₦airaland Forum

Ariani:
Your Efik/ Ibibio, Isoko/ Urhobo, Esan/ Bini, comparison to the Igbo/Ikwerre situation is flawed, and I had explained this time and again to you, yet you won't drop it.

At no time did the colonials identify Isoko and Urhobo as being one stock, the Isokos emphasized on their uniqueness from the word go, to the British, they( Isoko) were addressed as Igaboh by the British, and the Urhobos as Sobo, there was never a time the Sobo and Igaboh were recognized as same people by the colonials, rather they were recognized as related people. The same applies to Efik and Ibibio, Esan and Bini, these people emphasized their distinctiveness from each other from the very beginning.



This is not same with Ikwerre. Ikwerre at no time emphasized their distinctiveness to the colonials from other Igbo tribes like ndoki and Asa, they were called Ikwerre-Ibo, just as the Ndoki were called Ndoki- Ibo, Asa-Igbo, Ngwa-Ibo, the term "Ibo" was a generic term for all Igbo speaking.

The appropriate example to the Igbo / Ikwerre issue, will be Urhobo/ Okpe issue or Ogoni/ Eleme issue.

Ikwerre can be what ever they want to be today, but they must not tamper with the past. They must accept that their Ikwerre ethnic nationality has it's root in the civil war, they must accept that there was a time they voluntarily went as Ibo like the Rest of Ibo speaking people, and that this identity wasn't forced on them anymore than it was forced on the Ezza man.
They must stop this their lies against Ndiigbo, like the such this OP is propagating here.

Ossai is an Igbo name answered even by Nsukka people in Enugu state, Obi is in no way related to Ovie, Obi is an Igbo word, Osakwe is an Igbo name even found in Igbo hinterlands in Idemili/ Anaocha/ Njikoka areas of Anambra. It's an abridged version of the name Olisakwe.

jmoore:
Who is saying that Ikwerre is not in Rivers State? Indigenous Igbos are not only found in South eastern states.

baba11:
So igbos are not jew again..they are found everywhere

jmoore:
Just giving you a little education to cure your ignorance. Is there any state named Rivers state by the year 1960?

chrisxxx:
You will only understand to some extent Ikwerre spoken in PH. Ikwerre of Emuoha will sound Greek to you to you.

Ariani:
He is likely to be an Ikwerre guy. Those people are so irrational.

You should join the Ikwerre facebook page and get first hand experience of how the average Ikwerre youth reasons.

You will see all kinds of beliefs that defy logic that these people have.
One of them said that his Choba parents told him that after the Nigerian forces invaded Choba and Igbo people fled Choba deserting their homes and property, that Choba citizens broke into Igbo homes and found in Igbo homes, documents detailing how Igbos planned to rename Choba, impose an Igbo ruler in Choba, and then evacuate Choba people from Choba, to Igboland and replace them with Igbos from Igboland.

The Guy that was saying this is in his thirties o! And he swore that his parents told him the story and that the story is sacrosanct!


You can imagine the level of folly plaquing those people, and how their mind work.


When I asked him for a print version of the said document, he said that there was no need for a print version, that All Choba people testified to this fact, and that the oral version as it were, is good enough evidence.You can imagine the level of mass brainwashing that took place there.
When I pressed more to show me the document, he got angry and started cursing me, calling me names like Isoma, land grabber and all what not. It's really a pathetic situation.

Ikwerre Igbo denial thrives on irrational falsehoods made up by their parents, and swallowed hook, line and sinker by their irrational youths.

chrisxxx:
In the interview with President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ralph Uwechue, published in the Daily Sun March 10, the President was asked what efforts he was making to unite Igbo in Rivers and Delta states, he said: “First of all, it should be understood that these factions who now deny the fact they are Igbo did so only after the civil war; take for instance the Ikwerre people… fully identified with us during the pre-civil war era but because the Igbo lost the civil war, a kind of stigma was smeared on them making a lot of people to start adjusting their names to sound less Igbo…”. This statement is misleading and not correct.

First of all, Ikwerre is not Igbo. We have made this clear even before the civil war and that was why some Igbo accused Ikwerre of sabotage during the war. Second, in all efforts by the minorities in the former Eastern region to agitate for their own political, social and economic recognition and liberty in the Eastern region and Nigeria at large, Ikwerre participated fully: hence, the late Chief E. J. A. Oriji and others represented Ikwerre before and during most of the conferences set up to address the fears of the minority ethnic groups in Nigeria. Third, in May 1963, Ikwerre people formed the Ogbakor Ikwerre Convention to state that Ikwerre is a distinct ethnic group from any others in Nigeria. Fourth, in the 1964/65 elections into the Federal House of Representatives, National Council of Nigeria and the Camerouns (NCNC) nominated an Igbo man named Mr. Eluguronu to represent Ikwerre in the House. Ikwerre rejected it and fielded young Nwobidike Nwanodi as an independent candidate and he won. Fifth, Ikwerre’s participation in all the movements for the creation of COR and later Rivers States clearly shows Ikwerre’s rejection of been Igbo.

Let the point be made that right from about the 16th century, the Igbo has been in touch with Ikwerre (through slave trade, Arochuku activities, goods trading, hiring of labour for farm work, marriages and politics) and had always wanted to dominate, colonise and take over Ikwerre at all cost and by all means possible. This is natural especially where the dominated people are better endowed than the colonising power, coupled with the ever tendency of a bigger group to swallow a smaller one and whenever the latter refuses, the former resorts to cheap propaganda. That is exactly what Chief Uwechue and Ohanaeze Ndigbo are bent on doing to Ikwerre. In this unholy enterprise, they appear confused: for example, while some of them claim that Ikwerre sabotaged the Biafra project, Uwechue has said that Ikwerre did not. Truly, Ikwerre did not, just like every other minority ethnic group in the former Eastern region. How could we when the Igbo were in absolute control of the region? So, we fought for Biafra. When another colonising super power (Nigerian forces) arrived, Ikwerre had no option than to surrender and cooperate with them. Hence, Ikwerre actually fought the war on and for both sides.

After the war, some of the ill activities of the Igbo in Ikwerre were corrected. In the case of names, the Igbo first changed the original Ikwerre names into Igbo names in an attempt to force Ikwerre to become Igbo. So at the end of the war, some Ikwerre decided to assert their original names; hence, Igirita was changed to Igwuruta, Isoba was changed to Choba, Amaweke was changed to Rumuokwuta, etc. Even individuals suffered the same humiliation when their names were forcefully changed from Ovunda to Obinna for example. Even the original name of the Ikwerre ethnic group, which is Iwheruoha was changed to Ikwerre by the Igbo. Some names have been retained (like my surname) to reflect part of the Ikwerre colonial journey, just like a Yoruba Nigerian bearing the name Matthew. Does this make the Yoruba man an English man? No!

On a more serious note, if the Igbo insists that Ikwerre is Igbo, they should provide concrete sociological and historical evidences to prove their case beyond the whimsical factors of appearance, language and name, which no longer can correctly and truly define a people in today’s world.

Kc3000:
[b]If Ikwerre doesn't want to be seen as Igbo, that's fine and dandy. But please do not vilify the rest of the Igbo to justify your stance. We are all free to be whoever we wish to be, but just spare us these phantom tales of Igbo trying to strangle you in your sleep or whatever fables you think are necessary to affirm your position. We don't need it.

You'll have to admit, it's not always the Igbos fault for mistaking you as a fellow Igbo. Your spoken language and culture betray the Igbo within you, so if not told otherwise, the average Igbo might mistake you for a fellow Igbo. Besides, some of the wiser Ikwerres insist on maintaining an Igbo identity. You will see them actively involved in Ohaneze and other Igbo organizations.

To further complicate matters, from personal experience, I've known Ikwerres who balk at the notion of being Igbo, but are quick to remind you that "we are all Igbo" whenever they feel its favorable to them. They keep their Igbo identity in the back pocket and whenever it's suitable or profitable to them they can always play that card. The typical Igbo, bearing no animosity to them would always identify with the Ikwerre whenever he comes flashing his Igbo card.

When Chibuike Amaechi came to campaign for Buhari in Aba last year, he was holding his Igbo card sky high for all to see...declaring that after all he is Igbo and Goodluck Jonathan is not. I had never known Amaechi to demonstrate any interest in Igbo affairs(to be fair, I've never heard him deny being Igbo either),but for the avoidance of doubt and to gain what he came to seek he surely declared himself a full blooded Igbo man that day.
[/b]

booblacain:
Do you Ikweres have root ikwere surnames that do not look or sound like igbo? Please help with some examples. I think that is one good way of asserting if you guys are really distinct, or did the igbos change your surnames as well?

Amaechi: I’m Igbo. Jonathan who says his name is Azikiwe can’t speak the language


Rotimi Amaechi, Rivers state governor, on Friday declared that he was Igbo and[b] could speak the language[/b] while President Goodluck Jonathan whose other name is Azikiwe could not.
Speaking before a crowd of supporters at the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign in Aba, Abia state, Amaechi said: I am a bona fide Igbo man.
“My name is Amaechi, but President Jonathan who says his name is Azikiwe cannot speak the Igbo language.”
“He says his name Ebele; let him speak Igbo and let us see.”

Kc3000:
[b]If Ikwerre doesn't want to be seen as Igbo, that's fine and dandy. But please do not vilify the rest of the Igbo to justify your stance. We are all free to be whoever we wish to be, but just spare us these phantom tales of Igbo trying to strangle you in your sleep or whatever fables you think are necessary to affirm your position. We don't need it.

You'll have to admit, it's not always the Igbos fault for mistaking you as a fellow Igbo. Your spoken language and culture betray the Igbo within you, so if not told otherwise, the average Igbo might mistake you for a fellow Igbo. Besides, some of the wiser Ikwerres insist on maintaining an Igbo identity. You will see them actively involved in Ohaneze and other Igbo organizations.

To further complicate matters, from personal experience, I've known Ikwerres who balk at the notion of being Igbo, but are quick to remind you that "we are all Igbo" whenever they feel its favorable to them. They keep their Igbo identity in the back pocket and whenever it's suitable or profitable to them they can always play that card. The typical Igbo, bearing no animosity to them would always identify with the Ikwerre whenever he comes flashing his Igbo card.

When Chibuike Amaechi came to campaign for Buhari in Aba last year, he was holding his Igbo card sky high for all to see...declaring that after all he is Igbo and Goodluck Jonathan is not. I had never known Amaechi to demonstrate any interest in Igbo affairs(to be fair, I've never heard him deny being Igbo either),but for the avoidance of doubt and to gain what he came to seek he surely declared himself a full blooded Igbo man that day.
[/b]

mbatuku2:
This is a man saying the truth from the subconscious but pretending he was lying. He didn't call himself Igbo, he said he was a bonafide Igbo(read: I might be denying in public, but I know I am inside).

Ariani:
I know what Isoma means. And no! To the Ikwerre, Isoma is anyone that speaks Igbo dialect, that they are sure is not Ikwerre dialect.

Ikwerres don't call kalabaris , Okrikas, Ogonis Isoma, only the Igbos.

No, the Ngwa doesn't call any non Ngwa ohuhu. The person must be a non Ngwa and also Igbo speaking to qualify to be called Ohuhu.

Ngwas don't call their Annang neighbors Ohuhu, they call them "Mmoghu", because they know that they speak a language that is not only non Ngwa, but also non intelligible to Ngwa.

Ikwerres don't call Hausa Isoma, only the Igbos.

Ariani:
As an Ikwerre man you could be stoned and lynched for speaking your dialect in Port Harcourt City before the war my dad told me.

The average Ikwerre man is so intellectually lazy and incapable of rational thoughts.

How exactly could the above happen without a single recorded documentation of it by local and foreign print media?
How exactly is that possible? Do all Igbo people speak same dialect? Which dialect of Igbo was forced on Ikwerre? Oguta dialect of Nzimiro? Onitsha dialect of Zik? Ohuhu Umuahia dialect of Okpara? Idemili dialect of Achebe? Ehugbo dialect of Ibiam?

Does it even occur to the Ikwerre that Igbos speak in distinct but closely related dialects, that Igbo Izugbe is an artificial language created for Igbo language studies only but not spoken by any Igbo clan?


If you have any bit of rationality and any iota of logical thinking, you would know that your parents were pathological liars, and that no such things as lynching an Ikwerre man in PortHarcourt for speaking Ikwerre dialect occured. Izugbe is wat doz fools call igbo LANGUAGE!

Kc3000:
[b]If Ikwerre doesn't want to be seen as Igbo, that's fine and dandy. But please do not vilify the rest of the Igbo to justify your stance. We are all free to be whoever we wish to be, but just spare us these phantom tales of Igbo trying to strangle you in your sleep or whatever fables you think are necessary to affirm your position. We don't need it.

You'll have to admit, it's not always the Igbos fault for mistaking you as a fellow Igbo. Your spoken language and culture betray the Igbo within you, so if not told otherwise, the average Igbo might mistake you for a fellow Igbo. Besides, some of the wiser Ikwerres insist on maintaining an Igbo identity. You will see them actively involved in Ohaneze and other Igbo organizations.

To further complicate matters, from personal experience, I've known Ikwerres who balk at the notion of being Igbo, but are quick to remind you that "we are all Igbo" whenever they feel its favorable to them. They keep their Igbo identity in the back pocket and whenever it's suitable or profitable to them they can always play that card. The typical Igbo, bearing no animosity to them would always identify with the Ikwerre whenever he comes flashing his Igbo card.

When Chibuike Amaechi came to campaign for Buhari in Aba last year, he was holding his Igbo card sky high for all to see...declaring that after all he is Igbo and Goodluck Jonathan is not. I had never known Amaechi to demonstrate any interest in Igbo affairs(to be fair, I've never heard him deny being Igbo either),but for the avoidance of doubt and to gain what he came to seek he surely declared himself a full blooded Igbo man that day.
[/b]

chrisxxx:
To all Ibos on this forum.
Would you people accept being called Ikwerre people? We have no problem with you saying you are Ikwerre. However in a very strong term: The Ikwerres are not Ibos.
You people have always claimed that Ikwerre disassociated themselves after the civil war. You are correct! Even Nigeria as a country got liberated from the clutches of your overbearing dominance after the civil war. The appendages of your attempted colonization of Ikwerre people and at large the Niger Delta people still litter around. In our courts you were the magistrates, lawyers and everything. As an Ikwerre man you could be stoned and lynched for speaking your dialect in Port Harcourt City before the war my dad told me. We had no choice than the Hobson's choice of pretentious oneness. Come to the street of Port Harcourt and see streets named after our 'colonial masters' the Ibos. You could hardly find a street named after an Ikwerre man. Do you own Port Harcourt? You maligned us, subjugated us and the most demeaning was changing our community names. All Rumu to Umu, Nwo to Nwa and so on. We could take same revenge the Hausas took on you people if we had the wits for our brilliant sons and daughters you people killed prior and during the war.
It was no surprising the Ikwere people and Niger Deltans welcome with tumultuous joy the liberation and arrival of the Nigerian soldiers during the war.
Our language are similar to some extent and I will tell you the reasons. It is only the diluted Ikwerre languages of the Obio/Akpor LGA and Port Harcourt LGA that have some distant similarities due to inter-trading and inter-marriages. Emuoha LGA and Ikwerre LGA have a lot similarities with the old Bini Kingdom. These two LGA are closer to yours in terms of land border, incidentally their words sound Binin does it not ring bells to your ears that Ikwerre is not part of you?
Do you know that Ibo language was compulsorily taught and learnt in schools in present Rivers State before the war? Was it same practice in your region? This goes a lengthy way to prove that you cant teach a people their language. You only teach people a strange language. This is to prove we (Ikwerre) are not Ibo. We are not xenophobic, we welcome you people to the Ikwerre Ethnic nationality if you would want to claim our nationality.
Elechi Amadi may your humble and enlightened soul rest in peace. You only wrote, put in writing what our parents told us verbally for posterity and record purposes in your 'Sunset in Biafra'. Believe me as well the sun has perpetually set in Biafra.

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lltZjY0creA

booblacain:
Do you Ikweres have root ikwere surnames that do not look or sound like igbo? Please help with some examples. I think that is one good way of asserting if you guys are really distinct, or did the igbos change your surnames as well?

Ariani:
No. He has a point. It is believed by some that the current Igbos in parts of Imo and Abia once inhabited the current Cross River area, but were gradually pushed into their current area by the current occupants of the Cross Rivers area, he(Abagworo) was probably insinuating that Ikwerre ancestors were part of that great Igbo cross riverian migration, along side their "Isoma" neighbors.

Atleast that's what I think he meant.

SlayerSupreme:
Chrisxxx answer this questions. Bigmillz help your brother. Tell us the -
(1) Bini words in your language.

(2) Bini culture in your culture.

(3) Bini religion in your religion.

(4) Bini dress in your attire.

(5) Bini physical appearance in your appearance.

(6) Bini names in your names.

(7) Bini things in your things.

Oracle16:
I am igbo but I don't believe the Ikweres are igbos because, they are lazy, dull and look more like hausa. Please Ikwere is Ikwere, Igbo is Igbo. I am highly and proudly Igbo. Thank God I am not a brain washed and lazy Ikwere

mbatuku2:
But do you agree that you are Igbo-speaking?

You don't just claim We are not Igbo, without solid proofs. Anyone can claim to be this or not that.

Language, culture and religion keeps pointing to the fact that you are Igbo. And you just look like a little boy lying to his mother. All available evidence says you are Igbo.

Bigmillz:
How do we speak your language? Wat make my dialect Igbo language? How is our culture similar to you guys? We and you people have nothing in common

mbatuku2:
It's intelligible to any Igbo-speaking group. No edoid group can even hear you.

No one needs you but we are only trying to point out that you are clearly lying about your identity.

Bigmillz:
but ur sisters are all over the streets of pH begging to marry one. Bro wise up. We are not Igbos and I don't know why its paining you pipo

Ariani:
No. He has a point. It is believed by some that the current Igbos in parts of Imo and Abia once inhabited the current Cross River area, but were gradually pushed into their current area by the current occupants of the Cross Rivers area, he(Abagworo) was probably insinuating that Ikwerre ancestors were part of that great Igbo cross riverian migration, along side their "Isoma" neighbors.

Atleast that's what I think he meant.

Bigmillz:
we and the bini hav similar festival celebration.
(2) we and de Binis have same type of cultural wear
(3) we de paramount rulers of the Ikwerre clan have a serious meeting it's been held in the oba of Benin palace.

And many more I can't mention