Emeka Esogbue

 Linguistic Note on How the British Anglicized “Igbuzo” to “Ibusa”: A Case of Colonial Mishearing and Orthographic Simplification By Emeka Esogbue By 1830, European contact with Anioma land had begun in earnest when the Lander Brothers, during their Niger expedition, reached Aboh and were captured. This marked one of the earliest recorded encounters between Anioma and the Europeans. As British influence expanded through exploration, trade, and later military campaigns, the Anioma region including Asaba, Aboh, Ogwashi-Uku, and Igbuzo (Ibusa) gradually came under their attention. The town of Igbuzo, located about six miles (some colonial documents say five) from Asaba, was a small, dusty settlement perched on a gentle elevation between Asaba and Ogwashi-Uku. By the late 19th century, British explorers, missionaries, and colonial officers, many of whom struggled with the nasal tones and consonant clusters of Igbo phonology, found “Igbuzo” difficult to pronounce. To their ears, the sou...

 Happy Posthumous Birthday to a Pioneer: Chief Mrs. Elizabeth Njideaka Today, the people of Ibusa celebrate the life and legacy of Chief Mrs. Elizabeth Njideaka, a renowned educationist from our Ibusa, Delta State. Born on June 28, 1939, she left an indelible mark on Nigeria's educational space. As a philanthropist and advocate for education, she believed in empowering Nigerians through knowledge, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. In 1970, ten years after Nigeria's independence, Chief Mrs. Njideaka founded the Santa Maria School in Lagos, followed with multiple branches thereafter. Her vision for education as a key to unlocking opportunities and freedom engendered support with Oprah Winfrey's words: "Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom." Through her schools, she opened doors to job prospects, career advancement, and higher earning potential for countless Nigerians. Beyond education, Chief Mrs. Njideaka's philanthropi...

 Ibusa Community Unites Against Kidnappers and Other Criminals, Declares Spiritual War Story By Emeka Esogbue In a show of unity and determination, hundreds of Ibusa community members in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State gathered at the sacred Ihu Ani ground to lay curses on kidnappers and other criminal elements disrupting the community's peace. The spiritual ceremony, led by the Ikwele of Ibusa, Chief Engr Celestine Okafor, aimed to invoke generational curses on wrongdoers and their collaborators. PEN MASTER learnt that participants had started to gather at the sacred site as early as 7.00am, eagerly awaiting the much anticipated ceremony to commence. The community's traditional heads and spiritual custodians, some of whom dressed in Akwa-Ocha traditional attire and red war garments were also sighted invoking the isu ofor curses. Participants held objects, and chanted "enough is enough" as they pleaded with criminals to leave the community.  The ce...

 Assert Ibusa as Host Community in your Publications, GIWA President, Dr. Ajumeze tells Admiralty University - Emeka Esogbue The President of the Guild of Ibusa Writers and Authors also known as GIWA, Dr. Henry Obi Ajumeze has appealed to the Management of the Admiralty University of Nigeria (ADUN), Ibusa in Delta State, Nigeria, to proudly assert the Ibusa name as the institution's host community. Ajumeze, in a terse message made available to the executives of the Association via the GIWA executive platform, said, "Dear House, a particular matter keeps drawing my attention as something within our spheres of interest. It is the persistent refusal to assert our name as the bona-fide community in which Admiralty University is founded and sited," while urging the Management of the school to recognize the community as the host community in their publications. Dr. Ajumeze, a renowned poet and lecturer in Theatre Arts, popular for his book, "Dimples on the Sand," who ...

 Omu Ibusa Takes Ibusa School Girls to Asaba Government House By Emeka Esogbue The Omu of Ibusa, HRH Obi Josephine Nwannabuogwu on Wednesday, led female students of Ibusa Mixed Secondary School in the community to a symposium put together in the state to mark this year's World Menstrual Hygiene Day. The Girl-Child event themed "Disrupting Rural Poverty in Rural Communities Across Delta State", also had the H.E. Dame Edith Okowa, the First Lady of Delta State in attendance as the Special Guest of Honour.  The conference/symposium which was aimed at enlightening the young females in the state highlighted period poverty as the most neglected socio-economic situation of the girl-child in the country and sought means of filling the socio-economic gap.  Speaking after the event, the Omu of Ibusa praised the idea of the organizers in putting the programme together as an absolute biologic favour to the target audience and urged them not to relent in their promotion of the welfare...

  Prince Umejei: Origin of the Ibusa Founder Deepens in Controversy By Emeka Esogbue The historians of Ibusa, a clan now located in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State have been in historical struggle to ascertain the original homestead of Umejei, the major founder of the community. Although the legend of the settlement clearly indicated that the progenitor of the community is Umejei Nwa Eze Isu (Prince Umejei) who hailed from Isu of South East Nigeria, that particular Isu in Igboland is not retained by the legendary account. The attempt of the community’s historians to ascertain this part of Isu has been frustrated by this oral tradition and further hampered by lack of documented sources by early writers to unravel the historical challenge confronting the people. the Europeans who also visited the community did not take interest in digging into the history of the people despite the relations shared with them. For the reason presented above, researchers workin...