franchasofficia:
I talk am say na crude oil cause all these senseless denials



Abeg nobody talk say Rivers is Igbo land oh, there are Ijaws and other tribes in Rivers I guess.


We are only telling you guys to stop denying your identity and heritage just because of crude oil politics. We no de drag crude oil with una biko.

Southeast have crude oil too and na politics make FG to intentionally abandon many crude oil sites in Southeast just to paint the narrative that Southeast have nothing lol

Identity of a person can not b given by another (wen he/she is not a slave) we know our identity...so accept it, exactly d way we have told u it is.

Let's help these people and allow them be what they e want to be

Many Hebrew people but not all are Israelis

Ngozi123:


You. You're crying because of oil.

If you really are Ikwerre then please tell your people to remove all traces of Igboness from their language, names and traditions.

We don't want to mistake you as one of us.

Thank you kindly.

I'm a Rivers Man, I've not told u I'm Ikwerre.
Main while, who gave u b understanding that d language itself belongs to u?
Are u d creator of languages?
Abeg make Una leave my DEAR state ALONE. Shikina

Melkizedeck:
Funny enough true Igbos are not disturbed. All these changed after Igbo lost the civil war. It is a fact no one wants to associate with the weak

Ikwerres have always dissociated from the Igbos even before the war. Check online when ikwerre formed Ogbakor Ikwerre. Check also Rumuomasi declaration. All these happened before the war.

https://punchng.com/ikwerre-are-igbo-ex-ohanaeze-sec-gen/

PUNCH Lite
Ikwerre are Igbo – Ex-Ohanaeze sec-gen
12th May 2024

Okwukwu
Uche Okwukwu

By
Chukwudi Akasike
Kindly share this story:

Former Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Uche Okwukwu, speaks to CHUKWUDI AKASIKE on the controversy over the identity of Ikwerre people in Rivers State and whether they belong to the Igbo tribe, among other related issues

What do you make of the disagreement between the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, and the President of Iwhnurohna Progressive Organisation, Dr Okachikwu Dibia?

As an Ikwerre man, I know we have the Ogbako Ikwerre; we have the Ikwerre Development Organisation, IDO. So, we don’t have anything called Iwhnurohna Progressive Organisation or IPO. So, the young man (Dibia) wanted to score a point by issuing a statement to challenge Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu. I wish him good luck. That is what I will say in that regard.

But the man is the President of IwhnurohnaProgressive Organisation.


You are a journalist; have you heard about that name before? He needs to be asked some questions. First and foremost, his name is Dibia; that is what he said, and he wrote a book published in 2011, which I have. In that book, he said there was pressure on him to change his surname, but (he said) he did not change it because he allowed it to remain as an Igbo relic. But the truth is that he is an Igbo man; his DNA and his blood are Igbo. I have said time without number that the Ikwerre are Igbo, and they have at different fora from the Henry Willink’s Commission asserted that they are Igbo.

Ikwerre land is Igbo land. The man (Dibia) wanted to become popular by issuing a statement challenging Iwuanyanwu. For example, if Ango Abdullahi says something, and somebody wants to reply to him from Igbo land or Yoruba land, it should be a known name. So, who is this person, and what organisation does he represent?

But Dibia, who is an Ikwerre man, is saying that the Ikwerre are not Igbo. How will you respond to his claim?


I want to be recorded very well. The Ikwerre people are Igbo. If you say something that is not predicated on fact, either circumstantial or real, it is neither here nor there. The Portuguese got to Ikwerre land in 1400AD. Now, go and look at ‘People from Southern Nigeria’ by Amaury Talbot, Volume 1, Page 238. The Portuguese got to Isiokpo which is the headquarters of Ikwerre Local Government Area today; they got to Amaafa, which was the name Emuoha was answering. They recorded that people were here with these names.

Now, the Ikwerre people claimed that they left Benin under the reign of Oba Ewuare, and Oba Ewuare came to power in the Benin Kingdom in 1430 AD. That was after the Portuguese had visited Ikwerre land in 1400. Assuming without conceding that the Ikwerre people came from Benin, it then means that the Ikwerre people who came from Benin met people here (Ikwerre land). The people had been here when the Portuguese came.

Again, the Oba of Benin wrote a book titled, ‘Yes, my obedient servant’. The Oba of Benin I am referring to is Omo N’Oba Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa. He (Oba Erediauwa) served as an Assistant District Commissioner in Ahoada Division (in today’s Rivers State) between 1954 and 1965. In his book titled, ‘Remain, sir, your obedient servant’, published in 2004, Omo N’Oba Erediauwa Akpolokpolo wrote it.

He (Erediuwa) said that the Ikwerre and the Etche were typical Igbo. Also, at the Henry Willink’s Commission in 1957, the Ikwerre presented their position through their leaders that from Port Harcourt to Onitsha was Igbo land, and when Henry Willink published his report in April 1958, he made it very clear that the Ikwerre were Igbo. He went to the point of stating in black and white that Port Harcourt was an Igbo town. It is there in black and white.

Now, let us go to human beings. Illustrious Ikwerre sons, more prominent than Dibia, had stated clearly that they were Igbo. Chibuike Amaechi, who is the former governor of Rivers State, former speaker of the House of Assembly, Rivers State, and first Nigerian Minister of Transportation, says he is an Igbo man.

The question I ask is, why are people not reporting it? Now, they are giving front-page headlines to Dibia. The first Ikwerre principal of any college; Saint John’s College, Diobu, first provost of the Rivers College of Education, now Ignatius Ajuru University, and first Ikwerre minister, Chief Emmanuel Aguma, said he was an Igbo man. The First Ikwerre poet, Okogbule Wonodi, who was a one-time registrar of the University of Port Harcourt, said he was an Igbo man.

The first Ikwerre senator, first Ikwerre to obtain a PhD, first Ikwerre commissioner, and first Ikwerre member of the Constituent Assembly, Constitution Conference, 1975 and 1977, Dr Obi Wali, said he was an Igbo man. The question I will ask Dibia is; ‘why do you say you are not an Igbo man?’

What do you think may have made him say the Ikwerre are not Igbo people?

Well, he knows what made him to say so. I don’t know. He (Dibia) wrote a book titled, ‘The Challenge of Ikwerre Development in Nigeria’, published in 2011. From Page 146 to 147 of that book, this is Dibia talking; he said, ‘Ikwerre names that are Igbo have remained unchanged because they were left as part of Ikwerre historical relics. They have no other meaning than that. For example, my name, Dibia, does not in any way assist in defining my personality despite the pressure to change it. I had decided to retain it to remember what Ikwerre people passed through in the past, representing the experiences needed to rebuild Ikwerre.’

Now, the question you will ask him is why he has not changed his name. Dibia means in Igbo land, a knowledgeable person and a healer. A professor can be called Dibia of History, Dibia of Law, Dibia of Journalism, or a healer. So, let him change his name, because he has no other names to answer. We are not Iwhnurohna people; we are Ikwerre people. He used the word ‘Iwhnurohna’. Let the people be bold to change all their organisations’ names from Ikwerre to Iwhnurohna, and they will lose their bearing and relevance.

Why did you say so?

Of course, if you change your surname today, you will lose your track. Why is it that the Afro-Americans are still insisting that they are Africans? Why are they not saying that they are Spanish? Why are they not saying that they are Germans or British? Why are they still insisting that they are Africans? Blacks and Afro-Americans have their root in Africa. This is because it is the identity that defines their mission and purpose and that they are blacks and Africans.

The Ikwerre are Igbo, and from time immemorial, the Ikwerre have remained in Ohanaeze. From 1939, the Ikwerre were members of the Igbo State Union which existed from 1939 to 1966 when the military proscribed it. Since the formation of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo in 1976 with Akanu Ibiam as President General and Jerome Udorji as first Secretary General, the Ikwerre were members of Ohanaeze.

I have served as Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo; many prominent sons and daughters of Ikwerre have served as Ohanaeze members. Chibudom Nwuche, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives from Ekpeye is a member of the Board of Trustees of Ohanaeze as I am talking to you. His father, the late C.C Nwuche, once served as the chairman of Ohanaeze’s Elders’ Council. The late Senator Francis Ellah of Ogba, the most outstanding Ogba man to live on earth, was a senator; he was a district commissioner, he was the registrar of the Rivers State University at a time, he was Secretary to the Government, he was a minister, and remained Ohanaeze till he died.


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So, I don’t know where the likes of Dibia are coming from. If he knows the people that sent him on an errand, he should tell them that the Igbo will not surrender Ikwerre to anyone or tribe; and I want to be recorded. Any attempt to remove Ikwerre land from the Igbo will be resisted. No nation in modern history will want his side to be shrunk. That is the whole crisis in Kremia and Ukraine. Russia said you cannot remove Russians from us.

Why do you think Ikwerre land is important to the Igbo?

No nation will want itself to be cut off from the sea. Ikwerre land is the tongue of the Igbo nation to the sea. The Ohanaeze President General (Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu) is coming to Rivers State in January 2025, because constitutionally, it is the turn of River State (to produce the next president general). So, the likes of Dibia are on a mission to undermine the Ikwerre in Ohanaeze. He should tell those who sent him that they have failed because some of us are still alive.

Some have said that the reason why some Ikwerre people are claiming that they are not part of Igbo and Igbo land is because of an alleged expansionist tendency of Igbo people. How will you react to this?

Who is expanding to where? Under the constitution, where are you expanding to? Nigeria is an indivisible and indissoluble country under Section 2 of the Constitution. Local governments have been created, and states have been created. Nobody from Ebonyi State will rule Enugu State; nobody from River State will rule Delta State. The clannish nature of Nigeria is so high that you cannot even be a councillor outside your village. Even in Yoruba land, you cannot come from Oyo State and be a councillor in Osun State.

So, I don’t know who is expanding to where. Is anybody controlling a local government except the chairman who is from there? Rivers State was created in 1967, almost 60 years ago. So, the Igbo came back to Rivers State after the war as non-Rivers indigenes and struggled for survival. Rivers people are in Lagos State as non-Lagosians struggling for survival. Anywhere you find yourself in Nigeria, you struggle for survival as a non-indigene. You battle; if you go to the university, you pay different school fees from the ones those from the state pay.

So, which expansionist tendency are these people talking about? If you go anywhere, you buy land with your money; nobody will dash you land. You are in Lagos today, if you have money to buy land, you buy from the natives. The Lagosians go to Ogun State and buy land. Even the Ijebu people buy land in Ijebu. Tell those saying this to tell us where we are expanding to. It is just a case of calling a dog a bad name to kill it. Tell the person that it is not true.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo will likely have a new president general next year and it is said that the position will go to Rivers State. How ready are your people to take this position?

That is the same question they ask when it comes to politics. What is the qualification to become a President of the country? Is it not a School Cert? (Umaru Musa) Yar’Adua was the first Nigerian President that went through the university. So, didn’t those who ruled before him do well? The Igbo-speaking people in Rivers State; the Ogba, the Ekpeye, the Ndoni, Ikwerre, Etche, Obigbo; don’t they have people? Is Amaechi not an Ikwerre man? He has said he is Igbo.

Are you saying a man, who has run presidential primary cannot be Ohanaeze’s president general? Are you saying that Chibudom Nwuche, who was deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, is not qualified to be Ohanaeze president general? Are you saying I am not qualified as a lawyer to become president general of Ohanaeze? I have also served as secretary general. Are the qualifications of the president general and secretary general of Ohanaeze different? It is like saying (Prof Yemi) Osinbajo cannot be President, even when he has been Vice President.

All those things are cheap blackmail. The Rivers people are very prepared. We are very prepared. Constitutionally, it is only people from Rivers State who can contest the position of the next president general of Ohanaeze. It is zoned to Rivers State, and after Rivers State, it will go to Abia State.

What is your advice to those who may unwittingly try to distort history over the current controversy on the identity of the Ikwerre people?

If something is not your name, you change your name. For example, my name is Uche Okwukwu. If I find out that it is not my name, I change it. Go to court, do an affidavit, and publish it in a newspaper. So, some Ikwerre who are saying Ikwerre are not Igbo should change their names.

Some have also said that language is not enough to determine where a person comes from.

Dibia is saying that he is retaining his name as an Igbo relic. Now, you are saying that a name is not important.

No, some people said, not me.

Let me quote what Oliver Wendell said in 1866 about language. ‘Every language is a temple in which the soul of those who speak it is enshrined. Language is by its very nature communal. It expresses never the exact thing, but a compromise that is common to me, you, and everybody.’ Now, language is very important. That is why the Yoruba of Kogi, Kwara, and Edo states are still saying they are Yoruba. This is because of language and name. If you say the Igbo should change their names. How? How can that kind of influence be there that the person does not retain anyone?

It is important I also give you this source; the famous Benin historian, Julius Egharevba, wrote a book titled, ‘Short History of Benin’. In that book, he said that the earliest migration of people out of Benin was in 1440, by which time the Portuguese had already visited Ikwerre and met the Ikwerre people. Remember that the Portuguese were here by 1400. So, I don’t know where they are getting their facts from. You must be armed with history to make a statement; you don’t just say things, and when they bring you out on national television, you can’t defend it.

Igbo women are said to always tie two wrappers and that is also one of the ways a person can determine who an Igbo woman is. How will you react to this claim?

These days, globalisation has made people open their noses, open ears in five places. Some almost go naked, which the government is fighting in all higher institutions. I know that Ikwerre women tie two wrappers. You must visit Ikwerre with your camera and take snapshots. We wrestle like Igbo and our women tie two wrappers.

Laurene:
You're a big time liar

Thank you my mentor 😄

AviatorMoney:

I'm a Rivers Man, I've not told u I'm Ikwerre.
Main while, who gave u b understanding that d language itself belongs to u?
Are u d creator of languages?
Abeg make Una leave my DEAR state ALONE. Shikina

Lmao . Wonders shall never cease!

You keep claiming that Igbo people are trying to force our identity on you but you won't let go of the things that actually tie you to us.

Igbo language, culture and traditions are just that — Igbo.

Please change them so that your transformation will be complete.

Remman:
Yes, their wives taught their children the igbo language and it's a common practice in the world.

How can a same man allow his children to only speaks his wife tongue.

If they are from bini,how comes they never spoke bini language their language, culture & behaviour is iboid?they bears Igbo names...non of ikwerre bears:- obaseki,osazua,ogbemudia,idemudia,igbinidion,odion etc
Ikwerres a people that have lost they roots.

AviatorMoney:

I'm a Rivers Man, I've not told u I'm Ikwerre.
Main while, who gave u b understanding that d language itself belongs to u?
Are u d creator of languages?
Abeg make Una leave my DEAR state ALONE. Shikina

My brother God bless you ooo. Ask Igbo man their word for Yes it doesn't exist. Ikwerres have have word for Yes.
Igbos are widely traveled. They understand that Portugal and Spain speak similar language but different people. Indonesia and Malaysia but different people. Poland and Ukraine but different people. Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark similar language but different people. At home here Yoruba and Itsekiri but different people. Urhobo and Isoko but different people. Igbos don't drag Etche closer to them as much as they drag Ikwerres because Etche doesn't have Port Harcourt.
The worst thing you can do to an ikwerre man is to associate anything Igbo to them. Igbos know this and are deliberately doing this to smear ikwerre people with their dubious identity.

Proudlyngwa:


Kogi cannot claim because kogi is a state not tribe, understand that first then we can talk

No ody is dragging igalaland in Anambra with igala people and nobody is dragging there igalaness with them

Then why not allow the ikweres be ? just like you claim ikwere , you still claim part of Benue.
If you love your ikwere brothers so much , allow the ones that identify with igbos into south East and give them 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

We all know is because of resource control you’re doing attaché but everybody is wise now , nobody is dragging your 5 states with you guys stick with it so peace can reign, no state is willing to cede any land to you guys . If you feel you’re peculiar to any tribe go there and live or by land there period.
Please educate your brother quoting me that no part of Anambra speaks Igala🤣🤣.

Odingo1:

Have you seen any Igbo dragging Ikwerre people for anything. Is Ikwerre people that is always making the noise every year in their gatherings.

Who cares whether they are Igbos or not. The language they are speaking and their names gave them out as Igbos in Nigeria unless if they can start answering Bini names and start speaking Bini language instead of Igbo language they are speaking now.

Is just like Okun person in Kogi denying his not a Yoruba. Although he can claim to be Okun man but his name and language he speaks gave him out as a Yoruba. That is the situation of Ikwerre people.

The same scenario is playing out with Igbos claiming to originate from Israel but on arrival in their present location they didn't only forget their Jewish language and culture but their skin changed from white to black. At least Ikwerre people's skin colour has not changed from that of their claimed Bini ancestors unlike Igbos.

CHRISPLACE:

https://punchng.com/ikwerre-are-igbo-ex-ohanaeze-sec-gen/

PUNCH Lite
Ikwerre are Igbo – Ex-Ohanaeze sec-gen
12th May 2024

Okwukwu
Uche Okwukwu

By
Chukwudi Akasike
Kindly share this story:

Former Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Uche Okwukwu, speaks to CHUKWUDI AKASIKE on the controversy over the identity of Ikwerre people in Rivers State and whether they belong to the Igbo tribe, among other related issues

What do you make of the disagreement between the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, and the President of Iwhnurohna Progressive Organisation, Dr Okachikwu Dibia?

As an Ikwerre man, I know we have the Ogbako Ikwerre; we have the Ikwerre Development Organisation, IDO. So, we don’t have anything called Iwhnurohna Progressive Organisation or IPO. So, the young man (Dibia) wanted to score a point by issuing a statement to challenge Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu. I wish him good luck. That is what I will say in that regard.

But the man is the President of IwhnurohnaProgressive Organisation.


You are a journalist; have you heard about that name before? He needs to be asked some questions. First and foremost, his name is Dibia; that is what he said, and he wrote a book published in 2011, which I have. In that book, he said there was pressure on him to change his surname, but (he said) he did not change it because he allowed it to remain as an Igbo relic. But the truth is that he is an Igbo man; his DNA and his blood are Igbo. I have said time without number that the Ikwerre are Igbo, and they have at different fora from the Henry Willink’s Commission asserted that they are Igbo.

Ikwerre land is Igbo land. The man (Dibia) wanted to become popular by issuing a statement challenging Iwuanyanwu. For example, if Ango Abdullahi says something, and somebody wants to reply to him from Igbo land or Yoruba land, it should be a known name. So, who is this person, and what organisation does he represent?

But Dibia, who is an Ikwerre man, is saying that the Ikwerre are not Igbo. How will you respond to his claim?


I want to be recorded very well. The Ikwerre people are Igbo. If you say something that is not predicated on fact, either circumstantial or real, it is neither here nor there. The Portuguese got to Ikwerre land in 1400AD. Now, go and look at ‘People from Southern Nigeria’ by Amaury Talbot, Volume 1, Page 238. The Portuguese got to Isiokpo which is the headquarters of Ikwerre Local Government Area today; they got to Amaafa, which was the name Emuoha was answering. They recorded that people were here with these names.

Now, the Ikwerre people claimed that they left Benin under the reign of Oba Ewuare, and Oba Ewuare came to power in the Benin Kingdom in 1430 AD. That was after the Portuguese had visited Ikwerre land in 1400. Assuming without conceding that the Ikwerre people came from Benin, it then means that the Ikwerre people who came from Benin met people here (Ikwerre land). The people had been here when the Portuguese came.

Again, the Oba of Benin wrote a book titled, ‘Yes, my obedient servant’. The Oba of Benin I am referring to is Omo N’Oba Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa. He (Oba Erediauwa) served as an Assistant District Commissioner in Ahoada Division (in today’s Rivers State) between 1954 and 1965. In his book titled, ‘Remain, sir, your obedient servant’, published in 2004, Omo N’Oba Erediauwa Akpolokpolo wrote it.

He (Erediuwa) said that the Ikwerre and the Etche were typical Igbo. Also, at the Henry Willink’s Commission in 1957, the Ikwerre presented their position through their leaders that from Port Harcourt to Onitsha was Igbo land, and when Henry Willink published his report in April 1958, he made it very clear that the Ikwerre were Igbo. He went to the point of stating in black and white that Port Harcourt was an Igbo town. It is there in black and white.

Now, let us go to human beings. Illustrious Ikwerre sons, more prominent than Dibia, had stated clearly that they were Igbo. Chibuike Amaechi, who is the former governor of Rivers State, former speaker of the House of Assembly, Rivers State, and first Nigerian Minister of Transportation, says he is an Igbo man.

The question I ask is, why are people not reporting it? Now, they are giving front-page headlines to Dibia. The first Ikwerre principal of any college; Saint John’s College, Diobu, first provost of the Rivers College of Education, now Ignatius Ajuru University, and first Ikwerre minister, Chief Emmanuel Aguma, said he was an Igbo man. The First Ikwerre poet, Okogbule Wonodi, who was a one-time registrar of the University of Port Harcourt, said he was an Igbo man.

The first Ikwerre senator, first Ikwerre to obtain a PhD, first Ikwerre commissioner, and first Ikwerre member of the Constituent Assembly, Constitution Conference, 1975 and 1977, Dr Obi Wali, said he was an Igbo man. The question I will ask Dibia is; ‘why do you say you are not an Igbo man?’

What do you think may have made him say the Ikwerre are not Igbo people?

Well, he knows what made him to say so. I don’t know. He (Dibia) wrote a book titled, ‘The Challenge of Ikwerre Development in Nigeria’, published in 2011. From Page 146 to 147 of that book, this is Dibia talking; he said, ‘Ikwerre names that are Igbo have remained unchanged because they were left as part of Ikwerre historical relics. They have no other meaning than that. For example, my name, Dibia, does not in any way assist in defining my personality despite the pressure to change it. I had decided to retain it to remember what Ikwerre people passed through in the past, representing the experiences needed to rebuild Ikwerre.’

Now, the question you will ask him is why he has not changed his name. Dibia means in Igbo land, a knowledgeable person and a healer. A professor can be called Dibia of History, Dibia of Law, Dibia of Journalism, or a healer. So, let him change his name, because he has no other names to answer. We are not Iwhnurohna people; we are Ikwerre people. He used the word ‘Iwhnurohna’. Let the people be bold to change all their organisations’ names from Ikwerre to Iwhnurohna, and they will lose their bearing and relevance.

Why did you say so?

Of course, if you change your surname today, you will lose your track. Why is it that the Afro-Americans are still insisting that they are Africans? Why are they not saying that they are Spanish? Why are they not saying that they are Germans or British? Why are they still insisting that they are Africans? Blacks and Afro-Americans have their root in Africa. This is because it is the identity that defines their mission and purpose and that they are blacks and Africans.

The Ikwerre are Igbo, and from time immemorial, the Ikwerre have remained in Ohanaeze. From 1939, the Ikwerre were members of the Igbo State Union which existed from 1939 to 1966 when the military proscribed it. Since the formation of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo in 1976 with Akanu Ibiam as President General and Jerome Udorji as first Secretary General, the Ikwerre were members of Ohanaeze.

I have served as Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo; many prominent sons and daughters of Ikwerre have served as Ohanaeze members. Chibudom Nwuche, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives from Ekpeye is a member of the Board of Trustees of Ohanaeze as I am talking to you. His father, the late C.C Nwuche, once served as the chairman of Ohanaeze’s Elders’ Council. The late Senator Francis Ellah of Ogba, the most outstanding Ogba man to live on earth, was a senator; he was a district commissioner, he was the registrar of the Rivers State University at a time, he was Secretary to the Government, he was a minister, and remained Ohanaeze till he died.


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So, I don’t know where the likes of Dibia are coming from. If he knows the people that sent him on an errand, he should tell them that the Igbo will not surrender Ikwerre to anyone or tribe; and I want to be recorded. Any attempt to remove Ikwerre land from the Igbo will be resisted. No nation in modern history will want his side to be shrunk. That is the whole crisis in Kremia and Ukraine. Russia said you cannot remove Russians from us.

Why do you think Ikwerre land is important to the Igbo?

No nation will want itself to be cut off from the sea. Ikwerre land is the tongue of the Igbo nation to the sea. The Ohanaeze President General (Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu) is coming to Rivers State in January 2025, because constitutionally, it is the turn of River State (to produce the next president general). So, the likes of Dibia are on a mission to undermine the Ikwerre in Ohanaeze. He should tell those who sent him that they have failed because some of us are still alive.

Some have said that the reason why some Ikwerre people are claiming that they are not part of Igbo and Igbo land is because of an alleged expansionist tendency of Igbo people. How will you react to this?

Who is expanding to where? Under the constitution, where are you expanding to? Nigeria is an indivisible and indissoluble country under Section 2 of the Constitution. Local governments have been created, and states have been created. Nobody from Ebonyi State will rule Enugu State; nobody from River State will rule Delta State. The clannish nature of Nigeria is so high that you cannot even be a councillor outside your village. Even in Yoruba land, you cannot come from Oyo State and be a councillor in Osun State.

So, I don’t know who is expanding to where. Is anybody controlling a local government except the chairman who is from there? Rivers State was created in 1967, almost 60 years ago. So, the Igbo came back to Rivers State after the war as non-Rivers indigenes and struggled for survival. Rivers people are in Lagos State as non-Lagosians struggling for survival. Anywhere you find yourself in Nigeria, you struggle for survival as a non-indigene. You battle; if you go to the university, you pay different school fees from the ones those from the state pay.

So, which expansionist tendency are these people talking about? If you go anywhere, you buy land with your money; nobody will dash you land. You are in Lagos today, if you have money to buy land, you buy from the natives. The Lagosians go to Ogun State and buy land. Even the Ijebu people buy land in Ijebu. Tell those saying this to tell us where we are expanding to. It is just a case of calling a dog a bad name to kill it. Tell the person that it is not true.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo will likely have a new president general next year and it is said that the position will go to Rivers State. How ready are your people to take this position?

That is the same question they ask when it comes to politics. What is the qualification to become a President of the country? Is it not a School Cert? (Umaru Musa) Yar’Adua was the first Nigerian President that went through the university. So, didn’t those who ruled before him do well? The Igbo-speaking people in Rivers State; the Ogba, the Ekpeye, the Ndoni, Ikwerre, Etche, Obigbo; don’t they have people? Is Amaechi not an Ikwerre man? He has said he is Igbo.

Are you saying a man, who has run presidential primary cannot be Ohanaeze’s president general? Are you saying that Chibudom Nwuche, who was deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, is not qualified to be Ohanaeze president general? Are you saying I am not qualified as a lawyer to become president general of Ohanaeze? I have also served as secretary general. Are the qualifications of the president general and secretary general of Ohanaeze different? It is like saying (Prof Yemi) Osinbajo cannot be President, even when he has been Vice President.

All those things are cheap blackmail. The Rivers people are very prepared. We are very prepared. Constitutionally, it is only people from Rivers State who can contest the position of the next president general of Ohanaeze. It is zoned to Rivers State, and after Rivers State, it will go to Abia State.

What is your advice to those who may unwittingly try to distort history over the current controversy on the identity of the Ikwerre people?

If something is not your name, you change your name. For example, my name is Uche Okwukwu. If I find out that it is not my name, I change it. Go to court, do an affidavit, and publish it in a newspaper. So, some Ikwerre who are saying Ikwerre are not Igbo should change their names.

Some have also said that language is not enough to determine where a person comes from.

Dibia is saying that he is retaining his name as an Igbo relic. Now, you are saying that a name is not important.

No, some people said, not me.

Let me quote what Oliver Wendell said in 1866 about language. ‘Every language is a temple in which the soul of those who speak it is enshrined. Language is by its very nature communal. It expresses never the exact thing, but a compromise that is common to me, you, and everybody.’ Now, language is very important. That is why the Yoruba of Kogi, Kwara, and Edo states are still saying they are Yoruba. This is because of language and name. If you say the Igbo should change their names. How? How can that kind of influence be there that the person does not retain anyone?

It is important I also give you this source; the famous Benin historian, Julius Egharevba, wrote a book titled, ‘Short History of Benin’. In that book, he said that the earliest migration of people out of Benin was in 1440, by which time the Portuguese had already visited Ikwerre and met the Ikwerre people. Remember that the Portuguese were here by 1400. So, I don’t know where they are getting their facts from. You must be armed with history to make a statement; you don’t just say things, and when they bring you out on national television, you can’t defend it.

Igbo women are said to always tie two wrappers and that is also one of the ways a person can determine who an Igbo woman is. How will you react to this claim?

These days, globalisation has made people open their noses, open ears in five places. Some almost go naked, which the government is fighting in all higher institutions. I know that Ikwerre women tie two wrappers. You must visit Ikwerre with your camera and take snapshots. We wrestle like Igbo and our women tie two wrappers.

Have you had any one on one dealing with Uche Okwukwu?

Unfortunately for you, he is a very unstable individual and a nobody even in his immediate family.

That your Ohaneze will even allow him near the executive tells a lot about your values and seriousness.

Only Igbo people will take such character seriously.

Tell him to go and host Ohaneze meeting in HIS FATHER’s compound in Elele at least to show that he’s from Igbo family.

Tonim:


Thanks for this. Very insightful.

So you believe that nonsense that guy spewed?

Nigerian society has always been patriarchal. The children learn the language and customs of their father. Hardly do you hear of ones that go their mother's way. I'm sure you know this. Abi all the Ikwerre fathers just relaxed while the Ìgbo mothers converted their kids to Igbos?
Make una dey use una heads sometimes.

You lots talk about SE and NE and SS and SE and NC, and then talk of states but you foolishly forget that these are just imaginary boundaries. Ngor Okpala in Imo State and Etche in Rivers state share common farmlands. Ohaji in Imo State and Ohaji Egbema in Rivers state have family membrrs who are now in different states because a government decided to divide them with imaginary boundaries. Even your former president, Buhari, told you he has cousins in Niger Republic, which is even another country altogether.

While I don't care where a grown man decides to choose his ancestry from, let's be honest with ourselves and admit this dichotomy was enforced to reduce the powers of the SE. Didn't work out well though

javascript1901:


Well.

The fact is majority of Ikwerres or more than 90% Ikwerres already said they are not Igbos. It's not just some elders saying they are not Igbos or some people with different view.

Therefore, other tribes cannot be blamed.
Ikwerres said it first by themselves.

I live in their town , so I know what's up.



Yoruba Christian, muslim, or Ogun worshipper... All are still same bloodline - ILE IFE
One bad muslim or some bad ones does not mean all muslims are bad

Ok then....

But the truth is that Igbos being one of(I said;one of o..) World's largest and most enterprising ethnic groups,do not have a need to appropriate a minority tribe like Ikwerre! If the Ikwerres agree to be Igbos how does it add to the success-driven nature of the Igbo?HOW?.The oil being bandied about belongs to the entire peoples of Nigeria not to Ikwerres,see?lol!!

I blame this unnecessary brickbats on Nairaland to the mischief of carreer TROLLS of Igbos on Nairaland...

People who have SWORN to remain in CONSTANT fear of Igbos even as it destroys the destiny of the country!

Kai!! Black race na wa!!

iykechas2002:
All this is for the ikwerres to be flavoured by this government and to dissociate themselves from Biafra.

Where in the world 🌎 is the word
South-South? Why is there no North-North or East-East?

Dumb ass professor and elders

Geopolitical regions are not named according to compass directions. There is no compass direction as North Central but that is a geopolitical region's name in Nigeria. The present South East was once called East Central. Please show me East Central in the cardinal points.

It baffles me that any time Ikwerre identity subject comes up, the ethnic ratio of discussants absurdly WILL be 10 Igbos, 1 Ikwerre and 30 Yorubas.


Politically, when an Issue is in the strategic interest of a group, they'll do whatever it takes to sway it their way.

So, why lose sleep over a matter between two groups that has a mutually intelligible tongue, which you don't understand?

it's complicated

Whalis:

You think you are the only one outside Nigeria. Attached is me also in the Uk.
No be only una dey travel. We travel but are not loud like you people.

. Oga urgent 2k

Carry ur leg off my comment .

Afamed:
They are not satisfied with 2 litres of oil at their background in SE.

They want to corner the oily by fire by force in SS

I'm sure you didn't know Imo state has the largest natural gas deposits in Africa, and they also have crude oil.
Laugh more

Odingo1:

Why do they call Anioma people Delta Igbos
Why did Nigerians see Nzeogwu from Anioma Delta state that plotted the coup as an Igbo man till today

That is the lie you people have told yourselves for years to feel better. There is nothing like Delta igbo. The anioma people are not igbos.

You people don't even know your history or origin. But you can confidently sit in your parlour and narrate how other tribes are igbos.

Clowns 🥲

Ohaneze meeting has being going on in Rivers State and Uche Okwukwu is not the first Ikwere to be in the leadership of Ohanaeze ndi Igbo. Amaechi made it clear that he is from Igbo so do not be deceived. If people from America can trace their DNA to Igbo land and you that answer igbo name and speak the language will deny it. Is not confusion.

Gerhards:





Another stupid excuse, i was expecting you to show me where Igbos were chasing Ikwerres from their ancestral lands, how old are you?

I think your father should be able to tell you how old he is....
U Igbos are to delusional Sha...
Na only una dey drag land wen no be una own... Now una Wan force people to identify with una.....
Shameless set of people

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0-Nkk_I8eo?si=nDme8_5xeVRztxo5

Amaechi said to the Senate that he cannot be denied of his Igbo heritage.

Ngozi123:


Lmao . Wonders shall never cease!

You keep claiming that Igbo people are trying to force our identity on you but you won't let go of the things that actually tie you to us.

Igbo language, culture and traditions are just that — Igbo.

Please change them so that your transformation will be complete.

Tie who to who.... U people are only tying urself. No RIVERS STATE blooded Man or Woman want to b given another identity. Take that straight and accept ur loss

anonymous1759:



Mumuni 🤣🤣🤣 it’s naturally for people to return to their ancestral land during war right?
That’s why igbos left every part of Nigeria.
Why did the ran away from their Ancestral land in South South to SE ? Since you people claim all SS is SE that there’s nothing like SS. Confused people.

Didirin If i reside in Owerri Imo state and there's ongoing war in the south east i will relocate to back to my ancestral home in Enugu state, war is for the soldiers and not for civilians ...... stark illiterate i'm sure you won't still understand due to your low IQ and imbecility in your Gene

Gerhards:

Who is more coursed than useless son of Afon-/ja with falling demon who reside in Ile-ife, here is definition of attach by force

Firstly, we're all Yorubas before any state was ever created and we'll forerver be Yorubas and forever united UNLIKE you Okoro Savages that are useless, foolish, disunited and hated by the whole world.

You all run away from your godforsaken jungle to secure green pastures in our fertile lands. Cursed Bastards! 🤬

Paraman:
Ika and Ukwani no b Igbo

Do you have a ceiling fan at home? because Anioma state is finally coming to reality, i know the pain and shame will be unbearable to you

franchasofficia:
Fulani people still speak Fulfude amongst themselves, why don't our Ikwerre Bini people speak Bini dialect amongst themselves?


Fulani people never abandoned their nomadic cattle rearing because they left Futa Jalon.

Fulani people still practice same culture and tradition all over Africa they migrated to. They still speak Fulfude, they still call their traditional rulers same name with all Fulanis all over Africa. Fulani people still bear same Fulani name all over Africa they migrated to. They didn't abandon their Fulani names in Ilorin and adopted Yoruba names completely because they migrated to Ilorin lolz


But our Bini Ikwerre people forgot their Bini tradition, forgot their Bini culture, forgot their Bini names, forgot their Bini dialect, forgot everything that makes them Bini and adopted Igbo own, no be juju be that?

trying to fix the puzzle, a while back the obi of onitsha claimed they migrated from bini kingdom at some point, I stand to be corrected on this,maybe the ikwerres and igbos were a people before the bini migration maybe not, I don't know, there seem to be a connection somewhere sha.

muhammaduyusufu:


https://punchng.com/ikwerres-deny-ancestral-affiliation-with-south-east/?amp

So unfortunate , people cry over spilled milk.

.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu2y9gmy9FE?si=Je1RzwJugYANPo-U

Asari Dokubo fully accepts his Igbo Identity and frown at the Ikwere-Igbo who donot speak Benin language nor answer the names but answer Igbo names and speaks Igbo language.
nd
If you say you are not Igbo and that Ikwere wives change your language. Now that you have known your root, what stops you from answering your Benin name and learning your Benin language instead you retain Igbo identity. It is quite obvious that you are very confused human beings.

muhammaduyusufu:


https://punchng.com/ikwerres-deny-ancestral-affiliation-with-south-east/?amp

So unfortunate , people cry over spilled milk.

YOU'RE FREE TO AIR YOUR VIEW.

AND YOUR VIEW , HOWEVER, IS NEVER THE LEAST.