Who are the Ijaws?


Yea, who are the Ijaws? The Ijaws are the indigenous people of Delta State and regions of the States of Bayelsa, Edo, Delta, Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Rivers. We can still find some of them in Sierra Leone and Gabon.

The Origin of Ijaw People

The term Ijaw is the anglicised version of Ijo or Ejo, a variation of Ujo or Ojo, the ancestor who gave the Ijo people our name. Other modern variations include Izon (Ijon), Ezon (Ejon) and Uzon (Ujon) meaning the same thing. Other names referring to Ijaw people are Uzo (at Benin), the original ancestral name Oru (in Ijaw and Ibo land) and Kumoni (in Ijaw). These names were applicable through the Niger Delta and environs as noted by early British visitors; their population range from 12 million to 15 million people.

Ijaw Religion
About 70% of Ijaw people are Christians, from Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism and Pentecostal being the varieties of Christianity. And about 25% of them practices traditional religious while 5% of them are Muslims.

Ijaw Ethnic Groups

Ijaw people have few ethnic groups that makes up the Ijaw people. The Eastern Ijaw ethnic groups comprises the Andoni, Okrika, Ibani (the natives of Bonny, Finima and Opobo) and Nkoroo, while Kalabari is the name of one of the Ijaw clans that reside on the eastern side of the Niger-Delta (Abonnema, Buguma, Bakana, Degema).

Ijaw Festivals

There are some important festivals that the Ijaws practices but it varies from the States and here are some of the festivals.

LAKE EFI FISHING FESTIVAL

This is a major festival that takes place at the Efi Lake in Sabagrela in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. This colourful festival is usually celebrated every seven years subject to the pronouncement of the Chief Priest.

The Ijaw Water Home

The Ijaw Water Home is cultural tie to the Ijaw people of Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. Due to the riverine and swampy nature of their environment in the south south states, they have over the years, established a perfect relationship with the rivers that surround them. We still have the The Ijaw Water Home is cultural tie to the Ijaw people of Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. Due to the riverine and swampy nature of their environment in the south south states, they have over the years, established a perfect relationship with the rivers that surround them. We still have the Ijaw masquerade fight festival.

Ijaw Dressing

The dressing of an Ijaw man will not be complete without the bowler (resource control) hat and a walking stick. It is rare to find an Ijaw man in “agbada,”. They have their special top and trousers, which at times is referred to as “chieftaincy”.
During their festival periods, the Ijaws usually wear their traditional wears that includes beads.

Ijaw Peoples' Food

Some of the foods that are part of the Ijaws are, Polofiyai — A very rich soup made with yams and palm oil. Kekefiyai— A pottage made with chopped unripened (green) plantains, fish, other seafood or game meat (bushmeat) and palm oil. Fried or roasted fish and plantain — Fish fried in palm oil and served with fried plantains.

Ijaw People and Their Culture

The role of prayer in the traditional Ijaw system of belief is to maintain the living in the good graces of the water spirits among whom they dwelt before being born into this world, and each year the Ijaw hold celebrations in honor the spirits lasting for several days. Central to the festivities is the role of masquerades, in which men wearing elaborate outfits and carved masks dance to the beat of drums and manifest the influence of the water spirits through the quality and intensity of their dancing. Particularly spectacular masqueraders are taken to actually be in the possession of the particular spirits on whose behalf they are dancing.


In addition, the Ijaw practice a form of divination called Igbadai, in which recently deceased individuals are interrogated on the causes of their death. Ijaw religious beliefs hold that water spirits are like humans in having personal strengths and shortcomings, and that humans dwell among the water spirits before being born.

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