Ibusa

Ibusa is one of the prominent towns of Delta State in Nigeria. Geographically it is located on the left flank of the lower part of the River Niger. The inhabitants of Ibusa are renowned for their rich culture, tradition, industry, impressive academic pursuits and religious leanings.

Christianity is very rife in Ibusa, a town which in 2009, its population reached 566, 310. History seems to suggest that the people of Ibusa were Igbo migrants from the Eastern part of the country. The first indigenes of Ibusa embarked on an expedition led by Prince Umejei, where they reportedly crossed the River Niger about the 15th Century.

Farming is quite commonplace amongst the populace. Crops such as yam, cassava, beans, mango, maize and several other tropical plants thrive in this geographic setting. Nsala soup with pounded yam – NsalanaNniosusu – is a delicacy amongst the community. The Diokpa of Ibusa – the eldest man – is the traditional leader of the town, while the Obuzor of Ibusa is the appointed public representative of the community. The federation of Ibusa comprises ten Quarters or villages thus the common reference to the town as “Igbuzoebi Ili” These ten Quarters are Umuekea, Umuodafe, Umuidinisagba, Umueze, Umuehea, Ogbeowele, Anyalabum (i.e. Ezukwu and Achalla-Igbuzo), Umuwagwu, Umuezeagwu and Ogboli. The Ibusa town is today basically a federation of two autonomous settlements with different origins, the Igbuzo settlement and the Ogboli settlement in what Prof. M. A. Onwuejeogwu has illustrated it as a friendship alliance which has developed into a complicated political union, a political union that has undergone many processes which today constitute the unwritten constitution of Ibusa.

It has also been historically noted that at the beginning, the Ibusa-Ogboli federal knit had its Diokpa because the settlements have different origins, so they have different ofo. Today, the entire Ibusa clan have a single Diokpa and ofor. In 1936, the Ibusa-Ogboli union was threatened owing to a dispute as both settlements threatened to suspend marriage, but this was soon resolved amicably as both groups have continued to live as one community.

Greetings in Ibusa are quite remarkable and usually follow a pattern of whether one is an indigene of any given quarter or not. In Umuekea Quarter, for instance, while a native is greeted with “Omogwu”, a woman being married in that quarter is exclusively greeted with “Oliofe.” Familiarity is therefore necessary before salutation is paid in the native way of the town. This broad range of native greetings is hugely typical of the Igbuzo people, a tradition that reminds them of their admirable history.