₦airaland Forum

passes gas....passes gas....poos on
thread......runs away..
Na the same ppl(divide and rulers)

shachris:
So you know more about the man's history than he does?

That is the typical arrogance of some Ibos when referring to people of the SS.

Biafra un-united FC

CreampieAngela:
All ibos are going back to Biafra

igboland is our land and we are not going to any biafra

asha80:
go and tell those of them that say that they are igbos not me..sometimes you just take this your anti Biafra sentiments too far...all this your divide and rule moves are danm funny

you mean the kids running around this faceless forum claiming igbo? Most of them prob do not know their origin. they should go back and ask their fathers and grand fathers

Hahahahaha.
An article by Kunirum Ossai,of all people.
Idiot shacris,you should've done more due diligence about the author before posting your trash on here.Guy has been discredited and ostracized by almost all Anioma socio-cultural organizations long ago

shachris:
you mean the kids running around this faceless forum claiming igbo? Most of them prob do not know their origin. they should go back and ask their fathers and grand fathers

which kids?and what if they are from anioma but identify themselves as Igbo how does that concern or hurt you?is it not said by people who are so much interested in any anioma person saying he is not Igbo that Igbo people should allow one identify with what he wants?so if the person chooses Igbo you now turn back and ask him to ask his parents?what if he I not interested in that?

By the way sachris why did you add asaba to the title?anioma alone never dey enough for you?why not add Onitsha too in the process(if you really know history well) or even ogbaru or oguta?man must work hard for his money

modhream:
Hahahahaha.
An article by Kunirum Ossai,of all people.
Idiot shacris,you should've done more due diligence about the author before posting your trash on here.Guy has been discredited and ostracized by almost all Anioma socio-cultural organizations long ago

you mean this illustrious son of anioma?

http://www.dna-nigeria.com/rev-fr-dr-john-kunirum-osia-1940-2014-friend-ibusa/

Read and liberate yourself man.

asha80:
By the way sachris why did you add asaba to the title?anioma alone never dey enough for you?why not add Onitsha too in the process(if you really know history well) or even ogbaru or oguta?man must work hard for his money

is asaba not in anioma?

shachris:
the guy that wrote that article is a confirmed anioma citizen. Rose2014 can confirm that. You only remember anioma when you need Biafra. How many times have u stood up for the common anioma man. Does our ohaneze recognize pat utomi as an igbo son?

funny how a non Igbo Ralph uwechue became ohaneze president(not that the groups is anything to be proud off)

shachris:
is asaba not in anioma?

if you know the history of Onitsha,ogbaru and oguta you will know why I asked that question.if are not knowledgeable then read

IF OP LIKES, HIS OR HER FAMILY CAN UNCLAIM THEIR IGBONESS..... OKONJO-IWEALA IS MARRIED TO AN UMUAHIA MAN, HER FAMILY AND KINSMANS IN DELTA STATE ARE PROUDLY AND UNAPOLOGETICALLY IGBO.....

BIAFRAN COMMANDER "AIR RAID" ACHUZIA IS PROUDLY AND UNAPOLOGETICALLY IGBO

OKOCHA NO DEY HIDE IM IGBONESS

NZEOGWU NEVER DENIED HIS IGBONESS.

CHIEF OSADEBE WHO COINED THE WORD, "ANIOMA", " GOOD LAND", PROUDLY PROCLAIMED HIS FAMILIES IGBONESS.

MY FRIENDS FROM ASABA, OGWASHI, ONICHA-UGBO ARE PROUDLY FLAUNTING THEIR IGBONESS.....

OP, YOU AND YOUR FAMILY CAN GO TO BLAZES, WE DONT NEED YOU OR YOUR COCK AND BULL STORY..... SINCE YOU AINT IGBO, THEN LEAVE ASABA OKAY? EVEN THE LATE MIRIAM BABANGIDA WILL SPIT ON YOUR FACE FOR TRYING TO REWRITE THE HISTORY OF ASABA.....

EZE CHIME, THE IGBO ANCESTOR OF DELTA IGBOS, SPITS AT YOUR FAMILY.

WE DONT NEED YOU, GO TO BLAZES.

shachris:
you mean this illustrious son of anioma?

http://www.dna-nigeria.com/rev-fr-dr-john-kunirum-osia-1940-2014-friend-ibusa/

Read and liberate yourself man.

Idiot.
I can send you more links to sites about the man n how he was taken down by fellow Anioma for his failed quest to create a new ethnic nationality.
Didn't you even read from the link you posted?.For all his work,as a priest n more,in Ibusa,they didn't even recognize him while he lived cos of his assinine quest to call them what they're not.
You really are too slow,this your divide and rule quest for your masters.Get yourself upgraded.

this accursed bastad again? lmao.

Some people are just hopeless. everyday this bastad creates one useless thread or the other trying to incite Igbos against themselves. OK shacfool I have heard you, I am not Igbo I am Arab.

Chineke bi na enu igwe kpo kwa gi oku. Ekwensu!

My Anioma brothers come and listen to this ewu'o.

onenaira3, fr3do, ELTON123, menabadoo, amagmilton etc lmao

Plenty plenty english ......just to dissociate themselves from "the vanquished".

Its all good.Dont worry,we,the "igbos" know there are consequences for loosing a War. We have come to terms with it,so please save your Queens english.

shachris:
the guy that wrote that article is a confirmed anioma citizen. Rose2014 can confirm that. You only remember anioma when you need Biafra. How many times have u stood up for the common anioma man. Does our ohaneze recognize pat utomi as an igbo son?

I did say u are d owner of the post, but u only engage in anti Igbo topics. U carry anti Igbo matter for head like say dem tie am for ur head.


U ARE NO IGBO MAN. IDENTIFY URSELF WITH UR TRIBE. BE MAN ENOUGH PLS.

shachris:
quite true. which I could make it shorter But am on mobile now.

We igbos should stop forcing nativity on our neighbours. That you speak a corruption of igbo doesn't mean you are originally from igboland.

this particular post identified who you are!! shut your smelly mouth there's no different in igbo language,,,we have one igbo language..how about yolobas who claim and faught about lagos wheresa the original owners speaks Egun and Aworis as their languages with different cultures differ from yolobas?? yet yoruba will die convincing how they are their brother. lets leave the sleeping dog to rest if not I will open your nyash.

I'm happy that it is just a few Delta-Igbos or Anioma people who have this identity crises. Someone speaks Igbo as his ancestral language, has an Igbo surname, but turns around to say they are not Igbo. Someone has to explain this one to me...............

SonOfEl:
IF OP LIKES, HIS OR HER FAMILY CAN UNCLAIM THEIR IGBONESS..... OKONJO-IWEALA IS MARRIED TO AN UMUAHIA MAN, HER FAMILY AND KINSMANS IN DELTA STATE ARE PROUDLY AND UNAPOLOGETICALLY IGBO.....

BIAFRAN COMMANDER "AIR RAID" ACHUZIA IS PROUDLY AND UNAPOLOGETICALLY IGBO

OKOCHA NO DEY HIDE IM IGBONESS

NZEOGWU NEVER DENIED HIS IGBONESS.

CHIEF OSADEBE WHO COINED THE WORD, "ANIOMA", " GOOD LAND", PROUDLY PROCLAIMED HIS FAMILIES IGBONESS.

MY FRIENDS FROM ASABA, OGWASHI, ONICHA-UGBO ARE PROUDLY FLAUNTING THEIR IGBONESS.....

OP, YOU AND YOUR FAMILY CAN GO TO BLAZES, WE DONT NEED YOU OR YOUR COCK AND BULL STORY..... SINCE YOU AINT IGBO, THEN LEAVE ASABA OKAY? EVEN THE LATE MIRIAM BABANGIDA WILL SPIT ON YOUR FACE FOR TRYING TO REWRITE THE HISTORY OF ASABA.....

EZE CHIME, THE IGBO ANCESTOR OF DELTA IGBOS, SPITS AT YOUR FAMILY.

WE DONT NEED YOU, GO TO BLAZES.

do you know that huasas and fulanis speak bear the same name, and some hausa lands bear fulani name. Does that in any way make Huasas fulanimen?

modhream:
Idiot.
I can send you more links to sites about the man n how he was taken down by fellow Anioma for his failed quest to create a new ethnic nationality.
Didn't you even read from the link you posted?.For all his work,as a priest n more,in Ibusa,they didn't even recognize him while he lived cos of his assinine quest to call them what they're not.
You really are too slow,this your divide and rule quest for your masters.Get yourself upgraded.

it's like you didn't have enough data to open the link. Let me help you.

I write this tribute more as a post-humus expression of appreciation to an Anioma icon, Reverend Father, Scholar, Adjunct Professor, Linguist, Administrator, Anthropologist, Rehabilitation Officer and Journalist. He was a gift to Ibusa, an ancient Anioma community founded in the 13th C; a community belonging to the period that settlements were respected for battles fought and won by their people.
It is the community of warlike people in military attainments and reputation thus its praise-names ‘Igbuzo-Isu’, (recognizing its source from Isu). ‘Isunambogu’ (warriors from Isu), ‘Isu fulu Ogu ju nni’ (Isu warriors that chose war instead of food). As you read this tribute, it will soon dawn on you why it is more of an appreciation in loving memory of Rev. Fr. Dr. Osia, whom I have described as the ‘father of modern Anioma’. Although, my people of Ibusa as a community never honoured him while he was alive for the help rendered to the community, it translates to one of those known ill-starred situations in real life; real sadness associated with disappointment indeed. Every society must learn to bestow honour on people who have given something to the society.

Rev. Fr. Dr. Osia, born in 1940, hailed from Obomkpa, an Anioma town in Delta State. He was a graduate of SS Peter and Paul Major Seminary in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. He did his post-graduate work in Washington D.C and holds MA degree from Howard University, and an M. Phil. and Ph.D. from George Washington University. He was an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Applied Psychology and Rehabilitation Counseling, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Coppin State University, Baltimore, Maryland for the past 13 years. He taught ‘Introduction to Rehabilitation’ in order to provide students with clear understanding of various aspects and modalities of rehabilitation process and concomitant legislative mandates and ‘Organization and Administration of Programs’ to provide students with an orientation to the principles and theories involved in program development.

Rev. Fr. Dr. Osia was ordained in June 1966 and in August of the same year he was seconded to Warri Diocese from his diocese of Benin to help the late Bishop Lucas Nwaezeapu of Warri Diocese who had much less number of native priests than Benin. Bishop Nwaezeapu was from Ibusa, Anioma. Typically Osia carried out ministerial duties quite familiar to Catholics: saying mass, conducting catechism classes, baptizing individuals and converts to Catholicism, conducting marriage ceremonies, anointing the sick, burying the dead et cetera. He also taught at the minor seminary established in Warri, located in Effurun.
He became the Parish Priest of St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, Ibusa just before the outbreak of the Nigerian Biafran war in 1967. It was a good omen or what Christians of today would describe as ‘unmerited favour’ for Ibusa. I grant that Rev. Fr. Dr. Osia or ‘Diokpa Osia’ as I affectionately called him was a man of astonishing Anioma deeds but I am going to concentrate here on how he impacted on Ibusa, my community. Rv. Fr. Dr. Kunirum Osia’s call as the Parish Priest in Ibusa was divine. As I mentioned earlier, Ibusa was just lucky to have had him as the Parish Priest of St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, the first church ever in the town, and one of the earliest in the whole of Anioma established for the community and Anioma as a whole by Rev Fr. Carlos Zappa in 1898 on a piece of land at Isieke, Umuekea, leased to the missionaries for a period of 100 years by the totality of Umuafene families, original owners of the land. The land at that time included a mini cemetery for the interment of clergies and church workers.
As pointed out earlier, Ibusa is known to wars. As far back as the 14th c, the community had mercenaries that were hired to carry wars to, as far as Nnewi, to defend their Isu kinsmen in that region (see C. N. Ugochukwu, ‘Isu Factor in Nnewi History’, 2000, Tabansi publishers). It was also the time the settlement fought many wars with neighbouring communities thus the nicknames I cited earlier. (see Emeka Esogbue, ‘A History of Wars fought by Ibusa’, published in ICDU Newsletter, 2010). However, the causative factors of the Nigerian civil war (1967-1970) had no direct bearing with the town.
The experience of Ibusa in that war was characterized by extremely unpleasant destruction of lives and properties that other Anioma communities equally suffered except that there was a Rev Fr. Osia to prevent it from that vapid kind of massacre that would have wiped away its entire women, children and youths. Osia explains it better when he wrote that ‘consequent upon the military coup of January 15, 1966, hundreds if not thousands of Anioma indigenes were killed in a pogrom unleashed against the Ibo living in the North. Because Anioma people were seen as ‘Igbo’ they got their share of that macabre slaughter of people’. In 1967, the 2 Division of the Nigerian Army commanded by Lt. Col Murtala Mohammed advanced into the Mid-West State to push out Biafra but their action occasioned massacre in Anioma. As hundreds of people mostly defenceless women and children were ordered or lured out of hiding, lined up and shot in a summary manner in Asaba that became the first massacre ever seen in the whole of Africa.
Our Anioma people of Asaba who were dressed in Akwa-Ocha regalia and had gathered to welcome the 2 Division troop of the Nigerian Army were surprisingly lined up and shot (see Emma Okocha ‘Blood on the Niger: An Untold Story of the Nigerian Civil War, USA-Africa Gom Slam). The procession of Asaba dancing troupes who appeared in many resplendent colours at Ogbe Eke to welcome the troop were stopped, separated by the unwelcoming soldiers, with men separated from their wives and children and executed immediately. That also happened at Ogbeosowa and Ogbogonogo so that Asaba became littered with dead bodies. This deliberate act perpetuated in Asaba also took place in a number of Anioma communities including Ogwashi-Uku but none is comparable to what happened in Asaba.
Our Ibusa was though spared of the massacre of the enormousness of Asaba. In order words, the carnages Ibusa experienced were nowhere near the magnitude of Asaba massacre. Thanks to Dr Osia. According to Kunirum Osia, Ibusa got the bitter taste of the war on Easter Monday of 1968 when soldiers infiltrated into Ibusa and Ogwashi-Uku on the same day. There was three days of fierce fighting in Ibusa, costing lives. More than two refugee camps were set up with Ibusa alone with indigenes forcefully moved to these camps in which Kunirum Osia was the Rehabilitation Officer. As the federal troop fought to take the town from Biafran forces that had invaded it earlier, more and more lives were lost but there was Kunirum Osia for Ibusa. Dr Osia was the one who stood between the soldiers and mortar, warning them against wanton killing, occasionally preventing them from bombarding the town. Dr Kunirum Osia was known to have personally buried a number of Ibusa indigenes killed in the attack of the town. For instance, he tells the story of two of the persons buried by him with the assistance of some women (see Kunirum Osia, ‘Anioma in Contemporary Nigeria: Issue of Identity and Development’, 2012, Bookbuilders Edions Africa, pg. 211).
It was Dr. Osia that the ailing Diokpa of Ibusa, Obi Mordi Okocha requested to return him to Ibusa from the Asaba refugee camp. The Diokpa had said with dignity that it was ‘Alu’ (taboo) for an Obi to die outside Ibusa). Dr Osia, accompanied by the Obi’s son acceded to his request. ‘Less than one minute after we arrived at his palace, he looked at this writer (Osia) piercingly, closed his eyes and died’. He died at an approximate age of 108 years on October 9, 1968. Dr Osia was just Ibusa’s savior, doing everything right to save the community. He was known to have hidden many Ibusa civilians inside the church, which frequently generated conflict between him soldiers who were unhappy with him. Dr Osia, as a Rehabilitation Officer set up a number of refugee camps in Ibusa and Asaba, where he took care of hundreds of refugees from Anioma. On many occasions, he was threatened by Nigerian soldiers and he complained to Gen Gowon.
He continued these good works for the town shortly after the war. For instance, he attracted the establishment of Uno Ogwu Igbuzo (General Hospital, Ibusa) located at Ogbeowele, where wounded Nigerian soldiers were initially treated. That hospital was one of the first major project Ibusa would know. It was as a result of this that he invited the then serving Head of State, Gen Yakubu Gowon to Ibusa to commission it. He further persuaded him to believe that Ibusa people were not rebellious but stood for ‘One Nigeria’. To further convince him, and commemorate the visit of Gen Gowon, he planted the tree in front of the hospital that we can still see till today and prayed over it for Ibusa. He prayed that as trees grow, so shall the people of Ibusa wax stronger and become successful. Historians know that the hospital took care of wounded Ibusa indigenes.
Again, after the war, Ibusa secondary school students became stranded, not having classrooms for schooling. They had to sit on open grounds, exposed to scorching sun and rain to read and write but Father Osia as known by Ibusa people provided them with St. Augustine’s Church premises. Ibusa has missed the opportunity of honouring this man for making Ibusa what it is today. However, some Igbuzo persons who have been particularly grateful to him for these kind acts. In 2012, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos, venue of his book launch, one notable Igbuzo indigene, Chief Peter Eloka Okocha openly acknowledged before him that he was at the occasion to thank him on behalf of the Ibusa people for the support he gave Ibusa people during the war and I was highly fulfilled.
An Ibusa culture enthusiast and London-based Mr. Michael Nkadi, from Umueze has also appreciated him, so has Mr. Ekene Mokwenye who said of him on Umuigbuzor online forum that many of us would have abandoned Ibusa, the theatre of war, for peaceful Europe, but the young priest decided to stay. These appreciations have come after his death though. Since I knew him, I have also on behalf of my Ibusa people expressed my gratitude to him. I once described him as an enigma but he mildly protested it saying ‘An enigma? Not at all. I am a simple individual who is not given to too much talking unless it is necessary. By natural disposition, I am quiet but very observant and I internalize much of my encounters. If you describe me as brave that I might not contend at least in the context of the Nigeria-Biafra war as it affected our Anioma people’.
Today, Rev. Fr. Dr. Kunirum Osia is no more but he prevented Ibusa from annihilation; attracted General Hospital to the town and invited Gen Gowon, the serving Head of the State to the town. Luckily, some of our people were privileged to be baptized by this courageous father. Finally, what lesson have our people learnt? We have to honour individuals who have contributed to the development of our town while they are still living and not necessarily influential political moneybags. Those who deserve honour should be honoured, not minding whether they are capable of throwing money in the air or not. If we had said thank you to Dr. Osia as a people, we would have been more beholden. That would have mattered more to him than the tribute I write now.
Dr Osia, Igbuzo salutes you as you journey to the world beyond.
The good you did Ibusa will continually speak for you in the world beyond.
Igbuzo salutes Obomkpa community for giving us a gracious father.
Rest in peace Rev Fr. John Kunirum Osia till we meet to part no more!

PedroJP:
I did say u are d owner of the post, but u only engage in anti Igbo topics. U carry anti Igbo matter for head like say dem tie am for ur head.


U ARE NO IGBO MAN. IDENTIFY URSELF WITH UR TRIBE. BE MAN ENOUGH PLS.

i don't have anything to prove to you. My being igbo does not stop me from saying the truth, even when it is against my tribes opinion.

melzabull:
this accursed bastad again? lmao.

Some people are just hopeless. everyday this bastad creates one useless thread or the other trying to incite Igbos against themselves. OK shacfool I have heard you, I am not Igbo I am Arab.

Chineke bi na enu igwe kpo kwa gi oku. Ekwensu!

My Anioma brothers come and listen to this ewu'o.

onenaira3, fr3do, ELTON123, menabadoo, amagmilton etc lmao

otu gbawakwa gi. Akwuna ego ise.

Stop corrupting the igbo ancestry because of your material ambition.

Mckennedy:
this particular post identified who you are!! shut your smelly mouth there's no different in igbo language,,,we have one igbo language..how about yolobas who claim and faught about lagos wheresa the original owners speaks Egun and Aworis as their languages with different cultures differ from yolobas?? yet yoruba will die convincing how they are their brother. lets leave the sleeping dog to rest if not I will open your nyash.

The same thing you are accusing Britain of, if what you are perpetrating on the innocent people of anioma kingdom. When will you and your likes quite being hypocrites?

zendy:
I'm happy that it is just a few Delta-Igbos or Anioma people who have this identity crises. Someone speaks Igbo as his ancestral language, has an Igbo surname, but turns around to say they are not Igbo. Someone has to explain this one to me...............

Yet some in anioma speak yoruba and have yoruba surname. Some have benin surname and speak bini. can you still explain that?

phantom:
Plenty plenty english ......just to dissociate themselves from "the vanquished".

Its all good.Dont worry,we,the "igbos" know there are consequences for loosing a War. We have come to terms with it,so please save your Queens english.

All these cowardly denials began only after the war.

Even if indeed they are not Igbo as they claim, it doesn't warrant the level of anti-igbo sentiments the average Igbo-denier has.
The most negative aftermath of the war is Igbo disunity.

shachris:
it's like you didn't have enough data to open the link. Let me help you.

Jesus!
You this daft or just deliberately obtuse?.The author of that tribute clearly stated that that's his own opinion while acknowledging his community think otherwise.
Indeed,you have comprehension and other cognitive problems.I really pity you

modhream:
Jesus!
You this daft or just deliberately obtuse?.The author of that tribute clearly stated that that's his own opinion while acknowledging his community think otherwise.
Indeed,you have comprehension and other cognitive problems.I really pity you

you this zombie boy, you are the one that has comprehension problem. You are yet to post a contrary opinion about the Rev Father...an Ordained priest of the catholic church.

fr3do:
All these cowardly denials began only after the war.

Even if indeed they are not Igbo as they claim, it doesn't warrant the level of anti-igbo sentiments the average Igbo-denier has.
The most negative aftermath of the war is Igbo disunity.

did ojukwu massacre asaba people or not? How can ojukwu masacre his own people?

The experience of Ibusa in that war was characterized by extremely unpleasant destruction of lives and properties that other Anioma communities equally suffered except that there was a Rev Fr. Osia to prevent it from that vapid kind of massacre that would have wiped away its entire women, children and youths. Osia explains it better when he wrote that ‘consequent upon the military coup of January 15, 1966, hundreds if not thousands of Anioma indigenes were killed in a pogrom unleashed against the Ibo living in the North. Because Anioma people were seen as ‘Igbo’ they got their share of that macabre slaughter of people’. In 1967, the 2 Division of the Nigerian Army commanded by Lt. Col Murtala Mohammed advanced into the Mid-West State to push out Biafra but their action occasioned massacre in Anioma. As hundreds of people mostly defenceless women and children were ordered or lured out of hiding, lined up and shot in a summary manner in Asaba that became the first massacre ever seen in the whole of Africa.

shachris:
you this zombie boy, you are the one that has comprehension problem. You are yet to post a contrary opinion about the Rev Father...an Ordained priest of the catholic church.

Oh,the idiot now wants to bring the church into it?.FYI,I am Catholic as well Scratched Face.
You brought up an article of revised history without doing due diligence on the author and I called you out.Now you want to deviate to religion.Sorry,that your shiny-object tactic won't work

modhream:
Oh,the idiot now wants to bring the church into it?.FYI,I am Catholic as well Scratched Face.
You brought up an article of revised history without doing due diligence on the author and I called you out.Now you want to deviate to religion.Sorry,that your shiny-object tactic won't work

Zombie, present your own research on the author or STFU.

[s][/s]shachris:
For decades we, Anioma people, have been buffeted back
and forth by people attempting to impose a persona on
us. Some described us as being neither here nor there.
Others do not give us chance to define and describe who
we are as a people. We know exactly who we are. We have no
confusions about our geography and genealogy. We know that
identity is like gold. Just as the gold bar stands behind a currency
as a guarantee of its legal tender, so is identity to an individual
or a group. The analogy is only partial, of course, the price of gold
may rise or fall, but we tend to pride ourselves on the stability of
our identity. Anioma ethnic identity is a value we must guard. In
recent times we have contended with the intrusion into Anioma
world what we might call the concept of, albeit, reality of
Igbocentricism.

By Igbocentrism or Igbocentricity
we mean an existential point of
view that puts Igbo at the centre of
Igbo people's cosmology. Central
to Igbocentrism is the idea that
people believed or assumed to be
Igbo must acknowledge,
understand and love their
"Igboness" so as to understand
and deal with non-Igbo. It is a
conceptual approach to human
relations from the Igbo point of
view. It is an Igbo-centeredness of
interpretation of such relations
and quotidian realities. Because
the vast majority of Anioma people speak dialects derived from
the Igbo language, it is assumed that they are "Igbo." Anioma
history records individuals from diverse origins. There are in
Anioma the "Olukunmi" who speak a variant of Yoruba spoken
around Owo. Ebu people in Anioma speak Igala as their mother
tongue.

While language delimits cultural fields, it is not permanent
because people have mastered more than one language. Language
is one of many indices of a culture. Language is not enough to
define who a people are. Because Americans or Australians speak
English does not make them English. Because Mexicans, Cubans,
or Argentineans speak Spanish does not make them Spaniards.
The nationals of these countries will not introduce themselves as
"English" simply because they speak English nor as Spaniards
because they speak Spanish. Those of them who can trace their
origin to England or Spain know that over time they have formed
a new identity called "American," "Australian," "Mexican,"
"Cuban," or "Argentinean."

Anioma people recognize a geographical contiguity, a clearly
defined historicity and cultural commonality, that in their
consciousness they define as their collective identity. Our Anioma
ethnic identity derives from our common set of symbols and
cognition shared by our people: Aniocha, Ndokwa, Ika and
Oshimili share the same cultural space and delimited physical
geography. They dress and dance alike, and use the same musical
instruments. The systemic prolonged subordination and
marginalization has lead to the gradual radicalization of our
youth and elders, as exemplified by the formation of many
Anioma associations in Nigeria and abroad.
The Anioma are a Nigerian people in terms of their geographical
location and ancestral pedigree; in terms of the criteria and
categories that are applicable in defining other Nigerian groups,
and in terms of their cultural forms and institutions which they
have evolved for themselves and which are comparable to those
of other ethnic groups, with a specificity that is syncretic in its
manifestations.

Located at the crossroads of diverse influences, Anioma has
developed a syncretic culture rich in varied contributions, and
we rightly can talk of an identity that is uniquely Anioma not
replicable anywhere in Nigeria. Through culture contact or
cultural cross-pollination, borrowing from contiguous neighbours,
Anioma displays cultural syncretism in the real sense of the
word. History notes that Anioma people trace their origins to
Edo, Igala, Yoruba and Igbo. Ibusa (Igbo Uzo) and one part of
Ogwashiuku trace their ancestry to Igbo. All other Anioma people
trace their origins in entirety to Edo, Igala and Yoruba. From
none other than Chief Dennis Osadebay, comes an uncontested
account of the origin of 'Ahaba'. Eri, son of Achado, a king of
Igala founded the towns of Aguleri, Umuleri, Igbariam and Nteje.
If logic is any guide here, Eri we might reason would found a
community with the people he knew, namely, Igala. Nnebisi the
founder of 'Ahaba' was from Nteje founded by Eri the prince
from Igala. Nnebisi married an Igala woman he had won as a
prize from the Igala fishermen and traders who frequented
'Ahaba'. This is the verifiable story of the origin of 'Ahaba' (now
Asaba).

Osadebay said that another migrant came from Benin and settled
in 'Ahaba,' "and so the present natives of Asaba are descendants
of Igala in the north, Benin in the west, and Ibo in the
east" (Osadebay, Building a Nation, Macmillan, Nigeria Ltd, 1978
p.2). With this from Chief Osadebay, which to our best research
has never been denied nor contradicted, we argue that Asaba
people are the least Igbo among the very few segments of Anioma
that claim Igbo ancestry.

With such a background, one would have thought that the identity
of Anioma people would never be a matter of debate nor an issue
that might unsettle the tranquility of informed mind. Yet,
writings about Anioma people are replete with misconceptions,
distortions, selectivity, inaccuracies and just blatant falsehood.
Even some Anioma writers peddle stories diffracted into multiple
and apocryphal histories that present every Anioma person
originating from Nri in Igboland. May we remind the few of Igbo
ancestry how much distance the passage of time and the
vicissitudes of history have placed between them and their
origin? Similarly, we would remind one or two traditional leaders
who argue for extension of Igbo hegemony to Anioma, that they
are bartering their honour and royalty for vacuous glory in
Igboland, and that they do not represent Anioma people.
This muddle as to the definition of an Anioma is not intrinsic to
the Anioma identity, but rather a problem fused into the tinted
lenses of Igbocentrism through which the Anioma people have
erroneously been viewed over the ages. The kinds of questions
posed, presuppositions made, set of axioms posited, and the very
methodological approaches adopted in many publications betray
Igbo bias and oftentimes arrogance of Igbocentricity. The
cumulative result of this imposed paradigm has been a people
dispossessed of their identity, their history, and, to a great extent,
their political and economic rights.

Any Anioma person who feels inadequate unless called "Anioma-
Igbo," has serious identity problem. Osadebay and his group
coined and christened us with the name "Anioma." They were
satisfied with what it meant and what it represented for our
people. The Igbocentric conception of Anioma people as "our kith
and kin across the Niger" is a fallacy of baseless proportion. Thus,
Igbocentrism has not only set the terms of the debate on Anioma
identity, it has consumed our intellectual autonomy to
counterpoise it with Aniomacentric methodology. This
capitulation to Igbocentric paradigm of identity is part of a wider
syndrome of intellectual dependency precipitated by homegrown
colonialism.
We may ask, where was this "kith and kin across the Niger"
platitude
when our forbears fought the Ekumeku wars of 1883 to 1914,
which pitted them against the British through the instrumentality
of the Royal Niger Company to dominate trade, culture, social
and political lives of our people;
when the Second Division of the Nigerian Army commanded by
Murtala Mohammed marched into Anioma areas in pursuit of the
fleeing 'Biafran Expeditionary Force' and massacred our people
at Asaba and Isheagu with such macabre ruthlessness and
vapidity;
when in 1970 several high ranking Anioma military officers were
detained for months (one of them for years) in Port Harcourt
prison after Biafra surrendered on January 12, 1970, even though
as these officers put it to the writer in their letter to him dated
June 7, 1970, to seek help from Governor Ogbemudia, wrote,
"...that all other officers of former Eastern Region origin (Ibos,
Efiks, Ijaws etc) have been released..." and
when in 1996 our people were assured of support from Ndi Igbo
during our quest for Anioma state?

Anioma state was not created instead Ebonyi was, thanks to the
last minute turn around and support from Ndi Igbo. This
experience was articulated by Professor Ijomah during the
Congress of Izu-Anioma held at the POCO Plaza, Ogwashiuku,
March 3rd, 1998, when he said, "... it was agreed during the last
state creation exercise that Anioma State should be created. When
the stakes were down, the Ibos across the Niger abandoned the
Anioma quest at the last hour and supported the creation of
Ebonyi State which was not seriously being canvassed before
then, causing Anioma to lose." (The ANIOMA, Vol. 10, No 1, May,
1999, p. 11). Anioma people should not be hoodwinked by Ndi
Igbo. Recently, Igbos have renewed their gimmickry of support
for the creation of Anioma state. All they want is their grandiose
illusion of 'Greater Igbo' comprising Anioma and some parts of
Rivers State. Only Anioma can provide us an essential part of our
historical consciousness, and an index to the universal psychic
character of our identity. Only Anioma can communicate a sense
of history to us.

Anioma culture sustains the vocabulary of moral prescriptions
and a repertoire of covenant with visible and invisible entities.
There are areas designated as secular and sacred; some creatures
are deemed sacred and should not be killed nor be eaten; some
vegetation considered sacred should not be eaten as vegetables.
Anioma culture sees unity and sanctity in nature. Philosophically,
it fuses cosmology and cosmogony. It shapes our experiencing
and perceiving. It teaches us the canons of relevance and
evidence. We come to ourselves through our choice of our
archetypes. We have maintained cool-headedness in the face of
provocation from Igbos who call us 'Hausa Igbo', Ika-Igbo and
now Anioma-Igbo. Such appellations are as insulting and
denigrating as they are meaningless and nonsensical.
We reject attempts to Igbonize Anioma. We do not inhabit the
same historical and cultural space with Igbos. When ethnicity
becomes subject to the elaborations of cultural identity politics, it
often develops into a focus of symbolic contestation. Those
wanting Anioma to become "Anioma-Igbo" undermine the efforts
of our founding fathers who christened us "ANIOMA." Osadebay
puts everything in perspective when he stated, "Strictly speaking,
Ibo is a linguistic group or a language, not a tribe, as all Ibo-
speaking people do not claim origin from any common
ancestor" (Osadebay op. cit. 1978, p.14).

Reckless utterances and writings coming from some Igbo people,
through Ohaneze Ndigbo and their internet forum intellectuals,
that the creation of Anioma state would increase Igbo states,
damage Anioma cause. The quest for the creation of Anioma state
preceded the creation of the 36 Nigerian states.
Identity is built on choices and commitments. By committing
ourselves to Anioma causes our real selves develop. An obstacle to
achieving identity is the temptation to avoid choices and
postpone decisions. Let us proclaim Anioma by the Enu Ani
language that we speak; by the Ika language that we speak; by the
Ndokwa language that we speak; by the Olukunmi language that
we speak and by the Igala language that we speak.
We should intensify our efforts on the creation of Anioma state
where our people will be central characters rather than simple bit
players, where the importance of our history lies in its
significance for us rather than for others. We do not want to be a
pawn simply to checkmate the contending and competing
interests of other nationalities in the larger Nigerian collectivity.
Our journey involves more than navigating the geography of
political boundaries. It is a continuous mapping and remapping
of the geography of our culture and identity. We no longer wish
to be objects in the history of others rather we wish to be subjects
of our own history. Our Anioma ethnic identity is cultural self-
definition and philosophical affirmation of our self-
determination as a people who see themselves at the crossroads
of contemporary Nigeria. It is a refusal to accept the
transposition of other people's interpretive categories on Anioma.
We bear the name of Anioma with exalted pride, dignity and
fidelity. We cherish our distinct identity and unique culture. So,
efforts to fit Anioma into the constructs and schemata of Igbo
provenance are futile.



Kunirum Osia is the former Founding National President of
Anioma Association, USA, Inc.

http://nigeriaworld.com/articles/2009/may/111.html[s][/s]

This APC paid Idiott can't stop posting rubbish.