₦airaland Forum

riddler4real:
You are funny, so you think you can distort history with your fairy tale. I am a student of history and from what I was taught. Oduduwa came from the ancient Benin kingdom. Not the east. He was the royal heir to the throne. After the death of His father the King of Benin and the plot against his life by his half brothers, brothers and step mother, he left benin with his entourage and settled in a town within present day Edo state. That town shared a border with Present day Ondo state and yoruba was widely spoken there as their traditional language even as at today.

Oduduwa was gifted in magic and black arts, part of which gave him popularity everywhere he went. From there he gathered many loyalist whom he enjoined as his entourage wandering from one town to the other until he settled in Ife and became useful to them with his black arts and magic. He was made King over ife town, for helping them overcome in their time of urgent need.

After the death of the subsequent King in Benin, by an unknown cause, the chiefs requested that Oduduwa should return back as King, which he refused. So he sent his son instead, Hence the title Oba being used till this very day.

The word Oduduwa in Benin has several meanings. E.g The road to wealth and Great god....

Do you think Oduduwa is a yoruba word? or Eastern?

The Bini version doesn't fit Oduduwa
And there's no Edo presence in Ife unlike the Ife presence in Bini

Now I know the reason why this people changed their tribe name from Eebo/Ibo to Igbo, it's just to fit into Yoruba history.

Sorry, Igbo is a Yoruba word for Forest or Bush!

vanbonattel:
stop twisting and lying, ijebu igbo is a village in Igboland. Fact.

smh
Stop insulting ur ethnicity wit this shameless attitude
Ijebu igbo founders came from Ijebu-Ode royal house
And have nothing to do wit Igbos of Se Nigeria

I knew it as soon as I saw their first few back and forth.

htconeline:
belltwelve nd ladionline are same....
Why talking to urself?
Still replying.

hmm

I'm ladionline,

only God knows where beltwelf dey now, guys like chineyeN has scared the guy away to God knows where.
He's a jolly good fellow to some extent.

betterpikinn:
YORUBAS ARE JUST SO ACCOMMODATING.
THIS KIND OF THINGS CAN NEVER HAPPEN IN ABIA, IMO, ANAMBRA AND ENUGU.

how did u know kid? have they give it a try?
say what yu know cos it can happen to.

Kai walahi, this yoruba people pear die. No be today them begin shout eba mi eba mi. Na onlu una dey chop eba ni

ladionline:
[b]After the dispersal, the aborigines, the Igbo, became difficult, and constituted a serious threat to the survival of Ife. Thought to be survivors of the old occupants of the land before the arrival of Oduduwa, these people now turned themselves into marauders. They would come to town in costumes made of raffia with terrible and fearsome appearances, and the Ife people would flee. Then the Igbo would burn down houses and loot the markets. Then came Moremi on the scene - like Deborah of the Old Testament. When no man could dare the Igbos, Moremi asked the Esinminrin river for help and promised to give offerings if she could save her people. The orisa told her to allow herself to be captured and to understudy the Igbo people. She did, and discovered that these were not spirits; only people with raffia for dress. She escaped, and taught her people the trick. The next time that Igbo people came to sack the town, the townspeople set fire on their raffia costumes, and they were roundly defeated. Moremi then had to go back to Esinminrin to thank the gods. Every offering she offered was refused. On divination, she was told that she had to give Oluorogbo, her only son. She did. The lesson of Moremi is the lesson of patriotism and selflessness. The reward may not be reaped in one’s life time. Moremi passed on and became a member of the Yoruba pantheon . The Edi festival celebrates the defeat of the Igbo and the sacrifice of Oluorogbo till today.[/b]

Bro, you are more magnanimous than the writers of that epic. If it were to be "Yoruba" that is given in the post in place of "Igbo", they will tear that write-up into shreds and glorify the hate, but in spite of this, you still control your temper till now. Well I am not from Ile-Ife, but the post is written with today "Igbo" in mind, they could not be writing about the Igbo in Ile Ife traditions this way. The writer may be unaware that the Igbo in Ife tradition is the same as Igbo in Ile Ife today, hence the sensationalizing. why must it end the post? O jo gate kojo gate...


But i think the poster of the article said the Igbos in the Ife Epic is unrelated to the present Ibo people. What do you think?

Ghanaian today and Chinese tomorrow, you ibos will always hide behind anyone and then turn around and say you are far from being cowards.

MannyAgyeiK:
Then, why did the Yorubas of that era call them 'Igbos'? Fine, I'm Ghanaian, but dismissing a theory cuz it's unfavorable to your tribe is a bit parochial and myopic. You could easily have shredded this with actual facts, instead of sneering at it with no objective basis. Your fellow Yoruba simply put forward a counterclaim about 'Ugbos' that was a fact, without ad hominem attacks. By the way, I read somewhere that Olukumi, along with Itsekiri, were initial settlements of Yorubas before they reached Ile-Ife, which explains the Yoruba link.

ezeagu:
Ontisha people are from Benin, how African Americans are from America.

The Bini people call Agbor people Ovigbo, meaning Igbo people. Ask an Ika or Bini man whether that's true or not, many of them on nairaland. They do not claim Agbor, neither do Agbor claim Bini. Agbor history sees themselves allied with Benin, in Olaudah Equianos memoirs he talks about a people who were under the Benin Empires influence, but 'nominally' and they still identified with themselves and in extension Igbo. Judging from Eze Chima's story, it seems that in the past at least there was a healthy relationship with the Edo and the Igbo which resulted in influence in both ways (see Ikegobo-Ikenga, and the Edo and Igbo calendar days). The Agbor people have Bini influence, especially the royal family, that is not in dispute, however Ika is an Igbo dialect and the head deity of Agbor is Ani, the earth goddess, as in other areas of Igbo land. I could go on. Agbor is an Igbo town with much Bini influence, lets just accept this and move one. Even Ika people who are in the minority that don't identify as Igbo do not identify as Edo, which is why they are in Delta.

.

You made a very good point until you mentioned being in Delta. Urhobo/Okpe, Isoko are Edoid people. And Urhobo has the largest population in Delta. The Okun of Kogi are Yoruboid people. You must be very young and not remember Bendel State. State creation by dictators like IBB does not validate or invalidate History.

An Anioma person (Denis Osadebey) was the First Premier of Midwest region that became Bendel. But it has taken Anioma 24 years to produce a governor in Delta State. Delta was not created through referendum like Midwest Region was.

Until Biafra war, the term Igbo was not even used to describe Anioma people in Benin. They were called Ovbie-Asaba, Ovbie-Agbor, Ovbie-Ekuale (Ukwani), Ovbie-Oboro (Ubulukwu), etc.

Remember that while war with Biafra was going on, Anioma people were still initially attending State Exco meetings in Benin.
Ovbigbo/Ivbigbo was generally reserved for people from accross the Niger. We had both Anioma and Igbo classmates, neighbours, tenants etc.

Now that identifying with larger influential tribes is cool considering the political mathematics of Nigeria, I guess you now call people whatever they chose to be called.

Radoillo:
Is this theory based solely on the similarity in sound between 'Igbo' (as in the Ife stories) and 'Igbo' (as in the modern ethnic group), or are there more anthropological/ethnographic evidence to go with it? I just want to know.

Lol obviously the confusion is from the similarity in sound

Your emotional sedation isn't fooling anyone but yourself.

Would you have written this if Yoruba had claimed that they are the aborigines of iboland? even when there is an evidence to suggest that in the case of Ugbo/Olukunmi people tucked away deep in the heart of iboland?

ICEMAN:
It is impressive and inspiring to read posts such as these. As Nigeria gets older as a nation as a people ethnic divisions should become a thing of the past. A typical example is that I am an Igbo whose first cousins are Yoruba, Hausa, Calabar and Bonny in Rivers State. We have been brought up to love and assist one another. There are no ethnic divisions between us and we enjoy each other's hometown's and cultures. That also includes the VIP treatment when you go to their hometowns. My closest friend in life is Yoruba and he is my mother's adopted son and as good as my biological brother. We should not limit ourselves. A house divided itself cannot stand. We are Nigeria and may GOD Bless us all!

cbrass:
You are a Ghanaian and you are interfering into what you know Nothing of.

There's nothing wrong with a Ghanaian wanting to know about his fellow west africans

babestella:
The bottom line here is that we are all one, brothers and sisters, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Efik, Tiv, etc we are all one. That is most important. One people, one nation, one love. Stop the hate and killings. Let's. Love our nation forward. Live and prosper anywhere you are, explore, discover and show love always. Period.

We are black africans but not one Nigeria
Stop ur delusions
If all ethnic groups are allowed to build their own nation and control their own land and resources we would be a much happier people

DrBulalaa:
Thank God I came across this. I am an Olukumi but problem is I know zilch about my culture and people. Please I would love you to shed more light.

You can try the Oloza and elders in ur town

pazienza:
Onitsha is not being ruled by a Bini Prince, Onitsha is being ruled by Igbos whose ancestors once resided in ancient Bini, but returned back home when things went awry. Of course, having spent sometime in Bini, they became Bini influenced but retained their Igbo core.

Bini is not even older than Agbor, Agbor always stood up to Bini, they are not Bini,and there are no Bini princes in Agbor, Oza Bini people, know how they became a part of. Agbor.

Nnebisi the founder of Asaba had an Igala father and an Igbo mother, but Nnebisi and his descendants are but minorities in Asaba, for Asaba was already an Igbo town before Nnebisi arrival to the town, Asaba had indigenous Igbo speaking groups like the Ugbomas and the Eze anyanwu groups, domiciled there already. The wise Nnebisi unified all those Indigenous Igbo groups and established a United Asaba( Ahaba).

So, saying that Ahaba is being ruled by Bini prince is a gross display of Ignorance just like calling Onitsha a former Igala village is a display of tomfoolery. Onitsha was already an Igboland before the return of the Igbos in Bini, aka the Ezechime clan to the land.

Interesting! You would notice the identity crisis exist only wit igbo ares once under Bini

ezeagu:
Not trying to stir the pot, but I always found it funny how some ancient landmarks and peoples name (which are undecipherable today) can be translated into Igbo. For example Ife in Igbo is 'light' and 'civilisation', and Odudu nwa in Igbo is the last child. No assumptions o!

Ife could also mean civilization in some context of yoruba

bigfrancis21:
THE EGBA ARE IGBO-

Southwest Nigeria is commonly referred to as “ Yorubaland “ which is home to a mosaic of distinct tribes and tribal states who collectively form the present day Yoruba tribal identity, however the original Yoruba designation exclusively referred to the Oyo, a tribe who
at one time lived amongst the Hausas in what is presently Northern Nigeria.

In fact the word Yoruba is of Hausa origins.

Misrepresentations of Nigeria the Facts and the Figures by Yusef Bala Usman PH.D – Center for Democratic Development, Research and Training-

“ The fact is that the earliest record we have of the use of the very name Yoruba was in the Hausa Language and it seems to have applied to the people of the Alfinate Oyo. Don Masani wrote a book on the Muslim scholars of the Yarriba.”

Over the centuries the Oyo were gradually driven southward where they in turn became the conquerers of the indigenous people of “South-west Nigeria “ who like their Southeastern counterparts were referred to as the Igbo. The Southwestern Igbo were protected by an army of masked warriors known as the Egbo or Egba.

Olumida Lucas states that the name Egba is synonymous with Igbo. The indigenous Igbo (Egba) lived in the forest area surrounding Ife. The name Ife derives from an Igbo system of “divination” called Ifa. It was at Ife that the Igbo (Egba) were first confronted by Odudwa who along with his youngest son Oranyan are remembered as the founders of the Oyo (Yoruba) Kingdom at Ife.

At the time of Odudwa’s invasion the indigenous Igbo(Egba) resided under the leadership of Obatala whose name means the Oba or Obi Ala. Obi or Oba was initially an Igbo title of authority and Ala is the land deity of the Igbo. Amongst the Egbo tribes of Calabar the Oba appears in the form of the deity Obassi who is also called Abassi.

Like the indigenous forest dwelling Igbos,the present day Egbas are historically associated with the Obas. In fact the name of the Egba ruling council known as the Ogboni relates to the Igbo word Ogbonna which indirectly refers to an elder.

The Wikipedia Encyclopedia- “ Yoruba “

“ The numerous Egba communities found in the forests below Oyo’s Savannah region were a notable example of elected Obas though the Ogboni ,a legislative judicial council of notable elders wielded the actual political power” ( The Ogboni “ Cult “ played a central role in the Brazil slave rebellion of 1809.)

In their initial encounters the Oyo (Yoruba) were unable to penetrate the frightening Egba(Igbo) as these intimidating masked forest dwellers mastered the art of instilling fear into their opponents. In defense of their homeland the Egba(Igbo) went further in raiding and burning down the intruding Oyo(Yoruba) settlements in the town at Ife.

The Egba were first defeated through the scheming of a woman named Moremi who allowed herself to be captured as she used her beauty to seduce the Igbo (Egba) King into revealing the secrets of the masked Egba warriors.

She later returned to the Oyo providing her countrymen with the necessary information needed to finally conquer the Igbo(Egba) Kingdom. This defeat of the Igbo(Egba) is celebrated every year at the annual Eid Festival of Ife.

In 1835, the Egba declared themselves to be independent of the Oyo (Yoruba) and in response the Oyo along with the Ijebu drove them out
of Ibadan, Ife and other towns north of their present day capital of Abeokuta.

As a result of contact between the Ijebu and the indigenous Igbo the city Ijebu-Igbo was established.The founding of the Egba Kingdom of Abeokuta in 1837 is considered to be the last kingdom to be recognized within the “Yoruba federation of tribes .” By this time the term Yoruba had expanded beyond its original usage in referring to the Oyo and now generally applied to all of the inhabitants of Southwestern Nigeria.

The tradition of the masked Egba(Igbo) warriors is likewise documented in Southeast Nigeria amongst the followers of the Egbo Society of Calabar.

EGBO- A se

Francis this is why I tell you to be careful what you read from the Internet

1 . Yarriba was first used by the Malians, Hausa don't even know where they got it from. Katunga is what they call Oyo(so the records say)
2. Oyo never lived among Hausas
3. The indigenous people of SW Nigeria were not known by one name
4. In what way is Egba synonymous with Igbo? Do you (or the writer of this message you quote) even know what Egba means?
5. When Oduduwa first confronted the "Ugbo" oranmiyan wasn't even born
6. Obatala = King of White cloth(Oba ti Ala). .not king of the land (Obi Ala)
7. Every yoruba society has Ogboni not just Egbas. Ogboni began in Ife
8. Egbas and Ugbo - Ilaje are different people
9. Moremi had nothing to do wit Oyo. .she never came from Oyo so why would she return there
10. Egba don't fight wit masks

This is an impostor, Ghanaians have many problems, history of Nigeria isn't one of them.

macof:
There's nothing wrong with a Ghanaian wanting to know about his fellow west africans

A DNA test of a large pool of genetically pure egba people will help solve this riddle.

royalcatier:
This is an impostor, Ghanaians have many problems, history of Nigeria isn't one of them.

Maybe

Just imagine yourself in the middle of a thread where Ashanti are claiming to be the Aborigines of Accra or Ga's heritage.

macof:
Maybe

Let me conclude. The summary and the conclusion is that Adam and Eve were Igbos. Everybody on earth are Igbos.

Lots of drunkards here and there

Very funny thread. In fact, now I know the one language spoken in Babylon before confusion set in was Igbo. The entire world was Igbo.
I wonder why spellings make more sense to people than meanings of words.
Igbo (re mi) means forest.
In Yoruba, this one word (different pronunciations) mean different things.;
Igba-calabash
Igba- a period of time
Igba- garden egg.
Igba- 200.

But a non Yoruba, like the OP, who has little, poor or no knowledge of Yoruba, but could speak it by virtue of living in Lagos, which made it their lingua franca, would understand "igba" to mean something else and start telling me, a yoruba person, how that word came about from the supposed only language of the world at a time, Igbo.

AreaFada2:
.

So you mean an Igbo Obi, without any ancestral connections to Benin was quite happy to take up a Bini regnal title simply because Bini was centre of influence back then?

English has been influential in Nigeria now for over one hundred years, how many Obi Johnson II, Igwe McDonald III, Oba Winterbottom or Sarkin Henderson have you seen anywhere in Nigeria? .

Nice try but it is a mere conjecture. You have not talked from a point of knowledge of Agbor history but a mere denial.
Denial is a common thing. Even the holocaust that happened barely 70 years ago and is even on film is still denied by some.

As for the Benin, there's no need to claim anybody. With the loss of Empire in 1897, Benin accepted the severance of it provinces.
However, it's place in human civilisation is assured as seen in museums worldwide: London, Paris, Berlin, Armsterdam, California and elsewhere that I have been able to see.

You are an Ignorant one, dabbling into things you have little or no grasp of. Local influences from a neighbouring. dominant group is not the same as those of far away groups with non similar language.

Bini influenced Western Igbo the same way France influenced England. Some English word that has to do with governance are actually of French origin, words like Minister and ministry.

Take a look at Ugbodu, an originally Yoruboid group, and see how dominant neighbouring group can influence a people traditional institutions and names. This is the list of the kings of Ugbodu, from the ancient to the present.

Adeola
Aderemi
Ariyo
Odofin
Adetunji
Oyetunji
Ogbomon
Ozolua
Izebuwa
Ogbelaka
Izedomen
Osakpalor
Esigie
Igbinadolor
Osalohua
Osamewanmen
Ebor
Dike
Ochei
Ezenwani
Isinyemeze( The current king)

Notice how the names of the Kings changed from Yoruboid to Edoid during the Bini dominant years, it doesn't mean that the Ugbodu suddenly became Bini, they didn't even have Bini neighbors, it just represent the huge political and social influence Bini had over the whole of western Igboland in her hay days, Ugbodu a Yoruboid people were not immune to that influence, they too took on an Edoid outlook of things both in names and otherwise like the rest of Anioma then. But with the decline of the Bini empire, their political and social influence waned, the rest of Anioma went back to their Igbo default mode, Ugbodu even though a once Yoruboid people, became forced to flow with the rest of the western Igbos, if they are to fit in, so they too took on an Igbo identity, but they still have their Yoruboid language with them, a constant reminder of their origin, but in the case of the rest of Anioma, there are no other second language, except their Igbo dialects, a constant reminder that the people have always been Igbo.

AreaFada2:
.

You made a very good point until you mentioned being in Delta. Urhobo/Okpe, Isoko are Edoid people. And Urhobo has the largest population in Delta. The Okun of Kogi are Yoruboid people. You must be very young and not remember Bendel State. State creation by dictators like IBB does not validate or invalidate History.

An Anioma person (Denis Osadebey) was the First Premier of Midwest region that became Bendel. But it has taken Anioma 24 years to produce a governor in Delta State. Delta was not created through referendum like Midwest Region was.

Until Biafra war, the term Igbo was not even used to describe Anioma people in Benin. They were called Ovbie-Asaba, Ovbie-Agbor, Ovbie-Ekuale (Ukwani), Ovbie-Oboro (Ubulukwu), etc.

Remember that while war with Biafra was going on, Anioma people were still initially attending State Exco meetings in Benin.
Ovbigbo/Ivbigbo was generally reserved for people from accross the Niger. We had both Anioma and Igbo classmates, neighbours, tenants etc.

Bendel States boundary was the River Niger, they are very happily now in a state where their voice can be heard and the incoming governor is from Delta North. The Igbanke people in Edo want to be with the rest of the Ika in Delta State. Agbor people today are called Ovigbo. It's interesting that you're making up Anioma as if that is an ethnic group from the past, which it's not, Anioma is simply the Igbo groups in Delta State who are as different from each other as other Igbo groups, in fact people in Asaba have more in common with people Onitsha than Agbor, and the same for Kwale and Ugwuta. By the way the supposed Igbo coup were by 'Anioma' people and there were Ika Biafran soldiers.

AreaFada2:
Now that identifying with larger influential tribes is cool considering the political mathematics of Nigeria, I guess you now call people whatever the chose to be called.

They were called the Western Ibo before and Aboh was known as Ibo or Eboe town.

pazienza:
You are an Ignorant one, dabbling into things you have little or no grasp of. Local influences from a neighbouring. dominant group is not the same as those of far away groups with non similar language.

Bini influenced Western Igbo the same way France influenced England. Some English word that has to do with governance are actually of French origin, words like Minister and ministry.

Take a look at Ugbodu, an originally Yoruboid group, and see how dominant neighbouring group can influence a people traditional institutions and names. This is the list of the kings of Ugbodu, from the ancient to the present.

Adeola
Aderemi
Ariyo
Odofin
Adetunji
Oyetunji
Ogbomon
Ozolua
Izebuwa
Ogbelaka
Izedomen
Osakpalor
Esigie
Igbinadolor
Osalohua
Osamewanmen
Ebor
Dike
Ochei
Ezenwani
Isinyemeze( The current king)

Notice how the names of the Kings changed from Yoruboid to Edoid during the Bini dominant years, it doesn't mean that the Ugbodu suddenly became Bini, they didn't even have Bini neighbors, it just represent the huge political and social influence Bini had over the whole of western Igboland in her hay days, Ugbodu a Yoruboid people were not immune to that influence, they too took on an Edoid outlook of things both in names and otherwise like the rest of Anioma then. But with the decline of the Bini empire, their political and social influence waned, the rest of Anioma went back to their Igbo default mode, Ugbodu even though a once Yoruboid people, became forced to flow with the rest of the western Igbos, if they are to fit in, so they too took on an Igbo identity, but they still have their Yoruboid language with them, a constant reminder of their origin, but in the case of the rest of Anioma, there are no other second language, except their Igbo dialects, a constant reminder that the people have always been Igbo.

Google is your friend.

You certainly are not going to tell me about influence of French on English language because I doubt if you have lived longer in France or England than me. So don't dabble into that. You certainly cannot stand up to me in World history generally.

Listing Ugbodu Kings from Google does not make you an authority in Anioma or Benin history.

Anioma can claim to come from anywhere, the Benin don't need sucking up to anyone. Its place in world civilisation is assured.

AreaFada2:
Google is your friend.

You certainly are not going to tell me about influence of French on English language because I doubt if you lived longer in France or England than me. So don't dabble into that. You certainly cannot stand up to me in World history generally.

Listing Ugbodu Kings from Google does not make you an authority in Anioma or Benin history.

Anioma can claim to come from anywhere, the Benin don't need sucking up to anyone. Its place in world civilisation is assured.

*grins*

Good to know. Now Bini can face west and continue their duel with those west of Edolands.

astraldynamics:
Two great tribes of Nigeria still squabbling when cohesion of the two is what's needed to take Nigeria to the promised land. Shame on you all!!!!!!!

VERY BIG SHAME INDEED!!!!!!

alablec:
You get time for this dreamer op; the 'ugbo' the history refers to is with the sound 're' 'mi' not Igbo, 'do' 'do', as in igbo. in Ekiti, Ijesa, Ife, etc dialects, Yoruba 'i' means 'u'. Yoruba language is highly tonal, so the op and his likes could confuse 'igbo' - bush, 'igbo'-hemp, 'Igbo' - group, 'Igbo' - headbutt with 'Igbo' - ethnic group. Igbo originated from pygmies and Igalas, the later with Benin rulership of present Anambra and part of imo gave them the related words with Yoruba, okuta-okute, eji-ejima, omi-miri, imu-imi, apa-aka, etc.

You have said it all.Igbo can never be Igbo = which sound 'do' 'do' even in Ijebu Ile is ule

Your source please?

macof:
There's nothing wrong with a Ghanaian wanting to know about his fellow west africans

Yea it's true but trying to take sides is what baffles me

I tink dia is need to review history, it brings about peaceful co-existence in the modern world. I smell foul play, sumone don't like dat peaceful co-existence. so wunt want dat to happen.
wen I was in primary 5, my class teacher said sumtin about Nigeria dat is related to this. she said the last migrant to the land territory Nigeria are the one's ruling. I learnt the igbos came first, followed by the Yorubas, den the Hausa's and finally the fulani's.

there is much to history.. need to read more.. those trying to defend there tribe without valid point. Is just a matter of 100yrs from now, with the rate of technological evolution. the truth must ve bin made known..

less I forget- ppl tend not to pay attentions to facts when myths has gone wide.