Ken Okolugbo, media aide to the Senate President, has stated that Ndokwa and Ukwuani people in Delta State who reject being classified as Igbos are living in self-denial.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV from 4:29, Okolugbo traced the historical classification of his people through different administrative periods. “From Bendel—before now, we had the Western Igbo. We had the three regions: we had the North, South, and West. We were classified as Western Igbo. Then we came to Midwest Igbo. Then we came to Delta Igbo. And ‘Ika’ is a corrupted way of pronouncing ‘Igbo,'” he said.
He added, “Some of my brothers from the Ndokwa and Ukwuani extraction who try to fight and say we are not Igbos—some live in self-denial.”
Okolugbo cited his personal experience editing a historical book to support his position. “I was the editor of the book on the history of Ukwuani. That’s a book on the Oshimili-Ukwuani people of the Niger Delta. This book was written by my late father, Very Reverend Professor Okolubo. When this book was written, he didn’t publish it before he died. He only published the Christianity aspect. I published that book in 2004, and I was able to read that book back-to-back as the editor of the book,” he explained.
The Senate President’s aide referenced scholarly validation of the Igbo connection, noting that the book’s findings were confirmed by Professor Ebiegberi Joe Alagoa, a prominent historian.
According to Okolugbo, the historical research established that the people are of Igbo extraction, though the area also received Edo settlers who arrived independently, as well as Igala migrants.
Despite this diverse heritage, he emphasized that the cultural and linguistic connections between the people of Ndokwa West, Ukwuani, Ndokwa East, and the broader Anioma region cannot be denied. View, More,
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