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“...
Introducing the liopublic of Biafra
6
In other werd-s, the present Ibos, Ibibio-Efi.ks, Ogojas and I jaws
did nor regard themselves as such until they were so classified by
foreigners. Fur example, the word :'Ibo:’ was probably derived from
”Heebo'! which, according to‘some European trader of the 19th century,
was the name given by Biafran traders on che coast to the hinterland
area where they traded. Subsequent European traders slightly changed
the word to KEbc-e” from which uIbc” was derived. It should be noted,
also, that the- same Biafran traders on the c ?ast differentiated between
the ⁿI.boH in the hinterland ar.d the fⁱKwa Ibo;’, that is, Ibos living on
the Kwa river. The latter are now known as Ibibios. The traders, of
course, wore merely using the word ”Ibo’: as a general term for people
living in the hinterland rather than for a tribe in the modern sense
of the word. The term fTIbct; was applied by all the inhabitants of the
Eastern Belta to those of the Western Delta and...”
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“...within the territory and also fostered the integration of
Biafra. The Delta, from where the slaves were exported, became a
melting pot in which the ”Ibos”, ’’Ibibios”, and "Ijaws” virtually
lost their separate identities. New families and new ruling houses
emerged from the admixture and modified the existing ordei. For exam-
ple, among the Delta communities Ibo-speaking mon rose to the exalted
position of paramount ruler. An English- tradingjeaptain, H.Crow, who
visited the Delta in the late eighteen twenties, recorded that ’’the
King of New Calabar (modern Kalahari) . ₑₒ, and Popple King of Bonny,
were both of Ibo descent”. At 'the same time liberated slaves who ret-
urned to their original homes in the hinterland to trade, introduced
now ideas and practices. When the palm oil trade superseded the slave
trade a further step was taken towards inter-community diffusion. The
nature of the palg oil trade necessitated the establishment of col-
onies of people not indigenous...”
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“...ons, the Europeans who penet-
rated, into and later ruled Africa, found common names for groups of
people with the greatest obvious similarities and labelled thoip as
"trib’.es”, ’’sub-tribes”, ’’clans” etc. In place of the ever continuing
cultural diffusion a process was set in motion which not only labelled
groups but compartmentalised and isolated them. Thus groups of people
became more self-conscious than they had ever been and learned to iden-
tify themselves with such ’’tribal” names as Ibo, Ibibio, Ijaw etc. This
tendency gx’cw with the consolidation of British rule and the introduction
of ’’native” administration which emphasized the separateness of ’’tribes”....”
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