₦airaland Forum

bigfrancis21:
I noticed it as well, that Ikwerre dialects are like a mixture of dialects together. Some Ikwerre dialects have pronounced Owere influence, and some are more centralized, tending towards Anambra like ie. 'o malu mma', 'wene yi' (nwanne yi, the 'yi' being popular in Onitsha and environs).

Nobody says o malu mma in any Ikwerre dialect. It is o maru mma. Nobody says yi either.

By what miracle was Kaisha not among the 4 up for possible eviction?!!

Brighto should be legally banned from giving advice.

gregyboy:
Macof come in here let me use to kill cold, oba na yoruba my ass

This one you're looking for your fellow man to use and kill cold, is everything alright?

macof:
Benin City is a reserve of rich traditions and high reverence for the traditional monarch (Oba of Benin), who once led a powerful Empire.
One of such traditions is the habit of
addressing the Oba of Benin by various
appellations instead of his actual names as sign of deep respect and awe. It is no wonder, therefore, that the Oba of Benin
is known by several appellations.

Such appellations are:
Ovbi' Umogun Oza
The Child of the Oba whose mother hailed from Oza

Ovbi' Ekpen N' Owa
The son of the home leopard

Ovbi' Adimila
The son of Adimila

Ikeji Orisa
Second in command to the gods

Agbaghe, N'Ovbi Olokun
Olokun's son, the cynosure of all mortals

Abieyuwa N'Ovbi Odua N'uhe
The son of the wealthy Odua of Uhe(Ife).

Ovbi' Ada, Ovbi' Eben
The child of the owner of the Ada =
scimitar and Eben = royal sword, Edo
symbol of sovereignty.

Ovbi'Ekenekene ma deyo
The son of beauty that never fades.

Ovbi'Ekuaho N'Olo, Ovbi'Ekuabo N'Olo
The son of the rocky arm, the brave and
powerful

Ovbie Ikpinhianbo kpuru no Gb'oduma
The son of the short fingered man that
was still able to kill a lion

Nohien utete no gh'ughe s'omwan
The king on a hill, who sees more than
everybody

Ovbi'Oghonwan nei bun aro
The son of the fearless, who looks
without twinkling his eyes

Ovbi'ode, ode n'ohan ren mu' ete
The son of the warrior whose enemies
got frightened at the announcement of
the approach

Uku Akpolokpolo
The mighty that rules

Ovbi' Adolo no dolo uwa dolo utomwen/b]
The son of the wise judge and peace
maker who combined wisdom and
wealth with long life
[b]
Ovbi' oven owie no gbaisi
The son of the morning sun that covers
everywhere

Ovbi' Akpogunla, ogie no y'igho b'owa
The child of the womb of Akpogunla - the
warrior who fought big wars and built a
house of cowries


Oba n'osa
A king that is god

Ovbi' otolo n'olomi; Ologberonmwon nei rie iruen, ebo, ayemwinre eminiminimini
The son of the water controller, the son
of beauty itself, the starter of things and
the person whose reign saw people with
many tongues


These appellation are in cognissance of
the greatness of the Omo n'oba ne edo,
the Oba of Benin.

Which Oba's mother hailed from Oza? And would that be Oza-Aibokunla in Edo State or Oza-Nogogo in Delta State?

I know both Ozas are related, but I want to know if someone knows which side specifically in Oza this Oba's mother (who I suspect is Ewuare) hailed from.

There are bears in Isokoland?

uyplus:
Your country is burning and your leaders are looting with reckless abandon, yet this is what Nigerian youths are spending their productive hours watching! This is what they are more concerned about, my God! Trash! Holy smoke!

Please tell us what you've used all your non-BBN watching hours to do about our looting leaders and burning country.

Mscheew. And here I was thinking I was going to learn something. Mscheeeeeeeeew!

These are actually not that good. And I'm trying to be nice.

Spiff20:
Mercy Chinwo - Rivers
Tony Elumelu - Delta
Jim Ovia - Delta
Godwin Emefiele - Delta
Austin Okocha - Delta
Okonjo Iweala - Delta
Pat Utomi - Delta

Why don't you stick to your 5 eastern states and leave out the disputing states. The other thread was about celebs who are not yorubas but mistaken for yorubas due to their romance with the culture. I think another should be created for Igbos.

Pat Utomi, Okonjo Iweala and Okocha come from the part of Anioma that is undisputedly Igbo (Ibusa and Ogwashi-Uku). But I think he should have left out the likes of Jim Ovia and Nduka Obaigbena, who are both Ika, and most likely don't see themselves as Igbo.

I wish OP hadn't included people like Obaigbena and Chinwo, who I'm sure do not identify as Igbo.

Also, if you're going to include Diasporans, why stop at Chiwetel? There are many influential Igbos in the Diaspora besides Chiwetel.

michlins:
ezemewi who founded current Nnewi town came from Benin kingdom. Go to Igwe orizu palace and study history of Nnewi. Hé ezemewi married Edo daughter of Idemili. These things are simple facts that are obtainable. You were born Igbo today doesn't work mean your ancestors might not have come from elsewhere.

I will school you and your likes in the history of Nnewi

Bull. Ezemewi did not come from Benin.

Unfortunately, he is widely regarded as not the rightful successor to the throne.

No. African-Americans are not mostly of Yoruba ancestry. Read the paper. In the study only Mandinka, Yoruba, Bantu, Pygmy and San groups were taken to be representative of the African population.

This narrow selection is bound to produce results that will exaggerate the Yoruba element in the African-American population.

More inclusive studies will produce smaller percentages for the Yoruba.

Agbaenu or Agbenu = Uplands

Agbani = Low-lying lands

Agbaja = Sandy lands.

IkwerrePikin:
Your uncle wife is not Ikwerre.

No true Ikwerre will claim Igbo.

Stop sounding awful

Ahn ahn. The guy is on your side na.

Sammy07:
Very small palace.
Unlike Ooni palace

Owo palace the largest palace in Africa

Okay?

davidnazee:
Bro is it because Olaudah wrote that Benin Kingdom once ruled eastern Igbos you are calling his book false?
I think you Igbos should rather be happy because his book is evidence that Igbos existed in 16th century.. because there’s no other mention of Igbos in history prior to the end of the 19th century.. even Igbos can’t recount their history beyond 19th century.

How many times am I going to say that I'm not calling the book false?

How many times am I going to say that even the best books are likely to have one or two points that will raise the eyebrow of critical scholars? How many times?

Benin people respect Egharevba and his work, don't they? They even have a lecture series or an award (I'm not sure which) named after him. Still Benin people today do not agree with everything Egharevba had to say about Benin history, and that is totally understandable.

davidnazee:
Bro if you are 100% Igbo then your ancestors are not indigenous to delta state but rather migrants who came across the Niger from the east. North delta is not originally Igbo land.

The way Nairalanders and Nigerians in general hold conversations is weird. When did the topic of the conversation shift to whether the area that I come from is 100% Igbo or not? All along we've been talking about Benin, Equiano and the Southeast. I mentioned where I'm from in passing and you shift the topic to my people's identity question? Even after I purposely used the expression "so-called" in an attempt to avoid this derailment and stay on topic?

Weird.

Lmao.

Let them keep that Arabic-tainted language of a formerly slave-trading caste there in Bantu Africa. Us in West Africa will have nothing to do with it. I'll pick Hausa a hundred times over before I even glance at Kiswahili.

The funny thing here is that I even come from the so-called Western Igbo, where Benin's power was evident, and I am not denying the evidence of that power there. So when I say it did not reach the southeast that does not stem from any ethnocentric desire to deny Benin imperial might. It stems from the fact that the evidence for that might in the east is... NIL. We know the stories of Benin adventure in Akure, Owo, Lagos, Agbor, Ubulu-Uku. We know the names of the war generals and princes involved in the campaigns there. Where are the Benin-East stories? Who were the generals? Who were the princes? Conveniently forgotten? Or never happened? A 'historical reality' that only one writer, who said Benin and Ethiopia were neighbours, recorded?

While we are on the subject of Equiano sef, let it be remembered that some historians still make the case that his homeland was in Anioma. So, there. And at least one historian has argued that he was born in South Carolina.

A book can be excellent in some regard and still be inaccurate in other regards. In fact, this is true of all great books, and Equiano's book is no exception. Herodotus is the Father of History and his book is still widely praised by the same historians who will still tell you that some of what he wrote was hearsay or widely exaggerated.

davidnazee:
Please can you provide evidence that Aya idu na oba was fought by the western Igbos and not the easterners.

It’s not only a Facebook post.. there are many articles about the story.

You're the one saying the southeast fought Aya Idu. Therefore the onus is on you to prove it., not me. 'There are many articles'. Bring them.

davidnazee:
You are definitely not an Igbo man.. every Igbo man recounts the war which they call “Agha Idu na Oba”.. if you are Igbo you will know the meaning..
FYI, during that war over 50k Igbo heads were taken by the Edo warriors.

The story or myth about the war is not a Benin traditional myth.. it’s an Igbo story. Here’s a link to it.

https://m.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=308786379307172&id=306209646231512

Aya Idu na Oba was fought by Anioma communities in Delta State. Agbor, Ubulu-Uku, the Umuezechime clans in Aniocha, Ibusa, etc. No Southeast community fought any Aya Idu na Oba. If you claim otherwise mention one SE town that fought any such war and back it up with references.

A Facebook post from an obscure unknown person ranting incoherently about Annunaki and Sumer and Atlantis is not a reference, sir. I can go on my Facebook wall this minute and type that my village warriors in Illah flew on tortoises to Mexico to help Emperor Montezuma fight the Spanish, and someone will share the link as evidence that it happened. Give me a proper reference from a reliable source. A link that mentions specific towns in the Southeast that went to war with Benin. This thing is not a reference.

davidnazee:
Igbos have in their oral history account of a war of resistance they fought against Benin Kingdom were thousands of fighters died on both sides. The war wasn’t fought in the west but deep in the southeast in Anambra and surrounding areas.

This is a lie. This is a very big lie; and it is very unneccessary. You didn't have to, just for the sake of an argument?

The only kingdom that the people in the East fought with was the Igala.

davidnazee:
I guess a 12 year old boy in one small village in Igbo land now will know he is in Nigeria and buhari is the president.
Besides Equiano’s father was a chief so he will know well the politics of his place.

I’m not dragging supremacy with u.. it’s just history

You want to compare how a boy in today's Nigeria understands the world around him to how a boy in 18th century Nigeria understood the world around him?

Lol.

Equiano's reference to Benin in his book is propaganda for his audience. 18th century is not a long time ago. If Benin's political power extended to the SE in that century, traditions about it would have survived in both Benin and Igbo memory. That there is NO such traditions speaks volume.

In fact, when Onitsha was fleeing from Benin tyranny, they ran east. Why would someone fleeing from Benin power run to the southeast if Benin was also ruling there?

davidnazee:
It’s in recorded history bro, if you research you will find.
The first educated Igbo man, Olaudah Equiano born 1725, wrote in his book about his birth place in present day Anambra state and said they were ruled by the Benin Kingdom and subjects to the Oba of Benin.

Like I said, not everything in Equiano's book is correct. He also said Benin shared boundary with the Kingdom of Abyssinia in Ethiopia which is wrong.

As long as there are no traditions or other eye-witness written evidence that corroborates Equiano's Benin story, I'm going to wave it aside as yet another piece of incorrect information in his book.

Equiano was too young when he left Africa to understand the regional politics of his day outside his own small village, so everything he wrote on that topic is most likely to have been extremely derivative anyway.

Benin was the best known empire in his part of West Africa, so he simply attached his village to this well-known empire for the benefit of his white audience.

davidnazee:
Maybe not everything is true. But Equiano’s account of his own place of birth in Anambra state located in Southeast must be true.
Benin Kingdom ruled over parts of southeast (if not all of it)..

Then you'll have to come up with a good explanation as to why there is no mention of this rule at all in both Benin and southeast oral history, or in any of the records of history at our disposal.

YakubuAugust:
Is Ikwerre a form of Igbo?

Linguistically, yes.

davidnazee:
So Great Benin Kingdom ruled the Igbos across the river Niger too...

If across the Niger means Igbos in the Southeast, no. Never happened. Not everything in Equiano's book is true.

HERE ARE SOME IGBO WORDS IN OLAUDAH EQUIANO'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY BOOK.

Sources:
✓ THE LIFE OF OLAUDAH EQUIANO OR GUSTAVUS VASSA THE AFRICAN WRITTEN BY himself published in 1837.

It's important to note that the accounts of OLAUDAH EQUIANO'S childhood picture about the Igbo customs and manners dates back to his birth year (1745).

Here are some Igbo words in his book, if you have any please do contribute:


1. Essaka: Essaka is the anglicized form of the original Igbo word ISSEKE(a community located in Ihiala local government area, Anambra state). It seems Essaka(Isseke) was the birth place of Olaudah Equiano. Citing from page 9 of his autobiography:
"...This kingdom is divided into many provinces or districts : in one of the most remote and fertile of which, was born,
in the year 1745, situated in a charming fruitful vale, named Essaka. The distance of this province from the capital of Benin and the sea coast must be very considerable..."


2. Embrenche: This is an anglicized form of the original Igbo word M[G]BURICHI(an act of facial scarification in Igboland which depicts -honour or Noble-). From his book on page 9;
"...My father was one of those elders or chiefs I have spoken of, and was styled Embrenche ; a term, as I remember, importing the highest distinction, and signifying in our language a mark of grandeur. This mark is conferred on the person entitled to it, by cutting the skin across at the top of the forehead, and drawing it down to the eye-brows : and while it is in this situation applying a warm hand, and rubbing it until it shrinks up into a thick weal across the lower part of the forehead..."



3. Eadas: This should be "Ede" in the Igbo language which means Cocoyam. From his book on page 13 and 42
"...Our vegetables are mostly plantains, eadas, yams, beans, and Indian corn...I shall therefore only observe, that in all the places where I was, the soil was exceedingly rich ; the pumpkins, eadas, plaintains, yams..."


4. Oye - Eboe: It's crystal clear that the Igbo word "Onye-Igbo/Ibo" was corrupted to "Oye-Eboe". Igbos who are from a particular district call other Igbos of other districts "Onye Igbo" if they don't know your name or your home town. And it's likely that the frequent usage of the term ONYE IGBO by Igbos made the Europeans to tag all Igbo speaking people as Igbo(NB- During the pre colonial times of the Igbos, no Igbo identified himself/herself as an Igbo person; they commonly identify themselves with the name of their districts like Isuama, Ohafia, Agbaja, Onitsha, Abor, Nri etc). From page 16;
"...These are sometimes visited by stout mahogany-colored men from the south-west of us: we call them Oye-Eboe, which term signifies red men living at a distance..."
–It is likely those mahogany stout men were Arochukwu men who dispersed in all IGBO areas for slaves–


5. Eboe- An anglicized form of "Igbo". From page 17;
"...The West India planters prefer the slaves of Benin or Eboe, to those of any other part of Guinea, for their hardiness, intelligence, integrity, and zeal..."
The Igbos during pre colonial era paid tributes to the Benin kingdom –which means they were subjects to the Oba of Benin–
"...our subjection to the king of Benin was little more than nominal ; for every transaction of the government, as far as my slender observation extended, was conducted by the chief or elders of the place..." - page 9


6. Olaudah- Olaudah is no form of anglicized Igbo word. Some Igbos still bear that archaic name as Olauda. OLA in the Igbo tongue means Wealth, riches etc and UDAH in the central Igbo/Isuama dialect means LOUD/CELEBRATED. I think if they (Ola+Udah meanings in Igbo) are juxtaposed with OLAUDAH'S narrative, they are related and close. From his book on page 23:
"...I was named Olaudah, which in our language signifies vicissitude, or fortunate ; also, one favored, and having a loud voice and well spoken..."

7. Ah Affoe Way Cah: It's a corruption of the Igbo words "Afor Nwoke"(pronounced Ah-for Wo Keh). Afor means a lot in Igbo - Year, Stomach, name of a market day -. Nwoke simply means man.
Page 24, "...They calculated our time, and foretold events, as their name imported, for we called them Ah-affoe way-cah, which signifies calculators or yearly men, our year being called Ah-affoe..."


8. Ah-affoe: "Afor"(meaning year in the Igbo tongue) is same with Ah-affoe. It was just corrupted! Reference same as 7.

Made a post at 2:28. Deactivated account less than an hour later. Who vex you, please?

Asquare84:
20% of Anambra state is igala

20% or 2%?