₦airaland Forum

ORGUST:
It's very possible. Nigerians that fled from the civil war Nationalized there. Mind you,Nigeria isn't the only country where pidgin is spoken. Even far away in Jamaica,the people there speak pidgin aside patois.

Wait, aside patois? Seriously.

Fejoku:
Can anyone shed more light on the area called Igbogene around the Yenagoa area of Bayelsa? What's the meaning of the name and what language do they speak over there?

It means big bush or stick.

Igbo: Bush

Gene: Big

They speak Epie.

pazienza:
Because the saboteurs in minority areas have become elevated to heroes with narratives twisted to portray them as people who defended their land against Igbos who wanted to conquer and possess their lands.
It took Igbo support for GEJ for Asari Dokubo to come out plain on how the saboteurs in Buguma after the town fell to FG forced his grandfather the then Amanyanabo to abdicate his throne, because the king was pro Biafra.

How many of the saboteurs were hailed as heroes because of being a sabo?

Is it Isaac Boro? Isaac Boro isn't praised for being a saboteur. He's only praised for being the first Ijaw man to challenge the Federal and Eastern Govt , trying to liberate the Ijaws from Nigeria by creating a Niger Delta republic. After then he was captured by your Ojukwu who your people claim only quenched an uprising in the Niger Delta. The main reason Adaka Boro fought Biafra was because Ojukwu never gave him an apology and also added Ijaw land that Boro had fought for, to Biafra without consultation. His role in the civil war still leaves educated Ijaws splitted on wether he did wrong or good.

As for Sarowiwa, I know people don't celeberate him for sabotaging the Biafra struggle but for purely different reasons.

pazienza:
No its not natural to be manufacturing lies against Ndiigbo.
How exactly is asking civilian population to vacate a town that is about to be a theater of war between Biafran soldiers and Nigerian army wrecking havoc?

You obviously were fed same Igbophobic lies by your parents.

You don't get it. You don't understand the difference between a lie and what you feel is the truth but isn't.

The Minorities felt that way because that was what it felt like. Most of them at that time were uneducated and really saw the whole Biafra thing as an Igbo war with the federal government. There's nobody sitting any where manufacturing lies. It's just a product of Minority being afraid of Majority. Stop making your self look too special.

Yujin:
Well OP, I've studied for long to identify this Igbo/Ijaw palavar specifically than the entire Eastern minority vs Igbo issue. I started right from the slave trade era down to the post war time to really understand the problem and my discovery was these.
The Igbo/Ijaw interaction was more pronounced in the Bonny area and the impression the Ijaws had about the Igbos as at the time wasn't wholistic. With a good number of Ijaws being the middlemen in the trade of slaves(where Igbos were more than 70%), they were satisfied with the relationship and wanted it to stay that way. Trouble started when slave trade ended and palm oil became the new business. The Ijaws still remained the middle men but now the Igbos working with them we're the ones handling the running of the business and some how distinguished themselves in the business perhaps because they know more about the source of the product. Remember Jaja and how he later left Bonny to Opobo. After he went to Opobo, palm oil scarcity hit Bonny and drastically affected here economy coupled with that, the Europeans had by this time developed the steam engine and could navigate upstream to buy the palm oil and other products directly from those that produce it in the hinterland. It was a blow to the economy of most Ijaw communities at the coast and they disliked it greatly eg Brass people use to buy palm oil from Igbos of Aboh make a lot of money from it but with this, they lost all as the British went directly to Aboh to buy at a cheaper rate. This was one of the first times the anger for the Igbos started.
Another episode was during the opening up of PH and the early politics that happened then. A lot of Igbos from the hinterland (Onitsha and Owerri) came down to PH to participate and the numbers was just too overwhelming that a lot of Ijaws became scared. Unfortunately, some of these Igbos didn't manage the situation well such that the Ijaws felt left out. You know, as at the time(1916-1950), crude oil was not in the picture as the whole Eastern region survived mostly on palm oil(Igbo and Akwa/Cross area) and coal (Enugu). This discontent of the Ijaws who had dealt earlier with fewer Igbos and at a more dignified position became so high now that they are dealing with a bigger population than they thought saw the call for a commission of inquiry into their perceived unfair treatment. The commission was called the Willinks Commission and you can read up it's findings online. Oil was discovered in different parts of the hinterland in the late 30s but the British only opened up when they discovered the one at Oloibiri(Bayelsa) in 1956. With this announcement came a lot of pressure for the creation of states for the minorities. Like I said earlier, the Igbos from the hinterland who controlled the politics of the Eastern region although tried to balance things, they made some mistakes perhaps of oversight that didn't go down well with the Ijaws and co and especially in the Port Harcourt area that the ill-feelings lingered. The Willink's Commission confirmed the fairness of the Igbos in the various areas of complain yet the minorities weren't satisfied and still wanted their own state possibly because of Oloibiri. It was after this time that Adaka Boro came up.
One of the major complains of Boro was that the PH refinery was to have been built in Oloibiri and not PH (remember I mentioned PH as one of the major source of concern) and he formed his NDVF for the Ijaw people which PH wasn't part of it. As the situation will be, the federal government under Ironsi stopped it and he was arrested. Note the condition of Nigeria under Ironsi was tensed and unstable. When the war started, Boro was released and commissioned into the Nigerian Army to organize other Ijaw youths to fight Biafra starting from the Bonny area to PH. Meanwhile, other Ijaws were fighting for Biafra too. To cut long story short, after the capture of PH, Boro was killed by those that released him and Biafra lost with many Igbos of the hinterland leaving their properties in the same PH which was seized by the newly created Rivers State under an Ijawman with the blessing of the Gowon led FG. This became the notorious ' abandoned property' we hear today.
To worsen the problem, many Rivers State Igbos were forced to deny their identity to fit into the expectation of Old Rivers State with Ijaws inside hence the renaming of communities and creation of ethnic nationalities in almost every local government. That Rivers State was the type of relationship the Ijaws wanted to have with the Igbos(this is my personal understanding of the matter). Soon afterwards came the cry for marginalisation once again but this time against the Ijaws by both the Igbos of Rivers State and the Ogonis which led to the creation of Bayelsa state in 1996.
In conclusion, I believe the problem between both groups is that of who controls the territory and possibly is in charge of the wealth of the land. The Ijaws prefer to deal with a manageble population of Igbos so they can be in charge as it was in pre 1900 whereas the Igbos failed to grant the Ijaws the level of autonomy and control that would shake off the fear of Igbo domination. I believe that if we discuss these things properly, we can work together and salvage the leftovers of what the current thieves are stealing from our lands. Opobo was a success and we can create an even better success today.
Note: I skipped the 'sabo era' because I'm yet to read of any disproportionate treatment of communities who were accused of sabotaging the Biafran struggle because the Biafran army was made up of all tribes of the old Eastern region.

But you do agree that Igbos were the majority in the army right?

Logan23:
Anti igbo sentiments started before the sabo era...Adaka boro n SaroWiwa betrayed biafra by taking up arms long before the sabo era and the sabo era was largely towards the end of the war

How did Adaka Boro betray Biafra when he actually even carried arms even before the quest for Biafra was born.

pazienza:
HarryDuce



All I submitted were are the reality.



This is not about what is the business of a fishermen and what isn't, no Igbo man gives a damn about your business.
The point of my post is to dispel the notion that whatever perceived sabo war that happened in Minority area was isolated case, when in truth this happened everywhere in Biafra, Igboland inclusive.
When we acknowledge the above fact, then we can all accept that the "they vs us" narrative the minorities created in their mind was only but an illusion born out of innate Igbophobia.

What your people think is immaterial, what matters is that we acknowledge that that sabo campaign cut across all ethnicities in Biafra and not targeted at minorities.





My people in Ogidi were asked to leave the village when it was obvious Onitsha was going to fall, Biafran soldiers laid many mines in the villages that we kept discovering after the war. Abagana people had to be relocated for the Biafran soldiers to set up their ambush.
This was the theme throughout the war. The idea was to protect the civilian population from casualties.



Igbos constituted 2/3 of Eastern region population, and of course the Biafran army was always going to have majority Igbo soldiers. Its simple common sense. Biafran soldiers had minorities soldiers as well. Trying to pin any indiscipline of the Biafran soldiers on Ndiigbo alone is mischievous and would be resisted by any sensible Igbo.
We were all aware of how some of your minority brothers who were in Biafra army tried to use the Biafra army to fight their local enemies in your land, they were using it to abuse and kill each. I have once heard a sincere minority admit to the above point.
You cannot hide behind Biafra and pin your internal strife on Ndiigbo. It will not happen.It was that same internal strife within the minorities where you have sharp division between the pro Biafrans and pro Nigeria that resulted in Saro wiwa killing those Ogoni elders who were pro Biafra by inciting his own faction to murder them.



Of course, the minorities stock in trade has always been to lay false accusations against Ndiigbo.
Lying against Ndiigbo is your main thing, that was why Willink report was set up and all your lies against Ndiigbo then were all shown to all lack any iota of Truth. You didn't start today.

Nothing like Igbophobia ...It's natural for Minorities to think that way when a majority filled army starts recking havoc in their communities. You make yourselves feel too special.

pazienza:
You are talking nonsense again to appear unbiased and woke!

Sabo war was not specifically targeted at minorities.
It was done all over Igbo land. Heck, Ifeajuna was killed for being a Sabo. Many people found harbouring or aiding Nigerian soldiers in Igbo land were also killed and in many cases their family houses bunt.
Ifeajuna family members became endangered species in Igboland, their family houses were burnt.
The Igbos simply don't cry about sabos killed in their hometowns and the Sabos themselves are so ashamed of themselves to speak up.

There was nothing that happened in minority areas that didn't happen in Igbo areas.
My mum told me of how some unruly Biafran soldiers invaded where they were staying as refugees in another town and forced the man hosting them to give up his goats, when the man refused, he was beaten to pulp and suffered injuries.

If this happened in minority area, it would be exaggerated as Igbos maltreating them and the man would poison the heart of his children against Igbos rather than see it as soldiers indiscipline.

Towns were relocated steadily in Biafra during combats with Nigerian army to reduce civilian casualties.
No Igbo town cried foul when they were asked to vacate town for Biafran soldiers to build ambush for FG forces.
But every case of such relocation in minorities areas, the parents went and told their children stories of how they were forced out of their homes at gun point by Igbo soldiers who wanted to repopulate their towns with Igbos after the war and rename the town.

Igbos like you who go about trying to sound unbiased by misrepresenting facts are dangerous, and are a problem and not a solution.

If a lot of saboteurs were actually from the Igbo hinterland then why do you people always pin the minorities as being the main saboteurs. The way I'm seeing you too also have a problem.

You talked about some unruly Biafran soldiers attacking a man who refused to give up his goats. Now think of it, If those soldiers were Yoruba wouldn't that man think of Yorubas as scum? It's not Igbophobia it happens everywhere.
I can even accuse you Igbos of having Hausa/fulani phobia

ijawcitizen:
What do you mean BOTH PEOPLE BIRTHED BONNY, OPOBO ETC?

It is what it is o....See it fit anyway you want to understand it.

MelesZenawi:
As far as we are concerned this is an innocent question..

Either you answer him or keep shut.

Thank you bross...the man just come start dey bully me like say he know me from somewhere.

ChinenyeN:
Sinistami, yeah, the Sabo Era is almost never discussed. However, you may sometimes notice the fallout of it in the way Igbo people talk about the Southeast minorities. Phrases like “they sabotaged us” used to be heard a lot even up to 2008, but from what I can tell, most Igbo people aren’t aware of what the Biafran army was actually doing in that time. It may surprise you just how many Igbo people respond with disbelief or even denial. when I go into some of the details about the Sabo Era. Yet, they just repeat “sabotage” and “betrayal” like a mantra, without knowing that villages in Kalabari, Okrika, Ngwa, Ndoki, Ibibio, etc. were actually clashing with the army. For the most part, the Biafran administration (and people in general) just seemed to keep quite and not discuss the saga after it happened; much like how many of our elders have generally remained quiet about the Biafran war.

It’s no wonder we can’t reconcile these events and heal, because the ethnic tension has never really been openly and honestly discussed beyond the nonstop insults being thrown both ways. Everyone feels victimized and they want to stay victimized. It’s understandable, but very tiring to have to go through the victimized conversations over and over again. But I guess that is what happens when there’s no room given for open and honest conversation.

And I guess this was the main reason why the Ijaw and other minorities of Rivers State indulge in the Abandoned property saga, ceizing property that had once belonged to Igbos.

Everybody needs to stop playing this victim game because we were all guilty. My ancestors were guilty , your ancestors were guilty. I get sick when every thread about Ijaw in this thread turns into a tribal bashing contest like it's a sin for our existence but things are more clearer thanks to you. Thank you.

ChinenyeN:
I have an unsubstantiated guess, but of course since it’s unsubstantiated, it means nothing.

But, based off some of the oral traditions I know, some Saro were known to have come upstream in smaller boats of their own in order to get to some of the more isolated communities in the Lower Niger. I know many of them also ended up just settling in the SS if they could not either pinpoint their communities, remember or trace back how they were captured.

If I remember correctly, there was a relatively large Saro community in Delta state that had such a story and one also in the border of Abia and Rivers.

So the means of transportation that was used was very “characteristically Ijaw”. Of course, this is a very simple unsubstantiated guess, so take it with a large grain of salt.

My Dad tells me of his Grandfather being related to the Saro in Rivers State. There's a possibility of much of the Saro intermingling with Ijaw clans though as well as other Riverine people. So this may actually be a reason why people say they're descendants of this boat people.

ChinenyeN:
There are black Africans who did arrive with Europeans in the 19th century, but they were not Ijaw. As in, “Ijaw”, as an ethnic community, did not come to Nigeria as European indentured servants. Ijaw oral traditions suggest that they were just as established in Nigeria as other groups by the time Europeans arrived, and this can be corroborated with the oral traditions of other groups.

If I had to hazard a guess, it is most likely the case that this story of “arriving with Europeans” refers to the “Saro” people (Sierra Leoneans). They were actually returnees (formerly enslaved), and they came from different ethnic communities in Nigeria.

Many southern Nigeria communities have one story or another that refers to this returnee migration. I don’t know how it came to be associated with Ijaw, especially since there was known tension between Ijaw and some Saro returnees.

Long story short, it seems that people now use returnee migration to spite Ijaw people for whatever reason. At least, this is my interpretation. Perhaps someone who knows better might be able to clarify things or correct me where I may be mistaken.

Thanks again for another great submission. I know of the Saros and Krios though and that was the confusing thing about it. I was wondering how Ijo that had oral traditions of settling in the Nigerdelta now come with Europeans in ships , like how?

Asgard13:
I’m sorry... lots of impostors here... and misinformation..
Some human count it join to see division among the southern minorities and among the ijaw and other minorities against the igbos.

The hate Niger deltA uniting with igbos.. THEY KNOW TOGETHER WE THE OLD EASTERN NIGERIA IS THE VERY POWERHOUSE OF NOGERIA IN EVERY ANGLE.

THEY DREAD THAT ...

WILL EXPLAIN MUCH TO YOU.. PM ME.

Well thanks I understand. Do o! Ijaw and Igbo unity would be great.

RedboneSmith:
In one short phrase: Fear (real or unfounded) of Igbo domination, exacerbated by the discovery of oil in the Niger Delta and anxiety over its control.

Another short way to put it but I think it goes deeper than that.

Abagworo:
Resource control. Igbos thrive under free trade while Ijaws thrive under controlled trade thereby making it impossible for them to compete freely. However Igbos and Ijaws remain best of friends even amidst the differences

This is a very short but concise way to put it though. I've always known you as a staunch supporter for Ijaw and Igbo uniting.

ChinenyeN:
Sinistami, pior to the Biafran War, a lot of southeast (I am using the geographic context and not the political context) Nigerian communities were unhappy with what seemed like an overwhelming hinterland Igbo migration into the area. Hinterland Igbo came to acquire civil service jobs and work in the new coal industry at the time.

At this time, people were still operating with their pre-colonial ethnic identities, so this wasn’t an “Igbo” issue yet, per se. For example, Ngwa, Asa, Ndoki and Echie all had similar grievances as their Bonny, Opobo, Okrika, and Kalabari counterparts. However, by the 1940s a lot of ethnic unions had begun forming; the Igbo State Union being one of them.

This is essentially the birth of ethnic nationalism in Nigeria, and communities that otherwise had not yet accepted being part of a “meta-identity” became effectively grouped as belonging to one of the “big three”. At this time, “Igbo” became an identifiable political block within Nigeria. Of course, due to Igbo’s overwhelming numbers, Nigerians outside of the southeast seemingly thought of the southeast as “Igbo”. Ethnic minorities, like Ijaw, began developing nationalism of their own in response.

By the 1960s, we began having clearer ethnic lines of Igbo vs Ijaw as opposed to the fluidity that existed thirty years prior. Ijaw nationalism also came with a campaign to distance Ijaw from Igbo and that manifested in a lot of ways (hence why we still have these incessant “who is Igbo?” and “who is Ijaw?” discussions).

Fast forward a little bit to just before the Biafran War. Ojukwu and Gowon were waging a propaganda war of their own. As part of the effort to chisel away at Ojukwu’s regional authority, Gowon increased ethnic tension in the southeast, claiming that the Igbo were going to overrun the minorities.

An Aside: Self-determination was a big thing in the southeast. Between 1910 and 1940s, many “Igbo” and “Ijaw” groups were actively petitioning the British for sovereignty of their own, rather than being grouped with others. For instance, Kalabari did not see themselves as “Ijaw” and wanted to govern themselves. Likewise, Ngwa did not see itself as “Igbo” and wanted to govern itself. This applies to many other groups as well. Now, back to the narrative.

Gowon gave a bit of hope to the minorities seeking self-determination. He created new states in Nigeria, effectively creating the idea is “Igbo” as a SE community and “Ijaw” as an SS community that had nothing to do with each other. After this happened, Ojukwu unilaterally declared Biafra as an independent nation (and included the many minority communities who had just received states of their own from Gowon). Obviously, suspicions grew on the part of minorities (Ijaw included). Gowon’s propaganda war won out in this case due to Ojukwu’s unilateral haste (there was never any referendum in which the local communities voted for secession).

Fast forward a bit into the Biafran war, there was an era in the war that people don’t seem to want to discuss. It’s generally called the “Saboteur Era”. During this period, Biafran administration was actually concerned that various groups were becoming discontent with the war effort, and with the increasing losses, some Biafran administrators and army leaders were looking for scapegoats. They called these “sabo”. Biafran military actually went combing through Ngwa, Asa, Ndoki, Annang, Efik, Kalabari, Okrika, etc. communities unilaterally sacking the communities and reportedly killing people under the guise of “they were saboteurs”. This led to armed and bloody clashes between the locals and the Biafran army. Suspicion grew even more.

By the time the war was over, the idea of “Igbo” was finally cemented. The Igbo felt betrayed by Ijaw and other minorities who did not stick with them to the end (even though they generally did). Minorities felt anti-Igbo suspicions and even hate (especially for the atrocities of the Sabo Era). Gowon’s anti-Igbo propaganda worked, and Ojukwu anti-saboteur effort (which turned out to disproportionately affect minority groups) made things worse.

From the end of the war until now, Nigeria has not attempted to foster any sort of reconciliation, rehabilitation or reparations between communities. Everything is swept under the rug and since then the communities has maintained a sense of ethnic tension between themselves.

Of course, there is more detail involved in this narrative, but it should be enough to get your research going into learning more about how Nigeria has contributed to unnecessary ethnic tensions within the country.

I don't know I've always assigned a feminine persona to your image in my head ...I don't know if it's because of the name. Anyways guy you're one of the most unbiased Igbos I've seen on this nairaland and your submission was the best I've read in this thread.

This is the first time I'm hearing about the "sabo era" where the Biafran army killed people who they thought of as saboteurs. All what I've heard and read so far was about Adaka Boro and the Ijaws betraying the hinterland Biafra , I haven't really read that something like this ever happened to fuel the anti Igbo sentiments. And if this matter isn't really tabled then I guess the bad blood will continue for a long time.

Asgard13:
Yoruba man ..

See them .. someone says Hausa Fulani love divide and rule and I explain Hausa Fulani have never use divide and rule against any region

It has always always been Yoruba ... they love to divide tribes
Hausa Fulani only explores options created by yoruba

Awolowo did in pre independence the NORTH WARN HIM

HE MOVE TO MIDDLE BELT .. MICHEAL OPARA DEALT WITH HIM

THEN HE MOVED TO OLD EASTERN REGION.. YET COULDNT SUCCEED..

DYNAMICS HAVE CHANGED THE ONLY UNITED REGION IS TILL OLD EASTERN REGION

SOUTH AND EAST.

AND YET THE YORUBA PEOPLE STILL CONTINUED WITH SAME AWOLOWO IDEOLOGY

WIKE HAS WARN THEM
AKPABIO UNDER PDP AS GOVERNOR DEALT WITH THEM AND THEIR PARTY EVIDENCE STILL AT AKWAIBOM STATE SECRETRIATE

TODAY ONLINE THEY HAVE “ WE THE SOUTH SOUTH “ WHICH OBVIOUSLY THE OP BELONGED TO
AND THEY NORMALLY SURFACE A YEAR OR TWO TO ELECTION
TO CAUSE DIVISION IN BETTER SOUTH BECuse of POLITICAL SUPPORT THEY NEED OR TO MAKE PDP LOSE ITS STRONGHOLD

OP IS ASKING IN WHAT CAPACITY DOES HE WANT TO KNOW

WHO IS HE .. WHATS YOUR INTEREST

WE KNOW NO SOUTH SOUTH OR SOUTH EAST WILL ASK THIS QUESTIONS BECAUSE IT VERY UNNECESSARY.. AS WE ALL IN THE SOUTH EAST AND SOUTH SOUTH KNOWS OUT HISTORY ..EVEN THO HISTORY IS NOT AVAILABLE IN SCHOOLS WE KNOQ OUR HISTORY

NOW OP YORUBA MAN WHATS YOUR REASON FOR TEYING TO INSTIGATE WHAT YOUR GREAT GRAND FATHER HAS TRIED AND FAILED

YOUR FATHERS AND YOUR YORUBA LEGENDS AND HEROS TRIED AND FAILED

IS IT A CURSE? OR OBSESSION?

WHAT DO YOU TEND TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS THREAD AND LETS SEE IF WE CAN HELP YOU

NOW IF WE TELL YOU WHAT TOU WANT TO HEAR WHAT WILL YOU USE IT FOR

I KNOW YOU’RE TRYING HARD TO DIVERT ATTENTION FROM WHts HAPPENING IN YORUBA LAND TO IGBO BASHING AND SELL OF YORUBA PROPAGANDA

JUST KNOW I DEY THIS THREAD

I AM IJAW WITH STRONG IGBO BLOOD

NOT NEW
BORN N BRED IN NORTHERN NIGERIA AND SCHOOLED IN YORUBA LAND

I AWait your thread and I know THOSE YORUBA MODS WILL ENCOURAGE YOU

LETS GO

Abobi I'm Ijaw straight from the streets of Amarata Yenagoa. My mom is Epie Atissa , my Dad is Engenne (Zarama) I don't get what you typed up there but I'm just going to tell you this, I'm asking this question as a 21 years old youth who really wants to know so stop talking as i have some kind of agenda. Egberi fa de o! Nua! Talk velemini!! And if you don't believe me then check my topics.

.

As expected Ijaw bashing and Igbo bashing still occured here again. I don't really care though, what I'd like to see is proof from people saying Ijaws are immigrants from Ghana or whatever that came with the Europeans in the 14th century. I've searched very hard for that , I even made a thread on it but no replies. I really want to know why people say that.

https://www.nairaland.com/6229374/ijaw-originating-european-ship-servants

B2mario:
You are very young by your age but still an adult. So I will like you to read about the Riverine/upland dichotomy of old Rivers state politics; what led to it; the actions of Saro Wiwa and Sen. Obi wali in savaging the suffering of non-ijaw people in Rivers state; the assassination of sen. Obi Wali and the execution of the Ogoni 9; the statement of Saro Wiwa about Ogoni treatment in Rivers state by the Ijaw people; agitation for the creation of portharcourt state and new Rivers state; what led to the creation of Bayelsa state; the involvement of Igbos of southeast and so on.

I will get back to you.

hmmm can you give me links to where I'd find these?

B2mario:
I can see the wisdom in you but I will recommend you to read more. Ijaws in many occasions, even recently, have claimed Niger Delta as their sole affair and demanded that federal government should remove typical Igbo states of Abia and Imo and the Yoruba state of Ondo so as to make Niger Delta an affair for the southern ethnic minorities. Today, Niger Delta is a political entity and not the initial geographical location of the Ijaws. If ijaws want Niger Delta republic, I bet you, the Igbos will fully support them as they supported Goodluck Jonathan as long as they will not lay claim on portharcourt, Ekpeye, Ogba, Ndoki, Etche, Opobo and Bonny.

You demanded for the names of the Ijaw leaders that betrayed Biafra. Brother, every contemporary student of history knows this. They gave federal government information about the location of Biafran army base in Ijawland and other parts of old Rivers province and when the federal government took over, the ijaws were even the ones killing Biafran soldiers, Igbos and their own Ijaw brothers and sisters who they believed were stunch Biafran supporters. When Spiff took over the government of Rivers state his actions demonstrated something similar to this.

Brother, forget about humanity, ijaws are very problematic and hostile. Are you sure you have interacted with your brothers before?. You hardly satisfy them. They don't like hearing the truth, they only like to hear what they want to hear. In the early 90s stay in portharcourt or any part of Rivers state and tell an Ijaw man that there's an indigenous Igbo in Rivers state, he can stab you to death.

I must confess that I enjoy the sincerity and pragmatism demonstrated by You. You are one of the 1st Ijaws I see accepting the fact that there are other ethnic tribes apart from Ijaws in Bayelsa even going as far as telling us here that the deputy governor of Bayelsa state is an Urhobo man. Hmmmm, I'm very happy to hear this. It means that Ijaws are changing. Ijaws I know before are good at claiming other people and people's land as long as it's located in an area close or around the creek.

I haven't seen anyone of us claiming Ekpeye and other typical Igboid groups in Rivers though. But as for Opobo and Bonny I know that we do so because of the strong Ijaw elements in those people like their names and traditional titles as well as history.

I must confess I'm actually 21 so I don't exactly know what happened in Rivers in the 90s. I'm a youth and I don't intend playing the tribal card and say half truths just to please ethnic brothers. I grew up hearing my Dad speak Igbo all the time to the point that I started thinking he was. My Dad is half Igbo , my grandma was igbo (Ikwerre) and truth be told a vast majority of Ijaws in Bayelsa and Rivers share this same circumstances with either one or two of our grandparents being Igbo. I say things as I see it, we've been bleeped up a lot by tribalism so I really don't see my self lying to anyone for tribal benefits.

Well thanks for this debate. I learnt some new things. Abd please there are a lot more other ijaws like me.

mansakhalifa:
Link?

Check, I've put it up.

mansakhalifa:
This has been brewing underground for a long time now so I am not surprised that it is actually coming to this. The boys abandoned the creeks have been angry for some time now.

I recall an incident which happened just some years after the whole amnesty programme- 2013 or thereabouts.

A militant leader had allegedly abandoned his boys in the creek after the amnesty programme and he was jetting all over the place and according to them 'enjoying the money alone'. He had even gotten a government job in Yenagoa... big shot.

Fast forward to some months later, his mom kicked the bucket and he would return to the creeks to ensure that the deceased was given a befitting burial...

In the midst of all the activities, a detachment of policemen was detailed to ensure safety and order at the scene of the burial.

To cut the long story short, as the policemen sailed towards the location of the burial, some militants emerged from nowhere and opened fire on the boat conveying them and about 11 policemen died right there on the spot.

I still have a copy of that newspaper till date. It should still be somewhere in my room back at my father's place.

But here is a link to the story below.

https://neptunep2pgroup.com/nigeria-horror-at-noon-how-militants-killed-policemen-in-bayelsa-state/

I guess it had really been underground and I really don't know how I feel about it, but if this will make our leaders sit up then so be it.

LeeMason:
Oya take pictures to complete your topic.

thank you

.

B2mario:
Oga thanks very much for acknowledging one area. Point of correction, the 1st coup was not plotted by the Igbos. Infact, the coup and the reprisal took the Igbos unaware. It was planned and nurtured by the west and supporters of Awolowo. And was carried out by four majors, two Igbos of Anioma origin and two Yorubas and many of the foot soldiers were from the north especially from the areas around Benue state. But the reprisal was visited on the east which every tribe in the east felt the repercussions not only the Igbos including your Ijaws.

Adaka Boro case is totally different. He was not the only person from eastern region that fought against Biafra. At least his stand and so many others were known compared to other Ijaw leaders who pledged allegiance to Biafra, even suggested the name of the new republic but later betrayed the course. They were duely consulted and they did not make their intentions known to the leaders of the republic.

You and I know that you can not satisfy the ijaws. Today has the struggle ended, what is their relationship with their neighbors, what is their status in Rivers and Delta states where they are the second majority? How are they treating the minorities in Bayelsa, or are they still maintaining that there's no other tribe in Bayelsa except ijaw?

And mind you, the Niger Delta republic of Adaka Boro was the old Niger Delta of the past that comprised of only the typical Ijaw land of Bayelsa state where the Niger has its foot. It did not include the Ogonis, Urhobo, Ikwerre/Igbo, itsekiri, Annang, Ibibio, Efik, Yoruba of Ondo and the Edos. Today Niger Delta was created by Obasanjo which includes as far lands as Cross river, Edo, Ondo, Imo, Abia and Akwa ibom which is in no way related to anything delta. The original Niger Delta is found in the general area of Bayelsa, southern areas of Delta and Rivers states.

Today Niger Delta was created as a region to cater for oil producing areas, so Ijaws should stop seeing Niger Delta as the own alone. Yes, the name was adopted from the location of the ijaws but Niger Delta affair is the corporation affair of the constituent ethnic groups. Infact, in the Niger Delta of today, Igbo is the single largest ethnic group. They are the majority in Abia, Imo and Rivers states, 2nd or 3rd majority in Delta State, and have minority population in Akwa ibom, Bayelsa, Cross river, and Edo state.

In conclusion, I must commend your maturity in this debate. But try and read more. So many things and circumstances behind the 1st and 2nd coups were hidden. I think Obasanjo and Babangida still have some secrets to tell us. So many people's names were shed in 1st coup so as to get majority to fight against the Igbos and the east.

Nigerian govt released Adaka Boro he fought against Biafra and Biafran govt released Awolowo he still fought against Biafra.

First of all I know that the Nigerdelta as geographical location is different from the political entity of the same name. I know Boro fought for the geographical location.

Secondly , thank you for clearing the part about the civil war up. But can you at least give me names of the Ijaw leaders that betrayed the Biafra struggle.

Thirdly humanity as a whole cannot be satisfied. I'm not part of the minority in Bayelsa apart from being part of the Epie Atissa in Yenagoa which so I can't really say how minorities are treated. I can only see it from a superficial angle since I see them getting jobs and all and our deputy governor is an Urhobo man.

And again tell me why you think the Ijaw is taking the Nigerdelta as only theirs.

B2mario:
I've never claimed that Igbo is saint. I'm just saying the fact. Ijaws made many mistakes in the past ranging from betraying the Biafran soldiers in their land to protect them, the abandon property saga to the exclusion of indigenous Igbos in Rivers state in Rivers state politics and encouraging the Igbo identity denial.

The only area I see we did wrong here was the abandoned property saga. Is it fair that Adaka Boro who had first declared a Niger Delta republic was captured , stripped and thrown in jail by Ojukwu and Ironsi awaiting murder while your eastern brothers that had just committed a coup were just there being treated as heroes and awaiting trial then boom when things back fired Ojukwu declared a Republic of Biafra still comprising of same land Boro fought for without giving him an apology so when the Nigerian government pardoned him what did you expect he'd do?

And do you know how your Biafra Soldiers were maltreating the Ijaw locals? What did you expect? When your men were threatening them with dealing with them later after they were done with Nigeria. Was that right? I heard all these from my father who is half Igbo , well it's Ikwere but I see them as Igbo any day any time.

hammerDK:
THE PEOPLE OF YENAGOA ARE EDOID NOT IJAW.


THEIR LANGUAGE IS NOT IJAW.

We chose to be identified as Ijaw Because of our cultural practices , religion etc being one. Language isn't the only yardstick used to define ethnicity. The Epie Atissa of Yenagoa resulted when the Ijo of the area accepted Ifa migrants as settlers and their cohabited with each other untill their fused into one people.

Left , right, everybody's bashing the Ijaws. No wam o! Well it's better than when everybody likes you because you bend your ass on a daily for them. I'm Ijaw and a proud one at that from Yenagoa, Zarama and Epie to be precise. You can all bash and hate all you want but we move.

Egberi fa oo!!

mosdii:
Welcome development
Ahn izon

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