On Saturday, 4th June, 2026, an Idoma Day celebration was held at the Old Parade Ground in Abuja and the Akweya people did not have a representation. On various Akweya WhatsApp groups a debate has trailed the state of affairs.
The question, “Are the Akweya truly Idoma?” is one that frequently provokes strong emotions. That’s what it is doing now. For some, the answer is an emphatic “yes.” For others, it is an equally forceful “no.” History, however, is rarely so simple.
The question is: Are we referring to Idoma, the ethnic identity, Idoma, the language, or Idoma the old administrative Division created by the colonialists and forms the current geopolitical Zone C in Benue?
The most accurate answer is this:
Yes, the Akweya are Idoma in terms of ethnic identity today. No, Akweya is not an Idoma language. Yes, Akweya District was part of the old Idoma Division, which is now defunct.
The three statements are true at the same time. I will refer to an academic article to buttress my point.
A Historical Identity, Not a Biological One
Many people mistakenly assume that every ethnic group must descend from one common ancestor and speak one common language. Modern historical scholarship rejects this assumption.
In their influential study, “The Idoma Ethnic Group: A Historical and Cultural Setting”, Professors Okpeh O. Okpeh and Yakubu A. Ochefu argue that Idoma ethnicity itself is a historical construction rather than a timeless biological identity. They note that what we today call the Idoma people emerged gradually through centuries of migrations, interactions and political consolidation.
Indeed, the authors explicitly state that before the colonial period, “Idoma” was primarily a linguistic rather than an ethnic designation. The sense of belonging to one Idoma ethnic community evolved over time as different communities settled south of the Benue after leaving Apa.
In other words, even the Idoma nation itself was formed through history.
Where Do the Akweya Fit?
The same historical study addresses this directly.
By the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, migrating Idoma communities had established themselves in what is now Idomaland. During this expansion, they settled on territories previously occupied by smaller ethnic groups, including the Igede, the Ufia and the Akweya.
According to Okpeh and Ochefu: “…the Ufia and Akweya were encircled by the Idoma and today constitute bilingual micro-nationalities in the heart of Idomaland.”
“…the Ufia and Akweya were encircled by the Idoma and today constitute bilingual micro-nationalities in the heart of Idomaland.”
That sentence is crucial.
The authors do not say the Akweya disappeared. They do not say they became linguistically Idoma.
Rather, they describe them as micro-nationalities, small peoples who retained their distinctiveness while becoming part of the wider Idoma social and political world.
Akweya Is a Language of Its Own
This distinction becomes even clearer in the section on language.
The authors identify Akweya as one of the languages within the wider Idoma linguistic grouping recognised by linguists, but they also note that Akpa District is Akweya-speaking and that both the Akweya and the Igede “can be regarded as Idoma-speaking only in a very loose sense of the word.”
This is an important clarification.
It means that Akweya is not simply another dialect of Idoma. It is a distinct language. This is not exactly the case between the Igbo and Ikwerre. While linguistically and historically the two groups are closely related, political shifts and historical trauma have led many Ikwerre to assert a distinct, independent ethnic identity. Scholars and linguists classify Ikwerre as an Igboid language, sharing over 80% similarity with mainstream Igbo dialects. Many Ikwerre traditions and town names (such as those using the prefix Rumu-, equivalent to Umu- in Igbo) trace back to Igboland. Akweya language, according to the academic paper, is distinct.
The Akweya language deserves preservation, documentation and promotion in its own right. That’s one of the things we are doing at AkweyaTV.
Ethnicity Is More Than Language
Around the world, many ethnic identities include multiple languages. The Swiss speak German, French, Italian and Romansh. India contains hundreds of languages within one national identity.
Even within Nigeria, ethnic identities often encompass considerable linguistic diversity.
Likewise, belonging to the contemporary Idoma ethnic community does not necessarily require speaking Standard Idoma.
Identity can be shaped by geography, political history, shared institutions, intermarriage, cultural practices and centuries of coexistence. The Akweya story illustrates this perfectly. We have many instances of intermarriage with Idoma; we have clans that are known to comprise entirely of migrants from other parts of Idoma. We share many cultural practices.
The Answer Is Both Yes and No
So, are the Akweya truly Idoma?
Yes, if the question concerns today’s ethnic identity and historical belonging within Idomaland and the Idoma Division.
No, if the question assumes that being Idoma means speaking the Idoma language or descending from exactly the same ancestral stock as every other Idoma community.
The Akweya remain Akweya. Their language remains Akweya.
Yet centuries of shared history have also made them part of the broader Idoma ethnic family.
These two truths do not contradict each other.
They complete each other.
Rather than denying either side of that history, we should celebrate both: the richness of the larger Idoma identity and the unique linguistic and cultural heritage of the Akweya people.
