Igbo people

Igbo "Ndi Igbo"

File:FamousIGB-1.jpeg Olaudah Equiano • Nnamdi Azikiwe • "Emeka" Ojukwu • Francis Arinze
Regions with significant populations
Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, United Kingdom, United States of America
Languages
Igbo
Religion
Christianity, Igbo traditional religion
Related ethnic groups
Ikwerre, Idoma

The Igbo, sometimes (especially formerly) referred to as Ibo, are one of the largest single ethnicities in Africa. Most Igbo speakers are based in southeastern Nigeria, constituting about 17% of the population; they can also be found in significant numbers in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Their language is also called Igbo.

Geography

The Igbo in Nigeria are in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, stretching into adjacent states like Delta and Rivers. Igbo language is predominant throughout Igboland. Prominent cities in the Igbo country include Aba, Awka, Owerri, Orlu, Nnewi, Mbaise, Nsukka, Enugu, Onitsha, Afikpo, Okigwe, Umuahia, Asaba, amongst others.

Religion

The Igbo are overwhelmingly Christian. With the colonial government more concerned with pacifying the region, missionaries were given free rein provided that their converts were loyal subjects of the British crown. Consequently, then as now, many forms of Christianity are practiced in Igboland. Roman Catholicism initially came to Igboland in the 14th century when the Portugese established relations with the Benin Empire. It is still predominant in the areas around Enugu and Onitsha, which are both near where the former Benin empire existed. But most of Igboland was not Christianized until British colonization. Today most Igbo are adherents of Anglicanism, Methodism, Presbyterianism, and Roman Catholicism. But some Igbo also are adherents of Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, and other forms of Christianity.

Some Igbo still practice the traditional Igbo religion. Although the Igbo have been thoroughly Christianized, it does still retain its influence, especially in the suburban and rural villages. As with most Christianized peoples, they adapted many of the old pagan values, customs, and traditions deemphasizing their origins.

In addition, there is a small Jewish minority among the Igbo, whose origins date from well before European colonialism in Africa.

Origin

The Igbo appear to have come south from the area where the Niger and Benue Rivers come together.

According to Professor A. E. Afigbo, an Igbo man, "the Igbo, and perhaps the Idoma and most likely the Ijaw (Ijo), would appear to be the one of the only surviving coherent ethnic groups from the first set of proto-Kwa speakers to penetrate the forest areas of Southern Nigeria and who at one time occupied areas as far to the west as Ile-Ife in Yorubaland.

Archaeological, linguistic, botanical and anthropological evidence also do suggest that the Igbo and their ancestors have lived in their present homes from the dawn of human history.

Pre-colonial life

Pre-colonial Igbo political organization was based on semiautonomous communities, devoid of kings or governing chiefs. With the exception of towns such as Onitsha, which had kings called Obis, and places like Nri and Arochukwu, which had priest kings known as Ezes, most Igbo village governments were ruled solely by an assembly of the common people.

Although titleholders were respected because of their accomplishments, they were never revered as kings, but often performed special functions given to them by such assemblies. This way of governing was immensely different from most other communities of Western Africa, and only shared by the Ewe of Ghana. Igbo secret societies also had a ceremonial script called Nsibidi. The Igbo had a calendar in which a week had four days. A month consisted of seven weeks and thirteen months made a year. In the last month, an extra day was added. This calendar is still in use in villages and towns to determine the market days.

They also had mathematics called Okwe and Mkpisi and a saving and loans bank system called Isusu. They settled law matters by oath-taking to a god. If that person died in a certain amount of time, he was guilty. If not, he was free to go, but if guilty, that person could face exile or servitude to a deity.

The Colonial period

The arrival of the British in the 1870s and increased encounters between the Igbo and other Nigerians led to a deepening sense of a distinct Igbo ethnic identity. The Igbo also proved remarkably decisive and enthusiastic in their embrace of Christianity and Western education. Under British colonial rule, the diversity within each of Nigeria's major ethnic groups slowly decreased and distinctions between the Igbo and other large ethnic groups, such as the Hausa and the Yoruba became sharper.

The novel Things Fall Apart by an Igbo author Chinua Achebe, is a fictional account of the clash between the new influences of the British and the traditional life of the Igbo.

The Igbo today

After the Nigerian Civil War, Igboland had been severely devastated. Many hospitals, schools, and homes had been completely destroyed in the brutal war. The Federal government of Nigeria denied the Igbo people access to all the hard currencies such as pound sterling they had saved in Nigerian banks before the civil war, and only allowed them a minuscule compensation of £20 per adult bank account holder. For example, a man who had over £450,000.00 savings in one or several bank accounts could only receive £20.00 following this policy.

In addition to the loss of their savings, many Igbo people found themselves discriminated against by other ethnic groups and the new non-Igbo federal government. Due to the discrimination of employers, many Igbo had trouble finding employment, and the Igbo became one of the poorest ethnic groups in Nigeria during the early 1970s. Igboland was gradually rebuilt over a period of twenty years and the economy was again prospering due to the rise of the petroleum industry in the adjacent Niger Delta, which led to new factories being set up in southern Nigeria. This recovery, from the depths of the Biafran War, is an example of the uncanny resilience and resourcefulness of the Igbo. Many Igbo eventually regained government positions.

The Igbo, however, also face many problems and challenges today. Even today, Igbo people have sometimes continued to face discrimination from other ethnic groups. Igboland towns, such as Enugu, Onitsha and Owerri, lack sufficient resources and good infrastructure for their inhabitants. Also, because the traditional Igbo homeland was becoming too small for its growing population, many Igbo have emigrated out of Igboland.

The Igbo diaspora

After the Nigerian Civil War, many Igbo emigrated out of the traditional Igbo homeland in southeastern Nigeria due to a growing population, decreasing land, and poor infrastructure. Not only have the Igbo people moved to such Nigerian cities as Port Harcourt, Lagos, Benin City, and Abuja, but have also moved to other countries such as Togo, Ghana, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Prominent Igbo communities outside Africa include those of London, UK, Houston, California, Atlanta and Washington D.C USA.

References

• Uchendu, Victor Chikezie (1965) The Igbo Of Southeast Nigeria Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York;
• Forde, Cyril Daryll and Jones, G. I. (1950) The Ibo and Ibibio-Speaking Peoples of South-Eastern Nigeria International African Institute by Oxford University Press, London;
• Njoku, John Eberegbulam (1990) The Igbo of Nigeria: Ancient Rites, Changes, and Survival E. Mellen Press, Lewiston, NY, ISBN 0-88946-173-2;
• Smock, Audrey C. (1971) Ibo Politics: The Role Of Ethnic Unions In Eastern Nigeria Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, ISBN 0-674-44025-0 ;

See also

• Igbo language
• Igbo mythology
• Igbo music
• Biafra
• Jews of Nigeria

External links

• Igboguide.org - An insight guide to Igboland’s Culture and Language