The Ikwerres are a distinct and major tribe in Rivers State, occupying four Local Government Areas, namely: Ikwerre, Emohua, Obio/Akpor, and Port Harcourt City Local Government Areas. They own approximately 80% of Port Harcourt, the capital city, with the remaining belonging to the Okrikas. Over the years, I've had to witness the sore sight of social media content, and the ear-irritating sounds of people saying "Ikwerre's Don't Travel". While I find that stereotypical and unfounded, it reeks of ignorance. And I'm here to dispel the narrative. When I'm done, whoever chooses to still peddle the narrative, should come back here and read this post, slowly this time. So here are my points.

1. It's Entirely Personal

Traveling is as personal as preferring rice to beans, or horror movie to comedy. It has nothing to do with any tribe. To generalize that the Ikwerre's don't travel is to say every Ikwerre man by default prefers to stay in Port Harcourt rather than travel. Which smells of miseducation, or even no education. I'm an Ikwerrian, and I love to travel, boy you don't want to know. Decidedly, I schooled in Calabar and served in Kano, ditching Uniport and UST, and failing to redeploy. It's personal because I love traveling and I'm so sure there are thousands of others like from the said Ikwerre like me who love the outdoors, would prefer to stay away from home. It has nothing to do with tribe, it's purely personal. There are many Igbos, hausas, Yorubas, Efiks, Idomas and the likes who will prefer to stay back home rather than travel.

2. The Intent

What's the main reason for traveling? Green pastures. People travel for greener pastures or migrate to the greener side. I barely see the Igbos or Ibibios grab their bags and say they are traveling to Lagos for sightseeing or because they love traveling. It's always for the hustle. And Port Harcourt is Nigeria's third most developed city with tons of opportunities for those willing to work hard. Other people migrate to Port Harcourt for greener pastures and strangers are more than indigenes in Port Harcourt. So do you expect a Port Harcourt boy to migrate to Asaba for greener pastures when an Asaba boy came to Port Harcourt for the same Greener pasture? Are you going backwards or forward?

3. Why Always Ikwerre?

I've traveled up to 20 states in Nigeria and I've never for once met anyone who told me they are from Lagos. Not living there. I mean, a Lagos indigene that said my village is Ikeja, Ketu, Oworo, Oshodi, or Epe. I've never seen. Doesn't that lend more credence to the fact that people travel to greener pastures. Where does a Lagosian go to when every day, buses arrive Lagos from all 36 states. Why are Lagos indigenes not being dragged? Why is it always Ikwerre? And not even Rivers People, but Ikwerre, which by the way is beyond Port Harcourt.

4. The Baseless Comparisons

When people say Ikwerre people don't travel, there's always a comparison and there's no denying that. The reason why you said Ikwerre's don't travel is because you've travelled far and wide and seen Igbos, Yorubas, Hausas, Efiks, Edo People, Ibibios and many other tribes, but Ikwerre. That's why you arrived at the conclusion. Quick question. How big is Ikwerre compared to the Igbos or Yorubas? How come you are blindly comparing one small tribe of four local governments to a tribal nation of 5 states, or the one of 6 states. Their population as a tribe will dwarf Rivers State, let alone one small beautiful tribe - Ikwerre. Can't you see that you're comparing without thinking, or you're just channeling your anger to one direction because one Ikwerre landlord in Port Harcourt was cruel to you?


5. The See Finish

When you stay with people for long, you see all sides there is to them - the good, the bad, and the ugly. These strangers have lived in Port Harcourt long enough to see all sides of the Ikwerre's including their bad sides that they fail to realize the good. They are so focused on the evil and don't realize that several families in Port Harcourt have students across all states in Nigeria. There's NURSS, let me simplify it because, perhaps, your bias won't even let you know what it is. NURSS is an acronym for National Union of Rivers State students with their secretariat in Rivers State University. This student body is present in nearly all Federal and State Universities in Nigeria, with the Ikwerre's part and parcel of them, even leading some of them. Perhaps your bias you won't let you realize that several Ikwerre families have children abroad studying or working. The same bias won't also let you realize that Ikwerre civil servants, soldiers, business men, MCs, comedians, musicians, pastors, public speakers, and just name them, all travel from one state to another for work purposes. When you focus on the bad so much that you fail to see the good, because of one bad landlord, you are only shortchanging yourself and may never see the good of the land. Perhaps, if I were to live in your village, which I can't because Port Harcourt beats it handsdown, I'll realize too many stinky habits and how some of your people are wicked landlords, lazy, drunkards, sell land to many people and do all the nasty things you paint Ikwerre black for. But I can't. You are in Port Harcourt because your village lacked the opportunities you sought. If it was perfect, you wouldn't be here. Now that you found one oil company job in Port Harcourt that's paying you well, when your village couldn't, instead of you to manage the bad sides of the natives because nobody is perfect, you decide to raise a campaign of slander?

In summary, you could say Ikwerre's don't travel and let's assume I decide to agree with you. So what you are telling me now is that, an Ikwerre boy who's lucky to have his family's land taken by one of the oil or construction companies and got compensated with a job of around 400k per month, should abandon the job and go to Lagos to seek for more uncertain opportunities, or head to Owerri to hustle so he can prove to you that Ikwerre's travel? Is that what you want? When he's not Abraham acting on God's instructions? Even at that, they still travel for the fun, including for burial, marriages, and events that can take someone to different states and that's traveling, which if you know, comes in different forms. So quit the alreading nauseating narrative. If you traveled and didn't see Ikwerre people where you traveled to but saw other tribes, that's because the other tribes are more in numbers than the Ikwerre's with several states, that's because the other tribes have cities less developed than Port Harcourt, that's because the Ikwerre's are content which isn't a bad thing, and that's because, you may be too blinded with your notion already, to see the ones that travel like me or may have passed them off as Igbos because of their names.

Let's be guided.