A digital home for the language and legacy of the Ijaw people
The Ijaw Project is a cultural and educational platform dedicated to preserving and celebrating the heritage of the Ijaw people — one of the largest ethnic nationalities in Nigeria and one of the oldest civilisations in the Niger Delta.
We are Bayelsans, Rivers people, and members of the Ijaw diaspora who believe that our language, our stories, and our great men and women deserve a permanent, dignified home on the internet.
We are building a living archive of the Ijaw nation. Today, that means a dictionary of four Ijaw dialects — Izon, Nembe, Ogbia, and Epie — and a gallery of biographies of the great icons of Ijaw history. Tomorrow, it will mean much more.
Every word we document, every life we record, is an act of cultural preservation. Languages disappear. Histories are forgotten. The Ijaw Project exists so that neither happens to ours.
The Ijaw (also spelled Ijo) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. With an estimated population of over 14 million people, they inhabit the coastal swamps and river delta communities of Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta, Ondo, Edo, and Akwa Ibom States.
The Ijaw are among the oldest inhabitants of the Niger Delta, with a history stretching back thousands of years. Their communities have long been organised around rivers and creeks, and their relationship with water — as fishermen, traders, and navigators — is central to their identity and spiritual life.
The discovery of oil in Oloibiri in 1956 transformed both Nigeria and the Ijaw people — bringing enormous wealth to the nation while devastating the environment and communities of the Niger Delta.
We welcome contributions, corrections, and partnerships. If you have information to add to our dictionary, a biography to share, or a story to tell, please reach out to us at info@theijawproject.com.ng.