“Ijaw? What’s that? Do you mean Igbo?”
The first time I heard these questions was when a girl I’d met in secondary school asked me what my tribe was. We had bonded over our mutual green and white heritage, however, the look of confusion she gave me when I told her I was Ijaw would be mirrored by every Nigerian youth I met over the following years.
Being Ijaw in the UK: An oddity among fellow Nigerian youth | Arts and Culture | Al Jazeera
![The author's aunts in Yenagoa, the capital of southern coastal Bayelsa state, where the author was born [Courtesy of Ayis Stephen-Diver]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Ijaw-header-pic-e1623838744818.jpg?resize=770%2C513)
The author’s aunts in Yenagoa, the capital of southern coastal Bayelsa state, where the author was born [Courtesy of Ayis Stephen-Diver]