Funkyswagzz: Bros ikwerre people that are denying they are not igbo but from Benin are the people you should direct this to. They said they are your brother so therefore it's convenient to say they should go back to Benin[b][/b]. No one is hating on you cos you've done nothing wrong. Unless you want to make yourself subject of the matter
Verified imbe Ikwerre never DENIED being Igbo
They have several times clarified that THEY ARE NOT IGBO AND WILL NOT BE IGBO
If dem born you well come any Ikwerre village and open your smelly mouth to spew nonsense. Very stvpid disgusting idi0ts is what you are.
PUNCH Lite Ikwerre are Igbo – Ex-Ohanaeze sec-gen 12th May 2024
Okwukwu Uche Okwukwu
By Chukwudi Akasike Kindly share this story:
Former Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Uche Okwukwu, speaks to CHUKWUDI AKASIKE on the controversy over the identity of Ikwerre people in Rivers State and whether they belong to the Igbo tribe, among other related issues
What do you make of the disagreement between the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, and the President of Iwhnurohna Progressive Organisation, Dr Okachikwu Dibia?
As an Ikwerre man, I know we have the Ogbako Ikwerre; we have the Ikwerre Development Organisation, IDO. So, we don’t have anything called Iwhnurohna Progressive Organisation or IPO. So, the young man (Dibia) wanted to score a point by issuing a statement to challenge Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu. I wish him good luck. That is what I will say in that regard.
But the man is the President of IwhnurohnaProgressive Organisation.
You are a journalist; have you heard about that name before? He needs to be asked some questions. First and foremost, his name is Dibia; that is what he said, and he wrote a book published in 2011, which I have. In that book, he said there was pressure on him to change his surname, but (he said) he did not change it because he allowed it to remain as an Igbo relic. But the truth is that he is an Igbo man; his DNA and his blood are Igbo. I have said time without number that the Ikwerre are Igbo, and they have at different fora from the Henry Willink’s Commission asserted that they are Igbo.
Ikwerre land is Igbo land. The man (Dibia) wanted to become popular by issuing a statement challenging Iwuanyanwu. For example, if Ango Abdullahi says something, and somebody wants to reply to him from Igbo land or Yoruba land, it should be a known name. So, who is this person, and what organisation does he represent?
But Dibia, who is an Ikwerre man, is saying that the Ikwerre are not Igbo. How will you respond to his claim?
I want to be recorded very well. The Ikwerre people are Igbo. If you say something that is not predicated on fact, either circumstantial or real, it is neither here nor there. The Portuguese got to Ikwerre land in 1400AD. Now, go and look at ‘People from Southern Nigeria’ by Amaury Talbot, Volume 1, Page 238. The Portuguese got to Isiokpo which is the headquarters of Ikwerre Local Government Area today; they got to Amaafa, which was the name Emuoha was answering. They recorded that people were here with these names.
Now, the Ikwerre people claimed that they left Benin under the reign of Oba Ewuare, and Oba Ewuare came to power in the Benin Kingdom in 1430 AD. That was after the Portuguese had visited Ikwerre land in 1400. Assuming without conceding that the Ikwerre people came from Benin, it then means that the Ikwerre people who came from Benin met people here (Ikwerre land). The people had been here when the Portuguese came.
Again, the Oba of Benin wrote a book titled, ‘Yes, my obedient servant’. The Oba of Benin I am referring to is Omo N’Oba Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa. He (Oba Erediauwa) served as an Assistant District Commissioner in Ahoada Division (in today’s Rivers State) between 1954 and 1965. In his book titled, ‘Remain, sir, your obedient servant’, published in 2004, Omo N’Oba Erediauwa Akpolokpolo wrote it.
He (Erediuwa) said that the Ikwerre and the Etche were typical Igbo. Also, at the Henry Willink’s Commission in 1957, the Ikwerre presented their position through their leaders that from Port Harcourt to Onitsha was Igbo land, and when Henry Willink published his report in April 1958, he made it very clear that the Ikwerre were Igbo. He went to the point of stating in black and white that Port Harcourt was an Igbo town. It is there in black and white.
Now, let us go to human beings. Illustrious Ikwerre sons, more prominent than Dibia, had stated clearly that they were Igbo. Chibuike Amaechi, who is the former governor of Rivers State, former speaker of the House of Assembly, Rivers State, and first Nigerian Minister of Transportation, says he is an Igbo man.
The question I ask is, why are people not reporting it? Now, they are giving front-page headlines to Dibia. The first Ikwerre principal of any college; Saint John’s College, Diobu, first provost of the Rivers College of Education, now Ignatius Ajuru University, and first Ikwerre minister, Chief Emmanuel Aguma, said he was an Igbo man. The First Ikwerre poet, Okogbule Wonodi, who was a one-time registrar of the University of Port Harcourt, said he was an Igbo man.
The first Ikwerre senator, first Ikwerre to obtain a PhD, first Ikwerre commissioner, and first Ikwerre member of the Constituent Assembly, Constitution Conference, 1975 and 1977, Dr Obi Wali, said he was an Igbo man. The question I will ask Dibia is; ‘why do you say you are not an Igbo man?’
What do you think may have made him say the Ikwerre are not Igbo people?
Well, he knows what made him to say so. I don’t know. He (Dibia) wrote a book titled, ‘The Challenge of Ikwerre Development in Nigeria’, published in 2011. From Page 146 to 147 of that book, this is Dibia talking; he said, ‘Ikwerre names that are Igbo have remained unchanged because they were left as part of Ikwerre historical relics. They have no other meaning than that. For example, my name, Dibia, does not in any way assist in defining my personality despite the pressure to change it. I had decided to retain it to remember what Ikwerre people passed through in the past, representing the experiences needed to rebuild Ikwerre.’
Now, the question you will ask him is why he has not changed his name. Dibia means in Igbo land, a knowledgeable person and a healer. A professor can be called Dibia of History, Dibia of Law, Dibia of Journalism, or a healer. So, let him change his name, because he has no other names to answer. We are not Iwhnurohna people; we are Ikwerre people. He used the word ‘Iwhnurohna’. Let the people be bold to change all their organisations’ names from Ikwerre to Iwhnurohna, and they will lose their bearing and relevance.
Why did you say so?
Of course, if you change your surname today, you will lose your track. Why is it that the Afro-Americans are still insisting that they are Africans? Why are they not saying that they are Spanish? Why are they not saying that they are Germans or British? Why are they still insisting that they are Africans? Blacks and Afro-Americans have their root in Africa. This is because it is the identity that defines their mission and purpose and that they are blacks and Africans.
The Ikwerre are Igbo, and from time immemorial, the Ikwerre have remained in Ohanaeze. From 1939, the Ikwerre were members of the Igbo State Union which existed from 1939 to 1966 when the military proscribed it. Since the formation of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo in 1976 with Akanu Ibiam as President General and Jerome Udorji as first Secretary General, the Ikwerre were members of Ohanaeze.
I have served as Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo; many prominent sons and daughters of Ikwerre have served as Ohanaeze members. Chibudom Nwuche, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives from Ekpeye is a member of the Board of Trustees of Ohanaeze as I am talking to you. His father, the late C.C Nwuche, once served as the chairman of Ohanaeze’s Elders’ Council. The late Senator Francis Ellah of Ogba, the most outstanding Ogba man to live on earth, was a senator; he was a district commissioner, he was the registrar of the Rivers State University at a time, he was Secretary to the Government, he was a minister, and remained Ohanaeze till he died.
Related News Rivers crisis: Ohanaeze, Ijaw youths seek Tinubu, Clark’s intervention Ohanaeze protests mechanic’s death in Rivers police detention, demands justice Ohanaeze hails Tinubu's first year, seeks Nnamdi Kanu's release So, I don’t know where the likes of Dibia are coming from. If he knows the people that sent him on an errand, he should tell them that the Igbo will not surrender Ikwerre to anyone or tribe; and I want to be recorded. Any attempt to remove Ikwerre land from the Igbo will be resisted. No nation in modern history will want his side to be shrunk. That is the whole crisis in Kremia and Ukraine. Russia said you cannot remove Russians from us.
Why do you think Ikwerre land is important to the Igbo?
No nation will want itself to be cut off from the sea. Ikwerre land is the tongue of the Igbo nation to the sea. The Ohanaeze President General (Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu) is coming to Rivers State in January 2025, because constitutionally, it is the turn of River State (to produce the next president general). So, the likes of Dibia are on a mission to undermine the Ikwerre in Ohanaeze. He should tell those who sent him that they have failed because some of us are still alive.
Some have said that the reason why some Ikwerre people are claiming that they are not part of Igbo and Igbo land is because of an alleged expansionist tendency of Igbo people. How will you react to this?
Who is expanding to where? Under the constitution, where are you expanding to? Nigeria is an indivisible and indissoluble country under Section 2 of the Constitution. Local governments have been created, and states have been created. Nobody from Ebonyi State will rule Enugu State; nobody from River State will rule Delta State. The clannish nature of Nigeria is so high that you cannot even be a councillor outside your village. Even in Yoruba land, you cannot come from Oyo State and be a councillor in Osun State.
So, I don’t know who is expanding to where. Is anybody controlling a local government except the chairman who is from there? Rivers State was created in 1967, almost 60 years ago. So, the Igbo came back to Rivers State after the war as non-Rivers indigenes and struggled for survival. Rivers people are in Lagos State as non-Lagosians struggling for survival. Anywhere you find yourself in Nigeria, you struggle for survival as a non-indigene. You battle; if you go to the university, you pay different school fees from the ones those from the state pay.
So, which expansionist tendency are these people talking about? If you go anywhere, you buy land with your money; nobody will dash you land. You are in Lagos today, if you have money to buy land, you buy from the natives. The Lagosians go to Ogun State and buy land. Even the Ijebu people buy land in Ijebu. Tell those saying this to tell us where we are expanding to. It is just a case of calling a dog a bad name to kill it. Tell the person that it is not true.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo will likely have a new president general next year and it is said that the position will go to Rivers State. How ready are your people to take this position?
That is the same question they ask when it comes to politics. What is the qualification to become a President of the country? Is it not a School Cert? (Umaru Musa) Yar’Adua was the first Nigerian President that went through the university. So, didn’t those who ruled before him do well? The Igbo-speaking people in Rivers State; the Ogba, the Ekpeye, the Ndoni, Ikwerre, Etche, Obigbo; don’t they have people? Is Amaechi not an Ikwerre man? He has said he is Igbo.
Are you saying a man, who has run presidential primary cannot be Ohanaeze’s president general? Are you saying that Chibudom Nwuche, who was deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, is not qualified to be Ohanaeze president general? Are you saying I am not qualified as a lawyer to become president general of Ohanaeze? I have also served as secretary general. Are the qualifications of the president general and secretary general of Ohanaeze different? It is like saying (Prof Yemi) Osinbajo cannot be President, even when he has been Vice President.
All those things are cheap blackmail. The Rivers people are very prepared. We are very prepared. Constitutionally, it is only people from Rivers State who can contest the position of the next president general of Ohanaeze. It is zoned to Rivers State, and after Rivers State, it will go to Abia State.
What is your advice to those who may unwittingly try to distort history over the current controversy on the identity of the Ikwerre people?
If something is not your name, you change your name. For example, my name is Uche Okwukwu. If I find out that it is not my name, I change it. Go to court, do an affidavit, and publish it in a newspaper. So, some Ikwerre who are saying Ikwerre are not Igbo should change their names.
Some have also said that language is not enough to determine where a person comes from.
Dibia is saying that he is retaining his name as an Igbo relic. Now, you are saying that a name is not important.
No, some people said, not me.
Let me quote what Oliver Wendell said in 1866 about language. ‘Every language is a temple in which the soul of those who speak it is enshrined. Language is by its very nature communal. It expresses never the exact thing, but a compromise that is common to me, you, and everybody.’ Now, language is very important. That is why the Yoruba of Kogi, Kwara, and Edo states are still saying they are Yoruba. This is because of language and name. If you say the Igbo should change their names. How? How can that kind of influence be there that the person does not retain anyone?
It is important I also give you this source; the famous Benin historian, Julius Egharevba, wrote a book titled, ‘Short History of Benin’. In that book, he said that the earliest migration of people out of Benin was in 1440, by which time the Portuguese had already visited Ikwerre and met the Ikwerre people. Remember that the Portuguese were here by 1400. So, I don’t know where they are getting their facts from. You must be armed with history to make a statement; you don’t just say things, and when they bring you out on national television, you can’t defend it.
Igbo women are said to always tie two wrappers and that is also one of the ways a person can determine who an Igbo woman is. How will you react to this claim?
These days, globalisation has made people open their noses, open ears in five places. Some almost go naked, which the government is fighting in all higher institutions. I know that Ikwerre women tie two wrappers. You must visit Ikwerre with your camera and take snapshots. We wrestle like Igbo and our women tie two wrappers.
Have you had any one on one dealing with Uche Okwukwu?
Unfortunately for you, he is a very unstable individual and a nobody even in his immediate family.
That your Ohaneze will even allow him near the executive tells a lot about your values and seriousness.
Only Igbo people will take such character seriously.
Tell him to go and host Ohaneze meeting in HIS FATHER’s compound in Elele at least to show that he’s from Igbo family.
Slytiger: I don't know much about the topic, but I just watched a video of "Nna Mhen TV"after reading the topic and going through the thread.
Everyone he interviewed in the Etche community in Rivers State told him they weren't ibos. Although he tried to convince them in saying that they were Ibos. Those ones even pointed out the difference in the languages to him.
Let them continue in their fruitless pursuit of squeezing water out of stones.
LadyExcellency: Did you even read the statement to see the foolishness of the author by claiming Aba Ngwa and Ikwerre are siblings? He claimed "His first wife begat two sons Ekpeye and Ogba - and the second wife begat Iwhurohna (Ikwerre), Etche (Igbo) and Ngwa (Igbo).
You are the one calling Etche Igbo. Never seen an Etche person in real life who claims to be Igbo only online. Ngwa claim that they migrated from Ikwerre and if they decide they are Igbo that is their problem.
I remember one Ngwa fellow on nairaland here who was also talking about how they were misled to tag along with Igbo identity despite warning by Ikwerre.
MiracleMe7: When I saw some comments from Nigerian youths about how they sentimentally defend the politicians that have destroyed the future of their unborn kids, I now know that Nigeria is irredeemable. Kenya's youths have taken their destiny by their hand, and now the president of Kenya has quickly reversed the anti-people tax he signed to bill at the pick of the nationwide protest. So because Nwike made him governor that is the more reason Gov Fubara would be returning 60% of State allocation money to him every month. I wish you will come back to your senses
U can’t even spell ‘Wike’ yet you have an opinion. Abeg commot with your gibberish ip*obidunce!
Chemlite: You just claimed to have discussed with the people involved, why ask for another version?
You are Wike's loyalist, possibly the media aide to one of the LG chairmen. Don't worry, today you are part of the oppressors, tomorrow you will be one of the oppressed!
Well what I know is that in Nigeria, both the oppressors and the oppressed spice up their stories. I am not that rigid as to not evaluate other side of stories.
I am not Wike’s loyalist nor aid to any politician. The only time I follow Wike even if blindfolded is when it has to do with biafRATS, ipunks, 0b.dunces and SOME Igb.0 people that communicate only via insults, lies and spew their deep seated bile and bitterness at every given opportunity.
Benwosky42: Is that what you were told,at no time did Fubara contemplate changing the LGA chairmen before their tenure elaspsed,we that are Rivers people know what the problem is,even those with Wike can't take 10% of what Fubare has endured.Are you aware that as Governor he only appointed one commissioner,even his C.S.O was appointed by Wike.
I have chatted with a few people who are directly involved and that is what I learnt and the reason almost all the LGA chairmen and elected officials are with Wike.
wealthyprince: What led to the impeachment? And why will you impeace a man you said was the best among all in less than a 9 month?
On the other hand, I think the condition given him was suffocating him and he has to shout.
I also think that their actions made him discover the consequences of been a figure head Governor without been incharge.
And finally he who wear the shoe know where it pinches, there may be internal things within them that we don't know..they know better. if we know The deepest part of the matter even we ourselve may end up in defensive.
All I can say whatever will make u a slave in these era...fight it.
He was the one that started the idea of building's his “own structure’ by sacking the Chairmen just within two months , pushing for the removal of the HOA Speaker not minding the zoning formula within the existing structure. You don’t build structure overnight or just displace someone like Wike from his own structure that he has built over several years. He should have tried to work with them at least in his first term which would allow him have his own genuine loyalists.
Yes I agree he was being suffocated, being surrounded by people he never worked with politically but he was never a politician. Infact, I tell my friends that he saw beautiful thorns in the crown and thought they were there as designs or to beautify it, but this thorns were used to put the crown on his head ab initio. A smart person would be taking his time to remove them gradually but he was in a rush so feeling the sharp edges of the thorns.
Honestly, I believe he would have acted differently if he wasn’t naive, thereby allowing some people to be pushing him. On one hand you have the ‘militants’ like Asari and this Ikwerre guy they have now declared wanted, that do not even know how ballot boxes are prepared or arranged and on the other hand, some politicians that wanted to succeed Wike but didn’t get his support, and will gladly change their allegiance by 2027 if it favours them even if Fubara is pushed out.
MP3GAGAdotCOM: Exactly my point, how can you elongate your tenure after expiration, where in the world is it done?
Wike should respect himself before what is happening in Kenya will start here from rivers state.
He thinks everybody is Tinupoo
Was he not supposed to have conducted election before their tenure elapsed? Why did he deliberately refuse to conduct election? The same man wanted to sack them and appoint caretakers just 2 months into office. He wants to win public sympathy by pretending he doesn’t know how the whole issue started.
That LGA chairman that insulted you openly was wrong and his conduct condemned by any decent person but Fubara like I said before, this problem you started was avoidable and unnecessary. Many of us are ready to stand against godfatherism but can not in good conscience see you as innocent.
Wike worked with the LGA chairmen and other stakeholders to make you governor. Just 2 months in office, you wanted to sack elected Chairmen and install people you say will be loyal to you because you want to build your “own structure”. JUST TWO MONTHS!. You were asked to at least wait till the end of their tenure and then conduct an election as it should happen. You started making trouble. Now, you deliberately refused to conduct election so that their tenure will run out and allow you appoint CTC and achieve your agenda of building your “own structure”.
Why the desperation to build your own structure? Why deliberately destroy the structure that made you governor and undermine all the people that worked to make you governor? Why do you think they sacrificed their ambitions and political careers for you to become governor? Why bite the fingers that fed you even when it’s totally uncalled for just 2 months in office? It’s the height of ingratitude if you ask me.
All the noise from both sides are premature but the deafening noise from the ipunks and 0b**idunces hailing Fubara whom they never supported is sickening.
It is the decision of the court that will determine a lot of things. You make a lot of noise today and tomorrow you begin to accuse the judges of taking bribes when the judgement doesn’t favour you.
Even the person in the picture is an Ikwerre guy so how is it “Ijaw militants”?
People are affiliated largely based on where they think they will benefit more regardless of ethnicity but, Rivers people know those that have been wishing and even pushing for the situation to turn ethnic and they are mostly not from the State.
Lumarstone: Those that love MNK and do make out time to visit him at EFCC custody will never be happy after there visit, thus; may develop HBP that will eventually LEED to the Development of one sickness or the other.
Buhari's regime made MNK popular.
I saw a vision that Tinubu will grant him presidential pardon very soonest.
I left..!
Pardon only happens after conviction.
The best the government of the day could do is withdraw the charges under stringent conditions, and hand him over to responsible people who are ready to stand as sureties, with the hope that the orchins and empty noisemakers wouldn’t see it as weakness on the part of government, turn him into a demigod and begin to dare the government.
First things first ijaws would take over port Harcourt straight up
Then they create a state or province for u then u become minorities straight up
Ijaws, Akwa Cross and Benin people would run the show
Maybe u people have forgotten what happened in the old rivers state ... Remind me again how many ikwerre was governor? Wait deputy? Wait even commissioner... This one would be worse n I can't wait to see it
U think all these your fear mongering and imagination will make Ikwerre to become Igbo
You should begin by mentioning the Ikwerre people that were governors, deputy, ministers or commissioners under your defunct Eastern region. Igbo people were even bringing people from Aba and Owerri to become Mayors of Portharcourt until Ikwerre people decided enough was enough. Oga you people should maintain your lane and stop ‘thinking for Ikwerre people’
FYI, the "Rivers' men" interviewed are from minority tribes and the people referred to as 'Igbos' are Ikwerre from Igrita.
Are you deliberately fooling yourself?
First there’s nowhere that is called Igrita in Ikwerreland and secondly, Igbos referred to are not Ikwerre people. Ikwerre was never in the East Central State.
Most Ikwerre villages even didn’t want to allow Igbos to come back to live with them because of the atrocities they committed and the evil attitude they displayed when they thought biafra was already a reality.
Igbo people especially from Anambra will still reject Etiti State because it will bring some superior Igbos into the same State with some inferior deplorables, but the same people will sit in one Abacha shop near Awka and decide on States that should be created from Rivers, Delta, Benue, Edo and even Kogi States regardless of wether the people of these areas are consulted or not.
Politics › Re: Wetin Benin People Do This Tribe From The South by Tranquill: 12:21pm On Jul 10, 2024
