You have to learn the difference between tribe and nation before pontificating.

That your ethnic group did not evolve a common identity does not mean Igbos didn't. Yes! Igbos identified with their respective tribes within Igboland but outside Igboland embraced their Igbo consciousness and Identity. Olaudah Ikwuano wrote " I am Igbo" in his book in 1700s.

Tellmeastory:
There were no 'TRIBES' before the British invaded Nigeria.

You were PROGRAMMED BY THE BRITISH TO SEE YOURSELVES AS ''TRIBES'' DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER.

Divide And Rule.

There was NOTHING like ''Igbo people'', ''Yoruba people'', ''Hausa people'' before the British got here.

People identified themselves by their LINEAGE, ie their HOMETOWN, not by the language they spoke, which was always subject to change.

Why? Because people migrated constantly. Searching for arable land, prosperous lands, conducive environments, water etc.

There was no 'lingua franca', so an Igbo speaking family migrating to Ijebu land meant they had to learn the Yoruba language of the Ijebu and speak it, learn the culture, observe their religion etc.

They would get there and ask them about the deities they honour, and they would be guided.

You could not take your religion and deities there. You would adopt theirs. That's how it worked.

After a decade or less, you've effectively become an indigene there. An Ijebu man, plus your kids!

Today we would call you a 'Yoruba man'!

But you're actually an ''Igbo man''!

THERE ARE LITERALLY MILLIONS OF YOU IN THIS POSITION RIGHT NOW.

IE your ancestors of just 150 to 300 years ago were immigrants from a totally different region to where you are now,.

GO AND DO A DNA TEST AND YOU WILL BE SHOCKED as a ''proud Yoruba man'' to learn that your great-great-grandad was an immigrant from Nnewi or Sokoto.

And YOU, Mr ''Proud Igbo man''.

GO AND DO A DNA TEST to find out where you really come from, ie your LINEAGE.

You will be shocked that you are actually from Oyo State or Kwara.

Or even from Sierra Leone or Congo!

Or holy of holies, descended from an 18th century Fulani herdsman!

Today an Igbo family can decide to migrate to Ibadan, and not bother learning to speak Yoruba for several generations, and they'll be fine, since we can all speak English.

But it was not like that in pre-colonial Nigeria.

You HAD to learn the language, and adopt the culture of your new abode, as a matter of survival.

So you true identity was your LINEAGE, not the language you were speaking at any point in time.

If LANGUAGE was what identified you in the past, that means you could be born Igbo, and by your teenage years be a Yoruba person, and by old age, an Hausa man, depending on your migratory path.

So of course it wasn't language that we identified ourselves by.

IT WAS THE EUROPEAN COLONIALISTS that created these language-based blocs, and falsely claimed that you were of the ''Igbo tribe''.

Of the ''Yoruba tribe''.

Of the ''Hausa tribe''.

It's all NONSENSE.

Why did they do it?

So that they could create large blocs of DIVISION among you, their subjects.

So that you could remain DISUNITED, in RIVALRY, and thus kept too busy fighting one another to challenge their authority.

If you are a TRIBALIST today, you are simply an ignorant colonial creation.

An ignoble, pitiful colonial caricature.

Go do a DNA geneology test, to find out where you're really from.

The 'native' language you speak today means a big fat ZERO.

Can u help me with 5k sir?

guysbewise:
Nigerians were united until the Ibo coup of 1966 and the Ibo wanting to dominate North,SW and the Niger Delta of Nigeria, and since then Nigeria has never been the same again.

Oh really? And what has improved since 1966?

You lied man whites don't create tribe they have been always tribe in Africa. The only thing imperialism did is to create artificial boundaries because there was no boundaries in Africa during precolonial era. However you must know your clans.

The British made a big mistake bringing us together in their colonial experiment called Nigeria

All it has brought is fighting, suffering and death

All these mental gymnastics to just insinuate there are Lagos iiibos. Igborillas are hilarious. "We want biafla! Biafla or nothing"! in one breath, "there should be no state of origin, but state of residence" in another. Never seen a more confused people ("people" is used loosely here).

Tellmeastory:


What...??

What do you mean there was nothing like the Oyo kingdom?

Let the igborilla be building fantasies in her head. They're well-known for that. Lolz.

Tellmeastory:


You are wrong.

Go and read Achebe.

The Igbo-speaking chiefdoms operated as independent nations, engaged in diplomacy, trade, and sometimes declared war against each other.

Same as the people we call 'Yorubas' today. There was nothing like ethnic unity or tribalism in pre-colonial Nigeria,

Lolz. What warped logic. There was nothing like ethnic unity is not the same as there was nothing like ethnic groups. With this your "logic", it means there was nothing like a race called the Greeks, because Greek city states were always warring among themselves. What overstretching oneself could cause. Lolz.

Tellmeastory:
There were no 'TRIBES' before the British invaded Nigeria.

You were PROGRAMMED BY THE BRITISH TO SEE YOURSELVES AS ''TRIBES'' DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER.

Divide And Rule.

There was NOTHING like ''Igbo people'', ''Yoruba people'', ''Hausa people'' before the British got here.

People identified themselves by their LINEAGE, ie their HOMETOWN, not by the language they spoke, which was always subject to change.

Why? Because people migrated constantly. Searching for arable land, prosperous lands, conducive environments, water etc.

There was no 'lingua franca', so an Igbo speaking family migrating to Ijebu land meant they had to learn the Yoruba language of the Ijebu and speak it, learn the culture, observe their religion etc.

They would get there and ask them about the deities they honour, and they would be guided.

You could not take your religion and deities there. You would adopt theirs. That's how it worked.

After a decade or less, you've effectively become an indigene there. An Ijebu man, plus your kids!

Today we would call you a 'Yoruba man'!

But you're actually an ''Igbo man''!

THERE ARE LITERALLY MILLIONS OF YOU IN THIS POSITION RIGHT NOW.

IE your ancestors of just 150 to 300 years ago were immigrants from a totally different region to where you are now,.

GO AND DO A DNA TEST AND YOU WILL BE SHOCKED as a ''proud Yoruba man'' to learn that your great-great-grandad was an immigrant from Nnewi or Sokoto.

And YOU, Mr ''Proud Igbo man''.

GO AND DO A DNA TEST to find out where you really come from, ie your LINEAGE.

You will be shocked that you are actually from Oyo State or Kwara.

Or even from Sierra Leone or Congo!

Or holy of holies, descended from an 18th century Fulani herdsman!

Today an Igbo family can decide to migrate to Ibadan, and not bother learning to speak Yoruba for several generations, and they'll be fine, since we can all speak English.

But it was not like that in pre-colonial Nigeria.

You HAD to learn the language, and adopt the culture of your new abode, as a matter of survival.

So you true identity was your LINEAGE, not the language you were speaking at any point in time.

If LANGUAGE was what identified you in the past, that means you could be born Igbo, and by your teenage years be a Yoruba person, and by old age, an Hausa man, depending on your migratory path.

So of course it wasn't language that we identified ourselves by.

IT WAS THE EUROPEAN COLONIALISTS that created these language-based blocs, and falsely claimed that you were of the ''Igbo tribe''.

Of the ''Yoruba tribe''.

Of the ''Hausa tribe''.

It's all NONSENSE.

Why did they do it?

So that they could create large blocs of DIVISION among you, their subjects.

So that you could remain DISUNITED, in RIVALRY, and thus kept too busy fighting one another to challenge their authority.

If you are a TRIBALIST today, you are simply an ignorant colonial creation.

An ignoble, pitiful colonial caricature.

Go do a DNA geneology test, to find out where you're really from.

The 'native' language you speak today means a big fat ZERO.

You are making sense!

For example ,most Ogbomoso people are actually of Tapa Lineage!

Also,Onitsha people who are actually Ile-Ife origin!

Tellmeastory:


What...??

What do you mean there was nothing like the Oyo kingdom?

It’s all lies concocted by their feverish imagination.

Basic123:


You are making sense!

For example ,most Ogbomoso people are actually of Tapa Lineage!

Also,Onitsha people who are actually Ile-Ife origin!

I just read about the Obi of Onitsha confessing that his ancestors came from Benin or was it Ife.

They are millions of so-called “Igbos” who are exactly like him, but lack the resources to research their lineages.

Many of them are going around shouting “Igbo Kwenu!”

Meanwhile they’re descended from Borno state.

Brenbentondiaz:


Lolz. What warped logic. There was nothing like ethnic unity is not the same as there was nothing like ethnic groups. With this your "logic", it means there was nothing like a race called the Greeks, because Greek city states were always warring among themselves. What overstretching oneself could cause. Lolz.

Actually there WAS nothing like “a race called the Greeks”.

Who a Greek was changed over time and epochs.

The first Greeks were actually blacks, if you go back far enough. Those who invaded and conquered the place also became “Greeks”. Those who conquered them also became “Greeks”.

Similar to Egypt which was pure black for thousands of years, but today an “Egyptian” looks Arab.

Even the Roman and Greek invaders of Egypt during the Late Period became “Egyptians”, before being driven out by Arab invaders who also then became “Egyptians”.

So nothing was permanent or fixed, in terms of the constitution of ethnicities.

That was why the Greeks fought among themselves. They were just GREEK SPEAKERS. No common DNA applied to all of them. They were not ‘brothers’ or ‘one people’ in any sort of biological or genetic way.

Same as those you call “Igbos” today, who are really just IGBO SPEAKERS.

Zooposki:


It’s all lies concocted by their feverish imagination.

Na wa mehn..

Armaggedon:
You have to learn the difference between tribe and nation before pontificating.

That your ethnic group did not evolve a common identity does not mean Igbos didn't. Yes! Igbos identified with their respective tribes within Igboland but outside Igboland embraced their Igbo consciousness and Identity. Olaudah Ikwuano wrote " I am Igbo" in his book in 1700s.

He wrote that after contact with Europeans who convinced him that the language he spoke indicated the ‘tribe’ he ‘belonged to’.

In precolonial days, if you went “outside Igboland”, you did NOT “retain your Igbo consciousness and identity”.

Quite the opposite.

You would quickly shed it and adapt the culture and language of your new abode, or you would literally starve!!

You would even change your name to fit in with your new community.

If you don’t know how it worked in the old days, go and ask your elders.

Tellmeastory:


He wrote that after contact with Europeans who convinced him that the language he spoke indicated the ‘tribe’ he ‘belonged to’.

In precolonial days, if you went “outside Igboland”, you did NOT “retain your Igbo consciousness and identity”.

Quite the opposite.

You would quickly shed it and adapt the culture and language of your new abode, or you would literally starve!!

You would even change your name to fit in with your new community.

If you don’t know how it worked in the old days, go and ask your elders.

source: probably