Agogo, D. (2021). Ekainu, the Igede man: An Essay Updating Olaudah Equiano’s Hometown of Origin. Available at SSRN 4599824.

Equaino could have been held locally (Ab) among the Idoma or Jukun, whose languages are similar enough to the Igede, while the scouts sent out for him were misled on where to look, after which he made a journey eastward to his first river in the area currently known as Cameroun (B) after which he had his months long journey in that country until he arrived at the slave port in Malabo (C), thereby avoiding detection in any of the known slave ports that had a lot of Ibo slaves (D). Reconstructing a similar travel path from an Ibo location (around area D) will lead to inconsistencies or at least prompt additional questions not answerable from Equiano's own accounts.

Ibo scholars modify this to Igburichi | Okwurichi, meaning ‘an elderly person of respect’ | | Equaino | NA | Eka Inu, meaning ‘Bush cat’ | | Olaudah | NA | Ole Ohwu dah, meaning ‘he who the winds blow upon’, or “hunter”, or “medicine man” | | Ah-affoe-way-cah | Men who calculated time and foretold events

Ibo scholars modify this to Afo nwa ika (short men or dwarfs from a neighboring community to Isseke, Imo) | Affoe, meaning ‘book or studies’, therefore ah-affoe could mean ‘those who participate in books, studies”.

There is an alternative meaning that an old person may have given to Equaino as a young boy which has the implication that he was not ready to learn of the real names and meanings at the time he was taken from his home. Ah-affoe-weh-ka means “you are not good enough to know this” in current igede language. | | Ah-affoe | | Ah haffu, meaning, “Those who participate in books, studies” | | Ichii | Facial scarifications | ‘I chi’ means to cut in Igede language.

The verb ‘to cut’ is “o chi chi” and the word screaming is written as “eko o chi chi” which literally means the sound of cutting. |

Table 2: Interpretation of other terms from Olaudah Equaino’s book