₦airaland Forum

Nice

RedboneSmith:
I have said this before, and I will keep saying it. Not every community that claims Benin origin today was making that claim 70 years ago or more. People don't understand that oral tradition is for ever changing in response to the changing political atmosphere.

Benin people on this forum never get tired of quoting Zik's autobiography (written in the 1970s) where he talks about his link to Eze Chima and Eze Chima's blood relationship to the Benin Royal House. I have shown several times that this same Zik wrote a paper about Onitsha in the 1930s (40 years earlier) where he said that Chima came from a kindgom which was a neighboring kingdom to Benin, and not from Benin itself. Of course, I was ignored on the occasions where I raised this point, and Benin people have continued to quote Zik's latter autobiography, as if it was the Holy Scriptures.

As with Onitsha as with Ekpeye. The earlier collected traditions of the Ekpeye people did not reference Benin as a point of origin. I won't say further, but will rather share a screenshot from a book on the peoples of Rivers State written and edited by scholars of Rivers State. Note what one of the writers of the book has to say about what an Ogba historian wrote about Akalaka, the reputed ancestor of the Ekpeye and the Ogba (called Kraka by the Ogba people) in the 1940s or so.

How many of the tribes and communities the Igbos are trying to annexed as part of their new Biafra see themselves as Igbo 70 years ago or even today, 70 years ago, the Igbos would have see these people as best as efulefu or second class Igbos. You can not divorce history from the politics of the time. History or historical accounts could be used to unite, elevate or subjugate people.

How much of what you are made to believe today as the truth is actually true. In case you are not aware, there is actually a school of thought that argues that the story of the virgin birth of Jesus christ was fabricated by those that gave us christianity and the bible, today, Rome and Israel are reaping the benefits from tourism. These scholars pointed as evidence to the similarities and almost replica stories of the virgin birth of other religions prophets (Egyptian Horus and Indian Buddha) before christ.

Zik had his reasons for making revision to his earlier writeup about the history of Onitsha. Zik is not the first to do so, most later days Yoruba historians hardly agree with Johnson and Law earlier history of the Yoruba nation.

Benin classical historical past has made Benin a historical reference point in Nigeria and this is so because it was documented for hundreds of years by various Europeans that visited Benin.

What Zik did by writing his Onitsha people and by extension the Obi of Onitsha into the heart of Benin history is no different from what the Yoruba did with the Benin/Ife connection history. Benin allow people to date what would have merely be ora history. The Obi of Onitsha can date when the Onitsha throne started by referencing the history of Benin, this gives him authenticity, legitimacy and supremacy amongst his peers in the south east.

Similarly, Ife written history without Benin is less than 150 years old, the rest of her history is shrouded in unsubstantiated ora history, by cleverly connecting it with Benin, the Yorubas can use Benin to date Oduduwa and Ife to atleast the 1100s AD. As more and more communities realise the importance of history, more connections will be made and there is nothing wrong with this if it leads to unity.

The Ife cradle of Yoruba nation history or myth have now united the various tribes of Yoruba that use to kill themselves in past as one people from one ancestor.

samuk:
How many of the tribes and communities the Igbos are trying to annexed as part of their new Biafra see themselves as Igbo 70 years ago or even today, 70 years ago, the Igbos would have see these people as best as efulefu or second class Igbos. You can not divorce history from the politics of the time. History or historical accounts could be used to unite, elevate or subjugate people.

How much of what you are made to believe today as the truth is actually true. In case you are not aware, there is actually a school of thought that argues that the story of the virgin birth of Jesus christ was fabricated by those that gave us christianity and the bible, today, Rome and Israel are reaping the benefits from tourism. These scholars pointed as evidence to the similarities and almost replica stories of the virgin birth of other religions prophets (Egyptian Horus and Indian Buddha) before christ.

Zik had his reasons for making revision to his earlier writeup about the history of Onitsha. Zik is not the first to do so, most later days Yoruba historians hardly agree with Johnson and Law earlier history of the Yoruba nation.

Benin classical historical past has made Benin a historical reference point in Nigeria and this is so because it was documented for hundreds of years by various Europeans that visited Benin.

What Zik did by writing his Onitsha people and by extension the Obi of Onitsha into the heart of Benin history is no different from what the Yoruba did with the Benin/Ife connection history. Benin allow people to date what would have merely be ora history. The Obi of Onitsha can date when the Onitsha throne started by referencing the history of Benin, this gives him authenticity, legitimacy and supremacy amongst his peers in the south east.

Similarly, Ife written history without Benin is less than 150 years old, the rest of her history is shrouded in unsubstantiated ora history, by cleverly connecting it with Benin, the Yorubas can use Benin to date Oduduwa and Ife to atleast the 1100s AD. As more and more communities realise the importance of history, more connections will be made and there is nothing wrong with this if it leads to unity.

The Ife cradle of Yoruba nation history or myth have now united the various tribes of Yoruba that use to kill themselves in past as one people from one ancestor.

Mr stay and manage your Bini in Edo state.

You never even get Esan, Ijaws there or even far auchi come dey throw leg outside.

nawa ooo

samuk:
How many of the tribes and communities the Igbos are trying to annexed as part of their new Biafra see themselves as Igbo 70 years ago or even today, 70 years ago, the Igbos would have see these people as best as efulefu or second class Igbos. You can not divorce history from the politics of the time. History or historical accounts could be used to unite, elevate or subjugate people.

How much of what you are made to believe today as the truth is actually true. In case you are not aware, there is actually a school of thought that argues that the story of the virgin birth of Jesus christ was fabricated by those that gave us christianity and the bible, today, Rome and Israel are reaping the benefits from tourism. These scholars pointed as evidence to the similarities and almost replica stories of the virgin birth of other religions prophets (Egyptian Horus and Indian Buddha) before christ.

Zik had his reasons for making revision to his earlier writeup about the history of Onitsha. Zik is not the first to do so, most later days Yoruba historians hardly agree with Johnson and Law earlier history of the Yoruba nation.

Benin classical historical past has made Benin a historical reference point in Nigeria and this is so because it was documented for hundreds of years by various Europeans that visited Benin.

What Zik did by writing his Onitsha people and by extension the Obi of Onitsha into the heart of Benin history is no different from what the Yoruba did with the Benin/Ife connection history. Benin allow people to date what would have merely be ora history. The Obi of Onitsha can date when the Onitsha throne started by referencing the history of Benin, this gives him authenticity, legitimacy and supremacy amongst his peers in the south east.

Similarly, Ife written history without Benin is less than 150 years old, the rest of her history is shrouded in unsubstantiated ora history, by cleverly connecting it with Benin, the Yorubas can use Benin to date Oduduwa and Ife to atleast the 1100s AD. As more and more communities realise the importance of history, more connections will be made and there is nothing wrong with this if it leads to unity.

The Ife cradle of Yoruba nation history or myth have now united the various tribes of Yoruba that use to kill themselves in past as one people from one ancestor.

Why must you guys always interject Biafra into every discussion?

Here I was, thinking we were discussing claims of ancestry, and how some (not all) who claim Benin ancestry manufactured that claim in relatively recent times, and next thing you're talking Biafra and all this verbosity that has nothing to do with what I was saying.

Juliusmalema:
Mr stay and manage your Bini in Edo state.

You never even get Esan, Ijaws there or even far auchi come dey throw leg outside.

nawa ooo

You seems not to fully understand what the debate is about, otherwise you would have realised that it is not Benin that is making the claims but others are the ones claiming Benin ancestry.

Zik's book was not written by a Benin man or historian but Zik himself. Benin didn't claim Zik and others, it's the other way round, what we are doing is simply acknowledging their claims which they are perfectly entitled to, none of us were around when the said migrations out of Benin took place.

Those currently living in Benin doesn't have the right to deny others claim of Benin ancestry. Those that are claiming Benin ancestry are all welcome because they are not forced to do so.

RedboneSmith:
Why must you guys always interject Biafra into every discussion?

Here I was, thinking we were discussing claims of ancestry, and how some (not all) who claim Benin ancestry manufactured that claim in relatively recent times, and next thing you're talking Biafra and all this verbosity that has nothing to do with what I was saying.

Maybe you should tell us why some people that claim Benin ancestry today should manufacture such claim.

BabaOwen:
The people of rivers state are so blessed with various colorful tribes that you will be shocked that they even exist. These tribes most times are generally referred to as the Igbo tribes or Ijaw tribes and so on but the case is different when you read through this article because we took our time to make sure that we differentiate which is which make sure you learn something new today. So have a good read about this culture and tribes in rivers state making it one of the most colorful tribes in Nigeria.

Kula Tribe

The Kula people are found in Akuku Toru local government área of Rivers state. The kula people speak a language called kalabari. Not much is known about the history of this people. However, they share a lot with the Ijaw people.

The Kula people are predominantly farmers and fishermen. Also, Christianity, as well as their traditional religion, is practiced by this people. Kula men tie wrappers on singlet with hats to match while their women tie wrappers on blouses

Ikwerre Tribe

The ikwerre people are a tribe that occupies the present-day Port-Harcourt city. A lot of people consider this tribe to be an off-shoot of the Igbo tribe. Although a lot of Ikwerre indigenes do not consider themselves to be related to the Igbo tribe, they speak a language that is much related to the Igbo language.

Some historians have asserted that the Ikwerre people are not related to the Igbos but migrated from part of Benin.

Farming, fishing and hunting are the major occupations of this people. Also, Christianity is widely practiced.

[/b]Ibani Tribe[b]



The Ibani tribe is one of the tribes of the Ijaw nation. The Ibani people occupy Bonny Island and have always had interactions with Europeans for many years. The people of Bonny are traders and practice Christianity.

Alcohol is a generally accepted drink in this tribe. Also, the Ibani people feed on plantain and fish as a major meal and are mainly farmers and fishermen. Men from Ibani tie wrapper on singlets and put on hats while the women tie wrapper on a blouse.

Abua Tribe

The Abua people live about 10 miles from Port Harcourt. It is believed that the Abua people are the real owners of Port Harcourt. History has it that the Abua people are a sub-group of the Igbo tribe and migrated from the same place as the present day Efiks.

Present day members of the Abua tribe are Christians and engage in the production of palm oil. Men and women from Abua tie wrapper. While the men put on singlets to complete their dressing, the women put on blouses.

Boma Tribe

This tribe is one of the tribes of the Ijaw nation. There are thirteen settlements in this tribe. They are; Diebu, Ekowe, Emette, Eniwari, Fonibiri, Igbematoru, Ikianbiri, kainyanbiri, Ozezebiri, Peremabiri, Polobugo, and Opuama.

The people of the Boma tribe are fishermen and are known to feed on meals of fish and plantain. They are predominantly Christians and are known to dress like other tribes in the Ijaw nation.

Degema Tribe

The Degema tribe occupies Degema Island in Degema local government área in Rivers. There are about 10,000 members of this tribe. The degema people are predominantly Christians. As a result of the fact that they are surrounded by water, the Degema tribe practices fishing on a major scale.

Men and women from Degema are known to tie wrappers. While the men put on singlets, the women put on a blouse.

Nkoro Tribe

The Nkoro tribe is a very small tribe. It is a subtribe form the Ijaw nation. Areas occupied by the Nkoro tribe include Dema, Ayama, and Nkoro. The people of Nkoro speak an Ijaw dialect with some traces of Igbo. According to history, the Nkoro people migrated from Okirika town. The Nkoro people do not all speak the same language. A section of the Nkoro tribe speaks a language that is absolutely different from the rest of the tribe.

As a result of the geographical closeness of Nkoro and Ogoni, the Nkoro have been influenced culturally and have adopted some Ogoni cultures.

The Nkoro tribe is a predominantly Christian tribe and fishing is the main occupation of this tribe.

Ekpeye Tribe

The Ekpeye tribe is a tribe that occupies the Ahoada and Ogba-Egbema parts of Rivers state. They are very similar to the Igbos and speak a language that appears to share vocabulary with the Igbo language. The people of Ekpeye are predominantly Christians and have farming as their occupation.

Meals of fish and plantain are common sights in Ekpeye settlements. Men from this tribe tie wrapper on singlet while women tie wrapper on blouse

Opobo Tribe

Opobo is a tribe as well as a city in Rivers state. Four towns make up the Opobo tribe. They are; Queenstown, Epemlomma, Kalaibiama and opobo town. The existence of this tribe dates back to 1870.

The Opobo people are fishermen and farmers. They are predominantly Christians and dress like most other tribes in riverine areas.

Ogoni Tribe

The Ogoni people are a major tribe in Rivers state. This tribe became popular after the execution of Ken Saro Wiwa and his Kinsmen.

The people of Ogoni have lots of oil-related problems. Ranging from oil spillage to destroyed farmlands and fishing areas. Ogoni people number about 1.5 million and live in a 1,050 km square area that is known as Ogoni land. These people share the same customs with their neighbors and have fishing and farming.

Nkoroo Tribe

The people of Nkoroo should not be mistaken for the Nkoro people. These two tribes have similar names. However, they are very different people. The people of Nkoroo speak a language called Nkoroo and live in very close association with the Defaca people.

Fishing, as well as farming, are the two major occupations that are practiced by the predominantly Christian people of Nkoroo.

Eleme Tribe

The Eleme people live in Eleme local government area. This tribe is located about 20km from Port Harcourt. Eleme is surrounded by oyigbo and Obio agbor to the north, Ogu Bolo and Okrika to the south and Port Harcourt to the east.

Indigenes of Eleme are fishermen and traders. Christianity is the major religion of people of this tribe while a meal of fish and plantain is a common food eaten by the Eleme people.

Egeni Tribe

The Egeni people are found in Ahoada West local government area. They have a very close relationship with the Ijaw people and consider themselves to be related to the Ijaw people. However, their language bears no similarity with the ijaw language. They speak a language that is very similar to the language that is spoken by the Binis.

The Egeni people are fishermen and predominantly Christians. Like most other tribes in Rivers state, they feed on fish and plantain.

Etche Tribe

Etche doubles as a tribe and a local government area in Rivers state. The etche people speak a language that is believed to be a dialect of the Igbo language. The people of Etche have more in common with the Igbo tribe than they do with other tribes in rivers state.

The Etche people are farmers and also practice Christianity. Although they dress like the Igbos, they still eat food common to other rivers state tribes.

Ijaw Tribe

The Ijaw tribe is the biggest tribe in the riverine part of Nigeria. They are found at the coastline of Nigeria. These people are very influential and also have a violent history. The average Ijaw man is considered a good swimmer. This is because of their close proximity to water.

The Ijaw people are Christians and are majorly fishermen. They love alcohol and also a meal of fish and plantain. The dress style of this tribe includes wrappers and heavy cloaks with hats to match.

Even though these tribes share the same state, they have various cultures in respect to their dressings, cooking, religion etc. These tribes are what makes rivers state what it is today and the rich culture belongs to the various tribes found there. It is important one knows his/her tribe very well rather than just identifying with the state alone. Know the background of your culture because that is what makes your whole entity.

https://allnigeriainfo.ng/tribes-in-rivers/


PUBLISHED BY
onuohaadanma

Trash.This is what you get when you copy your news from opera news.
Smh.

samuk:
You present day Igbos are very funny, so Ekpeye are now also returnee Igbos from Benin like you spin the Onitsha people's history.

You forget that the Igbos as we know them today, didn't exist in the 1400s to 1500s when these people were said to have migrated from Benin.
The word Igbo didn't even exit in the late 1700s, otherwise Oluadah Equiano would of mentioned it in his book.

It was ahmadu bello's North that created igbo, gave them food gave them shelter and clothe, yet they killed him.

Igboid:
Are the indigenes of Abuja speaking Igbo?

Ekpeye has no history of Migrants from Igbo land in their territory.
They claim they speak Igboid language because of interactions with Igbos. Funny enough, Igbos (SE) share no direct boundary with Ekpeye,so the interactions angle is stupid as even Igbo neighbours in Akwaibom and Cross River, including Ogonis, are not Igboid speaking.

Benin was the Abuja of ancient Southern Nigeria. A multicultural area where Edoid(Bini,Esan,Urhobo, Isoko,etc), Yoruboid(Usen, etc), Igboid (Igbanke, Ika) and Ijaws( the Olodiama kingdom) cohabited under an Ife ruler ship, the Oba of Benin, who usurped the Edoid kings, the Ogiemiens.

When Benin had upheavals, some non Edoid people from there went back to their homeland.
That's the story of Benin. That's why you have obvious Ijaw speaking people like Nembe claiming Origin from Benin. The Benin they are referring to is the multiethnic Benin empire and not the mushroom Bini minority tribe.

You have Yoruba, Ijaw, Igbo, groups with history of migration from Benin. They were Benin citizens but not Bini (Edo) people.

Leave Usens out of your conversation, Usens are hybrid and would not fit into this analysis. Usens are hybrid both culturally and linguistically. I grew up with many Babas, Epas and Edionwans from Usen who nurtured and taught me in the Bini language.
What you guys don't understand is that not everyone can wake up one day and become a Bini, we have our family greeting and a means of Identification. About seventy four of them and the Usen is part of them, They greet Delaihe,(this is the reason I see an Igueben man as a Bini man alongside with their linguistic affiliation they have with us)..In our villages we still have some Urhobos and Calabars who have been there for ages, can speak the language but Are Not Binis because they don't have their family greeting. Chief Odigie Oyegun is from Usen and is one of our foremost Bini elite.
I will leave Igbanke because to the best of my knowledge they are not bilingual, but however they have received a lot of migrations from Bini and it is easily seen and identifiable with some of their strong Benin surnames. We know the Binis by ancestry among them. That is why whatever affiliation Benson Idahosa had with Igbanke was at best a SOJOURN. He Identified as a Bini man until he died because that is who he was and of the purest essence as he had his own family greeting too. He is not even the only one with the name Idahosa in Bini, there are several others and they are not even related to him.
https://www.nairaland.com/1175804/ways-bini-edo#14021924 this is ezotik, a Bini man from Usen who attested here that they greet Delaihe. This was way before I registered on nairaland. you can see him writing Bini there,the Bini which he learnt from his Usen parent. They speak it THERE and don't come to Bini city to learn it.

samuk:
The word Igbo didn't even exit in the late 1700s, otherwise Oluadah Equiano would of mentioned it in his book.

Lmao. See the confidence with which you are making reference to a book you've clearly not read. Olaudah mentioned the word Igbo (he wrote it as Eboe) in his book in the 1700s.

Olaudah wasn't even the first writer to mention the word. The Spanish missionary, Sandoval, mentioned it in the 1600s.

In fact, there is an even earlier reference from the 1500s that mentions the word.

Try and be covering your ignorance small.

AreaFada2:
Do not mistake language with language in all cases. When American early leaders held a vote to choose official language for USA, English won by a single vote over German.

I guess you are unaware of it. Imagine if German language narrowly won. We would today see Americans as predominantly German. Cultural affinity with Germany might have kept USA out of WW2 and the world might be a different place today.

Try and be fact-checking things before you post them. There was never a vote to choose an official language for the U. S.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/constitutioncenter.org/amp/blog/april-fools-german-as-americas-official-language

People don't even know this, but constitutionally the U. S. doesn't even have an official language.

AreaFada2:
Very interesting.

OP forgot to mention that Degema & Ekpeye are Edoid people.

Although Ekpeye language is more Igboid while Degema is clearly Edoid.

It's confusing saying Ekpeye is edoid while their language is igboid.

mariovito:
It's confusing saying Ekpeye is edoid while their language is igboid.

Edoid, Igboid, Yoruboid were coined by scholars to be used in a linguistic sense, ie., to mean that the language a people speak is akin to Edo, Igbo and Yoruba, respectively. Na for Nairaland you go dey hear say Ikwerre is Edoid, Ekpeye is Edoid, Itsekiri is Edoid. And when you ask how come, you find out that they are referring only to claims of origin.

Very strange something.

RedboneSmith:
Edoid, Igboid, Yoruboid were coined by scholars to be used in a linguistic sense, ie., to mean that the language a people speak is akin to Edo, Igbo and Yoruba, respectively. Na for Nairaland you go dey here say Ikwerre is Edoid, Ekpeye is Edoid, Itsekiri is Edoid. And when you ask how come, you find out that they are referring only to claims of origin.

Very strange something.

😂

samuk:
Igboid and Yoruboid are all new terminology linguistically speaking. The people grouped together under a political umbrella called Yoruba are actually of different tribes and languages. Yoruba is a recent name for group of different tribes that speak the Oyo dialect.

Similarly America people of today are people of different European tribes, English, French, German, Greek etc that speak the English language.

The Igbo experiment was also supposed to bring together different tribes and make them speak a common central Igbo language but the civil war dealt a very serious blow to the Igbo project. If the Igbos had worn the war or if the war was avoided, perhaps the Igbo project would have extended behold the present landlocked south east which is about the same size of Edo and Delta.

The people themselves are those that should determine if they want to be Igboid or not. Very few in the south south region see themselves as Igboid. The Americans (new people formed from different tribes) see themselves as Americans because they are comfortable with it, it wasn't foisted on them.

As for now, those that are comfortable to be regarded as Yoruba are found in the south west of Nigeria and the Igbos are confined to the South east, the south south should be left out of the Igbo Biafra project. The people of south south are not comfortable with the Igbo project.

Yorubas are not different Tribes because all of them recognize the Ooni of Ife as the leader of all the Obas and they all migrated from Ife

They are the same Tribe with different Clans

They were formerly called the Ife People and all their Obas wear the Ife Beaded Crowns

samuk:
You present day Igbos are very funny, so Ekpeye are now also returnee Igbos from Benin like you spin the Onitsha people's history.

You forget that the Igbos as we know them today, didn't exist in the 1400s to 1500s when these people were said to have migrated from Benin.

The word Igbo didn't even exit in the late 1700s, otherwise Oluadah Equiano would of mentioned it in his book.

Same with yoruba

Una nor dey taya?

This is how you divided Nigeria into many states and local governments that so many politicians were created laundering money abroad.

Politics is the most profitable profession in Nigeria today crowding out business initiatives and economic progress.

Continue, u hia!