Igbos are Bantus?

[seen]

I just found out today that Igbos are Bantus; am I the only one who didnot know this? I was also told that they are the only Bantus in West Africa (if you exclude Cameroon). I find that pretty interesting-so where did the Igbos migrate from and culturally do they feel any affinity or have any ties to other Bantus east of Nigeria.

[Turums]

Igbos are Hebrew. where did you get this Bantu rubbish from?

[kulata]

U just dey find out?

They got pygmy lineage

[swazi]

Hebrew,yeah right!

[anddar]

Igbos ARE NOT "Bantus." They are considered "Kwa" and "Benue-Congo" along with Yorubas and Edos, because of language. Calabar people, that is Efik and Ibibios, ARE considered to be bantus...

[seen]

Originally Posted by anddar

Igbos ARE NOT "Bantus." They are considered "Kwa" and "Benue-Congo" along with Yorubas and Edos, because of language. Calabar people, that is Efik and Ibibios, ARE considered to be bantus...

Hmm, interesting. I got this information from an informed person well versed in the history of the region. I just felt too embarrased about not knowing the fact that Igbos were bantu that I declined going into more about the specifics. Some Igbo sites I have checked out mention this as well others mention the opposite - at the very least it seems that if they are not Bantu they are semi-Bantu.

http://www.igbos.net/uwandiIgbo.htm
Ndigbo or the Igbo people are a sub-species of the Bantu racial stock that inhabit the tropical rainforest region of the Congo Basin stretching from Southern Nigeria through the Camerouns to Central Africa

[Obiageli™]

lol @yall arguing what igbos are and aren't... multiracials lomor

[Ariya]

Bantu is not really a racial category, or shouldn't be used as one anyway. It's just a made-up term to describe people who speak related languages, mostly in central and southern Africa. In the majority of those languages, "ntu" means "people" and "ba" is a way to make a word plural, so "Ba-Ntu" means "The People" in most (not all) of the languages that are part of that family. That's also where a lot of their ethnic names come from, i.e. Bakongo, Bamileke, Bakuba etc. Igbo is not one of those languages.

As Anddar said, there are some neighboring people in southeast Nigeria that are considered "semi-Bantu" because that's where the language family originated. Once you're in Cameroun, you're in Bantu-speaking territory.

Bantu languages all belong to the same Benue-Congo language family as Nigerian languages like Yoruba, Edo, Igbo etc., but they are not as closely related to the Nigerian languages as they are to each other. Many people who speak a Bantu language would be able to understand much of what somebody in another language is saying, i.e. kimbundu in Angola and kikongo in Congo are supposed to be as closely related as Spanish and Portuguese.

[Asa]

Igbos' ancestors are Hebrews or Black Jews

[Asa]

Interesting not because it talks about Igbos but becos it is the truth.
The Bantus ancestors are Hebrew or Black Jews- I didn't know the central congo of Nigerians are known as BantusUwa NdiIgbo

A lot has been written about Ndigbo, both as individuals and a nation. But all the writings despite their individual bents and affinities, have always affirmed that the Igbo is the quintessential African. The Igbo is among the most courageous and most optimistic races of men. He is endowed with a restless energy, which adventures and transcends the frontiers of impossibility. To this end, they are a people that value industry and respect great achievements, but not bowing or worshipping achievements of others, but aspiring always to better the achievement of the greatest.

Ndigbo or the Igbo people are a sub-species of the Bantu racial stock that inhabit the tropical rainforest region of the Congo Basin stretching from Southern Nigeria through the Camerouns to Central Africa. Ndigbo a proud race of tall, ebony black men that inhabit the South-East due South of the rainforest/mangrove belt of the continental shelf bordering the Bight of Biafra. They geographically inhabit the land East of the River Niger. Afigbo contended that the history and experiences of this people “was lived and experienced around the general area between the River Niger to the West and the Cross River to the East, and between the River Benue to the North and the Atlantic Ocean to the South. That was the terrestrial platform or theatre”[1] Oguejiofor situated them within latitude 5-7 North of the Equator and longitude 6-8 East of the Greenwich Meridians.[2] And this, which confines them to a comparatively small terrestrial space, does little justice to their population which places them approximately between 15 to 20 million people, making them one of the largest single ethnic groups in the whole of Black Africa[3]

Ndigbo as they are known are a very enterprising and adventurous race of men, whose language is Igbo. Today, this nation of over 35 million people have left their forest homes in the South East of Nigeria and could be found in almost all parts of the globe today. They are among the greatest sojourners in Africa due to their high degree of adaptability, enterprise and industry. Okwudili Ogbu, a philosopher friend of mine wrote that any part of the world that does not habour an Igbo man is either not habitable or does not exist[4]. This is a a nation of men whose ancient culture evolved a republican democracy so early in ancient antiquity while Greece and her Athens slumbered in primitivity; which structures was so destroyed by British colonialism have this unquenchable drive to achieve

He neither genuflects to anyone nor bows in subservience to anyone as a price for his subsistence on the social or gastronomic level. He believes that if a man assents, then his “chi” must concur. This accounts for his enterprise and industry. In this direction Ojukwu reminisced: “I must observe that the most remarkable features of the Igbo ethos have been the propensity for adventure and a penchant for achievement not allied to inherited blood or tradition or ancient conquest”[5] Chinua Achebe’s Things fall Apart essayed to paint this picture in Okonkwo who arose from the debilitating handicaps of his humble origins to ascend the highest pedestal of reckoning and respect in his village, through his personal industry. In doing this Achebe underscored the fact that in Igbo country, excellence, success and dignity is earned and not conferred by inheritance, but by hard work and a stubborn refusal to be a nobody; by a dogged surmounting of the obstacles imposed by birth, opportunity, and circumstance[6]

The egalitarian and republican nature of Ndigbo has a very deep root in their psyche and worldview. The concourse of their gods for example, bespeaks of multi-party democracy. The gods both good and evil are free to strive for attention, propitiation, libation and sacrifice. This accounts for the absence of a single Deity as well as a common tradition of origin. Oguejiofor agrees with this fact when he wrote that “each Igbo clan or village group seems to possess a tradition that is specific to it”[7] And the absence of these centralized religious conceptual schemes and structures for Oguejiofor “can be a pointer to their history and characteristics”[8]

The Igbo society abhors and seriously discountenances laziness. This is because they believe that only hard work can ensure someone’s admittance into the halls of glory, hence if a child washes his hands, he would certainly dine with the wealthy. Olauda Equiano equally mirrored this trait of the Igbo as he reminisced over the isle of his birth, which history has situated in Igbo heartland. Achebe’s Okonkwo despite his humble background ascended to the heights of respect and reckoning through personal prowess and industry, not through some hereditary monstrosity that obtains in other cultures.

This is the Igbo man for you. He is multitalented and courageously daring. He is the quintessential African. He believes that no height is too great to be scaled by a man who is ready to dare. This is rightly so because, the sky remains the playground of anyone who can soar to the heights. He is a pioneer and a frontiersman of some sort. Buttressing this, Oputa stated that “the Spaniards in 1593 identified the people inhabiting the terrain along the Bight of Biafra as a people noted for their art, a people who sojourn (niepa) who are industrious (Ola) and who delight in accomplishment[9] On realizing that he opened his views to random speculation as to the people he was referring to, he quickly allayed that ambiguity by reminding us that, “There is no authentic historical record to show that the area along the Bight of Biafra was ever inhabited by any other group except the Igbos”[10]

This is a very hospitable people that welcomes and easily trusts strangers. They hold live and let live as their philosophy of life both as sojourners in foreign lands, and as sons in the land of their fathers. They are neither cowered nor flattened by adversity. They have a will of steel and a blood flowing with invincible corpuscles of determination and drive. They are endowed with an altruism and foresight that are accommodating as to be variously disclaimed as possessiveness by their detractors. Onye Igbo is a giant of sorts. He believes that a man is as good as the other. He can neither retreat nor surrender, whenever he is roused to battle any force that threatens his survival. He can be shrewd in guarding his interests. He can muster considerable acumen and dexterity in handling unpleasant situations.

His language, which is a rich repository of his philosophy and life, is Igbo. This language possesses an impressive lingual dynamism that welcomes and accommodates innovations. So much so that one can see an Onye Igbo speaking another language with the finesse of the natives and even better in a matter of weeks. He can be a proud stiff-necked rebel[11], when the need arises. His pride borders on the unparalleled self-confidence, which only profound intelligence can breed and confer. It is present in all races that are so blessed.Though they are no saints. But their blind spots have been played off against them more often and blown out of all reasonable proportion at every available opportunity. And like all progressive people everywhere in the world, Ndigbo have been variously vilified, bashed and nominated as ready made scapegoats for other peoples’ self tailored misfortunes. An Onye Igbo is outspoken and cannot be intimidated by adversity. Like Gerald Ford would hold, an Onye Igbo “will remain his own man, fly his own course and speak his own convictions”. He enjoys pioneering into the blues and unknown frontiers of reality. To this end, you can find him peddling his trade in almost every corner of the globe. My philosopher-friend, Sylvester Ogbu, once told me that any corner of the earth that harbors no Igbo man is not habitable.



Ndigbo share the general attributes of the African cultural milieu. In this milieu the community is the centre of the cultural universe, though full individuality is acknowleged. In the Igbo country, like Mbiti wrote of other African cultures, an Igbo person exists in relation to his community, which imbues him with meaning, gives him a sense of belongingness. The individual in this Weltanschauung sees himself as a part of the whole, not as an individual who owes no one any explanations or favours provided the Police is not attracted by a criminal action. In Africa, the thinking in relation to community according to J.S Mbiti is “I am because we are; and since we are, therefore I am”. Ndigbo have this sense of community as the basis of almost all other social interactions and value structures or systems. Other values are predicated on this.

Ndigbo have the sense of community, the sense of hospitality, the sense of respect for elders, the sense of value for life, the sense of religion, the

Igbo Sense of Community:

The African value community. Community spells brotherhood, togetherness, belongingness and social security. The community in the African and Igbo sense is not only the sum total of the people inhabiting a particular space. It embossoms the sum total of the living, the dead and the unborn. This accounts for Africans communing with their ancestors through pouring libations and giving them pieces of the food first before one ventures to eat. This equally accounts for why the African cannot alienate his land or sell same to someone outside this community, because the unborn are equally a part of this community who must be catered for and who futures must not be mortgaged to individual whims, which granting the individual rights to alienate the community’s greatest holding spells. Community means togetherness, hence Ndigbo have names like Igwebuike-Unity is strength; Maduka-The Human being is supreme; Nwanne ka-Brotherhood is supreme, etc. They value life and human beings and children., Nwa ka Ego-The Child is greater than Wealth, Nduka aku-Life is greater than wealth. We respect elders in Africa because of our world view that gives them a pride of place as the brigdes between the living and the ancestors who are equally part and parcel of our community.

[Wendydoks]

Originally Posted by seen

I just found out today that Igbos are Bantus; am I the only one who didnot know this? I was also told that they are the only Bantus in West Africa (if you exclude Cameroon). I find that pretty interesting-so where did the Igbos migrate from and culturally do they feel any affinity or have any ties to other Bantus east of Nigeria.

wat eaxactly is "Bantu"??? does it still exist and where?

[Wendydoks]

Originally Posted by Ariya

Bantu is not really a racial category, or shouldn't be used as one anyway. It's just a made-up term to describe people who speak related languages, mostly in central and southern Africa. In the majority of those languages, "ntu" means "people" and "ba" is a way to make a word plural, so "Ba-Ntu" means "The People" in most (not all) of the languages that are part of that family. That's also where a lot of their ethnic names come from, i.e. Bakongo, Bamileke, Bakuba etc. Igbo is not one of those languages.

As Anddar said, there are some neighboring people in southeast Nigeria that are considered "semi-Bantu" because that's where the language family originated. Once you're in Cameroun, you're in Bantu-speaking territory.

Bantu languages all belong to the same Benue-Congo language family as Nigerian languages like Yoruba, Edo, Igbo etc., but they are not as closely related to the Nigerian languages as they are to each other. Many people who speak a Bantu language would be able to understand much of what somebody in another language is saying, i.e. kimbundu in Angola and kikongo in Congo are supposed to be as closely related as Spanish and Portuguese.

ok. so the ?trio now is, does any part of the Igbo language sound similar to.....OK, according to ya difinition, the Igbos and the Ibos can be Bantus right??? any other ethnic group can claim 2 be bantu w. anoda language so its worevva.

[Xtra]

Anddar is correct. Igbos belong to the KWA language family along with Yorubas. I learned this in a linguistic class that I took in undergrad. All other groups in Nigeria belong to the Bantu language family.

[Xpensyv_Bodi]

cha!...mkpari aghaghi idi

[Uncle Sunday]

Originally Posted by Ziengo

Igbos' ancestors are Hebrews or Black Jews

Ok. You need to stop believing all the rubbish you read on the internet.