THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF NSUKKA by Onyeji Nnaji











There are four generations…, and the fourth generation, which is the most exalted, is kingless and perfect. These people will enter the holy place of their Father and they will reside in rest … They are kings. They are the immortal within the mortal  
                  (The Nag Hammadi, 219)


One of the African homes that colonialism has completely deformed beyond certain level of recognition is Nsukka. Colonialism apart, the most affecting factor to the survival of the meaning which the rich cultural enclave, Nsukka, carries will best be blamed on postcolonial political structure. The biggest harm all these have against Nsukka as a people is that they rubbed her of the meaning of her name; their place of origin; how their fathers managed to come into their present abodes and who their ancestors were. A profound understanding of the excerpt above will open the door towards deciphering the meaning and origin of the people called Nsukka.


Geographically situated at the point where the Egyptian Book of the Dead refers to as “the northern door”, Nsukka is in Northern Igbo land; it is at present in Enugu State of Nigeria. Nsukka is well located geographically. In fact, it appears to be one of the well located in Nigeria Nsukka lies between latitude 6°, 18′ and 70.00, North and longitude 6°, 52 and 70, 541 east. The place is the culture contact zone between the North and the south. This geographical proximity with Idoma and the Igala groups in the North enhances intercourse in various fields of life which subsequently affected the history of Nsukka on one hand and the Idoma and the Igala on the other hand.  Nsukka shares boundaries with Idioma of the present Benue state in the North-east and Igala of the present Kogi State in the North and north-west. It is bounded on the east by Ishielu in Abakiliki zone now Ebonyi State and Nike in Enugu zone. It shares boundaries with Udi in the South and Ifite Awgwali in area of Anambra State.
          
                  
The Meaning of the Word, “Nsukka”

The etymological root of the name Nsukka is traced to no other people than the very people who speak the language collectively termed “Nsukka”. Its lexicography is traced to the history of the settling of the Nsukka ancestors in the days of the beginning. Remarkable among the host of the vast Igbo speaking dialects, or better put, language as a people with a set of lexicon that differ from the various types of the same Igbo spoken by Nsukka predecessors, Nsukka was seen as a different people in the fold of the Igbo consort.  Therefore, they were formally called “Nsukka” following their different linguistic features. The linguistic condition that characterised the naming of Nsukka the very name the inhabitants today speak of was founded on the fact that the version of Igbo language spoken by the ancestors attested distinctly that the superiority the inhabitants are immersed in proved clarity in their tongue.

When Nsukka ancestors arrived like other ancestors of the Igbo race, Eri (The first man to descend) and other elders set out on a journey to the new land inhabited by another band of celestial brethren. It was remarked by the Igbo oral thought that Eri lived for four thousand years. He lived to the appearance of all the Ncestors of the igbo race before he ascended back to the cosmos. According to the Nag Hammadi, the ancestors arrived in four completely generations which, of course, is estimated in the Origin of Time to be four thousand years. So, when the new ancestors incepted, the representatives of the fore-existing ancestors (Eri, Dioka and Idu) visited as the tradition demanded.

Upon arrival, the Nsukka anscetors recognised who they were and, unanimously, they remarked thus, "Chukwu okike abiama," translated to the creation god has arrived. Immediately, Eri exclaimed thus, "Ha, nke a bu Nsu ka," translated to mean, ha this is exotic tongue." Erisaid this because of the new ancestors' use of abiama which was different from abiago, abiawo and The ancestors were welcomed in the manners of the god-men; discussions we're held bothering on the distinct role of the new ancestors (the Nsukka). In the end, Eri heaved a sigh of relief, having seen the last ancestors and he said appealingly thus, "Okike ezugo," meaning, creation is over.

Lexicographically, Nsukka is the amalgam of two Igbo lexicons: they are “NSUand KA”. There is a clipping of the affricative /k/, considering the word “Nsukka” serially by its composite letters.  The first may be better translated equivalently as the gerund (verbal noun) “Speaking”. It is also used to explain stutter (to speak with involuntary disruption or blocking of speech by spasmodic repetition or prolongation of vocal sounds). Ka in the Igbo language can be used for the comparative, “greater” or the superlative, “greatest”. Put together, Nsukka refers to the language greater than others of its kind in terms of its restricted audience. As the last group of the Igbo ancestors to arrive at the part of the Igbo settlement where they have as their home presently, Nsukka was marked as the home of the gods, considering the extent of the energy these ancestors had. Therefore, Nsukka means a people with greater tongue.

The Origin of Nsukka

Since the review of the general Igbo history on Twitter by Onyeji Nnaji in March, 2022, during which time this very history of Nsukka was used to clarify issues bothering on Nsukka ancestry on the internet, pockets of jaundice versions of Nsukka history started springing up. The most laughable among these versions is published @ feednews.com in May 6th, 2023 by an undefined/unidentified author. The author was so bemused that he resorted to a retrogressive view to make his claim of Nsukka origin. The inexperienced storyteller claimed that Nsukka was a son of Asadu Ideke the son of Arumona. This falsehood trended on Facebook. Unfortunately, not even those  claiming to be well schoolled on issues of history could reconcile meters about historical timing. 

This baseless claim is clarified down page. But for the purpose of research, I wish to note that this is a text on the history of the most revered and glorious race, Ndigbo. It is not a scholarship thesis or an article for journal publication: it is not a literature review where one may expect to see samples of baseless arguments for a story that has facts and points to justify it. Before we confirm any history and publish it on here, such a history must have undergone three satisfactory stages. You can read about these stages in the history of Eha-Amufu and the Origin of the Ijaw Nation. Now, before giving clarification on the Asadu claims, see what Afigbo (1981) had pointed out earlier.

Those who have any acquittance with any Igbo community know that the Igbo political system and it's characteristic wide diffusion of political authority and rights through the component segments is unlike the Igala and Yoruba system as anything could be. And one characteristic of the Igbo is the general similarity of their political organization in this respect... Thus, the Nsukka political system was not the Igala system and could not have been... (Rope 69-70).

Those who have any acquaintance with any Igbo community know that the
Igbo political system with its characteristic wide diffusion of political
authority and rights through the component segments is unlike the Igala and
Yoruba systems as anything could be. And one characteristic of the Igbo is the
general similarity of their political organization in this respect… thus the
Nsukka political system was not the Igala system and could not have
been(Afigbo, 69-70).
Those who have any acquaintance with any Igbo community know that the
Igbo political system with its characteristic wide diffusion of political
authority and rights through the component segments is unlike the Igala and
Yoruba systems as anything could be. And one characteristic of the Igbo is the
general similarity of their political organization in this respect… thus the
Nsukka political system was not the Igala system and could not have
been(Afigbo, 69-70).
Nsukka Civilization dates back to the decay stage of Okigwe Civilization, a period around 500,000BC., while the peopling of Egypt and her civilization by the Nsukka mystic scholars dated around 4000BC. and beyond. Now, one who wakes up to document the history of any people should be able to explore different facets of such people's history. But these fellows did not know this. For mentioning Asadu and claiming that he fathered Nsukka, they tend to say that Nsukka migerated from Ida which is the worst falsehood ever in Nsukka history. For if they knew the latest excavation that unravelled the 4000BC. iron in Nsukka, they wouldn't have insulted Nsukka with the 10c AD. of Ida history. People who make good use of their brain in justifying historical facts can tell vividly that the Asadu/Achadu were the civilizers of the Old Ida. 

There are two unavoidable set of people in the discussion of Ida history. The first, which were indigenous, were the priests of Igala Mela, popularly known as "Atama". From the nomenclature, it is clear that the priests were thus named by the Nsukka civilizers because "Atama" is both Nsukka and Nkanu term. The priests of Mela were in charge of the Mela deity and presided over the tradition of the Ida settlement. The second people, which were foreigners, were the Asadu/Achadu. The Asadus were descendants of Alum Ona, an Nsukka traders who traded on iron tools for the fashioning of deities. This business man became useful to the Ida people because he had a good knowledge of gods, their formations and control. Alu/Alum worked with the priests of Mela in the setting up of Igala tradition. His descendant, Asadu, crowned the first king of Ida, Ebule-Jonu. 

The influences of the Asadu in the formation of Igala tradition are enormous. Prominent among these influences is the adoption of the prestigious four market days and names. It may be this bilateral relationship that gave Onoja the impetuse to run to Nsukka when the home of Oboni Oni became too hot for him. Such words as:
      Alu
      Ebule
      Ugala
      Atama etc.
are wedded into Ida via this influence. Also are names like,
      Agbo
      Orinya
      Ede
      Alu etc.
More to this issue of origin is a verification of the Achadu as a name. Ida does not bear the name "Ideke". Ida bears "Idoko" instead. If any of the descendants of Achadu had come back to Nsukka, then that should be well communicated by the disclaimers. As for Achadu, whom Ida later called Asadu, he was an Nsukka man. From our finding, it was Obukpa who was said to have descended from Achadu. It is obvious that those advancing the Asadu ancestry for Nsukka had got their information from Obukpa and thus, had generalized it. If you need more clarification, see the topic below, "Reconciling Asadu and the Nsukka History of Origin"

Nsukka is also called "Nsukka Igboeze" as an appellation. This made some historians to suggest that Igboeze might be the father/ancestor of the ancient Nsukka, while some irrational researchers laimed Arumuona. But Nsukka, by this reference, does not mean ancestry. Read details of this reference from the papers captioned, Nsukka Civilization: The Peopling of Ancient Nsukka  

The Igbo ancestors generally were four. They were not individually four men; they were distinctively different sets of people emerging at different times in their hierarchical positions.  According to the Igbo oral tradition, the nations of people marked today as the Igbo emanated from four distinct ancestors who lived in the period which the late Adiele Afigbo referred to as the realm of “Eternal Day(s)”. There were the earliest ancestors, Eri and his wife; the second (a group), the Awka; and the third people, the Umudiala occupying the part of the Igbo land marked in history as the Igbo heart land. The last was the ancestors of Nsukka. These are the ancestors of the Igbo race. These different people and their different periods of emergence are referred to as different generation of people; and as the Nag Hammadi puts it,

Consequently, four races exist. There are three that belong to the kings of the eighth heaven. But the fourth race is kingless and perfect, being the highest of all (Hammadi, 124-5).
Hierarchically, according to the way and time these ancestors descended respectively, the ancestors of Nsukka were the fourth set to descend. They made up the Igbo quadrangle that characterised the Igbo nation. And being of the later, Nsukka was wielded with greater energy above their three older ancestors. The Nag Hammadi reveals that, although the three other races were great, “the fourth race is kingless and perfect, being the highest of all”.  

Outside the linguistic feature that gave them their name, Nsukka was marked as people who had the characteristic feature of kings. They are kings. They are the immortal within the mortal. (p. 219).

The Formation of Nsukka City State

Every ancient document that discussed issues connected to the development of the earliest human population on the earth plane spoke of Nsukka, although it was not completely easy to directly identify pinpointed(ly) the part of the world the documents referred to. To identify this, the researcher therefore needs to get himself assimilated into the worldview of the Nsukka by dwelling with them. It does not end there, he ought to learn and use Nsukka dialect competitively, being absorbed into their whims. With this he may succinctly launch himself into the world of the Nsukka to understand how names are given, how terms are assigned values and meaning, the purposes for which any antiquity concept was placed the way they were and why they are hallowed even hitherto. All these cannot be known by just reading books written by outsiders since Nsukka does not have a consolidated document particularly designed with the purpose of sustaining who, how and what they are.

The formation of Nsukka city states began earliest with the assortment of the identity personalities that composed the ancient Nsukka independently. The need for this independent assortment arose from the desire to independently define the personalities that composed the race known as Nsukka; the same race or generation which the Nag Hammadi explained as the “Fourth generation. There was however no consolidated central power among the ancestors as was found among the Nri of ancient, the inhabitants were generally gifted to the same energy (mystic force or supernatural qualities). The first to assort independently was Igbo-Eze. With his assortment Northward, the need for expansion was found.

About this duo period in the history of the ancient Nsukka, those part of the land marked out today as Opi, Edem, Obimo, Okpuja, Ikpa, Orba, Ubollo and the rest were originally not inhabited by any people. At this earliest time, of course, Nkanu (the descendants of Nwawuwa) and the descendants of Agbaja were not in the territory. The border land was far reaching east to the place where the ancient Nodo lived (the present day Abakaliki) and south to the lands of the Umudiala. West were the Awka and the Nri community of people. The northern parts of Nigeria were inhabited by nobody; there was no trace of the Jukuns and the Igalas not until around 3 - 7 century AD. For, according to the dimension of history, there was a moving up of the Jukun to the Afar region of Ethiopia before the final return of the Jukun in the reign of Ezana, the Aksumite king (330–356 AD) the settlement of the Jukuns should precede the peopling of ancient Nubia (A group), Ethiopia and Egypt respectively by the “Walker Traveller,” traditionally referred to as Ndi Ojukwu. These were the ancestors of the Jukuns. Ethiopia was first inhabited by the itinerant cosmographers who dispersed afar in the aftermath of Afra's demise.

The main reason behind the latter spread, inhabiting of the later parts of Nsukka surrounding, was occasioned on the discovering that such areas were laden with natural resources. Places like Opi, Orba and many other places suddenly became massively immersed by the Nsukka population because the areas were discovered to have iron ore which was the need of the then society. Opi iron smelting sites prove Nsukka the foundational home of iron smelting in the world. According to The General History of Africa, Joseph Fazing made the following remark in the Nigerian case. 
Early dates undoubtedly make the Taruga iron-smelting furnaces the earliest ones known in West Africa until the Opi figures were produced. Some specialists on this subject have seen them as evidence of an independent invention of iron metallurgy in West Africa, but others, who have studied the technical aspects of the question, have argued that this is unlikely since, except in Mauritania, West Africa had no Bronze Age. Everywhere else in Africa south of the Sahara, the use of iron succeeds the use of stone for implements and weapons. Without any intermediate copper and bronze metallurgy, it is difficult to see how late Stone Age people could have discovered the use of iron by themselves and mastered it so quickly without any outside influence.  
Among archaeologists working in the Nigerian region, emphasis has now shifted from the ‘diffusionist’ theory to the examination of the actual level of metallurgical sophistication attained by a particular group. The study of the methods of production of various iron-producing societies can result in the clarification of certain patterns of cultural similarities and contacts across the African continent(Origin, 33-34).
Nsukka is a proof that, without any intermediate copper and bronze metallurgy, it is possible for a late Stone Age people to know the use of iron by themselves and mastered it so quickly without any outside influence. Of course, Nsukka, unlike Nri/Igbo-Ukwu, Ife, Benin and others, developed the use of iron and mastered it before trying their hands in bronze art which was the base of Awka. A good example of Nsukka bronze is shown below


The reason is simple; iron was fashioned to meet the various needs of the society that fashioned it. Unlike bronze which were produced to sustain certain cultural and historical evidences of a people, iron production was fashioned to meet various social needs such as protection, showcasing of authority and levels of attainment in the society and other reasons as the Nsude/Nsukka civilization had proven to us. To meet these various societal needs, Nsukka iron production/extraction had been fashioned to indicate three different periods of that age. Therefore, to understand the Iron Age in Africa better, attention should be given to the Nsukka metallurgical units. Our claim here supports the statement above that, “Early dates undoubtedly make the Taruga iron-smelting furnaces the earliest ones known in West Africa until the Opi figures were produced.”

Iron made Nsukka the oldest world merchants. The need for iron was everywhere alike and Nsukka was there to supply them. This created the interwoven relationship between Nsukka and Awka down to Nri. For as Nsukka produced the raw material, Awka were the people who fashioned them into finished products. Igbo-Ukwu however joined in the fashioning of iron much later. According to research, it was discovered that Igbo-Ukwu joined in the exhibition of this skill as late as 22,000BC, meanwhile Nsukka had been found in the supply of iron around 500,000BC and beyond. It was about that same time that Nsukka civilization started.

Expansion of Nsukka
The extended expansion of the ancient Nsukka may be arguably believed to have started around 7 – 5000B.C. according to historical documents. With the heavy presence of iron smelted at Opi, iron workers from most iron interested areas like Awka found their ways to Nsukka to engage themselves in the smelting work. Meanwhile, more population had started to move northward towards the plateau planes, taking refuge in caves. But previously to this time, the Walker Traveller (Ndi Ojukwu) had moved northwards and had gone deep into the Sahara dusty plane. This population were difficult to define, but for their feature. They were giants; and the characteristic features of the Nri was exactly that. This was why we have always attributed their explorations to the credit of Nri.  History revealed that they founded Ethiopia and Nubia. These were the earliest that lived in North Africa. The later population that founded Egypt was pygmies. By this feature we know that Egypt was founded by the Umudiala (the Igbo Heartland), while Nsukka civilized Egypt.

It is also necessary to note that the iron prominence in Opi was not the only site for smelting about that time. We have noted earlier that Orba also had a site at Umundu. Another place with heavy concentration of iron smelting was Lejja. The quantity of smelting carried out in Lejja was higher than was found anywhere in Africa. As the needs for iron continued to be, the inhabitants did not give up its production and supply of it. The earliest merchants of iron in the Igbo heartland were called the Arochukwu. They were so called because of the kind of iron tools they sold. The role involved in fashioning the iron was very intriguing to the inhabitant among whom they were sold. To contain such creativity believed to be beyond human, the inhabitants had referred to the merchants as chukwu. With their products making a headword, they called them the Arochukwu. Meanwhile the original name for the Aro was Eru. Aro were merchants from Nsukka inhabiting their current abode which originally belonged to the Ibibio.

Prominent among the iron workers was Agbaja who had come all the way from the Awka collection of indigenous. Agbaja begot many sons. They include Neke, Oshie Aniugwu, Ojebe Ogene, Ugwunye, Ezedike, and the founders of Ezeagu, etc. As in such stories, these sons married and had children who founded towns; the sons of the children founded the villages.  By nomenclature, some of the children of Agbaja bore names that proved due influence of Nsukka on their parents. Names like Oshie, Neke, Ojebe and Ugwunyi for instance look more of Nsukka than they are Awka.  These are the people collectively termed Udi local government area of Enugu state of today.  Oshie became more popular among his brethren through the legendry acts of Uto, one of the legends that existed at his time. The monument kept in his memorial marked the prominence for which Nsude is celebrated today.

The Modern Nsukka
Formally, some towns which today are included as Nsukka were seen on the contrary. They include such border communities with Nsukka as Eha AlumonaEdem, Alor-uno, Orba and Ede-Oballa, Obukpa, Obimo. Other nearby towns are Enugu-Ezike, Ibagwa, Ovoko, Iheaka, Obollo-Afor, Nimbo, Adani, Uzo Uwani and Mkpologwu, now also lay claim to the name Nsukka. This is because they all collectively fall into the political zoning system in Nigeria known as Senatorial Zone. Presently, Nsukka include the following, Enugu-Ezike, Aku, Ozalla, Opi, Leja, Obukpa, Okpuje, Ibagwa-ani, Alor-Uno, Ibagwa-aka, Ede-Oballa, Edem, Ukehe, Obollo-afor, Obollo-Eke, Ikem, Ekwegbe, Ohodo, Uvuru, Nkpologu, Abbi, Adani, Ukpabi, Nimbo Ugbelle ajima, Nrobu. Ovoko, Orba, Imilike, Ihe-aka, Obimo, Obollo-etiti, Ogbodo-Aba, Mbu, Neke, Umuruokpa, lga, etc. Although most people from these communities point towards Nsukka as their home, the main Nsukka community is the headquarter of Enugu-North senatorial zone.


The prominence which Nsukka had through iron smelting sprung them to fame and attracted communities in the neighbourhood to tham. Nsukka is bounded to different people in the surroundings: Afar-Iwolo, Akaiyi, Adada, ukpata,  uvuru, Ukpologu and then reached Nsukka and Ibagwa. The secon linked Arochukwu, Abakiliki and Eha-Amufu. Other routes were Abo Eke-Egede, Amaozala, Nkpologu and Ogurugu routes. The important fact to note about trade in Nsukka is that the 19th century saw flourishing prosperous trade in the area and that traders made wealth from it.  




Comments

  1. Thank you so much. This is so interesting and useful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your observations. But you owe us a duty. Here we expect your comments mostly on the areas you feel the work did not cover. with this you indirectly oblige our team of researchers for further research.

      Do also read about the Ancient Nations Civilized by Nsukka. It is our latest publication on Nsukka civilization.

      Delete
  2. Nsukka Was Originally Ibibio

    NSO UKA (NS'UKA) = WHAT AN ODYSSEY? or What a journey?

    When the Ibibio migrants arrived in the area, they decided to stay, get some rest and form homesteads. It was like somebody finally breathing a sigh of relief after a long, adventurous, but exhaustive trek. Hence, the exclamation, Nso Uka! What an odyssey!

    When Eri and other Igbos first migrated to Nsukka from their Igalla homeland, they met Ibibios whom they either displaced or mixed with. The prolonged Igbo migration from the West, Mid-west and North-central regions of what later became Nigeria simply overwhelmed the much smaller Ibibio populations. Many of those Ibibio settlements were overran and full assimilated but miraculously, the original names of some of their settlements survived.
    Throughout modern Igboland, assimilated Ibibio communities abound. These assimilated Ibibio communities are among the places where IGBO SUB-GROUPS are most plentiful. These sub-groups tend to speak dialects of Igbo that are oftentimes unintelligible to other Igbos. Today, these assimilated Ibibios all speak Igbo language, but they are not of Igbo origins.

    YOU WROTE:
    "Remarkable among the host of the vast Igbo speaking dialect, or better put, language as a people with a set of lexicon that differ from the various types of the same Igbo spoken by Nsukka predecessors, Nsukka was seen as a different people in the fold of the Igbo consort. Therefore, they were formally called “Nsukka” following their DIFFERENT LINGUISTIC FEATURES. The linguistic condition that characterised the naming of Nsukka the very name the inhabitants today speak was founded on the fact that the version of Igbo language spoken by the ancestors attested distinctly that the superiority the inhabitants are immersed in proved clarity in their tongue."

    "Lexicographically, Nsukka is the amalgam of two Igbo lexicons: they are “NSU” and “KA”."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Jones, the duty of the brain is to react to sensitive discourses and history is one of those relevant ones. You have done a good and commendable job here.

      But, my brother, get one fact straight. When the etymology of any people is traced via linguistic codes, as you have brilliantly explicated here, there must be proofs from the concerned people's oral tradition confirming and approving of such linguistic claim. That was why our Ethiopia respondents believed that Kambata was of Igbo Origin. You may read about it @ https://www.ajuede.com/2017/07/ethiopia-history-origin-extracted-from.html?m=1

      This simple proof is what watered your proof down. Nsukka has no such record of such peregrination in her history.

      Delete
    2. Ameh Jones stop writing rubbish, don't say what you don't know, what concern Nsukka and Ibibo, meanwhile nobody is Nsukka, the word Nsukka come from the general world "ka" which ndi nasu ka, some part of igbo say ndo, just like most of people in Enugu state use "wa" as no wawa while other igbo use MBA, ndi wawa ndi nsu ka, this terms is use to describe certain Igbos that use the dialect.

      Delete
  3. IBIBIO NAMES
    IKPA: https://www.tripmondo.com/nigeria/akwa-ibom-state/uruan/ikpa/
    IKPA UDO: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/ikpa-udo/723201817

    Some clans of Ibibio migrants later merged with Idoma, Jukun and Tiv peoples and that's why Ibibio words and Ibibiod names are still present in those Benue valley communities. In fact, I once read excerpts of some literature in which Tivs are to be somewhat related to the Ibibios culturally.

    EDEM: Edem is an Ibibio name and could also be a word meaning back in Ibibio.

    OBIMO: That's the Igbo corruption of Obumo (Obuma) the Ibibio god of thunder and lightning. Obumo is the head of the Ibibio pantheon.

    OBUKPA (Abakpa): That means Corn in Ibibio. I think Obukpa could also mean yellow.

    UTO:
    Uto means planter in Ibibio. That's the ancient name of the Ibibio planter goddess. Uto was associated with agriculture and greenery. She's the deity to whom the Ibibios made sacrifices on the first day of the yam planting season. In fact, girls born on the first day of the yam planting season are often named Uto in Ibibioland. The ancient Egyptians also had Uto. The other other name they called her was Wadjet. Among the Ibibios, children born throughout the planting season could also be named Uto.

    UDI:
    Udi means cemetery. It could also mean mound or pyramid. When Ibibios came from the East and the "Far North" into the area formerly known as Central Sudan, they first created settlement in the Benue Valley region. They occupied territories in areas now known as Northern Igboland. Among those settlements were places like Nsudi (Nsude), Udi, Ukana, Okpogho, Isu Awa, Edem, Ikono, Ekpe, Obukpa, Obimo (Obumo), Ani, Usumutong, Ukehe, Nsukka, etc. After the Ibibios were pushed out of the aforementioned territories, they migrated south and founded communities with the same names In what later became Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

    Udi, Ukana, Nsukarra, Okpogho, Usumutong, Edem, Ikono, Ekpe, Obukpa, Isu Awa, Awa, Isu Ama, Ukehe, etc.------these are all present in Akwa Ibom State.

    NSO UDI (NS'UDI = NSUDE):
    NSO = What in Ibibio
    UDI = Mound, Cemetery or pyramid in Ibibio.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You sound very literate and that is one thing I like about you. It is the mark of a true scholar. But I am afraid if the owners of those nations you highlighted here will follow your idea.

      You don't place history on the brain-draining and effortless assumptions that explore such phrases as, "I think ..., it seems... etc. Those were the terms of archaeologies. History is probable now. Fossils are relevant, but it is always presumptuous.

      Please, the history of the Igala and Ida is traced to one ancestors with the Benin. Their father was Idu. So, don't go there.

      You are however correct with the Tivs. Tivs should have aspects of Ibibio culture because they were the last set of Bantus to return to this part of Africa. And as you know, the history of Bantu movement began with the Effik Ibibio communities.

      Delete
  4. NOTE:
    Ibibios usually erect pyramidal structures called NWOMO in honor of their dead chiefs. Nwomo is private, but Udi is public. Nwomo is temporal, but Udi is designed or intended to be permanent.

    Udi means cemetery and that's where Ibibios buried their dead, especially their chiefs. The Idiong priests later erected step pyramids at Udi in honor of the planter goddess, Uto. Hence, the Uto pyramids. Uto is another name for Eka Abasi, the Ibibio Mother of God. She is both the Earth and Fertility goddess variously known as Abasi Isu Ama, Isu Ma, Isu Mma, Isu Awa, Mma, Awa, Ndem Mmong (Aquatic Deity), Mammy Watta or Mermaid.

    Of her own power alone, she produced her son-husband, Abasi Obumo (a.k.a. Obuma or Obimo) through a virgin birth. Obumo is also the Ibibio Sun god. Ekpo, Ekpe, Idiong, Atat, Ekong, Ebre, etc. are all governed by the dictates of Abasi Obumo and Eka Abasi.
    The Ibibio creator God is Akwa Abasi Ibom. He created everything.

    IBIBIOS TAUGHT IRONWORKS TO THE ARO (ERU) AT IBOM (AROCHUKWU)

    "The earliest merchants of iron in the Igbo heartland were called the Arochukwu. They were so called because of the kind of iron tools they sold. The role involved in fashioning the iron was very intriguing to the inhabitant among whom they were sold. To contain such creativity believed to be beyond human, the inhabitants had referred to the merchants as chukwu. With their products making a headword, they called them the Arochukwu. Meanwhile the original name for the Aro was Eru. Aro were merchants from Nsukka inhabiting their current abode which originally belonged to the Ibibio."

    The Eru (Aro) were originally servants of the Ibibio oracular priests of Ibritam at Old Ibom, now called Arochukwu. Whatever expertise they had in ironworks, actually came from their Ibibio masters.
    Enugu State, Ebonyi State, Abia State, and Imo State all have communities that were originally Ibibio. Anambra State, I'm not so sure yet. I need to research that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One relevant thing you will do to Ibibio history is to trace those places that stemmed from the Effik Ibibio culture. There are over five nations that migrated from your culture. You may visit the history of the Akans for more information.

      As for pyramids; please remove Nsukka from it. The pyramids you read about Nsukka were constructed by the father of Udi, although it was one of the glory of the 500,000BC Nsukka civilization.

      If Ibibio has such a culture I may not tell where and when. But Nsukka civilization and the pyramids has written proofs from Egyptian records as the origin of pyramid culture.

      Delete
  5. Halla Hadda Wrote:

    The more plausible ETYMOLOGY of NSUKKA which aligns with the etymology of NSUDE is "NSO UKAK."

    NSO UKAK means WHAT AN ABILITY!! It is the same exclamatory appellation of super-achievers as NSO UDI !!
    which means WHAT A GRAVE !!!

    It is the same people who built the gigantic NSUDE PYRAMIDS that had built the magnificent IRON SMELTING FOUNDRIES seen in Leja and other associated villages.
    NSO UKAK => NSUKAK => NSUKKA
    NSO UDI => NSU UDI => NSUDE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who is this Halla Hadda? Which conference did he make his speech? Which book of history journal was he been involved in? Our team has sought to know about him or read his works but could see nothing. If you don't mind, send the very work you have quoted to onyejinnaji@gmail.com we will be grateful.

      Please, this site is evidently for research reason and lots more. We do not post what we did not confirm. We have teaming population of viewers who are respectedly intellectuals. Greater in their numbers are Americans and other Western continets. Do not make claims without supporting them with sources available to anyone who would wish to seek confirmations.

      Thanks for your exploring contributions.

      Delete
  6. If you study Igbo history precisely or carefully read "Reminiscence" written by Onyeji Nnaji, you will know that the Arochukwu were iron merchants, not fashioners. So, if the Ibibio had cultured the Aros into fashioning iron, then they must have done so after the Aros merchants had moved to the Ibibio home.

    The people known for fashioning of Iron in the Igbo culture were the Awka. In fact, the father of Udi was able to make remarkable impact in the heavy iron concentrated Nsukka civilization because he held from Awka and had mastery of iron fashioning for they have it in-born.

    Nsukka is rated as the oldest place in records with iron presence in this world. Maybe Ibibio was older, only you can prove that.

    I grew up in northern Cross River, had lived in Akwa-Ibom State for over ten years. I had met with the various kingdoms from Uruan down to the Anang settlement collecting ancient arts and proofs of varieties of cultural tools that liked Ibibio and Anang to Igbo land. I have never heard from elders or some UNIUYO history professors issues connected to pyramids or the ibibio civilizing any people.

    In fact, the Ibibio history is very clear that they own the very place where the Arochukwu live today. Effik migrated from a place called NwaNgene in Imo State. They first settled at Osangele, usually pronounced as "Osakedet", while Anangs are the original owners of Aba Ngwa. History is no longer hidden. Please ask questions for precision

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dr. Vladimir Zelenko has now treated 699 coronavirus patients with 100% success

ORIGIN OF THE AKAN - Onyeji Nnaji

Taylor Swift: 'White supremacy is repulsive. There is nothing worse'

GARDEN OF EDEN FOUND IN WEST AFRICA - Onyeji Nnaji

TYPES OF PREPOSITION - Onyeji Nnaji

Tulsi Gabbard says impeachment of Trump would be 'terribly divisive' for country

Marine Charged for Facebook Comments Gets Hearing Date

EGYPTIANS LAMBAST NIGERIAN FOOTBALLERS OVER ‘FREQUENT’ PROTESTS