Ijaw means truth. This name was given to them by their adjacent tribes because of the prestige they had in the matter of truthfulness and honesty at that time. For this reason, in ancient times the most important cases of the neighbouring tribes were always brought to and tried by Ijaw men.

The Ijaw man prefers justice to riches, therefore the word “bribery” was very little known amongst the Ijaws. Truth is still the characteristic of every true Ijaw man but one must undoubtedly admit that western civilization has greatly tampered with his great virtue. The word “Ijaw” could be used in two distinct senses, one referring to Ijaw country proper while the other referring to all the coast towns on the Niger Delta area. This word is sometimes spelt “Ijo” or “Ijoh”, but the popular or official spelling is “Ijaw”.

Origin

Ijaw is one of the first tribes that entered Nigeria afterwards other tribes invaded them and they were driven South-wards and settled somewhere near Ado (Benin City). They were invaded by the Benin’s and Jekris respectively and were forced to leave that area to seek for their livelihood else where. This brought them to the country where they live now. Some of the discontented families from Benin City joined them when they were leaving that area. This is the generally accepted version.

Occupation

The occupation vary but the chief one in fishing. There are no actual lands with the exception of the very narrow, sandy tract of land on the Atlantic Ocean. All the other places are adjacent to the mangrove swamps. For this reason farming is an impossibility in this area. The people in this area lived more on the farinas than on any other food. There are no good wells, and on account of this many people suffer from guinea-worn from time to time.

The towns and villages on the Niger proper have farming as their chief industry. They grow yams, cassava, plantains, groundnuts, corn and beans. The seedlings are planted in January and February, and are harvested in June and July, with the exception of plantain which usually takes a longer time. There is a tropical forest in this area where trees like mahogany, Iorko, Iron wood and oil palms grow. The Ijaws are very industrous and this enables them to be richer and more prosperous than others.

The chief occupation of the women in the locality of the mangrove swamps are; fishing and salt making. Those living in the tropical forest are farmers and traders. The men are developing greatly in many ways as far as trading is concerned.