₦airaland Forum

It's funny seeing ijaw claiming ogbia people that don't have anything in common with them not even language, I blame Nigeria educational system and propaganda machines made by Nigeria elites..

Continue reading to know the former president ethnicity.

What's really Goodluck Jonathan's ethnic group..... ijaw or Ogbia??

the answer is given below. taje your time to digest it.
I have seen a growing tendency in Nigeria to call him “a Niger Delta,” “a Niger Delta man,” or simply “a Niger Deltan.” That is a farrago of nonsense. There is no Nigerian ethnic group called “Niger Delta.” That’s the name of a geographic region, and it is peopled by a multiplicity of ethnicities. To describe someone’s ethnicity by a facile geographic label is to partake in a thoughtless erasure of that person’s elemental identity.

People who don’t suffer the lack of cognitive complexity that makes it difficult to imagine a Nigeria outside the three major ethnic groups know and say that Goodluck Jonathan comes from the Ijaw ethnic group, reputed to be the most populous ethnic and language group in Nigeria’s deep south. But is President Jonathan really Ijaw?

Well, he is not. He comes from an ethnic and language group called Ogbia (also sometimes referred to as Ogbinya), that numbers a little over 266,000, according to the 2006 census. The Ogbia people are found mainly in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. The headquarters of their local government is also called Ogbia, which was built from the scratch by the Ogbia Brotherhood in 1972 as “a centre to unify all Ogbia people.”

The Ogbia language, apparently, isn’t a dialect of Ijaw, as many people have been misled to suppose. It is, in fact, mutually unintelligible with Ijaw, according to Professor Mobolaji E. Aluko, Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Otuoke, whose mother is Ijaw. (Otuoke is President Jonathan’s hometown).

While Ijaw belongs to the Atlantic-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family, Ogbia belongs to the Central Delta subphyla, but historians say the ancestors of the Ogbia people most likely migrated from present-day Edo State. Plus, Ogbia has its own dialects, which are all mutually intelligible, according to Ethnologue. They are Agholo (or Kolo), Oloibiri, and Anyama. As anybody who’s familiar with Nigeria’s oil exploration history would know, Oloibiri is the location of Nigeria’s first ever commercially viable oil well in 1956. Isaac Adaka Boro, the originator of Niger Delta militancy, was also from Oloibiri. It seems like, in this part of Nigeria, place and language names are one and the same.

Anyway, all evidence points to the fact that Ogbia, President Jonathan’s native language, isn’t Ijaw, nor is it even Ijoid, that is, it is not like, derived from, or related to Ijaw—like Kalabari, Dame Patience Jonathan’s language, is. It also turns out that some Ogbia people resent being classified as Ijaw. I recently happened on an online rant by a person named Agoro Eni-yimini that captures this sentiment. In a short post titled “EPIE AND OGBIA ARE NOT IJAW AND CANNOT BE IJAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,” he wrote: “The diversity of languages spoken in Bayelsa State is an indication that it is a state composing of [sic] many nationalities. It is a falsehood of the greatest order for anyone to claim that Ijaw is an umbrella body of so many languages.” He said Ogbia and Epie people (apparently, Epie is another Edoid language in Bayelsa) are “miles apart in culture and language” with the Ijaw and concluded that “any Epie or Ogbia man that [calls] himself an Ijaw is a fool and his ancestor will be sad.”

Well, if President Jonathan is Ogbia, why is he often called an Ijaw? I don’t know for sure, and no one seems to have grappled with this question. But I suspect that we can blame it on the lingering legacies of colonialism. It’s a well-known fact that because British colonialists couldn’t deal with all the labyrinthine messiness of our ethnic complexity, they arbitrarily grouped divergent people and encouraged them to cherish a fictive collective identity. This was done purely for colonial administrative convenience. That’s how the Yoruba identity was born. That’s how notions of Igboness as a collective identity emerged. That’s how Hausa became the lingua franca of the north. And that’s how Nigeria’s tripodal ethnic reductionism came about.

Of course, we all know that unlike northern and western minorities who accepted Hausa and Yoruba as their lingua franca (with the exception of Benue and Edo people who resisted Hausa and Yoruba respectively), ethnic minorities in Nigeria’s deep south resisted learning or identifying as Igbo. So the colonialists chose to construct a hitherto non-existent collective Ijaw identity and encourage smaller, even if unrelated, ethnic groups to belong to it. That’s how Ogbia, an Edoid people, became Ijaw.
But as we saw from the online rant I quoted above, Ogbia people are now asserting their identity. They are calling attention to their ethnic and linguistic singularities.
For instance, in an August 8, 2009 lecture titled “Need for a Renaissance of the Contemporary Ogbia Society” at the Annual General Meeting of the Ogbaka Club of Ogbia, a Dr. Edmond A. Allison-Oguru who teaches agricultural economics and rural sociology at the Niger Delta University, recalled the struggles of early Ogbia nationalists whom he said worked hard to compel colonial administrators to excise Ogbia-speaking people from the then Southern Ijaw Native Authority to the Ogbia Native Authority in 1951, a mere 9 years before independence. He also lamented the loss of pride in and ownership of Ogbia language and culture in contemporary times.

Now, here is the rub: in spite of all the struggles for Ogbia self-definition and reassertion, in all of his official documents, including his CV
(culled from facebook)

Mynd44, this is history

Where's we the south south crew? We the Niger delta?

Where's the "we the 4th" largest ethnic group?

See una live even the the small tiny population bayelsa Edoid group outnumbered you and became your governor.

Like I said south south is equal to Edo except cross river and akwa ibom, the rest are Edoid.

TonyeBarcanista AdaFonju comma see

So ogbia people are Edoid And I am sure you are from Edo state

God bless all Edoid ethnic groups.

Epie Ogbia, anioma, urhobo, isoko, esan, akoko, Bini and co.

Keep making us proud.

It's funny how ijaw claim to be 4th largest ethnic group but Edoid outnumbered them in any state that they are.

Delta... Anioma, urhobo, isoko are all Edoid and all outnumbered them single handedly.

Ondo.. the Edo stocks there outnumbered them there.

Bayelsa.. Edoid group are like 40_60% there.

River.. even though ikwerre aren't recognise as Edo even though they claim us they still outnumbered them, even ogba people.

Land grabbers always listen to live transmission of lies from the undisputed coward himself who's hiding in the Holy Land.

The brainwashed supporters of the coward will quickly close their shops at Upper (Opi) Iweka and logging to nairaland and start grunting, much like an angry pig.


The Niger Delta region is not part of your agitation, leave us alone.

JasonScoolari:
Land grabbers always listen to live transmission of lies from the undisputed coward himself who's hiding in the Holy Land.

The brainwashed supporters of the coward will quickly close their shops at Upper (Opi) Iweka and logging to nairaland and start grunting, much like an angry pig.


The Niger Delta region is not part of your agitation, leave us alone.

did you even read anything? This isn't about Igbo.

Iwillbegreat:
did you even read anything? This isn't about Igbo.

Where in my comment did you see me calling out any tribe.

Please use your brain next time.

Vinstel:
So ogbia people are Edoid And I am sure you are from Edo state

I found another article.

.
THE HISTORY OF OGBIA

THE HISTORY OF OGBIA KINGDOM

Ogbia kingdom is founded by Ogbeyan who originated from Benin. His two sons namely Okoroma and Oloi ventured into the present site of Ogbia kingdom, after the death of their father.
Later the two children hosted other immigrants namely Obutoru, Tarabiri, Oboloma, and other miscellaneous groups to constitute sic major ethnic groups in Ogbia kingdom.
There are Oloi group, Okoroma, Tarakiri, Oboloma, Obutoru, and the miscellaneous group called Odinade.
Otoi group consists of the following villages; Oloibiri, Otnabo, Otuogidi, Otabi, Otakeme, Otuogidi, Omorokeni, Emeyal I, Emeyal II, Otuaseiga, Elebele, Otuoke, Otuaba, Ewoi and also Otuedi.
On the other hand the Okoroma villages are; Otuabagi, Kolo I, Kolo II, Kolo III, Imirigi, Otuagire II, Emadike, Owoma, Otuakpein, Otnaganagu, Okiri, Ologoghe, Aidyasara, Owuebu, Otuogori, Otwagire I and Otuokpoti.
The Taraki group migrated from Diobin area in Southern Ijaw. The villages are; Okodi, Ologi, and Ayakoro.
The Oboloma group came from Oboloma in Nembe. The villages are Oruma dn Ibelebiri. The Obutoru came from the deserted town of Obutoru in Akassa Koloama area. The villages is Epebu. The Odinade group immigrated from different points to the deserted Ebela kingdom. The villages are Opunde Emakaka, Akipelai and Idema. All these groups are loyal to Ogbeyan as the founder of Ogbia kingdom.
Traditionally, the Ogbai man is an agriculturalist women are farmers practicing subsistence system of farming while the men are palm cutters. Fishing is not a major occupation of the Ogbia man. During the era of the slave trade, the Ogbia man mostly the Chiefs were capturing slaves in their respective domains and selling them to the Nembe traders who in-turn sold them to the white-men. As a result of this slave trade business, the people settle in hideout in the forest to avoid raiding of the buyers. Hence Ogbia kingdom is having scattered settlement.
With the abolition of the slave trade and establishment of the Oil trade, the Ogbia man fully participated in the trade. They were middle men between the oil producers and the whitte-men. Nembe middle men who ventured into Ogbia had serious confrontations with the Ogbia Chiefs and middlemen.
As a follow up, Ogbia middlemen also purchased canons and arms from the white-men at Bonney, Brass and Akassa. Such confrontations however led to series of wars with the Nembe middlemen. Prominent among them were the wars between the Nembe middlemen and Opume, Oloibiri, Okiki and Amyama respectively. These wars led to the desertion of towns like Otuobhuom and Otuaki. Unlike the Okoroma district unit, Ogbia kingdom was not colonized by the Nembe forces; only that Nembe influence affected some of the village in Oloibiri group.
Spread of Christianity
Christianity spread into Ogbia kingdom between 1900 to 1920. there was no serious confrontation with the idol worshipers. It is because the Ogbia men had the belief that the world was created by the Almighty God; hence, Ogbia had not national deity like other areas in Niger Delta.
The spread of Christianity into Ogbia was through two major routes namely Okari in Engenne and also through Akassa/Brass by the Nembe missionaries. Generally the spread of Christianity into Ogbia greatly minimized the frequent inter village wars or confrontations with the Nembe traders. Also Nembe influence was greatly entrenched into Ogbia culture because most of the missionaries were Nembe Christians.
Colonial Administration
With the revocation of the chatter of the Royal Niger Company and the establishment of the British Rule in Nigeria in 1900, the British ventured into Ogbia kingdom. Oloibiri was the seat of Government.
The first thing they did was to recognized some warrant Chiefs such as Apata Amangala, Chief Amakaro Onwiga and Chief Obonin.
Subsequently, three customary courts were established at Oloibiri (1929), Emeyal (1936), and Amyama (1937) respectively. Later these three courts were recognized as clan centers.
Oloibiri clan consists of Oloibiri, Otuabo, Otnogidi, Otuabi, Otakeme, Otabagi, Otmegila, Opume, Emakalakala, Akipelai, Idema, Oturabala I, Oturabala II, Ewoi, Otuaba, Otuoke and Idema.
Emeyal clan consists of Amorakeni, Kolo I, Kolo II, Kolo III, Emeyal I, Emeyal II, Elebele, Imiringi, Otuasega, Oruma, Ibelebiri and Otuegwe II.
The Amyama grou also consist of Emadike, Epebu, Ewoma, Okiki, Ologoghe, Otuobhi, Anyama, Otnedu, Ologi, Ayakoro, Onimbur, Otuogori, Otuegwe I, and Otuokpoti.
Also other administratively, Ogbia was brought together with the headquarters at Oloibiri, the status of our kings were relegated to the background. They owe allegiance to the British Residence at Brass.
Name of Some Eminent Chief/ Leaders in Ogbia
Chief Apata Amangala of Oloibiri
Chief Iworiso of Opume
Oto of Akipelai
Anzakwro Onunga of Kolo
Ekpodidi of Emeyal
Obonin of Imiringi
Isaiah Awudese of Kolo
Chief Amos of Imiringi
Odogu of Otakeme
Chief William Owyewe
Agbori of Okodi
Chief Paul Nathan
Chief M. N. Dangosu
HRM Rev. George Amangala
HRM Modork Ogbogi (Oloibiri)
Chief Alex Malford Okilo
HRM King George A. Lawson of Kolo Creek
HRM King Theophilus of Amyama.
Culture
The belief of the Ogbia man about the creator is that the Almighty God created the Ogbia kingdom. This is the reason why Ogbia kingdom had no national deity like the Nembe group. That the first people created were a tortoise (Odughul) and a species of frog traditionally called Anu petupe.
Traditionally, there are nature spirits. Among them is the was gods such as Osokolo of Otuasega, Ekpe of Imiringi, Okueduin of Kolo, Ikpesu of Amyana, Egirandi of Otuokpoti and Obenari of Oloibiri. Another is the spirit that gives wealth to people such as Amanywota. Since the Ogbia’s does not have a national deity, they have not common festival. However, the Odinade group celebrates the Eyala Otudul signifying the desertion of Ebela kingdom and also Eyal Odemi ran of Otuoke at Iyiakpokizo in Otuoke striving to unite.
Traditionally, like other places, Ogbia kingdom had similar beliefs about bush and water spirits. Generally in Ogbia, people do not go to bush on every 4th day called Ake. It is believed that spirit like Egbafido moves about on that day. This belief started at Ebela bush wehre the deserted Ebala kingdom stationed. On that day, the dead people of Ebila kingdom emerged to plant about. However such beliefs are gradually dying away because of the rapid spread of Christianity. Similarly, the water spirits called mamiwota existed which was purported to have been bringing wealth to people. Occasionally, sacrifices have been offered to them as to appease the spirits.
Ogbia kingdom also had mask display like the Odemimorm of Otuoke and Agelepele of Kolo. They are traditional play to gladdens the people mind. Generally in Ogbia, masquerades is more of dancing except the odemimon festival of Otuoke which is to some extent related to their culture. There is not general festival in Ogbi. Only that the Odinade group celebrated the Eyal Odudal-Ogbia in march/April, the Kolo creek celebrated a fishing festival in April and the Otuoke people celebrated Odemirom in October.
Traditionally, ancestors in Ogbia are though to have power and influence over the living who must perform prescribe ritual duties towards the ancestors lest they be displaced. If a person fails to perform his duties, the ancestors may make them sick but if he is in trouble, it can appear to him in a dream and suggest a remedy.
Divination – it is among the tradition of the people of Ogbia. Diviners has power to diagnoses illness or misfortune by determine what spirit or ancestor may have been offended and also look for a possible remedy.
There are three types of marriages that is recognized by the people of Ogbia kingdom. There are the love marriage where only drinks are served; traditionally marriage where the dowry is paid and finally the wedding church or court. Ogbia has a rich cultural heritage in terms of inheritance, the culture of Ogbia is simple and clear to inherit a chieftaincy stool, i.e paternal, it is always the first male childe. For a women, it is the first female of the women. In terms of properties, it is only males that inherit properties of the father. The same is also applicable for women.
In Ogbia, the economic mainstay of the people is farming for women and palm cutting for men fishing lumbering, canoe carving are hobbies. Local gin is distilled by Ogonigi and Ibibios. There are different categories of leaders in the clan of Ogbia. There are the Obanema (king), compound chiefs, family chiefs and the ordinary chiefs. The Obanema is paternal from the Royal Family. To day the Royal Family system is fading away. Compound chiefs and family chiefs are also paternal. Mostly an elder and responsible figure is chosen. The ordinary chiefs are those who buy the title because of their wealth. In Ogbia kingdom, we have three first class chiefs, six second class and ten third class chiefs all recognized by the government. There are all being elected to govern their respective zones and their functions are administrative, judicial and some traditional functions.


Posted 13th September 2012 by Joseph Egba

Mynd44 lalasticlalsa

This is educating

Edodefender:
It's funny how ijaw claim to be 4th largest ethnic group but Edoid outnumbered them in any state that they are.

Delta... Anioma, urhobo, isoko are all Edoid and all outnumbered them single handedly.

Ondo.. the Edo stocks there outnumbered them there.

Bayelsa.. Edoid group are like 40_60% there.

River.. even though ikwerre aren't recognise as Edo even though they claim us they still outnumbered them, even ogba people.

Which ondo?

Pigsandidiots:
Which ondo?

you think only Yoruba are in south west abi?

I have been having this feeling that once those old Bini princes were given "holidays" in one of those tribes, when they come back to Benin, they will go and write it in their little "history book" that they founded such tribes.

point of correction Isaac Adaka Boro is from kaima and not from ogbia

1diot shut up ur mouth, m from Oloibiri and m proudly Ijaw. Useless thread. To hell with your divide and rule tactics. We all belong to IYC. We have similiarities in our dialect. Aziba, Ayiba, they all mean same, padlock is called Igodo both in Nembe. So ur argument is neither here nor there.

What is the motive of this godforsaken topic.
Ijaw or Ogbia?Does it reduce his status as a former president of this country, the highest political office in the land?
Does it change the fact that your generational lineage has/will never attain such height?
Does it change the fact that he his a pride of the Niger Delta region?
What balderdash!

Trash

Binikingdowm:
Where's we the south south crew? We the Niger delta?

Where's the "we the 4th" largest ethnic group?

See una live even the the small tiny population bayelsa Edoid group outnumbered you and became your governor.

Like I said south south is equal to Edo except cross river and akwa ibom, the rest are Edoid.

TonyeBarcanista AdaFonju comma see

honestly Edo belongs to south west , i never regard edo as south south, imagine a south-south state(edo) sharing boundary with kogi state....lmao

NNEWIsuper:
honestly Edo belongs to south west , i never regard edo as south south, imagine a south-south state(edo) sharing boundary with kogi state....lmao

Igbo man you belong to Cameroon.

Historically and culturally Igbo are Bantu people, we don't regard you as Nigeria and Your tribe will never rule this country.

Better migrate to Cameroon

Binikingdowm:
Igbo man you belong to Cameroon.

Historically and culturally Igbo are Bantu people, we don't regard you as Nigeria and Your tribe will never rule this country.

Better migrate to Cameroon

as if your own tribe bini don rule Nigeria, why drink panadol for another person headache..we do not need to be president ..we control Nigeria economically already, even in your village we rule over u there


for the records you are not south-south...kiss the truth

NNEWIsuper:
as if your own tribe bini don rule Nigeria, why drink panadol for another person headache..we do not need to be president ..we control Nigeria economically already, even in your village we rule over u there


for the records you are not south-south...kiss the truth

mr developer, didn't you see the thread saying Jonathan was Edoid? There are many past head of state and vice president that was from Edo.

You igbos don't control anything except littering the place with dirty.

How can the lowest contributor to the economy be the developer?

Binikingdowm:
[s]mr developer, didn't you see the thread saying Jonathan was Edoid? There are many past head of state and vice president that was from Edo.

You igbos don't control anything except littering the place with dirty.

How can the lowest contributor to the economy be the developer?[/s]

inferiority complex and illiteracy de worry u...no tribe in Nigeria is called Edoid, lmao...between (ebele) in jonathan's middle name is igbo , same reason we dominated his government...

Binikingdowm:
mr developer, didn't you see the thread saying Jonathan was Edoid? There are many past head of state and vice president that was from Edo.

You igbos don't control anything except littering the place with dirty.

How can the lowest contributor to the economy be the developer?

you are living in denial ..if we leave Edo state it will collapse when its citizens are either doing prostitution in italy, doing witch craft or one other yeye thing...Edo is cursed
some pics of EDO STATE below

Edo is a dirty state..this is an abattoir in EDO..such a dirty environment

no sane human will want to marry from edo state because of all the negativities .....Edo is cursed

NNEWIsuper:
inferiority complex and illiteracy de worry u...no tribe in Nigeria is called Edoid, lmao...between (ebele) in jonathan's middle name is igbo , same reason we dominated his government...

yawn ebele also have a meaning in Edo.

NNEWIsuper:
you are living in denial ..if we leave Edo state it will collapse when its citizens are either doing prostitution in italy, doing witch craft or one other yeye thing...Edo is cursed
some pics of EDO STATE below

you don't want to start tribal bashing it won't end well.

Just better let it die off

According to Edo people, every tribe in the south is Edoiod. To them, Yorubas, Igbos, Ijaws, Isoko, Kalabari etc are all from Edo yet they are not even recognized as part of SS.

IamAtikulate:
According to Edo people, every tribe in the south is Edoiod. To them, Yorubas, Igbos, Ijaws, Isoko, Kalabari etc are all from Edo yet they are not even recognized as part of SS.

Yoruba aren't Edo, Igbo are Bantu claiming Nigeria.

Isoko are Edoid.

Ss is a,geopolitical term and Edo is recognised as part of it

Edodefender:
It's funny how ijaw claim to be 4th largest ethnic group but Edoid outnumbered them in any state that they are.

Delta... Anioma, urhobo, isoko are all Edoid and all outnumbered them single handedly.

Ondo.. the Edo stocks there outnumbered them there.

Bayelsa.. Edoid group are like 40_60% there.

River.. even though ikwerre aren't recognise as Edo even though they claim us they still outnumbered them, even ogba people.

How do Edoid outnumber Ijaw when you pointed out that Ogbia people are about 260,000 people in Bayalsa?

Jonathan's grandfather is an Igbo man from Arochukwu that settled in Otuoke.

Edodefender:
It's funny how ijaw claim to be 4th largest ethnic group but Edoid outnumbered them in any state that they are.

Delta... Anioma, urhobo, isoko are all Edoid and all outnumbered them single handedly.

Ondo.. the Edo stocks there outnumbered them there.

Bayelsa.. Edoid group are like 40_60% there.

River.. even though ikwerre aren't recognise as Edo even though they claim us they still outnumbered them, even ogba people.

Oga when did Anioma and Ikwerre become Edoid group?