CULTURE : INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE KALABARI IJAWS !

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
Abonemma, 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-trade partners. IT IS VERY
IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE KALABARI-
IJAW HAVE NEVER BEEN SLAVES. 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
Prof. (Hajia) Duke ... Astute Academic &
Politician
Taribo West… Ex footballer
Ian Whyte ....... Legendary DJ (worldwide)
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.
WARNING
The public are hereby warned to be on their
guard when visiting a Kalabari' s person's
home because the Kalabari person is mostly
likely to keep offering you one food after the
other, thereby leading to over-feeding.
Previously, and possibly up until the early
1990's, the new mothers, as well as new
brides are kept in what is known as a
'Fattening-Room', the person is fed
continuously and is not allowed to lift a finger
to do any form of work during this period.
Other cultures have been known to openly
show their jealousness over this unique
Kalabari behaviour.
It was this 'Fattening-Room' enjoyment that
inspired my uncle and legendary Highlife
Music exponent - Cardinal Rex Lawson to
sing the famous "Atabala-woman" super hit in
the late 1960's.
NB:
I can confirm that the Kalabaris were NEVER
slaves to anyone.
The term 'slave-masters' reflects the fact that
the Kalabaris had a lot of different trading
partners who were referred to as "slave-
masters" due to the fact that as soon as they
arrived, someone will run to the trader and
shout your slave-master (meaning the new
master for the slaves you have) has arrived.
To further confirm that they were the sole
trading partners with a particular white trader,
the Kalabari trader allows people to call them
their white partner's names. It stuck .
With such an arrangements, when their
particular partner arrives, only that trader can
do any trading with them.
This perhaps explains the origin of these
names in Kalabari-land.
Once again, the Kalabaris were never slaves,
rather they were (and are still) very fierce
warriors.
APPEAL:
This post is not by any means the full and
final position on Kalabari history, rather it is
an attempt to bring the Kalabari culture to the
forefront of our present day.
I DO NOT have any form of monopoly on the
history of Kalabari.
I will humbly concede to all superior
knowledge.
This post is a 'Continuum' and as such is a
never-ending story where others are invited to
contribute.
IF you know the right history and keep quiet,
then do not blame others for any wrong
'projections' of our Kalabari culture & history.
Omiete...... !!!