{"id":492,"date":"2023-01-16T16:23:14","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T16:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/china.chinaacheru.com\/wp\/the-ikwerre-man\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T09:02:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T09:02:43","slug":"the-ikwerre-man","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/chinaacheru.com\/staging\/the-ikwerre-man\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ikwerre Man"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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Who is the Ikwerreman?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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\nWritten by T O N Y\u00a0\u00a0 E N Y I A,\u00a0 PhD, MNIM \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0
\u200bChambers Dictionary (William Geddie, ed. 1962) says: \u201cA nation is a body of people marked off by common descent, language, culture, or historical tradition: the people of a tribe.\u201d
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However, S.O.L. Amadi-Nna (1993) avers that: \u201cA tribe is a group of clans under recognized chiefs and usually claiming common ancestry. Ikwerre can therefore not be a clan but a tribe. The Ikwerres claim a common ancestor. Ikwerre is an independent small tribe.\u201d In the words of K.O. Amadi (1993), \u201cTraditions suggest that Ikwerre is a nickname given to Iwhnuru\u1ecdhna people\u2026..They have ever since regarded themselves as a distinct group and have happily come a long way in their struggle for self-identity as evidenced by the recognition of their language as one of the Nigerian languages.\u201d
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Amadi-Nna (1993) added that: \u201cThe Ikwerres are a small but distinct tribe. The Ikwerres have distinct linguistic, social and cultural traits and formations that distinguish them from other close neighbouring tribes like the Ijaws and the Ibos. Majority of the Ikwerre settlements have their roots traceable from the old Benin Empire.\u201d
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From Benin to Iwhnurohna<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iwhnur\u1ecdhna people descended from\u00a0 the ancient Bini Kingdom. The name of the grand ancestor is Akalaka. Their relations in Rivers State are Ekpeye and Ogba people.
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The reigning Oba of Benin when Akalaka, the ancestor of Ihru\u1ecdha (later called Iwhnur\u1ecdhna) fled was Oba Ewuare (Ogwaro). Akalaka, a member of the Benin royal family, fled in the 13th century on allegation of plotting assassination of the Oba. He died in 1462. Iwhnur\u1ecdhna his third son settled east of the Sombrero River by 1538 AD, as detailed below.
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Chief N.M.T. Solomon (2004), native of Ikodu Ubie in Ekpeyeland, in his narrative draws heavily from the now authenticated written historical records delivered by various informed sources including \u201cEketu (Weber) of Ubeta, assumed to have lived for over two hundred (200) years as the oldest man in all Ekpeye, Ogba and Iwhnur\u1ecdhna (or Ikwerre), at that time (and) was asked to narrate the history and customs of Ekpeye people\u201d as unfolded in his lifetime.
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Here is what he said, which has been validated by the accounts of the current generation through responses to our questionnaires and direct interviews thereby increasing our level of confidence on the data:
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Ekpeye, born in Benin, was the first of the three sons of Akalaka. While in Ndoni, he married a second wife to gain the love and favour of the people. The new wife gave birth to a son, which he named Ogba. Akalaka was still in Ndoni when his first wife, the mother of Ekpeye, gave birth to his third son called Ihruoha (Ikwerre).
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Similar historical fact by J.N. Olise (1971) averred that: \u201cAkalaka, a member of the Benin royal family, fled with his wife from Benin to Ndoni, a community located close to the River Niger, to save the life of his new born baby (Ekpeye) \u2026 While at Ndoni, Akalaka took a second wife. \u2026 Akalaka had two sons, Ekpeye \u2013 born to him by his Benin wife, and Ogba \u2013 born to him by his Ndoni wife. According to F.E. Otuwarikpo (1994): “After the death of Akalaka in 1462 AD, his two sons, Ekpeye and Ogba had conflict, which compelled Ogba, the younger son, to move northwards where he founded Ohiakwo (Obigwe) and settled with his family. Ekpeye who remained at Ula-Ubie had seven sons \u2013 Ubie, Akoh, Upata, Igbuduya, Ekpe, Awala and Asa. The last three sons \u2013 Ekpe, Awala and Asa \u2013 crossed to the other side of Sombreiro River (present day Ikwerreland and settled there since 1538 AD.\u201d He added that: \u201cEkpe migrated to present day Rumuekpe and spread through Elele (Alimini), Ndele, Rumuji and part of Ibaa. Awala migrated to present day Isiokpo \u2026\u201d
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Amadi-Nna (1993) also said Akalaka migrated with his half brother called Ochichi from the area of Benin Empire. Ochichi sons were Ele (Omerele, now Elele), Elu (Elumuoha, now Omerelu), Egbe (Egbeda) and Mini (Alimini, Isiokpo).
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The crucial point here, which is of great importance in tracing the joint origin of the ancestors of the Old Ahoada Division (in the Governor Diete-Spiff administration), is the mention of the number of children that Akalaka had, namely: Ekpeye, Ogba and Ihru\u1ecdha (Ikwerre). It is noteworthy that the pedigree and name of Ikwerre people, Iwhnur\u1ecdhna, obviously took its root from this original name \u2013 Ihru\u1ecdha. Chief Solomon therefore establishes a very vital historical link, which has been missing in literature on Ikwerre origin that would assume more significance in the discourses of Ikwerre genealogy in the future \u2013 the fact that Akalaka was the direct father of Ihru\u1ecdha (Ikwerre). Iwhnur\u1ecdhna, in Ikwere parlance, means the face of the community (town, city or village).
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Nigerian colonial history records that the name “Ikwerre” was given by the colonial administration when they wanted to acquire the Rebisi waterfront to build the wharf. Using an Ibo interpreter to talk to the illiterate Rebisi (Port Harcourt) chiefs, they asked them: Would you permit us to use the waterfront to build the wharf for ships to berth? And they answered: A KWERULEM, meaning – “We have agreed.” What the white-man was hearing was “Ikwerre,” so he recorded it in the official gazette that the IKWERRE PEOPLE have agreed for the colonial administration to build the wharf. And since it was the official record of government, the name Ikwerre became the name of the Iwhnurohna people in all official documentations till date.
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Similar cases of Anglicization of native names in the Niger Delta region by the colonial administration are Benin for Bini, Okrika for Wakrike, Degema for Udekema, Abonnema for Obonoma, Brass for Gbara sni, Bonny for Ibani, Pepple for Perekule, Ahoada for Ehuda, etc
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Even so, \u201c\u2026 there were dissenting voices, \u2026 who believed that Ikwerre origins lay outside Igbo land, \u2026 in the Benin Kingdom of old. It is, therefore, obvious that the interminable debate about Ikwerre origins and migrations including the repudiation of the Igbo tradition is not a phenomenon of the post-civil war period. The controversy, as it were, is not necessarily the product of the present political realities wherein groups which hitherto were seen to have cultural affinities now find themselves in different states or administrative systems.\u201d\u00a0 — K.O. Amadi (1993)
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The Ogbakor Ikwerre Convention, a cultural organization of Ikwerre people, in a paper presented to the Human Rights Violation Commission headed by Rtd. Justice Chukwudifu Oputa on 10 October 2001, said: \u201cIkwerre ethnic nationality is not and has never been a sub-group of any other tribe in Nigeria including Ndi-Igbo. There is no doubt that the advent of the British and later regionalization put Ndi-Igbo at the helm of affairs in Eastern Nigeria. This brought Ndi-Igbo into Ikwerre land. In course of time, the Igbo took advantage of their position in the then Eastern Regional Government to grab land in Ikwerre and occupy political positions such as the mayor of Port Harcourt. In the process, Ikwerre along with other minority groups were marginalized and driven to the background.\u201d
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Professor Godwin Tasie noted that in 1913 the Rt Rev Herbert Tugwell, the Anglican Bishop on the Niger, undertook an experimentation tour of Ikwerre towns and villages assumed to be Ibo-speaking to test the Union Ibo Bible Nso being introduced in Iboland. “Tugwell discovered from the tests he carried out that although the Ikwerre were often regarded\u00a0 as Ibo\u2026 the Union Ibo Bible translation, surprisingly, was not easily understood by the Ikwere.” This is obviously why Igbo vernacular was compulsorily introduced and taught in all schools in Ikwerreland before the Nigerian Civil War to the assimilation (i.e. destruction) of the Ikwere language.
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\nThis also obviously led to the Rumuomasi Declaration in 1965. ” \u2026 in their meeting at Rumuomasi in 1965 the Ikwerre had, under the umbrella of a highly promising new body that was to get the Ikwerre together as a people of new and clearer vision, they had declared themselves as a people of the distinct identity of Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality – not Ibo, not Ijo, not anything else but Ikwerre, Iwhnur\u1ecdhna. This was the historic Rumuomasi Declaration of 1965 (G.O.M. Tasie, 2000). The full implication is that Ikwere people began to assert themselves forcefully as an ethnic nationality of their own and not Ibos or Ijos, and efforts were made to revert to the original Ikwere names for families, villages, communities and landmarks. For instance, there was the change from Umuola to Rumuola, Umuoro to Rumuoro, Umukrushi to Rumuokwurusi,\u00a0 just to name a few.<\/font><\/p>\n

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MUST I BE IGBO TO BEAR AN IGBO NAME?<\/strong>
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By Emeka Reuben Okala.<\/p>\n

Name:<\/strong>
A name is a set of words by which a person, animal, place or thing is known, addressed, or referred to. – The New Oxford Dictionary of English.
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The language in which a name is given is as immaterial as the concept of the name itself is fundamentally important. A Nigerian could be called by the name John, either in memory or honour of John the Baptist or John the Gospel, or any other John who has existed or is existing and has achieved. In the same vein, people from Africa and other parts of the global divide, but not necessarily from the Jewish state or Britain and America answer such names as; Mary, Thomas, Kenneth, Esther, Martha, Sampson, Samson,
Mark, Matthew, Collins, Wilson, William, Evelyn, Louis, Justin, etc. This is because they appreciate the value of these names as reflected in the lives of those who have previously bore them. I know a Greek whose name is Nnamdi, in honour of the revered first indigenous Governor-General and first President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.
This Greek is the son of late John Mandilas, the erstwhile Chairman of Mandilas Group of Companies.
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Aside from being given after an achiever of foreign descent, a name could also be given in a foreign language, due mainly to the influence of a foreign
language on a local society, thus one can see many Nigerians, especially from the Igbo ethnic nationality and the South-south answering such English names as; Chris, Kenn, Sampson, Valentine, Vincent, Mary, Kate, Evelyn, John, Paul, Peter, Mike, Eric, Margaret, Elizabeth, Glory, Edward, Edmond, Harry, William, Goodleave, Dianna, Dionne, Rita, etc, and some folks from the minority ethnic groups of the Old Eastern Region of Nigeria going by such Igbo names as; Chukwuemeka (I am a good example), Ifeanyichukwu, Uzoma, Chukwuma, Chikaodinaka, Adego, Adanma, Adaku, Adaoma, Azikiwe, Mbadiwe, Iheoma, Ihuoma, etc. Igbo was the second most influential language after English in the entire former Eastern Region of Nigeria. Up until now, the locals in some of the ethnic nationalities in Rivers State use pidgin Igbo
interchangeably with pidgin English to transact businesses across ethnic lines in common market overt, e.g. transactions between the Ikwerre and Kalabari locals in all local market overt in the State are still widely conducted through the use of pidgin Igbo and pidgin English.
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Also one could be fortunate to make a family while sojourning in a foreign land, and as a token of appreciation of the host society in which he\/she is
living, he\/she may give his\/her offspring names in the language of his\/her host country. Thus you find some Nigerians with such Greek names as; Athina, Vangelis, Kosta, Dimitris, Giota, Angeliki, Niki, or a Greek with a Nigerian name like Nnamdi, or a South-southerner with the names like; Ayodele, Omololu, Ade, Kayode or Musa, or a Jamaican with a Greek name Alethia. (Sis. Alethia a 26 year old vibrant young lady of Jamaican parentage in my Church, just passed on on the 22nd of October 2005. May her soul rest in perfect peace). Our own late great Zik had the names of some of his children in Yoruba.
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The point I want to establish here is that in our globalised world of unrestricted interdependence, inter-relationship and networking, any human being could be given a name in any language, based however on the concept of that name. That one’s name is given in a foreign language, does not ipso facto transfer the citizenship of that country or society in whose language the name is given to the bearer of that name.
I’m constrained to place my fingers on the keyboard to produce this piece on this subject-matter because most of all my brothers and sisters of Igbo extraction who have had a need to unreasonably attack the indisputable fact that Ikwerre ethnic nationality is not a part of Igbo, have ludicrously asked me to explain why my name is Chukwuemeka – a name in Igbo language, if I’m not an Igbo. I have tried time without number to explain to them the reason for this.
Yet they annoyingly remain adamant.
Ironically most of those challenging my citizenship of a non-Igbo ethnic nationality based on my name have their own names in English. They are either called Chris, or Ken, Vincent or Tony, Stan or Peter, Franklyne or Ezekiel. Frankly speaking, I can only remember three of them with their names in Igbo language; Chukwuma, Emenike and Nebukadineze (I don’t even know the Igbo meaning of this name). The rest have foreign names. What a contradiction!
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Another paradox is that virtually all of these folks that ask these laughable, idiotic and manifestly unintelligent question arguably belong to the well-read, well-informed and well-exposed class anywhere, anytime. This is where I’m helplessly bewildered.
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If it’s not a crime for an Igbo to go by an English name, if it sounds plausible for a Nigerian to have his\/her name in English, Greek, Russian, Jewish, etc,
if it’s normal for a Greek to answer an Igbo name, if no eyebrow is raised when a South-southerner has his\/her name in Yoruba or Hausa and if it’s not a societal taboo for an Igbo to answer a Yoruba name, why, for goodness sake, does it sound superfluous in the ears of the Igbo folks in these fora that an Ikwerre man has his first name in Igbo language?
Ladies and Gentlemen, must I be Igbo to have my name in Igbo language? Someone please help out!
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Marriage traditions<\/strong>
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Traditional marriages in Ikwerre, as it is with every other ethnic nationality in Nigeria, are events that are highly revered.
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After a man finds a woman who he wants to marry, he would go for a formal introduction, often referred to as the \u201cDoor knocking\u201d.
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He does this by taking few elders of his family to the girl\u2019s family for the \u201cIntroduction\u201d.
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He goes there with a keg of palm wine and dry gin (okanme). This signifies the start of a process which binds the families together by the marital union of their children.
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Like in most traditions, the intending couple must not be sexually active while this process lasts.
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Pre-marital sex is not allowed between intending couples.
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Both are usually kept away from having sex before the marriage. However, it is not clear whether the family of the bride is required to show proof of their daughter\u2019s fidelity on the day of the wedding.
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On the actual traditional wedding day, what the man wears is of a great essence.
The common fashion is that the man will wear a loose end wrapper atop of etibo (flowing shirt) with a hat to match.
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He may decide to wear sandals or hard shoes. In some cases, he may complete the process with a hand staff.
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The girl may wear a wrapper with traditionally designed top. She also wears traditionally made\u00a0\u00a0 beads round her waist and some more round her wrists.
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The details of the conjugal knotting process may not be necessary at this point, but what is most interesting is the fact that the atmosphere at the marriage venue is always electric, as it is spiced up with some traditional displays by the youths of the community.
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Culled from Port Harcourt Microscope<\/strong>
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Traditions of Ikwerre people<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If you are Ikwerre, or know someone that is, then you must have heard this at one point or the other. “Ikwerres are Igbos!” You might have witnessed one argument or fight that stern from this seemingly innocent statement that rub us the wrong way. I narrowly avoided lynching one old woman in Abuja who had the effrontery to tell me I don’t know anything about my roots… I promised myself that I would never argue about this topic with anyone else, but I could not resist my brothers recent post on the issue, I have taken the liberty to publish it here…
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Chuks Eleonu wrote………..
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It appears our Igbo friends and in-laws are doing everything in their capacity to acquire Ikwerre citizenship. After all, what else are they looking to gain in constantly raising an issue that begs for disagreement when the underlying issues are completely examined end-to-end? Let’s pretend for a moment that the Ikwerre’s consent to Igbo hegemony; then WHAT? What does it buy the Igbo\u2019s that they do not already have or potentially could get?
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\u00a0If 2 + 3 = 5, by mathematical and scientific deductions, then 3 + 2 must also = 5, right? In other words, if Ikwerre\u2019s are Igbo’s, then Igbo\u2019s are Ikwerre\u2019s, hence why the un-ending clamor for recognition and acceptance \u2013 right? Only those who flunked arithmetic would proceed to argue the contrary.
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In fact, the very essences of the word \u201cIkwerre,\u201d implicitly and explicitly embody the notion that I have to FIRST agree. I and my people DO NOT and NEVER WILL AGREE on a strategic deliberate attempt to foist falsehood upon an innocent society …you can go and bring anyone with any titles pre-fixed or suffixed to their names, they will remain ignorant of the facts, until they stop the presuppositions and conjectures without in-depth empirical scholastic research that is objective in intent. We will always respect our Igbo friends and in-laws; but that cannot become synonymous to bowing to the flippant claims and ulterior-motives of the Igbo\u2019s.
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Another fact to consider is, when was the last time anyone saw titled Professors from Western or Northern Nigeria or even elsewhere around the world, listing the ethnicities of their surrounding neighbors as evidence of their scholastic aptitude? So, why would learned and intelligent Igbo\u2019s continue to waste time in academic exercises, always asking the meaning of one’s name or citing proximity of one\u2019s village to their own boundaries? To me, I would like to respect those of us who have acquired university education, hoping of course, they can carry out and demonstrate beyond the shadow of doubt, basic empirical and sound scholastic research, beyond fanning the embers of discord inherited from their fore-parents and Nigeria’s ethno-centric gridlock politics of Win\/Lose.
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Since our so called learned and intelligent friends like to insist that the British people should stop advancing the course of their nation until Americans begin to call themselves \u201cBritish,\u201d or the Jews should hold off fighting for their own survival until everyone else living in the \u201cghettos\u201d of the world acknowledge them, let me pose the following then questions, all of which have the very same answer and GOES TO THE VERY HEART of the Ikwerre vs. Igbo debates:
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1. Who was the very first person ever named Miss Nigeria, and why did she not become a Nigerian, post independence?
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2. Who remembers those that played the roles of \u201ccourtima\u201d (if you don\u2019t know this term, you should probably never get involved in the Ikwerre-Igbo debates) and why did their Western & Northern Nigerian counterparts not pervert history and justice in their respective regions of Nigeria?
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3. If Ikwerre\u2019s were Igbo\u2019s, why did part of the Biafra military strategy include the extermination and genocide of the Ikwerre\u2019s? Please note that there were more saboteurs within and amongst ndi Igbo, than elsewhere in Nigeria \u2013 even till the present day.
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4. If Igbo\u2019s were so magnanimous to ameliorate their excesses in pre-historic Nigeria, dating back to the early stages of both the \u201cwhite man\u2019s & ottoman\u2019s\u201d slave trades, how come they are yet to resolve their osu caste system \u2013 even until the present day? Let\u2019s go one step further to truly see how much they know of the Ikwerre, can our Igbo learned and intelligent friends account for the Igbo\u2019s direct profiteering, racketeering, and shenanigans during the slave trade periods, as it pertains to its surrounding neighbors, including the Ikwerre’s?
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5. If Ikwerre\u2019s were Igbo\u2019s, why were they not consulted like the other Igbo clans on the eve of Ahiara War Declarations by Odumegwu Ojukwu? If our learned friends claim that Ikwerre\u2019s were consulted, please provide name(s) of the Ikwerre representatives.
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6. Why did southern Cameroon vote to not become part of Nigeria at independence \u2013 even though they knew their Hausa\/Fulani dominated northern Cameroon were an evil empire? Really, you would rather associate with an evil empire than align with your next door neighbors \u2013 if we go by the theory of Igbo\u2019s about the Ikwerre\u2019s?
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7. Speaking about Cameroonians, what was the real underlying issue about Bakassi and (like the Ikwerre\u2019s), the peace loving peoples of Ambazonia? Why would they not want to become part of a vibrant and thriving nation like Nigeria \u2013 even till this day? What really happened?
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8. Going further, who remembers pre-historic Nigeria and Cameroon showing Igbo influences stretching past the Calabar river banks, as Far East, as Mamfe and Bamenda in the Cameroons \u2013 why did it shrink back to the present day Igbo boundaries? Better yet, just like Cameroon dragged Nigeria to court over Bakassi, why have the Igbo\u2019s not dragged their case to court, if they know the anthropological, sociological, and ethno-linguistic genesis of the Ikwerre\u2019s?
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9. The word \u201cBiafra\u201d is not an Igbo word \u2013 at least, am hoping they have not also started claiming it is \u2013 so, where\/what is Biafra, from which the Gulf\/Bight of Biafra was originally named on every world map prior to 1969? Hint: Ojukwu could not and did not coin the word !!! Since most Igbo\u2019s immediately from birth, seem to know more about the history and origin of Ikwerre people, it is assumed this question is also a piece of cake for them
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10. Last, but more importantly:
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a. When were the original Ogbakor Ikwerre (excluding the ones in diaspora) and Ohaneze ndi Igbo organizations created?
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b. If Ikwerre\u2019s are seating on the high tables at Ohaneze ndi Igbo, how come the Igbo\u2019s have never allowed these so called Ikwerre members of Ohaneze to speak by themselves to their own Ikwerre people and in a language the Ikwerre\u2019s would understand \u2013 why are Igbo\u2019s always the only ones doing the talking and claiming? Egyptians were not busy advertising Moses as justification for the Jews to remain in Egypt, considering the Jews never forgot their homelands, but may have adopted Egyptian and Roman names to survive the times; a good percentage of people from Sierra Leone in West Africa all have similar names and features like the Yoruba\u2019s of Nigeria \u2013 one wonders why Nigeria\u2019s Yoruba states are not wasting resources and time running around telling other Yoruba\u2019s of West Africa they must claim Nigerian origin and ancestry; Native Americans of the present generation might have blue eyes, some blonde, and cannot speak a word of Apache, Cherokee, Hopi, Navajos (I know because I\u2019ve lived among them), yet the Igbo\u2019s would have you believe they are Igbo\u2019s too, if given the chance; and, these same Igbo\u2019s would be the first to tell you not to call them African Americans \u2013 since there are no Igbo racial categories in any American ethno-demographic profiles.
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c. Is it true that because Igbo\u2019s outnumber every other ethnic group by a margin of 10:1 in pre-war Sabon Gari district of Kano, therefore, everyone within that environment is Igbo \u2013 was that w
\nhat Igbo\u2019s were claiming to spark the pogroms that ignited the Biafra war? (see this citation). Is it also true that because Tiv\u2019s in Nigeria speak Hausa and share common names and traditions, they are Hausa people? How about our friends in Ghana, is it true that because the word Twi is pronounced Chi, it has the same Igbo meaning, therefore, of Igbo origin?
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d. Giving a speech recently, during a meeting of South East elders held in Owerri, Imo State, on March 5, 2010 the honorable Odumegwu Ojukwu, asked Igbo\u2019s: \u201cHowbeit, it is a well known fact that in every State in Nigeria outside Igbo land, Ndigbo always constitutes the second largest population next to the indigenous population\u201d \u2013 why is that? How come no other ethnic population in Nigeria can come close to, much less boast of, being always the 2nd largest population outside of their own ethnic enclaves, wherever they go?
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e. Has anyone heard of\/about \u201cHausa Elele\u201d? Yes, these are true Hausa\u2019s from Elele, in Ikwerre Nigeria \u2013 are they Igbo\u2019s too? Could it be that Ikwerre\u2019s had learned their lesson with Igbo\u2019s that they did not allow this strategic political expansion to continue with impunity? Perhaps, we would be arguing today of how Ikwerre\u2019s are Hausa\u2019s, if we had also kept silent in this regard.
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f. For the longest time, even before the creation of Rivers State, who consistently prevented, and orchestrated the eccentricities that thwarted, the creation of Port Harcourt state, if Ikwerre\u2019s were Igbo\u2019s?
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As I have indicated on past occasions, our Igbo friends and in-laws are restless, hardworking, resourceful, and have hegemonous tendencies. I have many Igbo friends and love them for what they bring to the table \u2013 provided it is not un-substantiated claims and frivolous arguments about Ikwerre people or the Rivers State. Our present generation of Igbo\u2019s and Ikwerre\u2019s would not be serving posterity right, if we don\u2019t seriously focus on how to re-align development of the Nigerian ethos to leverage real talents and skill sets, irrespective of ethnicity. In other words, if the only time an Igbo is willing to dialogue and engage in nation building is when s\/he can work side-by-side with only those who agree with him\/her on ethnicity and speaks his\/her dialect, then there should be no question as to why it will continue to take a very, very, very long time before the Igbo\u2019s can produce another Nigerian President, post Azikiwe. You can quote me! I\u2019m sure an Igbo would dare not say that, right?
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Just like well read Nigerians will challenge the white-man\u2019s perversion of African history (e.g., there are more people in Northern Nigeria than in the South \u2013 true or false?), I will continue to challenge anyone who thinks they can call Ikwerre\u2019s anything other than Ikwerre. Only those who have ulterior motives continue to argue the Ikwerre-Igbo issue blindly, as if it all started yesterday or after the war. No, there are precedents and that have been set prior to the Biafran war, even before slavery and colonialism. Furthermore, my ignorant Ikwerre fore-fathers who could neither read, nor write, are not entirely blameless here! But to unilaterally assume that Ikwerre founding fathers were unable to transmit or hand-down history through generations of Ikwerre sons and daughters, is the height of arrogance, pride, and prejudice for anyone seeking to solve the puzzle that is Nigeria.
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Notwithstanding, I have given you food-for-thought, some of which pre-dates Lord Luggard. But only a certain element would continue to arrogate themselves to a history and people that are not theirs to claim. For extra credit, here\u2019s one last question: from whom did the Rivers State learn the concept of \u201cabandoned property\u201d? Perhaps, therein lies the real reason why Igbo\u2019s never go after other parts of Rivers State and elsewhere in Nigeria where \u201cIgbo\u201d is actually spoken as a language and historically preserved, but would rather focus on poor Ikwerre people whose relationship with them have been anything, but. Yes, the Igbo religious missionaries arrived and said to the Ikwerre man \u201clet us pray,\u201d and when the Ikwerre\u2019s opened their eyes, the Igbo\u2019s had their lands, their local economies, and the Bible!!!
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In closing, I have asked ten simple questions whose answers leads to the VERY CORE of the issue on the Ikwerre vs. Igbo dichotomy \u2013 especially for those of you who, without knowing the genesis, assume that the person called John from New York City is related to another John from Yorkshire, UK — because some white-man’s anthropological formulae said so; therefore, someone named Okala from Ikwerre must be related to the former Rangers Goalkeeper named Okala. Since we have a lot of anthropologists, sociologists, gerontologists, ethno-linguists, Engineers, Apostles, Chiefs, war Generals, including aimless key-punching cyber-pundits in the house, I am hoping that they will apply the same brevity, objectivity, and vocal variety in acknowledging the truths that constitute the collective answers to the above ten questions, so we ignorant folks from Ikwerre, who do not know our origins, ancestry, and history can also, learn. Better yet, perhaps our learned friends, who can only write about Rivers State local government areas or Ikwerre villages and names as the evidence of their scholastic aptitudes, now have a real homework to do, so we can finally attest to their empirical and journalistic research assessment methods.
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For those who will try to guess the answer, without in-depth research, please pay attention to the common denominator in your findings, and report back, so inquiring minds would know. Very truly yours,
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By:
Chuks D. Eleonu
Defender of Ikwerre civil rights and God-given civil liberties
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<\/font>Culled from <\/font>www.tantiblo.blogspot.com.ng<\/font><\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Modern Ikwerre trends<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n

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Who is the Ikwerreman? Written by T O N Y\u00a0\u00a0 E N Y I A,\u00a0 PhD, MNIM \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u200bChambers Dictionary (William Geddie, ed. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_surecart_dashboard_logo_width":"180px","_surecart_dashboard_show_logo":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_orders":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_invoices":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_subscriptions":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_downloads":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_billing":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_account":true,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-492","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"china","author_link":"https:\/\/chinaacheru.com\/staging\/author\/china\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Who is the Ikwerreman? Written by T O N Y\u00a0\u00a0 E N Y I A,\u00a0 PhD, MNIM \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u200bChambers Dictionary (William Geddie, ed.…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaacheru.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaacheru.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaacheru.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaacheru.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaacheru.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chinaacheru.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaacheru.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}