Haitian delegation arrives in Enugu to trace their Igbo origin
A delegation of Haitian citizens has arrived in Enugu State, South Eastern Nigeria, on a mission to trace their ancestral origin to Igbo land.
The leader of the delegation, Senator Moise Jean Charles was accompanied by some Haiti nationals for the historic fact-finding mission
Ikeroyal Emewu wrote that the delegation was received by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who was represented by the Secretary to the state government, Simon Ortuanya.
Haiti is the first independent black republic in the world that defeated King Napoleon and the Fresh colonists in 1803 and became a sovereign nation in 1804.
Haiti is the second oldest independent nation in the Western Hemisphere after the United States of America and was also the first country in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery.
The Igbo lineage of the Haiti people has been a lingering story over the years, taking facts from the culture of the people of Haiti whose population derives from black slaves who got liberated from areas around the United States of America.
Some 12 years ago, the late journalist and administrator, Dimgba Igwe of The Sun Newspaper, wrote a column in the newspaper of his encounter with a Haitian woman when he visited the country.
He had narrated how a lady housekeeper in the hotel he stayed at the Haitian capital, Port Au Prince told him her name was Adanna.
As he in surprise told the woman that the name was an Igbo which meant “first daughter, “ the Haitian woman, corrected him and said that her father said her name actually meant “father’s first daughter. “
He said that he expressed his shock and surprise that the Haitian lady knew the more detailed meaning of the name in Igbo language than himself, an Igbo man.
Wow the igbos are gathering little by little.may chukwuokike be praised