₦airaland Forum

Alabo7978:
NO ONE IDENTIFIED AS JO.
it was the name given to us by the Brits.
I am a nembeian LIKE YOU KNOW because we both know you're someone else behind that monicker but let me talk to you like you're not whom we both know you are,
we were called Oru, and we spoke an Oru dialect(s) recorded by baikie, sigismund koelle, and lots of other linguist.

Yes Amayanabo(owner of the community) became a thing for the central and Eastern rulers because our kingdoms BECAME MORE POLITICAL due to the Europeans coming and trading heavily. but prior to that, our leaders or rulers used the "PERE" title in the primitive days because it was MORE SPIRITUAL. Pere means Priest, our western Ijaw brothers still maintain that ancient title and I commend them.

secondly, the white man know nothing about we Africans, they only choose what they want to publish for their very crafty selfish reasons. We all trace our Ancestry from The central delta and every one (child to an old or deceased person) knows/knew this.

NwekereNdoki:
Why will they want to twist hostory? to what purpose?

So proffesional people Like BAIKE will not twist history in other places bu only in Bonny or Jo land?

Alabo7978:
I just looked your account,, it's just 3weeks old. You and I know we've talked about this before from BEHIND YOUR REAL ACCOUNT.
and FYI,, Baikie in his subsequent publication AFTER MUCH RESEARCH AND TRAVEL came to realise.


The early British explorers applied the curious name “ORU” to the Ijo west of Brass from the Nun entrance to Taylor creek, Dr Baikie said of them in 1854. "From the mouth of the river (NUN) up to this point (TAYLOR CREEK), the country on either side is named ORU. The people are of the same tribe as who inhabit the tract of country up to the Rio Formoso where however they are called EJO or OJO by which name they are known at Abo, at Brass and even Bonny, by English palm oil traders. They are often termed Jo-men. Throughout this district but one language is spoken with but little dialectical difference"

that's baikie up there, try and get all of his works and don't favor pick the earlier ones... ofcourse if you are writing a thesis, you won't go consulting old works, you consult the new and latest because the old ones are usually false and unreliable.

ANYWAYS

Major Arthur Glyn Leonard also listed a number of tribes of the Delta, distinguishing an Oru as well as an Ijo tribe, below are his words..

”The Oru occupy the tract of country on each side of the Nun branch of the Niger and along the coastline between it and the Ramos river. Then in the triangle formed by the Nun and the Gana-Gana, also outside it, to a small extent, both eastward and westward, dwell the Ijo the most important tribe in the lower Delta"

below is sigismund koelle own research report

"The Oru or Ijo or Udso are identical with Brass, at the mouth of the Nun on the coast, otherwise called Hebu or Nempe by their Ibo neighbours. This language is spoken to the extent of 100 miles from the mouth of the Nun, to the boundary of Abo territory: how far inland towards Benin, on the right and towards the Ibo country on the left is yet unknown…”

like I said, look up all of these people work and stop cherry picking.

like I said,,. no real NDOKI person has come to call what I wrote up there fable... they all know the truth, they know their Original language has gone extinct, they know they have the Oru blood which runs in the hollow tracts of their veins.

We want them back and at same time dont want them back, but if they choose to connect again, we will welcome them with open arms.

Parachoko:
You're wasting your time arguing with an Igbo man from the South East geopolitical region.

Kingozymandias:
.seun mynd44 oam4j

Rule 2

Parachoko:
How did I break rule 2 please?

Nwekere Ndoki is an Igbo man who created his moniker just to dey claim and drag Ijaw land.

Nah people wey dey follow una argue I go blame though.

Bonny and Opobo are both Ijaw lands, they were founded by our people, no inch of those territory as well as other Ibani Ijaw land will be ceded to any other ethnic group.

Know this and have peace of mind.

Kingozymandias:
You are notoriously insulting their tribe all over the forum . I thought after your last sanction you would have adjusted but it seems I have to help the mods remind you again

Parachoko:
This is pure gibberish from you!

Abuse Igbos all over the forum, are you drunk or just high on Mkpurumiri this morning?

I have no problem with any ethnic group in Nigeria, but any individual that attack me, I will also attack the person.

Ive only be sanction once on Nairaland for 5 days and it was not because of ethnic bashing.

Kingozymandias:
You are notoriously insulting their tribe all over the forum . I thought after your last sanction you would have adjusted but it seems I have to help the mods remind you again

9Pluto:
Very insightful!
Your article identifies three Ottam groups and it is the 3rd group near Obani that were acknowledged as igbos.
Also in the language table for Ottam, while the second one for counting numbers one, two, three, four is the same for igbo language, the first one for Father, Mother etc seems to be different.

9Pluto:
A lot of debates or arguments have been going on mainly between(igbos and ijaws) about the identity of Bonny and Opobo people. So much that lots of indigenes are confused about their own identity. The reason for this is not far fetched. The igbo language is an indigenous language in both places and while most inhabitants bear English names, some bear ijaw names and few still retain their igbo names. A large portion of videos which could be found on YouTube also portrays a largely igbo heritage till date.

For example:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q22f9HXmw7Y

However, I will try to be as neutral as possible while I implore you to be a little objective as we embark on this historical fact check.
Most of the arguments in my opinion have been nothing more than mere conjectures. For instance, ijaw people claim the igbo language spoken in both places is foreign or creolized version while trying to force inhabitants to start learning an entirely new language different from their mother tongue. There are also claims that igbo language was the language of igbo slaves the ijaws were trading. It is surprising how this eventually became an indigenous language making it the first of such incidence on the Gulf of Guinea. Even Calabar another important slave port nearby didn't experience such.

We have also seen both igbos and ijaws trying to make their own interpretations of what they think must have happened and as such both groups twist words to have meanings according to their respective language.
For example:
Ndoki-ndoki/aminadokiari
Ibani-Ubani//Obani/Igbani/Ebane
Ama-Ama
Amanyanabo-Ama onye nabo(Ama-anyi-nabo in Ndoki dialect)/Ama-nya-nabo (igbo for he who ties up another, like master tying up slave).
It might interest you to know that the title Amanyanabo use by ijaws originated from Bonny. The igbo interpretation means, “The town/community of 2 kings/persons”.
Bonny traditionally had 2 kings as documented by Captain Hugh and he was friends with both men who held him in high esteem.
King Pepple and King Holiday were both kings that reigned in Bonny at the same time.


To understand the reality of who Bonny and Opobo people are I would be rellying on the Memoirs of Captain Hugh Crow of Liverpool(1765-1829) and I implore any true son of Bonny or Opobo to consult this book or any other one written before it to really find out their identity. If you do not have much time, you can read from chapter 10, however reading the whole book gives a huge insight into slave trade era. It is important to note that while the author confirmed Eboes/igbos as natives of Bonny, there was no mention or acknowledgement of ijaws. But I am using my discretion to assume that the ijaws were the Brass people as the author asserts that they came from the Brass country which is located North West of Bonny.

Impotant dates:
Captain Hugh Crow of Liverpool(1765-1829)
King Jaja of Opobo 1821-1891
Technically King Jaja was born 12 years after slave trade was abolished.
Slave trade was abolished in 1809 by Sir Wilberforce.
King Jaja of Opobo founded Opobo in 1870.

Apart from being a popular slave merchant, Captain Crow(a.k.a Play man) was very popular with Kings and Natives of Bonny. He was so popular that he was invited to crown one of the Kings of Bonny at a time and he was regularly invited to help resolve palaver in the kingdom. He was captain of the last ship that left Bonny with slaves after slavery was abolished.

The author's memoir is insightful for many reasons:
It rendered a vivid first person account of what trans Atlantic slave trade looks like. In his assertions, slaves taken off the West African coast to America were better off than their countrymen left behind in Africa. During the period in review, whites were also slaves and most Britons including the author became prisoners of the French.

The author asserts that:
Bonny people are chiefly a mix of Eboe/Igbo and Brass/ijaw people.
He described/mentioned the igbo country in the hinterland and the brass country lying north-west of Bonny.
However, most of the details of daily living amongst the natives was more in tune with igbo lifestyle.
He talked about igbo native doctors he referred to as dibia and the enormous influence they wield in justice and health administration, even the kings respect them. He also described details of igbo marriage customs and funneral as observed in Bonny.
He talked about the use of elephant during the commemoration of King Pepple's father 10 years after the father's death. He mention the value of elephant tusk.
Contrary to conjectures that the name Pepple was European's attempt at pronouncing Perekule, the author asserts that Bonny people derived joy in bearing english names as he himself was responsible for crowning a King who he named after an English prince. An incident that excited the populace. He confirms that both King Pepple and King Holiday were igbos.
He described in detail the physique, including complexion and character of different tribes eboes, brass, appas, quaws and ottams. No mention of Ijaw in his record.

The author described one Chief Fubara who was an acquaintance of King Pepple. He asserts that Chief Fubara was not an indigene of Bonny but a stranger who migrated from his country during a crisis with a false claim that he was a warrior in his native country.

The author proved that ijaws were not selling igbo slaves as claimed in some quarters. According to him, everyone/every tribe was sold as slave. He described instances where some igbo chiefs set people up with their beautiful young wives and victims eventually pay a fine or become slaves. He explained the reason why more igbo slaves were sold. They were more relatable to Europeans than most other tribes.

Captain Hugh is credited with one of the earliest attempt to create an Eboe/igbo dictionary.
The author asserts that Opobo is an Igbo name for male children.
He also said that natives are often marked according to their origin and that Bonny natives often have short cupped perpendicular markings on both sides of their temple(this is consistent with the igbo tribal mark).

He confirmed the existence of Cannibalism, that Andoni was considered a dangerous place to venture, the fact that Calabar people eat dog meat,the fact that he planted coconut trees on one of the islands, the influence of Benin empire, that some Brass people were usually employed to make salt during dry season under the Benin empire amongst other things.

I was planning to post pages from his write up to buttress some points, unfortunately i cannot do so on this forum as it seems to permit posting only few images at a time. But i will post some.

CONCLUSION

Bonny people are a mix of Eboe/Igbo and Brass people in origin. This document however asserts a more igbo origin or dominance as most of Crow's history of the ancient kingdom was about igbos(The word Brass appeared 14 times in the history of Bonny, while the word Eboe appeared 48 times). This perhaps explains the existence of the indigenous igbos there and the presence of igbo masquerades like nwaotam. However, Opobo is a more recently founded city state by King Jaja who established his sole ownership authority and set up the kingdom with friends who accompanied him from Bonny. While Ebane/Igbanni/Ubani/Obani is the igbo dialect spoken in these locations. The same dialect that was used to write the first igbo bible commissioned by King Pepple. Shalom

P.S: I am being challenged to prove that Brass people are Ijaw people, so I must state once more that this was an assumption on my part and it remains to be proven or disputed.

Current literatures been submitted seems to indicate that the Brass were indeed a different people from the ijaws as they are known today.

FINALLY
A new literature referenced to another European by name Baike(who arrived Bonny about 50 years later than Crow) has just been posted on page 34 of this thread.

Baike EXPLICITLY stated that Bonny people told him they were of igbo descent. They called themselves Ebanne, that is where the name Bonny came from. Other igbos called them Obani/Ubani, while Kalabari(New Calabar) people called them Ibane.


Dear Ladies and gentlemen, when I started this thread I was shocked by the findings I had already made but I am more shocked and bewildered by the supporting literature this thread has provided from various contributors.

Proud sons and daughters of Grand-Bonny and Ancient Kingdom of Opobo, l congratulate you on finding your true Ebane roots of the ancient Ndoki subgroup and connecting with a future away from mere conjectures and fictions.
The original Pepples, Madu, Ani, Kamalu, Ashimini, Uranta,Nkemeku, Ogolo, Jaja, Ikeokwuadighm, Oko Jumbo, Alali etc Let real history guide you at all times, away from myths and conjectures.

I hope with this, most people would start giving their children more native names and teach them to speak their language to stem the growing tide of identity crises.

This write up however understands that there are parts of this islands or local government areas today that bears different Identities as presently constituted.

Alas, it is my wish and desire that this write-up would put the various departments of history in our Universities to task concerning this discourse.

peleson1:
U go explain tire ..

Opobo is ijaw.

Go back to Lagos and keep developing Lagos and claiming it n leave Opobo out of ur frustration

ChinenyeN:
From the works of Charles Ogan (1980s), Finapiri (2001), Alagoa & Fombo (1960s) and Nzewuwa (1980s), among others, it is well-established that the Amanyanabo system is a modern monarchy system that first came about in the 17th century among most Eastern Ijaw communities.

Nzewuwa (1983) showed that the House System and a feudal/factional kingship system already existed in the Elem Kalabari area. Kalabari oral traditions and documentary evidence from European traders suggests that these institutions came to be in active practice by the 17th century. Additionaly, Amakiri I (the first of the modern Kalabari monarchs), is recollected as becoming the first "overall Amanyanabo", creating the modern Kalabari dynasty and galvanizing the Kalabari kingdom. This tradition of Amakiri I becoming the first "overall Amanyanabo" suggests the presence of other feudal kings (at least some, not all) going by "Amanyanabo" (Alagoa, 1970s, 2005).

Unlike the series of events/oral traditions of Kalabari, the picture was rather different for Okrika. Charles Ogan (1980s) did a decent job in marking down a chronology for the adoption of both the House System and the Amanyanabo System within Okrika (which Charles Ogan refers to as Amanyanaboship). Charles shows that the Amanyanabo institution did not exist in Okrika prior to its adopted in the seventeeth century. The first Amanyanabo of Okrika (Ado I) was installed as part of the ongoing effort to free Okrika from Bonny's political and economic authority.

Finapiri (2001) researched and collected Bonny oral traditions which credit Perekule as having brought drastic changes to the kingship system in Bonny in the 18th century, in which Perekule was officially proclaimed as the "Amanyanabo", starting the new Amanyanabo dynasty in Bonny. For Bonny, both the House System and the Amanyanabo system were imported between the late 17th to early 18th centuries (Alagoa 1971, Oriji 2011).

ChinenyeN:
No, this would be incorrect. It's actually well established that the Amanyanabo system in Bonny comes from Kalabari. Okrika and Bonny adopted the Amanyanabo system by the 17th century. It is an Ijaw expression, not Igbo.

hammer567:
IJAE IN YOUR DREAM.


OPOBO AND UBANI WILL NEVER BE IJAW.


NOT TODAY AND NOT EVER.



EVEN OKIRIKA SAY THEY ARE NOT IJAW.

peleson1:
Opobo says they r ijaw n who r u to tell them that they r Jews or isrealites ?

hammer567:
Okirika say they are not Ijaw.

peleson1:
Did okrika tell u they are ibo?

U see how u r ?
Clever by half.

Okrika says the hey are okrika.
Which is correct.

If they say they r okrika to remain prominent , will u go n tell them that you hey r not Ijaw?

Ofcos okrika are ijaw n are in ijaw council.

U sit in ur hunt in the hinterland and what to have a say?
Especially on other people's affairs

No body even care about ibo affairs because other tribe believe Ibos r a separate people that can handle their affairs themselves but Ibos will not allow other people to rest ,u want to v a say in how others handle their affairs.

Always causng issues .
Today u claim Lagos , tomorrow u claim warri and okrika and next tomorrow u claim isreal .

Are u not ashamed of urself?

hammer567:
Okirika say they are not iJAW.


I repeat Okirika say they are not Ijaw.


Stop adding them into your Ijaw nonsense.

peleson1:
Shut up .

Okrika is not ibo.

Go and claim Jews or isreal

peleson1:
U go explain tire ..

Opobo is ijaw.

Go back to Lagos and keep developing Lagos and claiming it n leave Opobo out of ur frustration

peleson1:
Shut up .

Okrika is not ibo.

Go and claim Jews or isreal

hammer567:
That dont make Okirika Ijaw.

peleson1:
Shut up .

Okrika is not ibo.

Go and claim Jews or isreal

peleson1:
U go explain tire ..

Opobo is ijaw.

Go back to Lagos and keep developing Lagos and claiming it n leave Opobo out of ur frustration

ebufa:
Carry your kegs of ogogoro and row your leaky canoes back to yenagoa..........you fighting yorubas for Makoko, fighting Binis for Koko, fighting itshekiri for Warri, why won't you fight igbo for Bonny and Opobo?

Yujin:
Here's what another Ijaw author wrote about the word 'Amanyanabo'. Notice how he spelt it 'Amayanabo'.
This revisionism won't help Ijaws in their quest on Bonny and Opobo.

ChinenyeN:
Please provide the name of the author and the publication. Thank you.