thus having had six centuries of direct cultural exposure to western christianity and other african influences, contemporary itsekiri language and culture has successfully evolved into a hybrid of the many cultures that have influenced its development. similarly owing to the complex genetic mix of most itsekiris over the centuries, many individuals self-identifying as itsekiri would usually be a complex mix of any of the aforementioned ethnic and racial groups. thus modern day itsekiris may be the only southern nigerian ethnic group to be almost totally heterogeneous (mixed) in its genetic composition. the total absence of any dialectal variation in the itsekiri language is also unique for the region and is most likely the result of the early coalescing of the itsekiri people into a small and highly centralised nation state from the 15th century onward.