I have said that Ibime's brushed-up history of "his Ijaw" folks can only be as true as Ijaws claiming full and perpertual ownership of the stolen "abandoned properties" they're residing in PH.
From inventing thr regatta as war house canoes, to owing most of the water ways of the eastern naval command, these parasites Ijaws have no shame amending standard history to suit their immediate political needs.

Naijaking, I asked Ibime those questions because in my opinion, he says things as he believes them to be without the need to fabricate. Not that he is always right, but he is quite honest in that regard.

I asked him because I really want to know and I don't think that the answers to those could be fabricated as the questions are without ambiguities.

I once asked an Ibibio friend to clarify between Ibibio, Efik and Annang and I was made to understand that those language are dialects of each other. That is the same confusion (mine)  I seek to clarify from Ibime.

It's just like Chinenye saying Ngwa this and Ngwa that without realising that there are various Ngwa dialects With the Ntigha person speaking  a dialect closer to Ubakala(Umuahia) than the Ngwa dialects in areas near near Ndoki.

Can Obiagu provide us with the names of the Igbo Kings of Bonny? No Igbo man has ever ruled Bonny. After death of King Opubo, first Madu and then Alali were appointed as regents to take care of the young Dappa Pepple until he came of age. Most historical books would tell you that Jaja could never be King of Bonny because of his ancestry.

As for Face's question about similarity between Okrika in Rivers and Ijaw in Warri, its quite obvious.

First of all, language grouping is similar.

Wari means house in Okrika and all other Ijaw languages. . . indicating origin from Warri.

Masquerades are similar.

War Canoe House culture. ditto.

The names are the same.

Igbo part of Ijaw culture comes from Slave trade and Palm oil trade. I dont even doubt that majority of people in Bonny can trace ancestry to Igbo land. Thats part of the culture of beefing up your trading house with numbers from the hinterland. I would like anyone to point out any Igbo house in Bonny/Kalabari/Okrika that was existent before 1800. All the Igbo houses such as Ogan, Uwakwe, Jaja etc date from the 1800's.

And finally, all you need to do is take a trip to Bonny, Kalabari and Okrika and ask for yourself, rather than believe all these speculation from sectarian revisionists.

Its quite funny that Obiagu says Sotonye is Igbo name. . .  .hehehehe. . . . maybe 0.000001 % of Igbos may bare the name Sotonye, but every Ijaw man has at least two cousins called Sotonye! 

People tend lie so much in Nigeria. Trying to rewrite a people history. The first Igbo speakers the Europeans encountered from BONNY! We Igbos in the hinterland were not "discovered" until Bonny led Igbos who were guides to the Europeans allowed them to enter the Igbo hinterland.

This has been well documented. The Igbo spoken in Bonny is very easy to understand unlike some other Igbo dialects found amongst the northern Igbo clans.

Even in "Things Fall Apart," the illustrious Chinua Achebe talked about this in a way in which who led the Europeans into Okonkwo's village? It was a COASTAL Igbo who spoke in a different Igbo dialect but could be understood by the people.

I HATE THIS POST-WAR Politics! If the Igbo had actualize Biafra, these prodigal Igbo clans would be singing a different tune.

And FACE, do not get me started on my Ibibio brothers! As a native Ibibio speaker, I understand the problems of these so called Ibibioid speaking tribes.

They are basically the same people. I am half Ibibio and I used to wonder why the Annang and Efik would want to seperate from us. This also deals with Post-War politics. Remember that the Ibibio sided with Biafra but many among the Annang and Efik allied with the Nigerian forces. This led a split amongst these Ibibio groups.

Ibibio, Annang and Efik ALL speak the same language and have similar cultural heritages, but they do not try to united. It is unbelievable how Africans like to divide themselves even members of the same tribe.

FACE:

It's just like Chinenye saying Ngwa this and Ngwa that [b]without realising that there are various Ngwa dialects [/b]With the Ntigha person speaking  a dialect closer to Ubakala(Umuahia) than the Ngwa dialects in areas near near Ndoki.

Let's backtrack right here FACE. Where are you getting the bolded from? In fact, Onlytruth and I went over that exact same issue, in this exact same topic "The True Extent of Ala Igbo". Did you not see that in your reading? I don't know what the problem is, but you (plural: EzeUche, Onlytruth, 006, Andre, etc. and now you) seem to have a thing for insinuate stuff about me.

By the way, this example of yours, concerning me, doesn't fit in with the rest of your post.

I don't get the difficulty in accepting the obvious.Igbos from Ngwa and Ndoki lived in Bonny before the arrival of some people from Brass during slave trade.Ubani is an Igbo name.Ikwerre language for example is a mixture of various dialects spoken deep inside igboland.example is ndaa(how) from arochukwu.obu(heart) or ovu from awka,kita(now) from nri.okomadu(great man or elderly) or okobadu from ngwa. what can be deduced from that?awka +nri+ngwa+arochukwu=ikwerre.I just gave instances.I can speak ikwerre very well and therefore know that at least 80% of the entire vocabulary consists of these 4 groups.the remaining 20% comprise owerri,ogba and ekpeye words.

Most of the problem here seems to hover around the ownership of Bonny and the idea of a landlocked Igboland. You people should back your points with sources, read this it is very interesting:

http://books.google.com/books?id=vqpoxEl_0_4C&pg=PA29

The founding father of Bonny is said to be someone called Asimini, this is not an Igbo name. That ends the debate of Bonny ownership, it was originally owned by whatever culture that man came from and was quickly Igboised in order to become successful. Bonny is an indigenous 'Ijaw' territory 'made' by Igbo states.

ezeagu,

These "canoe people" are NOT native to the East. So who are the original inhabitants of this region. It is not like this area was devoid of human life. So who were there before the Ijaw? Since the Ijaw spread Eastward from the homeland West of the River Niger.

I will resist any attempt to make Alaigbo landlocked? Do you actually believe the Igbo were afraid of the sea as some people would like you to believe?

Abagworo:

I don't get the difficulty in accepting the obvious.Igbos from Ngwa and Ndoki lived in Bonny before the arrival of some people from Brass during slave trade.Ubani is an Igbo name.Ikwerre language for example is a mixture of various dialects spoken deep inside igboland.example is ndaa(how) from arochukwu.obu(heart) or ovu from awka,kita(now) from nri.okomadu(great man or elderly) or okobadu from ngwa. what can be deduced from that?awka +nri+ngwa+arochukwu=ikwerre.I just gave instances.I can speak ikwerre very well and therefore know that at least 80% of the entire vocabulary consists of these 4 groups.the remaining 20% comprise owerri,ogba and ekpeye words.

oh Please Bonny was a mosquito infested swamp before Alagbariye and co arrived. Nobody cld live there

Obiagu1:

Great great grandfathers (1750 – 1850) Igbo (told Europeans that they were Igbos and that many more lived in the hinterland)

Great grandfathers (1800 – 1900) (remained Igbo)

Grandfathers (1850 – 1950) Igbo  [Bonny (Ubani) Igbo used to teach Igbo in Bonny and mainland Igboland along with Onitsha Igbo]

Fathers (1900 – 1970) Igbo

Fathers (1970 – present) ritually accultured by a minority tribe to become another people. Brainwashed his children.

Children (1950 – present) confused, delusional, claims they are Ibani. Very pathetic.

Lol yr timelines and description is so inaccurate, just wrong 

EzeUche:

ezeagu,

These "canoe people" are NOT native to the East. So who are the original inhabitants of this region. It is not like this area was devoid of human life. So who were there before the Ijaw? Since the Ijaw spread Eastward from the homeland West of the River Niger.

I will resist any attempt to make Alaigbo landlocked? Do you actually believe the Igbo were afraid of the sea as some people would like you to believe?

Wait, I'm trying to balance, I'll open this debate again because I've found something else, the last source may not have ended the debate after all.

[QUOTE]
Origins and Settlement of Bonny People 
The Igbani (Bonny) people were said to have migrated from the Isedanic lineage of Okobba Town in Kolokuma Ibi 1, central Ijaw to their present Okolo-Ama (Bonny) site in 1310 AD under the leadership of Okpara Ndoli whose real name was Asikunuma[?], also called Okpara Asimini[?].  The men who were said to have led the migration were Opu Amakuba, his brother Alabarie and Okpara Asimini[?]. Their intension [spelling mistake makes the source somehow] for the movement was to seek a new peaceful home because of devastating civil wars.  During their journey, some of the families while passing through Azumini Town, had settled in Ndoki villages of Okolo-Ama, Oruama, Osobie[?]. On their arrival to the Delta coast, they first settled at Orupiri, a village about one mile from the present location of Okolo-Ama town where Prince Edimini, great ground-son of Opuamakuba was born. 

Later in their history, Okpara Asimini, who had learnt the secret to the overseas trade from Owerrie Daba of Kalabari, became the first King of Bonny and ruled Bonny for 35 years. He was succeeded by Opu Amakubu. With the discovery of Okolo by a hunter Alagbariye, the people moved to Orupiri (about a mile from Bonny town).  They finally moved to Bonny Town which they named Okoloama
(Jones 1963).

http://www.nlng.com/NR/rdonlyres/8B77DA02-8C84-47B6-AE4F-A4374DC2F116/0/05_Social_Baseline_Study_Ecosphere.pdf
[/QUOTE]

Those are Igbo names, and they discovered Ubani (Grand Boni). Bonny genealogy: http://books.google.com/books?id=pIR-mgBiJ-gC&pg=PA26

Starts with someone called Alagbaria who discovered Bonny with strange creatures, (Ala agbara maybe )

@Ibime,

From Wanderings in West Africa, I have these for you with dates. 

About eighty or ninety years ago, an Ibo chief settled
with his slaves on the Bonny river. This Opubo, or
Obullo, the " Great Man," was grandfather of the present
chief : his son took the name of Pepper, which he now
spells with a change, and married a woman from the
Abilli (Billa) country, west of the New Calabar river.


So to start with, Opubo or Obullo was Igbo.

The source for the last post:

http://books.google.com/books?id=UVl6FNYJ1KkC&pg=PA271

Written by this man: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton

The hard evidence is leaning towards an Igbo founding of Ubani and Opubo.

On the 1st September, 1855, the same
official visiting the river in Her Majesty's ship
" Philomel," Commander Skene, appointed four regents,
viz., Annie (alias llola) Pepple, Captain Hart (alias
Affo Dappa ?), Ada Allison,* and Manilla Pepple.

* These ridiculous names are taken from English ships. The slave
chiefs have all their own native names, e.g., Manilla Pepple is known
as Erinashaboo.


Note: Dappa is also Dapho
All the Pepples and Peppers are all Igbos.

Ubani was first bastardized as Unbonny, then Bonny.

ijaw_girl:

Lol yr timelines and description is so inaccurate, just wrong 

You know it's true.

Obiagu1:

@Ibime,

From Wanderings in West Africa, I have these for you with dates. 

About eighty or ninety years ago, an Ibo chief settled
with his slaves on the Bonny river. This Opubo, or
Obullo, the " Great Man," was grandfather of the present
chief : his son took the name of Pepper, which he now
spells with a change, and married a woman from the
Abilli (Billa) country, west of the New Calabar river.


So to start with, Opubo or Obullo was Igbo.

Well, I have this for you. . . . Opubo is a Pepple (Perekule), and definitely not an Igbo man. . . . the same Opubo is the father of Dappa Pepple, who Alali fought with. Alali and his father were regent for the young King Dappa Pepple after the death of King Opubo. According to Trade Winds on the Niger (G Baker), "Alali was unhappy when the time for handover came because the new King did not hide his contempt for the slave class who were the majority of his subjects, and was particularly envious of those like Alali who had managed to work their way into the many positions of power"


Another book to read on those times. This book is more indepth covering Igbo and Ijaw trade markets indepthly, and is written by the grandson of one of Jaja's main chiefs.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8drXpCGaT-UC&pg=PA181&lpg=PA181&dq=jaja+of+opobo+sons&source=bl&ots=8GlpRxMQiN&sig=VMnlub0txlCb73XWleB7u5ln_xA&hl=en&ei=Ttt3TLfUBtWk4AbJ_sjcBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q&f=false

Obiagu1:

Ubani was first bastardized as Unbonny, then Bonny.

More nonsense. . . Ubani is bastardised Igbo for Ibani. . . .


Bishop Ajayi Crowther's census of 1882:


Name:                            Particulars (English):              Population:

Okoloma                             Bonny Town                            4000
Finima                                 Juju Town                                800
Ayama and Febre               Peterside                                 850
Kalibiama                                                                            500
Abalamabie                        A plantation                              340
Ayamba and Iwoma           Andony villages near mission    300
Isilegono
Egelebie & Bolokiri
Asaramantoro & Nunabie etc, etc, etc
Epelematubo
Oboma and Kuruma
Epelema
Oloma and Ayamina
Orupiri


Crowther, Report on Bonny for 1882, CMS, G3/A3/36



As you can see, all the towns and villages making up Bonny are Ijaw names. . .

Beyond the name of the tribe (Ubani), you have no Igbo names for the places that make up Bonny.

Its like French who have name for Allemagne (Germany), but have no French name for Duisburg, Hamburg etc

Ibime:

More nonsense. . . Ubani is bastardised Igbo for Ibani. . . .


Bishop Ajayi Crowther's census of 1882:


Name:                            Particulars (English):              Population:

Okoloma                             Bonny Town                            4000
Finima                                 Juju Town                                800
Ayama and Febre               Peterside                                 850
Kalibiama                                                                            500
Abalamabie                        A plantation                              340
Ayamba and Iwoma           Andony villages near mission    300
Isilegono
Egelebie & Bolokiri
Asaramantoro & Nunabie etc, etc, etc
Epelematubo
Oboma and Kuruma
Epelema
Oloma and Ayamina
Orupiri


Crowther, Report on Bonny for 1882, CMS, G3/A3/36



As you can see, all the towns and villages making up Bonny are Ijaw names. . .

Beyond the name of the tribe (Ubani), you have no Igbo names for the places that make up Bonny.

Its like French who have name for Allemagne (Germany), but have no French name for Duisburg, Hamburg etc

The source you got this from gives only the 'Bonny Name' for Bonny and it's "satellite villages".

http://books.google.com/books?id=8drXpCGaT-UC&pg=PA15

Bonny itself is called 'Okoloma' in what is indicated as the 'Bonny' version of the name, this raises questions as to why Okoloma is not the name Ubani is being called and to why Bonny was called 'Bonny' if it isn't a corruption of what the natives identified as Ubani. From this, it can probably be guessed that there are different names for the town and maybe even the villages themselves in various languages.

Still, if these are the names of the towns and villages of Bonny (which I doubt for Ubani being Okoloma), it should still be explained why the actual founder of Ubani is a man called Okpara Ndoli coming from Azumini.

ezeagu:

Bonny itself is called 'Okoloma' in what is indicated as the 'Bonny' version of the name

You are typing rubbish here. . . . If Ajayi Crowther wants to carry out census of the place, he will approach the people and ask them what is the name of this place and that place. . . if the people had given him Igbo name, then he will publish accordingly. . . unless you guys want to tell me that Ajayi Crowther is engaging in Civil War revisionism!

ezeagu:

this raises questions as to why Okoloma is not the name Ubani is being called and to why Bonny was called 'Bonny' if it isn't a corruption of what the natives identified as Ubani.

This is as silly as asking why there is no town in Kalabari called Kalabari.

Or no place in Hausa land called Hausa.

Bonny and Opobo are igbos.

Ibime:


You are typing rubbish here. . . . If Ajayi Crowther wants to carry out census of the place, he will approach the people and ask them what is the name of this place and that place. . . if the people had given him Igbo name, then he will publish accordingly. . . unless you guys want to tell me that Ajayi Crowther is engaging in Civil War revisionism!  


This is as silly as asking why there is no town in Kalabari called Kalabari.

Or no place in Hausa land called Hausa.

Maybe you didn't read properly, Why is and was "Okoloma" called Bonny Town for over 400 years? And if 'Bonny' is the name of the ethnic group inhabiting the island since you're referring to no place called Hausa (a foreign name we can trace), and no place called Kalabari (a name formed out of New Kalabar) what is Ibani and Ubani?

By the way, Bishop Ajayi Crowther, looking at the source, gave multiple names for many of the settlements, including calling "Okolama" Bonny Town.

ezeagu:

Maybe you didn't read properly, Why is and was "Okoloma" called Bonny Town for over 400 years? And if 'Bonny' is the name of the ethnic group inhabiting the island since you're referring to no place called Hausa (a foreign name we can trace), and no place called Kalabari (a name formed out of New Kalabar) what is Ibani and Ubani?

You're just engaging in pedantry. Crowther gave the local name of the town and the English name Bonny.

Its quite obvious the English named the town after the tribe who occupy it (Ibani), just like Okrika is still called Okrika today, 300 years after the English named it.

Ibime:

You're just engaging in pedantry. Crowther gave the local name of the town and the English name Bonny.

Its quite obvious the English named the town after the tribe who occupy it (Ibani), just like Okrika is still called Okrika today, 300 years after the English named it.

"Pedantry", because I asked you about a massive name change from the supposed "Okoloma" to Bonny? Can you then tell me why Finima isn't still known as 'Juju Town' then. I won't defend or challenge source-less statements:

They were once united in the trading state of New Calabar, which competed with Bonny (Ubani), the other leading Ijo centre, for the control of access to the interior and the heavy dues exacted from European traders.

http://books.google.com/books?id=ngw5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA208

Read on for the Canoe Houses.

formerly Ibani or Ubani

town and Atlantic oil port situated in Rivers state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the Bonny River (an eastern distributary of the Niger River) 6 miles (10 km) upstream from the Bight of Biafra. A traditional trading centre (fish, salt, palm oil, and palm kernels) of the Ijo people, it was the capital of the 15th- to 19th-century kingdom of Bonny.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/73213/Bonny

If the town had a name, why would the natives allow a completely new name to replace it?

@Ibime

You're just insinuating. Where’s the quote from the book that says that Opubo is a Pepple (Perekule).

Those English words came from English ships!

What I gave you was complete account of events that happened in those days with dates by someone that walked thru Bonny not something someone wrote years later.

So far I've given you 2 different accounts from 2 different people that set their feet on Bonny in those early days and actually met the King and both said that the King was Igbo. What else do you want, take us back in time and live side by side with King Opubo and ask him if he was Igbo?

ChinenyeN:

Let's backtrack right here FACE. Where are you getting the bolded from? In fact, Onlytruth and I went over that exact same issue, in this exact same topic "The True Extent of Ala Igbo". Did you not see that in your reading? I don't know what the problem is, but you (plural: EzeUche, Onlytruth, 006, Andre, etc. and now you) seem to have a thing for insinuate stuff about me.

By the way, this example of yours, concerning me, doesn't fit in with the rest of your post.

Chinenye, don't argue what you don't know about. The Ngwa dialect is not homogeneous across the board. There are variations from the northern part to the southern part.

I have actually lived in alaigbo and the Ngwa are my hometown next door neighbours and I understand ngwa without straining my ears. A word like "gini" for instance is also ngiri, giri and nugu, nnu (sound) for different Ngwa groups. The relevance to my post is that going by your position on dialect, three or four ethnic groups should also materialise from Ngwa just like you have efik, Ibibio and annang.

Ibime, thanks for your response, I never knew that Okirika Ijo and Warri Ijo were mutually intelligible. I take it that Kalabari and Okirika speak the same language then,albeit different dialects ?

FACE:

Chinenye, don't argue what you don't know about. The Ngwa dialect is not homogeneous across the board. There are variations from the northern part to the southern part.

Again, where are you getting that from? Where did I ever make any such claim? I'm not ignorant of my people. I am familiar with how lectally varied Ngwa lect is. So I know that patois exist in Ngwa. So I'll ask you again, where are all these insinuations coming from?

This nonsense is getting tiring. You all should seriously learn to not insinuate. Stop claiming that I said something, which I never said.

FACE:

The relevance to my post is that going by your position on dialect, three or four ethnic groups should also materialise from Ngwa just like you have efik, Ibibio and annang.

. . . and what position on dialect? Where/when ever did I tie mode of speech with ethnicity?

Needless to say though, FACE, you are on the short list of people, here, on this forum, that I have a great deal of respect for, as opposed to some other individuals, and there is a reason for that. Those individuals insinuate too much. So please, don't do like those others, here. I'm urging you to not insinuate like they do. In fact, see the way you asked Ibime for his views & understanding on Warri and Okrika Ijo, rather than insinuating on the issue? It really ought to be that simple with the discourse between you and I.

I do my best to avoid insinuating and assuming things. That's why a majority of my posts here on NL contain a good number of questions, rather than flat out statements. So, I'm asking the same of you. Don't insinuate, a begi.

kpakorokpa !

ezeagu:

If the town had a name, why would the natives allow a completely new name to replace it?

erm. . .all over the Niger Delta and in some parts of Yoruba land, names are changed by the white man without stress, and they stay changed. . . you can see even in the English surnames of Ijaw families. . . its like asking why the residents of Eko allowed their name to be changed to Lagos. . . even Onitsha, is it not English for Onicha?

FACE:

I take it that Kalabari and Okirika speak the same language then,albeit different dialects ?

Okrika, Kalabari and Ibani language is easily understood by each other.

Obiagu1:

What I gave you was complete account of events that happened in those days with dates by someone that walked thru Bonny not something someone wrote years later.

You want me to believe some cock and bull story from some English man who briefly passed through Bonny then wrote in 1860 that Igbo man founded Bonny only 80 years previously when all historians have written of Bonny history since the 15th century?

Im sure you can do better than that.

Ibime:

You want me to believe some cock and bull story from some English man who briefly passed through Bonny then wrote in 1860 that Igbo man founded Bonny only 80 years previously when all historians have written of Bonny history since the 15th century?

Im sure you can do better than that.

Where are they? Quotes?

You can't just wave aside their stories including that of Captain Hugh Crow (1765 – 1829) who anchored throughout his career in Bonny, mingled with all key players in those days.

Obiagu1:

You can't just wave aside their stories

I can just wave aside the story of someone who tells me Bony was founded in 1780, when Bonny have been trading with the Portuguese since the 15th Century and even fought a war with Okrika in 1605.

Obiagu1:

including that of Captain Hugh Crow (1765 – 1829) who anchored throughout his career in Bonny, mingled with all key players in those days.

Captain Hugh Crow said "it is probable that their origins are from the Eboe". This is mere speculation from a coarse slave dealer who constantly judges tribes in his book by their physical appearance. Since he didnt have the courtesy to ask the Ibani where they are from rather than speculating, lets just say that anthropological investigation was not forefront in his thinking.

All linguists have grouped Ibani language in the Kalabari-Ijaw dialect and much more informed historians and learned men have grouped them with Eastern Ijaw. . . but more importantly, they group themselves with Ijaw, and thats the end of the matter.

Enough inanity abeg.

Ibime:

Captain Hugh Crow said "it is probable that their origins are from the Eboe". This is mere speculation from a coarse slave dealer who constantly judges tribes in his book by their physical appearance. Since he didnt have the courtesy to ask the Ibani where they are from rather than speculating, lets just say that historical investigation was not forefront in his thinking.

Yes he said that probably their origin was Igbo which is sensible because no one can be quite sure, even Igbos have debates about their origin.

But he was unequivocal when he stated that “The King of New Calabar, in the neighbourhood, and Pepple, king of Bonny, were both of Eboe descent, of which also are the mass of the native.”

That was a precise statement for me and very unambiguous.


It is left for you to provide me with quote(s) of someone who actually lived and set foot on Bonny in those days that said the King wasn’t Igbo and not those history revisionists.

Obiagu1:

Yes he said that probably their origin was Igbo which is sensible because no one can be quite sure, even Igbos have debates about their origin.

But he was unequivocal when he stated that “The King of New Calabar, in the neighbourhood, and Pepple, king of Bonny, were both of Eboe descent, of which also are the mass of the native.”

That was a precise statement for me and very unambiguous.

If he is ambiguous about the origin of the people, how can he be unambiguous about the King?

Enough of this ridiculous argument. Another proper historian gives details of the same Pepple and Alali and says that an Igbo slave can never be King in Bonny. The other historian tells us about Pepple, tells us his mother was Kalabari woman, even tells us he appointed Yanibo and Ishacco as regent when illness prohibited him from carrying out his duties. He tells us how Yanibo and Ishacco fled to Fernando Po when the people turned agianst Dappa Pepple, yet you are here quoting a coarse slave trader who isnt even sure where the people are from.

Which of the two do you think is more informed?


Keep nonsense arguments to yourself. I wont indulge you further. I refer you to Ohanaeze:

http://www.ohanaeze.org/4.html

Ibime:

If he is ambiguous about the origin of the people, how can he be unambiguous about the King?

This is the most ridiculous statement I've ever read.

Judging from the fact that your own great grandfather (paternal) was Igbo and now you’re Ijaw, I’m not surprised that you’ll continue denying the truth even when they are there before you.

Civil war has come and gone, abandoned properties have come and gone, but what shall remain is the truth. Truth never changes else it becomes false/lie! 

Ibime:

Enough of this ridiculous argument. Another proper historian gives details of the same Pepple and Alali and says that an Igbo slave can never be King in Bonny. The other historian tells us about Pepple, tells us his mother was Kalabari woman, even tells us he appointed Yanibo and Ishacco as regent when illness prohibited him from carrying out his duties. He tells us how Yanibo and Ishacco fled to Fernando Po when the people turned agianst Dappa Pepple, yet you are here quoting a coarse slave trader who isnt even sure where the people are from.

Which of the two do you think is more informed?

Well sorry, the same "wanderings in West Africa" you tried to wave aside has a clearer story of your above quotes.


"About eighty or ninety years ago, an Ibo chief settled
with his slaves on the Bonny river. This Opubo, or
Obullo, the " Great Man," was grandfather of the present
chief : his son took the name of Pepper (Pepple), which he now
spells with a change, and married a woman from the
Abilli (Billa) country, west of the New Calabar river.
Their progeny, the "king," in the African accepta-
tion of the word, also espoused a bush-woman. He
is one of the three free men in this part of the river,
the others being Ben Pepple, a half -i.diot, and our
friend Jack Brown, of Juju Town ; this is a small proportion
to about 9000 serviles, of whom some few are
" Bonny free," but none "proper free."

In 1853 a stroke of paralysis,
induced by over-indulgence, crippled King Pepple’s
right side, and from this hemiplegia he has never
recovered. Two of his men, Ishakko, alias Fred
Pepple, and Yanibu, were then appointed as chiefs and
regents. On the 23rd January, 1854, Mr. Consul
Beecroft, at the request of all the native chiefs and
traders, deposed his Majesty, who was ruining the river
by his wars with Calabar, and substituted for him
Prince Dappa, or Dapho. Pepple was
carried to Fernando Po, and his protector died there.
At last it was resolved by Commodore Adams and Mr.
Acting-Consul Lynslager to send the ex-king, with Allaputa, his wife,
and his family, to Ascension Island. On
the 7th of December, however, he fled into the bush
a la Charles, and sat under two large trees surrounded
by bushwood. The royal oak, however, was not here,
and the ex-King was sent off the next day on board Her
Majesty's ship " Pluto," Commander Clavering, begging
hard that if he died his body might be headed up in a
cask of rum, and sent to lie near his fathers. Since
that time he has enjoyed the memory of Ascension,
which he has learned to call his St. Helena.


Prince Dapho died 13th August, 1855, surgeons say
of iuter-susceptio, others of poison, administered by
friends of the ex-king. Fred Pepple and Yanibu were
saved with difficulty from the fury of the mob by Captain Witt,
of the " Ferozepore," when a shocking
massacre commenced; 600 to 700 friends of the "king"
were murdered; many blew themselves up; the white
man's house used by the court of equity, and also as
a chapel was razed to the ground, and trade was
stopped by the people, because the supposed poisoners
were carried by Mr. Acting-Consul Lynslager to Fernando Po.
On the 1st September, 1855, the same
official visiting the river in Her Majesty's ship
" Philomel," Commander Skene, appointed four regents,
viz., Annie (alias llola) Pepple, Captain Hart (alias Affo Dappa ?),
Ada Allison,* and Manilla Pepple.

* These ridiculous names are taken from English ships. The slave
chiefs have all their own native names, e.g., Manilla Pepple is known
as Erinashaboo. All were the property of old King Pepple, who, when
dying, appointed Annie Tepple as guardian of his son's wealth. He
fought with Manilla Pepple, was beaten, took to drink, and died.
His son is the present Annie Pepple."