It is very important and imperative to state these facts for record purposes that historically Ikwerres (Ikwere indegens) that fully identified themselves as Igbos and the great roles they played as Igbos.
1. Chief Joseph Wobo, member of the Council of Chiefs of Eastern Nigeria, clearly stated he was an Igbo. Nobody can dismiss him as he defended Ikwerreland in colonial Nigeria.
2. Sir Jackson Mpi, first and last Ikwerre to be conferred with Knight of the Order of British Empire, OBE, by Queen Elizabeth II of England in 1960, identified himself as Igbo. From the ancient Kingdom of Isiokpo, Sir Mpi worked tirelessly for Igbo advancement.
3. Dr Obi Wali was the first Ikwerre PhD holder, senator and university lecturer. He was also the only Ikwerre in the 1978 Constituent Assembly where he was selected one of the 50 Wise Men that drafted the 1979 constitution.
4. The great Dr Wali identified fully with his Igbo heritage and was gruesomely assassinated defending it.
5. Okogbule Wonodi, first Ikwerre registrar of any university, first and only Ikwerre poet and Paramount title Holder of Eze Ohiaemeru. Ohiaemeru, where you have present-day Comprehensive College in Borokiri, was his ancestral home before the British vacated them between 1913-1923. Wonodi remained a respected member of Nzukor Igbo and Ohanaeze Ndigbo till the end of his life.
6. Patriot Emmanuel Aguma was former Mayor of Port Harcourt. As Principal of St John College, Diobu, he was the first Ikwerre to head any college. One of six pre-independence Ikwerre University graduates, former administrator of Port Harcourt Province in the defunct Peoples Republic of Biafra, first Ikwerre minister in 1979, Aguma remained a member of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
7. Emmanuel Oriji was a respected local government administrator, traditional ruler, a commissioner in old Rivers and core Igbo nationalist.
8. The immediate past Deputy Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Isaac Wonwu, is an illustrious Ikwerre son from Elele. He is known to assert his Igbo identity.
9. Equally valid, Chief Jackson Womenazu from Rumukrushi in the Evo Kingdom is a member of the Elders’ Council of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
10. Dim Uche Okechukwu, An Ikwerre man is the Deputy President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.
Reasons And Why Ikwere Is Igbo
1. The Ngwa are Igbos. The Ikwerre are Igbos. They are offsprings of the same father.
In colonial documents, written when Igbos had no capacity to influence anything, Ikwerres also defined themselves as Igbos.
2. When Ikwerre leaders presented their case before the 1957 Sir Henry Willinks Commission, Wobo declared that Ikwerres were Igbos and Port Harcourt to Onitsha was Igboland.
3. The cream of Ikwerreland have asserted their Igboness. Most illustrious sons and daughters Ikwere ascerted to that. Tell me any Ikwerre whose CV can match those of Mpi, Wobo, Aguma, Wonodi, Dr Wali or Amaechi?
Ikwerres are Igbos and Ikwerreland is so important to the Igbo that they will never take any step to destroy Ikwerres or toy with their destiny. In geo-strategic terms, Ikwerreland is the tongue of the Igbo race to the sea.
4. Obigbo,” means “Heart of Igboland.” It is the right name for that Local Government Area, LGA. “Oyigbo”. The British met local people on ground who said their world was called Obigbo. Any researcher can go there and verify for himself. None should be persecuted for calling Obigbo its original pre-civil war name.
5. Ohiaemeru” is original name for Borokiri. It was the British who removed the indigenous Ikwerre population there before declaring the place Crown Land between 1913-1923. Equally so, “Igweocha” or “Diobu” is original name for Port Harcourt.
6. Demographically and historically, Igbos constitute the majority in the Niger Delta. The idea of the region is flawed considering that nine states make up the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, namely, Imo, Abia, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo, Ondo and Rivers.
7. It is absurd and rediclous stating that Umuagwo is not in the Niger Delta but Ogoja is. Be that as it may, there is now a statutory definition of the region manifest in the NDDC Act.
Boundary adjustments were carried out to remove oil-producing areas from the former East Central State.
8. In terms of ethnicity and language, Igbos are also in the majority in Rivers. It is fallacious that there are no Igbos here. Igbos are here because Ikwerres are Igbos.
9. Ogbas are Igbos, Ekpeyes are Igbos. Etches are Igbos. Obigbos are Igbos. Port Harcourt or Igweocha is Igbo land. Igbos are peaceful and peace loving race,
10. Binis have no cultural or historical link with Ikwerres. Ikwere worship different gods, have different market days with different monarchical structures totally different from Binis.
Ikwere Kingship is not from father to son like the Binis. The Ikwere kingship is based on gerontocracy where the oldest person assumes leadership. What brought Ikwere and Binis together was the 1914amalgamation.
No pre-colonial or colonial record has it that Ikwerres migrated from Benin.
The post-war purported claim that Ikwerres are Binis is parasitic, defeatist, lies and myth.
From the above reasons Ikwerre is Igbo and Port harcourt or Igweocha is Igbo land.
