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MR. Ikebudu’s letter to the Editor titled Re: The position of Ukwuani in the Delta Maze in the Vanguard of Monday, September 4, 2006, made a sorry reading, what with his indictment of his ethnic stock. The letter was a response to Francis Uchekaogwu’s piece, Locating Ndokwa in the Delta maze, which featured in the Vanguard of Thursday, August 31, 2006. Ikebudu chided Uchekaogwu for “wondering at both the source and incidence of the problem which he and his likes are consciously and unconsciously fueling". He dismissed the problem of identity of the Ukwuani as artificially created by a ridiculous denial of their Igbo roots, the aftermath, according to him, of a government-imposed Igbo defeat complex syndrome. Thus, in Ikebudu’s opinion, the bane of underdevelopment and other problems in Ndokwa is their denial of their alleged Igboness.

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Ikebudu apparently appeared to be confusing issues. Why do Igbos like him blame their tribal shortcomings and failures on a supposed government anti-Igboism? Why do they still see themselves as still suffering from the defeat in the civil war of late 1960s when other tribes who were on the same Biafran side have since put the war behind them, preferring to chart a new course for themselves? If Ikebudu appreciates his indictment of his tribe as extremely selfish, with innumerable mannerisms that can asphyxiate any right thinking person, then, he ought not blame a government-imposed defeatist syndrome for the woes of the Igbo.

The Ukwuani or Ndokwa man does not share any of these traits with the Igbo. They lack the selfish aggression of the Igbo. Neither have they ever seen themselves as Igbo, right from pre-colonial times. A walk through history’s lane of antiquity will reveal that they cherish and treasure their Ukwuaniness. It did not start in the 1960s; so it cannot be dismissed as self (Igbo) denial arising from a defeatist complex. Neither can it be waved aside as distancing from the Igbo stock in the hope of tremendously enhancing economic fortunes since our pride of ancestry as Ukwuani did not start with the creation of states or the discovery of oil.

Ukwuani is a unique and distinct language created and endowed by God on the Ukwuani people. Its similarity with any other language should not be taken for sameness, just as the similarity of most extant European languages with Latin or with one another does not confer synonymity on them. Austria is not Germany, neither is Portuguese, Spanish nor Dutch Afrikaans. Ukwuani language is the very essence of our Ukwuaniness and we all have a duty to project and protect it. In spite of the lingual affinity, the average Ukwuani man does not see himself as an Igbo. A generalized grouping that does not take into cognizance the feeling and conviction of the Ukwuani man on this issue of identity does not change his perception. Until slave trade, colonialism, Christianity and globalization, the Ukwuani man had very little to do with the Igbo. They were mutually apart, mutually unintelligible in language and each maintained its prejudices against the other. Both have a separate identity, which should be recognized and respected. People should, therefore, beware of ascribing an identity to a person different from what that person likes to be identified as.

The language similarity often resulted in people erroneously categorising the Ukwuani as Igbo or a sub-culture of the Igbo, just as they have been ethnically mistaken for some of their neighbours like the Isoko and Urhobo. The average Ukwuani man, however, has never seen or identified himself as Igbo. Neither did he understand the Igbo language. In fact, Igboland was a distant territory until colonialism and globalisation resulted in increased contact and interaction between both peoples. Dr. S. N. Nwabara observed in Iboland: A Century of Contact with Britain 1860-1960, that until recently, the name Igbo, was not shared by all Ibo speaking peoples.

The riverain peoples occupying the banks of the Niger, including the Ndokwa, referred to the Ibo hinterland as Ndigbo and to themselves as Ndimili (Ndosumili) or Ndiolu. There exist substantial differences between Igbo and Ukwuani people. The low level of mutual intelligibility and diverse cultural disparities mark the Ukwuani out as a distinct ethnic group. It was in this light that Hon. Ossai N. Ossai, member representing Ndokwa West constituency in the Delta State House of Assembly, moved a motion in 2003 for the official recognition of Ndokwa (Ndosumili and Ukwuani) ethnic identity through the transmission of communication about state matters in their language. The motion received near-unanimous acclamation with only one dissenting voice. It is only fair to concede to the Ukwuani the right to self-determination to choose an identity for themselves.