A Brief History of Nigeria in Graceland
In order to best understand the history in Chris Abani’s GraceLand, as a Bildungsroman, it is
helpful to examine the history of Nigeria’s “coming of age” contemporaneously in the late
1970’s and 1980s: Chris Abani, Elvis Oke, and modern Nigeria’s tumultuous growth all follow
the same trajectory and the same coming of age period. While Igbo and Nigerian history predates
this period, in current literature, Nigeria has been post-colonially defined following their break
with Britain in 1960. The following history helps contextualize GraceLand and Igbo culture
within Nigeria’s shifting socio-economic, political, and globalized spheres.
Nigeria, named after the vast Niger River, was created by England in 1914 to become part of the
British Empire, in search of markets, raw materials and the need to exert political influence
Deriving the name Nigeria from the word 'Niger', the name of the river that flows through the
land, British colonizers forced the diverse peoples North and South of the river and its tributary
together. Nigeria was a case study in Western-style nation building: its disparate ethnic
groups—who spoke between 350 to 400 languages and sub-dialects—were forced to adapt to
rapid change, first from colonial rule and then independence, which resulted in ethnic
competition, violence, and discrimination as Nigerians fought over control of the new nation.
In Graceland, readers see the echoes of two military coups, a civil war, an oil boom, severe
drought, and a recession that all affect traditional Igbo life and Elvis Oke. At the same time
however, globalized modernization brought with it education (western), jobs, political fighting,
and urban and industrial development. These “developments” created a new network of
multicultural connections in Nigeria- between themselves and across the world.
Igbo
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.
In Nigeria, the dominant ethnic groups and their traditional regions are the Hausa (north),
Yoruba (southwest), and Igbo (southeast). Chris Abani and Elvis Oke are both Igbo, (EE-bo)which refers to the language and the people living in clusters of farming villages concentrated in
south- eastern Nigeria, or “Igboland.” The Igbo erroneously have been called a stateless society,
partly because they mixed well with other cultures, and because many were sold as slaves to the
Americas and Europe before slavery was out- lawed by Britain in 1820. Today, many African
Americans and Caribbean blacks are of Igbo descent. The Igbo’s social openness also spurred
their own diaspora; they have been known within Africa for being ambitious, willing to leave
their villages to find material success abroad. But despite physical dislocation at various times in
their history, most Igbo have remained part of a highly organized agricultural society (their
staple crop is yams) that believes in a complex religious system called Odinani.
Nigeria’s three main ethnic groups eventually became separate political parties whose natural
differences were exaggerated by a British government that refused to see them as a single, native
people. Bolstered by the discovery of oil in the 1950s, Nigeria’s ethnic factions began to argue
over how to form a unified government free from British rule. Inflamed by questionable election
results, violence erupted in Nigeria’s western and predominantly Muslim northern regions as
Igboland’s growing independence threatened their power.
Nigerian Civil War/BiafranWar
In 1966 and 1967, Igbo living in the north were killed and persecuted, leading Igboland to
attempt secession from Nigeria and form their own independent state, called the Republic of
Biafra. Federal Nigerian troops invaded Biafra in 1967, beginning the Nigerian Civil War, or the
Nigerian-Biafran War. The conflict lasted until 1970, when Biafra surrendered. Altogether, there
were five military coups between 1966 and 1985, and the resulting violence, poverty, and disease
killed an estimated three million people, many of them Igbo. Nigeria existed as a military state
for nearly three decades afterward.
The failed 1966 coup attempt by Nigerian army officers led by an Igbo—Major Kaduna
Nzeogwu—resulted in the death of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, a prominent
northern Nigerian of the Hausa ethnic group. Although the coup was foiled primarily by another
Igbo, Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, the belief prevailed in northern Nigeria that Hausa leaders were
singled out for death. This situation gave rise to a retaliatory pogrom in which tens of thousands
of Igbo were murdered in northern Nigeria, which led to the headlong flight back to the Eastern
Region of as many as two million Igbos.
Eventually, the crisis reached an apex in May 1967 with the secession of the Igbo-dominated
Eastern Region from Nigeria to form the Republic of Biafra headed by the aforementioned
Colonel Ojukwu. The secession quickly led to civil war after talks between former Army
colleagues, Yakubu Gowon and Ojukwu broke down. The Republic of Biafra lasted only until
January 1970 after a campaign of starvation by the Nigerian Army with the support of Egypt,
Sudan and the United Kingdom led to a decisive victory.
Despite these conflicts, there was notable growth and progress during the war years. Money
poured in from the new petroleum industry and, during the 1970s, Lagos became the fastestgrowing city in the world. It was the commercial and cultural center, the birthplace of Nigerian
“highlife” music, and the epicenter of multicultural Africa. It nurtured wealth and prosperity as
well as Third- World poverty and despair. New roads and bridges improved transportation but
soon crumbled due to hasty construction and inferior materials. As Lagos’ population swelled,
well-groomed government palaces and residential mansions sprang up across town from
sprawling, garbage- choked slums like Maroko, and the city became infamous for its traffic jams.
Depending on whom you asked, the Igbo were repelled by or attracted to the city’s flash and
promise, and the Oke family embodied this tension.
Contemporary Igbo Post Civil War
Following the civil war, the Igbo displaced following Biafra’s collapse found themselves
politically marginalized and without jobs, their previous properties and houses razed or
reclaimed by the government. Following the coups, the regime of Nigeria’s military leader,
General Yakubu Gowon, bred bribery, drug trafficking, and patronage. Pseudo-military gangs
with shifting allegiances resorted to firing squads, kidnapping, torture, and rape to keep order.
Among the masses, vigilante justice became commonplace and Nigerians began to grow
resigned to violence as a way of life.
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 and only allowed them a minuscule
compensation, leaving Igboland in economic ruin and devestation. 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 Igbos had
trouble finding employment, and the Igbos became one of the poorest ethnic groups in Nigeria
during the early 1970s.
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. 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.