zuchyblink:
Igbos,the most envied ethnic group in Africa.enemies will try to pull us down,but they will never suceed.igbo bu ofu,united we stand;divided yorubas enjoy.
Say no to divide and rule tactics,save the future of our children

how did you know this truth ...the most envied tribe is igbo and I am happy to be igbo ..I enjoy the look of envy on haters

Duru1:




Both poster and author of the above crap are irrefutable pantaloons. From the write-up, it is easy to ascertain that western education has failed the moronic dingbats woefully. One wonders if cultural education also did a number on the wags. Why did so called Ikwerre not claim to have migrated from Eshan or even Urhobo? If these ninnies where given a home training of sort, they would have realized that the word – “Akalaka” does not exist in Edo or Bini vernacular. In addition, they jackasses would also realized that the so-called –“Ikwerre” is not the actual name. In fact, the word – “Iwhnuruọhna” is a body of idiocy. I guess shame has disappeared in Nigeria.
Akalaka or Akaraka, depending on the Igbo dialect in usage, is destiny, thus, natural and birth lines on someone’s palm. Not really do I give a ratass about the so-called Ikwerre but as a red blooded Igbo man, I had rather choose to have come from Ibibio, Annang, Ogoni or Okirika than from a group of people known for backstabbing and sellout such as Edo or Bini.

my dear I asked what is the meaning of akalaka in Edo language nobody has answered d that till date

tonychristopher:


so you know this fact ? I am impressed

Tonychris is impotent. His daughter belongs to someone else, his wife told us this fact. You want proof?

Jesusloveyou:
those names senior my great grandfathers, except people from d palace may know those names, but we still have those names, name after streets which i don't Know their meaning, like alaka street behind oba palace, ogba road, etc, with d coming of d colonial administration who change those names to suit d present day ibos, again like eweka that is change to iweka in onitsha, as i said, all d names mentioned by d op are all familiar with bini

You are just so funny... does meaning of names change with age?
Iweka is the name of Obosi King not even Onitsha. Iweka is Obosi name... Dont delve into what you dont know...

People should stop re writing history because Biafra lost the civil war

[b] erre Parliamentarians, Chiefs And Port Harcourt Municipal Councillors Said Ikwerre Is
Igbo - I really hate the boring argument or debate of Ikwerre being Igbo or not Igbo. We are
not in control of what ethnic origin, community, nation, clan or tribe that we belong to.
Wherever we found ourselves is by accident of birth.
Mr. Emeka Okala and Dr. M.D. Amadi insistence that Ikwerre a southern Igbo ethnic group is
Benin compels me to continue to lend my voice to this baseless argument. The argument that
Ikwerre is Benin is not rooted in any research, study or documented evidence. There is nothing
to be gained either way in this argument.
Nevertheless, it is very important that the younger and future generations are not fed with this
falsehood, especially when it comes from educated persons who append the titles of Doctor
and Reverend to their names.
Every research, study, moonlight stories told by the elders point to the undisputable fact that
Ikwerre is a Southern Igbo ethnic group or a tribe within the Igbo nation like Ngwa, Etche,
Owerri, Asa, Umuahia, etc . The southern Igbo group share Igbo language with varying dialects
and customs. For instance, they reverend cola nut, tap and drink mainly raffia palm tree wine
while other Igbo tap and drink palm trees wine. They are yam and cassava farmers. The
southern Igbo groups were mainly in the larger Owerri province before Aba-Umuahia, and
Rivers provinces were carved out of it. In 1922/23 Port Harcourt in Ikwerre land became the
capital of old Owerri province. Owerri Provincial Assembly had representatives that comprised
mainly illiterate chiefs from the stand point of English language. Dialogue among provincial
and district councils were in local language. Igbo was the official language of Owerri
provincial council. None of the councilors including the Ikwerres in the provincial council
representing Diobu and other Ikwerre areas ever complained. They fully participated in the
proceedings of the council. The only interpreters were to interpret local Nigerian languages to
the provincial governor and the district officer who were Europeans.
This argument has been going on for too long in this forum, but Dr. M.D, Amadi has added
threats of court action perhaps at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or any other United
Nations court with subject matter jurisdiction over such matters as the alleged forceful
assimilation of Ikwerre group. I am anxiously looking forward to be included in the court
action as a defendant even though, I am not representing the Igbo or any structured group. I
am simply putting down what I heard from the elders and what my research revealed. As a
kid I spent most of my holidays in Ikwerre going to farms with relatives, and as a young man
I also lived and worked with them. I have an avalanche of documentary evidence that will
assist any court make informed determination and perhaps burry this issue for good. I believe
the court action will also include the following listed Ikwerre chiefs and nobles. Some may be
sued posthumously but their records will speak for them. I am also sure that Mr. Okala and
Dr. M.D, Amadi, the non Ikwerre Igbo are not speaking or representing any Ikwerre group but
are speaking for themselves. They should make good their threat. Let me remind them that “if
a bee perches on a human skin without stinging it becomes a house fly”
The following link leads to Privy Council decision on Port Harcourt and the representatives of
Ikwerre, Diobu or Port Harcourt and other Division with then Owerri Province.
http://books.google.com/books?id=hoHv7__4TXYC&pg=PA268&lpg=PA268&dq=privy
+counci\l+decision+on+port+harcourt/
nigeria&source=bl&ots=FbdqVtjBqP&sig=plBZvCv0CIw-b10\
zu5DL5fM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jyycUZraBZTryAHe8IGoAQ&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=pr
\ivy%20council%20decision%20on%20port%20harcourt%2Fnigeria&f=false
Other sources are:
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angelis California
University of California Press Ltd
London, England
Copyright @ 1974 by the Regents of University of California
ISBN: 0-520-02451-6
Library of Congress Card Number : 73-76115
Printed in United States of America
The following are from the above references. They clearly indicate that Ikwerre Chiefs, Ezes,
Legislatures and Municipal councilors from time immemorial claim Igbo as their tribe. These
Ikwerre Legislators, Parliamentarians and Municipal Councilors maintained that they are Igbo
as the records indicate. I challenge Mr. Emeka Okala and Dr. M, D. Amadi to produce records
with similar information in support of their claims. [/b]

[s]

IGBOPRINCE:
shut d Bleep off niga..stop acting like a bman..

Your pple should be the one to be warned cos they disguised in different monikas to claimed ikwerres and the aniomas. Just like one useless yoruba idiat was bursted by onenaira3 dis week.

So fuckooff.

[/s]

Tell your ugly father to fuckoff, the moronic dingbat was useless till cruel death snatch him away, may his cursed soul rest in hell. Gala hawkers like you make me laugh, I dont take any redmud akpu eating bastard like serious cos you have been cursed from womb. I just add to your misery and tell you the raw truth. Go choke on your mother's smelly pu/ssy. Bastard

attacker231:
[s][/s]

The topic is about your daughter. She was fathered by your elder brother, your ugly wife told us the real truth. You dont need to cry cos we know the truth. Ahahahahahaha. Tonychris is impotent. Everyone must hear this truth.

Tonychristopher is truly impotent. Shame

[b] In 1922/23 Port Harcourt in Ikwerre land became the Capital of Owerri province --- Page 269
Appendix 2 Page 246
Port Harcourt Parliamentarians from 1945 - 1966
Appendix 3 Page 247
Port Harcourt Municipal Councilors 1955 ---- 1958
D.D.”Diobu” Nsiegbe Ikwerre Ibo Port Harcourt Division
J.W. Ogbondah Ikwerre Ibo Diobu Port Harcourt Division
Appendix 4 Pages 248---250
Port Harcourt Municipal Councilors 1958 --- 1961
E Aguma: Ikwerre Ibo Diobu Port Harcourt Division
M.W. Dickson: Ikwerre Ibo Diobu Port Harcourt Division
G.P.A. Nwagwu: Ikwerre Ibo Diobu Port Harcourt Division
J. A. Otuonye: Ikwerre Ibo Diobu Port Harcourt Division
R. O. Owuru Ikwerre Ibo Diobu Port Harcourt Division
Appendix 5 Pages 251 – 253
Port Harcourt Municipal Councilors 1961 – 1964
S.W. Atako: Ikwerre Ibo Port Harcourt Division
R. Chikere Ikwerre Ibo Port Harcourt Division
E. Chukwu Ikwerre Ibo Port Harcourt Division
Chief Joseph Wobo Ikwerre Ibo Port Harcourt Division
Additional information can be extracted from the sources indicated above. The people have
maintained that they are Igbo even when they were in Ricers Province.
As regards the name Ikwerre emanating from the people in a chorus “Ekwelam” we have
agreed when Sir F.D. Laggard, the then Governor of Southern Nigeria asked the people a
question, if they have agreed for their land to be used for the sea port and railway terminal
through an Igbo interpreter is ludicrous and the greatest fabrication of the century. There was
no Igbo interpreter or other Ikwerres from Isiokpo, Igruta, Elele or any other Ikwerre towns or
villages that was associated with the negotiations for acquiring land for development of Port
Harcourt that resulted in HAGROVE AGREEMENT of 1912, but Diobu people who are the
owners of the land. The records indicated that Chief Daniel Kalio, the head of Okirika chiefs
and and his assistant chief Samson Adoki were the interpreters. Chief Kalio was the chief
negotiator for the colonist. He was paid three thousand for his services. The lands acquired
for the terminal and seaport were Diobu farm lands of Iguocha and Obomotu. Iguocha and
Obomotu are Ikwerre Ibo names.. The negotiations took place at chief Wobo and chief Atako
compounds respectively.
In Sir Lugar’s dispatch No. 103, paragraph 10 to the secretary of state for the colonies he
said, Inter alia:
“ I have already taken steps to acquire the land before fictitious claims and artificial
inflations should have increased the difficulty of acquisition. The occupiers belong to a single
village named Diobu ------"
It did not mention Ikwerre but Diobu, even though Diobu is in Ikwerre a southern Igbo ethnic
group. An Ikwerre man from Isiokpo, Iguruta, Choba etc, has nothing to do with land in Diobu.
Land tenure in Igbo land including Ikwerre is based on family, linage, and village.
In another dispatch to the Secretary of State for the colonies dated August 1913, Lord Lugard
stated that Iguocha and Obomotu are the lands on which the seaport and the terminal shall
be built. He added that Iguocha and Obomotu are Ikwerre Ibo Names. [/b]

[b] The Willinkson Commission of 1958
As it relates to Port Harcourt and ethic make up of Rivers Province, the Commission Stated
in Chapter 5 of its report as follows:
“The Rivers Province was a recent formation and was designed to meet local standing
complains of the people ---------. It includes the two divisions of Brass and Degema both
overwhelming Ijew and Ogoni Division inhabited, almost entirely by a tribe of the same name.
The former Rivers province also including 300, 000 Ibos of which 250,000 are in Ahoada
Division and 45,000 Port Harcourt towns. Port Harcourt town is a town of recent growth and
rapidly increasing importance. It is built on land originally belonging to outlaying branch of
the Ibo tribe.”
Dr M.D. Amadi’s article sent on June 12, 2013, to Mr. Emeka Okala the Clearing House for
None =Ikwerre Igbo for publication touched on several issues that do not relate to the subject
matter in question. However, efforts shall be geared to addressing relevant topics of Ikwerrre
being an integral part of Igbo land with very few exceptions. I shall also attach my earlier
comments on this matter with the hope that the question thereto shall be addressed.
It is untrue that the hinterland Igbo calls Ikwerre people Di – ali and the Ikwerres call the Igbo
Isuama. Di-ali is a southern Igbo word. It has several synonymous with Di-ala, and nwadiala.
They all mean indigenous, free born, not a stranger, etc. An Ikwerre is di-ali in Ikwerre land;
an Ngwa, Umuahia, and owerri are di- ala in their place or ethnic group respectively.
Isuoma means stranger, none indigenous. It is derogatorily used on migrant or seasonal
laborers by Owerri, Ikwerre, Etche and Ngwa people. The Ngwa and Asa people interchange
that word with Nwa-Ohuhu. “Mbara” is how Ikwerre people end their music. I have not heard
Ikwerre people called that name. People may make fun of it. The use of those words whether
derogatory or not abound. How about Nwanmoghi, for Ibibio, Anang, and Effik, Nyamiri,
koboko and okoro for the Igbo. These are mere display of ethnocentrism. Their use is very
insignificant to be linked to Ikwerre not being Igbo. You guys need to be well travelled in
Nigeria and other parts of Igbo land in particular.
Your charge of Biafra not defending Port Harcourt is very disappointing and makes your
reader wonder if you have ever read any material on wars let alone Nigeria-Biafra war. Did
Enugu, Onitsha, Aba, Ikot-ekpene not over run by the federal troops. This is my first time of
hearing that a country at war will purposely refuse to defend any part of her territory and in
the case of Biafra, to not defend a city as viable as Port Harcourt. The first planned industrial
layout in West Africa planned by the former Eastern Region government under the premiership
Dr. M.I. Okpara.
I agree with Dr. M.D. Amadi that certain topic injected into this discussion has no relevance
here. Post civil war abandoned property issue is one of them. The Ikwerres had no hand in the
abandoned property scan of depriving people the sweet of their labour. Diobu people are by no
standard backward. As early as 1927 Chief Wobo had dragged the Attorney General of Nigeria
to court over the ownership of some parts of Port Harcourt. The case climbed the judicial
ladder to the Privy Council. Diobu chiefs wouldn’t have remained passive while the hinterland
Igbos who helped developed the city built houses without the permission of the owners of the
land.
It should be noted that in the Southern areas it was considered abomination to sell land. In
southern Igbo townships of Port Harcourt, Aba, and Owerri, there were two types of tenants;
the customary and conventional tenants. The customary tenants were the first to acquire their
property from the indigenous people after satisfying the traditional requirements prescribed by
the local land tenure system. There were no deeds to be conveyed and no western survey
system but the natives showing the tenant the boundaries of the land given to him or her. No
documented evidence of the allocation of the property.
The second badge involved conveyance of deeds and are the conventional tenant who actually
bought theirs when things had change. The government had acquired and surveyed the
township. The custom of not selling land had been relaxed. This group surveyed and obtained
the necessary documentation associated with real estate recordation and conveyance of deed.
These two classes of tenants are still obtainable at Ogbor Hill, Ngwa Road and Over Rail/
Ama Ogbonna areas of Aba Ngwa, and Owerri.
In Port Harcourt the abandoned property was a carefully planned and executed scheme by the
Ijew group who had wanted to get a foothold or a piece of Port Harcourt. They carefully
targeted the customary tenants. Some of the Ijews themselves occupying the waterfronts are
customary tenants of Diobu also. At the cessation of hostilities in 1970, they refused to
vacate the building they occupied when the owners ran out of Port Harcourt for safety. They
successfully got the government of the day to support them and demanded that the returnees
present documents of purchase of their property to reclaim them. The customary tenants had
no documents in the first place. Their host communities, landlords and neighbors know them,
but, none of these were part of the requirements when they obtained their property from their
landlords. The conventional tenants who had their documents reclaimed theirs. The question
is where these property owners not paying taxes on their property? Why didn’t the
Government on their end, use their tax records to determine who owns which property? The
Ikwerres had no hand in Abandoned Property saga rather they distinguished themselves in
handling the situation and used diplomacy to avert massacre, the Asaba style.
Vincent Erondu [/b]

http://www.elombah.com/index.php/special-reports/16602-ikwerre-is-igbo

Ikwerre has the right to become whatever they want to be today. But they don't have the right to distort history. Every attempt by them to re write history will always be brutally challenged by proud Igbos within and outside Ikwerreland.

[s]

tonychristopher:


the more reason I hate Yoruba is they have the tendency to divide ..who are you to say ikwerre ain't igbo ...awori kabba offa and okun with egun are not Yoruba ...I know their history

[/s]

This is the reason I dont pity you when those guys deal with you and your family. Your family pics is everywhere on google but you are here arguing with me about where i come from. Are you mad? I am Awori and Yoruba and this fool who happens to be a biafra is still arguing with me. I leave you for those that curse and hammer you daily. Maggot

IGBOPRINCE:
why re yu so stvpid, this is the reasons I hate you yorubas. Re yu blind that yu couldn't see th link there..

Yur oba said they re frm waddai in sudan..
Take it or leave it..

So yu see how painful it s when some of you tried to said we re not igbos ,we re not yorubas.
Fools.

Your senile mother is the stypid one here. She is even the inbecile and most useless person here. You bastard will surely regret the route you are now taking, trying to rewritw history. So anyone that open a thread on nairaland must be yoruba? You are a certified bastard, may boko haram wipe your generations off the surface of earth. Hediotic animal

xtrorse:


Do well to choke your eternal hate down the throats of your treacherous Yoruba tribe...

You can go choke on your mothers smelly overused pu.ssy. bastard son of a deranged village goat, an ediot from a worthless and shitty tribe. Ogun kill you.

tonychristopher:


so you know this fact ? I am impressed

They said your daughter was fathered by your elder bro. Chai, Na wao. See as you spoil your own life cos of foolishness, spits...

Jesusloveyou:
because ur ancestors ran away from Benin and built tent near biafrand, should not make u lost ur lineage

And u think u know my history more than I do?

[b] Barrister Uche Okwukwu you are known
by many people for different things,
controversial is one of them. Once, you
were quoted as saying that Ikwerres are
Igbos just as you were also quoted as
supporting the MASSOB struggle at a
time. Can you react to these sayings?
Yes, my name is Uchechukwu Okwukwu. I
am an Igbo man. I have said it in different
fora, the Willink report is available, the
Ph’D work of Late Chief Aguma in
University of Ibadan 1977 is available,
other reports are also available. There is a
fundamental difference between a nation
and a tribe. A tribe speaks a dialect, a
Nation speaks a language. Some Ikwerre
people agreed that they are from Igbo,
some say they are from Benin heritage.
Scientifically, there are parameters we use
to determine things, the sociological,
spiritual, geographical and historical. If
you say you are from Benin, come with
your proof and show us how you came
from Benin. There is no common thing
that trace Ikwerre lineage to Benin. There
is no single common Edo language in the
Ikwerre land. None. So, those who, in
falsification of languages, say other wise,
should come forward with their proof.
In a study carried out by the Niger Delta
group in 1976, under the Niger Delta
spirit, edited by Prof Alagoa, the Ikwerre
was clearly pointed out as Igbos. See, to
lose a war is bad-the post-war Nigeria
saw the two groups, the Igbos and Niger
Delta as conquered people and the
victorious North and the West clearly,
unequal partners in a new relationship
that eventually emerged and in that
unequal relationship, like the law of
Osmosis, weaker solution is naturally
drawn by the stronger solution. What
happened was that if you said then,
you’re an Igbo, you are hated because
you’re a Biafran you committed a crime,
your master is in Cote d’Ivoire you raised
up arms against the Federal Government,
forgetting that according to Gabriel
Onyeke’s Commission of enquiry 30,000
Easterners were massacred. So everybody
said I am not Igbo purely as a survival
syndrome. Why would you say you are
Igbo, when you were not wanted? Of
course, my name is Uche Okwukwu, so
you can ask me my name and I will say’
am not Igbo, because if I say I was Igbo,
I will be punished, but you would agree
with me in this state that the great and
mighty of Ikwerre land agreed that they
were all Igbos. They include late Francis
Ellah, former Secretary to the Rivers State
government who said he was an Igbo
man, the late Okugbule Wonodi, former
registrar of the University of Port Harcourt
said the same. Chief C. C. Nwuche said
he is an Igboman, so what crime has
Uchechukwu Okwukwu committed?
What is the contention of Ogbakor Ikwerre
on this? Do you belong to Ogbakor
Ikwerre?
Ogbakor Ikweere is an umbrella socio-
cultural body, it has never said no Ikwerre
man should have a different opinion on
any issue.
Do they agree with you on this issue?
No, Ogbakor Ikwerre doesn’t need to
agree with me because, it has never, ever
driven any Ikweere man for identifying
with the Igbos or one who said, he is an
Igbo man.
We hope they will not sanction you?
They never drove away Okugbule Wonodi,
they are not thinking of that because
there are available records to show,
everybody wrote with his own hand
writing. When people who went to school
wrote in their own handwriting, when they
were not biased, people wrote tribe and
nation, such records are available. What
happens in this country is that we like to
suppress truth. Believe me, this is the
biggest shame coming from this part of
the black race, it is not a courageous race
,the race is always very petty. Today’s US
President Barack Obama told American
voters I am pure Black American” be said,
my father came here to get scholarship to
study Medicine, because of internal crisis,
and then government received Obama’s
father into the US.
The Kenyan’s son said my name is Barack
Obama ,my background is Kenya. He
never said I come from America and I will
answer Bush or White. ,if it were in
Nigeria, he would start answering another
name or remove Barack Hussein Obama,
because America had problem with the
Muslim extremists, then.
Do you think that the MASSOB struggle
for a Biafran nation is realisable under the
Nigerian Government?
Every struggle under the sun is realisable,
every dream you have can be realised.
I asked because most Ikwerres say they
are not Igbos.
It is not what we feel or think, many may
speculate that I am a multi-millionaire,
but I am not a millionaire, it is just an
opinion. I have said and quote me, Uche
Okwukwu, take me up, put me down, bury
me 5ft underground, I am an Igbo man.
What is wrong with that? I have said it
before and I have given great names who
also said they were Igbos too, identity is
very important see, I read a book
sometimes in London. I recalled the
history of the Samarians, and I read it in
the monastery, and beheld how a man
was asked the question, who are you?
When he mentioned his name, the man
asked him again, do you remember what
happened to your people? He answered,
no, so, the man then told him to go back
and read his history because, the
Samarians are today a lost tribe, because
they refused to read their history
Again in Geneva in 1998? I met a senator
from the US, attending the meeting of the
unrepresented United Nations
Organisation.
The man said he was Asyrian, and
everybody was shocked but he said it.
That he is from Asyria, the most
interesting thing was that the man could
read and write in Asyrian language, even
though there is no country today, called
Asyria.
I took him up on that and he said, the
worst thing that can happen to a man is
to deny his own root, out of fear,
cowardice, intimidation. When you do
that, on the long wrong, you pay dearly
for it, if you are not careful, your
geneology disappears from the face of
the earth.
Is that why you were once said to have
supported the hoisting of the Biafran flag
in Rivers State?
MASSOB is an idea, I believe in ideas and
in what I call appropriate fiscal principles
and I believe in many other progressive
principles. When we go into the river to
fish, there are all kinds of fishes, Tilapia,
and the rest, but some other persons may
be looking for the type of fish that is not
known to us and which is not too popular.
The Movement for the Actualization of the
Soverign State of Biafra raised the flag of
Biafra (MASSOB) in 2000, because they
perceived injustice, and that perceived
injustice they believed, could only be
addressed when a peaceful process
produces a clearer political space. The
Ogoni people raised a flag in 1990 when
they felt that they were being oppressed,
they had a national anthem, I have
attended a meeting of Odua Peoples
Congress, (OPC) when a flag was raised,
even when it was from the Yoruba nation
but because these people speak Igbo and
you understand Igbos are people that are
hated in Nigeria. Whatever they say the
talk is: bring them let’s kill and sacrifice
them. They were not the first to raise a
national flag. The first flag was raised by
the Arewa, before Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu Ojukwu raised the Biafran
Republic’s flag, but nobody discussed it.
They suppressed it, the British
intelligence suppressed it, the truth is
that I subscribe to the fundamental
principles of Biafra because it is a
foundation that supported that the issues
be addressed.
The Blackman’s rights to get dignity and
survival is one. What the Igbo man is
saying is we must go back to the table
and negotiate and discuss. The Ijaw man
for instance said, I am producing oil, but I
buy it more expensively in Nembe than
others buy it in Sokoto, lets discuss it,
Ogoni man said, you started drilling oil
from Ogoni kingdom in 1958,we raised
our voices, you killed our people, let’s
discuss, Igboman said of all the six geo
political regions in Nigeria, we alone have
just five states, others have six. For that
reason, we have 15 senators only, when
the North have more, let’s discuss,
Ikwerre man said out of the 774 local
government Areas in the country, Ikwerre
with their land mass and populations have
only four local government areas, is an
issue, lets discuss, that is how nations
move forward. You don’t move the people
forward by supressing them for their
agitations. If you do that, you compel
them to resort to violence and I don’t
pray and subscribe to violence because of
my background and training, I believe that
it is important to jaw-jaw than war-war,
so it is important to discuss and talk,
there are many different issues bothering
the people. Dialogue is the answer. [/b]
http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/2011/09/14/‘i-gave-the-last-n4-4m-acn-fund-to-dr-sekibo’/

[b] By Ochereome Nnanna ALTHOUGH there were varied positions on the matter, in the end the General Sani Abacha administration created Bayelsa out of Rivers State in 1996” The circumstances behind my joining a delegation for the burial of His Royal Majesty, Sunday Nnanta Woluchem, the Epara Rebisi XI of Port Harcourt on Saturday, April 21, 2012 is encapsulated in the above quote taken from his burial programme. As the author of his yet to be published biography, former Chief of General Staff, retired Commodore Okoh Ebitu Ukiwe, asked me to join his delegation to bury a royal father who, along with Ukiwe and others, played leading roles in the creation of today’s Rivers and Bayelsa states between 1993 and 1996. When the civil war started in 1967 and Biafra lost control of Port Harcourt to the Federal forces, the newly created Rivers State was handed over to the Ijaw. Ijaw leaders continued to maintain that Rivers State, with Port Harcourt as its capital, was created for them as reward for ceding their coastal terrain to the Federal side, thus making the sea blockade of Biafra possible. The Ijaw groups claimed to constitute the majority and continued to dominate the state both during military and civilian dispensations. With time, however, the Igbo speaking people of the state, particularly the Ikwerre nationality, decided they wanted a state of their own where they would be able to assert their own political and economic interests. This was what led to the quest for the creation of Port Harcourt State. However, the Ijaws felt if such a state was created they would become estranged in a city they have been part and parcel of since it was founded by the colonialists. In fact, they had even started portraying Port Harcourt as the capital of a future Ijaw state. Thus was born a great rivalry between the Ijaw-speaking and Igbo- speaking groups for the control of Rivers and between what was termed the “Okrika-Ijaw” and “Ikwerre-Igbo” over the “ownership” of Port Harcourt. The gruesome murder of Dr Obi Wali, the leader of the Ikwerre political front by yet- to-be ascertained assassins in 1992, owed to this tussle, which often led to street battles between Okrikans and Ikwerres. [/b]

[b] Meanwhile, the late father of Nigeria’s nationalism, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, had discussed the best strategies for reducing the animosity between the Igbos and their Minority neighbours as well as dousing the ethnic tension between Ikwerres and their riverine co-indigenes of Rivers State. It was agreed that as the touted largest Minority group, the Ijaw needed a state of their own. But with their emotional attachment to Port Harcourt, how would Rivers State be split without creating a permanent ethnic war front in Nigeria’s premier oil city? With the Ijaw groups obviously being favoured by the Northern-led Federal Government, Eze Woluchem, a lawyer who was installed paramount ruler of Port Harcourt in 1977 turned to Dr Azikiwe, appealing for him to support the aspirations of his Igbo kinsmen in the struggle. An ageing “Zik” referred the Eze’s delegation to Commodore Ukiwe, who had become Zik’s close political confidant. The Eze’s delegation of four, which included the late Chief Okogbule Wonodi and Chief Andrew Uchendu, met with Ukiwe in his office in Victoria Island. Their proposal was that Port Harcourt State should only be for Igbo-speaking Rivers people, while the Ijaw-speaking part would be named New Rivers State. On the other hand, the Kalabaris did not want to be parted with Rivers State, neither did the Okrikas, and Ukiwe advised that it would be “unstrategic” to cut out Bonny, Opobo, Kalabari and Okrika, apart from the fact that the Head of State, General Abacha, who was pro-Ijaw, might be pushed not to create any new state at all. Between Ukiwe and the Ikwerre delegation, and taking into account the expressed needs of others, the maps of the present Rivers State and Bayelsa State were drawn and presented to Abacha, who found it acceptable. On October 1, 1996, General Abacha included Bayelsa as one of the six new states approved by the Provisional Ruling Council, PRC. The postulations put together by Ukiwe and the Rebisi’s delegates worked like magic. Today the Ijaws have a state of their own with a capital (Yenagoa) which is being styled the “Jerusalem of the Ijaw Nation”. The Igbo-speaking groups in Rivers State also have a state in which they constitute a comfortable majority and have led since 1999. The issue of “ownership” of Port Harcourt has also been (partially) resolved, as Governor Chibuike Amaechi has retrieved the Crown Lands being claimed by the Ikwerres and Okrikans into government custody. [/b]

[b] In fact, he has pressed on with the
establishment of New Port Harcourt in
virgin land within Ikwerre heartland. The
ethnic tension is still there somewhat, but
it is no longer at the level of street battles
and assassinations.
Indeed, there were “varied positions on
the matter”, but all is well that ends well.
Rebisi Woluchem has returned to his
Creator satisfied that he played a central
role in giving his people the ground on
which to stand and, along with other
stakeholders within the Rivers state, chart
a future devoid of rancour but full of
promise for fast-tracked development for
its many dwellers, both indigenes and
non-indigenes.
Let me note a sour irony of it all. A
supposed beneficiary of Eze Woluchem’s
struggles, Governor Chibuike Amaechi,
was nowhere to be found during the
funeral! He was reported to have travelled
to the US during the burial. Funny, the
Governor was also absent when the
king’s wife died a few months before he
followed her.
I gathered that the Governor and the king
had not managed to patch up their
differences, as Eze Woluchem was solidly
behind former Governor Peter Odili when
he and Amaechi fought. As soon as he
secured his second term of office,
Amaechi voluntarily made up with his
estranged godfather, Odili.
Useful lesson: Be careful how you follow
a politician into an enmity. You won’t
know when they will make up and leave
you in the lurch! [/b]
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/04/rebisi-in-history/

onenaira3:


Bros I love you for this no homo. This is what igbo should start doing whenever yoloba monkies come looking for trouble. They started the thread, you gave them back exactly what they tried to start and Now they are whining like a bitach on her period.

Ijebu and Egun are not yoloba. Ijebu are Sudanese while Egun are Edo.

Onenaira,
E nwere otu eri m meghere..nkata akpaga ngaahu a di aña banye na akuko ndi Ofei'.kemgbe ahu kam matara otu o naadi ha ma asi na ndi ijebu,awori na egun/ogu abughi Yoloba.
https://www.nairaland.com/1975320/ancient-igbo-rule-over-parts
N'eri a,I gaahu na oforo ka laudate bewe akwa nihi naasim na ndi ijebu,awori na ogu avughi Yoloba.
Ya mere, mgbe obula ha butere akuko ndiIgbo SS abughi igbo,anyi elughachiri ha otu ndi ijebu na ndi si abughi ndiOfei'.
In the cold war,my technique is called MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION

Isn't it funny that Ijaws were busy leading the minorities shout over non existent Igbo domination in the Eastern region, but when they( Ijaws) were made the kings of the minorities in the old Rivers state, they did no better, they favoured only but themselves and neglected the rest of the minorities, which led to the demand for Ph state by the Igboids in the old PH.

Now the Igboids are in control of Rivers state after the bulk of Ijaws were sent to Bayelsa, but have the Igboids themselves done better?

Since the return of democracy in 1999, the Igboids in Rivers state have cornered the political leadership of Rivers state, they are now guilty of the very thing they accused the Ijaws of, with the likes of Ogoni, Kalabari, Andoni, Degema, Okrika forced to keep playing second fiddle to the Igboids, where is the equity?

What the region needs is true federalism, let all groups both small and large control their resources, Biafra will guarantee this for all of us.

SUBWAY101:
[s][/s]

This is the reason I dont pity you when those guys deal with me and my family. Your family pics is everywhere on google but you are here arguing with me about where i come from. Are you mad? I am Awori and Yoruba and this fool who happens to be a biafra is still arguing with me. I leave you for those that curse and hammer you daily. Maggot

who really cares? do you think that I am bothered with anything that they post there claiming its me...i luagh, yes lets assume they post the picture but does it change the fact...the question is can you man up and tell us where you come from ?

SUBWAY101:


I dont want to insult you, stop all this nonsense post about Awori. We are Yoruba, you guys should face your tribe and stop looking for trouble everywhere.

This is the undiluted truth!
Ijebu,Awori and Ogu are not Yoloba
If you're from any of these tribes, know it today you're not Yoloba.insult me all you like..but the truth still remains the truth.
Knowing this fact made me understand why some Igbos tag Lagos as no man's land.these nations were already there before your ancestor Odudunwa fell like the watchers from heaven and they'd continue to be there.

Nice post my brother

pazienza:
[b] Meanwhile, the late father of Nigeria’s
nationalism, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, had
discussed the best strategies for reducing
the animosity between the Igbos and their
Minority neighbours as well as dousing
the ethnic tension between Ikwerres and
their riverine co-indigenes of Rivers State.
It was agreed that as the touted largest
Minority group, the Ijaw needed a state of
their own. But with their emotional
attachment to Port Harcourt, how would
Rivers State be split without creating a
permanent ethnic war front in Nigeria’s
premier oil city?
With the Ijaw groups obviously being
favoured by the Northern-led Federal
Government, Eze Woluchem, a lawyer who
was installed paramount ruler of Port
Harcourt in 1977 turned to Dr Azikiwe,
appealing for him to support the
aspirations of his Igbo kinsmen in the
struggle. An ageing “Zik” referred the
Eze’s delegation to Commodore Ukiwe,
who had become Zik’s close political
confidant. The Eze’s delegation of four,
which included the late Chief Okogbule
Wonodi and Chief Andrew Uchendu, met
with Ukiwe in his office in Victoria Island.
Their proposal was that Port Harcourt
State should only be for Igbo-speaking
Rivers people, while the Ijaw-speaking
part would be named New Rivers State.
On the other hand, the Kalabaris did not
want to be parted with Rivers State,
neither did the Okrikas, and Ukiwe advised
that it would be “unstrategic” to cut out
Bonny, Opobo, Kalabari and Okrika, apart
from the fact that the Head of State,
General Abacha, who was pro-Ijaw, might
be pushed not to create any new state at
all.
Between Ukiwe and the Ikwerre delegation,
and taking into account the expressed
needs of others, the maps of the present
Rivers State and Bayelsa State were drawn
and presented to Abacha, who found it
acceptable.
On October 1, 1996, General Abacha
included Bayelsa as one of the six new
states approved by the Provisional Ruling
Council, PRC. The postulations put
together by Ukiwe and the Rebisi’s
delegates worked like magic. Today the
Ijaws have a state of their own with a
capital (Yenagoa) which is being styled
the “Jerusalem of the Ijaw Nation”. The
Igbo-speaking groups in Rivers State also
have a state in which they constitute a
comfortable majority and have led since
1999. The issue of “ownership” of Port
Harcourt has also been (partially)
resolved, as Governor Chibuike Amaechi
has retrieved the Crown Lands being
claimed by the Ikwerres and Okrikans into
government custody. [/b]

[s]

tonychristopher:


who really cares? do you think that I am bothered with anything that they post there claiming its me...i luagh, yes lets assume they post the picture but does it change the fact...the question is can you man up and tell us where you come from ?

[/s]

You are known for you lies. Why do you lie so much bro? So you are ashamed of your own pics that you cant even claim whats yours. You are a shameless person, chai.. lying this way cos of your own pics...omg

[s]

cheruv:

This is the undiluted truth!
Ijebu,Awori and Ogu are not Yoloba
If you're from any of these tribes, know it today you're not Yoloba.insult me all you like..but the truth still remains the truth.
Knowing this fact made me understand why some Igbos tag Lagos as no man's land.these nations were already there before your ancestor Odudunwa fell like the watchers from heaven and they'd continue to be there.

[/s]


I just dey laugh you cos you dont know whats up. You will cry soon, continue with your rubbish. Those that will deal with you will do so to hurt you badly. You think you all have monopoly of rewriting history about people...ahahahaha. The game is on.

SUBWAY101:
[s][/s]


I just dey laugh you cos you dont know whats up. You will cry soon, continue with your rubbish. Those that will deal with you will do so to hurt you badly. You think you all have monopoly of rewriting history about people...ahahahaha. The game is on.

Abeg dont loud it. Lets see who will get tired

I notice that most people that are non igbo are so keen in telling us who is igbo or not and when they are not sure nor have stepped foot in igbo speaking areas be it in East of Niger Delta. It baffles me why they are so keen in seeing igbo divide, these set of people are so obnoxious that I have come to detest ever dealing with them online. These kids can be so nausauting. I never knew most of these people from Western Side of niger will want to re write people history just the other day they claimed that benin people are one of the sons of oduduwa...in that thread a benin son made them understand that they begot oduduwa...now they are ejaculating over ikwerre igboness or not. I have ikwerre in laws and they have not denied igboness even Rotimi Amaechi said he is an igbo so why this craze for anything igbo.

Maybe in their stupidity they forgot that we have Ikwerre , Nkwerre, Owerre, Okwelle, and other igbo groups in OHA NAEZE ndi Igbo...so why this madness. I wonder why people are so jobless. Most of these guys are so jobless that they post and hang around nairaland daily..watch the time of their post, so many of them are so disoriented in life that they do not have plan for the day some wake up cursing as early as 8 AM ...not that is called been terribly jobless and I do not engage those.

Now i understand that the devil uses the idle man as a warehouse

Peace ..well most ikwerre can claim edo, Jamaica, bolivian even Haitian but i have seen proud ikwerre that say they are igbo like ezepromoe ..so why this madness

SUBWAY101:
[s][/s]


I just dey laugh you cos you dont know whats up. You will cry soon, continue with your rubbish. Those that will deal with you will do so to hurt you badly. You think you all have monopoly of rewriting history about people...ahahahaha. The game is on.

So serving you people in your own pill you do not love it? Oh no wonder, but you are here telling us who is igbo or not...maybe i will tell you who is Yoruba or not..maybe you have forgotten that we have information on line today and information can be sourced in few seconds. I will advise you to stay away from who is igbo or not...that is not your forte and stop rewriting people history..can you even imagine your still in igbo thread and your happy that ikwerre history is been rewritten and when Yoruba fact is thrown aat you..you will want to hurt yourself or somebody...


What you don’t love don’t use it on others. Karma is a terrible guest you know. So desist from causing division or confusion. We know ijebu, kabba and okun position on yorubahood but we let the sleeping dogs lie..so let your own sleeping dogs lie

It doesn’t pay to be an irritant and nasty...have a good day. I have better things to do for the day

after1:


Abeg dont loud it. Lets see who will get tired

#
i will get tired because I am busy...in short I am even tired..got work to do.


have a great day...IKWERRE ARE FROM MARS, YORUBA ARE FROM MOON, IGBOS ARE FROM SUN , IJEBUS ARE FROM JUPITER, AWORI ARE FROM URANUS wif that will make your day so be it


HAVE A BLESSED DAY SON

I am TIRED...your correct. I have better things to do



Pls dont quote me again...you won


bye

laudate:


Your article merely says the Ijebu migrated from somewhere called Sudan, and settled in what is present day Nigeria to become part of Yoruba land. Even the traditional ruler of Ijebu agrees that everybody migrated from somewhere.

You have still not answered my former question: "Is Adetona, not a Yoruba name?" Or is it a Sudanese name, or an Igbo name?

See ur life, you are running helter skelter confusedly seeking for refuge.

So Adetona is yoruba but Amaechi is not Igbo? If u like visit ur oba Akiolu of lagoon kingdom for clarification, Ijebus and Aworis are not Yorubas.

[s]

tonychristopher:



So serving you people in your own pill you do not love it? Oh no wonder, but you are here telling us who is igbo or not...maybe i will tell you who is Yoruba or not..maybe you have forgotten that we have information on line today and information can be sourced in few seconds. I will advise you to stay away from who is igbo or not...that is not your forte and stop rewriting people history..can you even imagine your still in igbo thread and your happy that ikwerre history is been rewritten and when Yoruba fact is thrown aat you..you will want to hurt yourself or somebody...


What you don’t love don’t use it on others. Karma is a terrible guest you know. So desist from causing division or confusion. We know ijebu, kabba and okun position on yorubahood but we let the sleeping dogs lie..so let your own sleeping dogs lie

It doesn’t pay to be an irritant and nasty...have a good day. I have better things to do for the day

[/s]


You lie for a living. Point out where i talk about ikweere rubbish. I was on this thread cos ediots like you said we are not Yoruba. I am a proud Awori man with a mom from Epe( Ijebu), and we are proudly Yoruba forever. I wont be on this thread if not for morons like you and the other jobless guy trying to post rubbish about my people. I cant stand liars like you christopher cos for you to even deny your own pics cos of shame, then no one should ever take you serious.

I know you are hurt and angry cos some guys exposed your wretched life and your wife, you dont need to cry or pass your frustration on me. If you like call yourself ijaw or hausa, thats your life problem.