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Igbo people

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Template:Igbo populations The Igbo [eeg•bo] (Template:Lang-ig, sometimes Ndi Igbo), sometimes referred to[1] (usually in the past) as the Ibo, Eboe, Ebo or Heebo, are one of the larger ethnic groups in Africa,[2] numbering in the tens of millions.[3] Most Igbo live in southeastern Nigeria,[4] where they are also one of the larger ethnic groups and are heavily fragmented into various subgroups. Igbo can also be found in significant numbers in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Lesser populations live in other African countries as well as in nations outside of Africa due to migration and also to the effects of the Atlantic slave trade. Their exact numbers out of Africa are unknown. Their language is the Igbo language (Igbo: Asụsụ Igbo) which includes hundreds of different dialects and Igboid languages.

The River Niger flowing through Igboland makes the home of the Igbo rich and fertile and densely forested. Consequently a vast majority of the Igbo are farmers.[5] Igboland is also one of the more densely populated areas within all of Africa. Today a vast majority of the Igbo are Christians (one of the main reasons behind this was because of the similarities between their traditional religions and Abrahamic religions and traditions).[6]

The Igbo people are well known for their involvement in the Nigerian-Biafran war. The Igbo were the main group calling for secession and recognition of the Republic of Biafra out of Nigeria. The war saw the devastation of Igboland in the late 60's and early 70's along with a massacre of close to a million Igbo people along with closely related ethnic groups such as the Efik/Ibibio people.[7]

There have been many prominent Igbo personalities throughout recorded history, from the abolitionist writer Olaudah Equiano to Chinua Achebe, the writer of the legendary Things Fall Apart. Many Igbo people have established themselves in society, both in their homeland and beyond. They can be found in sports, literature, The arts and social sciences among other aspects of the society past and present. Descendants of the Igbo who have been dispersed primarily because of the slave trade have also established themselves in their new homelands, such as Igbo people in America.

Identity

The Igbo identity is hard to define as the Igbo are a heavily fragmented ethnic group. The Igbo were and are very independent and autonomous, living in localized communities.[8] Before knowledge of Europeans and the full exposure to other ethnic groups neighbouring them, the Igbo had not had this strong Igbo identity, but instead each community was independent, usually governed by elders.

Alexander X. Byrd argues, upon engaging in a close textual reading of Olaudah Equiano's narrative (1789), that the Igbo identity has its origins in slavery, emerging in the "Holding patterns" of coastal towns of West Africa.[9] Like almost every ethnic group in "sub-saharan Africa",[10] the British and fellow Europeans have identified the Igbo as a tribe. Chinua Achebe, among other scholars, have challenged the idea of the Igbo being a tribe, suggesting it has negative connotations. The suggestion is that the Igbo should be considered a nation similar to the Cherokee or Japanese, although the Igbo do not have an official recognized state of their own.[11]

Identity and Politics

Politics has also effected the classification of who the Igbo are. After the British invasion and the Nigerian-Biafran war certain ethnic Igbo groups were reclassified as non-Igbo. Certain elements within the Ikwerre sub-group of the Igbo have claimed not to be Igbo as elements of northern Igbo groups are sometimes classified as non-Igbo due to dialect. (further information: Modern society section)

The Igbo ethnicity had many nations before the European conquest. Some of these clans have now been willingly or unwillingly grouped as or with new ethnicities. Some Igbo clans are now in other nation states in Nigeria (see origins of Isoko/Urhobo clans). For example an ethnic Igbo person like Jubo Jubogha became a leader of composite group made of the Igbo and the people of the Calabar Kingdom, Opobo.

The need for labour in the Niger Delta caused many ethnic Igbo people and Igbo clans to migrate to the Niger Delta region over the period of centuries. Trade opportunities and land pressure likewise caused Igbo expansion outwards from the central Igbo region.

Etymology

There are several theories regarding the etymology of the word Igbo (wrongly spelled "Ibo" by colonialists). It is presumed that the word has Sudanic origin, derived from the verb gboo.[12] Theorists have also suggested that the word may originate from the neighboring Igala, coming from the word onigbo (a word for slave),[12] but the meaning and origin of the word is still generally unclear.

History

See also: Timeline of Igbo history
Bronzes, from around the 9th century,[13] Igbo Ukwu

Origin

According to several sources, Igbo people evolved over a long period of 4000 BC to 500 AD in Igboland through waves of migrations.[14] There is evidence that the ancestors of Igbo and most of their neighbors were the proto-Kwa group. This ancient group came from the African Great Lakes and Mountains of the moon of East/Central Africa and settled at the old Sahara grasslands.[15][16] It was the desertification of the Sahara that forced some of the Kwa people to migrate further down to the north of the Niger Benue confluence and founded Nok. Elements of the Kwa people migrated South of the Niger Benue confluence and later became the Igala, Idoma, Yoruba, Igbo, and possibly the Tiv peoples. The Kwa people's first area of settlement in Igboland was the Nsukka-Afikpo-Awka-Orlu uplands over a 5000 year period. Elements from the Orlu area migrated south, east, and northeast while elements from the Awka area migrated westwards across the Niger river.

Alternative view of origin

Around a quarter of Igbo people also believe that the Igbo are one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, although the Igbo people have not been officially acknowledged by Israel or the Jewish community.[17]

Nri Enweleana (the present Eze Nri) has said that the Igbo are descendant's of Jewish Egyptians who had fled Egypt to come to their present settlement, their head being the Nri Kingdom's progenitor, Eri.[18] Eri's children had been said, by Nri Enweleana, to have met a group of people who they called Igbo bush people. Eri's children had also been said to have come with their culture, language and monarchy, assimilating the Igbo to the fullest extent.[19]

Further information: Igbo Jews
File:Igbo Ukwu burial chamber.jpg
An illustrative reconstruction of one of the burial chambers of an Important Igbo figure found at Igbo-Ukwu ('Igbo Richard').

Traditional society

Part of a series on
Igbo people
Subgroups
Igbo culture
Diaspora
Languages and dialects
Politics (History)
Geography

Traditional Igbo political organization was based on a quasi-democratic republican system of government that guaranteed equality of the citizenry as against a feudalist "dictator king" in tight knit communities as witnessed by the Portuguese who first arrived and met with the Igbo people in the 15th century.[20] With the exception of a few Notable towns of the Igbo like Onitsha, which had kings called Obi, and places like the Nri Kingdom and Arochukwu, which had priest kings such as Eze Nri; Igbo communities and area governments were overwhelmingly ruled solely by a republican consultative assembly of the common people.[21] Communities were usually governed and administered by a council of elders and the group's leader was determined by who was the eldest.[22]

Although title holders were respected because of their accomplishments and capabilities, 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.[23] The Igbo had and still have their indigenous ancient calendar in which a week has 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 Mkpisi and Okwe used for counting, measurements and a form of an ancient strategic Igbo game also called "Okew". The Igbo have had a banking system for saving and loans called Isusu which is still in use today. They settled law matters via mediators.[24]

Traditional Igbo life is perhaps best known for being depicted in the internationally acclaimed novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. It is also known for the bronzes it has produced from as early as the 9th century. Some of these bronzes have been found at the town of Igbo Ukwu, Anambra state.

Further information: Igbo culture
Jaja of Opobo.

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.[25] Due to the incompatibility of the Igbo decentralized style of government and the centralized system required for British indirect rule, British colonial rulership was marked with few conflicts and much tension. [26] 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.[27]

Colonial rule drastically transformed Igbo society as seen in Things Fall Apart. British rule also brought about changes in culture, such as the introduction of Warrant chiefs as Eze (traditional rulers) where there had been no such monarchies. Christianity had also played a great part in the infiltration of foreign ideology into Igbo society and culture, sometimes shunning parts of the culture, such as worshiping Alusi.[28]

One of the prominent figures of the Igbo under colonial rule of the British was the king of Opobo, Jaja of Opobo.

See also: Colonial Nigeria
Flag of the Republic of Biafra 1967 - 1970 and a possible ethnic flag of the Igbo.

Nigerian-Biafran War

Main article: Nigerian Civil War
A Biafran child suffering the effects of severe hunger and malnutrition during the Nigerian blockade.
General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi whose assassination was a prelude to the war.

A campaign of genocide against the Igbo and other peoples of Eastern and Central Nigeria living in other parts of the country took place between 1966 and 1967. There had also been the assassination of the Nigerian military head of state General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi by Northern Nigerian elements in the army[29] followed by the failure of peace talks between the military government that deposed Ironsi and the regional government of Eastern Nigeria at the Aburi Talks in Ghana in 1967. These events led to a regional council of the peoples of Eastern Nigeria deciding that the region should secede and proclaim the Republic of Biafra. A war, after which the federal government reabsorbed Biafra into Nigeria, stretched from July 6, 1967 until January 14, 1970. Several million Eastern Nigerians, especially Igbo, are believed to have died between the pogroms and the end of the civil war. In their brief struggle for self-determination, the people of Biafra earned the respect of figures such as Jean Paul Sartre and John Lennon, who returned his British honour, MBE, in protest against British collusion in the Nigeria-Biafra war.[30]
In July 2007, former Biafra leader General Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu renewed calls for the secession of the Biafran state as a sovereign entity. He reaffirmed that "the only alternative is a separate existence" and went further to say that "what upsets the Igbo population is we are not equally Nigerian as the others".[31]

Modern Igbo society

After the Nigerian-Biafran War, Igboland was devastated. Many hospitals, schools, and homes had been completely destroyed in the brutal war. 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.[32] They were even (and somewhat still are) discriminated against by closely related ethnic groups and Igboid groups such as the Ika. This is partly because of the stigma that came with either being or associating with Igbo people. This stigma also saw the changing of names of both people and places to non-Igbo sounding words such as the changing of Igbuzo towns name to the Anglicised 'Ibusa'.[33] Actress Stella Damasus-Aboderin's family had changed their family name from Ojukwu to 'Damasus' to avoid confusion with Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu during the war.[34]

Further information: Anti-Igbo sentiment
Igbo people celebrating the New Yam festival in Dublin, Ireland.

Due to the discrimination, 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 region. This led to new factories being set up in southern Nigeria. Many Igbo people eventually took government positions.[35] Even though this happened, a vast majority were engaged in private business and constituted and still constitute the bulk of Nigerian informal economy. Recently, there has also been a wave of Igbo immigration to other African countries, Europe, and the Americas.[36]

File:Igbo contemporary masquerade.jpg
A contemporary Igbo masquerade, Umuahia.

Culture

Main article: Igbo culture

Igbo culture includes the various customs, practices and traditions of the Igbo people. It comprises archaic practices as well as new concepts added into the Igbo culture either by evolution or by outside influence. These customs and traditions include the Igbo people's visual art, music and dance forms, as well as their attire, cuisine and language dialects. Because of their various subgroups, the variety of their culture is heightened further.

Udu, an Igbo musical instrument.

Music

Main article: Igbo music

The Igbo people have a melodic and symphonic musical style, into which they incorporate various percussion instruments: the udu, which is essentially designed from a clay jug; an ekwe, which is formed from a hollowed log; and the ogene, a hand bell designed from forged iron. Other instruments include opi, a wind instrument similar to the flute, igba, and ichaka.[37]

Another popular musical form among the Igbo is Highlife, which is a fusion of jazz and traditional music and widely popular in West Africa. The modern Igbo Highlife is seen in the works of Dr Sir Warrior, Oliver De Coque, Bright Chimezie, and Chief Osita Osadebe, who are the four greatest Igbo Highlife Musicians of the twentieth century.

Art

Main article: Igbo art

Igbo art is any body of visual art originating from the people of the Igbo. Igbo Art is generally known for various types of masquerade, masks and outfits symbolising people animals or abstract conceptions. Igbo art is also known for it's bronze castings found in the town of Igbo Ukwu from the 9th century.[13] It is near impossible to describe a general Igbo art style as the Igbo are a heavily fragmented group.

Igbo male figure probably representing a communities founding ancestor now in The National Museum of African Art, Washington DC.

Mythology

Main article: Igbo mythology

While today many Igbo people are Christian, the traditional ancient Igbo religion is known as Odinani. In the Igbo mythology, which is part of their ancient religion, the supreme God is called Chukwu ("great spirit"); Chukwu created the world and everything in it and is associated with all things on Earth. Chukwu is also a solar deity. To the ancient Igbo, the Cosmos is divided into four complex parts:[38]

  • Okike (Creation)
  • Alusi (Supernatural Forces or Deities)
  • Mmuo (Spirits)
  • Uwa (The World)

Although the majority of Igbo are Christian, the Igbo culture is still relevant and upheld by all faiths in Igboland. An example of how this is how the Osu caste system is still upheld by a number of Igbo people of all faiths.[39]

An Igbo yam altar, British Museum.

Yam

Main article: New Yam Festival of the Igbo

The yam is very important to the Igbo as it is their staple crop. There are celebrations such as the New yam festival (Template:Lang-ig) which are held for the harvesting of the yam.[40]

Traditional attire

Traditionally, the attire of the Igbo generally consisted of little clothing as the purpose of clothing then was to conceal private parts, although elders were fully clothed.[41] Children were usually nude from birth till their adolescence (the time when they were considered to have something to hide) but sometimes ornaments such as beads were worn around the waist for medical reasons. Uli body art was also used to decorate both men and women in the form of lines forming patterns and shapes on the body.

Men wearing the modern Isiagu with traditional Igbo men's hat.
An illustration of a traditional Igbo hat made entirely from wool.

With colonialism and the Westernization of Igbo culture, Western styled clothes such as shirts and trousers over took traditional clothing.[42]

Females

Women carried their babies on their backs with a strip of clothing binding the two with a knot at her chest. This baby carrying technique was and still is practiced by many people groups across Africa along with the Igbo who still carry their babies this way. This method has been modernized in the form of the child carrier. In most cases Igbo women did not cover their breast areas. Maidens usually wore a short wrapper with beads around their waist with other ornaments such as necklaces and beads.[43] Both men and women wore wrappers.[42]

Males

Men would wear loin cloths that wrapped round their waist and between their legs to be fastened at their back, the type of clothing appropriate for the intense heat as well as jobs such as farming.[42] Men could also tie a wrapper over their loin cloth.

Modern traditional attire

Modern Igbo traditional attire is generally made up, for men, of the Isiagu top which resembles the African Dashiki. Isiagu (or Ishi agu) is usually patterned with lions heads embroidered over the clothing, It can also be plain, (usually black). It is worn with trousers and can be worn with either a traditional title holders hat (a fez named okpu agu or agwu), or with the traditional Igbo stripped men's hat (which resembles the Santa hat).

For women, an embodied puffed sleeve blouse (influenced by European attire) along with two rappers (usually modern Hollandis[44] material) and a head tie are worn.

Language

Main article: Igbo language

The Igbo language is the language spoken by the Igbo. The language was used by John Goldsmith as an example to justify deviating from the classical linear model of phonology as laid out in The Sound Pattern of English. It is written in the Roman script. There is also the Nsibidi alphabet which is used by the Ekpe society.[23] Igbo is a tonal language, like Yoruba and Chinese. There are hundreds of different dialects and Igboid languages that the Igbo language is comprised of such as Ikwerre and Ekpeye dialects.

Demographics

Sub-group Population
Aro 1,000,000
Ekpeye 130,000
Ezaa 433,000[45]
Ika 240,000[45]
Ikwerre 980,000
Ikwo 359,000[45]
Izzi 478,000[45]
Mgbo 149,000[45]
Ogba 241,000[45]
Ukwuani-Aboh 228,000[45]
An unofficial map of Igbo land in southeastern Nigeria.

The Igbo in Nigeria are found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, as well as in Delta and Rivers State. The Igbo language is predominant throughout these areas, although English (the national language) is also spoken. Prominent towns and cities in the Igboland include Aba, Aguleri, Aboh, Abiriba, Oguta, Awka, Igwe Ocha, Agbor, Abba, Owerri, Orlu, Nnewi, Enugu, Onitsha, Abakaliki, Afikpo, Okigwe, Umuahia, Asaba, Ohafia, Okija, Arochukwu and Igbuzo amongst others.

There are also a significant amount of Igbo people found in other parts of Nigeria in such places as the cities of Abuja and Lagos.

Percentage of Igbo people in various states of Nigeria:[46]


Population

View of Enugu city.

The official population count of the Igbo in Nigeria has remained controversial as a majority of Igbo people in Nigeria think the government deliberately deflates the official population of the Igbo people to give other ethnic groups numerical superiority.[47] The CIA World Factbook puts the Igbo population between 24 and 25 million.[48]

Deliberate underestimation of African population has taken place since the days of British colonialism in Nigeria, when the Igbo population was put at 6 - 8 thousand people.[49]

The Igbo abroad

Edward Wilmot Blyden was an Americo-Liberian educator and clergyman whose parents claimed to be Igbo.[50]
See also: Igbo American
See also: Nigerian American and Nigerian British

After the Nigerian-Biafran War, many Igbo people emigrated out of the traditional Igbo homeland in southeastern Nigeria due to an absence of federal presence, lack of jobs, and poor infrastructure. In recent decades the Igbo region of Nigeria has suffered from frequent environmental damage mainly related to the oil industry.[51] Not only have the Igbo people moved to such Nigerian cities as Lagos and Abuja, but have also moved to other countries such as Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Togo, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Prominent Igbo communities outside Africa include those of London in the United Kingdom and Houston, California, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. in the United States.[52]

The language spread of Kru, Igbo and Yoruba in the United States according to [53] U. S. Census 2000.

Transatlantic slave trade

Main article: Atlantic slave trade
Olaudah Equiano was a famous Igbo ex-slave and abolitionist.

The transatlantic slave trade which took place between the 16th and late 19th century affected the Igbo heavily. The Bight of Biafra (also known as the Bight of Bonny)[54] was the area where most Igbo were taken from. Major trade ports for goods and slaves in the area included Bonny and Calabar town. The Bight of Biafra included modern day southeastern Nigeria, Western Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and parts of Northern Gabon,[55] but a large amount of slaves from the Bight of Biafra would have been Igbo.[56][57] Slaves were usually stolen from the shore or were sold by fellow Africans to European slave traders to be taken to the Americas and Europe. African slave traders were more experienced with the areas and would be used by Europeans to obtain people from the mainland.[58] The Bight of Biafra was the third area where the most slaves where gotten from with 14.6% from the year 1650 to 1900.[59] Igbo slaves were known for being rebellious, having a high count of suicide in defiance of slavery.

See also: Ebo Landing

Contrary to belief, European slave traders were fairly informed about various African ethnic groups, this led to slavers targeting certain ethnic groups which plantation owners preferred. Ethnic groups consequently became fairly saturated in certain parts of the Americas.[60] The Igbo where dispersed to colonies such as Jamaica,[61] Cuba, Haiti, United States, Brazil, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago among others. Elements of Igbo culture can still be found in these places. For example, in Jamaican Patois the Igbo word 'unu', meaning 'you' plural, is still used[62] as well as the term 'red Ibo' which describes a fair skinned black person,[63] because of the prevalence of fair skin among the Igbo. The word Bim, a name for Barbados, was commonly used by enslaved Barbadians (Bajans). This word is said to also derive from the Igbo language, derived from bi mu (or either "bem", "Ndi bem", "Nwanyi ibem" or "Nwoke ibem") (Template:Lang-en),[64] but it may have other origins (see: Barbados etymology).

In the United Sates the Igbo were found common in the state of Maryland (ironically, recent immigrants still are)[65] and Virginia,[66] with a total of 37,000 Africans that arrived in Virginia from Calabar in the 1700s, 30,000 were Igbo.[67]

Genealogy tracing

In the 2003 PBS program African American Lives, Bishop T.D. Jakes had his DNA analyzed; his Y chromosome showed that he is descended from the Igbo, Bishop Jakes is from the state of West Virginia.[68] American actors Forest Whitaker and Blair Underwood have also traced their genealogy back to the Igbo people.[69][70]

See also

References

  1. ^ Ebo Landing
  2. ^ http://www.aaheritageva.org/search/sites.php?site_id=583 A non-Igbo source "17 Stones Cemetery / George Washington National Forest"
  3. ^ About The Igbos "So You Say, Who Are The IGBOs?"
  4. ^ Queen's University Belfast - Origins of the Igbo people
  5. ^ - Minnesota State University - Igbo people
  6. ^ — The Ibo Benei-Yisrael Jews of Nigeria — Produced by the Ibo Benei-Yisrael Association of Nigeria.
  7. ^ Forsythe, Frederick (2006). Shadows: Airlift and Airwar in Biafra and Nigeria 1967-1970 ISBN 1-902-10963-5
  8. ^ "Igbo - Orientation". Everyculture.com. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
  9. ^ Constructing Borders/crossing Boundaries By Caroline Brettell Pg. 27
  10. ^ - (5th paragraph) "Scholars say that usage of the word tribe, in sociological and anthropological literature as well as in the popular press, is ambiguous and imprecise."
  11. ^ Achebe, Chinua (2000). Home and Exile. Oxford University Press US. pp. 4–5. ISBN 0-195-13506-7. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help) "...Igbo people would score very poorly indeed on the Oxford dictionary test for tribe... to call them nation... is not without problems... This may not be a perfect fit for the Igbo, but it is close."
  12. ^ a b "Igbo - Orientation". Everyculture.com. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
  13. ^ a b Igbo-Ukwu (ca. 9th century) | Thematic Essay | Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  14. ^ Cultural Harmony I: Igboland - the World of Man and the World of Spirits
  15. ^ Earth Rights Institute "History of Ijaws and Neighbors in Southern Nigeria"
  16. ^ Atlas of the Human Journey - The Genographic Project
  17. ^ "Igbos  A Lost Tribe of Israel". Nathanielturner.com. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
  18. ^ http://www.nrikingdom.com/default.asp?id=subindex&mnu=hmnu
  19. ^ "Igbo Homeland Hypothesis"
  20. ^ third paragraph
  21. ^ Lambert U. Ejiofor, "Dynamics of Igbo Democracy: A behavioural analysis of Igbo politics in Aguinyi Clan" (Ibadan, 1981), esp. 34-85, ISBN 978-0195755268
  22. ^ Minnesota State University - Roles of the Elderly - (2nd paragraph) "For the Igbo of Nigeria, the eldest male is the group’s leader and accorded the responsibility to control the group politically, legally, and morally."
  23. ^ a b http://www.nmafa.si.edu/exhibits/inscribing/nsibidi.html - National Museum of African Art / Smithsonian Institute "Nsibidi is an ancient system of graphic communication indigenous to the Ejagham peoples of southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon in the Cross River region. It is also used by neighboring Ibibio, Efik and Igbo peoples." Cite error: The named reference "nsibidi" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  24. ^ Njoku, Onwuka N. (2002) Pre-colonial economic history of Nigeria Ethiope Publishing Corporation, Benin City, Nigeria, ISBN 978-2979-36-8
  25. ^ WowEssays.com - Christianity In Nigeria
  26. ^ Nigeria - History and Politics
  27. ^ Kalu, Ogbu (1992) "Education and Change in Igboland 1857-1966" in Afigbo A. E. (ed.) (1992) Groundwork of Igbo history Vista Books, Lagos, ISBN 978-134-400-8 pages 522-541.
  28. ^ Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
  29. ^ "How Ironsi was killed". Biafraland.com. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
  30. ^ "September 1, 1969: John Lennon returns his MBE. He says it is to protest the British government’s involvement in Biafra, its support of the U.S. in Vietnam and the poor chart performance of his latest single, “Cold Turkey.”"
  31. ^ "Call for Biafra to leave Nigeria" BBC.
  32. ^ African Master Web [1]
  33. ^ Igbuzo or Ibuzo: What is the True Native Name of Ibusa in Delta State? — written by Emeka Esogbue — 16-09-2008
  34. ^ — The Untold Story of Stella Damasus — Vanguard (Lagos) — INTERVIEW — 29 March 2008 — Posted to the web 31 March 2008 — Interview by Fred Iwenjora, Lagos
  35. ^ Olisa, Michael S. O. (1992) "Igbo politics and governance" in Afigbo A. E. (ed.) (1992) Groundwork of Igbo history Vista Books, Lagos, ISBN 978-134-400-8 pages 161-177;
  36. ^ Igbo in Diaspora: The Binding Force of Information, Amusi Odi, University of Texas
  37. ^ "Igbo Musical Instruments". Umunna.org. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
  38. ^ Onwuejeogwu, 1975: The Igbo Culture Area in "Igbo Language and Culture," F. Chidozie Ogbalu & E Nolue Emenanjo -ed
  39. ^ Nigeriancuriosity.com
  40. ^ - BBC - Yam and the Igbos By Kene Agwu
  41. ^ Thing s Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Page 58: ... the men (i.e. the elders) ... were all fully dressed ...
  42. ^ a b c http://culture.chiamaka.com/igboclothing.html "Igbo People: Clothing & Cosmetic Makeup at the Time of Things Fall Apart"
  43. ^ Achebe Pg. 71: She (i.e. Akueke) wore a black necklace which hung down in three coils just above her full, succulent breasts... and on her waist, four or five rows of jigida, or waist beads.
  44. ^ "African Clothes. Dutchwax made in Holland"
  45. ^ a b c d e f g http://www.joshuaproject.net/people-clusters.php?rop2=C0095 Joshua Project - Great Commission Status of the Igbo Cluster
  46. ^ Enugu State
  47. ^ Reuters - "Nigeria gives census result, avoids risky details"
  48. ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ni.html CIA world factbook
  49. ^ 11th Edition of Encyclopedia Britannica (pbished 1911)
  50. ^ http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761587404/blyden_edward_wilmot.html "Edward Wilmot Blyden," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2008 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
  51. ^ World Igbo Environmental Federation
  52. ^ The World Igbo Congress
  53. ^ "Census 2000 Gateway". Census.gov. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
  54. ^ "Bight of Bonny | English | Dictionary & Translation by Babylon". Babylon.com. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
  55. ^ Bight of Biafra Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  56. ^ IngentaConnect REJOINDER - The Significance of Igbo in the Bight of Biafra Slave
  57. ^ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/73213/Bonny Britannica Online Encyclopedia - Bonny
  58. ^ about.com "Indigenous African slavers from coastal regions would travel far into the interior to obtain slaves."
  59. ^ Lovejoy, Paul E. Transformations in Slavery. Cambridge University Press, 2000
  60. ^ http://www.historynow.org/03_2005/historian3.html History Now - African Immigration to Colonial America by Ira Berlin - (paragraph 11) "Preferences on both side of the Atlantic determined, to a considerable degree, which enslaved Africans went where and when, populating the mainland with unique combinations of African peoples and creating distinctive regional variations in the Americas."
  61. ^ History of Jamaica - "slaves were imported from other parts of Africa. Igbos from the Bight of Biafra (southern Nigeria)"
  62. ^ Dancehallareaz.com Patois Dictionnary
  63. ^ "...It is not possible to declare that the Eastern Nigerian influence in Jamaica - apparent in expressions such as 'red ibo' - is Igbo."
  64. ^ Carrington, Sean (2007). A~Z of Barbados Heritage. Macmillan Caribbean Publishers Limited. pp. pp 25. ISBN 0-333-92068-6. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  65. ^ http://www.usefoundation.org/foundation/research/lia/languages_of_the_usa.pdf list of languages #25 along with Kru and Yoruba
  66. ^ Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia
  67. ^ Igbos in Virginia Enslaved Igbo and the Foundation of Afro-Virginia Slave Culture and Society
  68. ^ West Virginia Wesleyan College - "Jakes was born in South Charleston, West Virginia on June 9, 1957."
  69. ^ 9th paragraph "I wanted to understand what it was like to be Ugandan, even though my roots are in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa.”
  70. ^ "A welcome surprise that my people are from Nigeria & Ibo people" - Blair Underwood - Africanancestry.com

Further reading

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