Blizzy9ja:
I think you should worry more about the dwindling economy of ur region and the fact the ur governors can't pay 18k to workers again...

ukeleh:
My igbo friends what is the literary meaning of biafra

Blizzy9ja:
I think you should worry more about the dwindling economy of ur region and the fact the ur governors can't pay 18k to workers again...

ukeleh:
My igbo friends what is the literary meaning of biafra

keally:
. Can you please mention any of the South Eastern governors that has complained about the 18k

Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has said that his administration needs more than N32. 2 billion to off-set the arrears of workers’ salaries, gratuities, pensions and subventions.

“The government applied for N39 billion but was given N14.152 billion because the governor even wanted to clear the gratuities but we have a constraint. What the governor may not be able to handle is gratuity. We are praying for more bailout.

keally:
. Can you please mention any of the South Eastern governors that has complained about the 18k

chat2deen:
Biya-fura= come- fura! Shikenan. Biya na come and fura na fura.

Ugwuoke347:
It is actually Biafuruha, meaning "come and see them" . Who? The early Portuguese explorers! When they arrived the eastern coast, the Eboes were awed by the sight of the white men and were calling on their brothers to come and see the white visitors: bia furu ha, bia furu ha. And so the Portuguese named these coastal areas Biafara, and later Biafra. They thought the people were calling the name of the land.

Today, we should hold that Biafra stands for "Biafuruya". Biafuru gini? Bia furu ebube nke Chineke! COME AND SEE THE GLORY OF GOD.

ukeleh:
My igbo friends what is the literary meaning of biafra

Ugwuoke347:
It is actually Biafuruha, meaning "come and see them" . Who? The early Portuguese explorers! When they arrived the eastern coast, the Eboes were awed by the sight of the white men and were calling on their brothers to come and see the white visitors: bia furu ha, bia furu ha. And so the Portuguese named these coastal areas Biafara, and later Biafra. They thought the people were calling the name of the land.

Today, we should hold that Biafra stands for "Biafuruya". Biafuru gini? Bia furu ebube nke Chineke! COME AND SEE THE GLORY OF GOD.

ukeleh:
My igbo friends what is the literary meaning of biafra

JohnNgene:


Hmmm... This makes sense. If many Igbo people repeatedly and excitedly shout "Bia fu ha! Bia fu ha! Bia fu ha! Bia fu ha!" ("Come and see them! Come and see them! Come and see them! Come and see them!", it would sound like "Biafra! Biafra! Biafra! Biafra!" to a foreigner who has never heard Igbo before.

I'd love more debate on this though.

Icon4s:


The name Biafra was coined from "the bight of Biafra" which is a section of the Gulf of Guinea. The bight of Biafra covers the offshore areas of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Cameroun, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. The is where over 90% of Nigeria's offshore Oil reserves are situated.

It is not an Igbo word.

Ozouno1:


He is correct. It is not correct Igbo grammar or an Igbo word. In fact the Bight of Biafra was named after a tribe called Biafara, Biafada, Biafra. They still exist in the region today.

I think the lack of confronting and discussing this word and history is holding back Igbo independence movements. The name of a people is supposed to be sacred and tie into their tradition and culture and history. Biafra is actually Biafara the name of a coastal tribe and has nothing to do with us or Omenala (tradition and customs) or Asusu Igbo.

Serious discussion on this issue would help. Also there is a translation of human rights where it says every mba (nationality) has the right to self government. So in theory every Igbo autonomous Igbo village can declare itself an mba. Alternatively they can form an ögbakö or amakö (confederation/league) of multiple Igbo MBA (nationality). Then they will be able to be recognized as a separate mba from Nigeria and be recognized by the other nations of the world and handle business accordingly.

I am reading the universal human Rights declaration document.
In reality a lot of autonomous Igbo traditional communities are eligible to be recognized as MBA separate from Nigeria. But we have to organize and leave the name Biafra behind which isn't Igbo anyways.

omaar12:
While my knowledge may be limited on other things stated above, I can't help but disagree on your assertion that there is/was ever a tribe call Biafra or biafara, I did a little research on both and it both met a dead end.
Aside from biafada, a little tribe in far away Guinea Bissau, well all know that Guinea Bissau can not be found on the bight of Biafra so that is another dead end.
But I agree with you, the biafran name should be dropped and something indigenous should be adopted, if the country is going to be multi ethnic they all ethnic groups should put heads together and provide a suitable name for the said republic.
I believe the name Biafra was adopted because no other country or nation adopted it despite it fame, just like the bight of Benin which has been adopted by the republic of Benin.

JohnNgene:
I asked for a debate and I'm currently loving the mature argument going on now. Please let's continue before this topic gets to the front page and becomes crowded by children. Lol.

Yes, I agree that a more Igbo name should be chosen to represent our Igbo nation. I've always thought that that name Biafra doesn't exactly suit us. I suspect that Ojukwu and others chose that name to lay claim to an already existing international name and thus make it easier to be recognised. Furthermore, it might have been chosen to appeal to the non-Igbo constituent-nations of Biafra at the time because an Igbo name would most likely have made them afraid of Igbo domination in the new nation.

Why don't we take this topic further by suggesting a better Igbo name for our dear Igbo nation? What about a name like "Igboland" in the fashion of nations like Swaziland, Switzerland, Scotland, Poland etc?

Ozouno1:


There is a saying "Igbo enwe Eze" (Igbo have no king ", in other words all Igbo nations were not united under one king or as one nation. Best way to gain independence is individual Igbo MBA to be politically educated on human rights to be recognized as a separate nationality. Then naturally they will come together and name themselves as a union, similar to united states. It's likely all Igbo land won't join such a union at once so I rather not speculate on a name just yet. Rather we should be emphasizing the process of unionizing asnationalnationderder the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is much more difficult. The fact that autonomous Igbo mba and leaders haven't been informed of their human Rights to declare themselves a nation in 2017, the age of information shows a shocking level of incompetence or even worse an agenda that seeks to marginalize traditional leadership and keep them ignorant of their human Rights. Today in the news, Kanu not so subtly insulted indigenous traditional religion and leadership by saying "idolatry" is preventing independence. I'm deeply troubled by these attacks on Igbo tradition and wish they would be taken seriously.

Blizzy9ja:
I think you should worry more about the dwindling economy of ur region and the fact the ur governors can't pay 18k to workers again...

james078:

i heard the meaning is come and join (bia) (fra)

ukeleh:
My igbo friends what is the literary meaning of biafra

JohnNgene:


Hmmm... This makes sense. If many Igbo people repeatedly and excitedly shout "Bia fu ha! Bia fu ha! Bia fu ha! Bia fu ha!" ("Come and see them! Come and see them! Come and see them! Come and see them!", it would sound like "Biafra! Biafra! Biafra! Biafra!" to a foreigner who has never heard Igbo before.

I'd love more debate on this though.

akulaxx:

biafra is izon not igbo