Igbo people
File:ChinuaAchebe.jpg   | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Nigeria, Cameroon | |
| Languages | |
| Igbo, English | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, traditional, Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Ibibio, Idoma, Ijaw |
The Igbo, sometimes (especially formerly) referred to as the Ibo or Ebo, are an ethnic group in West Africa, numbering in the tens of millions. Most Igbos live in southeastern Nigeria, where they are one of the largest ethnic groups, and in neighboring Cameroon; lesser populations live in other African countries, as well as in countries outside of Africa. Their language is the Igbo language.
Geography
The Igbo in Nigeria are found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, as well as in Delta and Rivers States. The Igbo language is predominant throughout this area, although English (the national language) is also spoken. Prominent towns in Igbo country include Ahiara, Aba, Aguleri, Aboh, Anam, Abiriba,Akpo(umuelemmadu family) Agbor, Awka, Awkuzu, Abagana, Abba, Egbuoma, Owerri, Orlu, Nnewi, Mbaise, Nsukka, Enugu, Onitsha, Afikpo, Okigwe, Udi, Umuahia, Asaba, Ohafia, Orlu, Okigwe, Okija, Arochukwu, Ibusa Ihiala, Ndoni, Ngwo, Nteje, Mbaitoli, Ikeduru and, Agulu Ihiala amongst others.
Percentage of Igbo people in various states of Nigeria: [1]
History
Origin
According to professor Adiele Eberechukwu Afigbo, Igbo people evolved over a long period in Igboland. Therefore, there is no evidence that the Igbo migrated from anywhere else.[2]
Pre-colonial life
Pre-colonial 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. 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 known as Eze; Igbo communities and area governments were overwhelmingly ruled solely by a republican consultative assembly of the common people. [3]
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. 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 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. Many Igbo people carried this system with them during the trans-Atlantic slavery to Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, United States, Brazil, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago and others. They settled law matters via mediators.[4]
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. Due to the incompatibility of the Igbo's decentralized style of government and the centralized system required for British indirect rule, British colonial rulership was marked with few conflicts and much tension. 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. [5]
Nigerian Civil War
Following a campaign of genocide against the Igbo and other peoples of Eastern and Midwestern Nigeria living in other parts of the country between 1966 and 1967, and the assassination of the Nigerian military head of state General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi by Northern Nigerian elements in the army, as well as 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, a regional council of the peoples of Eastern Nigeria decided that the region should secede and proclaimed the Republic of Biafra. A civil war, after which the federal government reabsorbed Biafra into Nigeria, stretched from 1967 until 1970. Several million Eastern Nigerians, especially Igbo, are believed to have died between the pogroms and the end of the civil war. In their brave but brief struggle for self-determination, the people of Biafra earned the respect of the world and were hailed by diverse great 20th century figures such as Jean Paul Sartre and John Lennon who returned his British Knighthood in protest against British collusion in the Nigeria-Biafra war.
In July 2007, former Biafra leader General Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu renewed calls for the seccesation 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". [6]
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The Igbo diaspora
After the Nigerian Civil 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 dammage mainly related to the oil industry. [7] 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.[citation needed] 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.[8][9]
Modern Igbo society
After the Nigerian Civil War, Igboland was severely 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.[citation needed] 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. Many Igbo people eventually took government positions.[10]. Even though many Igbo people took up government positions, a vast majority are engaged in private business and constitute the bulk of Nigerian informal economy. There has also been a recent wave of igbo immigration to other African countries, United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany and Eastern Europe.
Culture
Igbo music
The Igbo people have a melodic music 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. They also have a style of music called Ikorodo which involves a vocal performance accompanied by several musical instruments. Igbo music includes a lot of drums. 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 Ezebuiro Obinna and Onyeka Onwenu.
Igbo language
The Igbo people largely speak the Igbo language. 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. Igbo is a tonal language, like Yoruba and Chinese.
Traditional Igbo religion
The traditional ancient Igbo religion is known as Odinani.
Notes
- ^ Sources vary widely about the population. Mushanga, p. 166, says "over 20 million"; Nzewi (quoted in Agawu), p. 31, says "about 15 million"; Okafor, p. 86, says "about twenty-five million"; Okpala, p. 21, says "around 30 million"; and Smith, p. 508, says "approximately 20 million".
- ^ Afigbo, Adiele (1972). "Ropes of Sand. Studies in Igbo History and Culture". Longman, London, ISBN 0-19575-528-6
- ^ Lambert U. Ejiofor, "Dynamics of Igbo Democracy: A behavioural analysis of Igbo politics in Aguinyi Clan" (Ibadan, 1981), esp. 34-85, ISBN 978-0195755268
- ^ Njoku, Onwuka N. (2002) Pre-colonial economic history of Nigeria Ethiope Publishing Corporation, Benin City, Nigeria, ISBN 978-2979-36-8
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Call for Biafra to leave Nigeria" BBC.
- ^ World Igbo Environmental Federation
- ^ COMMENTARY; Reclaiming black heritage by using DNA
- ^ EthnicLoft - Sharing and celebrating the treasures of our heritage and culture
- ^ 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;
References
- Afigbo, Adiele (1972). "Ropes of Sand. Studies in Igbo History and Culture". Longman, London, ISBN 0-19575-528-6
- Agawu, Kofi (2003). African Music: Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions. Routledge.
- 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.
- Mushanga, Tibamanya mwene (2001). "Social and Political Aspects of Violence in Africa". Social Problems in Africa: New Visions. Praeger/Greenwood.
- Njoku, John Eberegbulam (1990) The Igbos of Nigeria: Ancient Rites, Changes, and Survival E. Mellen Press, Lewiston, NY, ISBN 0-88946-173-2.
- Okafor, Clement (2004). "Igbo Cosmology and the Parameters of Individual Accomplishments in Things Fall Apart". Emerging Perspectives on Chinua Achebe. Volume 1: Omenka the Master Artist: Critical Perspectives on Achebe's Fiction.
- Okpala, Benneth (2003). Toasting the Bride: Memoirs of Milestones to Manhood, 2nd ed. Trafford Publishing.
- Smith, David Jordan (2004). "Igbo". Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Men and Women in the World's Cultures. Volume I: Topics and Cultures A–K. Springer.
- Smock, Audrey C. (1971) Ibo Politics: The Role Of Ethnic Unions In Eastern Nigeria Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, ISBN 0-674-44025-0.
- Uchendu, Victor Chikezie (1965) The Igbo Of Southeast Nigeria Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.