How the Igbos started selling to Panya, Equatorial Guinea in the 18th Century
This is not about Ebanga
This is history and geography class
By Kelechi Deca
“The Igbo started sailing to Equatorial Guinea in the 18th Century. As a Spanish outpost it was Espanol, the name of Spain. My people couldn’t grab the nasal tone of “Español” so they corrupted it to “Panya”.
If you have ever heard a Spaniard pronounce “Espanol”, especially the uneducated Spaniard, even with all your education, you would appreciate, and also understand how my people got confused along the way.
All you may probably hear is “Panyo”. Interestingly, Spain has the “ny” sound as the Igbo, so….
It could be recalled that the Igbo people first arrived what is presently known as Equatorial Guinea in the 18th and 19th centuries mostly as workers in the plantation fields.
The first Igbo large diaspora community in Africa, outside the geographical enclave known today as Nigeria was in “Panya.” It was so popular that almost every family has somebody in that country.
Later they moved to Fernanda Po, which is present day Sao Tome e Principe. To work in the sugarcane plantations owned by the Portuguese.
Most of those who first arrived there were from Arochukwu, some were labour hands, and later traders, and they settled in the islands. That opened the doors for more Igbo from different parts of Igboland as the Japa syndrome caught up and their neighboring Efik, and Ibibio joined them and today they have fused into the Igbo community in that country.
That is why today, the Igbo population of Equatorial Guinea are mostly found Bioko Island, though there are those in Rio Muni.
Those who went in the 20th century went as farm hands. It was basically slave type labour. Tough work that was excruciating with low wages. It was exploitation at its best. Add to that, they introduced women of easy virtues, and liquor to deaden their humanity. That’s why most of our people who returned from there came home empty. And many never found their feet. That’s an aspect of our untold history of pain and tears.
But many refused to return especially those who were second generation Igbo, whose fathers went there earlier. They lived and naturalised there. The Igbo language is recognized in Equatorial Guinea, and the Igbo people still practice their traditions. They also speak Pidgin English, Fang, and Bubi.
The main ethnic nationalities in the country today are the Bubi, Fang and the Igbo. The Igbo people of Bioko, are the third-largest ethnic group after Fang and Bubi, and occupy a small area in Bioko, but comparatively, they are a minority in the country of 1.2 million.
