Benin Empire was one of the greatest of the time. They were
said to have migrated from Oduduwa Empire of the Yorubas.
The Obas had little regards for human beings. They were
taken as the ancestors and thereby were honored as gods.

At about 1542 AD, during the reign of Oba Awuarre, his
atrocities were so severe that his subjects could no longer
bear; hence, they planned to assassinate him. The plot was
revealed to the Oba who instantly became very hostile to
the people. The hostility resulted to a great exodus of
people from the Benin Empire for fear of being killed.

Amongst the brave soldiers of the Oba and also of the royal
family, was a man called Akalaka. He had a son called
Ekpeye. He also has a sister who was one of the noble
ladies of the palace of the Oba. As was the custom for Oba's
pleasure, beautiful ladies were drawn from noble families in
the kingdom to serve in Oba's palace.
Akalaka was a very close general to the Oba. Incidentally,
the Oba suspected that the assassination plan must have
been masterminded by his nearest men of which Akalaka
was one. The accusation was revealed to Akalaka's sister.
To save the life of her brother, she secretly told him. In
order to escape the danger ahead, Akalaka fled to Agbo
with his family and there he married a second wife to gain
the love and favor of the people. The wife gave birth to a son
who he named Ogba. Still at Agbo, the first wife, Ekpeye's
mother, gave birth to another son and he called him Ihruoda
(Ikwere).

Akalaka became very prosperous; his warrior's nature
could not be hidden. He was a great hunter and notorious
herbalist. After sometime, he was hated by the people for
his bold approach to issues which resulted to open
confrontations. The Obi of Agbo planned to conscript the
able men of the kingdom, for his services, Ekpeye was listed
as one of them. Akalaka having had his experience in his
home in Benin kingdom, stealthily left Agbo with his family.

He moved southwards, following River Niger. After many
years of wandering, he came to the Orashi River. Because
Akalaka had waxed old in age, Ekpeye then took over the
leadership from his father.

Along Orashi River, Ekpeye found a creek on the eastern
side of the river. They stopped and stayed for a while, that
was where Ikodu Ekpeye is situated now.

The inhabitants of the area called Ikpachors were very
wicked and hostile. Ekpeye and his people planned to move
to the hinterland, but the Ikpachors opposed them and this
resulted to a war between them. The Ikpachors were
aggressively defeated. Those of them that survived fled to
the western side of the Orashi River.

Ekpeye and his entourage entered the hinterland through the
creek (Utu) and landed at a lake called Odhulle in the
swamp between Ula-Ubie and Ogoda villages, and it is now
Ude (lake) Ubie. Though dried up, the relics of the creek at
Ikodu-Ekpeye can still be seen today, the shrine (Utu) is
being worshipped at Ikodu Ekpeye. They settled at the
Odhulle lake for a while after which they moved northwards
and founded a good arable land where they settled and
called the place Ulobe, meaning, a good place for dwelling.
At Ulobe, they celebrated the victory over Ikpachors and
thanked their gods for their safe arrival to the place. That is
the festival of Ogwu-Ukpukpumini, celebrated annually by
Ubie community at the beginning of farming season...

Mr. Man.
Ikwerre never came from Benin Empire but from the Igbo Nation.

Ekpeye rival Ikwerre is stupidity and useless re-writing of history to steal people's houses. #GEJ2015

Op, try better next time. Ikwerre is 100% igbo.

Macelliot: Mr. Man.
Ikwerre never came from Benin Empire but from the Igbo Nation.

I am not Igbo but I believe, Ikwerre, Wawa, Mbaise, Aro etc are all dielects of Igbo. They are not a tribe of its own. The politics of "Iam Igbo, I am not Igbo" going on in the former Eastern Nigeria is all about resource control. Who is Igbo then? Every language is like that. The more you drive away from the centre, the more dialectics changes in the Language and that explain why the owerri Igbo is slightly different from the Ikwerre Igbo and so on. But the Igbo people should put their house in order before a foriegner impose a strange history on them. I understand the post civil war dealt a blow to Igbo nation by splitting time along many lines thereby making them weak. If there was war in Yoruba land, I am sure the Ijebus, Ondos, Ekitis, Ijeshas, Akokos will start singing a stand alone music.

Macelliot: Mr. Man.
Ikwerre never came from Benin Empire but from the Igbo Nation.

Don't call me mr man called me ikwerre man.


But can you pls tell us the history of ikwerre that shows that the ikwerres came from or are igbos.
so that the yorubas,huasa,ijaws e.t.c would knw.

Enough of all this ikwerres are igbos without historical facts. The truth be say ana dey invest 4 strange land oh and you no fit carry ur huz 4 ur head go bak anambra,imo e.t.c
So make ana go we no want ana again oooh.
No worry we go soon start to deport ana from port Harcourt as fashola deport ana frm lagos.
##A group of people that can not stay one place##
How many ikwerres do you find in anambra,imo,enugu,abia,and ebonyi??
Then you open ur mouth and call an ikwerre man like me an igbo man. May you see sorrow all d days of ur life if you try that again.

Another Yoruba impostor trying to stir trouble.

Ikwerreboy:

Don't call me mr man called me ikwerre man.


But can you pls tell us the history of ikwerre that shows that the ikwerres came from or are igbos.
so that the yorubas,huasa,ijaws e.t.c would knw.

Enough of all this ikwerres are igbos without historical facts. The truth be say ana dey invest 4 strange land oh and you no fit carry ur huz 4 ur head go bak anambra,imo e.t.c
So make ana go we no want ana again oooh.
No worry we go soon start to deport ana from port Harcourt as fashola deport ana frm lagos.
##A group of people that can not stay one place##
How many ikwerres do you find in anambra,imo,enugu,abia,and ebonyi??
Then you open ur mouth and call an ikwerre man like me an igbo man. May you see sorrow all d days of ur life if you try that again.

Yea,you got the attention you wanted. Now,enter house make human being see road. Ayasia ndi bu mmadu ayaa atulu na ata afifia.

There is a difference between being a descendant of Igbo and being Igbo. Benin have descendants from yoruba but are not yoruba, go to Opobo, you will find out that they speak igbo but that doesn't make them Igbo. There are many examples of tribes or ethnic groups that descend from another, infact every tribe has descendants from another place especially the Fulani's who are widely believed that they are immigrants that forced themselves on Nigeria but it doesn't take away their right of being Nigerians. So no matter where the Ikwerre's descend from, they are an ethnic group and a tribe and therefore their rights should be respected.

one thing i hate frm ikwerre niggas,is that,they re not reasonable at all,infact som blockheaded ones,
yu answer igbo names,yu spoke many of their languages and yet yu kip decievin yursef yu re not igbos,
yur governor chibuike amechi,shu drop that igbo names first and ansa ekpeye,then i wil knw u re nt igbo,dont u knw we have nkwerre in imo state and jus a litle different in pronunciation{ikwerre}.
guy una dey smoke 2much to reason low..mr ikwerre,{ekpekerre}change am nw.smh.

Ikengawo: Ekpeye rival Ikwerre is stupidity and useless re-writing of history to steal people's houses. #GEJ2015

imagine the idiot claiming benin ,wonder shall nva end

Ikengawo: Ekpeye rival Ikwerre is stupidity and useless re-writing of history to steal people's houses. #GEJ2015

imagine the id-iot claiming benin ,wonder shall nva end

brainpower: There is a difference between being a descendant of Igbo and being Igbo. Benin have descendants from yoruba but are not yoruba, go to Opobo, you will find out that they speak igbo but that doesn't make them Igbo. There are many examples of tribes or ethnic groups that descend from another, infact every tribe has descendants from another place especially the Fulani's who are widely believed that they are immigrants that forced themselves on Nigeria but it doesn't take away their right of being Nigerians. So no matter where the Ikwerre's descend from, they are an ethnic group and a tribe and therefore their rights should be respected.

Opobo is an igbo man from amaigbo in the present imo state. How can they speak igbo till date without being igbos? you are very funny.
A friend of mine from opobo with igbo name and that I converse today in igbo language deny being igbo. I just tell him "you will die in your state of denial"
As for the fulanis, we all know that their great grandfather othman dan fodio is from gambia.
And anybody can be a Nigerian. Nigeria is a not a tribe. It's a federation of different tribes, people and culture. There are so many Lebanese in lebanese club in kano that are naturised nigerians. they have African americans, Japanese americans, Chinese americans, Italian americans etc, once you swear the oath or if your father is from that country, you are automatically from that country. Your being from nigeria is not a matter of the the language you speak.

emmysoftyou: one thing i hate frm ikwerre niggas,is that,they re not reasonable at all,infact som blockheaded ones,
yu answer igbo names,yu spoke many of their languages and yet yu kip decievin yursef yu re not igbos,
yur governor chibuike amechi,shu drop that igbo names first and ansa ekpeye,then i wil knw u re nt igbo,dont u knw we have nkwerre in imo state and jus a litle different in pronunciation{ikwerre}.
guy una dey smoke 2much to reason low..mr ikwerre,{ekpekerre}change am nw.smh.

I beg you with my ancestors, I am Nkwerre, we have absolutely NOTHING to do with Ikwerre. If they say they come from Benin just take their word for it.

Ikwerreboy:

Don't call me mr man called me ikwerre man.


But can you pls tell us the history of ikwerre that shows that the ikwerres came from or are igbos.
so that the yorubas,huasa,ijaws e.t.c would knw.

Enough of all this ikwerres are igbos without historical facts. The truth be say ana dey invest 4 strange land oh and you no fit carry ur huz 4 ur head go bak anambra,imo e.t.c
So make ana go we no want ana again oooh.
No worry we go soon start to deport ana from port Harcourt as fashola deport ana frm lagos.
##A group of people that can not stay one place##
How many ikwerres do you find in anambra,imo,enugu,abia,and ebonyi??
Then you open ur mouth and call an ikwerre man like me an igbo man. May you see sorrow all d days of ur life if you try that again.

Ewu read this

This is a rejoinder to Mr. Okachikwu Dibia’s article entitled “Ikwerre-Igbo Relationship As Seen By Ohaneze Nd’Igbo” published on www.gamji.com wherein he attacked a comment reportedly made by the President of Ohaneze Nd’Igbo, Chief Ralph Uwechue, that the Ikwerres are Igbos who now deny their true ethnic identity. It is an established fact that there are indigenous Igbo-speaking peoples in Rivers, Delta, Edo and Cross River States. My mission here is not to urge the Ikwerres and other Igbos who behave like to admit being Igbo. Rather, I intend to correct some historical gaffes, deliberate distortions and logical fallacies contained in Mr. Dibia’s write-up, and state the truth as I know it.

It amuses me when indigenes of Igbo-speaking communities outside the South-East deny their Igbo identity. The Ikwerres, represented by the likes of Okachikwu Dibia, are the fiercest and most strident in this act of playing the ostrich. The renowned writer Elechi Amadi, an Ikwerre man, restated this renunciation before the Oputa Panel in 2004 but was reminded of his Igbo name. Ironically, he is quoted to have upheld the Igbo origin of Ikwerres in one of his writings. Howbeit, Igbos in South-East Nigeria justifiably regard the Igbo-speaking areas of Rivers State (Ikwerre, Etche, Ogba, Ekpeye, Opobo, Ahaoda, Ndoni, Egbema, etc) as their kith and kin. On the other hand, the Ijaws and other non-Igbos of Rivers State also rightly refer to these communities as Igbos, and even claim that Rivers State has been under Igbo rule since 1999!

Generally, a person’s native name, mother-tongue, pedigree and ancestral geographical location define his race. But this may not be so in cases where an individual bears a name and speaks a language unrelated to the one associated with his ancestors. However, when the indigenes of an entire community speak as their mother tongue a language associated with a particular race, bear names borne only by persons of that race, share boundaries with communities within that race and have traditions similar to theirs, then the inescapable conclusion is that they belong to that race. This is the place of Ikwerres and other Igbo-speaking communities in Rivers, Delta, Edo and Cross River States vis-à -vis the Igbos of the South-East. The Austrians and indigenes of Sudetenland in Czech Republic speak German, bear German names, have traditions similar to those of the Germans and share boundaries with Germany, although they find themselves in distinct countries. This is also true of the Yoruba-speaking peoples found in Edo, Kogi and Kwara States as well as in Benin Republic. Just recently, a monarch from Benin Republic visited the Alaafin of Oyo and acknowledged his Yoruba roots.

Another exception to the above is where the community was a vassal to or colonized by the race whose language and names they speak and bear, as seen in Northern Nigeria where the Hausa-Fulanis have administrative and religious hegemony over many minority tribes sequel to Usman Dan Fodio’s 19th century jihad. Even so, indigenes of such a community still retain their native names, language and traditions.

Contrary to Mr. Dibia’s fictitious claim, there was no time in history that Nd’Igbo colonized or dominated the Ikwerres or any other community let alone imposed Igbo names on them. They never desired or attempted it. Owing to its republican and egalitarian nature, the Igbo race was never organized administratively as to colonize others. Had this happened prior to British rule in Nigeria, same would have been noticed and documented by the Europeans. Does Mr. Dibia regard the period when the entire South-East and South-South formed one Eastern Region of Nigeria as the period of Igbo colonization? That would be absurd. This warped idea means that, perhaps, only Ikwerres were so “colonized”, for no other community has alluded to it. If Nd’Igbo imposed the name Ikwerre on Mr. Dibia’s people, did they also force other communities to address them as such? The Hausas call the Afizere people of North-Central Nigeria and Igbos Jarawa and Nyamiri (corrupted form of nye m miri – Igbo expression for “give me water”) respectively, yet every other ethnic group calls them by their real names. Besides, some people have pet names for their towns, as the Aros call Arochukwu Okigbo. I presume this to be the case with the name Iwheruoha which Mr. Dibia claims as the original name for Ikwerre. What I know is that Ikwerres and other Igbo-speaking peoples of Rivers State call Igbos of the South-East Isoma and vice versa.

Furthermore, was Ikwerre ruled by the 19th century King Jaja of Opobo, an ex-slave from Amaigbo in Imo State who transformed to king of Opobo (Igwe Nga) in present-day Rivers State? Even so, that is not tantamount to colonization by Nd’Igbo. However, the case of Jaja shows that some of the present-day non-Igbo indigenes of Rivers and Bayelsa States may be descendants of Igbo slaves who escaped exportation overseas and settled in the midst of Ijaws, gradually acquiring a semblance of the latter. For instance, a friend of mine from a community in Yenagoa told me that Igbo words and expressions constitute about seventy percent of their vocabulary.

History has not credited the Aros (Ndi-Aru) with colonialism, as we know it, although many of them travelled and settled around several parts of Igboland and beyond as merchants of goods and slaves and messengers of the Long Juju. Prior to the advent of Christianity, the Long Juju was voluntarily employed by its Igbo and non-Igbo adherents for traditional adjudication, divination and resolution of spiritual problems; it was regarded then as the earthly abode of God (Ihu Chukwuabiama). Today, as a legacy of our interaction with Ndi-Aru, some families in my town bear names like Nwaru and Uzoaru, yet they neither colonized us nor had any settlement in my town.

Let Mr. Dibia tell us. Between what dates in history did Igbos colonize Ikwerres? Who were the Igbo administrators? Where, when and how did Nd’Igbo force Ikwerres to change their names? What are the non-Igbo names Ikwerres bore prior to the alleged colonization and forced name change? One wonders why Ikwerres have not changed Ogbako (Igbo word for gathering or meeting) to something like Rogbako to make it less Igbo. Did Nd’Igbo also “force” them in 1963 to use that word when they formed Ogbako Ikwerre Convention? Surprisingly, Mr. Dibia, whose surname is Igbo word for [native] doctor, neither told us if his first name Okachikwu is also an Igbo imposition nor gave the non-Igbo names of his ancestors. I can mention the names of all my ancestors up to the founder of my village around the 15th century!

Pray, in line with Mr. Dibia’s bizarre hypothesis of Igbo colonialism, did Nd’Igbo also colonize the Igbo-speaking peoples of Anioma in Delta State and Igba

nke in Edo State? A friend from Igbanke informed me that his people should be part of Anioma in Delta State, but Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia whose mother hails from there influenced their being in Edo State. They bear Esan names, speak the language in order to be taken as such, yet their mother tongue is a dialect of Igbo. In his 18th century autobiography entitled The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written By Himself, Olaudah Equiano, whose roots have been traced to somewhere around Edo and Delta States, declared unequivocally and proudly that he was Igbo! That is how it should be.

We know that every language has dialects which vary from each other. Some persons erroneously interpret these dialects as distinct languages, possibly because some dialects are so deep that indigenes of another community within the same race hardly understand them. But if all indigenes of the communities concerned understand the central language of the race, then they belong to that race. When the Ikwerre man speaks what he says is not Igbo language, the average Igboman who speaks Igbo understands him, even easier than some other Igbo dialects. A dispassionate look at the Ikwerre tongue shows that it is just a dialect of Igbo language. The inherent (not the recently invented) variations are understandable for a dialect, for same are equally noticeable among the Igbo communities in the South-East. The names of the Igbo four market days of Eke, Orie, Afor and Nkwo and pagan gods of Ala, Amadioha, Ojukwu, Agwu, etc are the same among Ikwerres.

There are available records showing that during the colonial era, Ikwerres and other Igbo-speaking communities of Rivers State related with the British colonialists under the name of Igbos. It was only after the Nigerian Civil War that they began renouncing any link to the Igbo race and altered the spellings and pronunciations of their names and towns to pass them off as non-Igbo. For instance, Amanweke, an original Ikwerre name was changed to Rumuokwuta to make it less Igbo. They did this to avoid being left out of the new Rivers State by Gowon’s regime, and to curry favour with the Ijaws who were given charge of the new state. There is even a rumour that the Ikwerres took an oath to do so. A maternal uncle of mine, who was born and bred in Port Harcourt, narrated how immediately after the Civil War an Ikwerre friend of his startled him by feigning ignorance of the Igbo language in which both of them had conversed previously!

There exist in some parts of Abia and Imo States two traditional dances called Eshe and Uko played during the funeral of elderly men and women, respectively. My grandfather, who died in 1988 at over a hundred years, told me that long before his birth, players of those dances, on invitation, travelled to Ikwerre and other Igbo-speaking parts of Rivers State to play same during funerals. I witnessed this when my eldest uncle who played Eshe travelled severally to Ikwerre and Etche to same. Could this have been possible barring any cultural and linguistic similarities between the communities involved? The same interactions which Mr. Dibia claims existed between Nd’Igbo and Ikwerres from the 16th century equally existed between Nd’Igbo and Ijaw and other non-Igbo communities of Rivers and Bayelsa States, yet they do not share the same cultural and linguistic similarities with Igbos as Ikwerres. However, a legacy of this interaction is that some of these peoples bear Igbo names such as Nwokoma, Chukwuemeka, Ebere, Odo, etc, just as some Igbos in Abia and Imo States bear their names such as Amakiri, Igbani, Gogo, Cookey, Ubani and Igoni.

My grandfather told me that before 1913 when Lord Lugard gave it its current name, Port Harcourt was called Igwe Ocha. Let Mr. Dibia refute this, and also tell us if Ikwerres objected to the name imposition by the British. When he claimed that Ikwerres bear Ovunda while the Igbos bear Obinna, he lumped two things together. The name Obi in Igbo means either heart or house; thus Obinna literally means either father’s heart or father’s house. In some Igbo dialects, obi in the second sense is referred to as ovu or obu which also denotes the central living-room in a man’s compound, usually detached from other houses therein. I doubt if ovu has a different meaning among the Ikwerres. The name Amadi is popularly borne by the Ikwerres, just like in Imo and Abia States. It is the short form of Amadioha (Igbo pagan god of thunder) and figuratively means a (free) man. Let Mr. Dibia tell us the distinct meaning it has among the Ikwerres. In Mbaise, Ngwa and Arochukwu, the second child in a family is called Nwulu or Ulunwa; in Ikwerre it is Worlu or Orlunwo.

I expected Mr. Dibia to provide a cast-iron evidence of the non-Igbo origin of the Ikwerres. Barring such, it is hard to believe that the Ikwerres and other Igbo-speaking communities outside the South-East are not Igbos. It is a known fact that as an ethnic group spreads geographically, several variations emerge in its language. Again, communities on the border between two ethnic groups most times find themselves being receptacles of conflicting cultures and languages. Mr. Dibia should know that the fact that Ikwerres opposed the NCNC’s nomination of a non-indigene to represent Port Harcourt in an elective post is not enough to give them the status of a distinct ethnic group. When Enugu State was created, its indigenes asked other Igbos to leave their public service. Even some Lagosians opposed the appointment of fellow Yorubas from other states into Bola Tinubu’s cabinet.

By dismissing appearance, language and name while preferring character alone as the determinant of a people’s race, Mr. Dibia seems to suggest that a particular ethnic group in North-Central Nigeria where husbands allegedly offer their wives and daughters to cherished male guests is of the same race with the Eskimos of Eurasia who reportedly exhibit a similar character. It also follows from his postulation that since Nd’Igbo are republican and egalitarian like the Greeks, they both belong to the same ethnic stock. This will be a great assault on logic. He forgot that even siblings have distinct characters. Happily, there are some Ikwerre people who admit the truth of their Igbo identity. Currently an Ikwerre man is the 3rd Vice-President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation.

Perhaps, Ikwerres had hoped to be taken as non-Igbos upon renouncing their Igbo identity, only to face the reality that no matter how strong in flight a butterfly is, it is not a bird! Now, they and others in the same boat are victims of self-induced identity crisis which the likes of Mr. Dibia are perpetuating. I am proud of my Igbo identity; God forbid that I should turn myself into a bat, neither air nor land animal! What, however, I cannot explain is the hatred the Ikwerres have for Igbos, exemplified by Mr. Dibia’s malicious and unproven accusation of “the ill activities of the Igbo in Ikwerre”. They were willing allies of the Ijaws in the formulation and implementation of the anti-Igbo Abandoned Property policy at the end of the Nigerian Civil War. A very amusing argument by Mr. Dibia is that Ikwerres are better endowed than Nd’Igbo, a spurious claim for which he supplied no supporting statistics. I assume he has the enormous crude oil reserves in Rivers State in mind for his claim.

However, the admission or denial by Ikwerres or any other Igbos of their true race will neither enhance nor derogate from the status of Nd’Igbo. Nevertheless, in line with Mr. Dibia’s emotional plea, let Ikwerres and others of that hue be whatever and whoever they now claim to be. But my father told me that in spite of its unsightly appearance and feeding habits, the vulture (udele in Igbo) is still a bird; and despite the beautiful yellow-black stripes of a particular species of rat (called oguru in some parts of Imo and Abia States) it is still a rat.

Writer: Ikechukwu A. Ogu


https://www.nairaland.com/867857/ikwerre-igbos-ikechukwu-ogu-interesting

So what changed your name and languages? As for me Ikwere can be whoever they want to be, I've read the history of Benin kingdom as told by one of their Obas, I've never read where Ekpeye or Ikwere was mentioned. In fact as a matter of urgency Ikwere should fast track the process of changing their names and language so that it will not sound Igbo.

Interesting.

Macelliot: Mr. Man.
Ikwerre never came from Benin Empire but from the Igbo Nation.

Interesting.

Ikwerreboy:

Don't call me mr man called me ikwerre man.


But can you pls tell us the history of ikwerre that shows that the ikwerres came from or are igbos.
so that the yorubas,huasa,ijaws e.t.c would knw.

Enough of all this ikwerres are igbos without historical facts. The truth be say ana dey invest 4 strange land oh and you no fit carry ur huz 4 ur head go bak anambra,imo e.t.c
So make ana go we no want ana again oooh.
No worry we go soon start to deport ana from port Harcourt as fashola deport ana frm lagos.
##A group of people that can not stay one place##
How many ikwerres do you find in anambra,imo,enugu,abia,and ebonyi??
Then you open ur mouth and call an ikwerre man like me an igbo man. May you see sorrow all d days of ur life if you try that again.

Portharrcourt land is owned by okirika and kalabari people. Ikwere man is a nobody in portharcourt. go to portharcourt city council and tell me the tribe that dominates the council if not okirika and kalabari. Can ikwere man talk when an educated kalabari and okirika man is talking in portharcourt. who give them mouth. Above all majority of the ikwere are less educated and dam lazy. this is a fact!!!!

If i catch an Ikwerre man speaking Igbo I will punch him in his hungry mouth. Lazy fool. If you're not Igbo why are you too lazy to even form your own language.

you live in an abandoned igbo hose
you speak the igbo man's language
you eat his food
you wear his clothes
you'll even claim igbo when it convenience you.

This is the result of a people so lazy that they can't even think of their own names, own language and own culture. Ikwerre are a very useless group of human beings.

seeprob:

Portharrcourt land is owned by okirika and kalabari people. Ikwere man is a nobody in portharcourt. go to portharcourt city council and tell me the tribe that dominates the council if not okirika and kalabari. Can ikwere man talk when an educated kalabari and okirika man is talking in portharcourt. who give them mouth. Above all majority of the ikwere are less educated and dam lazy. this is a fact!!!!

all of the tribes in rivers are lazy and useless abeg. What are you talking about. Is the governor of Rivers not 'Ikwerre'?

siokpe:

I am not Igbo but I believe, Ikwerre, Wawa, Mbaise, Aro etc are all dielects of Igbo. They are not a tribe of its own. The politics of "Iam Igbo, I am not Igbo" going on in the former Eastern Nigeria is all about resource control. Who is Igbo then? Every language is like that. The more you drive away from the centre, the more dialectics changes in the Language and that explain why the owerri Igbo is slightly different from the Ikwerre Igbo and so on. But the Igbo people should put their house in order before a foriegner impose a strange history on them. I understand the post civil war dealt a blow to Igbo nation by splitting time along many lines thereby making them weak. If there was war in Yoruba land, I am sure the Ijebus, Ondos, Ekitis, Ijeshas, Akokos will start singing a stand alone music.

Thank you! Thats wat i was trying to let the Op know in one of his threads

If some parts of ebonyi claim not to be igbo at least it would be understandable cos most igbos hardly understand the dialect, but Then its the ikwerre people that speak clear igbo, if it will make them happy then so be it.

This argument of whether Ikwerre is Igbo or not is pointless and leads to nowhere. I don't see how it bothers me what one claims to be so long as it doesn't take anything away from me. The Ikwerre can be anything they like, they can even be Fulani or Wolof for all I care, that's their business.

Igbo's does not need Ikwere's for anything based on the issues on ground that took place during the civil war. Before was oil? Today there's oil in many Igbo states. The spirit of Igbo properties is still hunting them. Soon it will be Fulani land or Chad not ekpeye

Why are the Igbos pained at every mention of Ikwerres? The Ikwerres are a distinct ethnic group just like every other ethnic groups existing Nigeria. The Ikwerres are not Igbos. The Igbos have no history about themselves. Today, u hear them claim their history to Jews, palestine, Arabs, Aros, Israel etc. The Igbos should first of all sort out their identity and origin problem b4 looking for who is part of them and who is not. As for the Ikwerres, they have been recognised as part of the ethnic groups existing in Nigeria today. The Ikwerres have never been counted as part of the Igbos.

Curlieweed:

I beg you with my ancestors, I am Nkwerre, we have absolutely NOTHING to do with Ikwerre. If they say they come from Benin just take their word for it.

Nice one.let people be.

I dnt see the big deal in all of this. As time and season goes bye, expansion occurs, new lineages formed, variations here and there.Change.

People from different tribes/ethnicities should not bother about such issues but should instead concern themselves with the basic neccesities and conducive environment and atmosphere for growth and prosperity of all men.

There are too many issues begging for serious attention, not petty issues as tribe..if any one want to be happy, the person should take my share of Ikwerreland and add to Igboland.

meforyou1: Opobo is an igbo man from amaigbo in the present imo state. How can they speak igbo till date without being igbos? you are very funny.
A friend of mine from opobo with igbo name and that I converse today in igbo language deny being igbo. I just tell him "you will die in your state of denial"
As for the fulanis, we all know that their great grandfather othman dan fodio is from gambia.
And anybody can be a Nigerian. Nigeria is a not a tribe. It's a federation of different tribes, people and culture. There are so many Lebanese in lebanese club in kano that are naturised nigerians. they have African americans, Japanese americans, Chinese americans, Italian americans etc, once you swear the oath or if your father is from that country, you are automatically from that country. Your being from nigeria is not a matter of the the language you speak.

Don't get me wrong. You might argue that being a descendant of igbo makes you igbo then no problem with your assertions. Now there are stories of the igbos being descendants of the jews in israel, but does it make you an israelite? If so the ikwerres and opobos are israelites and not igbos. What about the case of benin and yorubas? My point is that this argument will continue for ages but an average ikwerre man will know that he descends from igbo or is actually igbo. But let's look beyond trying to own the ikwerres, they feel they are independent enough to be called a tribe, they have their own intellectuals, their own bible and many other things and traditions. We respect our fore fathers but we still deserve to be respected and accepted as a different tribe from the igbos. I served at nsukka and can tell you that ikwerre speak more of igbo than the Nsukka people, so if its about the language then Nsukka isn't igbo too.

First i want everyone to know that i am a true son of ikwerre land.

Bit i really can't explain why my fellow ikwerre people forget this Benin issue and face reality. In Igboland places like Arochikwu, ohafia etc i read that they also migrated from Benin but they see themselves as 100% igbos today.

History also indicated that Aro and Ikwerre had alot in common. Akalaka wasn't the only one who migrated from Benin.

meforyou1: Opobo is an igbo man from amaigbo in the present imo state. How can they speak igbo till date without being igbos? you are very funny.
A friend of mine from opobo with igbo name and that I converse today in igbo language deny being igbo. I just tell him "you will die in your state of denial"
As for the fulanis, we all know that their great grandfather othman dan fodio is from gambia.
And anybody can be a Nigerian. Nigeria is a not a tribe. It's a federation of different tribes, people and culture. There are so many Lebanese in lebanese club in kano that are naturised nigerians. they have African americans, Japanese americans, Chinese americans, Italian americans etc, once you swear the oath or if your father is from that country, you are automatically from that country. Your being from nigeria is not a matter of the the language you speak.

Opobo is not an Igbo man rather Jaja, Opobo is the name of an ancient kingdom form by King Jaja and other Bonny Chiefs (aka war canoe houses) who escape from.Bonny. The Igbo language was influence to the people cos of the trading business of slaves which 95% of them are Igbos. Will you call a great grand child of Peterside or MacPepple an Igbo man? When he is Ibani (Ijoid).

I am from Opobo so don't twist history to favour your argurment.

kel4soft:

Opobo is not an Igbo man rather Jaja, Opobo is the name of an ancient kingdom form by King Jaja and other Bonny Chiefs (aka war canoe houses) who escape from.Bonny. The Igbo language was influence to the people cos of the trading business of slaves which 95% of them are Igbos. Will you call a great grand child of Peterside or MacPepple an Igbo man? When he is Ibani (Ijoid).

I am from Opobo so don't twist history to favour your argurment.

is peterside and macpepple an ijaw name
my guy you re to daft
well we are not dragging opobo land with you even you can add ikwerre to ijaw land also because they are useless to us
we want to define our boundary ok
we are not forcing anyone to be igbo
we the imperialist igobs have everything to be a mighty name
and we dont want some lazy mofos to ddraw us back or be a clog in our whirl
we dont want almajiri in the new biafra beside Biafra is made up of two language
Igbo and Ibibio/Efik so if you dont belong to to any of these bounce back and hide in ur creek but if you creek rats dare us na gamaline20 we go use finish u guys just one drum of it from niger river it will flow to ur hiding place

brainpower: There is a difference between being a descendant of Igbo and being Igbo. Benin have descendants from yoruba but are not yoruba, go to Opobo, you will find out that they speak igbo but that doesn't make them Igbo. There are many examples of tribes or ethnic groups that descend from another, infact every tribe has descendants from another place especially the Fulani's who are widely believed that they are immigrants that forced themselves on Nigeria but it doesn't take away their right of being Nigerians. So no matter where the Ikwerre's descend from, they are an ethnic group and a tribe and therefore their rights should be respected.

The truth is there is so much ignorance on Nairaland. That people had different route of migration does not detatch them from their central pool or convergence of ethnic identity. For instance the Ikwerre are just one or two local govts of other Igbo states and they have their clear migratory history. The Onitshas, Ndoni, Ohafia areas also trace their origin to Benin while the Abiribas, Abams, Arochukwus trace theirs to Efike Cross River axis and Benin respectively. The conclusive factor has always been that the progenitors all bear Igbo names. Onitsha-Ezechima; Abiriba- Nnachi Enwo; Ikwerre-Akalaka. All Ikwerres by speaking the dialect, use the same cultural symbols, food, proverbs, royal titles, and share similar cosmological view etc all point to their clear Igboness. All the Igbo attacking them should blame the civil war effects and also pray that oil depletes from Nigeria or that core riverine areas be carved out from the upland, then they will come back to senses. Problem solved!