₦airaland Forum

waternogetemeny:
Igbo cannot be surrounded by Nigeria . Biafra is not Igbo and all our territories are known to the UN and World Powers.

Believe it or Not, once Biafra is declared, u will find that 90% if not all southsouth is going with Biafra.

Akwa Ibom is a blood relative of the igbos as DNA has confirmed. Do u think they are with u?

Rivers Igbo, do u think they are with you? Anioma and Ika, down to Igbanke in Edo, do u think they are with you?

Ijaws, u could not stand their presidency and GEJ showed where their heart belongs. Yorubas couldn't take it. Ijaws, do u think they are with you?

If an Ijaw steps forward today for election as president, they are garanteed 99.9% of igbo vote.


Urhobo voted massively against inclusion with yorubas in 1963 referendum by 150,382 to 273. Do u think they are with you?


Dude u need to keep sentiment aside and understand that igbos are not surrounded by enemy as such, we have friends and yorubas are not it.

Igbos are not hated by anybody. The Yorubas and North in particular care less about Biafra unlike South-south. The whole issue is about the fate of South-south people. They prefer a Nigeria with checks and balances to Biafra where Igbos will dominate.

When Biafra leaves we are obliged and committed to the sending of relief materials to whatever is left of Nigeria. This is a promise.

Biafra will have a budget for international development and 80 percent will be committed to help.

shachris02:
Chambers Dictionary (William Geddie, ed. 1962) says: “A nation is a body of people marked off by common descent, language, culture, or historical tradition: the people of a tribe.” However, S.O.L. Amadi-Nna (1993) avers that: “A tribe is a group of clans under recognized chiefs and usually claiming common ancestry. Ikwerre can therefore not be a clan but a tribe. The Ikwerres claim a common ancestor. Ikwerre is an independent small tribe.” In the words of K.O. Amadi (1993), “Traditions suggest that Ikwerre is a nickname given to Iwhnuruọhna people…..They have ever since regarded themselves as a distinct group and have happily come a long way in their struggle for self-identity as evidenced by the recognition of their language as one of the Nigerian languages.”

Amadi-Nna (1993) added that: “The Ikwerres are a small but distinct tribe. The Ikwerres have distinct linguistic, social and cultural traits and formations that distinguish them from other close neighbouring tribes like the Ijaws and the Ibos. Majority of the Ikwerre settlements have their roots traceable from the old Benin Empire.” Iwhnurọhna people descended from the ancient Bini Kingdom. The name of the grand ancestor is Akalaka. Their relations in Rivers State are Ekpeye and Ogba people. The reigning Oba of Benin when Akalaka, the ancestor of Ihruọha (later called Iwhnurọhna) fled was Oba Ewuare (Ogwaro). Akalaka, a member of the Benin royal family, fled in the 13th century on allegation of plotting assassination of the Oba. He died in 1462. Iwhnurọhna his third son settled east of the Sombrero River by 1538 AD, as detailed below.

Chief N.M.T. Solomon (2004), native of Ikodu Ubie in Ekpeyeland, in his narrative draws heavily from the now authenticated written historical records delivered by various informed sources including “Eketu (Weber) of Ubeta, assumed to have lived for over two hundred (200) years as the oldest man in all Ekpeye, Ogba and Iwhnurọhna (or Ikwerre), at that time (and) was asked to narrate the history and customs of Ekpeye people” as unfolded in his lifetime. Here is what he said, which has been validated by the accounts of the current generation through responses to our questionnaires and direct interviews thereby increasing our level of confidence on the data:

Ekpeye, born in Benin, was the first of the three sons of Akalaka. While in Ndoni, he married a second wife to gain the love and favour of the people. The new wife gave birth to a son, which he named Ogba. Akalaka was still in Ndoni when his first wife, the mother of Ekpeye, gave birth to his third son called Ihruoha (Ikwerre).

Similar historical fact by J.N. Olise (1971) averred that: “Akalaka, a member of the Benin royal family, fled with his wife from Benin to Ndoni, a community located close to the River Niger, to save the life of his new born baby (Ekpeye) … While at Ndoni, Akalaka took a second wife. … Akalaka had two sons, Ekpeye – born to him by his Benin wife, and Ogba – born to him by his Ndoni wife. According to F.E. Otuwarikpo (1994): "After the death of Akalaka in 1462 AD, his two sons, Ekpeye and Ogba had conflict, which compelled Ogba, the younger son, to move northwards where he founded Ohiakwo (Obigwe) and settled with his family. Ekpeye who remained at Ula-Ubie had seven sons – Ubie, Akoh, Upata, Igbuduya, Ekpe, Awala and Asa. The last three sons – Ekpe, Awala and Asa – crossed to the other side of Sombreiro River (present day Ikwerreland and settled there since 1538 AD.” He added that: “Ekpe migrated to present day Rumuekpe and spread through Elele (Alimini), Ndele, Rumuji and part of Ibaa. Awala migrated to present day Isiokpo …”

Amadi-Nna (1993) also said Akalaka migrated with his half brother called Ochichi from the area of Benin Empire. Ochichi sons were Ele (Omerele, now Elele), Elu (Elumuoha, now Omerelu), Egbe (Egbeda) and Mini (Alimini, Isiokpo).

The crucial point here, which is of great importance in tracing the joint origin of the ancestors of the Old Ahoada Division (in the Governor Diete-Spiff administration), is the mention of the number of children that Akalaka had, namely: Ekpeye, Ogba and Ihruọha (Ikwerre). It is noteworthy that the pedigree and name of Ikwerre people, Iwhnurọhna, obviously took its root from this original name – Ihruọha. Chief Solomon therefore establishes a very vital historical link, which has been missing in literature on Ikwerre origin that would assume more significance in the discourses of Ikwerre genealogy in the future – the fact that Akalaka was the direct father of Ihruọha (Ikwerre). Iwhnurọhna, in Ikwere parlance, means the face of the community (town, city or village).

Nigerian colonial history records that the name "Ikwerre" was given by the colonial administration when they wanted to acquire the Rebisi waterfront to build the wharf. Using an Ibo interpreter to talk to the illiterate Rebisi (Port Harcourt) chiefs, they asked them: Would you permit us to use the waterfront to build the wharf for ships to berth? And they answered: A KWERULEM, meaning - "We have agreed." What the white-man was hearing was "Ikwerre," so he recorded it in the official gazette that the IKWERRE PEOPLE have agreed for the colonial administration to build the wharf. And since it was the official record of government, the name Ikwerre became the name of the Iwhnurohna people in all official documentations till date.

Similar cases of Anglicization of native names in the Niger Delta region by the colonial administration are Benin for Bini, Okrika for Wakrike, Degema for Udekema, Abonnema for Obonoma, Brass for Gbara sni, Bonny for Ibani, Pepple for Perekule, Ahoada for Ehuda, etc

Even so, “… there were dissenting voices, … who believed that Ikwerre origins lay outside Igbo land, … in the Benin Kingdom of old. It is, therefore, obvious that the interminable debate about Ikwerre origins and migrations including the repudiation of the Igbo tradition is not a phenomenon of the post-civil war period. The controversy, as it were, is not necessarily the product of the present political realities wherein groups which hitherto were seen to have cultural affinities now find themselves in different states or administrative systems.” -- K.O. Amadi (1993)

The Ogbakor Ikwerre Convention, a cultural organization of Ikwerre people, in a paper presented to the Human Rights Violation Commission headed by Rtd. Justice Chukwudifu Oputa on 10 October 2001, said: “Ikwerre ethnic nationality is not and has never been a sub-group of any other tribe in Nigeria including Ndi-Igbo. There is no doubt that the advent of the British and later regionalization put Ndi-Igbo at the helm of affairs in Eastern Nigeria. This brought Ndi-Igbo into Ikwerre land. In course of time, the Igbo took advantage of their position in the then Eastern Regional Government to grab land in Ikwerre and occupy political positions such as the mayor of Port Harcourt. In the process, Ikwerre along with other minority groups were marginalized and driven to the background.”

Professor Godwin Tasie noted that in 1913 the Rt Rev Herbert Tugwell, the Anglican Bishop on the Niger, undertook an experimentation tour of Ikwerre towns and villages assumed to be Ibo-speaking to test the Union Ibo Bible Nso being introduced in Iboland. "Tugwell discovered from the tests he carried out that although the Ikwerre were often regarded as Ibo… the Union Ibo Bible translation, surprisingly, was not easily understood by the Ikwere." This is obviously why Igbo vernacular was compulsorily introduced and taught in all schools in Ikwerreland before the Nigerian Civil War to the assimilation (i.e. destruction) of the Ikwere language.

This also obviously led to the Rumuomasi Declaration in 1965. " … in their meeting at Rumuomasi in 1965 the Ikwerre had, under the umbrella of a highly promising new body that was to get the Ikwerre together as a people of new and clearer vision, they had declared themselves as a people of the distinct identity of Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality - not Ibo, not Ijo, not anything else but Ikwerre, Iwhnurọhna. This was the historic Rumuomasi Declaration of 1965 (G.O.M. Tasie, 2000). The full implication is that Ikwere people began to assert themselves forcefully as an ethnic nationality of their own and not Ibos or Ijos, and efforts were made to revert to the original Ikwere names for families, villages, communities and landmarks. For instance, there was the change from Umuola to Rumuola, Umuoro to Rumuoro, Umukrushi to Rumuokwurusi, just to name a few.




T O N Y E N Y I A, PhD, MNIM
CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF TRUSTEES
IWHNURỌHNA CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION
Saturday, 5 February 2011

References:
Olise, J.N. (1971)

The Peoples of Benin, Oxford University Press
Amadi, K.O. (1993)
Amadi-Nna,S.O.L.(1993) Otuwarikpo, F.E. (1994)

Studies in Ikwerre History and Culture, in Nduka, O. (ed) (1993) Craft Publishing Ltd
Studies in Ikwerre History and Culture, in Nduka, O. (ed) (1993) Craft Publishing Ltd
The Phonology of Ekpeye: A Descriptive Analysis, unpublished MA Thesis, University of Jos
Solomon, N.M.T. (2004)

A Short History of Ekpeye People (an excerpt from an upcoming book entitled “THE EKPEYE BOOK – A Comprehensive Guide in the History and Culture of Ekpeye People of the Niger Delta Region in Nigeria” published by Usama Ekpeye USA Inc,
Tasie, G.O.M. (2000) Chairman's Opening Remarks at the Maiden Ikwerre Annual Thanksgiving Day, mimeo

http://iwhnurohna..com.ng/2012/11/a-brief-history-of-ikwerre.html

If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. Are they a leaf that doesn't know its part of a tree.


Is a leave not part of tree? if the awnser is yes then Ikwere and co not part of Igbo tribe.
But if yes then ikwere and co are Igbo tribe

waternogetemeny:
They are not humans but blood sucking demons. Demons enjoy wen their victim suffers.

Have they not told u dat onitsha is BENIN?

Everything is Benin and then Benin is yoruba.

Wen u think of the Benin, it is not bigger than Awka or Owerri.

A very tiny local government area.

When I heard that Onitsha thing ...I was like what the fvck is wrong with these guys and they forget that in al the states in east we have onicha


They said zik said so...I asked them is zik the igwe of Onitsha or custodians

They are terrible

Is it not the small Benin that biafran invaded with 24 hours during mid west invasion

Abagworo:
Igbos are not hated by anybody. The Yorubas and North in particular care less about Biafra unlike South-south. The whole issue is about the fate of South-south people. They prefer a Nigeria with checks and balances to Biafra where Igbos will dominate.

Igbos made it clear that it is only igboid clans that are wanted maybe Ibibio others can go to anywhere


Where crying more than the bereaved

tonychristopher:
When I heard that Onitsha thing ...I was like what the fvck is wrong with these guys and they forget that in al the states in east we have onicha

They said zik said so...I asked them is zik the igwe of Onitsha or custodians

They are terrible

Is it not the small Benin that biafran invaded with 24 hours during mid west invasion

Was it not the same small Benin whose local citizens sent your soldiers packing, less than a month after the invasion??

shachris02:
the fact still remains that irhuoha is from Edo. Ikwerre can for any word to want to mean anything.

Have you found the Benin words and culture in ikwerre


We still dey wait

Abagworo:
You quoted Wiki but Ekpeye means Akpa Ohia and they accept that. Unlike Ikwerre, Ekpeye started talking about Benin origin long time ago alongside Ogba. Ikwerre was not one of Akalaka's children and Akalaka was from Igbo part of Benin empire around Agbo.

Ogba and Ekpeye are children of Akalaka but recently in a bid to justify false claims some mischievous children of Ikwerreland started claiming that Ihuruoha is a corruption of Ikuruoda in order to lend credence to Benin links.

You see where their lies lie

Abagworo:
Igbos are not hated by anybody. The Yorubas and North in particular care less about Biafra unlike South-south. The whole issue is about the fate of South-south people. They prefer a Nigeria with checks and balances to Biafra where Igbos will dominate.

Checks and balances in Nigeria or Niger-area or where exactly?

Abagworo:
There are more Bini words in Igbo than in Ikwerre but Ikwerres have said they are not Igbo and that should be respected.

Why ?


What about the ikwerre that said and I know that say they are Igbo


That also should be respected

tonychristopher:
Now you are shooting yourself ...the same way we have Igbo that was carved into the Niger delta


So who needs you in the scheme of things ....we are almost 40 million so?

then stop shouting SS or ND! Period

RICHESTBABA:
then stop shouting SS or ND! Period

Pls remind me the tribe in the ss
Where is ss in cardinal financial point

tonychristopher:
With all these you copied ..all the names I see are Igbo names even iwuhorha the name you said is ikwerre ..tell us the meaning of the name in Benin because I know the meaning in Igbo

Also is akalaka a benin name ? Because akalaka means destiny in Benin

Tell us the Benin words in ikwerre

Oga inam waiting

georgementday:
Akalaka is a bini word it means a cup that is made of glass. It is use to conotes something frigile and beautiful

Will you stop giving every word ibo translation?
Same way you are hell bent on giving Ukwuani an ibo meaning!
Very shameless!

tonychristopher:
Pls remind me the tribe in the ss Where is ss in cardinal financial point

It's a geopolitical zone! Lol! Dullness is really a curse eh!

well, biafrans are terrorists...

VANHELLSING:
Ignorance is really a bliss for some people. Mr ignoramuse, se will be the one doing the north a favour by buying their agricultural product which we can easily import from China, Indonesia, Thailand, India etc at a cheaper rate. As for cars and spear parts, it's our specialty, we import, manufacture, assemble, fabricate and sell to other tribes in this zoo.

We the igbo is not benefiting or buying anything from the yorubas ,our relationship can be classified as parasitic, they bring nothing to the table, more than 20% of food stuff and fruits from southeast end up in lagos and other southwest state. Southeast is self sufficient in many area, apart from cow beaf and amajiri.

Lol!
Yet your forefathers couldn't feed their people with this phantom foods when Nigeria trapped them into their landlocked region during the civil war!

tonychristopher:
Pls remind me the tribe in the ss
Where is ss in cardinal financial point

u can't ever divide us because we re not tribal baboons like u greedy idioooots! Oyel grabbers! Nyesom Wike recently immortalised Yakubu Gowon - the guy who fought u guys and liberated the SS from d evil subjugation and invasion of u pple - wen he named a stadium after him (Yakubu Gowon). This is a mesage for discerning minds! Keep clear of d SS!

tonychristopher:
MY UNCLE IS FROM IKWERRE, AT WHAT POINT DID IGBO SUBDUE IKWERRE, GIVE US DATE AND TIME NOT THIS YOUR SPECULATION AND WHAT ARE THE NAMES OF THE FOUNDER OF IKWERRRE, AND ALSO TELL ME THE BENIN WORDS IN IKWERRE ALSO. THANK GOD I CAN HEAR SOME BENIN WORDS...


I AM WAITING FOR YOUR LIES..


GIVE ME THE NAMES OF IKWERRE FOUNDERS AND WHERE THEY COME FROM?
GIVE ME THE BENIN WORDS AND CULTURE IN IKWERRE.

I AM WAITING...MY IN LAW IF FROM IKWERRE AND EZEPROMOE IS ALSO FROM IKWERRE....SO WE ARE WAITING FOR YOUR FACTS AND PROVE THIS

Lol!
I thought you said your in-laws are Ukwuanis?
Sufly sufly dey lie!

tonychristopher:
THIS IJAW MAN...WHY ARE YOU WORRIED..THE AGITATTION WAS DONE IN IKWERRE LAND AND THAT IS AN IGBO LAND, THE AGITATION WAS MOVED TO ABUJA AND WILL BE MOVED TO LAGOS..IT IS THEIR RIGHT


IJAW ARE SLIMMY AND FISHY IN NATURE...PREYE GET A LIFE OR GET A KAIKAI

Wike, an Ikwere man is about to immortalise Gowon for giving them their identity while you are here shouting Ikwere is ibo! Lol!

mumu igbos always putting akwa ibom on dia map...asه if we speak stupid igbo language..i see dem as foools....u guys must b high on weeds

Abagworo will not invite me to this kind of thread, he will greedily love to post here alone and enjoy himself.

For the millionth time, Ikwerre history is not and cannot be limited to one migratory story..we know of the Okpo Wagidi story as told by some sections, but the generally accepted version is the Akalaka version as it is more encompassing and is also the origin of some other sister tribes/ethnicities.

Wether Ikwerre was Igbo in Jan 1969 and then Ikwerre in 1970 is not the issue..the Koko is the fact that overtime, long before the civil war, Ikwerres have sought several means to free themselves from the misconception being perpetuated by Igbos that Ikwerres were a part of them.

Ikwerres prior to the civil war had been members of different organisations, movements and fronts with the sole intention of breaking free and forging a separate identity..we and other minorities had fought for recognition and were still doing same until the civil war presented itself an opportunity to realise our desires

One wonders how the Igbos now assume we will relinquish our hardly fought identity because someone needs Biafra..the earlier Igbos learn to forget Ikwerre and PH, the better..Igbos should not unnecessarily put their hopes on a people who do not want to be a part of them, so that their Biafran dreams wouldn't be seen as being DOA...

Damfostopper:
mumu igbos always putting akwa ibom on dia map...asه if we speak stupid igbo language..i see dem as foools....u guys must b high on weeds

Sexuality / Re: List Out The Asewo Joints In Your Area And Share Your Sexcapades Here by

Damfostopper(m): 10:05am On Jun 24
Any brothel at akwa ibom..precisely UYO..i just came into town.....any1 knows pm me

i rest my case on people claiming ethnic group on this site.

Abagworo:
Igbos are not hated by anybody. The Yorubas and North in particular care less about Biafra unlike South-south. The whole issue is about the fate of South-south people. They prefer a Nigeria with checks and balances to Biafra where Igbos will dominate.

South -south people are not from planet pluto, they have been in the same areas since time immemorial and nothing has changed.

If they like, they can park their bag and go to Niger Republic to be closer to Hausa Fulani or Ibadan to be closer to yoruba.

Igbo want to know people that trust them and want to share nationhood with them.

Note that not everybody that desires such will be accepted.

We just dont want to live with enemies anymore.

Abagworo:

The whole issue is about the fate of South-south people. They prefer a Nigeria with checks and balances to Biafra where Igbos will dominate.

Southsouth is not a people and the minute Biafra comes, u will understand that simple fact. U are claiming south south but have not remove the igbos that make up majority of south south ethnic group.

First take out all the igbo and igboid groups and ask the Ibibio/Efik where they fall. Then you ask the Ijaws which way? Then the Urhobo?

Any group left like Bini and Itshekiri should join Oduduwa, nobody will lose sleep over that, if it is their choice.

Secondly, everybody prefer a Nigeria with checks and balances, no born to rule, no pogrom and with regard for due process to a Biafra.


The point is, we will not wait for oil to finish and the thieves from the North declare Sharia Islamic Republic and Oduduwa Republic before building our lives and looking after our people.

We will not wait, is the key word.

waternogetemeny:
i rest my case on people claiming ethnic group on this site.

When I say majority of ibo are too dull... how does the statement signifies he's no Akwaibom?

Kagawa10:
When I say majority of ibo are too dull... how does the statement signifies he's no Akwaibom?

I know u have come with another of your moniker to fight, honestly, i dont need to reply u, becos u will hide my comment and ban my moniker. u are a weak man in the physical and online.

tunjion:
Deleted by our romance section import to politics section.

pls post the link on pros of Biafra.
U can view hidden thread thru google cache

waternogetemeny:
I know u have come with another of your moniker to fight, honestly, i dont need to reply u, becos u will hide my comment and ban my moniker. u are a weak man in the physical and online.

Lol!
You definitely need some rest!

waternogetemeny:
Southsouth is not a people and the minute Biafra comes, u will understand that simple fact. U are claiming south south but have not remove the igbos that make up majority of south south ethnic group.

First take out all the igbo and igboid groups and ask the Ibibio/Efik where they fall. Then you ask the Ijaws which way? Then the Urhobo?

Any group left like Bini and Itshekiri should join Oduduwa, nobody will lose sleep over that, if it is their choice.

Secondly, everybody prefer a Nigeria with checks and balances, no born to rule, no pogrom and with regard for due process to a Biafra.


The point is, we will not wait for oil to finish and the thieves from the North declare Sharia Islamic Republic and Oduduwa Republic before building our lives and looking after our people.

We will not wait, is the key word.

Nobody is stopping ibo from relocating to their landlocked region though!
Last I checked it was you ibo that screamed genocide and begged to be allowed back when Nigeria trapped you into your beloved landlocked region during the civil war!

waternogetemeny:
South -south people are not from planet pluto, they have been in the same areas since time immemorial and nothing has changed.

If they like, they can park their bag and go to Niger Republic to be closer to Hausa Fulani or Ibadan to be closer to yoruba.

Igbo want to know people that trust them and want to share nationhood with them.

Note that not everybody that desires such will be accepted.

We just dont want to live with enemies anymore.

Lol!
Nobody is holding you people na!
However, any attempt to invade others' lands and territories like Ojukwu and his men dId in the 60's would be met with war! Don't say you weren't warned!

Abagworo:
Igbos are not hated by anybody. The Yorubas and North in particular care less about Biafra unlike South-south. The whole issue is about the fate of South-south people. They prefer a Nigeria with checks and balances to Biafra where Igbos will dominate.

LOL "checks and balances".

https://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/131106213518-nigeria-oil-spill-story-top.jpg