Stop referring to Igbo as Ibo

Posted by Felix Okoli on Friday June 13, 2014 at 9:45:49:

There is this mistake some Nigerians and even some Igbo sons and daughters normally make when trying to use the word Igbo perhaps when referring to Igbo as a race or language.

The correct pronunciation for Igbo is Igbo and not Ibo as the white men or non Igbo speaking people normally use.

It's a bit insulting to refer to an Igbo person as Ibo either in speech or in one's writings. It is like referring to a Yoruba person or their language as "Oruba" or a "Hausa" person as "Awusa". People who use the word Ibo are seen as outsiders or just ignorant.

It is even more insulting if an Igbo person makes the mistake of using Ibo and I only advice that you don't.

The correct word to use when referring to the Igbo as a race or language is Igbo and not Ibo either in your speech or writing.

Nowadays, even journalist who publish reports on Nigerian newspapers don't try making that mistake again as they used to in the past and you might only get to see such errors in rare cases when a person less knowledgeable about the Igbo race writers about them. This mistake is more common among Yoruba or Hausa writers and not Igbo writers.

When writing a report or making a speech about Igbo, it's not advisable to use the word Ibo either in your pronunciation or speech especially if your audience is an Igbotic one. True Igbo sons would treat you with scorn or just feel insulted that you have little regard for them.

For some Igbo people, the use of the word Ibo by a person would be seen as a form of racism and for others it's just a sign of ignorance. In either case, it's not good to refer to Igbo as Ibo if you really want to keep or make Igbo friends.