native Rivers people please explain this

[MIprincess]

Why were the following towns changed from their original names to make them sound more "Rivers"?

Obigbo becoming Oyigbo
Umuola becoming Rumuola
Umueme becoming Rumueme

as well as other towns I cant remember, I know some like Obigbo which is a huge oil producing town were annexed in 1976 from Imo state. The then Rivers state gov who did the change was Chief Melford Okilo.

Also why were a lot of PH street names changed after the war, for example: Umuigbo was changed to Rumuigbo.

I've been reading up about this lately, and just trying to understand some stuff, any informative response would be kindly appreciated.

[WT]

MIP na wa for u ohh. even me that lived in PH my whole time in naija didnt know those names were changed.

To my knowledge sha "rumu" means community. so all the rumola, rumokwuta, rumuibekwe, rumodara etc simply mean okwuta community for rumuokwuta.

As for Melford Okilo he was a rogue so i wont be suprised if he did some of that stuff for monetary gain.

[Lefty]

I think rum means children of dat's wat i heard anyway when i lived in PH

[NnekaLawal]

One of my friends told me that it occurred after communities were divided and made part of different states.

Anywho, he said that in an attempt to make ibos weaker, they were divided and some of them were made a part of Rivers State and the names were changed to give those people a different identity. So when you tell them they're ibo they'd say stuff like, "No, I'm not ibo, see my language is different. You people say 'umu,' and we say 'rumu'...."

I hope this explanation helps. I don't think I did a good job explaining it sha. I'll ask my friend more questions.

[Ariya]

I'm not a Rivers native, but I've been interested in the belief that villages/communities changed their name after the Biafran war for a while. Does anyone know if this actually happened, or is it a legend? It's quite possible that many areas that wanted to be identified as Igbo before the war (when Igbos like Michael Okpara ran the Eastern region) decided to drop that affiliation after it was no longer useful.

This happened in the old Western region, where the Oba of Benin was counted as a Yoruba regent since colonial days and took part in the council of obas etc. and claimed descent from Oduduwa of Ife under British rule, but when it became clear that minorities in the West might be dominated/absorbed by Yoruba-speakers with little chance of political expression for Edo/Urhobo/Esan etc., there was agitation for the creation of a Mid-West region. This is part of the reason, IMO, that the current Oba of Benin is eager to promote his "hidden" version of the Oduduwa myth, which de-emphasizes his Ife lineage and promotes an Edo cultural heritage. Yoruba and Edo share the word "omo" for "child"/"people of (a town, village etc.), just like "umu" in Igbo (all from the same root) might be similiar/shared with any number of languages in eastern Nigeria (Ikwere etc) that use the term "rumu" for the same purposes.

The North has much more cohesion over this, but the creation of the Middle Belt region by Northern, non-Muslim and non-native Hausa-speakers is a similar story.

The similarity in sound between two languages isn't enough of a basis to conscript people into that group. If Ikwere/Nkwere etc. render their name for community as "rumu", that may be the more accurate way of describing themselves in that language (some would say dialect, but I disagree) than joining a larger ethnic group (Igbo) with whom they share similarites. To use another example, Itsekiri language is largely indistinguishable from Ijebu Yoruba--it's pretty much mutually intelligible, with the exception of some Edo/Ijaw vocabulary. Many Itsekiris claim Yoruba identity generally, but overal Itsekiri is still recognized as a separate and unique ethnicity in its own right, because of their cultural uniqueness and long interaction with neighboring groups (Ijaw, Edo/Bini etc). It would be wrong to insist that Itsekiri should all claim "Yoruba" identity because of these links, even though some claim it on an individual basis. Ethnicity is not a precise delineation; it's like citizenship in that people move, change, and develop new identities, sometimes without giving up their old ones.

If the name changes did happen (I don't know for sure that they did or didn't), it's possible that non-Igbo speaking communities tried to change their language, community names etc. to conform to standardized Igbo in order to be considered part of a progressive, educated Igbo-led Eastern region before the war, abadoned the idea after independence and the Biafran war, when Igbo idenity was not as helpful.

[Ariya]

Alright--I just re-read that and it sounded like a dissertation summary written by some buck-toothed geek in a library somewhere. Hope you get my point though...

[Hawtie]

Originally Posted by Ariya

If Ikwere/Nkwere etc. render their name for community as "rumu",

Ikwerre and Nkwerre are not the same thing.

Nkwerre people refer to children as umu.

[Ariya]

Originally Posted by Hawtie

Ikwerre and Nkwerre are not the same thing.

Nkwerre people refer to children as umu.

My mistake--I read that some people claim Ikwerres are related to/a variation of Nkwerres. I mixed the two up.

[harcourtgrl]

My dad actually told me this story years ago. Harold Wilson drive used to be called Onwenu Drive (after Onyeka's dad). Prior to the civil war, a lot of ibo people owned properties in Port Harcourt, most streets were named by and after the ibo people. The ibo people left Port Harcourt during the war and never returned and so the names were changed... Not sure if it has to do with your question. I don't speak or understand ibo so I have no clue on what those things mean.. I know those Rumu places tho..
@MIPrincesss - u be PH girl?

You might want to ask Nnekalawal she be conc Ikwerre woman.... she sabi ride bicycle and carry cassava on her head (AT THE SAME TIME), with bucket of water on the cassava....

[harcourtgrl]

Originally Posted by WT

MIP na wa for u ohh. even me that lived in PH my whole time in naija didnt know those names were changed.

To my knowledge sha "rumu" means community. so all the rumola, rumokwuta, rumuibekwe, rumodara etc simply mean okwuta community for rumuokwuta.

As for Melford Okilo he was a rogue so i wont be suprised if he did some of that stuff for monetary gain.

Come oh,as much as I always stand for my Bayelsa brothers, I support you with this. I don't see anything that man did oh... in comparison to Diete Spiff or even Alams sef.

[WT]

Originally Posted by harcourtgrl

Come oh,as much as I always stand for my Bayelsa brothers, I support you with this. I don't see anything that man did oh... in comparison to Diete Spiff or even Alams sef.

Diete Spiff and Oyakhilome were the best rivers governors.

[NnekaLawal]

Originally Posted by harcourtgrl

You might want to ask Nnekalawal she be conc Ikwerre woman.... she sabi ride bicycle and carry cassava on her head (AT THE SAME TIME), with bucket of water on the cassava....

Ya've started. One minute you call me ajebuta, another minute you call me conk Ikwerre woman. G'an ask my bro when I learned how to ride a bicycle.

[MIprincess]

I guess I posted this to draw attention to some part of Naija history that many people(includin myself much up to recently) dont know about.

NnekaLawal you are SOOOOO right actually. My uncle was born in Oyigbo back when it was Obigbo for example. It was an "Igbo" area back when my grandparents were there in the late 1930s. Many people in the area changed their name after the war to escape persecution, many of my dad's close college friends from Ikwerre/Ndoni and other places changed their names to make it sound "less Igbo sounding". They went from being "Igbo" to throwing punches if you so much as called them that. All the "umu" places in Rivers were all changed to "rumu". It is said that right up to 1912 (when the name PH was given), anyone native to what is now known as Port-Harcourt called it "Igwe Ocha". Anyone doubting me should ask any elderly person from that area. It is known that Igbo and Ijaw groups originally inhabited the area b4 the British founded the city. The Igbo communities on either side on the Imo River are the same, be it in the Imo side or Rivers side.


@harcourtgirl, naah not a PH girl, but I've always been very interested in it, because PH was always talked about by fam members but more of what was. PH right now is a far cry of what it was in the 40s and 50s, it doesnt come anywhere close.

As for street names being changed within the city of PH, yup it all changed after the war, everyone lost property. Prior to the war, PH was basically an Igbo city, my mom grew up there partially, grandmother and all her siblings were born and raised in PH for example, along with many other families I know: the Onwenus, the Alozies, the Akwiwus...way too many names whose names circulated PH at that time.

@Ariya, it wasnt just wanted to be associated with Igbos, many were actual Igbo communities. The creation of states divided everyone, there are a couple of Igbo villages I know that used to be part of Enugu state, later became even part of Cross Rivers State that are now in Ebonyi state. Nigeria is funny like that.
The old Port-Harcourt province covered a wide area stretching into what is now known as abia and imo states.



There was soo much persecution done after the war, I dont blame anyone for trying to erase that part of their history. Take the Ikwerres for example, despite being the largest "ethnic group" in Rivers now, which they are, since the creation of Bayelsa, they still isnt an Ikwerre man as gov. Some say that its because the Ijaws and Kalabari see them as "Igbo" in culture and language, and wont allow that.

NnekaLawal are u Ikwerre, from what part if I may ask?

i dunno if this means anything but my grandma is Eche from Rivers and she considers herself igbo, but the language is kinda different but if you sha understand igbo you'll understand the language, so it is possible, that being said i think the amount of igbos in Rivers is smaller than people think

[MIprincess]

Originally Posted by IvanaHumpalot

i dunno if this means anything but my grandma is Eche from Rivers and she considers herself igbo, but the language is kinda different but if you sha understand igbo you'll understand the language, so it is possible, that being said i think the amount of igbos in Rivers is smaller than people think

All Igbo dialects are different, if a konk Abakiliki man spoke, I prob wont hear a word. That said its interesting that your grandmother considers hersef Igbo, while a lot of older Etche people consider themselves Igbo, some of the younger ones for politics sakes dont. For example today, Etche is considered the 4th largest "ethnic group" in Rivers, but I thought Ikwerre and Etche are one, so I dont get that??? I myself actually used to think the # of Igbos in Rivers was a lot smaller, but recent research and talking to older folks from the communities within Rivers is making me think differently tho. I wish folks would put politics aside for a min when dealing with culture.

Does anyone know the cultural difference between Ikwerre, Ahoada, Omoku and Ndoni?