Biafrarep: Alagoa is an ethnocentric irredentist who used propaganda and fables to promote ijaw landgrabbing attempts. So, don't waste your time reading his trash, it's unreliable and without substance.
I doubt any reasonable law court will leave documented evidences dating back to 1700's by neutral foreign explorers who had no vested interest only to consider biased reports of a local irredentist championing ethnocentric agenda.
funny you, if a chimamanda Adichie, who was born yesterday could write on the civil war with bias towards biafra and was widely celebrated, how much more an elderly historian with sources from both national and international archives. The Portuguese account are more reliable than those of the British who arrived at a much later period.
Alabo7978: Funny to you, you think I am purely ijo, but I am Nembe. In ijo, we do not see ourselves as ijo and even most times we fight and quarell amongst ourselves. Many Nembeians have some reasons to dislike the ijo, and ijo will have reason to dislike the Nembe man. Go motor pack for bayelsa Dem dey fight, and we Nembeians mock their intonations because they pronounce jump as zump. While them they see us as proud and usually wealthy. Same with Greece, all the city states like Athens, Sparta, Crete, Corinth ,aegena, Argos , Rhodes quarell within themselves and live by there city states but when Xerxes of Persia came, they knew they were together GREEKS at large.
Though we fight and argue amongst ourselves and call each other names but when there is a foreign invasion, like the Greeks we will stand and repel, then after we will continue with our malice. You bkayy, Ekealterego SlayerForever Igboid biafrarep etc are all foreign Invaders. I even carefully searched on baikie works, and he links Bonny to the other ijoh clans. Now I know y'all were just filtering things. You see the numbering system? We Nembeians count Kio Mai Trai Neene Sono Sondio Sonomai Etc
You see the resemblance with all other ijo counting?
Even the screenshot showed igbos were a secondary language. Even this screenshot talked about the German doctor. (Read carefully this time) I won't stress myself again to pick out points. The igbos have been known to walk up and down and not staying in their place. In ijo land I am a Nembe man, and if an ijoh man annoys me, I go burst him head, but when an ijo man is bullied by a foreign Invaders or when a foreign Invaders bullies any other clan, we all we assemble. That is the beauty of we the ijo Ethnic nation!
Igboid: Bonny Indigenes who speak their mother tongue in their Bonnyland are slaves, but your good for nothing selves who came from Sierra Leone to the Niger Delta, are the owners of Bonnyland?
Are you okay?
Did migration or slave trade ever stop ibos from speaking their mother's tongue?
Eastlink: @OP please make corrections to the bolded. I just went through it and saw the mistake. The two Chiefs that shared power then were Asimini & Halliday. I’ll keep time to post a link here. It's actually a detailed history written by an English historian that will blow your minds away.
The topics covered were the following.
Kingship system. Bonny practiced gentocracy - Okpara system where elders led the people. Any wonder why Ndoli the first leader of Okoloma was called Okpara Ndoli. It was the British who introduced Kingship system in Bonny. This brought rivalry between houses and two leading figures began their rivalry from there. Chief Haliday vs Chief Asimini. Haliday was senior and was calm in disposition. Asimini on the other hand was rash and dictatorial.
Haliday began the systemic rise of Bonny who dwelled on salt trading and farm goods with Ndoki in the Imo river into deal in stuffs like slavery. However, during these period Bonny was at war with her neighbours like Kalabari and Andoni. They needed a strong leader and by virtue of his military might Asmini led victorious battles against Andoni and Kalabari.
On returning to Bonny he took power from Haliday and exiled him. It took the intervention of the British who appealed to Asimini to relax the banishment and bring him back home.
Asimini was the first true King of Bonny and reformed Bonny house system from an indigenous blood kindred system into a military system called Wari. Asimini borrowed q lot of cultural system from Kalabari who were the strongest clan then. It was Asimini who began the idea of using slaves to fight in battle with freeborns. He was the first to free slaves who proved themselves worthy in battle and gave them a war canoe house of theirs.
Religious system Bonny practiced the same religious system as those in Igboland. The Iguana cult similar to that in Aboh and sourcing divination from Aro priest who visited Bonny occasionally for cleansing.
Blood Relation Bonny had two blood relations. The Ndoki their hinterland kinsmen who they shared origin, culture and trade links by virtue of the Imo river and the Brass people with whom they had a blood Convenant with for warfare against their enemies. Brass themselves are linked with Aboh. Any wonder why their lingua-franca is Igbo.
Good enough, this is coming from an Ibo guy. I knew someone out of you all, must have a honest head on his shoulder.
Alabo7978: Mumu, after showing you that screenshot from a German doctor who stayed in Bonny for sometime? And how the igbos who came where either brought from inlands or sold as slaves, you still say the igbos own Bonny. I am not arguing with you again.
This is the fact they are trying so hard to suppress.
ariesbull: he said that his village is near benin kingdom not under benin kingdom.... Please have you read the book or are you taking based on hear say remember that Ịn igbo land they call benin Idu and their influence is well known.. Smiths from Awka go to benin to ply their trade... Now you can know that Anambra isn't far from benin but was never under benin influence except some few places under the igbo of delta example the Ukwuani and Ikas
Don't come at me with that twist. He rightly said"of Benin kingdom"
ariesbull: Don't be close minded... Watch the documentary and learn at least one thing today instead of arguing ups and downs
Or do you want data....
Why must I believe you and not the Benin? If you want me to be open minded, why can't I be open to the fact that he was committed to ending human slavery with years of interactions with Africa slaves, making Nigeria as a plot of his story. As a writer, he could have gathered some vital amount of information from the slaves he had encountered especially from Sierra Leone where there was a large contingent of Nigeria slaves.
Why not also be open minded to sources describing him as Gustavus Vassa.
BKayy: The context of what I said was "the implication of what it would mean if it was proven to be Etsako" which it is not.
I hate teaching people English literature because English is not my language.
And remember to stick with Bonny. That is the topic here
This was an afterthought. The implication of what it would mean IF it was proven to be Etsako. You would have been gun blazing trying to defend how Etsako was just indeed a thick ibo town just to prove Equaino as ibo, right?
ariesbull: Una too dey argue.... Just watch the video and then come back let's talk....
Buy data please
Why must I watch what proves nothing. Is the video showcasing Equiano himself? The content of debate here is from Equaino's account. I was expecting you to connect "Isseke" in ihiala with Benin kingdom. Perhaps, they also pay taxes to Benin kingdom as suggested by one of you.
Read the book and Iseke don't kill python till date and Equano even said it that they reverence python
Ashaka isn't it.... Make una dey use sens of geography naaa
Lol. I can't be more confused. Maybe I need GOOGLE to help me with more ibo villages homonymous to Essaka probably Equaino might be lurking somewhere in there.
ariesbull: he meant Isseke and his compound is there till tomorrow
Ashaka don't reverence python as Equano said... But Eseke people near river Niger do... That is a pointer
The smoke is even getting more thicker
Can we for once appreciate this thread for exposing revisionists. It would be a good watch seeing how you guys would reconcile the dots and connect them.
BKayy: If what he described was Etsako then Etsako will be considered as a thick Igbo town. He did not mention a name but described, days, market days, names of things etc.
Please focus on the title of thread, we are talking about Bonny here
Lol, the smoke is coming out again. Tell us something we don't know.
Ekealterego: I do not think he minced words when he said he was Igbo. He even stated the name of his village which can still be found in Delta state, present-day Anioma. He said "Benin Kingdom", meaning that Benin probably received royalties and tax from that area and therefore would be the right administrative term to explain the area. Let us assume he meant Benin. Are Igbo people not born outside of Igboland?
You now sounding like a clown. Are we now left with personal inferences?. Well, isn't what most of you have been doing for the most part of the thread.
This topic has been thrashed long ago on this forum.
Bkkay. You are right. We have a Bini, Igala and Ijaw problem. For a long time we were focused on Bini problem, now we are focused on Ijaw problem.
What makes you think he wasn't referring to Etsako? I know for a fact that if " Essaka" was anything remotely close to ibo, you guys would have linked it with anything related to ibo.
Ekealterego: I know you are looking for just anything at all to discredit anything Igbo but just to correct you.
Not one soul doubted Equiano's account for 100s of years until an overzealous English man in 1999 by the name of Vincent Carretta, who is a closet slavery denier and sometimes apologist criticised and publish something related to Equiano's account because he claimed he saw a record of someone bearing a "similar birth name" in Virginia.
I don't want to sound pedantic as you do. Why would he have to belabour us into assuming his origin when he could have easily told us he was ibo? What makes you think other sources are wrong?. what makes you think his Virginia origin was not true?
what makes you think his Benin origin was wrong? What makes you think the claims from other Africa countries like Sierra Leone wasn't true?
ariesbull: No he isn't igbo... Equiano (ekwu anọ) isn't igbo as we said before, he is from Siberia region of Russia...
He made a mistake describing himself as igbo and mgbirichi man
Let agree he is from Siberia.... In Russia
Lol@bold. You guys are clowns, to you,anything that sounds ibo is ibo. should we also accept Benin claiming him as well, for making reference to Benin kingdom? The main purpose of Equaino writing his book was to call for the abolition of slave trade in Africa. He visited several African slave camps as an emissary and had a first hand witness accounts extracted from Africa slaves, prompting him to call for end of slavery.
OfoIgbo: But Equiano noted that cocoayam was EDEA (EDE) in his native language and that his dad was an EMBRENCHE (MGBURU-ICHI). This clearly meant he was Igbo
OfoIgbo: Africanus Horton did not make a guess. To him, Ubani was Igboland as a matter of fact.
Even Ajayi Crowther did not say Bonny was Ijaw
All I see here are a bunch of enthusiasts claiming Bonny as an ibo town even though, from records Bonny was referred to as a mix tribe. In the same vein, ibos supplied the highest number of slaves from the interior to Bonny. The king makers in Bonny are ijaws. These are facts. It would be more plausible for you and your ilks go to Bonny for fact finding. Go find out the ruling houses and who are the kingmakers. These are some of the challenges the ijaws on this thread have consistently thrown at you. I'm sure as a researcher, the Bonny kingdom would be glad to oblige you.
OfoIgbo: But John Adams, captain Crow and Dr. Baikiie were sure of the fact that the ruling family of Ubani was of Igbo ancestry..
Secondly none of them even guessed that Ijaws were the first settlers in Bonny. All of them guessed the Igbos were the first settlers in Bonny.
They should have simply bought some sea food and take their leave rather than make a guess and leave us a distorted version of Africa history. The Portuguese had a more believeable account and they came much earlier than the British.
Omanambala: Away from the historical accounts being thrown about , here; I have a direct question and information to tender to you.
If the white man arrived and found most households to be Igbo speaking and cultured people why would he write otherwise ??
Remember , some of these explorers are seasoned anthropologists with decades of experience doing anthropology work in all parts of Africa. These data gathering was going on when our forefathers have not being corrupted and Igbo was not a unified race, but went by the name of their towns or clan.
It all exists in your head. If a white man came here and told us he discovered River Niger, should we then hero worship him? At what period was ibos unified when an european account compared Egboes of Elugu to Egboes of Bonny and describing them as a nation.
9Pluto: Really!!!Treaties with the Ijos and Efik. Kindly post supporting documents and date.
While the Efiks we historically documented, as at 1800s, what happened to the ijaws? Why were they not documented? Did the authors forget?
You didn't answer my other questions too.
What happened to the ijaw language in Bonny and Opobo? Why are their descendants trying to finish what there ancestors started?
If ijaws weren't documented, some ibo posters here wouldn't have fun of ijaws being called "pirates" as was documented by earlier account. If your claim to Bonny ownership would make you close minded to documented facts about the ijos who were recorded as coastal traders with the Portuguese long before the arrival of the British. I suppose you are doing to yourself a huge intellectual disservice.
9Pluto: All the accounts that has been posted has always been talking about the Kings and masses of Bonny natives being igbos, so much that the language in Bonny is a dialect of the igbo language.
Are you not consigned that the other party that are being claimed as indigenes/natives/owners of Bonny were not even mentioned. Not even once, so that we can start debating.
Calabar was another major slave port and I am not sure the Efiks claim they were Igbo slave merchants. If anything, history has proven the Arochukwus as the National police of the entire landscape most times using divination and posing as great dibias. They were the Chief slave merchants both at Bonny port and Calabar port. I am shocked they are not making noise about it.
I hope you saw in one of the later accounts were some presumed ijaw people were celebrating the gods of the Aros for delivery them from a pandemic.
Not all but your selective versions. It is rather a mere academic exercise holding tight to an account that describes the ibos as "very probable" inhabitants of Bonny. Like I said in my earlier comment, the Aros- a mix origin of ibos and ibibios were slave raiders who had treaties with the ijos and efiks at each slave ports upon supply of ibos slaves at either ports.
Igboid: Interesting, I figured as much. Ibibios assimilated them. Makes sense, they were Ibibiod people themselves.
Thinking of it, I wonder why Ibibios couldn't rise to the occasion and unite all Cross River Ibibiod people in Bayelsa and Rivers together with Annang and Efik into one mega ethnic group.
I guess we Ndiigbo should be grateful to Igbo slaves in Sierra Leone and to the likes of Olauda Equiano, who started our reunion,and then the likes of Zik, Osadebey and co who consolidated it.
Equiano famously known as Gustavus Vassa has his origin very much in contention. Y'all always pick controversial battles.
OfoIgbo: But the Pepples were of Igbo ancestry. Thankfully both Captain Crow and Dr. Baikie confirmed this fact. Of course, Crowther in his true Yoruba form, possibly chose to hide this fact. Unfortunately, neutral Europeans, in their earlier records, did make it clear that the ruling families of both New Calabar and Ubani, were of Igbo ancestry.
Another fact being that Captain Crow's memoirs' compilation really started in 1790, which is many decades before Crowther was born.
What this means is that Crow's memoirs will always be a superior source of information with regards to the true origins of Bonny
Your attempt at tribal pedanticism couldn't discredit Crowther's account. Make i siddon dey look una.
Politics › Re: The True Identity Of Bonny/Opobo(UBANI) People Facts Versus Fiction by Putindbutt(m): 9:41pm On Dec 01, 2021
