ITbomb:

Sorry to hear that but I can afford to live without it as long as no land of the South South communities is annexed by the Biafrans cos we will fight to defend it with our blood

South South? What's the meaning of that? If you are Efik, then you must know that Ndiigbo have more stake in the South south than you could ever have, as long as Asaba remains the capital of oil rich Delta state, and oil rich Ndoki Igbolands part of Rivers and Akwa ibom state.

No Igbo man is dying to have any non Igbo speaking group in our new Biafra, stop throwing yourself at us, no be by force.

Radoillo:


OK...the link leads to a forum (like this one) where people are saying stuff that aren't backed up. The claim sounds quite ludicrous, and one would need more than what a random guy said on a website to accept it as definitely true. There are many books that have been written about the Biafra conflict (some of them from a very anti-Biafra stand) and none of them makes any reference to this claim.

I also wonder how such an 'Igbonizing' move could have been conceived at all, given that Effiong who was second in power only to Ojukwu himself was Efik-Ibibio.

And Prof Eyo Bassey Ndem an Efik man, was the administrator of the Calabar province.

ITbomb:


"quote "
During the war, Biafran Troops began a systematic arrest, detention and sometimes elimination of prominent people in what is today Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. the Igbo stated that they will deal with us after the war as a husband deals with his wife. Many a wise person gave them the benefit of the doubt because war time propaganda was rampant at the time. We heard that our cities had been given new names to take effect at successful conclusion of the war. For example, Calabar was to become New Onitsha. Are these the type of utterances that would endear a population to a cause?

Rumor confirmed as truth

Thirty-one years after the war, none other than the former leader of Biafra, the Ikemba Nnewi, repeated the husband/wife statement in an interview regarding the relationship between the Igbo and Akwa Ibom people. It was then that those who had believed the original "rumor" turned around to tell those of us who were skeptical during the war, "we told you so". It was then easy to believe that had Biafra succeeded, there would be no Calabar today but New Onitsha. Will any Igbo person tell me that if the situation was reversed and Onitsha was to be renamed New Calabar after the war, they would have given 100% support to the effort to eradicate their culture? Be honest to yourself!

I can state with 98% certainty that there are no "abandoned property" issues in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. The Igbo came back and reclaimed their properties or sold such after the war. Yet, today as can be gleaned from the Message Boards of several web sites, you will find Igbo people who wish the Atlantic Ocean to claim the land of the minorities so they would be forced to seek shelter in Igbo land. You will find Igbo people who plan to march into the Delta and drive the inhabitants to the sea because they believe we will not fight for our land. if they succeeded to push us into the ocean, we would become Mammywaters.

"unquote "

More
http://messageboard.biafranigeriaworld.com/ultimatebb.cgi/ubb/get_topic/f/1/t/000028/p/2.html

It was Lies like this that made me take up the pan-Igbo cause on nairaland. Lies like this is what fires the pro Biafran cause among post civil war Igbo youths. And debunking lies as this will be the major source of inspiration for a realization of a new Igbo republic - a republic exclusively for only Igbo speaking peoples. Your likes can as well join the southern Cameroonians or form a union with the Ijaws and other minorities. But it is important to warn: that no part of Igboland in your political South-south will ever be ceeded to your Niger-Delta republic, not even Ikwerreland. You can take my word for it.

Eh Ehm! What concerns an Mboko man with Ikwerre thread.

ITbomb:


"quote "
During the war, Biafran Troops began a systematic arrest, detention and sometimes elimination of prominent people in what is today Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. the Igbo stated that they will deal with us after the war as a husband deals with his wife. Many a wise person gave them the benefit of the doubt because war time propaganda was rampant at the time. We heard that our cities had been given new names to take effect at successful conclusion of the war. For example, Calabar was to become New Onitsha. Are these the type of utterances that would endear a population to a cause?

Rumor confirmed as truth

Thirty-one years after the war, none other than the former leader of Biafra, the Ikemba Nnewi, repeated the husband/wife statement in an interview regarding the relationship between the Igbo and Akwa Ibom people. It was then that those who had believed the original "rumor" turned around to tell those of us who were skeptical during the war, "we told you so". It was then easy to believe that had Biafra succeeded, there would be no Calabar today but New Onitsha. Will any Igbo person tell me that if the situation was reversed and Onitsha was to be renamed New Calabar after the war, they would have given 100% support to the effort to eradicate their culture? Be honest to yourself!

I can state with 98% certainty that there are no "abandoned property" issues in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. The Igbo came back and reclaimed their properties or sold such after the war. Yet, today as can be gleaned from the Message Boards of several web sites, you will find Igbo people who wish the Atlantic Ocean to claim the land of the minorities so they would be forced to seek shelter in Igbo land. You will find Igbo people who plan to march into the Delta and drive the inhabitants to the sea because they believe we will not fight for our land. if they succeeded to push us into the ocean, we would become Mammywaters.

"unquote "

More
http://messageboard.biafranigeriaworld.com/ultimatebb.cgi/ubb/get_topic/f/1/t/000028/p/2.html

It was Lies like this that made people like us take up the pan-Igbo cause on nairaland. Lies like this is what fires the pro Biafran cause among post civil war Igbo youths. And debunking lies as this will be the major source of inspiration for a realization of a new Igbo republic - a republic exclusively for only Igbo speaking peoples. Your likes can as well join the southern Cameroonians or form a union with the Ijaws and other minorities. But it is important to warn: that no part of Igboland (in the south-south) will ever be ceeded to your Niger-Delta republic, not even Ikwerreland. You can take my word for it.

Chiwude:
: that no part of Igboland in your political South-south will ever be ceeded to your Niger-Delta republic, not even Ikwerreland. You can take my word for it.

And how do you intend to do that, by forcing them out of their land? Are we not saying the same thing?

"As to the people. The country is occupied by two
tribes, the Isokos and the
Erakwa. The Erakwa are but small in number,
probably not more than two
thousand; they occupy a few villages near Patani;
there are also a few of them
living at Abo. Although they have a language of
their own, for practical
purposes they may be reckoned as Isokos, as they
are of the same racial
stock.
Their neighbours on the north and east are the
Abos; on the west the Sobos;
and the south the Western (or Patani) Ijaws. The
Abos, who take their name
from their chief town, Abo, and are ruled by the Obi
(i.e. "King" wink of Abo,
are a branch of the Ibo nation, and speak a dialect
of Ibo. Unlike other Ibos,
they are at home on the water, and can handle
canoes pretty well, better
perhaps than the Isokos can; they like, whenever
possible, to have their
villages on the water-side. They have a number of
villages in the isoko Country,
e.g. Ase, Ibredini, Adiawali, Umoru, Onia; all of
which are bilingual, isoko
and Abo. Abos are friendly with, but slightly
contemptuous of, the Isokos,
whom they regard as ignorant but harmless
savages.
The attitude of the Ijaws to the Isokos is very
different; a feeling of intense
hatred exists between the two tribes, and there is
sure to be friction whenever
they come into contact. The Ijaws never refer to
Isokos (or Erakwa) as such,
but always call them igabo, as do the Abos also;
similarly the Isokos refer to
Ijaws as Ahworia. Both of these are epithets
meaning savage, cannibal, or
bushman.

The Ijaws are a water-loving people,
inhabiting the lower parts of
the delta, and are far more at home in a canoe
than they are on land.
The Isokos and Erakwa are related to the Sobos
and Binis; all four may be
regarded as branches of the Edo (or Benin) nation.
The Isokos claim to have
"come from Benin," and undoubtedly at one time
were directly ruled by the
Obba (or "King" wink of Benin. It is as well to remark
that too much importance
must not be attached to this claim to have "come
from Benin," seeing that the
Isokos' ancient enemies, the Patani Ijaws, also
make a similar claim.
Until about fifteen years ago the Isokos had been
almost untouched by
European influence, unlike Ijaws, Abos, and Sobos.
Previously anything that
had been known about them were reports and
rumours spread by the hostile
Ijaws or contemptuous Abos; so we always find
them called Igabos.
For instance, in 'Up the Niger,' narrative of Major
Claude MacDonald's
mission to the Niger and Benue rivers, which left
England in June 1889, there
is the following notice: "Descending the river (i.e.
the Warri or Forcados
River) at a rapid rate for 10 miles or so, we came
to the mouth of the Ase river,
which flows in from the north. A short distance up
this tributary lies the
trading station of Ase. The inhabitants of the
country belong to the Patani
tribe, a people chiefly remarkable for their
treachery, lawlessness, and love of
plunder." (A good description of the Patani Ijaws,
but not of the Ase people,
who are perfectly respectable Abos!)
Also: "The Ijaw language is said to be peculiar in
that it is closely connected
with that of the Sobos" (this is incorrect). "About
the Agabos little is known
at present. They are not a large tribe, but occupy
several villages on both
banks of the Wari River" (now known as the
Forcados).

Pazienza, nice excerpt you got there. Can I have the link to the full article?

You can make comments now.

"They speak a
distinct language, and appear to be industrious
agriculturalists and oil producers."
Again, Major A. G. Leonard, in 'The Lower Niger
and its Tribes,' pub?
lished 1906: "To the north of the Jekri are the
Sobo, and to the eastward are the
igabo?shy and timid, no doubt, but treacherous and
rude." (That sounds as
though the Major got his information from an
Ijaw.) He also notes that their
language is akin to Sobo and descended from Bini;
and that it is different from
Ijaw.
The Isokos, like the Ibos, Ijaws, and Edos, are a
Sudanese (not Bantu)
people. Their original home was much farther
north, in the Sudan. Presumably,
at the time of Arab expansion some centuries ago,
these Sudanese
tribes were driven by the Arabs from their homes
southward into the Equatorial
Forest region. Arrived there, the strongest tribes
seized the best
country, and the weaker ones had to be content
with what was left. "
- "The isoko Country, Southern Nigeria"
Author(s): John W. Hubbard
Source: The Geographical Journal, Vol. 77, No. 2
(Feb., 1931), pp. 110-120
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1784387?seq=7 (If you
have access to jstor)

bigfrancis21:
Pazienza, nice excerpt you got there. Can I have the link to the full article?

You can make comments now.

Thanks. spam bot caught me. Not having an alternate moniker meant that I had to serve my time until it frees me.

www.nairaland.com/658043/origin-igbo-town-names/3#8366554


I got that long post from an excerpt once posted on this forum by one of NL erudite posters, the one and only PhysicsQED. *cool*

From that post, we can see that Isoko(Igabo) had always been distinct from Urhrobo(Sobo), even the early colonial masters recognized the two groups as distinct but closely related. But could only identify Abo(Ukwuani) as a riverine Igbo group.


People should stop comparing the Isoko and urhobo situation with the Igbo and the new Igboids situation.

While the the Isoko-Urhobo distinction pre dates the formation of Nigeria, the Igbo-Igboid( Ikwerre,Ukwuani,Etche,Ika,Ogba) distinction is post 1970.

pazienza:


Thanks. spam bot caught me. Not having an alternate moniker meant that I had to serve my time until it frees me.

Luckily, I freed you.

Always feel free to reach out each time the bot gets you.

All these denials and disassociation because Igbos lost a military and political war in Nigeria.

As with life, things are cyclical and dynamic. My hope is for Igboland to reclaim her lost glory when the sh*thole called Nigeria disintegrates...perhaps the Black man would have something to be proud of for once in many centuries.

Will the proverbial cast-away stone become the corner stone when that happens?