‘The Assertion That Ikwerre People Are Igbo Is Offensive, Insulting, Shameful..’

For anybody to assert that the Ikwerre people are Igbo, is Offensive, Insulting, Shameful and disgusting.

In fact, it is insensitive, careless and uncivilised for Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu particularly to say so.

This the stance of the Ikwerre socio-cultural group, the Iwhnurohna Progressive Organisation (IPO), following a meeting in Port Harcourt.

Dr. Okahchukwu Dibia, who heads the group, stated this position while reading the position of the organisation.

“To us at IPO, Ikwerre is Igbo means that all the ancestral communities in Ikwerre originated from Igbo. This is not true and can never be true, hence our reply to him and indeed Ohaneze.

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“For the avoidance of doubt, the Ikwerre people are a distinct ethnic nation recognised in Nigeria and the United Nations. Ikwerre language is one of the recognised languages in Nigeria and the United Nations (UN).

“Whoever is in doubt can contact the appropriate government authorities in Nigeria and the UN. While Ikwerre is our political name, Iwhnurohna is our native name, and both refer to the same people: Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality.

“We live and own the Emohua, Ikwerre, Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt City (in alphabetical order) local government areas in Rivers State, Niger Delta, South South geo-political region of Nigeria”, he stated trying to draw a distinction.

“Consequently, IPO’s reply to Iwuanyanwu is that language, name, dances, songs, dressing cannot be and should not be used as determinants of who Ikwerre is. IPO wish to reply Iwuanyanwu that who a man truly is, is more about his core innate character and behaviour than the physicals he sees.

“IPO’s reply to Iwuanyanwu on the history of Ikwerre is that Iwhnurohna is a Federation of Aborigines and Migrants who have come together under one political roof called Ikwerre Ethnic Nation. It is therefore very unthinkable and childish to claim that Ikwerre is Igbo because of the existence of few Aro communities allowed to settle in Ikwerreland”, he argued.

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Citing the works of some renowned scholars like Prof. Otonti Nduka, he insisted that the assertion that Ikwerre people are Igbo

Is offensive Dibia used thematic headings of appearances, innate qualities and history to explain that the Ikwerre remained distinct from the Igbo despite similarities in their language.