The Dearth of Urhobo and Other Niger Deltan Languages

By Mathias Orhero

It's a pity that I have to code-mix English, Pidgin and my native Urhobo language as well as code-switch between them in any lengthy conversation with a kinsman. I am a product of the "wasted" generation, and my case is far better than what obtains for 90% of my peers. One of the things that I admire about Igbos, Yorubas and Hausas is their commitment to speaking their mother tongue. Sadly, for those of us in the Niger Delta, multi-ethnicity is our undoing. We have developed a very negative attitude towards our native Urhobo, Itsekiri, Ijaw, Isoko, Okpe (Urhobo dialect), Uvwie (Urhobo dialect), Bini, Esan, etc. We prefer to converse in Pidgin, which most of us have adopted as our first language. Some would rather speak English when they encounter people of their ethnic extraction instead of conversing in Urhobo for fear of being perceived as local.

Typical Urhobo interlocutors begin conversations with "Guy, how far na?" instead of "Oshare, mavor?". When the latter is said, they will call you an "Ogburhobo". This negative attitude is killing our language. The linguist, Macaulay Mowarin, has predicted the dearth of Urhobo language. Already, Okpe and Uvwie have less than a thousand speakers. Urhobo is in free fall and in about 30 years times, native speakers will be too insignificant for Urhobo to be called an ethnic group. Urhobos pride themselves as the 5th largest ethnic group in Nigeria. The irony is that only a little above 50% of Urhobos can speak the language fluently. Same goes for Isoko, our sister language.

One of the primary sources of this trend is that the colonial masters wanted to anglicise all of us. They knew our languages were diverse and unintelligible to them and one another. They reckoned that if they anglicised us, we would all merge into one people. However good their plans were, it was to our detriment. The Nigerian Pidgin evolved and filled the void between English and our native languages, and the Europeans hailed and encouraged it. The people of the Niger Delta took English a little bit too far when we began to see those who speak English as successful people. We associated aristocracy with the English language, and our native languages started dying...

Today, I am a product of the culminating effects of the preceding. However, I have been able to remedy my situation before it snowballed into a personal disaster and an existential crisis. Others still have the negative attitude and will prefer to learn Spanish, French, German, and worse, Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa. Many of the "wasted generation" individuals grew up in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and other cities in Nigeria, as well as other countries, and instead of showing interest in and learning their mother tongue, they'll actively learn the language of others who WILL NOT even acknowledge their language. I often encounter individuals of the two Nigerian largest tribes who believe all Niger Deltans are Igbos. They don't even recognise that most of these tribes are not linguistically similar to Igbo! Even with their bad attitude towards the minority languages, you still find the brainwashed individuals of the lost generation learning the languages of the big three and developing positive attitudes towards them while the negative attitude towards their mother tongue persists. It is not bad to be a polyglot or to speak many languages. However, charity must begin at home. I cannot learn Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba unless I have thoroughly mastered Urhobo. We must learn to put ours first. This microcosmic issue is what influences the "Cain-Abel" effect. This effect manifests when Nigerians believe anything Nigerian is bad and fake and everything European is perfect and right. We betray ourselves to keep capitalist societies that don't add to our economy running.

Having observed the trend, I decided to devote my scholarship to the documentation of Urhobo language, literature and culture. I may not be able to do much in changing our negative attitudes towards our native languages, but I'll be able to preserve our cherished language and culture, in case we snowball into extinction. God forbids it ever gets to that point!

Mathias Orhero writes from Okpara-Inland, Nigeria. He is a literary scholar and writer. Reach him on literarymathy[at]gmail.com.

Am happy to still read the great minds like this, may the God bless the gods of land to bless literary mind.

portside:
Am happy to still read the great minds like this, may the God bless the gods of land to bless literary mind.

Thank you for the commendation. May God bless you too.

Why did you write "and worse, Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa"? Because learning other Nigerian languages is so much more terrible than mastering Spanish and German?

AjaanaOka:
Why did you write "and worse, Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa"? Because learning other Nigerian languages is so much more terrible than mastering Spanish and German?

I have no ill thoughts about and towards any of the languages mentioned. You must have read why I used that term "worse" in the following sentences.

Tribalists should stay off this post. I won't answer you if your aim is to derail.

.

I often encounter individuals of the two Nigerian largest tribes who believe all Niger Deltans are Igbos. They don't even recognise that most of these tribes have NOTHING to do with Igbo!

The only Niger Delta group that has nothing to do with Ndiigbo is Itsekiri.

It's okay to say that all Niger Deltans are not Igbos, that I agree 100% with. But you start stretching it when you say that MOST of Niger Delta tribes has nothing to do with Ndiigbo.

Infact, the only thing that Unites all Niger Delta tribes culturally, excluding Itsekiri is Shared history with Igbo speaking neighbors.

Urhobo/ Isoko has some towns with Igbo ancestry and still share boundary and cultures with the Igbo speaking Ukwuani even unto today.

Some Esan towns were founded by Igbo speaking people, like wise some Esan people who were absorbed into Igbo speaking Anioma today. As we speak, Ekpon, an Esan town in Edo is losing her Edoid language in favour of an Igboid( Ika) one. And we all know of the Existence of Igbo( Ika) speaking Igbanke people right in Edo state, and the Edo origin stories of many Igbo towns today in Anioma, Anambra, Rivers, and even some Enugu towns.

Ogoni people share a long history with Ndoki Igbo, just as a significant section of Okrika people are said to have originated in Ndoki. Ndoki also has ancestral connection with the Ibani people in Bonny and Opobo as well as with Ibibios.

Ngwa Igbo and Ikwuano Igbos share alot with the Annang people, their interactions was pre colonial as neighbors with Inter marriage and trading as well as diffusion of cultures both ways, like the Ekpo society.

The Aro Igbo people were traversing the entire Ibibio- Efik-Ekoi area,breaking cultural barriers by development of unified cultural ideologies like the Ekpe cult system and the Nsibidi writing system, centuries before the white man created Nigeria and the Urhobo man became aware that there was ever a people called Ibibio- Efik-Ekoi people.
And these people remain neighbors to Aros and to Ehugbo Igbos and Ikwo Igbos even till today.

I can go on and on.

But I'm sure you already get the point.

Igboid:
I often encounter individuals of the two Nigerian largest tribes who believe all Niger Deltans are Igbos. They don't even recognise that most of these tribes have NOTHING to do with Igbo!

The only Niger Delta group that has nothing to do with Ndiigbo is Itsekiri.

It's okay to say that all Niger Deltans are not Igbos, that I agree 100% with. But you start stretching it when you say that MOST of Niger Delta tribes has nothing to do with Ndiigbo.

Infact, the only thing that Unites all Niger Delta tribes culturally, excluding Itsekiri is Shared history with Igbo speaking neighbors.

Urhobo/ Isoko has some towns with Igbo ancestry and still share boundary and cultures with the Igbo speaking Ukwuani even unto today.

Some Esan towns were founded by Igbo speaking people, like wise some Esan people who were absorbed into Igbo speaking Anioma today. As we speak, Ekpon, an Esan town in Edo is losing her Edoid language in favour of an Igboid( Ika) one. And we all know of the Existence of Igbo( Ika) speaking Igbanke people right in Edo state, and the Edo origin stories of many Igbo towns today in Anioma, Anambra, Rivers, and even some Enugu towns.

Ogoni people share a long history with Ndoki Igbo, just as a significant section of Okrika people are said to have originated in Ndoki. Ndoki also has ancestral connection with the Ibani people in Bonny and Opobo as well as with Ibibios.

Ngwa Igbo and Ikwuano Igbos share alot with the Annang people, their interactions was pre colonial as neighbors with Inter marriage and trading as well as diffusion of cultures both ways, like the Ekpo society.

The Aro Igbo people were traversing the entire Ibibio- Efik-Ekoi area,breaking cultural barriers by development of unified cultural ideologies like the Ekpe cult system and the Nsibidi writing system, centuries before the white man created Nigeria and the Urhobo man became aware that there was ever a people called Ibibio- Efik-Ekoi people.
And these people remain neighbors to Aros and to Ehugbo Igbos and Ikwo Igbos even till today.

I can go on and on.

But I'm sure you already get the point.

If you say so...

The aim of this post is not in tandem with your assertions so I won't engage in a futile banter with you.

edo state is even worse....i remember bini chiefs lamenting the xtinction of bini languages

Igboid:
I often encounter individuals of the two Nigerian largest tribes who believe all Niger Deltans are Igbos. They don't even recognise that most of these tribes have NOTHING to do with Igbo!

The only Niger Delta group that has nothing to do with Ndiigbo is Itsekiri.

It's okay to say that all Niger Deltans are not Igbos, that I agree 100% with. But you start stretching it when you say that MOST of Niger Delta tribes has nothing to do with Ndiigbo.

Infact, the only thing that Unites all Niger Delta tribes culturally, excluding Itsekiri is Shared history with Igbo speaking neighbors.

Urhobo/ Isoko has some towns with Igbo ancestry and still share boundary and cultures with the Igbo speaking Ukwuani even unto today.

Some Esan towns were founded by Igbo speaking people, like wise some Esan people who were absorbed into Igbo speaking Anioma today. As we speak, Ekpon, an Esan town in Edo is losing her Edoid language in favour of an Igboid( Ika) one. And we all know of the Existence of Igbo( Ika) speaking Igbanke people right in Edo state, and the Edo origin stories of many Igbo towns today in Anioma, Anambra, Rivers, and even some Enugu towns.

Ogoni people share a long history with Ndoki Igbo, just as a significant section of Okrika people are said to have originated in Ndoki. Ndoki also has ancestral connection with the Ibani people in Bonny and Opobo as well as with Ibibios.

Ngwa Igbo and Ikwuano Igbos share alot with the Annang people, their interactions was pre colonial as neighbors with Inter marriage and trading as well as diffusion of cultures both ways, like the Ekpo society.

The Aro Igbo people were traversing the entire Ibibio- Efik-Ekoi area,breaking cultural barriers by development of unified cultural ideologies like the Ekpe cult system and the Nsibidi writing system, centuries before the white man created Nigeria and the Urhobo man became aware that there was ever a people called Ibibio- Efik-Ekoi people.
And these people remain neighbors to Aros and to Ehugbo Igbos and Ikwo Igbos even till today.

I can go on and on.

But I'm sure you already get the point.

my guy,stop trying to associate ibos with south south....so,u mean all s/south tribes are ibos except itsekiri??...ui are overly delusional.
The illushi/ozigono of esan south west/ esan tribe are typical esans dat trades with ibos and igalas.this is because they share boundaries with anambra and kogi....as a result,most of dem speak ibo,igala and esan....stop claiming edo state...even delta ibos and edo ibos dont like being calledd ibos

Lovely.... Good write up.

Lol, OP deal with it. I need a language that I can speak and understand when I enter Delta, Cross River, Edo, Akwa ibom , etc. Which one should I pick out of all the languages spoken in these states? PIDGIN wins

Imagine someone above saying Akwa ibom and Cross River have Igbo affiliation. I don't know why you guys are so insecure, it seems your five States are not okay for you hence you want to encroach, it will never happen.

Quite an educative piece. But I'm taken aback with the claim that Uvwie and Okpe have less than a thousand speaker, is this not an exaggeration stretched too far?

Igboid:
I often encounter individuals of the two Nigerian largest tribes who believe all Niger Deltans are Igbos. They don't even recognise that most of these tribes have NOTHING to do with Igbo!

The only Niger Delta group that has nothing to do with Ndiigbo is Itsekiri.

It's okay to say that all Niger Deltans are not Igbos, that I agree 100% with. But you start stretching it when you say that MOST of Niger Delta tribes has nothing to do with Ndiigbo.

Infact, the only thing that Unites all Niger Delta tribes culturally, excluding Itsekiri is Shared history with Igbo speaking neighbors.

Urhobo/ Isoko has some towns with Igbo ancestry and still share boundary and cultures with the Igbo speaking Ukwuani even unto today.

Some Esan towns were founded by Igbo speaking people, like wise some Esan people who were absorbed into Igbo speaking Anioma today. As we speak, Ekpon, an Esan town in Edo is losing her Edoid language in favour of an Igboid( Ika) one. And we all know of the Existence of Igbo( Ika) speaking Igbanke people right in Edo state, and the Edo origin stories of many Igbo towns today in Anioma, Anambra, Rivers, and even some Enugu towns.

Ogoni people share a long history with Ndoki Igbo, just as a significant section of Okrika people are said to have originated in Ndoki. Ndoki also has ancestral connection with the Ibani people in Bonny and Opobo as well as with Ibibios.

Ngwa Igbo and Ikwuano Igbos share alot with the Annang people, their interactions was pre colonial as neighbors with Inter marriage and trading as well as diffusion of cultures both ways, like the Ekpo society.

The Aro Igbo people were traversing the entire Ibibio- Efik-Ekoi area,breaking cultural barriers by development of unified cultural ideologies like the Ekpe cult system and the Nsibidi writing system, centuries before the white man created Nigeria and the Urhobo man became aware that there was ever a people called Ibibio- Efik-Ekoi people.
And these people remain neighbors to Aros and to Ehugbo Igbos and Ikwo Igbos even till today.

I can go on and on.

But I'm sure you already get the point.

Am isoko n have nothing to do with Igbo. Thank you

LKO:
Quite an educative piece. But I'm taken aback with the claim that Uvwie and Okpe have less than a thousand speaker, is this not an exaggeration stretched too far?

Many of the Okpe and Uvwie people speak Urhobo as first language. Others speak Pidgin and English. Most are bilinguals. The few who speak Okpe and Uvwie represent the older generation of people and trust me when I say my statement is not far from the truth.

Very true OP I quarrelled with mumcy the other day when she was speaking native lingua and expecting me to understand

Azzin even parents don't speak language to the kids and worst thing is Edoid languages like ours are VERY difficult to learn if not taught early on due to high stress factor.

@nysc camp ALL of us edo peeps living in the west were even conversing in yoruba atimes...imagine!

@ my former office I also noticed it, all we know Is 'basic' greetings. Nothing more so how are we edos? Urhobos? Isokos? Itsekiris? Since gone are the days of 'tribal marks'

If we don't find a solution larger tribes will swallow us.

true

I agree with the OP. I remember my colleagues and friends asking me for the name of my son at his birth. After giving them an edo name, they complained it was too difficult to pronounce and should tell them his English name instead. Hell no! I told them blatantly, I learnt to call the Olayinkas, Onyedikachis e.t.c of this office by their tribal names learn to call mine same way or forget it.

If for any reason I will support the disintegration of Nigeria, it will be for each tribe to have the privilege of preventing their language and culture from extinction

Kindly tell me the urhobo towns with igbo ancestry. Isoko have a few town with igbo ancestry but most of them are from benin and urhobo, but urhobos migrated from benin. I can tell you the entire urhobo history. Leave urhobo out of your biafra.

Igboid:
I often encounter individuals of the two Nigerian largest tribes who believe all Niger Deltans are Igbos. They don't even recognise that most of these tribes have NOTHING to do with Igbo!

The only Niger Delta group that has nothing to do with Ndiigbo is Itsekiri.

It's okay to say that all Niger Deltans are not Igbos, that I agree 100% with. But you start stretching it when you say that MOST of Niger Delta tribes has nothing to do with Ndiigbo.

Infact, the only thing that Unites all Niger Delta tribes culturally, excluding Itsekiri is Shared history with Igbo speaking neighbors.

Urhobo/ Isoko has some towns with Igbo ancestry and still share boundary and cultures with the Igbo speaking Ukwuani even unto today.

Some Esan towns were founded by Igbo speaking people, like wise some Esan people who were absorbed into Igbo speaking Anioma today. As we speak, Ekpon, an Esan town in Edo is losing her Edoid language in favour of an Igboid( Ika) one. And we all know of the Existence of Igbo( Ika) speaking Igbanke people right in Edo state, and the Edo origin stories of many Igbo towns today in Anioma, Anambra, Rivers, and even some Enugu towns.

Ogoni people share a long history with Ndoki Igbo, just as a significant section of Okrika people are said to have originated in Ndoki. Ndoki also has ancestral connection with the Ibani people in Bonny and Opobo as well as with Ibibios.

Ngwa Igbo and Ikwuano Igbos share alot with the Annang people, their interactions was pre colonial as neighbors with Inter marriage and trading as well as diffusion of cultures both ways, like the Ekpo society.

The Aro Igbo people were traversing the entire Ibibio- Efik-Ekoi area,breaking cultural barriers by development of unified cultural ideologies like the Ekpe cult system and the Nsibidi writing system, centuries before the white man created Nigeria and the Urhobo man became aware that there was ever a people called Ibibio- Efik-Ekoi people.
And these people remain neighbors to Aros and to Ehugbo Igbos and Ikwo Igbos even till today.

I can go on and on.

But I'm sure you already get the point.

LorDBolton:
Very true OP I quarrelled with mumcy the other day when she was speaking native lingua and expecting me to understand

Azzin even parents don't speak language to the kids and worst thing is Edoid languages like ours are VERY difficult to learn if not taught early on due to high stress factor.

@nysc camp ALL of us edo peeps living in the west were even conversing in yoruba atimes...imagine!

@ my former office I also noticed it, all we know Is 'basic' greetings. Nothing more so how are we edos? Urhobos? Isokos? Itsekiris? Since gone are the days of 'tribal marks'

If we don't find a solution larger tribes will swallow us.

God forbids it ever gets to that point. As it is now, many people see all of us as Igbos. Even Igbos try to annex us forcefully.

We need to assert ourselves and its not only by mouth but by actions.

Thank God for Sir Anthony Ukere who has launched an Urhobo Language Institute in Abraka. The sad thing is that "lost" students schooling in Abraka don't patronise that Institute so that they can learn their native language. It's such a shame...

fratermathy:
Tribalists should stay off this post. I won't answer you if your aim is to derail.

Fratermathy let's talk about the Orogun people. I just want to know, a friend from that town claims they are not Urhobos neither are they Ukwuani. They speak my language Ukwuani, and whenever I say they speak Ukwuani she says the language is Orogun. Meaning the people of Orogun speak 'Orogun'. U seem to know a lot, what tribal group do the Orogun people fall under?

Bro i like this article though am a Yoruba guy residing in Eku Delta State,

[b] The truth is that this is happening because urhobo is regarded as an inferior language by even urhobo themselves. That is why the greatest urhobo man and one of our founding fathers cheif okotie eboh went and denounced his race then applied to become and itshekiri man...ceremonies where done accepting him into the itsekiri fold and he forever dissociated himself from the lowly urhobos even though they have the highest population in delta state.
Urhobos are mostly regarded as poorly educated and local thinking savages and have been dominated historically by the itshekiris and ijaws.They possess no oil and are not good farmer and historically serve the superior itshekiris and during the biafran wars supported the nigerian side leading to the masscre of their compatriots who are the delta igbos. It is a thing of pride for an urhobo man to be mixed by blood to itshekiri or better still igbos or yorubas and they are so ashamed of their heritage if not untill recently that their nollywood guys have started embracing it.
They are the abokis of the nija delta and would remain so for a very long time or they should just allow themselves to be assimilated by the larger or more prestigious language groups like igbos or itshekiris


[/b]

Pidggin:
Lol, OP deal with it. I need a language that I can speak and understand when I enter Delta, Cross River, Edo, Akwa ibom , etc. Which one should I pick out of all the languages spoken in these states? PIDGIN wins

Imagine someone above saying Akwa ibom and Cross River have Igbo affiliation. I don't know why you guys are so insecure, it seems your five States are not okay for you hence you want to encroach, it will never happen.

Pidgin is good but it should be used for inter-ethnic communication and not intra-ethnic communications. We need to draw a line... Pidgin is not my language. URHOBO IS MY LANGUAGE; NOT YORUBA, IGBO OR HAUSA.

Truth be told, this thread no consign me.

fratermathy:


Pidgin is good but it should be used for inter-ethnic communication and not intra-ethnic communications. We need to draw a line... Pidgin is not my language. URHOBO IS MY LANGUAGE; NOT YORUBA, IGBO OR HAUSA.

..

My brother, I understand but that one no concern me. For my state e bi like say tower of babel fall for there so Pidgin dey help inter and intra, enjoy your own language as for me nothing do Pidgin for my area, take care

Igboid:
I often encounter individuals of the two Nigerian largest tribes who believe all Niger Deltans are Igbos. They don't even recognise that most of these tribes have NOTHING to do with Igbo!

The only Niger Delta group that has nothing to do with Ndiigbo is Itsekiri.

It's okay to say that all Niger Deltans are not Igbos, that I agree 100% with. But you start stretching it when you say that MOST of Niger Delta tribes has nothing to do with Ndiigbo.

Infact, the only thing that Unites all Niger Delta tribes culturally, excluding Itsekiri is Shared history with Igbo speaking neighbors.

Urhobo/ Isoko has some towns with Igbo ancestry and still share boundary and cultures with the Igbo speaking Ukwuani even unto today.

Some Esan towns were founded by Igbo speaking people, like wise some Esan people who were absorbed into Igbo speaking Anioma today. As we speak, Ekpon, an Esan town in Edo is losing her Edoid language in favour of an Igboid( Ika) one. And we all know of the Existence of Igbo( Ika) speaking Igbanke people right in Edo state, and the Edo origin stories of many Igbo towns today in Anioma, Anambra, Rivers, and even some Enugu towns.

Ogoni people share a long history with Ndoki Igbo, just as a significant section of Okrika people are said to have originated in Ndoki. Ndoki also has ancestral connection with the Ibani people in Bonny and Opobo as well as with Ibibios.

Ngwa Igbo and Ikwuano Igbos share alot with the Annang people, their interactions was pre colonial as neighbors with Inter marriage and trading as well as diffusion of cultures both ways, like the Ekpo society.

The Aro Igbo people were traversing the entire Ibibio- Efik-Ekoi area,breaking cultural barriers by development of unified cultural ideologies like the Ekpe cult system and the Nsibidi writing system, centuries before the white man created Nigeria and the Urhobo man became aware that there was ever a people called Ibibio- Efik-Ekoi people.
And these people remain neighbors to Aros and to Ehugbo Igbos and Ikwo Igbos even till today.

I can go on and on.

But I'm sure you already get the point.

Smh. See delusion? Igbos that do not even know their history telling us OUR own history? If not cos it's 2016 you will even claim igbos 'own' lagos that many of your ancestors settled here. Mtcheeew

The fact u cannot distinguish between a settlement and owners of a land shows you even a kid who wasn't well groomed.

Even the obi of onithsa cannot open his mouth to say this crap... only GOD can punish the white men who came and released you guys from the captivity oyo, benin and other hausa kingdoms have subjected ya'll to.

Core igbos are black... go and find out the history of the fair skinned ones (they started popping up when the whites came guess u already know y)