1999. Now, some Yorubas are here boasting that the Igbo will never rule Nigeria (as if their opinions count ).
Betrayal is the nature of these folks. Obasanjo is already betraying Jonathan.

seanet02:
LOOK AT THIS ONE NONSENSICAL REASONING FROM A slowpoke

You can only resort to abuse when you've been beaten. Go on. Take your best shot!

Betrayal is your second name. FACT.

Aigbofa:
Are Ngbatis in control of those wretched ibo states? Why have they not been able to make their economy the best in Nigeria?

Well, Ngbatis are in control of Nigerias banks and some oil companies even without oil of substance in their lands.
So, we will take over anything we can to help balance things.  

I'm happy that true Yoruba characters are showing up here for the party.  
They enjoyed zoning -that is the only way they could ever produce the president- now they are dissing it. Awolowo tried all through his life to win national elections, HE FAILED and died a miserable man.
Abiola stole the elections using the money he stole from the ITT contract. He actually used the money to sponsor countless coups in Nigeria. When he "won", one Igbo man called Arthur Nzeribe told him that he cannot rule. He never ruled and died a miserable man.

Zoning was the brainchild of Igbo politicians like Alex Ekwueme. They came together to zone the presidency to the Yoruba in 1999. Now, some Yorubas are here boasting that the Igbo will never rule Nigeria (as if their opinions count ).
Betrayal is the nature of these folks. Obasanjo is already betraying Jonathan.

As for Ndigbo, we should continue organizing. No great nation ever came about without hardwork.

EzeUche:
Gbam!

2015 a golden year. It is a make or break year. Or may be sooner then what we though. You never know. Because the way the North is talking, they do not want to see Goodluck as president.

They do not want to see Jonathan's presidency because they understand that Ndigbo are a 40 million strong restless tribe scattered all over Nigeria. They want Igbo presidency in 2015 as a way to finally calm down the east and unite the country.
They understand these things. Some Yorubas, like the kid here, have no clue.

sbeezy8:
Im laughing at you clowns- cause you always talk about war like small BOYS - LOL

I wont even get into this back and forth BS- if people dont vote for igbo president nothing will happen- except igbos getting mad.

2015 yorubas will probably vote for a yoruba
2015 Northernerners will probably vote a northerners
2015 igbos will probably vote for igbo
2015- if jonathan wins in 2011 and recontest in 2015- deltans will probably vote for jonathan
Muslims will vote for muslims and christian will probably vote for christians etc . . .

Thats how Nigeria is- to bad deal with it.

No need arguing with kids. When there is no country in 2015, then you will understand.
Our concern for now is to rally Igbo to the next stage of things.

sbeezy8:
lol if igbos in the east riot- who will really care? no one but igbos are there anyway. lol

and if its a civil war then its a civil war- You should know that in 1967 when the war was in the East, children in the West were still going to school like nothing happen and business was still being taken care of in the West.

You know even my parents dont know much about the war- lol

So it doesnt matter to me.

You always sound like a kid!

In 1967, you didn't have 6 million (some put the estimate higher) Igbos living in Lagos. Today is completely different.
Believe me dude, you don't want another conflagration in Nigeria. Nobody wants it. That is why Nigeria must become reasonable. Anyway, the main power in Nigeria (not the attaching power ) understands these things.

2015 is ours. Period.

Why is this not shocking?

I said it before (when Obasanjo was asking him to run) that Obasanjo will ALWAYS protect Obasanjo's interests -(security interests), no matter how many he has to betray to get it.
Remember Odili in 2007?
Obasanjo would never support anyone who could lose, thereby exposing him to probes when another president settles in.
It is all about keeping Obasanjo out of jail.

Ibime:
Your claim that Opubo was Igbo was predicated solely on Richards Burtons testimony that Opubo migrated from AmaIgbo. . . . this Ive proved beyond reasonable doubt to be patently false. . .

Now[b] the story is that Asimini is Igbo although all historical folktales including the one accepted on Ohanaeze website[/b] say that Asimini migrated from Kolokuma, through Akassa (Brass) through Ndoki and finally to Bonny. . . not only that, but his Ibani language is almost the same as Kirike and Kalabari language, for example Ibime (Okrika) means Good whilst Ibim (Ibani) means good. . . . regardless of the fact that all names of Kings and places in Ibani are Ijaw, their language is Ijaw etc. . . .

Everyone is relying on "story". Africans aren't that good at keeping records. I'm only wondering why a sizable portion of the island speak intelligible Igbo, and has Igbo kings dating back to before 17th century.

You remember I asked you the right pronunciation for "Amachree"?
Dede1 had alluded that "Amachree was in fact "Amakiri". People were busy anglicizing or "Ijawizing" Igbo names.
Kamalu for instance is Igbo. So the notion that this town was founded by Ijaw is stretching the truth a little.

It is either they are Ijaw, or the very few Ijaw amongst them have powerful Juju that convince them to change their names, names of towns, language and identify themselves as Ijaw. . . . . hehehehe. . .  .I leave it in Gods hands. . .

hehehe , I don't think it has gotten to that stage bro. Calm down.

The single biggest lesson I've learn in this whole discourse is that the East is actually one. Going through that Ohanaze website was very educational. It turns out that Igbo is spoken in: Rivers (70%), Cross-river (about 55% can speak/understand Igbo), Akwa Ibom (about 38% can speak and understand Igbo), Delta state (about 55% can speak/understand Igbo), even Bayelsa the Ijaw heartland (about 30% can speak/understand Igbo).

So when we really look at the region without "civil war mentality", the East is one really.

I think that the emerging consensus is that Bonny was founded by Igbo (Asimini/Azimini). And Igbo continued in the ruling house lineage all through the early years of Bonny (as admitted by both sides). If you add that to the fact that Igbo is part of the language spoken on this island, one is left without any doubts that Igbo has a solid stake on this island. Bottom line.

dayokanu:
The point is they strived to be number one and were not contented with being number 2

That can be explained easily. The Yoruba (like the Igbo) have always wanted to produce the president from 1959, but they failed (the Igbo succeeded before them), until the civil war. This is part of why the Yoruba sided (powerfully) with the Hausa to defeat Biafra -they saw an opportunity to overtake the east at the federal level.

Awo was the effective "prime minister" during the war. When the war ended, the Yoruba was empowered by Awo to take over the economy (through the 20 pounds policy against Ndigbo). After the war, there was an unspoken accord between the Yoruba and Hausa to share power at the top. Alex Ekwueme's vice presidency in 1979 was not really part of the plan; it just happened.

So, suffice it to say that the Yoruba had no business gunning for VP positions. That is part of why characters like Arthur Nzeribe schemed their best to deny the Yoruba that first position. He (and many Igbos) felt that was part of the civil war continuing in disguise. Arthur once boasted that he wanted to disintegrate Nigeria into "manageable bits and pieces". He almost achieved it in 1993.

I don't know why it is hard for folks to understand that Nigeria cannot move forward sitting on top of the Igboman's rights. The least that can happen is a country of pains and retrogression. The worst can be an outright disintegration of Nigeria.

So we have started to ask for our full rights as citizens of Nigeria, to produce the president in 2015. It has been 40 years since the war ended, and it will be 45 years by 2015. We will take next logical steps if that effort fails.

The Igbo must act together. We can't act when some Igbos still feel that they are Nigerians.

supereagle:
He wanted to be life president like Egyptian president. He sent his boys , some of them participated in Orkar coup that time, to go and understudy him. He never wanted to leave power.
If he comes on board again, it is only death that can take power away from him. On three times he shifted the hand over date.

I think the more honest and incisive question should be this:
Why is it that any goat that makes it to Nigerian presidential seat wants to die there?

IBB was only the first one to show his hands.
The civilian government of Shehu Shagari would have tried it. Remember how the 1983 elections were brazenly rigged. It was only a matter of time.

Abacha wanted to die in office and he did.

Obasanjo wanted to die there (he actually said so in many ways, and spent billions of dollars plus Bakassi), he failed at the end.

Yar adua died there.

Jonathan can't even abide by a simple party agreement, because (you guessed right ), he is scheming to die there!

I can't understand why Nigeria is incurable.

Jonathan is singing all the right tunes and making all the right moves. lol.
Good one.

[size=16pt]Jonathan to open Innoson auto plant [/size]

The multi-billion naira Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited (IVM) auto plant built by a well known Nnewi industrialist, Chief Innocent Chukwuma, OON, will be commissioned by President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday, September 9, 2010.

The official opening of the Nnewi plant is expected to usher in a new phase in the nation’s auto industry, which has had a not-too-successful trajectory, with a good number of the auto assembly companies established by government between the 1970s and the 1980s, either dead now or gasping for breath.

The occasion may provide the Federal Government an appropriate forum to make pronouncements in line with the renewed efforts towards helping the industry recover from years of retrogression. Recently, Vice President Namadi Sambo constituted a committee headed by the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mrs Josephine Tapgun, which looked into the problems of the sub-sector and made recommendations on how to bring about growth and development.

Sources close to the Commerce and Industry Ministry said recently that the President and his deputy have been studying the documents submitted by the Tapgun committee, and were likely to act on it soon.
Only last week, the Minister of State herself toured the new Nnewi plant where, by her own admission, she was amazed by the courage displayed by Chief Chukwuma, the huge investments so far made by the entrepreneur and the volume of production activities raging within the complex.

Mrs Tapgun had said during the visit: “I am highly impressed with what is available here. Chief Chukwuma is an individual, but doing what the government is supposed to do. The auto plant is a big plus in terms of employment generation. The Chairman said that this place is only producing at 30 percent of its actual capacity. One wonders what will happen when it starts operating fully”

The minister also remarked that if more auto plants like Innoson’s are established in the country, “the youths would smile and forget about unemployment. Chief Chukwuma’s initiative is amazing and I think he needs to be encouraged”.

Mrs Tapgun said her visit which came about three weeks ahead of the expected commissioning of the plant by President Jonathan, was as a result of the urge to see things for herself and seek ways of supporting the project. “The intervention fund available for the industries is a huge relief for people like him. And I expect him to benefit from it”.

Receiving the guest, Chief Chukwuma said the plant was facing many challenges which may make full capacity utilization a difficult task. “Like any other industrialists in Nigeria, my challenge is enormous, but I will continue to forge ahead hoping that government will take the right steps for things to improve”.

Pending official commissioning, IVM commenced operations some months ago with a combined team of mainly Nigerian technicians and a few expatriates from the Chinese technical partners. Mini, midi and mass transit buses, as well as pick-ups and SUVs are produced on demand for customers, some of whom use the vehicles daily on the Lagos-East route.

Commenting on the visit of the President, Chukwuma said it would be a great honour to him and the auto industry alike for the Head of State to commission the plant in person in Nnewi. He said on phone: “It is going to be a great honour to me and other manufacturers for the President to show interest in what we are doing.

Manufacturing is not easy in the country, and as because of that, all manufacturers deserve special attention and encouragement. I have said it before and I am telling you again, that it is easier for me to leave manufacturing and go fully into importation, but I know that manufacturing is vital to the economy – jobs are created here and less money goes abroad to sustain the work force in other countries. Moreover, there will be technological development. That is why we are making all these investments against all odds”.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/motoring/2010/aug/27/motoring-08-27-2010-001.htm