Ikwerre (also Ikwere) is a language of the Ikwerre people of Rivers State Nigeria. Ikwerre, being one of the majority languages in River State, is spoken by over 1,980,000 people according to the 1991 census.
The classification of Ikwerre as an Igbo language or dialect remains a subject of controversy. Over the 19th century, several falsified documents which appeared to be signed and supported by the Ikwerre claimed that Ikwerre, both people and ...
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Ikwerre (also Ikwere) is a language of the Ikwerre people of Rivers State Nigeria. Ikwerre, being one of the majority languages in River State, is spoken by over 1,980,000 people according to the 1991 census.
The classification of Ikwerre as an Igbo language or dialect remains a subject of controversy. Over the 19th century, several falsified documents which appeared to be signed and supported by the Ikwerre claimed that Ikwerre, both people and language, was strictly Igbo. In 1957, a body entitled the Ikwerre National Congress which pretended to represent the entire community submitted such a claim in a memorandum. However, this body inappropriately referred to oral traditions and to a booklet on the Aro people which had been written by an Aro man. The classification of Ikwerre as a dialect of Igbo has thus, for the most part, been pushed by colonial traditions.
Geopolitically, the Ikwerre people are fully autonomous from the "hegemony of the Igbo people legally, culturally,...
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