Names Of Some Igbo Communities That Were Renamed By The British

 

Some states and communities in Nigerian were wrongly pronounced by the British colonial masters, and why Nigeria was being colonized by them, many Nigerians adopted these mispronounced words as names of some of their communities.

Therefore, this article is not aimed at portraying a negative image of the colonial masters; rather, it is aimed at correcting some of the words we mispronounce and providing us with the real pronunciation of these words.

Some of such words are as follows:

1.) Owerri. The Original Name is Owe Ere.

 

2.) Orlụ. The original name is Ọlụ.

 

3.) Awkuzu. The Original Name is Ọkụ Ụzọ Achagbunam.

 

4.) Okigwe. The original name is Oka Igwe.

 

5.) Enugu. The original name is Enu Ugwu, it is a mountain town.

 

6.) Okpaala. The Original Name: Ọkpụ Ala Ngwa.

 

7.) Port Harcourt. The original name is Igwe Ọcha.

 

8.) Opobo. The original name is Igwe Nga.

 

9.) Bonny. The Original Name is Ubani.

 

10.) Oyigbo. The original name is Obi Igbo.

 

11.) Abakiliki. The Original Name is Abakeleke.

 

12.) Mbaise. The Original Name is Agbaaja, Ahiara, Ekwerazụ, Oke Ovoro and Ezinihite, they are five independent villages, but the white men made them to answer Mbaise as one village. The Mbaise people also have a different culture that they believe in.

 

13.) Asaba. The original name is Ahaba.

 

14.) Onitsha. The original name is Onicha.

 

15.) Ibusa. The original name is Igbo Ụzọ.

 

16.) Ogwashi. The original name is Ọgwa Ahi, and they are from Nri.

 

17.) Awka. The original name is Oka.

 

18.) Awkunanaw . The original name is Okunnano.

 

19.) Amawbia. The original name is Amaobia.

 

20.) Umuahia. The original name is Ọma ahịa.

 

21.) Anambra. The original name is Omambala.

 

22.) Ibo/Eboe. The original name is Igbo.

 

23.) Benin. The original name is Bini/Ubini.

 

24.) Benue. The original name is Binuwe.

 

25.) Ebonyi. The original name is Aboine.

 

The above mentioned are few compared to the large number of words that have been adopted by the Igbo people not knowing they were wrongly spelt and pronounced by the British colonial masters