₦airaland Forum

I saw this image and I thought I should share it for our Igbo brothers to confirm it.

I only know about the Ibibio long juju that was adopted by Aro-Igbos (Arochukwu) due to their interaction with the Ibibio over the years.


IGBO DEITIES & THEIR ORIGINS
Understanding the roots of major deities and shrines

IKENGA
• Origin: Benin Kingdom
• Meaning: From Iken (Power) and Ga (to worship)
• Role: A personal altar of power, success

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AMADIOHA
• Origin: Ekpeye land
• Meaning: From Ama (thunder) and Dioha (the community) → God of thunder
• Role: Spirit of justice, authority, bravery, and lightning

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IBINI UKPABI
• Origin: Ibibio (Long Juju)
• Meaning: Ancient oracle borrowed and adapted by Aro-Igbo (Arochukwu)
• Role: Shrine of justice, spiritual consultation, and regional influence

I hate lecturing clowns but let me do that ....


To know who copied from each other you will know it's the other minorities that copied from Igbo the Benin even copies Igbo market days and just few months ago they also copied the IGBO NEW YAM FESTIVAL


Well let me lecture you, among Igbo, Benin, or Ibibio is the “oldest” culture in Nigeria in absolute terms, because such judgments depend on criteria (earliest settlement? earliest complex society? earliest metallurgical/urban developments?) and the archaeological and documentary evidence is uneven. However, using the best-known artefacts, carbon-dating results, and archaeological sites, one can compare what is known, and observe that the Igbo (especially in Igbo-Ukwu / Lejja / Nsukka area) have some of the earliest securely dated evidence of complex craft and metallurgy. Below is a comparative summary and what can (and cannot) be known.


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What the evidence shows

Igbo / Igbo-Ukwu / Lejja / Nsukka region

Igbo-Ukwu is a site in Anambra State where excavations in 1959 & 1964 uncovered hundreds of high-quality bronze, copper, and iron artefacts, as well as glass beads, pottery, ivory etc.

These bronzes have been dated to about 850 AD (9th century CE).

More striking, the Lejja iron smelting site in the Nsukka area has carbon-dating evidence for smelting debris (slag and charcoal from iron smelting furnaces) going back to about 2000 BC.

There is also another site, Opi (also in Nsukka region), dated to about 750 BC, showing iron smelting.


So for the Igbo area, there is pretty strong archaeological evidence for early metallurgy, complex craft, settlement and social organization as early as the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE (Lejja), and a flourishing craft tradition by 850 CE (Igbo-Ukwu).


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Benin (Edo / “Kingdom of Benin” / Igodomigodo, Benin City)

The Kingdom of Benin (Edo people) is historically known as Igodomigodo in earlier period, evolving through the Ogiso dynasty etc.

Benin City was flourishing as a center by about 1200-1300 CE.

The massive earthworks, moats and ramparts (the “Benin walls” or “Benin Moat / Iya”) around Benin City are dated by archaeological and historical sources to construction phases beginning around 800 AD, continuing up until the 15th century (about 1460 AD).

Some bronze and metal artworks (the famous “Benin Bronzes”) are from later centuries (13-16th etc.), but the state structure, palace, trade etc become prominent in the later first millennium and second millennium CE.


Thus, Benin has evidence of complex state organization, earthworks, art, etc., but the earliest securely dated developments are around or shortly after those same dates of 800 CE and later (for large scale urban fortifications, etc.).


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Ibibio

The Ibibio people are one of the ethnic groups in southeastern Nigeria/Cross River/Akwa Ibom areas.

There is less strong archaeological, metallurgical, or stratified settlement evidence (at least in the public/academic literature) for Ibibio reaching back to 2000 BCE or very early times in the same way as Lejja or Igbo-Ukwu.

There are oral traditions that the Ibibio may have been early settlers, and traditions of migration from Cameroon etc.

Some artifacts (wood carvings, ancestor figures, masks) are known, but the dates tend to be much more recent (18th-19th centuries etc.), or complex in mix.



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Comparative assessment: which might be “oldest” by different criteria

Depending on what is meant by “oldest,” one might be evaluating:

Earliest known human occupation / early settlement: All these regions (Igbo land, Edo/Benin, Ibibio areas) have been occupied for a long time. But among those, Lejja gives one of the earliest dates for iron working (ca. 2000 BCE), which suggests complex technical society in the Igbo region very early.

Earliest complex craft / metallurgy / bronze working: Igbo-Ukwu (Igbo area) gives evidence of bronze working by 9th century CE, and Lejja gives iron smelting much earlier. Benin has later periods of high bronze artistry (though its art is of great sophistication)—but Igbo evidence predates major Benin bronzes in terms of early metallurgical complexity.

Earliest evidence of state or urban organization: Benin is one of the strongest candidates here, with large earthworks and political structure (kingdom/Obas), moats, walls, central palaces etc. Igbo polity has usually been more decentralized historically (though Nri, etc., are important political/religious centers). Ibibio seems less documented in terms of early state-level structure (at least in current published archaeology).


So based on current archaeological evidence, Igbo culture (or more precisely ancient societies in the Igbo/Nsukka area) seems to be “older” in some respects (especially iron smelting, craft) than what is currently documented for Benin and Ibibio in the same vein—but Benin has also been ancient in its own way, particularly in political complexity and monumental architecture.


You copy from older version or culture and that's what happened !

ikenga is an Igbo word

Ike .... Power
Nga ... here


the god of ikenga is POWER IS HERE

Ama... presence or frontage
Ndi Oha ... for the public or people

Amadioha ...The God in presence of the people

so what is difficult for your Brain to comprehend

It's possible because the Israelites don't have Idols except the ones introduced to them by their neighbors and the foreign women they married.

My good Igbo people before you come for me, there's nothing to be sad about this revelation. Many neighbors borrowed idols from each other when they felt they have offended their gods and it no longer answers them, they seek for alternative.

Ikenga means right hand in some Igbo dialects, especially in parts of Abia state. When you hear "aka ikenga", it means "right hand".
That's why the symbol of Ikenga deity is the right hand.

Darren95:
I saw this image and I thought I should share it got our Igbo brothers to confirm it.

I only know about the Ibibio long juju that was adopted by Aro-Igbos (Arochukwu) due to their interaction with the Ibibio over the years.