Part 1
Nwankwo T. Nwaezeigwe, PhD 26 July, 2025
Odogwu of Ibusa
Former Director, Centre for Igbo Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Email: Nwaezeigwe.genocideafrica@gmail.com Visit: https://icac-gen.org
As an Igbo scholar, traditionalist and activist, I don’t think any of my Igbo contemporaries both living and dead, including those of older generations can contest my high level of Igbo patriotism, unsung sacrifices for Igbo survival devoid of selfishness, as well as in scholarly contributions. So, whenever I speak or write on Igbo matters, I do so with strong historical consciousness, intellectual firmness, moral concupiscence and dexterous confidence, waiting for the intellectually discerning among the Igbo to prove me wrong.
The issue between the Anioma people of Delta State and their Igbo kinsmen of the Southeast has nothing to do with denial of identity. This is because Anioma people know who they are and do not need any form of redefinition of identity from outsiders. When did this vexatious and insulting issue of denial of Igbo identity arise? Since I was born till date we have often referred to the people of the present Southeast as Ndigbo, yet without denying our Igbo identity.
We know that when the former Acting Secretary General of Organization of African Unity (OAU) Dr. Peter Onu from the Igala-speaking town of Ebu addresses himself as Igbo, he was only doing it for our collective interest and unity. We know that when the erstwhile Captain of Nigeria’s National football team Eaglets, Ndukka Ugbade from the Yoruba-speaking town of Ugbodu addresses himself as Igbo, he does that for the collective unity of Anioma people.
But the problem arises when an outsider comes to tell us that we must all claim Igbo origin either by fire or force. And when such extraneous situation arises, suspicion of ulterior motives raises its ugly head. This suspicion no doubt revolves round what I refer to as Southeast Igbo conquest and annexation mentality.
By conquest and annexation mentality I mean the tendency of a group to expand territorially either by force, intimidation or, otherwise, for reasons of territorial aggrandizement, political domination and economic interests; and when applied within a sovereign nation using such indices as assumed historical rights of supremacy, religious or ethnic affiliation, as well as linguistic and cultural commonalities. If this is not the prime motive of our Southeast Igbo kinsmen then the question arises, why not extend their same search for common geopolitical zone to Kogi State where there are about twenty Igbo-speaking communities or, Rivers State, where the Igbo already constitute the majority population?
Albert Einstein tells us that, “the only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.” If one looks as the development and application of historical consciousness in the Southeast compared with the Southwest, there is obvious strong disparity in favor of the Southwest. This explains why there is yet no commonality of ideological direction among the Igbo on national politics. It equally explains why there is abundance of political saboteurs among the Southeast.
Regrettably, in the entire Southeast the only university with a high scholarly history discipline is University of Nigeria, Nsukka; yet one cannot compare its standard of scholarship with those of its contemporary universities in the Southwest, such as University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University and, University of Lagos.
In other words, outside the Department of History, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, every other university in the Southeast has makeshift Department of History. This is the fundamental reason why Igbo history is not only subject to ridiculous expositions by intellectual neophytes but infested with laughable empirically unproven myths, such as we have today in Obu-Gad historical scam at Aguleri.
As Albert Einstein rightly put it, these neophytes who have nothing near primary school knowledge of history often carry out these presumptuous assertions of repugnant ignorance with unequalled rudeness instead of addressing the facts. It is instructive to state emphatically that history is not story-telling, but a scientifically designed discipline with defined empirically-set methodology.
Unfortunately, It is only among the Igbo that anybody can become a historian automatically by reading a portion of a historical essay on the social media or internet. It is strange to see such idiotic and infantile arrogance in ignorance among the Yoruba, Hausa or Fulani. When somebody does not know and even expresses his ignorance with unbridled arrogance, it becomes a case intellectual foolery. Today, those who carry out the false Gospel of denial of Igbo identity by Anioma people are found within this category of intellectual foolery.
Let me state that within the context of the linguistic amalgam of the present Southern Nigeria, the Ijon (Ijaw) are the oldest ethnic group by both linguistic classification and migration to settlement. In other words, they settled before any other ethnic group in the present Southern Nigeria. They were followed by the Igbo, then the Yoruba. The Edo on the other hand, are remote Igbo off-shoot culturally and linguistically blended with mixed Ijon and Yoruba ethno-linguistic intrusions.
A comparative study of Edo and Igbo vocabularies will see a lot of forgotten Igbo root vocabularies still in active use among the Edo. For instance, my maternal grandmother was named Ada-Ozele. I never knew the meaning of Ozele until I confronted an Esan friend whose sister is named Omo-Ozele. And when I enquired of the meaning of Omo-Ozele in Edo, he emphatically informed me that it meant “a child of good luck.” It was then I realized why my grandmother Madam Alice Adaozele Onyeachonam (nee Enenmo) who was born in 1904 was named Ada-Ozele.
She was born a twin in 1904 at a time twins were taboo and were thrown away to “Isikisi Evil Forest” in Ibusa to die. Indeed, people only started prospecting for land in Isikisi Evil Forest after the Nigerian Civil war. Because her parents already had two male kids, they felt the need to secretly take her twin brother away.
So they secretly searched and subsequently found a woman in Omeze Quarters who had just lost her newborn baby and arranged to hand the boy over, and it was done. The boy eventually grew up to have a very large family today, known only to very few of us in Enenmo family.
Today, the name “Ude” and “Nwabude” are popular among the Southeast Igbo without knowing their root meanings or what we refer in historical research as etymology. But a Bini man can readily tell without difficulties the meaning of “Omobude.” Without mincing words, there are a lot of personal and common Igbo names without known meanings among their bearers today, but which meanings can only be found in Edo language. For instance, “Udi”, “Uga”, “Igede”, “Igwe”, “Ofo”, “Oko”, “Okoro”, “Okwo”, Ogbodo and, the word “Igo”, among many others.
Indeed, when the super-structural institution of Benin monarchy and its related institutions are removed, the rest are Western Igbo in Edo garb. Thus within the material base, Anioma and Edo cultures are virtually the same, safe for language differences, which is again surplus with mutual borrowings.
Northcote W. Thomas in his account of Igbo of Asaba District published in 1914 rightly states: “As regards customs, it is clear that the Niger is a far more important boundary than the frontier between languages. The marriage customs on the Asaba side are completely different from those on the east of the Niger.” (Page 5)
It is reasonable to state emphatically that what unites the Igbo and Benin Kingdom] in particular and the Edo in general, goes far beyond the Oba of Benin institution. Igbo language as it stands today lacks adequate vocabulary to address many traditional and contemporary terms. What the Anioma lack in Igbo language they make up with Edo language.
The same applies to cultural norms relating to socio-political, economic and religious institutions. So, it is impossible for anyone from the Southeast to think of bringing the Igbo of West Niger together with the Igbo of Southeast under one exclusive political umbrella. The Oba of Benin Kingdom might not be in control of our traditional leadership, but we respect him the same way Nigeria respects the King of England.
Furthermore, whatever that makes Anioma people more politically sophisticated than their Southeast kinsmen originated from Benin Kingdom. Apart from Onitsha and Ogbaru communities, the Kingship that exists today among the Southeast Igbo, its regalia, and associated Ofala festival, as well as the roguish Eze-Ndigbo in foreign lands, are all bad imitations of Benin political institution. Moreover, Benin Kingdom was once the greatest Empire in the present Southern Nigeria, extending from Badagry in the West to Bonny in the East.
The two prominent Igbo personalities who brought the Igbo as an ethnic group— Olaudah Equiano of the 18th century and, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of the 20th century acknowledged the sovereignty of Benin Kingdom over them. In fact, the iconic leader and political personality of Igbo identity asserted, and never denied, that his ancestors were of Benin origin.
Olauda Equiano wrote, and he needs to be quoted at length:
So, it is clear that those claiming Equiano to have originated from the Southeast should as ell consider themselves once subject to the authority of the Oba of Benin Kingdom. Similarly, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the late Owele-Osowa of Onitsha-Ado Kingdom stated in his autobiography that both his maternal and paternal ancestors originated from Benin. Unfortunately no scholar or politician from Southeast was bold enough to challenge his claim of Benin identity. In his words:
“Thus, in tracing my paternal lineage, I could say that both parents of my father are direct descendants of Eze Chima. As for me, I can trace my paternal ancestry in this wise: I am the first son of Chukwuemeka, who was the third child and first son of Azikiwe, who was the second son of Molokwu, who was the third son of Ozomaocha, who was the second son of Inosi Onira, who was the fourth son of Dei, the second son of Eze Chima, the founder of Onitsha.” (My Odyssey, page 4)
On his mother’s genealogical tree, Dr. Azikiwe went further to state:
“I can trace my maternal ancestry thus: I am the first son of Nwanonaku Rachel Chinwe Ogbenyeanu (Aghadiuno)Azikiwe, who was third daughter of Aghadiuno Ajie, the fifth son of Onowu Agbani, first daughter of Obi Udokwu, the son who descended from five Kings of Onitsha. Five of these rulers of Onitsha were direct lineal descendants of Eze Chima (PRINCE OHIME), who led his warrior adventurers when they left Benin to establish the Onitsha city state in about 1748 AD.” (My Odyssey, page 5)
On his version of Ezechime tradition of origin, migration and settlement, Dr. Azikiwe went on to state:
“I continued to belabor my grandmother to tell me more of the history and origins of the Onitsha people. She narrated that many many years ago, there lived at Idu (Benin) a great Oba who had many children. Due to a power struggle regarding the right of precedence among princes of the blood and other altercations, there was a civil war in Benin. One day, the supporters of one of the princes insulted and assaulted Queen Asije, the mother of of the Oba of Benin, who was accused of having trespassed on their farmland. Enraged at this evidence of indiscipline and lawlessness, the Oba ordered his war chief and brother, Gbunwala Asije to apprehend and punish the insurgents. In the attempt to penalize them, Chima (OHIME), the ultimate founder of the Onitsha City-State, a Prince of the blood in his own right, led the recalcitrants against his Uncle, Gbunwala. This intensified the civil war which rent the kingdom of Benin in two and led to the founding of Onitsha Ado N’Idu, “As the great trek from Benin progressed, some did not have the stout heart of the pioneer-warrior, and decided to settle at different places, known today as Onitsha-Ugbo, Onitsha-Olona, Onitsha-Mili, Obior, Issele Ukwu, Ossomari, Aboh, etc.” (My Odyssey, page 11)
Till this moment, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe remains the core expression of Igbo political identity in leadership. Yet, none of those spraying their stinking saliva in vilification of Anioma people for claiming Benin identity has come out to challenge his position, which remains the official position of the indigenous people of Onitsha-Ado Kingdom.
The question then is why should Anioma case elicit vilifications from their Southeast Igbo kinsmen if not for their bid to annex them into their Southeast geopolitical zone? Is it based on their wrong assumption that Anioma people are weak in whatever angle the assumption is directed, or that they are not historically conscious and politically exposed to chart their own political cause?
Much as the question of Igbo origins remains a contentious issue in historical studies, the original point of settlement remains equally contentious, irrespective of copious archaeological findings. This is because archaeological evidence can only define ethnic identity in relative terms through material culture, while still leaving the origins of such material culture, their bearers and conduits contentious.
Being that the pre-Oduduwa settlers of the present Ile-Ife were ethnically defined as Igbo by Ile-Ife tradition, the question then arises, where are the descendants of those Igbo aborigines of Ile-Ife? Here again we may ask, must the eponymous Ezechime originate from Southeast Igboland just because he bore Igbo related name? These questions become more fundamental when considered in the context of the closeness of Edo to Igbo linguistically. This exposition will constitute the part two.
To be continued.
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