₦airaland Forum

Although an old discussion, but I was successfully tempted to join in. I am from the southern part of Anambra State, the town of Utuh Mbadike in Nnewi South LGA. I agree with the thesis of Anambra having divergent dialects. But I should hasten to add that one would be wrong to assume the differences in dialect always mean differences in origin between the towns and regions of Anambra State. Many of the towns in Ihiala LGA have verifiable Nri origin, yet they don’t speak the Njikoka dialect. My father is from Utuh, and the town was settled by folks from different parts of the old Igbo country. My paternal grandma is from an Utuh clan called Umuehim, descendants of Agulu settlers, hence their being referred to as ‘Ehim-Agulu’. My mother hails from Amichi, and Amichi is an Okotu town—closely related to Osumenyi, Adazi Enu, Adazi Ani, and Adazi Nnukwu. Okotu himself hailed from Umuona town in Aguata, a town I suspect is Nri-linked via neighbouring Oraeri. My sister is married to a man from Ikenga town in Aguata, and Ikenga folks say they are ‘isi mba’ wherefrom every Ikenga community originally departed, including Ikenga Ogidi. The mother of this Ikenga Aguata brother-in-law of mine was herself originally from Oraeri. My direct elder brother is married to a lady from Umuchu (Aguata still). All this was said to allow me point out: No two of these mentioned towns speak the same dialect of the Igbo language, except perhaps the three Adazis. But I have just illustrated how my family is linked by blood to all these places.

(For what it’s worth: The Ikenga + Umuona dialects are close but not the same; the Igboukwu + Oraeri dialects are close but not the same; Osumenyi and Ukpor folks sound alike; Utuh has a unique dialect; Amichi and Nnewi town share a dialect which I believe extends into Oraifite and Ichi in Ekwusigo. Osita Osadebe’s mother was, I suspect, from Oraifite, and many of his musical words are unique to the Oraifite-Nnewi-Ichi-Amichi dialect ... I hear these terms from my mom and her Amichi folks but never from the other towns that surround Amichi, like Osumenyi and Utuh. NB: To clarify further; the Okotu clan includes Adazi-Enu, Adazi-Ani, Adazi-Nnukwu, Obeledu, Amichi, Ichida, Osumenyi, and Ogbodi. Potentially more towns. Yet between these listed communities are up to three dialects and two local government areas. Go figure!)

When we marry, our preference goes in this manner: fellow Nnewi South towns, Nnewi North, Aguata, Ekwusigo, Idemmili South, Idemmili North (minus Obosi), Orumba South, Orumba North, and then Ihiala. Njikoka and Dunukofia come next, followed by Awka, etc. We don’t marry from Onitsha or the towns adjacent to it. We equally don’t venture toward Delta State. My folks are of the belief that Igbo towns bordering non-Igbo cultures should not be prioritised in matters of marriage.

Finally, to discount Southern Anambra as not being ‘Anambra enough’, whatever that suggestion might mean, is to rob Anambra of its widely envied glorious excellence. It is generally seen as ‘the money State’ of doers, and for every billionaire businessman from Northern Anambra, there are four from Southern Anambra. Nnewi is untouchable in this regard. And there’s a good reason the medical investments of ObiJackson (Okija) and Godwin Mmaduka (Umuchukwu) are both located in Southern Anambra. I am in fact of the opinion that three Igbo regions stand out above the rest with regard to wealth ownership ... in the following order: 1. Southern Anambra, 2. Northern Imo, and 3. The Bende axis of Abia State. / Therein lie the business and industrialist cultures that make the Igbo special and without which the Igbo would cease to be Igbo.