Intersting Facts About The Kalabari Ijaws Of Rivers State (PICTURES) - Culture

The kalabari is a tribe of the Ijaw people of Rivers state living in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. They migrated from the Benin fringes of Ijaw land and became a large kingdom of about 35 communities/settlements including Buguma, Bakana, Tombia, ke, Soku, Bille, Bukuma, Degema, Obonoma, Sama, Abalama, Ilelema and others. The people were originally fishermen before the coming of the Portugese to the west African coastline. The Kalabari like most coastline tribes were wealthy as a result of interactions with Europeans.

The kalabaris share similar culture/language to the Okrikas, Bonny, Opobo, Bayelsa Ijaws (Nembe in particular as the language is almost the same), Delta Ijaws, Ondo Ijaws and some parts of Edo state. It was discovered that in the 1980s, that a nearly extinct Berbice Dutch/KALABARI LANGUAGE was spoken in Central America. Guyana to be precise (click on the link to watch).

The kalabaris do bear European names (Briggs, Horsfall, Jack, Harry, West, Braide etc) due to their inter- racial relations with their slave masters. Kalabari, Opobo and Bonny were the first to trade with the whites in Rivers state alongside Okrika and Andoni. Many of them do have light skin due to European mixtures.. They engaged in overland trade with the Portugese in the 1400s, later Dutch, then British whom arrived by sea for trade and missionary work. They also traded clothes from India. Since the early 1800s, The Europeans noted that the Kalabaris refused to trade their goods on credit. Their industrial prowess coupled with their lovable demenor has won the admirations from surrounding communities of the Niger delta.

The Kalabari constitute one of the largest ethnic groups in Rivers State with 3 LGAs and they are the largest Ijaws in terms of population in the state.. They constitute almost a million (90% of people based in Akulga, Asalga and Degema are indigenes, so the 2006 population census results states..(AKULGA:156,006 , ASALGA:220,110 , DEGEMA:249,773)..626000 altogether excluding the population of kalabaris based in Phalga LGA, Obioakpor LGA, LGAs in the state, indigenes outside Rivers State and diaspora.. Majority of Kalabari people stay at the PHALGA (Portharcourt old township, Borokiri, marine base, Dline, Diobu, Iwofe, Aggrey, Eagle island etc.) axis of Port Harcourt.

The kalabaris are highly educated and have the love for western education. They are known to have a high concentration of Professors, Lawyers and Doctors in Nigeria.. Because of their civilized and generally peaceful behaviour, the kalabaris were called English men in the past..

NOTABLE PEOPLE

Agbani Darego… First black African to win miss world

Jimi Rex Lawson… High life musician.

Dabota Lawson... Ex beauty queen(Miss Nigeria UK)

Asari Dokubo.. Human right activist

Tonye Graham Douglas… Politician

Albert Horsfall… Former SSS Boss

Dumo Lulu Briggs.. politician

Chief Dr Hutton.. Antropologist

Taribo West… Ex footballer

Prof. Tam David West… politician and many others..

KALABARI TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE:
This occurs in 3 forms namely; IYA, IGWA and WARRIBIOBESIME. The IYA is the most lawful and highest form of kalabari marriages. In this marriage, divorce is not permitted and the offspring belongs to the man’s house. An IYA marriage is not complete until the BIBIFE ceremony(buying the mouth) is undertaken. The BIBIFE signifies 3 things. First, a stage in a lawful marriage which gives the bride the right to eat in the husband’s house. Second, it signifies the man’s responsibility towards the wife and his willingness to feed her for the rest of her life.

Finally, it signifies and crowns the new communion between the 2 families. It involves serving the bride with innumerable courses of food., usually in the evenings. Thus, the bride is dressed with coral accessories, crown and chunky coral beads.

THE OWU ARU SUN FESTIVALS OF THE KALABARI KINGDOM:
This is a festival of unity in Buguma and it draws visitors from far and near to the Kalabari kingdom in Rivers State. It is performed by the Ekine Sekiapu society and it’s the famous and most outstanding masquerade in the history of the kingdom. Previous editions were held in 1908, 1927, 1973 and 1991 and 2009.

KALABARI DELICACIES:

TOMINA FULO: This is a kalabari soup prepared using fresh fish and sea food. Cocoyam is usually used to thicken the soup.

ONUNU: This is another delicacy prepared by pounding boiled plantain with yam. It is then finished off with palm oil.

Return economy to Jonathan’s era and resign, PDP tells Buhari

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor, Dapo Akinrefon & Omezia Ajayi KANO

—The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, has called on the Federal Government to seek the advice of economic experts in tackling the current economic crisis in the country. Sanusi gave the advice, yesterday, during the traditional Sallah Durbar (Hawan Nasarawa) at  Government House, Kano. The emir’s advice came as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to step down from office; but not without returning the country’s economic indices and prices to the point they were when he took over. The All Progressives Congress, APC, however, insisted that whatever economic challenges facing the country  were as a result of PDP’s misrule and looting of the country’s resources. Presidentcy reacts In its reaction, the Presidency speaking through Mr. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President said: “The President is open to positive contributions on how the country’s economic problems can be resolved in the shortest possible time, and he’s already doing as the respected emir counselled. All hands are on deck, and in the not too distant future, the results shall be evident.” Sanusi, the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, during the durbar at the Government House, said consulting experts would help in enunciating proper solution to the economic crisis and reduce the hardship people were currently facing in the country. The emir urged wealthy Nigerians to support the less-privileged in the society in order to alleviate their sufferings.  He added that Nigerians, irrespective of religious beliefs and political inclinations, should continue to pray for economic growth and development of the country. He also urged the people of Kano to remain law-abiding and be their brother’s keepers, irrespective of religion or ethnic background. Mr. Sanusi appealed to the state government to help the people to acquire skills that would make them self-reliant. In his remarks, acting governor of the state, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, said that paying salary of workers was not a privilege but an obligation, which the state had continued to meet. He pointed out that the economic crunch had made it difficult for no fewer than 28 states out of the 36 in the country to pay workers’ salary. Mr. Abubakar said the state government was spending N62 million weekly for the feeding of boarding school students across the state. He called on the people to continue to pray for peace, unity and progress in the country. Return economy to Jonathan’s era and resign — PDP The PDP on its part, in a statement, expressed surprise at what it described as the lackadaisical reaction of Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun to the recession, saying it was reflective of her ignorance, lack of patriotism or confirmation by the president that ministers were noise makers. The fresh demand for the President’s resignation was ignored by the Presidency which, yesterday, directed reactions to the All Progressives Congress, APC, party officials, including the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun. The APC Chairman was contacted through a text message, last night, but was yet to react at press time. The PDP, while calling on its supporters to keep on praying for the country, in a statement issued by the party’s national spokesman, Prince Dayo Adeyeye said: “The crass ineptitude and lukewarm-attitude of this APC government is no longer tolerable, and therefore, we are calling on President Buhari and his team to return Nigeria to its state of booming economy before they assumed office in May, 2015, and then quit immediately to allow other capable leaders recover our ailing economy”. Prince Adeyeye declared: “For instance, recall that about three airlines, local and international, like some banks, have suspended operations and sent their staff on indefinite leave due to poor state of  Nigeria’s economy. Nigerians are aware that the PDP government invested heavily in most of our airports in the country that resulted to obvious ‘facelift’ and improved operations through remodelling, construction of new airports, refurbishing and equipping of the local and international airports to meet best practices in the Aviation Industry. “But the APC administration has frittered away all the good policies and programmes which the PDP put in place, thereby crumbling the aviation sector in the country among other catastrophes it has caused. ‘.…What Nigerians want‘ “What Nigerians want from this administration are results, simple! And not resorting to throwing tantrums on the PDP at every given opportunity. Our call for the President to return the country to how he met it in 2015 is justified on the following grounds: A bag of rice was N7,000 and now it is above N20,000; a mudu of beans was N150 and now N500; one US Dollar was trading for N197 but now over N400; a litre of fuel was N87 but now N145; cost of transportation and other services have skyrocketed. Given our observation since the inception of this government, they have nothing to offer and as such, quitting will be a solution because nobody can give what he/she does not have. APC has failed. “The PDP calls on Nigerians to recall President Buhari’s purported ‘body language’ at the beginning of his administration and re-iterated that governance is a serious business and not about someone’s body language’ and de-marketing strategies of Mr. President while ‘globetrotting’. “When this government came to power in May 2015, riding on the achievements of previous PDP administration, President Buhari’s handlers and his party, the APC, claimed it was his ‘body language’ that brought some positive changes the country was witnessing at that time; so we want to know what are the results of the so called ‘body language’,” Prince Adeyeye queried. The party concluded that the earlier the President and his team quit, the better for the country, saying “there is no better time than now to make this call for the President to return the country to how he met it and quit, or right away quit for a more experienced team to take over”. APC slams PDP Reacting, the APC through a press statement issued by its National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, while urging the President to remain focused in his drive to restore economic growth said: “In spite of the PDP’s orchestrated and feeble attempts to blackmail the current administration and twist facts, the reality remains that the prevailing socio-economic hardship being faced by Nigerians is a direct consequence of the mismanagement of the economy and unprecedented looting of the country’s commonwealth perpetrated under its watch. The PDP’s attempt to turn truth on its head is fraudulent, insensitive and an insult to Nigerians. For the umpteenth time, the PDP must own up to its transgressions and apologise to Nigerians. “Going forward, the urgent task before the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration is to restore the country’s battered economy back to health and all legitimate and innovative means are being employed to achieve this in the quickest possible time. The party assured Nigerians of the strong political will and commitment of the Buhari administration to revive the economy and tackle the nation’s current challenges through suitable and well-thought economic policies, fiscal discipline and socio-political reforms. The party added that President Buhari was aggressively formulating and implementing policies aimed at diversifying Nigeria’s economy from oil to other sectors such as agriculture, mining and manufacturing. The APC assured Nigerians that the administration will pull the country out of the present hardships. With the support, cooperation, patience and prayers of Nigerians, the country will reach its deserved potential under our leadership.

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Recession: Buhari’s anti-corruption policy scaring investors – Bruce

Sen. Ben Bruce (PDP Bayelsa East) on Thursday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to adjust his approach to the anti-corruption crusade, saying policy was scaring investors.

Bruce, who disclosed this while contributing to the Senate’s debate on the economic recession in the country, said that Nigeria should not expect foreign investments as even local investors had stopped investing.

He said that people who had money to invest were no longer doing so because the anti-graft agencies were harassing any person with cash transactions running into millions.

“Buhari’s approach to anti-corruption is wrong: let us forget the foreign investors, what about the local investors?

“If people are afraid, they will not invest; fear will not be a policy to grow the economy. “Money is a coward; it only goes to places where there is peace and tranquillity.

“I have a friend who paid legitimate N50 million into his account and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) came and picked him up. “We cannot be afraid to be Nigerians; we cannot be afraid to live in our country,” he said.

Bruce recalled that former President Olusegun Obasanjo also fought corruption but that his anti-corruption fight was not one that put fear in the minds of real investors.

He said that he supported Buhari’s anti-corruption fight but insisted that the approach should be changed to encourage investments. On the prices of food in the market, he said that poor Nigerians were feeling the brunt far more than the rich.

He said that the prices of bags of rice, beans and garri had risen by over 50 per cent while the retail prices of the same commodity rose by over 150 per cent. The lawmaker said that while the rich bought the commodities in bags, the poor, whose minimum wage had not changed, had to buy at 150 per cent increased rate.

He attributed the increase in retail prices of items to the cost of transportation, and called for a transport policy to check transportation costs.

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Welcome to Tombia Kingdom

A project done by Tombia Corpers commissioned by Chief Ifuroiyala Dickson Abali

 Chief Ifuroiyala Dickson Abali, PRO and Mr. Adamu Musa (LI)

Tombia CORPER s after Commissing map of Tombia in Delta,

 Chief Ifuroiyala Dickson Abali and Mr. Adamu Musa (NYSC)  Local Government Inspector Degema

Corper Ugoala Innocent E.  ( CLO ) Tombia 2015/2016 batch B