The Origin of Ikwerre people

The Origin of Ikwerre people

The problem with the Igbo here is using the influence of Igbo language as the adopted local lingua franca to claim everyone speaking Igbo. The general Igbo have their fused dialects in their various States and places in the Southeast. The Ikwerre people by their ancestry supercede the language identity. Linguistic identity cannot replace ancestral lineage identity. The Ikwerre practice of any Igbo culture is an influence. The Bight of Benin ends by the West of Bonny Island (as Bight of Bonny), while from the East of Bonny was the Bight of Biafra to the boundary of Equatorial Guinea. Therefore, the Ikwerre were never part of the Bight of Biafra, but the Bight of Benin. However, from the ancient times of Akalaka who had migrated from Benin (Idu land of Igodomigodo) they remained part of the same Benin ancestral lineage.
The funny thing here is that Benin people are not the ones putting pressure on Ikwerre, but the Igbo trying to use language of Igbo that was adopted by the colonial masters as local lingua franca to claim Ikwerre people. They were refused to host or fostering Ohanaeze by the people of Ikwerre that they were not Igbo. It is in their history that Ikwerre called Igbo “Isuoma” which differentiate Ikwerre from the Igbos in ancient times. The Benin Empire had ancient landmass territory as Bight of Benin on the western side of the Niger Delta tributaries while Biafra on the eastern side of the tributaries. We knew that by historical maps. But by the time of British subjugation of Benin in 1897 it became a creation of the Southwest and Southeast provinces. Then the Igbo started implementing the British template of subjugation over Benin areas as the Southwest province was also doing. That led to the creation of the Midwestern region by referendum or plebiscite in 1963. Today, the initial Southwest and Southeast provinces had been dismantled for creation of many States. Yet Igbos are holding on to the former Southeastern region ideology and depriving Benin Kingdom not to mention the ancestral lineage identity with the ancient territories of the Bight of Benin. In Ikwerre, their numerical counting of numbers align with others in the Niger Delta region including Benin. Igbo should stop victimising Benin on historical matters because they later became beneficiary of the British subjugation of Benin. Thanks to those Ikwerre that remember their ancestral lineage identity. Benin is not forcing its identity on Ikwerre as the Igbos are doing. They left Ikwerre that chose Benin above them and casting doubts on Benin, just as Dahomey chose to adopt Benin over Oyo or Yoruba, but they failed to remember that the ancient landmarks remained indelibly mark of identity and not what British did to aid Igbo or Yoruba against Benin. We understand, we cannot forget our ancestral lineage identity.

~ Biafra’n Connect – World Wide
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