₦airaland Forum

I posted a reply to a comment by someone who may be an Igbo:

You spoke like someone who has accepted a lie. When you say the Igbo don’t need Rivers State, you are not speaking from knowledge, you are speaking from a script written by our adversaries.

Let me be clear: There is in reality nothing called Rivers State. There is nothing called Enugu, Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi, Abia, or even Delta. These are administrative fictitious lines drawn on a map not by us, but against us. The states in Nigeria were not created for development, they were tactically created to dismember Ndi Igbo. It was the British who advised Gowon to fragment our land, to cut us into pieces so that we would forget that we were once a nation.

But the soil does not forget, and the blood does not dilute.


Today, Ndi Igbo have been fragmented in no fewer than 13 states of Nigeria. In Rivers State alone, you have Obigbo, the very name a testament to our presence. You have Etche. You have Umuokoro (Rumuokoro). Are we now to abandon our kith and kin there because an a m a l a (not Ama- Ala) person from another tr i be says so? Are we to cede our brothers to political labels invented in 1967?

Chukwuma Nzeogwu, the man who led the January 1966 coup, was an Igbo man from Igbuzo, a town the British renamed "Ibuzo." If Nigeria eventually splits, are we to tell our people in Delta State to fend for themselves because others say they are "South-South"? Do we abandon the graves of the thousands of Igbos murdered in Asaba? Do we forget that Murtala Muhammed’s soldiers massacred our people in that very Igbo town simply because they were Igbo?

The lie that "Igbo land" is confined to the five Southeast states is the greatest weapon used against our unity. The truth is far grander.

In Edo State, we have Igbanke. I have a friend from Igbanke who bears the name Emeka - as Igbo a name as any.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was originally from Delta, an Igbo name like any other, just like Ifeanyi (Okowa). Before the whiteman came, the largest and most powerful Igbo city was not in the Southeast as we know it today. It was Aboh (in present-day Delta State). The other most influential Igbo city was Arochukwu (in present-day Abia). Aboh was the gateway to the Atlantic, a mighty Igbo trading hub that controlled the riverlines.

Before the colonial incursion, the Igbo nation stretched from the Benue-Plateau region all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

Today, our clans are scattered across Kogi, Benue, Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Edo, and Delta. These are not "Igbos in diaspora." These are Igbos at home as any other Igbo. Same language, same ancestry, and they are no less Igbo than any other.

The British didn't just colonize us, they tried to fragment our memory through Nigeria. They renamed our towns, drew new boundaries, and created new ethnic identities to weaken the numerical and political strength of the Igbo nation. They succeeded in making many of us believe that an Igbo man from Delta is a different species from an Igbo man from Enugu.

Ndi Igbo, we must reject this Nigerian lie. Igbo is not "Southeast." It is a geopolitical zone created to cage us, not to define us. I sometimes wonder the role of Ohaneze Ndigbo. What is their function and usefulness to the Igbo nation? Even Kanu as a person seems to have accomplished far more in a few years than that group. I sincerly hope they're not another appendage of the Nigerian oppression of the Igbo nation.

Look at the map of Igbo land from the 19th century - the one the British met when they arrived. That is our true heritage. Let us remember it, protect it, and never abandon our kith and kins. Igbo ... is just a matter of time.

Igbo Kwenu!
Igbo Kwenu!
Igbo Kwezue nu!

My error: Nzeogwu was from Okpanam, not Igbouzo. Okpanam is a neighboring community just like Asaba and I got it mixed up.

Igbophobia:
Let me be clear: There is in reality nothing called Rivers State. There is nothing called Enugu, Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi, Abia, or even Delta. These are administrative fictitious lines drawn on a map not by us, but against us. The states in Nigeria were not created for development, they were tactically created to dismember Ndi Igbo. It was the British who advised Gowon to fragment our land, to cut us into pieces so that we would forget that we were once a nation.

Why don't you start by claiming 'there is in reality nothing called Nigeria'? Nigeria is after all an administrative fictitious line drawn on a map not by us, but against us by the British who drew it.

Not recognising this fact made your argument pointless as far as I am concerned, especially as I prefer dealing with what actually exists and not just what I wish existed.

Do note that the fictitious lines that divided the Western Region into the various states do not make the indigenes of the states that were created make the Yorubas forget who they are.

Nzeogwu was from Opanam, about the most principled Nigerian soldier ever by the way.

Igbuzor was renamed Ibusa.

Two simple facts you got wrong in your write up that I skimmed over.

I wonder how many more there is in your post in your haste to claim to be a victim of Lord knows what?

Lol when those people you are courting says they aren't ibo what will you do?

The OP should not forget to include the Cameroonians who were once part of Eastern Region.

Igbos don't like Nigeria created by Lord Lugard but like the Eastern Nigeria created by the same Lord Lugard.
I remember Gabriel Okara's Book titled 'Little Frog and Little Snake's, what your mother told you my mother has also told me. Igbos have lost out their control of the South South and Nigeria. It can never be regained. That war was a very big mistake.

The lower part of the map looks like it was shaded with crayon.
Can you please tell us where to find the original?

Whalis:
Igbos don't like Nigeria created by Lord Lugard but like the Eastern Nigeria created by the same Lord Lugard.
I remember Gabriel Okara's Book titled 'Little Frog and Little Snake's, what your mother told you my mother has also told me. Igbos have lost out their control of the South South and Nigeria. It can never be regained. That war was a very big mistake.

💯. Fact.

Whalis:
Igbos don't like Nigeria created by Lord Lugard but like the Eastern Nigeria created by the same Lord Lugard.
I remember Gabriel Okara's Book titled 'Little Frog and Little Snake's, what your mother told you my mother has also told me. Igbos have lost out their control of the South South and Nigeria. It can never be regained. That war was a very big mistake.

Just be prepared for avalanche of attacks from the same tribe who lost control of South South but feels they have to blame others.

aswani:
Nzeogwu was from Opanam, about the most principled Nigerian soldier ever by the way.

Igbuzor was renamed Ibusa.

Two simple facts you got wrong in your write up that I skimmed over.

I wonder how many more there is in your podt in your haste to claim to be a victim of Lord K ws what?

The writer was talking about igbuzor, the original map of if uzor includes opanam.

The problem with our youths these days is that they are lazy to read and research, they have accepted the narrative of enemies of Igbo people whose sole objective is to fragment Igboland for their selfish interest of domination through divide and rule strategy.

The writer is absolutely correct and on point, his narrative is born out of deep knowledge of historical facts and traditions. As he stated Igboland is vast and far bigger than what it has been purportedly reduced to today.

Certainly Igboland will come together in the near future.

Thank you so much OP for this wonderful historical facts you have written.

Thank you so much for this masterpiece.

We need more of this write ups to counter the false narrative of the enemies of Igbo people.

The problem with our youths these days is that they are lazy to read and research, they have simply accepted the narrative of enemies of Igbo people whose sole objective is to fragment Igboland for their selfish interest of domination through divide and rule strategy.

The writer is absolutely correct and on point, his narrative is born out of deep knowledge of historical facts and traditions. As he stated Igboland is vast and far bigger than what it has been purportedly reduced to today.

Certainly Igboland will come together in the near future.

IGBO youths all over the world must begin to reject the false narrative of our enemies, and reunite for a prosperous future together.

Thank you so much OP for this wonderful historical facts you have written.

Justnation:
The writer was talking about igbuzor, the original map of if uzor includes opanam.

Igbuzor is not Opanam and vice versa. They are two distinct towns.

Next you will say the original map of Asaba includes Onitsha.

No wonder IPOB was claiming igodomigodo province. You people like to play fast and lose with facts.

There's a clear distinct between an efik , ibibio man and an igbo man.

Please correct that part

Let me be clear: There is in reality nothing called Rivers State

In reality there is a Rivers State and it is made up of several ethnic groups of which Igbo is part and also have other non-Igbo groups e.g. Ijaw.


Today, Ndi Igbo have been fragmented in no fewer than 13 states of Nigeria

You did not mention these states and where Igbo people are. Let us all also understand that for you to claim a people are your kinsmen or people, its not that you must just claim them they must also claim you and bearing similar names, is just like saying Rotimi Amaechi bears Yoruba name so Porthcourt or his hometown is Yoruba town, no, things don't work that way otherwise all Richards, Tom, Lance etc would be British.

Let's compare two groups in Nigeria; the Itsekiri and the Ikwere

The Itsekiri traced their ancestry to Ife through two routes and are saying, we are Yoruba by ancestry and language and culturally Yoruba and Bini. The Yoruba also open their arms to say, you are welcomed. Now there are even groups from as far as Ghana who have come to say Ife is their source. Now you would notice that its both ways not one group claiming the other. About 50% of Igala language is Yoruba but Yoruba has never forcefully say they are the same because Igala will have to trace its ancestry to a common beginning and shared ownerships of culture or language.

The Ikwere on the other hand and some parts of Anioma if I must say are claiming different ancestry though they may have shared names and may be some aspects of culture with Igbo. No one can separate kinsmen even across international borders e.g. North and South Koreans still see themselves as families despite all the political and military conflicts because they are by ancestry and everything. If some people are your people like the Ikwere, they will willingly come to you.

The question is, have you drawn an ancestral location that join you with all these people across these 13states? At what point did they become or accepted to be Igbo? Who was their forebears? Language can be adopted due to proximity or commerce, names can be adopted but its deeper than that, for instance, Hausa is spoken across several non Hausa Fulani states in northern Nigeria and it does not make all the people Hausa.

Technological developments and general understanding of global issues has advanced people consciousness and to want to share a common boundary with any group would have be be done by a powerful global power or show economic and cultural benefits. These are what the Igbo should be working on not just writing claims on people who do not share such vision with you.
Thank you.

It is unfortunate that many people now believe that it is state that determines one's ethnicity. These people don't seem to remember that state creation only started in 1967 with Gowon. Before then, there were no states, only Region's and provinces.

Its like saying that Hausas are only indigenous to states in the North West when there are a lot of indigenous Hausas in Yobe and Bauchi in the North East

Its like saying that Yorubas are only indigenous to States in the South West when there are indigenous Yorubas in NC states like Kwara and Kogi. Even in Edo

So why would anyone think that Igbos are only indigenous to the South-East?

Ethnicity is not decided by state, it is decided by the indigenous language you speak, and culture you observe

I did my NYC in Edo State, if you had told before then I would find indigenous in Edo State, I wouldn't have believed it. I was shocked to find in Ohrionmwon LGA, Igbanke people who spoke Igbo. In nearby Ekpon, I bought food stuffs at Ekpon market using Igbo language. Ekpon and Igbanke spoke Igbo with a heavy Edo accent but I could understand them. They didn't speak any Edo language. I used to go to the main market of Igbanke in Olijie called "Eke Market"

When you now start to talk about the Delta Igbos, Rivers Igbos and Benue Igbos, a picture starts to emerge

There are over 1 million indigenous Igbos in lower Benue, spread across Obi, Oju and Okpokwu LGA's. These are indigenous Ezza-Igbos, the Umueze-okohia people, that should have been in Ebonyi state but were carved into Benue State just as Ekpn and Igbanke should have been in Delta State with their fellow Ika-Igbos, but were carved into Edo State.

Talk about Isobo-Igbos of Cross River, Ohaobu -Ndoki in Ukanafun, Akwa-Ibom State

As for those who are outside the South-East but deny being Igbo because of state creation. They are entitled to deny. However, the fact that you speak Igbo as your ancestral language, or a dialect of it, practice Igbo culture, isn't fooling anyone

State creation balkanised Igbos, but in the future, we shall all be united once again

Justnation:
Thank you so much for this masterpiece.

We need more of this write ups to counter the false narrative of the enemies of Igbo people.

The problem with our youths these days is that they are lazy to read and research, they have simply accepted the narrative of enemies of Igbo people whose sole objective is to fragment Igboland for their selfish interest of domination through divide and rule strategy.

The writer is absolutely correct and on point, his narrative is born out of deep knowledge of historical facts and traditions. As he stated Igboland is vast and far bigger than what it has been purportedly reduced to today.

Certainly Igboland will come together in the near future.

IGBO youths all over the world must begin to reject the false narrative of our enemies, and reunite for a prosperous future together.

Thank you so much OP for this wonderful historical facts you have written.

Write ups will not win you such people. Those people will need to embrace the Igbo. You must be able to convince them they are your people through their fathers' compound somewhere in a town or village in the hinterland.

The Ikwere, Opobo and Anioma are important to an Igbo nation for three reasons;
1. Access to the sea (Ikwere & Opobo are the gateways)
2. Access to resources such as oil and gas (Ikwere & Opobo are key)
3. Access to the western flanks across the Niger( The Anioma are the gateway)

The need for these three sections are quite understandable because they appear as the low hanging fruit. I noticed during the Anioma state campaign, the moment some elements in the Anioma says yes they wanted the state but would be counted as a south south sate, many pro Anioma backed off to prefer other alternatives.

The Anioma, judging by the position of their traditional rulers have various groups and ancestry to Benin or Igala which is why you have some wanting to stick with Bini and others with Igbo. Even Onitsha traced its ancestry to Bini and Philip Emegwali one of its most illustrious sons says its a Bini ancestry.
How do you then lay claims to people who don't share your dream of being in the same country?
I believe if Nigeria don't restructure, it cannot survive a 100years history from independence but even if Nigeria were to divide into different new countries eventually, once there is a Niger Delta Republic, the hope of Biafra is dashed as the Igbo, a very industrious people will have to use a new name I supposed. So all these campaigns are meant to increase the greater survival of the Igbo nation.

Lets look at that scenario even more; the Niger Delta itself will be super volatile as groups want to claim the low hanging fruits, the oil and gas reserves because this is what will provide immediate funding and survival for any new country and it can lead to spontaneous conflagrations across different areas of the new country and ethnic boundaries can become flashpoints. However if the evolvement of the country is midwifed by say the US or any other country, the intention of the Igbo to adventure to take over say by claiming Ikwere land is theirs and starting a war will unite those groups to resist such adventure and make negotiation of access to the sea difficult. What the Igbo nation must do is extract favorable terms in getting access to use the seaport there am assuming at Calabar, Ibaka and Onne.

budaatum:
Why don't you start by claiming 'there is in reality nothing called Nigeria'? Nigeria is after all an administrative fictitious line drawn on a map not by us, but against us by the British who drew it.

Not recognising this fact made your argument pointless as far as I am concerned, especially as I prefer dealing with what actually exists and not just what I wish existed.

Do note that the fictitious lines that divided the Western Region into the various states do not make the indigenes of the states that were created make the Yorubas forget who they are.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Some people cannot be cured from tribalism and sentiments. The hate pill they've taken has already inoculated them to perpetually express their superiority complex, but God in His infinite mercies have rejected their inordinate desires.

We know the first tribe to play the tribalism and clannishness card in Nigeria. When they were in power, they dominated all spheres of administration, including the Nigerian university system. Other people got wise and beat them at their own game. They truncated democratic rule and now democracy have beaten them at their own game. Live and let live. Don't be too wise for your own good. If not, with prior antecedents, the whole world will always preempt your intentions and actions, as they've been checkmating you since time past.

AdeolaOmoOba:
We know the first tribe to play the tribalism and clannishness card in Nigeria. When they were in power, they dominated all spheres of administration, including the Nigerian university system. Other people got wise and beat them at their own game. They truncated democratic rule and now democracy have beat them at their own game. Live and let live. Don't be too wise for your own good. If not, with prior antecedents, the whole world will always preempt your intentions and actions, as they've been checkmating you since time past.

Is it what your father told you? Anyway, Nigerians can see actually who destroy the country with their greed and quest for power. Your geopolitical zone has destroyed everything with their incompetence since 1966 till today. Spit

If I'm to describe my Ibo brothers in three statements, I will say that 'the Ibo tribe is a tribe too wise for its own good. The brand of politics they play have turned them into a minority of minorities by their own doing. They love playing the victim in every movie script of national affairs'.

If I'm to describe my Hausa/Fulani brothers in three statements, I will say that 'the Hausa/Fulani tribe is too power-desperate for its own good. They will never mind, speak against or complain about who sits on the throne and the bedeviled, poorly-managed State of the Nation until another tribe takes over the seat. Their personal business thrives when the nation is in chaos and a state of economic comatose, that's the reason why they dislike peace and general prosperity but prefers to create instability so that they can cash out and milk the monsters they've created'.

If I'm to describe my Yoruba brothers in four statements, I will say that 'the Yoruba tribe is too docile and peace-seeking for its own good. They prefer to be hardworking idiots than to live smart and soft lives. They prefer to be the glue that holds a collapsing house than to allow the house be pulled down so as to address its dangerously dangerous structural defects even when they know that it might result in the rebuilding of something greater and better; that is, they prefer to eat the bread available today than to bank on the uncertainty that will accompany a dissolved Country and its resultant self-determined Nations tomorrow. They believe in political partnership but never learn lessons from the previous partners who are committed merchants of betrayal'.

Hankim:
Is it what your father told you? Anyway, Nigerians can see actually who destroy the country with their greed and quest for power. Your geopolitical zone has destroyed everything with their incompetence since 1966 till today. Spit

No! that's what your mother told me. When a man cannot criticize himself through thorough introspection, it's a sign that shows that wisdom is too heavy for them to carry.

aswani:
Nzeogwu was from Opanam, about the most principled Nigerian soldier ever by the way.

Igbuzor was renamed Ibusa.

Two simple facts you got wrong in your write up that I skimmed over.

I wonder how many more there is in your podt in your haste to claim to be a victim of Lord K ws what?

You're right about Okpanam. That skipped me because Igbouzo is a neighboring community. That's the only thing you got right in your comment. Thanks anyway.

mandarin:
Write ups will not win you such people. Those people will need to embrace the Igbo. You must be able to convince them they are your people through their fathers' compound somewhere in a town or village in the hinterland.

The Ikwere, Opobo and Anioma are important to an Igbo nation for three reasons;
1. Access to the sea (Ikwere & Opobo are the gateways)
2. Access to resources such as oil and gas (Ikwere & Opobo are key)
3. Access to the western flanks across the Niger( The Anioma are the gateway)

The need for these three sections are quite understandable because they appear as the low hanging fruit. I noticed during the Anioma state campaign, the moment some elements in the Anioma says yes they wanted the state but would be counted as a south south sate, many pro Anioma backed off to prefer other alternatives.

The Anioma, judging by the position of their traditional rulers have various groups and ancestry to Benin or Igala which is why you have some wanting to stick with Bini and others with Igbo. Even Onitsha traced its ancestry to Bini and Philip Emegwali one of its most illustrious sons says its a Bini ancestry.
How do you then lay claims to people who don't share your dream of being in the same country?
I believe if Nigeria don't restructure, it cannot survive a 100years history from independence but even if Nigeria were to divide into different new countries eventually, once there is a Niger Delta Republic, the hope of Biafra is dashed as the Igbo, a very industrious people will have to use a new name I supposed. So all these campaigns are meant to increase the greater survival of the Igbo nation.

Lets look at that scenario even more; the Niger Delta itself will be super volatile as groups want to claim the low hanging fruits, the oil and gas reserves because this is what will provide immediate funding and survival for any new country and it can lead to spontaneous conflagrations across different areas of the new country and ethnic boundaries can become flashpoints. However if the evolvement of the country is midwifed by say the US or any other country, the intention of the Igbo to adventure to take over say by claiming Ikwere land is theirs and starting a war will unite those groups to resist such adventure and make negotiation of access to the sea difficult. What the Igbo nation must do is extract favorable terms in getting access to use the seaport there am assuming at Calabar, Ibaka and Onne.

So Niger Delta as an independent nation would fight among themselves? So Igbo would fight against Ikwerre in your opinion? Yet Yoruba who are known to always be at each other's jugular would form their own country I
In peace?

Why do you people love lying to yourselves? Igbo have lived for thousands of years in our domain without even a unified government and have lived largely in peace with minorities in the Niger Delta. So it's now because you're applying the same divide and rule that has enabled you and Fulani to loot the country dry that you remembered Igbo cannot live in peace with them anymore.

You try sha, but try harder.

Igbophobia:
So Niger Delta as an independent nation would fight among themselves? So Igbo would fight against Ikwerre in your opinion? Yet Yoruba who are known to always be at each other's jugular would form their own country I
In peace?

Why do you people love lying to yourselves? Igbo have lived for thousands of years in our domain without even a unified government and have lived largely in peace with minorities in the Niger Delta. So it's now because you're applying the same divide and rule that has enabled you and Fulani to loot the country dry that you remembered Igbo cannot live in peace with them anymore.

You try sha, but try harder.

Nobody can stop Igbo unification if the Igbo themselves want it. If Nigeria breaks up today, then every ethnic group will align as they wish. State borders will obviously not be final determinant. What happens in the East does not concern the Yoruba and it will not be determined by the Yoruba who have their own issues. If people are speaking the same language then they will ultimately align. Austria and Germany will still align and etc etc. Then there is hardly any group in Nigeria that is not fragmented into different states in a way that does not benefit them

Codepain:
Lol when those people you are courting says they aren't ibo what will you do?

Courting kwa? Can someone court you out of being a Yoruba man? So one judge like Omotosho could declare you're no longer a Yoruba and it becomes so?

You see...even Jesus, the greatest Man that walked the earth said what's born of the flesh is flesh and what's born of the Spirit is spirit. You have no way of feeding a lizard to make it a crocodile. In like manner, despite Nigeria and British wiles against Igbo, an Igbo will remain an Igbo.

Codepain:
Lol when those people you are courting says they aren't ibo what will you do?

Last year I was in Warri. I got talking with this guy whose name is Chukwuma and he expressly told me he’s not Igbo. His community is even bearing a Igbo name. It’s in Delta state but this guy said he’s not an Igbo guy. When I pressed further by telling him he’s Igbo. This dude got angry and almost turned it into a fight oo. Lol

I just had to leave him.

Igbophobia:
So Niger Delta as an independent nation would fight among themselves? So Igbo would fight against Ikwerre in your opinion? Yet Yoruba who are known to always be at each other's jugular would form their own country I
In peace?

Why do you people love lying to yourselves? Igbo have lived for thousands of years in our domain without even a unified government and have lived largely in peace with minorities in the Niger Delta. So it's now because you're applying the same divide and rule that has enabled you and Fulani to loot the country dry that you remembered Igbo cannot live in peace with them anymore.

You try sha, but try harder.

That's the lie they tell Igbos. When OUK does not support PO, they say that Igbos are not united. When OBJ fights against Tinubu, they say that yorubas are united. When they fight and insult Osibanjo for daring to vie for presidency, they say yorubas are united.


Clowns 🤡

Elzazzi:
Last year I was in Warri. I got talking with this guy whose name is Chukwuma and he expressly told me he’s not Igbo. His community is even bearing a Igbo name. It’s in Delta state but this guy said he’s not an Igbo guy. When I pressed further by telling him he’s Igbo. This dude got angry and almost turned it into a fight oo. Lol

I just had to leave him.

Same story here of Echika from Agbor who doesn't believe he is igbo

Justnation:
The writer was talking about igbuzor, the original map of if uzor includes opanam.

The problem with our youths these days is that they are lazy to read and research, they have accepted the narrative of enemies of Igbo people whose sole objective is to fragment Igboland for their selfish interest of domination through divide and rule strategy.

The writer is absolutely correct and on point, his narrative is born out of deep knowledge of historical facts and traditions. As he stated Igboland is vast and far bigger than what it has been purportedly reduced to today.

Certainly Igboland will come together in the near future.

Thank you so much OP for this wonderful historical facts you have written.

Kingdoms are not created based on language but on rulership, and ancestry. The Igbo land never had any kingdoms except Agbor and Onitsha which as from Bini. Now, tell us what Is the basis of you map? Is it of rulership, ancestry or just language?

Misterone:
Kingdoms are not created based on language but on rulership, and ancestry. The Igbo land never had any kingdoms except Agbor and Onitsha which as from Bini. Now, tell us what Is the basis of you map? Is it of rulership, ancestry or just language?

Agbor and Onitsha were tiny villages when Arochukwu was a city state