Re: On the Matter of Edo names for Kola-Nuts

[Mobolaji Aluko]

Nowamagbe Austin Omoigui (NAO):

Thanks for your own intervention below, for injecting a minority angle to this whole Yoruba-Igbo-Hausa kola-nuts affair....:-)

I am happy that I did not "exhaust" my earlier brief treatise on the kola-nut - known as "Obi" in Yorubaland, "Oji" in Igboland, and as "Evbe" (or "Eve") among the Edo, as you have just announced below. Otherwise, if I had written anything about "awe",  it is not impossible that you would not have intervened as you just have, since you recently inscrutably, but maybe in a burst of cultural frustration,  denied Edo cousin-ship of the Yoruba! :-)

But when I write about a triumvirate cultural thread of acceptance, forgetfulness and rebellion running eastward from Yoruba-land to Igbo-land through Edo-land, some people get nervous, and even deny it.  

You see, the Yoruba call the kola-nut itself "obi", but call its lobes (cotyledons) "awe" - which also means "part" or "portion" or "chapter ." or "section" of a fruit, or book, or any multi-part event or object - but most often used for only fruits or nuts.  Clearly, it is that "Awe" that the Edo have taken to me "Evbe" and applied it to COMPLETELY to the kola-nut itself.  [I would prove that by you telling us what "Evbe" also means other than kola-nut.  Because the Hausa (+Fulani) are also acceptably called Gambari, the names "Evbegabari or Eve-Igabari need no further explanation for the two-lobed kolanut common in Hausa-land,  that the Edo call Igbanja, which the Yoruba, name  "obi gbanja" ]

So here is what must have happened, I strongly believe.  In Yoruba-land, we say "awe obi" for the lobe of a kola-nut.  Getting to Edo-land, the "obi" portion is forgotten, and the whole nut is kuku all called "awe", but rendered as "Evbe" or "Eve."  On getting to Igboland, the "awe" is forgotten, and only the "obi" is remembered, but rendered as "oji".

Voila!   As we say in Yoruba, "omi eko, eko ni" (the Water from pap is still pap.")

In fact, so pervasive is the kola-nut from North to West to East of Nigeria, that it moved one Nwachukwu to wax eloquent that (apart from football, soccer), it is the unifying force in Nigeria:

QUOTE

"Kola nut: Nigeria’s seed of togetherness

on May 04, 2012   /   in Special Report

  

By McPhilips Nwachukwu

THERE is something that is used in identifying every country of the world. This identification mark is, however, more possible with countries that are homogenous in composition. But on the contrary, in heterogeneous countries like Nigeria, it is very difficult to lay claims to such items of referencing or something of a commonality with which to say, yes, here comes, Nigeria.

Nature, however, has a way of taking care of its own contradictions, and this is what happens in Nigeria. Defying such logic of impossibility, this country of about a hundred and forty million people with over 250 ethnic groups has demonstrated to the world that there is a possibility in impossibility.

This beautiful country is blessed with diverse people, whose culture is as diverse as their climatic and weather conditions. It has successfully disproved the hypothesis by being united through one generous gift of nature.

Simple seed nut

What is this gift one may ask? It is a simple seed nut, grown in the western and central parts of Africa. It is the kola nut seed. Yes, the same kola nut popularly known by such botanical names like kola acuminate or atrophora, kola alba and kola nitida.

It is of course, this same kola nut that has given this country, called Nigeria, a unifying image. Journeying from the eastern part of the country through the north to the southern and western parts, one unforgettable experience that the visitor takes away with him is the tradition of kola nut presentation.

Kola nut is so important in the social, religious and cultural life of the people that it is said that at some point during pre-independence Nigeria, when the nation’s founding fathers looked for a common symbol acceptable to all Nigerians that would serve as a national icon on the country’s coat of arms, the consensus was kola nut.

Grown and harvested abundantly in the western part of the country, the seed of kola nut, which is celebrated in a mythical manner by the Igbo of the South-East, is almost eaten like food in the North. The way and manner that kola nut is seen and appreciated by Nigerians makes it something bigger than the mere red and yellow seed nuts hawked around in trays by Hausa traders in small kiosks in the village markets and major cities or that large quantity of agricultural crops grown, harvested and stored in large hand-woven baskets by Yoruba farmers.

In Igbo land, like in any other part of Nigeria, kola nut is bigger than all of these. In some places, it is food eaten with relish and celebrated with deserving feast. Like yam, king of crops, it commands adoration and enjoys many acolytes. Emotional and cultural attachment to kola nut in Nigeria makes it religiously infectious. Adherents of the culture of kola nut, which without exaggeration involves everybody of different religious beliefs, gender and caste, find in the kola nut lobes a cultural vehicle that coveys the people’s world view.

Kola nut is so important in the life of Nigerians to the extent that poetry of kola nut breaks the day for typical homes on ocycasions of birth, marriage, death or settlement of dispute. It is, therefore, not unusual to hear alongside Christian families who conduct their morning prayers, the voices of  their traditional neighbours, who welcome the birth of a new day with  kola nut invocation:

For Timothy Nnubia, an 80-year-old Igbo man: “Kola nut is our own prayer book. We wake up to pray with kola nut and use it to invoke the spirit of our ancestors. We also use it to appeal to the God of Heaven to guide us in our daily activities. After our petitions, we break it and eat, and if there is palm wine or gin, we drink to wash it down. In a sense, the act of kola nut breaking is like the act of Catholic communion.”.........

For instance, in Igbo land, one is not allowed to break kola nut in one’s maternal home. Also, women are not allowed to bless and break kola nut.  On the contrary, some Ifa women in Yoruba land are said to have the power to break kola nut and also have the power and qualification to interpret the lobes according to the mystical rules of Ifa divination. The Hausas do not have any particular ritualistic attachment to kola nut.

A joke has it that an Igbo man brought out kola nut in the presence of his Hausa friend. And following the Igbo ritual round of passing the kola nut from hand to hand, when it got to the hand of the Hausa man having gone round the guests, he said: “Gentlemen, my friend has given to that man, he rejected it, he gave to the other man, and he rejected it. It has come to me, I will eat all of it.”

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/05/kola-nut-nigerias-seed-of-togetherness/#sthash.AGcLf6LX.dpuf

UNQUOTE

And he proceeded to....

Moving on.....

Honestly, why I stay in Nigerian cyberspace, despite a busy schedule and the presence of some madmen and specialist caterwaulers and hecklers  - they know themselves, but I could name them if they insist  -  is the immeasurable education about our Nigerian and African peoples that one gets for free. There is more that unites Nigeria than divides it, and it is thieving politicians and their factotums - not all politicians by the way, but a fraction of them - that knock heads against each other so as to divide spoils among themselves and leave us others with crumbs.

And there you have it.  I am done on this kola-nuts tour de force.

Bolaji Aluko

On Sat, Sep 5, 2015 at 8:07 AM, 'Nowa Omoigui' via AfricanWorldForum <africanw...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Prof

The Edo name for common Kola nut is "Evbe" (Cola acuminate, C. verticillate, from Stapf.Maleae (Sterculiaceae) - Kolanut tree - a well known stimulant, used for various ceremonies

This differs from Hausa Kolanuts (aka Evbegabari, Igbanja, Eve-Igabari) or Cola nitida
(Vent Malvaceae (Sterculiaceae) from the Hausa cola tree  (also used but only when specified in ceremony)

We also have Evboha (Bush Kolanut) Cola heterophylla Malvaceae (Sterculiaceae) = wild cola, bush kola tree and Evbohobitan (Cola caricifolia (= Cola caricaefolia Malvaceae (Sterculiaceae) AKA monkey cola, wild cola tree - (for specific ceremonies)

These are various botanical species of the Kolanut (with various features, including the number of lobes) known to Edo civilization according to available records

It is nice for Nigerians (of ALL stripes)to understand how various nationalities describe botanical species

Signing off

NAO

--------------------------------------------- Bolaji Aluko wrote.....

On the Matter of Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa Kola-Nuts

 

Ken Asagwara:

First, let us move on about bowing and kneeling and shaking hands, etcheram, ad nauseum.  It has been firmly established that Igbo people, whether conditionally or unconditionally, whether Ndi-ala or efulefu, whether of the Onitsha variety or of the Abagana variety,  whether foreign-born or never left Ohaozara, bow, kneel and shake hands on occasion.

So let us leave that matter.....

Ken and Obi Nwakama:

As to kola-nut, Yoruba call it "Obi", the Igbo substitute "j" (which incidentally comes in later in the alphabet, in a manner of language substitution or forgetting) for the "b" to call it "Oji", and the Hausa call it "gworo."  Note that by deliberateness or serendipity, variants of  "Obi" is "heart" or title of kingship in Igbo language/culture, hence it is not surprising that the Igbo say that "Oji bu eze"  ("the Kolanut is king"...of seeds, that is.)

So that Obi Nwakama has not heard of "Oji Yoruba"  is because that would be superfluous and tautological....every time the Igbo say "Oji", their DNA shout "Obi" - so why repeat yourselves?  If the tree grows in Igboland, it was certainly not indigenous: the seed was taken from Yorubaland, where all varieties grow more prolifically, cotyledons and all...

Moving on...

As an aside, the concept of "eze"ship is so rife in Igbo-land, that the concept of "Igbo enwe eze" (the Igbo know no king" ) is absurd, and is better expressed in the rebellious form "Eze bu eze be ya" - every one, a king in his own house - leading to the rather high-falutin statement of the host that is offering cola-nut having to say "Oji eze di eze n'aka" - the kola-nut is in the king's hands - and asking women in the house to back off for a few seconds "Umunwanyi, oji abiara o!".  And kola-nut knowing only the Igbo language is a phantasmagoric rendition of the notion that the the gods of the particular family offering the kola-nut are the only ones that know the family secrets.

Moving on....

Growing up, I was aware that Obi trees ("igi obi"), which the Igbo call "osisi oji" (notice the substitution again) grew prolifically in Yorubaland, and that there were kola-nuts with two lobes or cotyledons ("obi gbanja"; cola nitida in biological terms, which the Igbo perjoratively call "oji efulefu (or ifilifi) and  "oji Hausa", and would rather not offer in ritual),  or "obi abata" with more than two cotyledons (three, four, five (Oji ikenga), even sometimes seven; cola acuminata), which the Igbo admiringly and collectively call "oji Igbo"! :-). So when Obi Nwakanma says that the four-lobed kola-nut does not grow anywhere else outside of Igbo-land, that is not true.  Rather, it is a bow to the fact that in Yorubaland, only the four-lobed one (or on occasion, greater than four) is used for Ifa divination of finding out options of outcomes! :-)

Moving on....

The widespread growth of Igi Obi in Yorubaland as well as the possibility of two, three, many cotyledons is not only of options but also an indication of fertility, makes the kola-nut one of several objects offered during a marriage-bethrothal ("idana") or child-naming ceremony:

QUOTE

*This is honey ("oyin"); the quality of honey is sweetness. May your married life be sweet, that is, happy by being blessed with many children and money to take care of them.

*This is salt ("iyo'). It preserves and sweetens, may you be preserved in your lives so that you live long and see your children's children.

*This is palm oil ("epo pupa"). It reduces the harsh taste of pepper in the soup. May the harsh impact of difficult times be ameliorated;

*This is kola nut ("obi"). It produces prolifically. May your wife be as fertile as the kola nut tree and be blessed with many children who survive and do great things in life;

*This is bitter kola ("orogbo"). It means that you will live long and see your children achieve great things in your lifetime;

*This is a pen ("ohun ikowe"):. We use it to write. Education is the means to greatness. May you learn to read and write and become famous through achievement in education;

*This is the Bible/Koran ("iwe mimo"). It is the holy book of power. May your faith provide direction to you in life;

*This is candle ("abela"). It lights the way. May the word of God provide the light that will guide you through life;

*This is money ("owo"). Money is needed for fulfillment and enjoyment of life. May you be blessed with plenty of it in your lifetime

UNQUOTE

 

In conclusion, this has been another useful comparative culture exercise, and I thank you both.  Up Nigeria!

And there you have it.

Bolaji Aluko

Obi Nwakanma wrote:----------

Dr. Aluko:

I have heard about "Oji Igbo" and "Oji Hausa" (Gworo), but I have never heard "Oji Yoruba." Let me again instruct you on the Igbo, so that you'd at least learn genuinely who they are: every man worth his salt has an "Osisi Oji" by his back yard, or in the domestic family lot. Igbo land falls within the tropical rain forest belt, and the Kolanut is indigenous to it. Ask any botanist, at least. There is a specific kind of kolanut which is highly valued in Igbo land: it is the "Oji Igbo" - and it is that which all men of title must keep in their reserve, just in case, the woman of the house, from whom the Kola is actually taken, does not have any in her "uko" - the traditional pantry. It is absolutely false that that the kola is not grown in Igbo land. In fact the special kola - the four lobbed Kolanut - does not grow anywhere else.

Meanwhile, you may not understand the Igbo "fascination" with Oji. Only the Diala understands. Again, all children born to true Igbo families observe the ritual of the Kola, to learn how to present it, and how to break it, and how, eventually, to bless and offer prayers with it for the collective good. But essentially there is meaning attached to that ritual, and as an Igbo, I shall tell you, only if you bring with you, as gift to me, a fine bottle of cognac:-) Anaghi Agba Aka awhu Nwata Eze!

Obi Nwakanma

On Fri, Sep 4, 2015 at 11:48 PM, Asagwara, Ken (EAL) <Ken.As...@gov.mb.ca> wrote:

Bolaji Aluko & Dipo Eniola, Etc:

 

It’s amazing how you some of you fellow Nigerian Yorubas live your culture; at the same time, you believe you can define for us, the Igbo how to live our own culture or what that culture should embrace. You guys must be out of your freaking minds.

 

Eggplant, peanut butter, and the kola nut among many other fruits and vegetables are all native to Igbo land, culture and heritage. While kola nut has a particular variant peculiar to Igbo land known as Oji-Igbo, the Hausa and Yoruba variant known as Gworo is also grown in Igbo land. Both the Igbo variety Oji-Igbo and the Gworo specie are used for traditional and cultural events; such as, marriages, visitations, New Yam Festivals, naming ceremonies, initiation ceremonies, burials, etc. There are some particular Igbo traditional and cultural events during which, only the Igbo kola nut variety, Oji-Igbo must be used. It is in such particular occasions that the Igbo in making oblations invoke the saying that the Kola Nut speaks not nor understands any other language than Igbo language. This is because acts of oblation and incantation recitals involved during such occasions are expressed in Igbo language. The Gworo variety of kola nut is fit for every occasion when needed. Other than being called Gworo, it is calledOji-Hausa as in Hausa kola nut.

 

About Igbo New Yam Festival, I will not even bother responding to Dipo Eniola the fraudulent claimer of Igbo traditional chieftaincy title for he knows not what he is talking about. Were he indeed an honored outsider holding an Igbo chieftaincy title, he will not have mouth the rubbish, “Even, the Yam festival which is very popular in Ndiibgo is borrowed”. Borrowed my arse!

 

On bowing or not bowing; no Nwafor Igbo bows to or prostrates before any other being. We, Igbo bow and or kneel down in prayers to God or when invoking the names of the ancestors, if you are a traditional worshiper. Growing up, you are taught to greet your parents, elders and other adults first thing in the morning when you wake up from sleep. You continue that ritual throughout the day as you come in contact with the parents of the various other children in the community as well as, other elders. The socio-cultural offence is seeing an elder and passing him or her without formally greeting them, whether they are known to you or not. It is cultural etiquette  that you must greet your parents and other elders as many times as you come in contact with them in a day. The greeting is usually in the local Igbo language dialect you were raised. With the passage of time, children these days do say, depending on what time of the day it is, Good Morning Mama/Papa/Dad/Mom, Dede/De/Dada/Da (for elders); Good Afternoon and Good Evening, etc. No Igbo parents or elders ever rebuke a child or younger person(s) for not bowing to him/her or prostrating before them. You will surely be rebuked if for whatever the reason may be, you forgot or failed to greet in an absolute manner of respect your parents or other elders in the family and larger community. I never bowed nor prostrated to or before any of my parents or any other elders growing up and till now. And they never expected nor demanded such because they did not raise me to bow or prostrate for no one.

 

Growing up, I never initiated to shake my father’s or any elder’s hand. It is not allowed in my Igbo culture. But hugs upon hugs, I received. If your father or an elder puts out his hand to you to shake, you clasp his hand with your two hands in firm handshake. He is acknowledging your adulthood. I still remember the first time as a teenager my father stretched out his hand to me to shake. It was to say to me, you are becoming a man, my son and it felt so good.

 

Now; these days, it is not uncommon to behold some Igbo children born and raised outside Igbo land bow or bend their knee when greeting parents and other elders. Also, since the new era of multiplicity of Autonomous Communities and Investiture of modern day Ezes in Igbo land, there are some of the Ezes that expect being bowed to or remove your cap momentarily when greeting them. One more time, no Igbo bows down or prostrates to or before or for any other fellow human being. But it is not out of place to bow low, not down, to one’s elders or authority figures who are above your age bracket.

 

Also, these days, in traditional marriage ceremonies, the bride when giving the cup of wine to her would be husband showing that she has accepted his hands in marriage, do kneel down on one leg though some girls may enthusiastically kneel on both legs. Folks, let us remember that the only constant in life is change. With time, cultures innovate; what used to be is abandoned and what is not becomes.

 

Cheers.

 

Mazi KC Prince Asagwara

 

From: africanw...@googlegroups.com [mailto:africanw...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Mobolaji Aluko
Sent: September-04-15 4:16 PM
To: africanw...@googlegroups.com
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Subject: Re: [africanworldforum] RE: Bolaji: Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi

 

Dipo:

I have never understood the traditional fascination with the eggplant, peanut butter, and the kolanut - the last  item completely foreign to growth in Ala Igbo - and the hackneyed fantastical claim to kolanut's understanding ONLY the Igbo language, until you just pointed out the understandable linguistic displacement of Yoruba with the Igbo language with respect to kolanut.

It is one more proof of our deep sibling relationship, and in this case cultural displacement phantasmagoria.

And there you have it.


Bolaji Aluko

On Friday, September 4, 2015, 'DIPO ENIOLA' via AfricanWorldForum <africanw...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
> Most of Igbo culture is borrowed. Even, the Yam festival which is very popular in Ndiibgo is borrowed. The ceremonies surrounding kola nut is borrowed from the
> Great Yoruba people. Kola nut is grown in Yoruba land, the land of Milk and honey. Now, Igbo people when in their gatherings are apt to say the only language kola nut understands is the dying Igbo language.
> That is bull.
> The Oha 1
> Ahu Nze, Ebie Okwu
> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
>
> On Sep 4, 2015, 3:14:25 PM, Gregg Ukaegbu wrote:
>
> I doubt if Africans had a tradition of shaking hands until the white man came. But I am aware they hug each other as a sign of brotherhood (Wale Adebayo).
>
> Handshake, like laughter, is something everybody, everywhere, does the same way. It is not an exclusive preserve of the whiteman, it is innate in all humans.
>
> Way back when, way before paper, handshake was a contract. Some cultures took it further for serious stuff like “no more war between us” “support me in beating up that yellow-haired chief over there…..” stuff like that. For agreements that serious to be sealed with a handshake, both parties made razor-thin cuts in the palm of their right hands, and as soon as blood starts coming out, they shake hands, and mix blood and that’s forever. The Mafia still uses that method seal agreements that can’t be violated.
>
> No left hand handshakes. It is an insult, although Americans like to turn things upside down. They “even shake hands” their elbows and do “terrorists-fist-bumps”. Those ain’t no handshakes.
>
> In different cultures in Nigeria, girls do a serious type of handshake contracts with guys they love, especially those who were going overseas. The call it “drinking blood” but what it actually is a bloody handshake. It could be pin-prick or razor cut, but the intent is same. It is predicated on “blood is powerful” and it is, — da life force.
>
> So when 2 people mix up blood as a form of solemn agreement, it should be joked with. It is a type of “Forget-Me-Not” and the first one to violate it, goes crazy. Now you know why there are so many crazy Nigerians abroad. Though I sprinkled some joke in there, call any elderly Nigerian you know and ask them what happens when people violate the type of agreement I just described.
>
> *ezekwe*
>
> From: Wale Adedayo [mailto:adeda...@gmail.com]
> Sent: Friday, September 4, 2015 12:32 PM
> To: Vin Otuonye
> Cc: africanworld ; NIgerianW...@yahoogroups.com; imperi...@yahoo.com; develop...@googlegroups.com; okonkwo...@googlegroups.com; ayooju...@yahoo.com;odide...@yahoo.com; rexmari...@yahoo.com; badu...@aol.com;omo...@yahoogroups.com; nebuka...@aol.com; naijain...@googlegroups.com;wharf...@yahoo.com; vin_mo...@yahoo.com; adung...@yahoo.com; stda...@gmail.com;nationa...@yahoo.com; ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk; abraha...@yahoo.com; topc...@yahoo.com;yemif...@gmail.com; femmy...@yahoo.com; therea...@yahoo.com; ekuju...@yahoo.com;petercl...@yahoo.com; ejan...@yahoo.com; guka...@comcast.net; ken.as...@gov.mb.ca;ogbuo...@yahoo.com; aim.s...@gmail.com; niger...@yahoogroups.com; ozodi...@gmail.com
> Subject: Re: Bolaji: Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi
>
> "No Igbo child is taught to "bow" to an elder - whether he "commands respect, has clout, dignity, honor" - or not. In any case, in Igbo land, an "oke-mmadu" is an an "oke-mmadu" and title and achievement only enhances that; it does not diminish the status. Igbo children are taught to shake hands." - Obi Nwakanma
>
> This statement caught my attention. And want to learn. I doubt if Africans had a tradition of shaking hands until the white man came. But I am aware they hug each other as a sign of brotherhood. How come greetings in Igboland involve shaking of hands, which we seem to have copied from the white man?
>
> Wale Adedayo
>
> Publisher, Uhuru Times (http://www.uhurutimes.com)
>
> Alternate email: wale.a...@uhurutimes.com
>
> Tel: 08133878568
>
> bb pin: 2ABB2682
>
> Skype: wale.adedayo
>
> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wale.adedayo
>
> Twitter: @waleadedayo
>
> On 4 September 2015 at 15:18, Vin Otuonye <Vincent...@msn.com> wrote:
>
> Obi:
>
> Oke Osisi is one of those Umu Amuru Nu'ozo Ije. However, one thing I detest about Oke Osisi and his likes is when they speak with some air of authority. Oke Osisi speaks as if he knows what he's talking about. Like you I am born outside Igbo land. I most likely would have done what you did at that age.
>
> Vin Cool Breeze Otuonye
>
> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Rex Marinus <rexma...@hotmail.com>
> Date:09/04/2015 9:22 AM (GMT-05:00)
> To: "NIgerianW...@yahoogroups.com" <nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com>,africanw...@googlegroups.com, imperi...@yahoo.com, Igbo Events <igboe...@yahoogroups.com>, igbowor...@yahoogroups.com
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> Subject: RE: [NIgerianWorldForum] Re: [africanworldforum] RE: Bolaji: Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi
>
> Oke Osisi:
>
> No Igbo child is taught to "bow" to an elder - whether he "commands respect, has clout, dignity, honor" - or not. In any case, in Igbo land, an "oke-mmadu" is an an "oke-mmadu" and title and achievement only enhances that; it does not diminish the status. Igbo children are taught to shake hands. The single rule of respect in that regard is that they are taught that they will not be the first to proffer the hand before the elder. It would be considered rude. The elder proffers the hand first. No man bows to the other in Igbo land. You may be talking about "oloro-ohuru" - the new hybrid Igbo who have acquired all kinds hybrid habits. Again, let me illustrate with a story.
>
> In 1975, on returning from Ibadan, I went to the "mmanya Orie" gathering with my father's uncle. Now, my great grandfather had forty-five wives: some survived him; some he survived; some had children; some did not. But you can imagine the extent of his compound. My section of the compound - that is my grandfather and his siblings - are known as "Umu Nwanyieke." Every Orie-Ukwu, the day appointed in Igbo Odinala as the "Day of the ancestors" - a sort of Igbo holiday or "sunday" - the agnates of these compounds meet in a sort of potluck. There will be women of the compound whose turn it would be to "gwoo Ugba." Also, on this very day, any man whose palm drips its first strain of wine, is obligated to bring a pot of that first round - one "atuma mmaya" - to the umunna as of right. The old men gather and sort out, in the light mood of these gatherings, any possible problem in the families.
>
> So, here I went, with my father's oldest surviving uncle, by now, the patriarch of "Umu Nwanyieke." On getting there, my first instinct was to prostrate before the elders, as I had seen Yoruba boys do. It was purely instinctual. And I had the greatest reprimand of my life that day. Nwa-Njoku Elodibe had ingot for eyes. In my mind, they were blazing red. He had two brass rings on either of his legs, and his dentition was hooked, and in my mind of the child he looked absolutely demonic. His voice was not that loud, it was in fact slight, and muffled by the deformity of his mouth. But from that mouth I heard "Taa! Guzoro! Onye gwara gi! Guzoro kwem n'aka. Isi gi di Nso, nwam!" (trans: "Taa! stand up! Who taught you this? Stand up and shake my hands. Your head is holy my child). And then, he turned to my father's uncle, who also happened to be his age mate, and said, "Ucheoma, owu etua k'unu si azugbuwe Umu a?" (Ucheoma, is this how you're bringing up this children, and quite badly?) To which my grand uncle said, "Ou Umu Amuru n'uzo ije!" (It is children born outside this land). I have never forgotten that lesson very early in my life. I spent a term of primary school with my grandmother in that village, and never bowed to anyone. Rather, in fact, we made friends with old men, and they took our highest regard as a matter of course. Maybe I should qualify this: there is no child, in my part of Igbo land, who is taught to bow to an older man. We shake hands, and call them, "De" or "Nna-anyi." Enough of this distraction.
>
> Obi Nwakanma
>
> ________________________________
>
> To: africanw...@googlegroups.com; imperi...@yahoo.com
> CC: ayooju...@yahoo.com; odide...@yahoo.com; rexmari...@yahoo.com;badu...@aol.com; omo...@yahoogroups.com; nebuka...@aol.com; naijain...@googlegroups.com; wharf...@yahoo.com; nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com; vin_mo...@yahoo.com;adung...@yahoo.com; stda...@gmail.com; nationa...@yahoo.com; ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk;abraha...@yahoo.com; topc...@yahoo.com; yemif...@gmail.com; femmy...@yahoo.com;therea...@yahoo.com; ekuju...@yahoo.com; petercl...@yahoo.com; ejan...@yahoo.com;guka...@comcast.net; ken.as...@gov.mb.ca; ogbuo...@yahoo.com; aim.s...@gmail.com;niger...@yahoogroups.com; rexma...@hotmail.com; ozodi...@gmail.com
> From: NIgerianW...@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2015 07:31:25 -0500
> Subject: [NIgerianWorldForum] Re: [africanworldforum] RE: Bolaji: Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi
>
> My comments on the bow down topic had nothing to do with what Zik did and/or did not do with the Ooni. It was merely to put to rest, the ridiculous exertion by some, that Igbos do not greet their elders by virtue of bowing down. Yes, bowing down to elders in Igbo land is reserved for those elders who have clout, command respect, honor and dignity. Not just for every "Dick and Harry". The "bow down" accord of respect is earned.
>
> Oke Osisi
>
> "Common Sense, Uncommon Knowledge"
>
> Sent on a Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note® 3
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: 'Philip Achusim' via AfricanWorldForum <africanw...@googlegroups.com>
> Date: 09/03/2015 9:10 PM (GMT-06:00)
> To: africanw...@googlegroups.com, africanw...@googlegroups.com,imperi...@yahoo.com
> Cc: ayooju...@yahoo.com, odide...@yahoo.com, rexmari...@yahoo.com,badu...@aol.com, omo...@yahoogroups.com, nebuka...@aol.com, naijain...@googlegroups.com, wharf...@yahoo.com, nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com, vin_mo...@yahoo.com,adung...@yahoo.com, stda...@gmail.com, nationa...@yahoo.com, ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk,abraha...@yahoo.com, topc...@yahoo.com, yemif...@gmail.com, femmy...@yahoo.com,therea...@yahoo.com, ekuju...@yahoo.com, petercl...@yahoo.com, ejan...@yahoo.com,guka...@comcast.net, ken.as...@gov.mb.ca, ogbuo...@yahoo.com, aim.s...@gmail.com,niger...@yahoogroups.com, rexma...@hotmail.com, ozodi...@gmail.com
> Subject: Re: [africanworldforum] RE: Bolaji: Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi
>
> Nwanna:
>
> If that is the case, why the fuss about Ooni of Ile Ife bowing or not bowing to Zik? Are you sure you understand the issue here? I don't think you do. Where I come from and in the rest of Igbo land, we know the various ways we apologize or give thanks to one another. Ima afo na ani. You start ima afor na ani and the other party will ask you not to complete the process. Heck. When I receive a fat check, I know what I do so that the sucker can write better and bigger checks every time. But when a mere handshake is being interpreted as anything else, I will not let anyone get away with a prejudiced interpretation.
>
> A still photograph cannot tell the full story. What were they saying to each other? You can say something to someone, or call his special name and he takes a bow. You pay a fortune to watch a thespian like me on stage, at the conclusion of the play, with thunderous applause, we take a bow. Are we bowing really to even ofeke and okporoko in the audience? All I know is that the picture shows Zik shaking hands with Ooni. If Ooni was sitting while Zik was standing, and Ooni was of good health, then the issue would be what was Zik demanding of Ooni? May be Zik was interested in one of Ooni's palace girls.
>
>
> And I am
> Ezeana Achusim
> Odi-Isaa
> Nwa Dim Orioha AKA Onyeukwu.
>
> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
>
> On Sep 3, 2015, 8:32:41 PM, 'Oke Osisi " Common Sense, Uncommon Knowledge "' via AfricanWorldForum wrote:
>
> Bowing to elders is nothing new in Igbo land. It's been an age old practice. Anyone who says otherwise is not being truthful. Besides, everyone entering the court in Nigeria bow to the judge and magistrate.
>
> Oke Osisi
>
> "Common Sense, Uncommon Knowledge"
>
> Sent on a Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note® 3
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: 'Philip Achusim' via AfricanWorldForum
> Date: 09/03/2015 5:36 PM (GMT-06:00)
> To: africanw...@googlegroups.com, africanw...@googlegroups.com,imperi...@yahoo.com
> Cc: ayooju...@yahoo.com, odide...@yahoo.com, rexmari...@yahoo.com,badu...@aol.com, omo...@yahoogroups.com, nebuka...@aol.com, naijain...@googlegroups.com, wharf...@yahoo.com, nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com, vin_mo...@yahoo.com,adung...@yahoo.com, stda...@gmail.com, nationa...@yahoo.com, ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk,abraha...@yahoo.com, topc...@yahoo.com, yemif...@gmail.com, femmy...@yahoo.com,therea...@yahoo.com, ekuju...@yahoo.com, petercl...@yahoo.com, ejan...@yahoo.com,guka...@comcast.net, ken.as...@gov.mb.ca, ogbuo...@yahoo.com, aim.s...@gmail.com,niger...@yahoogroups.com, rexma...@hotmail.com, ozodi...@gmail.com
> Subject: Re: [africanworldforum] RE: Bolaji: Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi
>
> I did not see Zik bow to anyone. I saw Zik shakes hands with a guy. Period.
>
>
> And I am
> Ezeana Achusim
> Odi-Isaa
> Nwa Dim Orioha AKA Onyeukwu.
>
> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
>
> On Sep 3, 2015, 5:28:23 PM, 'elombah daniel' via AfricanWorldForum wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
> Methinks an Igbo guy that goes to marry a Yoruba girl will prostrate before his father in law, in deference to the tradition of his in-laws.
>
> Just as the great Zik did the right thing here in bowing before the Ooni of Ife, if he pays a courtesy to the Ooni, perhaps while hunting for political support/votes.
>
> I am from Nnewi, but married from Abia, as any Anambra man knows, there is very wide disparity between traditional marriage rites in Anambra and Abia states. Yet I still underwent certain observances according to the tradition of my in-laws that does not violate my principles,
>
> So while I would ordinarily never bow before any human being, yet I may, if I so wish, prostrate before my father in law, if I were to marry from Yoruba land. I don't see anything wrong with that.
>
> That is in keeping with the Igbo adages:
>
> Nke onye diri ya.
>
> Iga na mba, ime ka mba.
>
> Nku di na mba na eghere mba nri.
>
> Nke onye chiri, ya zere
>
> Having said that, I doff my hat to Obi Nwakamma, his submissions were impeccable.
>
> Ndewonu
>
> +447460770987
>
> +44-2088087999
>
> Every Nigerian that has something important to say, says it on www.elombah.com
>
> Follow us on twitter @Elombah
>
> On Thursday, September 3, 2015 10:59 PM, 'Philip Achusim' via AfricanWorldForum wrote:
>
> Imperial:
>
> The mere thought or discussions to plan on how to harm Ezeana has always led to mass burials. Just ask my Ekiti friends. Ile Ife, with my ile efi dinner, will be prostrating and bidding for the right to keep my overnight company.
>
>
> And I am
> Ezeana Achusim
> Odi-Isaa
> Nwa Dim Orioha AKA Onyeukwu.
>
> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
>
> On Sep 3, 2015, 4:43:20 PM, Imperial wrote:
>
> Ezeana,
>
> You better don't be his first guest after installation in order not to say bye bye to the world like Bobo Doherty.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Sep 3, 2015, at 21:39, Philip Achusim <pach...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Ayo:
>
> I hope you become the next Ooni. At 6 feet, I will have to stoop low enough as I go through the doors to see which dames are there in your palace to keep me company for the night. I understand the door to the guest room is only 5 feet tall. After your coronation as the new Ooni of Ile Ife, I will be your first overnight guest to check out ife ndi Ile Ife have for their Royal overnight guest. Ile efi is my favorite whenever I am in Ile Ife. Ile efi goes well with egusi as only Ile Ife can manufacture in their kitchen.
>
> Ayo. If there is anything Ezeana be an do to help you become the next Oini, don't hesitate to call on me.
>
>
> And I am
> Ezeana Achusim
> Odi-Isaa
> Nwa Dim Orioha AKA Onyeukwu.
>
> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
>
> On Sep 3, 2015, 2:21:06 PM, Ayo Ojutalayo wrote:
>
> Bolaji,
>
> These our Igbo friends (Nebu, Ezeana, Vin and Ken) will have no choice but to bow should I become Ooni. I will politely ask them to be taught in public if they greet me in public without bowing. If Zik could, I won't accept any thing less from any Nigerian.
>
> Ayo Ojutalayo
>
> “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. ” . . . Martin Luther King Jr
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Mobolaji Aluko
> To: Imperial
> Cc: afis ; "africanw...@googlegroups.com" ; Obi Nwakama ; "badu...@aol.com" ; "omo...@yahoogroups.com" ; Nebu ; "naijain...@googlegroups.com" ; "wharf...@yahoo.com" ; "nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com" ; "vin_mo...@yahoo.com" ; Ezeana Igirigi Achusim ; "adung...@yahoo.com" ; "stda...@gmail.com" ; "nationa...@yahoo.com" ; "ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk" ; Abraham Madu ; "topc...@yahoo.com" ; "yemif...@gmail.com" ; "femmy...@yahoo.com" ; "therea...@yahoo.com" ; "ekuju...@yahoo.com" ; "petercl...@yahoo.com" ; "ejan...@yahoo.com" ; "guka...@comcast.net" ; "ken.as...@gov.mb.ca" ; Peter Opara ; "aim.s...@gmail.com" ; "niger...@yahoogroups.com" ; "rexma...@hotmail.com" ; Ozodi Osuji
> Sent: Thursday, September 3, 2015 3:09 PM
> Subject: Re: [africanworldforum] RE: Bolaji: Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi
>
> Imperial:
>
> May your tribe increase!
>
> The interesting thing is that a "Prince Ojutalayo" has just entered the race for the Ooni-ship in Ile-Ife. I am not saying that it is our very own Ayo, but in the event that it is, it would mean that Zik of Africa once bowed down for Ayo - even if anachronistically - and Vin, Obi, Ezaeana, Ken and all these other Igbo siblings of ours better start taking lessons in bow-man-ship, and start lining up.
>
> I may have to stop calling Ayo by his name soon.
>
> And there you have it.
>
>
> Bolaji Aluko
>
> On Thursday, September 3, 2015, Imperial <imperi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> The incontrovertible evidence presented by Prince Ayo Ojutalayo has sealed the entire argument. Zik of Africa was the greatest Igbo man known to history so his sayings and deeds should be reference point to all discerning Igbo people around the world . This photo has contracted the widely held belief that all Igbos are unruly and uncultured ; it also lends credence to another historical facts that there is a form of cultural linkage between the Onitsha people , Edo people and Yoruba people .
>> NEBU please surrender !
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>> On Sep 3, 2015, at 16:39, afis <odide...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Vin Otuonye, you see why you call yourself "Olodo"?
>> Zik was seen bowing to greet a King, you are now talking foolishly.
>> So, if you visit Queen of England you won't bow, and a woman won't bend at the knee?
>> Then you foolishly try to move the soccer post to fit your banana shot. Why don't you bring out Okpara's picture at the same event showing he did not bow?
>> You are a lawyer, you mouthing don't bring out any doubts unless you show us some counter-picture.
>> Shikena
>> afis
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Vin Otuonye <vincent...@msn.com>
>> To: Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
>> Cc: africanworld <africanw...@googlegroups.com>; Obi Nwakama <rexmari...@yahoo.com>; "badu...@aol.com" <badu...@aol.com>; "odide...@gmail.com" <odide...@gmail.com>; "omo...@yahoogroups.com" <omo...@yahoogroups.com>; Nebu <nebuka...@aol.com>; "naijain...@googlegroups.com" <naijain...@googlegroups.com>; "wharf...@yahoo.com" <wharf...@yahoo.com>; "imperi...@yahoo.com" <imperi...@yahoo.com>; "nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com" <nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com>; "vin_mo...@yahoo.com" <vin_mo...@yahoo.com>; Ezeana Igirigi Achusim <pach...@yahoo.com>; "adung...@yahoo.com" <adung...@yahoo.com>; "stda...@gmail.com" <stda...@gmail.com>; "nationa...@yahoo.com" <nationa...@yahoo.com>; "ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk" <ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk>; Abraham Madu <abraha...@yahoo.com>; "topc...@yahoo.com" <topc...@yahoo.com>; "yemif...@gmail.com" <yemif...@gmail.com>; "femmy...@yahoo.com" <femmy...@yahoo.com>; "therea...@yahoo.com" <therea...@yahoo.com>; "ekuju...@yahoo.com" <ekuju...@yahoo.com>; "petercl...@yahoo.com" <petercl...@yahoo.com>; "ejan...@yahoo.com" <ejan...@yahoo.com>; "guka...@comcast.net" <guka...@comcast.net>; "ken.as...@gov.mb.ca" <ken.as...@gov.mb.ca>; Peter Opara <ogbuo...@yahoo.com>; "aim.s...@gmail.com" <aim.s...@gmail.com>; "niger...@yahoogroups.com" <niger...@yahoogroups.com>; "rexma...@hotmail.com" <rexma...@hotmail.com>; Ozodi Osuji <ozodi...@gmail.com>
>> Sent: Thursday, September 3, 2015 7:55 AM
>> Subject: [africanworldforum] RE: Bolaji: Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi
>>
>> Aluko:
>>
>> Don't confuse things. I have no problem showing and giving respect to an elder. It has nothing to do with any prideful self-esteem. But understand that respect, even when you give it to elders, is earned. I don't throw respect to a juvenile fool on account that he's older. I was not around during the time of Ooni Adesoji Aderemi but looking at that picture, he seemed to me like one who carried his office or authority with respect. But honestly, I don't know if I can say the same about the late Ooni, Sijuade. To me Ooni Sijuade was pompous and arrogant. But honestly, that is another topic for another day. BTW, did you seem Michael Okpara next to Zik. Michael Okpara was the typical Igbo born and bred with Igbo culture and tradition.
>>
>> Vin Cool Breeze Otuonye
>>
>> ________________________________
>> Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2015 12:09:46 +0100
>> Subject: Re: Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi
>> From: alu...@gmail.com
>> To: Vincent...@msn.com
>> CC: africanw...@googlegroups.com; nigerianw...@yahoogoups.com;rexmari...@yahoo.com; badu...@aol.com; odide...@gmail.com;omo...@yahoogroups.com; nebuka...@aol.com; naijain...@googlegroups.com;wharf...@yahoo.com; imperi...@yahoo.com; nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com;vin_mo...@yahoo.com; pach...@yahoo.com; adung...@yahoo.com; stda...@gmail.com;nationa...@yahoo.com; ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk; abraha...@yahoo.com; topc...@yahoo.com;yemif...@gmail.com; femmy...@yahoo.com; therea...@yahoo.com; ekuju...@yahoo.com;petercl...@yahoo.com; ejan...@yahoo.com; guka...@comcast.net; ken.as...@gov.mb.ca;ogbuo...@yahoo.com; aim.s...@gmail.com; niger...@yahoogroups.com;rexma...@hotmail.com; ozodi...@gmail.com
>>
>>
>> Vin:
>>
>> Ayo Ojutalayo has done it again - brought out an incontrovertible picture of the Great ZiK of Africa respectfully and rightly bowing before the Ooni of Ife - with Obi Nwakanma in the picture (he is the one to the right of the Ooni Ojutalayo could not recognize, smiling approvingly :-)?)
>>
>> Lookia, Vin: last week or two, I watched in full display on NTA the Ofala (New Yam) Festival of the Onitsha people, and saw the display of respect and bowing/prostrating obeisance that was paid to the Obi of Onitsha by his subjects/citizens. (The Obi was my former Shell quarters chess partner Obi Achebe.) If ZiK and yourself were "born and bred outside Igboland", are all the Onitsha people too so outerly bred?
>>
>> Abeg, ye'm efe! Too many of you harrumph boorishbess, and confuse it with prideful self-esteem. It doesn't even come out as arrogance but childish boorishness.
>>
>> Thank you bo, Ayo. I am sure there are pictures on that same day showing Awo and Sardauna - and even Nwakanma Rex Marinus el-Dada - the Forrest Gump of Nigerian politics - bowing to the Ooni.
>>
>> And there you have it!
>>
>>
>> Bolaji Aluko
>> Having a belly laugh
>>
>> On Thursday, September 3, 2015, Vin Otuonye <Vincent...@msn.com> wrote:
>>> Ayo:
>>> Get over it. Zik is just like me - born and bred outside Igbo land. If we're talking about one with knowledge of Igbo tradition and culture, surely you don't come to me or Zik. But you see how deceitful you are? Last night it was Biafra soldiers raping Mid West (and by the way Yoruba also) girls and women. Today it is Zik bowing to the Ooni of Ife. Please did Zik prostrate to the Ooni? It is because Yoruba people have taken respect too far that no Yoruba person in this forum has the gut to call you to order. They close their eyes and allow an elder to act childish in public. But I see you're not alone. You have company with those in their mid 50s.
>>> Vin Cool Breeze Otuonye
>>>
>>> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
>>>
>>> -------- Original message --------
>>> From: 'Ayo Ojutalayo' via AfricanWorldForum <africanw...@googlegroups.com>
>>> Date:09/03/2015 2:38 AM (GMT-05:00)
>>> To: africanw...@googlegroups.com, nigerianw...@yahoogoups.com, Obi Nwakama <rexmari...@yahoo.com>
>>> Cc: badu...@aol.com, odide...@gmail.com, omo...@yahoogroups.com, B o l a j i A l u k o <alu...@gmail.com>, Nebu <nebuka...@aol.com>, naijain...@googlegroups.com,wharf...@yahoo.com, imperi...@yahoo.com, nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com,vin_mo...@yahoo.com, pach...@yahoo.com, adung...@yahoo.com, stda...@gmail.com,nationa...@yahoo.com, ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk, Abraham Madu <abraha...@yahoo.com>,topc...@yahoo.com, yemif...@gmail.com, femmy...@yahoo.com, therea...@yahoo.com,ekuju...@yahoo.com, petercl...@yahoo.com, ejan...@yahoo.com, guka...@comcast.net,ken.as...@gov.mb.ca, Peter Opara <ogbuo...@yahoo.com>, aim.s...@gmail.com,niger...@yahoogroups.com, rexma...@hotmail.com, Ozodi Osuji <ozodi...@gmail.com>
>>> Subject: [africanworldforum] Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi
>>>
>>> <https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/wec0HPlaeX25WhBZu6vFLZd4SwrBIX45m3yrvofw6XYMtQ6bNFmssgZz5GpIPwUS2bKktdUfQhmzfiL1FSYNeH_xXtHNx67u5XvQXyYL-3E40kO0xVhDFWp_4f9MOuz-M20q9KnUcWyquCV6DEM6viUMO8SmFL3kK0nY30e8SXg=s0-d-e1-ft#https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRek9AaWWddLS2f_px_rVUpj4yPrjnXgDthJS0TdpjFg5Uy_1hNQA>
>>>
>>> Zik of Africa bows in public as he shakes hands with Oba Adesoji Aderemi, Ooni of Ife. That is exactly the way Chief Awolowo and other Yoruba leaders would greet Ooni in public. Looking on: Chief Akintola to the right of Ooni, Tafawa Balewa standing to t

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

This has been an exciting exchange through which some of us ignoramuses got a bit of an education.

That was a whacking! “Spare the rod and spoil the child” was the old system in Saro that is before the RUF plunged the country into war and in time even kids as young mortals who in normal times would have been trembling in fear were now toting AK-47s as child soldiers and threatening to pull the trigger on you if you as much as didn’t obey their marching orders.

 The Saro angle – and the role and etymology of the various grammars of kola nut in the history of the Old Mali Empire etc. should not be a waste of space.

We could do with a lot more of these kind of erudite exchanges , even in little dribs and pieces, a little at a time, just that much that a human’s mind has the capacity to  digest at just one sitting and straight reading, after which Dr. Mind (or even the honourably Retired Dr. Mind Emeritus sitting in comfort and luxury can say, and say truthfully, I read  (Truman Capote?) or I have read “Look Homeward Angel”  (not having understood anything)  have read this and that, but seldom will you see him waving his PhD dissertation - like Kwame  Anthony Appiah), all he is ever waving is just his  little or big dick magnum opus , in some cases which nobody gonna read, not even with a magnifying glass, have never read , remain unread – like some of the classics, till all the leaves turn yellow and all the pages crumble into dust , but for the retrieval systems…

And as some of the most educated tell us, after they’ve told us that we are a bunch of illiterates (for which reason we say it back to them): “the fingers of the left hand are not the same” – and that’s - no need to mention the fecund Falola, and that’s why on the same hand you have people like Okwui Enwezor

Senor Ikhide was asking a while back why some of the big bloated egos like to write big fat books that ain’t nobody in Boko Haram gonna read.

But of absolute relevance, even for the non-reading public and some of the self-confessed ignoramuses among us , what is freely available of Okey Iheduru’s  work is always of relevance to our diaspora and home issues and instead of wild prophetic  gestures and random chaos,  he  throws much analytical insight( light) and statistical data into the works….

Cornelius

We Sweden

...

[Mobolaji Aluko]

Ewaen Edoghimioya:

1.  You should calm down......you are too high-strung......life is too short for you to blow your fuse every time you read something that you don't agree with about Edo-land.  It is a pathology that consumes you..... Na wetin?  Even if you have been given the chieftaincy title of "Guardian of Edo-land Language and Culture", you nor dey go leave?

2.  I am not a supremacist.  I am just trying to make sense of the linguo-cultural linkages among Nigerian peoples, particularly south of the Niger.

3.  I never used the word "corrupted", which would be perjorative, rather I have written about different "renditions" of the same word,  particularly with vowel and consonant substitutions, which are accepted linguistic explanations.  What word came first might be a result of history and geography, and speculation about first and later is not about supremacy.  What comes first comes first, if at all,  whether you or I state so or not.  Neither one of us is even 100 years old yet, so how can we be sure?

4.  Now coming to think of it, what first escaped me was that  "Obi",  "Evbe" and "Ebe"  all have the "b" letter in the sound, and end with the same  "bi' sound if the Edo "be" was written to mimic the "be" in "to be" in English rather than "be" in "to bay."  So the transition from "Obi" to the Edo renditions could in fact be a matter of double vowel substitution conveying exactly the same word rather than my earlier speculation of "Evbe" being a rendition of "Awe", which remains a distinct possibility.  This is scholarship, not boorish thuggery and name-calling that you are trying to introduce, Ewaen Edoghimioya, the alleged Edaiken N'Uselu of Igodomigodo, otherwise I would be seriously disappointed.

5.  I will take your own explanation via the Izoduwa - Oduduwa - Benin chiefs - ripe kolanut - Obi - Benin soldiers route as a failed attempt at comic relief and levity, and I won't accuse you of a creeping attempt at supremacist re-writing of history.  But I may be wrong....I have been known to be wrong.

Let me end by quoting a wise man:

QUOTE

In all these gibberish, therein, lie the truth, which will eventually set all of free.  So, long as we don't shout down and curse at each other, purposed only, to shut up anyone whose argument seems to us, to be making more sense than ours, this "Market Square" is, and, will always be, the best classroom of all  to acquire the best knowledge that even, money cannot buy.

The irony is that it comes free, with absolutely, no charge.

 - Ed Nwa-Emeanua

UNQUOTE

Let us move on.

And there you have it.  You should apologize, but I know that you won't.

Bolaji Aluko

On Sat, Sep 5, 2015 at 10:48 PM, ewaen edoghimioya <ewae...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

I just read the Yoruba Supremacist Bolaji Aluko's falsified version of the Yoruba origin of the name of Kolanut in Edo language. Firstly the Edo have the letter "W" in their alphabet and have no reason to corrupt the Yoruboid "AWE" into Ẹvbẹ.

According to Benin oral tradition, after the Benin Edo chiefs found their Prince Idoduwa (Yoruba -Oduduwa) was living in Ilẹ-Ife   (which the Yoruba call Ile Ifẹ) as King among the Yoruba, they took some Ẹvbẹ (Kolanut) as gifts to him. Immediately Idoduwa saw the Kolanuts, he exclaimed in joy " Ẹvbẹ na wa bi" meaning that these Kolanuts are ripe. But since the Yoruba have never seen Kolanuts before, and the do  not have the double letter "vb" in their alphabet and could not pronounce the name "Ẹvbẹ"they opted to call it by the last word mentioned by Idoduwa which was "bi" and since then, they started calling Kolanut- Obi. Benin's initially exported Evbe to them, but when many Benin soldiers moved in Yorubaland to effect their colonization particularly Bolaji Aluko's Ekitiland, they taught and made the Yoruba's to be growing Ẹvbẹ for the entertainment of the Benin Soldiers. Since then, the Yoruba have been growing Kolanut for their Benin Colonizers and Fulani Jihadist Colonizers in Ilorin. 

Ewaen

On Saturday, 5 September 2015, 7:48, "Baduba54 badu...@aol.com [NIgerianWorldForum]" <NIgerianW...@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

I am in a real school now. I am learning. I used to impart (teach), but this time I have my own desk.

 

Obiajulu

 

 

> To: "NIgerianW...@yahoogroups.com" <nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com>,africanw...@googlegroups.com, imperi...@yahoo.com, Igbo Events <igboe...@yahoogroups.com>, igbowor...@yahoogroups.com
> Cc: ayooju...@yahoo.com, odide...@yahoo.com, rexmari...@yahoo.com,badu...@aol.com, omo...@yahoogroups.com, nebuka...@aol.com, naijain...@googlegroups.com, wharf...@yahoo.com, vin_mo...@yahoo.com, adung...@yahoo.com,stda...@gmail.com, nationa...@yahoo.com, ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk, abraha...@yahoo.com,topc...@yahoo.com, yemif...@gmail.com, femmy...@yahoo.com, therea...@yahoo.com,ekuju...@yahoo.com, petercl...@yahoo.com, ejan...@yahoo.com, guka...@comcast.net,ken.as...@gov.mb.ca, ogbuo...@yahoo.com, aim.s...@gmail.com,niger...@yahoogroups.com, ozodi...@gmail.com
> Subject: RE: [NIgerianWorldForum] Re: [africanworldforum] RE: Bolaji: Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi
>
> Oke Osisi:
>
> No Igbo child is taught to "bow" to an elder - whether he "commands respect, has clout, dignity, honor" - or not. In any case, in Igbo land, an "oke-mmadu" is an an "oke-mmadu" and title and achievement only enhances that; it does not diminish the status. Igbo children are taught to shake hands. The single rule of respect in that regard is that they are taught that they will not be the first to proffer the hand before the elder. It would be considered rude. The elder proffers the hand first. No man bows to the other in Igbo land. You may be talking about "oloro-ohuru" - the new hybrid Igbo who have acquired all kinds hybrid habits. Again, let me illustrate with a story.
>
> In 1975, on returning from Ibadan, I went to the "mmanya Orie" gathering with my father's uncle. Now, my great grandfather had forty-five wives: some survived him; some he survived; some had children; some did not. But you can imagine the extent of his compound. My section of the compound - that is my grandfather and his siblings - are known as "Umu Nwanyieke." Every Orie-Ukwu, the day appointed in Igbo Odinala as the "Day of the ancestors" - a sort of Igbo holiday or "sunday" - the agnates of these compounds meet in a sort of potluck. There will be women of the compound whose turn it would be to "gwoo Ugba." Also, on this very day, any man whose palm drips its first strain of wine, is obligated to bring a pot of that first round - one "atuma mmaya" - to the umunna as of right. The old men gather and sort out, in the light mood of these gatherings, any possible problem in the families.
>
> So, here I went, with my father's oldest surviving uncle, by now, the patriarch of "Umu Nwanyieke." On getting there, my first instinct was to prostrate before the elders, as I had seen Yoruba boys do. It was purely instinctual. And I had the greatest reprimand of my life that day. Nwa-Njoku Elodibe had ingot for eyes. In my mind, they were blazing red. He had two brass rings on either of his legs, and his dentition was hooked, and in my mind of the child he looked absolutely demonic. His voice was not that loud, it was in fact slight, and muffled by the deformity of his mouth. But from that mouth I heard "Taa! Guzoro! Onye gwara gi! Guzoro kwem n'aka. Isi gi di Nso, nwam!" (trans: "Taa! stand up! Who taught you this? Stand up and shake my hands. Your head is holy my child). And then, he turned to my father's uncle, who also happened to be his age mate, and said, "Ucheoma, owu etua k'unu si azugbuwe Umu a?" (Ucheoma, is this how you're bringing up this children, and quite badly?) To which my grand uncle said, "Ou Umu Amuru n'uzo ije!" (It is children born outside this land). I have never forgotten that lesson very early in my life. I spent a term of primary school with my grandmother in that village, and never bowed to anyone. Rather, in fact, we made friends with old men, and they took our highest regard as a matter of course. Maybe I should qualify this: there is no child, in my part of Igbo land, who is taught to bow to an older man. We shake hands, and call them, "De" or "Nna-anyi." Enough of this distraction.
>
> Obi Nwakanma
>
> ________________________________
>
> To: africanw...@googlegroups.com; imperi...@yahoo.com
> CC: ayooju...@yahoo.com; odide...@yahoo.com; rexmari...@yahoo.com;badu...@aol.com; omo...@yahoogroups.com; nebuka...@aol.com; naijain...@googlegroups.com; wharf...@yahoo.com; nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com; vin_mo...@yahoo.com;adung...@yahoo.com; stda...@gmail.com; nationa...@yahoo.com; ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk;abraha...@yahoo.com; topc...@yahoo.com; yemif...@gmail.com; femmy...@yahoo.com;therea...@yahoo.com; ekuju...@yahoo.com; petercl...@yahoo.com; ejan...@yahoo.com;guka...@comcast.net; ken.as...@gov.mb.ca; ogbuo...@yahoo.com; aim.s...@gmail.com;niger...@yahoogroups.com; rexma...@hotmail.com; ozodi...@gmail.com
> From: NIgerianW...@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2015 07:31:25 -0500
> Subject: [NIgerianWorldForum] Re: [africanworldforum] RE: Bolaji: Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi
>
> My comments on the bow down topic had nothing to do with what Zik did and/or did not do with the Ooni. It was merely to put to rest, the ridiculous exertion by some, that Igbos do not greet their elders by virtue of bowing down. Yes, bowing down to elders in Igbo land is reserved for those elders who have clout, command respect, honor and dignity. Not just for every "Dick and Harry". The "bow down" accord of respect is earned.
>
> Oke Osisi
>
> "Common Sense, Uncommon Knowledge"
>
> Sent on a Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note® 3
>

> -------- Original message --------
> From: 'Philip Achusim' via AfricanWorldForum <africanw...@googlegroups.com>
> Date: 09/03/2015 9:10 PM (GMT-06:00)
> To: africanw...@googlegroups.com, africanw...@googlegroups.com,imperi...@yahoo.com

> Cc: ayooju...@yahoo.com, odide...@yahoo.com, rexmari...@yahoo.com,badu...@aol.com, omo...@yahoogroups.com, nebuka...@aol.com, naijain...@googlegroups.com, wharf...@yahoo.com, nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com, vin_mo...@yahoo.com,adung...@yahoo.com, stda...@gmail.com, nationa...@yahoo.com, ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk,abraha...@yahoo.com, topc...@yahoo.com, yemif...@gmail.com, femmy...@yahoo.com,therea...@yahoo.com, ekuju...@yahoo.com, petercl...@yahoo.com, ejan...@yahoo.com,guka...@comcast.net, ken.as...@gov.mb.ca, ogbuo...@yahoo.com, aim.s...@gmail.com,niger...@yahoogroups.com, rexma...@hotmail.com, ozodi...@gmail.com
> Subject: Re: [africanworldforum] RE: Bolaji: Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi
>

> Nwanna:
>
> If that is the case, why the fuss about Ooni of Ile Ife bowing or not bowing to Zik? Are you sure you understand the issue here? I don't think you do. Where I come from and in the rest of Igbo land, we know the various ways we apologize or give thanks to one another. Ima afo na ani. You start ima afor na ani and the other party will ask you not to complete the process. Heck. When I receive a fat check, I know what I do so that the sucker can write better and bigger checks every time. But when a mere handshake is being interpreted as anything else, I will not let anyone get away with a prejudiced interpretation.
>
> A still photograph cannot tell the full story. What were they saying to each other? You can say something to someone, or call his special name and he takes a bow. You pay a fortune to watch a thespian like me on stage, at the conclusion of the play, with thunderous applause, we take a bow. Are we bowing really to even ofeke and okporoko in the audience? All I know is that the picture shows Zik shaking hands with Ooni. If Ooni was sitting while Zik was standing, and Ooni was of good health, then the issue would be what was Zik demanding of Ooni? May be Zik was interested in one of Ooni's palace girls.
>
>
> And I am
> Ezeana Achusim
> Odi-Isaa
> Nwa Dim Orioha AKA Onyeukwu.
>
> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
>
> On Sep 3, 2015, 8:32:41 PM, 'Oke Osisi " Common Sense, Uncommon Knowledge "' via AfricanWorldForum wrote:
>
> Bowing to elders is nothing new in Igbo land. It's been an age old practice. Anyone who says otherwise is not being truthful. Besides, everyone entering the court in Nigeria bow to the judge and magistrate.
>
> Oke Osisi
>
> "Common Sense, Uncommon Knowledge"
>
> Sent on a Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note® 3
>

> -------- Original message --------
> From: 'Philip Achusim' via AfricanWorldForum
> Date: 09/03/2015 5:36 PM (GMT-06:00)
> To: africanw...@googlegroups.com, africanw...@googlegroups.com,imperi...@yahoo.com

> Cc: ayooju...@yahoo.com, odide...@yahoo.com, rexmari...@yahoo.com,badu...@aol.com, omo...@yahoogroups.com, nebuka...@aol.com, naijain...@googlegroups.com, wharf...@yahoo.com, nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com, vin_mo...@yahoo.com,adung...@yahoo.com, stda...@gmail.com, nationa...@yahoo.com, ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk,abraha...@yahoo.com, topc...@yahoo.com, yemif...@gmail.com, femmy...@yahoo.com,therea...@yahoo.com, ekuju...@yahoo.com, petercl...@yahoo.com, ejan...@yahoo.com,guka...@comcast.net, ken.as...@gov.mb.ca, ogbuo...@yahoo.com, aim.s...@gmail.com,niger...@yahoogroups.com, rexma...@hotmail.com, ozodi...@gmail.com
> Subject: Re: [africanworldforum] RE: Bolaji: Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi
>

> Subject: Re: [africanworldforum] RE: Bolaji: Zik bows as respect to Ooni Adesoji Aderemi
>

> Imperial:
>
> May your tribe increase!
>
> The interesting thing is that a "Prince Ojutalayo" has just entered the race for the Ooni-ship in Ile-Ife. I am not saying that it is our very own Ayo, but in the event that it is, it would mean that Zik of Africa once bowed down for Ayo - even if anachronistically - and Vin, Obi, Ezaeana, Ken and all these other Igbo siblings of ours better start taking lessons in bow-man-ship, and start lining up.
>
> I may have to stop calling Ayo by his name soon.
>

> And there you have it.
>
>
> Bolaji Aluko
>

> On Thursday, September 3, 2015, Imperial <imperi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> The incontrovertible evidence presented by Prince Ayo Ojutalayo has sealed the entire argument. Zik of Africa was the greatest Igbo man known to history so his sayings and deeds should be reference point to all discerning Igbo people around the world . This photo has contracted the widely held belief that all Igbos are unruly and uncultured ; it also lends credence to another historical facts that there is a form of cultural linkage between the Onitsha people , Edo people and Yoruba people .
>> NEBU please surrender !
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>> On Sep 3, 2015, at 16:39, afis <odide...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Vin Otuonye, you see why you call yourself "Olodo"?
>> Zik was seen bowing to greet a King, you are now talking foolishly.
>> So, if you visit Queen of England you won't bow, and a woman won't bend at the knee?
>> Then you foolishly try to move the soccer post to fit your banana shot. Why don't you bring out Okpara's picture at the same event showing he did not bow?
>> You are a lawyer, you mouthing don't bring out any doubts unless you show us some counter-picture.
>> Shikena
>> afis
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Vin Otuonye <vincent...@msn.com>
>> To: Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
>> Cc: africanworld <africanw...@googlegroups.com>; Obi Nwakama <rexmari...@yahoo.com>; "badu...@aol.com" <badu...@aol.com>; "odide...@gmail.com" <odide...@gmail.com>; "omo...@yahoogroups.com" <omo...@yahoogroups.com>; Nebu <nebuka...@aol.com>; "naijain...@googlegroups.com" <naijain...@googlegroups.com>; "wharf...@yahoo.com" <wharf...@yahoo.com>; "imperi...@yahoo.com" <imperi...@yahoo.com>; "nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com" <nigerianw...@yahoogroups.com>; "vin_mo...@yahoo.com" <vin_mo...@yahoo.com>; Ezeana Igirigi Achusim <pach...@yahoo.com>; "adung...@yahoo.com" <adung...@yahoo.com>; "stda...@gmail.com" <stda...@gmail.com>; "nationa...@yahoo.com" <nationa...@yahoo.com>; "ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk" <ijeb...@yahoo.co.uk>; Abraham Madu <abraha...@yahoo.com>; "topc...@yahoo.com" <topc...@yahoo.com>; "yemif...@gmail.com" <yemif...@gmail.com>; "femmy...@yahoo.com" <femmy...@yahoo.com>; "

...

[Message clipped]  

[Salimonu Kadiri]

The ability of chameleons to modify the pigment of their skin to reflect the predominant colour of their immediate environment cannot make them claim to be the owner or the originator of the colour of the environment in which they intrude. Pseudo historians and quasi-intellectual are now busy churning out make-belief history, fictions and fantasy and imaginary fables of what they wish the history of their ethnic groups were some centuries ago. However, the archaeological and even physical evidence till date would not support the psycho-babbles they tout as their glorious past ethnic history.

 

When the colonialist arrived in Nigeria, they met the various ethnic groups at different stages of human developments. While the Sultan/Emirate system of government existed in the North, Oba/Bãlè system of government and administration prevailed in the Yoruba land of the West. In the Igbo land of the South East there was no organised system of government. What happened was narrated by Professor Chidi Osuagwu thus, "The Igbo identity crisis began in 1929. The British had just introduced the warrant chief-system to enhance their colonial administration in Eastern Nigeria. In the North and West, the monarchs made the (colonial) system work. But the East had no monarchy with such overwhelming powers as in the other two (North and West). They therefore created warrant chiefs for that purpose. This is the root of the presence of many traditional rulers and autonomous communities in Igbo-land, with their attendant boundary and chieftancy violence (www.vanguardngr.com/2013/09/aba-women-riot-split-igboland)." Lord Lugard subsequently imported red Caps from Morocco to dignify the warrant chiefs who were later elevated to either  Obi, Eze or Igwe. The Igbo protested with the slogan,*Igbo Enwe Eze,* Igbo have no kings followed by *Ezebuilo* a King is an enemy. The anti monarch attitude of the Igbo has wrongly be interpreted as Igbo's penchant love for Republicanism but, on the contrary, it is anarchism, I Before Others (IBO) or I Grab Before Others (IGBO).

 

Many centuries before the advent of the colonialist in Nigeria, Ògún, whose mother's name was Tábútú and father's name was Òrónnà, mined iron ore and worked it into metals with which he mass-produced cutlass, hoe and axe. His invention revolutionised not only agriculture in Yoruba-land but art of war during his time. Ògún later migrated from Ife to Ìrè Èkìtì where he settled down as the defender of Èkìtì where no enemy dare ventured to attack or invade in those days. When Ewaen Edoghimioya, now claim that the Benins conquered Èkìtì, introduced kola nut tree to them and forced them to produce cola nuts for Edo soldiers, he must be living in a dream world where the dog thumbed the nose of a lion. Ewaen Edoghimioya must explain why all dead Oba (King) of Benin up till 1936 were buried in Ile Ife and not Benin. Ògún was respected, deified, and worshiped in all parts of Yoruba-land  as God because of his invention that gradually led to the invention and production of dene guns, similar to those used during World War I in Europe, in Oyo. At Ife, there are archaeological evidence that the Yorubas had reached brons age as  far back as 13th century even though imitators, the chameleons, nowadays claim that they were the original producers of brons in Nigeria. Before Europe ever knew what cotton was, Yoruba grew not only cotton but carded, spine and wove it into cloths. The textile Yoruba Aso Òkè is subdivided into three: Sányán, Etù and  Àlárì. SÁNYÁN is a raw silk, coarse women silk; ETÙ is a Yoruba cloth resembling the feathers of guinea-fowl and ÀLÁRÌ is dyed red cotton cloth. ASÓ ÒGBÒ is linen while TÉRU is an undyed cloth and ÀDÌRE is a cloth dyed in patterns. These cloths, up till date, are sown in different styles of clothes for males and females as occasions demand. Honestly considered, I will say that the intrusion of Europeans into Yoruba-land impeded and destroyed the technological and industrial developments in Yoruba-land. The colonial education robbed the Yoruba their inventiveness, creativity and originality. Yet, Chinua Achebe appraised the European invasion thus, "The coastal branches of the Yoruba nation had some of the earliest contact with the European missionaries and explorers as a consequence of their proximity to the shoreline and their own dedication to learning. They (the Yoruba) led the entire nation in educational attainment from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries (There Was a Country, p.75)." Earlier on p.74 Achebe wrote, "Although the Yoruba had a huge historical and geographical head start, the Igbo wiped out their handicap (against the Yoruba) in one fantastic burst of energy in the twenty years between 1930 and 1950. ... the Igbo moved out of their forest home, scattered and virtually seized the floor." Why it happened Achebe asserted on p. 75 thus, "The population density in Igbo land created a land hunger - a pressure on their low-fertility, laterite laden soil for cultivation, housing and other purposes, factors that led ultimately to migration to other parts of the nation." Obi Nwakanma has heard about Oji Igbo and Oji Hausa (Gworo) but not Oji Yoruba. He claimed further that Oji Igbo is indigenous to Igbo tropical rain forest. Is Oji Hausa also indigenous to the Hausa Savanah grassland? Since we all know that kola nut trees do not grow in the North, from where does Obi Nwakanma get his Oji Hausa? Can Obi Nwakanma insinuate that because the British consume a lot of chocolates, therefore there is Cocoa British, grown in Britain? Can kola nut tree grow in the low-fertility, laterite laden soil of Igbo land as described by Achebe? When Igbo moved out of their forest home to migrate to Yoruba land, was there any recorded history that they took along with them cola nut seeds or trees? If according to Achebe, the Igbo wiped out their handicaps against the Yoruba between 1930 and 1950, would it not be logical to say that the Igbo were developmentally inferior to the Yoruba, at least, before 1930? No matter how historical revisionist may twist history, a fact that cannot be disputed is that Dr. Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe who brought civilisation into Igbo-land was born in Zugeru, Hausa/Fulani land and he grew up and schooled in Lagos, Yoruba-land. He spoke Hausa and Yoruba better than Igbo. Similarly, Louis Philip Ojukwu, grew up in Zungeru from where he moved to reside permanently in Lagos. Every prosperous Igbo man in Nigeria has dwelled in Yoruba-land before his/her prosperity came to light and none of them came with cola nut seeds or trees before settling down. 

Case closed

S. Kadiri

 

---

Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2015 00:34:15 +0100
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: [NIgerianWorldForum] Re: On the Matter of Edo names for Kola-Nuts
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[Rex Marinus]

"The anti monarch attitude of the Igbo has wrongly be interpreted as Igbo's penchant love for Republicanism but, on the contrary, it is anarchism, I Before Others (IBO) or I Grab Before Others (IGBO)."

-Salimonu Kadiri

Kadiri, if you were bright, it might actually be a real pleasure to engage with you, but you're too pedestrian, and predictable, and so responding to some of your inebriated pieces often gives me an out-of-body experience. But just so as to sort out some of your anxieties: I am glad you realize that "Ibo" means, "I before others." That' quite correct. I am Igbo, and I like to be ahead of the curve. I do not like to be part of the herd, you see. I understand that your own ethic is, " Others before me" (OBM). Good for you! You might think it charitable to always give way to others, but it is none of that. It has to do with something profoundly weak and flawed in your character. I therefore understand how exasperated you might feel about the Igbo, who are actually, not shy about getting ahead, even if, in a crowd, and even if they have to trample on your head, to pluck that ripe fruit.

Igbo, yes, means, "I grab before others." It also means, "I go before others." So, here is the deal: for good or for ill, the Igbo like to lead the way. It is about the innovative spirit. It may occasionally bring out the beast in them, as when they have to fight for a molue in Lagos, in order to arrive first in their offices. They have to go bro! It also means, when you need them to do things, for self and for nation, they go first.  In dangerous assignments, which requires sacrifice, the Igbo ethic of being first kicks in. While you're still yawning in your bed from coital exhaustion, the Igbo go first on the streets, selling anything from pure water to the hard stuff. Igbo also logically means, "I GIVE BEFORE OTHERS" - since they have to be first in all things, and to be ahead in all things, they also give of themselves, first before others. So, what is your trouble? You don't like it, jump into the well. What you call "anarchism" you do not understand, because an anarchic people do not wake up every third sunday of the moment, anywhere they are in the world, to meet in community and family associations, with regularity. That is not anarchism. That is discipline. So, yes, Ibo/Igbo, is everything that you imagine them to be - your greatest fear. You poor soul.

Obi Nwakanma

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From: ogunl...@hotmail.com
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: [NIgerianWorldForum] Re: On the Matter of Edo names for Kola-Nuts
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2015 19:44:14 +0200

[Salimonu Kadiri]

Nwakanma, I am sorry for the delay in responding to your trite submission below. Since you are so bright, so un-pedestrian, and so unpredictable I consider it worthwhile to extricate you from your historical delusion. I Before Others is individualism which is the father of selfishness and mother of greediness. It is everything for me and nothing for others. The ideology or the practice of 'I Before Others' started in 1943, when Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe founded the first ethnic Union in Nigeria called, IBO Federal Union that later changed to *IBO State Union*. The consequence of *I Before Others* politics culminated into the 15th January 1966 incident in which the nationalist Majors were ambushed and got their revolution, not only, stolen but converted into ethnic triumph by *I Before Others.* Lieutenant Colonel Victor Banjo was the first military officer that challenged the seizure of the coup of the nationalist Majors by the *I Before Others* and he was immediately incarcerated on January 17, 1966. When the dust of 15th January 1966 settled, Nigerians asked, what political and economic offence did Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, Samuel Ladoke Akintola, Festus Okotie-Eboh, Brigadier Zakari Maimalari, Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun, Colonel Robert Shodeinde, Colonel Kuru Mohammed, Lieutenant Colonel Arbogo Largema, and Lieutenant Colonel James Yakubu Pam commit that Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nwafor Orizu, Michael Ihenokura Okpara, Dennis Osadebay, Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe, Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi, Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Lieutenant Colonel H. Njokwu, and Lietenant Colonel P. A. O. Anwuna did not commit. *I Before Others* discountenanced all questions and treated all questioners contemptuously. Then came 29 July 1966 and the tragedy that followed. When the then Captain Theophilous Yakubu Danjuma was about to arrest Major General Aguiyi Ironsi at the Government House, Ibadan, where he was a host to the Governor of Western Region, Lieutenant Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, the Governor told Danjuma that if he took Ironsi he should take him also and that unselfish principle made Fajuyi not to abandon his GOC to the point of death. The *I Before Others* action of 15th January 1966 eventually led to civil war and lost of millions of innocent Lifes.

 

After the civil war, the *I Before Others* in a curious way realized that an alphabet, *G* was missing between I and B, thus, the new ideology progressed from *I Before Others* to *I Grab Before Others*. If we limit it to the last 16 years of PDP government in Nigeria, the only position the *I Grab Before Others* have not held is just the Presidency. They have produced five Senate Presidents, Deputy Senate President, Deputy Speaker, Minister of Defence, Chief of Army Staff, Director General Immigration, DG Federal Prison Service, Minister of Power, Chairman Nigerian Electrical Regulatory Commission, Minister of Petroleum, Minister of Health, Minister of Labour and Productivity, Minister of Finance, Permanent Secretary to the Minister of Finance, Director General Budget Office, Chief Executive Officer Sovereign Wealth Fund, Governor of Central Bank, DG Security Exchange Commission, Secretary to the Government of the Federation etc. Yes, they grabbed for themselves individually to the exclusion of the people of their ethnic group, on whose behalf they claim to be holding their respective offices, and the entire nation they were required to serve. I Grab Before Others have led the nation, Nigeria, to where we are all complaining about today. What you, Nwakanma, should learn is that the moment a person is claiming a right that he is denying other people and see them only as object to be deceived and exploited, he is creating a problem for himself. In a society, someone must lead but the leader must be just, not oppressive and exploitative to the masses. You might be accustom to trampling on the head of someone to pluck ripe fruit but one day you would encounter someone who would chop off your legs so that you would, forever, not be able to trample on the head of others to pluck ripe fruit. When it happens like that, it is usual to hear head tramplers, like you, shout persecution.

 

When Lugard arrived Nigeria, although he could identify Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Benin ethnic group, there was no ethnic group he could identify as IBO or IGBO. Unlike the North and West where there were Emirs and Obas, through which the colonial administration could function respectively, there was no form of administration in IBO or IGBO-land which compelled Lugard to introduce Warrant Chiefs from which Eze, and Igwe subsequently evolved. It was this pre-Lugard era in Igbo land that I referred to as period of anarchism. Community and Family association which you referred to was a later day exercise beginning with Nnamdi Azikiwe's Igbo Federal Union in 1943. Even as at that, there are two classes of Igbo i.e. Diala - the masters and Osu - the slaves. Depending on what part of Igbo land, Osu is even called Oru or Ohu. On March 20, 1956, Nnamdi Azikiwe seconded the motion for the second reading of the Abolition Osu System Bill in the Eastern House of Assembly, but the Diala/Osu system is still in operation in Igbo land till date. When the Diala and Osu Igbo are outside their home origin, they submerge their differences and act as siblings against the people of their host community who they often try to convert into their own slaves. Therefore, the community and Family Association's meetings of the Igbos you referred to only function outside Igbo land but back in Igbo-land it is Diala/Osu, Ohu or Oru relationship. With that said, I want to assure you that I do not fear the Igbo and on the contrary, I love them just as I love other Nigerians. It is for that reason that I react to your fables called Nigerian history. Finally, if you love your neighbour as yourself you will never contemplate to trample on his/her head to pluck ripe fruit. About love, says 1 Corinthians chapter 13: 4-7, Love is patient and kind. Love envies no one, is never boastful, never conceited, never rude; love is never selfish, never quick to take offence. Love keeps no score of wrongs, takes no pleasure in the sins of others, but delights in the truth. There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope, and its endurance. There are three things that last forever: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of the three is love.

I rest my case.

S. Kadiri 

 

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From: rexma...@hotmail.com

To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: [NIgerianWorldForum] Re: On the Matter of Edo names for Kola-Nuts

Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2015 23:27:07 +0000

[Abolaji Adekeye]

Call it rofo rofo rumble,
even bolekaja in Bodija.

Shots have been fired
Noses put out of joint
Gladiators are about.

Bespectacled spectator
i remain neutral, un- neutered

Ogun's iron fist is sheathed
deceptively in velvet glove
but the ol' Mariner must
have his day and yarn his tale.

But roforofos do not end
there's alway mud to sling.

> "AWE" into Ẹvbẹ.According to Benin oral tradition, after the Benin Edo

[Rex Marinus]

"Finally, if you love your neighbour as yourself you will never contemplate to trample on his/her head to pluck ripe fruit. "

-Salimonu Kadiri

You, Salmonu Kadiri, are not my neighbor. There is something monstrous about your "imagining" of the Igbo that makes you extremely dangerous and psychotic, and snake-like. You're too much of a fascist, and we don't bat on the same creases: fascism should be stepped on the head. I feel the need to be as direct as possible in my response to you and not beat about the bush. And to be clear, there's nothing you've written here that is rooted in fact. It is the kind of motor park history that leaves tar in the mouth of the better-informed. As a matter of fact, I actually feel embarrassed reading some of your ill-digested stuff in this forum.  I'll probably leave the historians on this forum to correct some of your presumptions and contribute a bit to your public education. Meanwhile, (A) the Igbo Union had been in existence long before Azikiwe returned from the US in 1934. Their first public activity probably was the reception organized to welcome Dr. Onwu on his return to Port-Harcourt in 1932 after Medical education in the UK. Long before the Igbo Union came into existence, there had been other ethnic unions, including the Ibibio union, possibly the first organized in the East. The Igbo Union was formed in any case, to articulate Igbo interest in a colonial Nigeria, and to partner with other groups in Nigeria to fight for Nigeria's independence. It basically organized the urban Igbo - clerks, tradesmen, merchants - basically the new Igbo urban middle class that had spread across Nigeria in good numbers. Azikiwe was offered leadership of the Igbo Union, and he led them to be part of a broad national coalition that became the NCNC, and publicly resigned his position, because as he also publicly stated, it felt in conflict with his aspiration to lead a broader national movement.

(B) when you meet him in hell, you may ask Victor Banjo why George Kurubo and Patrick Anwunah arrested him - specifically what he was doing with his service pistol and the new Head of state's briefing of the Nigerian High Command in Marina. You could also ask him what part he, and Francis Fajuyi played in the planning of the Jan. 15 coup. If you also meet him, you should also ask Emma Ifeajuna, why he organized and led the coup, and whether he consulted with his Igbo kinsmen in planning a coup for which Awolowo was to be released and made Premier. Perhaps when you also read Ifeajuna's manuscript which had been seized in Enugu in 1966 from the offices of Okigbo and Achebe's Citadel press, and sent to Awolowo, and which has yet to be put in print, you might have some of your questions answered, although I doubt very much that it'll make a difference. I should say here that in my own bid to understand the mind of the coupists of January 15, 1966, I at least interviewed the now late Ademola Ademoyega, and Humphrey Chukwuka, in order at least to root myself in some fact other than popular street fiction as you are wont o spout. The question is: when did Ifeajuna consult the Igbo and their political representatives about planning a coup, for which the entire Igbo had to be slaughtered in your justification, because they are, "I before Others?" In what material or even political ways did Ironsi's ascension to office benefit the Igbo in disregard of other Nigerians? Chuks Iloegbunam's highly informed and well-written biography of Ironsi, Ironside, one had hoped, had put to rest some of the misinformation that you continue to articulate. Fajuyi was killed in that coup by the troops, not because he clung in defence of Ironsi, but because he had been a supporter of that coup, and had been vocal in the SMC in defence of the rights of the coup plotters. But of course, you love myth, and the lovable myth of an altruistic Fajuyi suits your fascist fantasy.

D) Salimonu Kadiri, I'll like you to name Igbo that you know who is "Osu" and whose political and economic rights have been abridged as a result. One of the things I find both odd and amusing about you is your penchant for broad strokes; a pretence to authority on issues you know so little about, but which feeds your anti-Igbo comeuppance. Perhaps, you do not know, but Igbo Community Development Association Meetings happen as much in Igbo cities at Aba, Owerri, Port-Harcourt, as it happens in Lagos, Abuja, Yola or Ibadan. Indeed, the All-August meetings of Igbo women take place in the East. They meet to discuss community development, not the colonization of Salimonu Kadiri. If Lugard told you that there was no organized Igbo government(s), what did Achebe's Things Fall Apart  and  Arrow of God, tell you? But you prefer, Lugard, don't you? If there were no identifiable Igbo that Lugard could see, how come therefore that Olaudah Equiano clearly described himself and the culture from which he was taken in his 18th c. account, long before Lugard came? But you do love your Lugard, and you forget his introduction to Sylvia Leith-Ross's book, African Women (1930). Your colonial mentality and fantasies are indeed quite unique. So, the Igbo are unique in the individual positions they've occupied in Nigeria, at least, by your timeline, in the last 16 years? Pray, tell me: in what ways did the Igbo, even individually, benefit from appointments to positions in government, far more than any other people in Nigeria, so much that they "grabbed" before others? The Igbo have not been in power in Nigeria since 1966; have largely functioned outside of governments, and have remained in direct terms, the least beneficiaries of the largesse of governments in Nigeria since 1966. Of all the regions of Nigeria, the South-East has the smallest direct federal allocation, the least direct federal investment; the highest level of unemployment, and the least number of people, compared to other regions, appointed to federal positions. Yet, you cannot help your Igbo antipathy. I think it is psychiatric - this haunting fear of the Igbo, who in your fear and fantasy, are about to "enslave" host communities. Everytime these statements are made about people, the Jews, the Kikuyu, the Igbo, and so forth, I am particularly wary because of their history as precursor to pogroms and holocausts. That is why I now say, Salimonu Kadiri, if what you think and say about the Igbo is your love for them stop loving them.

Obi Nwakanma

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From: ogunl...@hotmail.com
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: [NIgerianWorldForum] Re: On the Matter of Edo names for Kola-Nuts

Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2015 21:05:50 +0200

[Bode]

 "Before Europe ever knew what cotton was, Yoruba grew not only cotton but carded, spine and wove it into cloths. The textile Yoruba Aso Òkè is subdivided into three: Sányán, Etù and  Àlárì. SÁNYÁN is a raw silk, coarse women silk; ETÙ is a Yoruba cloth resembling the feathers of guinea-fowl and ÀLÁRÌ is dyed red cotton cloth. ASÓ ÒGBÒ is linen while TÉRU is an undyed cloth and ÀDÌRE is a cloth dyed in patterns. These cloths, up till date, are sown in different styles of clothes for males and females as occasions demand."

Salimonu Kadiri

There is a movie about Sango in 15th century Yorubaland that features these rich attires. A friend had asked if the Yorubas actually donned the colorful fabrics on display in that movie as far back as the 15th century. When we affirmed that they did, he was baffled! Well, understandably because after all Africans did not wear clothes until Europeans came! It may smack of ethnic pride to point this out, but I think all Africans should affirm positive aspects of African history wherever they may have occurred and not leave the burden of proclaiming these achievements to the groups whose heritage it happens to have been. 

Bode