BY REV’D MAXWELL NDAH
INTRODUCTION
Over the years, there has been a debate about the origin of Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality, a theory claims that Ikwerre forbearers migrated from Old Bini Kingdom. A hypothesis postulates that Ikwerre people are a sub-Igbo group; claiming Ikwerre-Igbo ancestral connection. While another claims that Ikwerre people neither migrated from Bini nor Igbo but are a distinct ethnic group who have existed in their present geographical location since time immemorial.
In recent years, with the pronouncement that Ohaneze Ndigbo zoned their 2025 presidency to Rivers State, the debate took a higher dimension, with claims and counter claims about the Ikwerre-Igbo ancestral connection. While some persons consider the Ikwerre-Igbo ancestral connection as factual, others see it as fiction.
It has become pertinent at this point to take a stand on either of the divide, making my position clear on whether the Ikwerre-Igbo ancestral connection is a fact or fiction. My position will be determined based on personal experiences, evidence from secondary sources (extant literatures), evidence from primary sources (oral tradition) and logical contemplations.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
I used to identify myself as an Igbo person for a very long time. For the records, As a soldier, I joined Igbo Soldiers Welfare Association, where I served in different capacities including Secretary.
In 2007, A senior colleague called me an Ijaw man after I told him that I’m from Rivers State, I protested immediately, telling him that I am an Ikwerre man, not an Ijaw and that I will even prefer him to call me an Igbo man than Ijaw. He queried why? And I gave him the very reasons the proponents of Igbo origin of Ikwerre has put forward over and again โฆAffinity in language, culture, tradition and geographical proximity. The man had no choice than to leave me to my claims. But as I come across Igbo people and identify with them as a fellow Igbo, most of them frankly spelt our differences and never identified with me as a fellow Igbo man.
EVIDENCE FROM SECONDARY SOURCES (EXTANT LITERATURES)
During my Masters Degree program, I indicated interest in researching on the history of Christianity in Elele and it was approved. In the cause of writing my thesis, I needed to write a background of my case study, which is Elele. In a bid to do a thorough job, I read every written book and article about Elele people as much as I could lay my hands on, from “WITHOUT PREJUDICE” written in 1975 by DAH Emejuru to modern authors, including those outside Elele. I also read articles written by Ekpeye and Ogba people to ascertain the validity and reliability of the claims of our own authors and the storyline corroborates, linking the ancestry of Ikwerre, Ekpeye and Ogba to Old Bini Kingdom.
EVIDENCE FROM PRIMARY SOURCES (ORAL TRADITION)
In March 2019, I came from Jos, Plateau State to Elele, just to interview people. I started with Chief AA Waga, to validate the things I read in his book. Then to the Royal Palace, the then Royal Majesty, HRM JOG Amadi was indisposed to attend to me, so I sought the next in line, Elder Marcus O. Woyike as he then was. He didn’t just answer my questions, he brought out a handwritten document, which he referred to as Oral Traditions as his father HRH Eze Fred Wosu Woyike handed down to him. My interview train moved to the oldest man in Elele then, Elder Thompson Ofuru, I spent two days with him as he told me different historically relevant stories and things about Elele including our boundaries. I interviewed my father and my uncles as well as other people, all of whom shared oral tradition that favoured Bini origin. I subjected my findings to the views of others for content validation, most of whom are notable names in Elele and they all supported the Bini origin. Thus, both secondary and primary sources of the accounts of Ikwerre ancestry all supported Bini origin.
In August 2024, I returned to update my records and I went to HRM King Marcus O. Woyike, the King of Elele, to ascertain his position now as a king, because I understand that kings may have access to secret documents and privileged information, if perhaps, he has changed his initial position as a result of newly found information or influences from the throne. He maintained that our forbearers migrated from Bini before finally settling in our present geographical location. He reiterated very strongly that Ikwerre is a distinct ethnic group, whose ancestry is traced to Bini and that Ikwerre is not Igbo neither did our ancestors migrate from Igbo.
LOGICAL CONTEMPLATIONS
A people’s origin or ancestry is not determined by affinity in culture, similarity in language, proximity in geographical location or political annexation/affiliation. Examples abound in Nigeria and across the world where ethnicities with similarity in virtually everything trace their ancestral origin to different places. In my opinion, it is basically a question of:
i. What does the oral tradition say?
ii. Does the oral tradition corroborate with the oral traditions of sister ethnic groups?
iii. Is the oral tradition historically relevant with what is obtainable in the place of ancestral origin?
iv. Does the place of ancestral origin accept ancestral relationship?
v. The question of acceptance
If all of these questions are in the affirmative, then the issue of origin is established.
IKWERRE-IGBO NARRATIVE
i. What does the oral tradition say?
Oral tradition never said Ikwerres are Igbo, beside that, Igbo is a large geographical space, no one has told us which part of Igbo we originated from. Those who claim that Ikwerre is a sub-Igbo group have not also been able to say where our ancestors migrated from before settling in this geographical location? Because, people migrated from one place and finally settled in their present geographical location.
ii. Does the oral tradition corroborate with the oral traditions of sister ethnic groups?
Our sister ethnic groups, the Ekpeye and Ogba people never say they share ancestral relationship with Igbos, but also trace their ancestral origin to Bini.
iii. Is the oral tradition historically relevant with what is obtainable in the place of ancestral origin?
There is no Igbo group or town that has any historical account that suggests where, when, how and why Ikwerre ancestors migrated from their place nor do they mention the names of our forbearers.
iv. Does the place of ancestral origin accept ancestral relationship?
Igbo people do not accept Ikwerre people as Igbos. I wrote earlier that I used to identify myself as an Igbo man. Many times when I come across Igbo people and identity myself as an Igbo man, they will always ask me which part of Igbo, when I tell them Ikwerre, they will bluntly tell me that I am not Igbo. Some who are polite will say that I am not original Igbo. I’m yet to know what makes a human being ‘unoriginal’. I have had this experience countless times. Igbos don’t accept Ikwerre people as part of them. That was what resulted to the ill-treatment of our people by the Igbos during the Nigerian Civil War. We must stop claiming relationship where it does not exist. Now I identify myself as an Ikwerre man, Period!
The Igbo people who claim relationship with Ikwerre only do so for selfish political and economic interest, as they attempt to achieve their expansion agenda.
v. The question of acceptance
Do Ikwerre people accept that they are Igbos? The answer is NO. Few weeks ago, some Ikwerre people were protesting on the streets of Port Harcourt, publicly declaring that Ikwerre is not Igbo. Following the election of Sen John A. Mbata as the President of Ohaneze Ndigbo, the leadership of Ogbakor Ikwerre has made a public declaration that “IKWERRE IS NOT IGBO” and that the association and position of Sen John A. Mbata is personal and does not reflect the position of the entire Ikwerre Nationality. The fact still remains that most Ikwerre people would never accept that they are Igbos. Ikwerre politicians who claimed Igbo in the past and in contemporary time did so for political interest, in order to garner support from Igbos.
IKWERRE-BINI NARRATIVE
i. What does the oral tradition say?
Oral tradition says that the forbearers of Ikwerre migrated from Bini.
ii. Does the oral tradition corroborate with the oral traditions of sister ethnic groups?
Yes. The oral traditions in Ekpeye and Ogba corroborate with that of Ikwerre. I was present at the coronation of Chief Dr Uchenna Wonah, the Chief who represented the Oba of Ogbaland, categorically said that Ogba people and Ikwerre people are brothers and that our forbearers migrated from the Old Bini Kingdom.
iii. Is the oral tradition historically relevant with what is obtainable in the place of ancestral origin?
Yes. There exists both oral tradition, written documents, dates and names of kings in Bini kingdom that are historically relevant with the oral tradition as shared by our forefathers.
iv. Does the place of ancestral origin accept ancestral relationship?
Yes. Bini people still accept that Ogba, Ekpeye and Ikwerre people are historically connected to Bini and proudly accepts that relationship. My Uncle, Barr John Ndah told me of how he met Chief Igbenedion in Abuja, and upon introducing himself as an Ikwerre man from Elele, Chief Igbenedion embraced him as his son, proudly acknowledging ancestral relationship between Ikwerre and Bini people. NO IGBO MAN FROM ANY PART OF IGBO LAND WILL DO THAT.
v. The question of acceptance
Do Ikwerre people accept ancestral relationship with Bini? The answer is YES. To validate my research findings I have had to talk to more people all of whom rejected Igbo origin but all accepted Bini origin. So I wonder why the opinions of few people should determine the origin of the entire Ikwerre Race.
CONCLUSION
Our forbearers shared their experiences, our ancestors told the stories, our forefathers handed same to our grandfathers, who shared same with our fathers and our fathers were kind enough to relate same stories to us – that is oral tradition. We are now taking a step further to document these oral traditions in black and white, the most recent being the book, “HISTORY AND PEOPLE OF ELELE โฆThe Cradle of Ikwerre Race” by yours Truly. If we should not believe what our forbearers shared as their origin without any form of interest, is it what people with political interest or seeking political relevance or position says that we should believe? No!
This is the same reason that provoked Elder DAH Emejuru to write “WITHOUT PREJUDICE” as far back as 1975. It is important to note that Elder DAH Emejuru was not responding to an Igbo man but to a fellow Ikwerre man, Chief J.A. Nsirim from Isiokpo, who had attempted to alter the history of Ikwerre because of his selfish political interest, whose claims were refuted, by DAH Emejuru, and his other contemporaries.
Based on the above contemplations, we can conclude that the Ikwerre-Igbo ancestral connection is nothing but fiction, borne out of selfish political and economic interest and expansion agenda of the Igbos.
THAT THE IKWERRE-BINI NARRATIVE IS A MORE FACTUAL, CONSTRUCTIVE, VALID, RELIABLE AND ACCEPTABLE THEORY THAT ACCOUNTS FOR THE HISTORICAL ORIGIN OF IKWERRE RACE.
CAUTION
We must caution ourselves at this point on the danger of accepting the Ikwerre-Igbo theory. Our brothers who are proponents of this Igbo theory do not really understand the claims of Igbos. They are not interested in us as a people, they are not identifying with us as brothers and they do not claim ancestral relationship with us. BUT THEIR INTEREST IS OWNERSHIP. THEY LAY CLAIMS TO THE OWNERSHIP OF IKWERRE LAND. That is why they can boldly threaten to kill us all or send us back to Bini and take back “THEIR LAND”. So the whole permutation and agitation is not really about relationship but about ownership.
While we do not have problem living, cohabitating, associating and relating with Igbos, we must trace our ancestry right. Thus, our people should be cautioned.
COMMENDATION
I must commend our esteemed brothers, Sir Bon Woke and Sir Sam Woka among others who are strongly refuting the Ikwerre-Igbo narrative and defending our oral tradition of Bini origin.
I must also commend our revered brothers, His Worship, Chief Justice Amadi, Barr Chukwuma Eke and others who have put up a very strong debate, their engagements made more people to be interested in the topic and must have learned from the plethora of evidences.
I am impelled to lend my voice to the debate through this piece and of course, as has been published in the book HISTORY AND PEOPLE OF ELELE โฆThe Cradle of Ikwerre Race, which every Elele/Ikwerre person should read. I trust God to make fund available so that more copies of the book will be printed and donated to libraries, distributed to schools, given to students, so that people will continue to read and learn until the idea of Ikwerre-Igbo ancestral origin is completely wiped off from the minds of our younger generation across Ikwerreland.
While the debate may continue, I strongly encourage that it be done within the ambit of intellectual discussion, with evidences and opinions centered on the topic and should not result to insult or attack on the personalities of those who hold divergent views. Mutual respect is the rule for public engagements.
ALI-OMENELE ANI MEKA