HISTORY OF THE IGBO
(Presented for the dedication of Igbo Farm Village at Staunton, VA, September17-18, 2010)
Authors: Dr. Ikechukwu Mozie
Oguguo Ochoifeoma, M.A.
Attributes of the Igbo
Nigeria is located in West Africa and the Igbo tribe is one of its major people groups. The
Igbo occupy some lands south of the Benue River and some on both sides of the Niger River. Igbo
sons and daughters were among the main participants behind Nigeria’s movement to achieve
independence from Great Britain in 1960. Notable Igbo elites who helped Nigeria gain
independence included Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Mbonu Ojike, Muokwugo Okoye, Osita Agwuna,
M. C. K. Ajuluchukwu, Nbazulike Amaech, Fred Anyiam, and Bob Ogbuaga, among others.
Distinguished men and women from other tribes in Nigeria also participated fully in the quest for
Nigerian independence, including Kola Balogun, Abiodun Aloba, J. Inoma, Raji Abdallah, Peter
Enahoro and others.
Not only did Igbo elites champion the Nigerian move to independence, they helped other
African countries improve their standards of education. For example, when Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe
was the Premier of Eastern Nigeria, he awarded scholarships to students in other African countries
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to come and study in Eastern Nigeria. These students came and studied at Queen's College in
Enugu, Government College in Umuahia, and Abbott Boys College in Ihiala. Some of these
foreign students were in Eastern Nigeria when the Nigerian civil war started and they were
returned to their respective countries through Gabon.
Nelson Mandela fled to Nigeria in 1961 when he was pursued by British Intelligence and
South African government officials. He was received by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, an Igbo man who
was then the Governor-General of Nigeria. Mandela stayed in Nigeria for about four months
before deciding on his own volition and initiative to return to South Africa to give leadership to his
people (Amechi, 2010). Everyone knows the consequence of that move; he was imprisoned by the
government of South Africa.
Unlike other tribes in Nigeria, the Igbo are found everywhere in Nigeria. They are
industrious, resourceful, highly technical, well-educated, and are great business men and women.
In addition, the Igbo are resilient, courageous, and helpful to one another when they are outside
Igboland. Dr. Miriam Ikejiana Clark stated in the Forward written for A.N. Okonkwo’s 2007 book,
Nri Kingdom: Igbo a Lost Jewish Race, “the Igbo tribe invariably attract the attention of others,
constitute objects of admiration, sometimes also envy and hostility” (p. 7). This is in agreement
with what Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe wrote a couple of years earlier following a pogrom in which about
two million Igbo men, women, and children were killed. Dr. Azikiwe said that the Igbo had been
trying to build a united Nigeria, yet their good intentions were considered suspect and provided
unjustified motivation for one of the most barbarous acts of genocide ever perpetuated. Dr.
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Azikiwe’s article appeared in the Daily Times, a popular and widely circulated newspaper in
Nigeria at that time, which is now defunct.
Igboland is where one sees the greatest concentration of Christians in all of Africa, because
the Igbo are predominantly Christians. European missionaries brought Christianity and education
to Igboland in late 1800s. This education was one of the reasons the Igbo dominated and led
Nigerian struggle for independence.
Who Are the Igbo and Where Did They Come From?
Now that the attributes of the Igbo have been depicted, the question now is who are the
Igbo, and where did they come from? There are a lot of stories about those questions. Some of the
answers are even mystical. However, many scholarly works point to one origin, the Nri. (Leonard,
1906; Thomas, 1913; Basden, 1921; Isichei, 1976; Onwuejeogwu, 1980; Okonkwo, 2007).
Elizabeth Isichei made the following comments while quoting Leonard and Thomas:
[The Nri are] … unique in Igboland. The first ethnographic description of Igboland, based
on fieldwork in the 1890s, stresses the “reverence and precedence’ which was paid to the
Nri by other Igbo communities, a precedence which was crystallized in a proverb: ‘The
street of the Nri family is the street of the gods, through which all who die in other parts of
Igboland pass to the land of sprites,’ (Leonard, 1906, p. 36-37). Another early ethnographic
description called the Eze Nri, “the spiritual potentiate over a large extent of the Igbo
country’ (Thomas, 1913, p. 48). Nri ritual specialists travel through much of east and west
Igboland, purifying communities from abominations. (Isichei, 1976, p. 10)
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This is true because a history of the Igbo tribe would not be complete without beginning
with or mentioning the Nri. A general acclamation among most of the Igbo is that “Nri are the head
of Igbo tribe” (Nri bu isi Igbo). Continuing with the question of where the Igbo came from, the
works of Okonkwo (2007) and popular opinion in Igboland is that the Igbo are one of the lost tribes
of Israel. This view has never been proved, but some Igbo have built synagogues and practice
Judaism. Isichei (1976) is of the opinion that the Igbo came further north, probably from the
confluence of the Niger River but she also remarked that men have lived in Igboland for at least
five thousand years. She alluded to the works of Frobenius (1913), stating that Igbo tradition
confirmed an early nucleus of settlement in the northern part of Igboland. That tradition is that the
Umueri clan included the ancient state of Nri, from whom both the Nri and the Igala “are
descended from a still more ancient community in the Anambra valley” Isichei, quoting Frobenius
said:
We are all descended from Eri, but Igala went one way, Aguku another, Amanuke another,
Nteje another, and Igbariam another. This separating of the Igala from us happened so long
ago that now we do not hear Igala, nor can they hear our language. (Frobenius, 1913, p.
274-5)
Onwuejeogwu (1981) did not say where the Igbo came from but he indicated that the initial period
of settlement in the Anambra valley could not be dated before the arrival of Eri. He said that
according to oral tradition, Eri came to the Anambra valley to unify surrounding settlements.
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Who Is Eri?
Onwuejeogwu described Eri in mystical terms (1981). He said that “Eri came down from
the sky. God sent him. He canoed down the river Anambra and established a place now called
Eri-aka. He ruled all the settlements around. Eri's authority to rule and his power over men were
derived from Chukwu, the Great Creator, as expressed in myth.
By 994, Eri had solidified his authority over the settlements in the Anambra valley and had
established a place that is now called Eri-aka. Eri had two wives. The first wife bore five children:
Agulu (the founder of the town of Aguleri), Nri Ifikuanim, Nri Onugu (the founder of the town of
Igbariam), Ogbodudu (the founder of the town of Amanuke), and a daughter named Iguedo (who
bore the founders of Awkuzu, Nando, Nteje, Ogbunike, and Umuleri). The second wife, Oboli, had
a son named Onoju. Onoju left the Anambra valley and became one of the founders of Igalaland
(Boston, 1968, p.48). The most important thing to note about Aguleri is that the first temple of Eri,
known as Obu Uga, was built in a village in Aguleri called Enugu-Aguleri. Eze descendents still
regard Obu Uga as the collective temple that binds them to their common ancestor and
consequently, it is one of the coronation temples for the King of Nri (Onwuejeogwu, 1981).
Migration and Unification
Nri Ifikuanim reigned sometime between 1042 and 1252, and during his reign, there was
much migration and unification among the tribes. The children of Eri were one of the tribes that
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migrated. Nri Ifikuanim finally left Aguleri and moved southwards to Amanuke, settling near the
prsent Enugu-Ukwu. At that place he sired Nneofia, Enugu-Agidi, and Enugu-Ukwu. Nri
Ifikuanim then left the Enugu-Ukwu site and moved southwards down the valley “near a lake to
establish the town of Agukwu, where he became Eze Nri Ifikuanim (Onwuejeogwu, 1981, p. 10).
The “Ozo” title that is now widely conferred to men of good will throughout Igboland was
introduced by Nri-Ifikuanim. He authorized Nri men to confer Ozo titles to leaders of neighboring
towns. He established markets and shrines to various supernatural beings, proclaimed the rules of
abomination in order that peace and order would prevail, and introduced new varieties of yams
from the Aguleri area. Eze Nri established a sacred yam cult called Ifejioku and the Agbala Nri
oracle so that those who sought them would have good health and prosperity. He forbid the
shedding of blood, yet had no army to enforce his will. He used treats or mystical sanctions to
impose his will (Onwuejeogwu, 1981).
According to Isichei (1976), this nucleus of early settlements of the Igbo people in northern
Igboland is buttressed by their traditions. She alluded to the works of Frobenius (1934), Jones
(1964), and Jeffries (1956), and commented:
'The traditions of the Umueri clan-- including the ancient state of Nri -- state that both they
and the Igala are descended from a still more ancient community in the Anambra valley.
'We are all descended from Eri, but Igala went one way, Agukwu another, Amanuke
another, Nteje another and Igbariam another. This separating of the Igala from us happened
so long ago that now we do not hear Igala, nor can that hear our language (Frobenius, 1934,
pp. 274-5).
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As time went on, these proto-Igbo populations dispersed more widely in the forests of
Igboland. They came to concentrate especially in what much later became the Owerri,
Okigwi, Orlu, and Awka divisions. Most scholars follow G.I. Jones in regarding this as an
Igbo heartland, basing their views on linguistic and cultural evidence (Jones, 1964, p.30)...
As one moves further from the heartland, the population density falls.
The traditions of the Nri, in the northern part of the high-density belt, preserve a memory of
the original migration to the south. 'At the time of the Nri's arrival in this part of the world,
there were no other towns in the immediate vicinity, nothing but open country, and so the
settlement was called Agukwu, meaning, the great field (Jeffries, 1956, p. 121).
Isichei continued by saying that the Igbo heartland had a large population that was unable to
sustain its ecological environment. That population density gave rise to migration to other parts of
Igboland. She also quoted the works of Jones:
One can assume an early dispersion from this center to the Nsukka-Udi highlands in the
east and an early drift southward towards the coast... One can more positively distinguish a
later and more massive dispersal... which was mainly south-eastwards... into what is now
the Eastern Isuama area. From this subsidiary dispersion area there was one movement
south-south- east into the Aba division to form the Ngwa group of tribes, and another
movement east into the Umuahia area and thence to the Ohaffia-Arochukwu ridge, with an
offshoot that struck north... to develop into the North-Eastern Igbo. (Jones, 1964, p. 30)
The Igbo also migrated west of the Niger River. Notable towns include the
Ogwashi-Ukwu, Ibusa, Asaba, Agbor, Ogboli-Issele-uku, Oboli-Ibusa, Abala, Illah, and a host of
other towns. Igbo settlements were also found in the Delta districts of the Bight of Biafra.
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However, the Igbo found in the delta districts, like those in the Bonny area, were not indigenous to
this area. They were mostly descended from slaves but their population outnumbers the original
inhabitants. They spoke Igbo, but their dialect differed from that of the heartland Igbo, which
dominated the dialects of other tribes in that area (Basden, 1921, p. 28). The people of Opopo are
also Igbo-speaking people.
Igbo living in different parts of modern Nigeria also have varied dialects. Generally, they
do not have any problem communicating among fellow Igbo living in their area, but sometimes
they may not be able to speak a dialect that is not their own. This difference in dialects led to the
establishment of the Onwu Commission by the government of Eastern Nigeria in 1950. The
commission, after years of deliberation, designated one Igbo dialect, the “Central Igbo Dialect,” to
be the official language. The Central Igbo dialect is now used in news casting and in the Bible.
Decline of the Nri Hegemony
The Nri hegemony started to decline around 1677-1700. At that time, transatlantic trade in
palm produce, ivory, and even human beings was well entrenched. Towns like Aro-Chukwu,
which was not under the influence of Eze-Nri, started to emerge. People from the Nri area believe
that Aro-Chukwu was settled by liberated slaves who had been captured around Awka
(Onwuejeogwu, 1981). Anyone pursuing this issue will notice that the Igbo dialect of
Aro-Chukwu is very different from those of the neighboring towns that surround it. Towns like
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Itutu, Item, Ohafia, and Abiriba have similar dialects, but the dialect spoken in Aro-Chukwu has
more in common with the dialects of towns in the Anambra state. The decline of the Nri hegemony
also saw Aro settlements like Ndikelionwu, Ndiokpaleze, and Ujalli emerge at the periphery of the
Nri. According to Onwuejeogwu, “the Aro used the paramilitary age-grades of Abam, Ada, and
Ohafia, and the Aro-Chukwu Oracle to obtain their human merchandise. Nri history gives credit to
Eze Enweleani (17-1888) for attempting to discourage the notorious slave dealer Okolie Ijoma of
Ndikelionwu, from raiding and from instigating war” (Onwuejeogwu, 1981, p. 15).
The arrival of Christianity also contributed to the decline of the Nri state. Between 1907
and 1913, Roman Catholic and Protestant churches began to establish churches and schools in
Igboland. The Catholic Church called Nri the citadel of Satan and made frantic efforts to convert
the Nri people to Christianity. By 1906, there were 70 Catholic children at Isingwu, 80 at Umuoji,
and 130 at Nri. The influence of religion and education eroded the Nri system, which was based on
traditional religion and cosmology (Onwuejeogwu, 1981). Onwuejeogwu continued by saying,
“By 1907 the British had taken over the administration of Igboland. To them the Nri system was an
anachronism to be dissolved” (p. 15-16). A noted government anthropologist, Northcote Thomas,
described what happened when Eze Nri Obalike was summoned to attend a native court at Awka in
1910 in this way:
He is the spiritual potentate over a large extent of the Ibo country, and so great is the awe
which he inspires that recently, when probably, for the first time in history, an Ezenri
entered the native court of Awka while a sitting was going on, the whole assembly rose and
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prepared to flee. (Thomas, 1913, p. 48)
Obalike regarded that forced appearance at Awka as a “degradation of his authority, dignity,
reputation, personality and sacredness” (Onwuejeogwu, 1981, p. 20). The reason is that Eze Nri
rarely left his home town after his first year of coronation, and he ruled without being seen.
Coming to the native court at Awka had caused him to break the taboo of never leaving his own
town. That incident shattered a myth that had lasted several hundred of years.
In 1911, probably for the sake of administrative convenience, the British government
introduced the warrant chief system and called all chiefs and leaders under Nri influence to Nri,
forcing Eze Nri to abrogate all codes of abomination and taboos. Eze Nri did what they asked him
to do, but he eloquently told them that the abrogation of abomination and taboo codes did not mean
that they no longer existed. That action of forcing Eze Nri to abrogate all Nri codes that had been in
existence for thousands of years was contrary to reason and repugnant to Nri and Igbo cultural
heritage. The British government conferred a warrant chief title to Eze Nri Obalike but he
promptly turned it down. The chiefs and leaders were told that Eze Nri had been banned from their
settlements and they should obey the white man and not Eze Nri. All these things, coupled with
military threats, ended Nri ritual and political ascendance in Igboland. It is pertinent to mention
that a country called “Nigeria” did not exist at that time.
According to Onwoejeogwu,
…this was the last British political appointment for any Eze. In the new system the position
of the Eze was anomalous. The British observed rightly that many Igbo settlements looked
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to Nri for ritual guidance, and soon realized the political significance of this guidance, but
this significance was in terms of the Ozo system, which they failed to understand as central
to Igbo leadership. The Eze was deprived of his ritual guidance by being forced to abrogate
all codes of abomination and taboo in 1911 in the presence of Igbo leaders. (1980, p. 20)
The warrant chief system that the British introduced did not last for long, because of widespread
abuse, corruption, exploitation, and oppression. The warrant chiefs frequently abused their
powers, and this was one of the leading causes of the Aba women’s riot of 1929 (Isichei, 1976).
The Igbo initially traded in palm produce--palm kernels and palm oil, copra, and ivory.
Another name for copra is dried coconut. Trading of human beings started after the discovery of
the Americas and the West Indies. Because the Native Americans were not, according to earlier
settlers, suited working on plantations, landowners looked eastwards to Africa for a source of
cheap labor. Many Igbo men, women, and children were sold into slavery. The Europeans at that
time had firearms, machetes, and alcoholic drinks that caused intoxication and demoralization.
European employed deceitful tactics to get slaves by arming natives, giving them alcohol to drink,
and inciting one town to fight another. Those who were captured during battle were sold to the
Europeans. At this time, the town of Aro-Chukwu came to play a very prominent role for the
Europeans. Aro-Chukwu slave traders, with the help of paramilitary people form Abam, Ada, and
Ohafia copied what Europeans were doing. These slave traders moved easily into the Igbo
hinterlands where they instigated war, and those whom they captured were sold to the Europeans
as slaves. The slaves were then matched to Long Juju or Oracle at Aro-Chukwu. The Oracle was
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used as an instrument of deceit. Slaves were taken into the Oracle and from there they were sold to
European slave traders. Eze Nri was not pleased with the trafficking in human beings; for him, it
was an abomination to kill or bleed a slave. Nri eventually became a sanctuary for runaway slaves.
People who committed abomination that warranted hanging were purified and freed once they set
foot at Nri. This is the reason why there are no Oru or Osu in Nri today.
Nri influence began to decline around the 1800s. That was partly because of the new Aro
settlements of Ndikelionwu and Ndiokpaleze that sprang up about twenty miles south-east of Nri,
as well as the Benin and Agbor advances from west of the Niger River. The Igbo were pushed east
of the Niger because of Benin-Ubuluku wars. According to Onwuejeogwu, “Onitsha and Oguta
are said to have been founded by this period. Most of Nsukka towns under Nri were subjected to
invading Igala. The struggle over hegemony had reached its peak, but Nri continued with the old
ritualistic system; no attempt was made to militarize it until the reign of Eze Nri Enweleana”
(Onwuejeogwu, 1981, p. 17). Eze Nri Enweleana sent emissaries to a notorious Aro slave dealer of
Ndikelionwu, named Okolie Ijoma, to dissuade him from instigating settlements to fight against
one another in order to capture people to be sold as slaves. But “Ijoma denied the allegation and
argued that he was only a trader earning his living; 'I did not create the demand, I only met it”
(Onwuejeogwu, 1981, p.17). Enweleana was not happy with that and pronounced anathema on
Ijoma. Ijoma repented and a peace deal was worked out. When Ijoma started his encroachment
again, Enweleana felt that religious curse alone could not deter Ijoma from his nefarious activities.
He decided to use military action and called upon neighboring settlements that paid tribute to Eze
Nri, such as Awka, Nibo, Nise, Amawobia, Ugwuoba, Enugu-Agidi, Ebenebe, and Agulu, to join
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him in subjugating Ijoma. That was the first time in Igbo history that any Eze Nri had resorted to
military force. Aro aggression was checked at Agulu and Awka. This alliance of Eze Nri forces
was short lived because Ijoma re-directed his attention elsewhere, to Orlu and Ihiala
(Onwuejeogwu, 1981).
Between 1889 and 1935, the slave trade declined considerably. The British took over
Southern Nigeria in 1905 and after Nri was banned in 1911, the scene changed from an Igbo
culture area to Nigeria. The British lacked the money, personnel, and knowledge to administer a
culture that was strange to them (Crowder, 1968), and according to Onwuejeogwu, “The British
obliterated the Nri state system which could have been used to unify many Igbo settlements”
(1981, p.18).
Trade
It should be noted that the the Igbo’s first contact with Europeans was with the Portuguese
around the mid 1500s. The Dutch and the English came later. The slave trade began about the same
time, and thousands of the Igbo were sold into slavery over the years. When slavery was finally
abolished, normal trading in palm oil, palm kernel, copra, and timber followed. Trading in these
normal commodities yielded a lot of money for traders who were in the palm produce business.
However, the discovery of crude oil and natural gas in Nigeria has made the palm produce industry
much less profitable.
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The Igbo are very good in business. They import goods from all over the world and sell
them throughout Nigeria. The biggest market in Nigeria is the Onitsha Market, which is Igboland.
It is situated by the bank of the Niger River and it is so large that one finds almost everything he
needs in that market. The Igbo have their own market days, called Onye, Afor, Nkwo, and Eke,
and each of these market days named for a deity that was established by Eze Nri. Both men and
women are active in trading, and most trading businesses are family owned.
Agriculture
Igbo tribes can feed themselves without the need for importation of food from outside
Igboland. The only food that they might need imported is meat, which is supplied by the northern
states. Some Igbo are in the poultry business but the meat is primarily used for local consumption.
People in the villages keep livestock such as goats and sheep. The Igbo consume a lot of vegetables
and almost everyone who lives in the villages has vegetable garden. The staple foods in Igboland
are yam, cassava, and cocoyam (taro) and they are farmed abundantly in Igboland. Rice is
produced in Ezza and Izzi in Ebonyi State, and is shipped to the western states of Nigeria.
Crafts
The Igbo are also good crafters, and their ancestors were doing metalwork before
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Europeans came to Igboland. Examples of their metalwork include iron swords and razors found at
Igbo-Ukwu that date from the ninth century, and iron works found at Ezira that date from the
fifteenth century. Prominent Igbo towns that are famous for iron works are Awka, Abiriba, and
Nkwerre. Raw iron smelted at Agbaja of Udi division provided iron to Awka smelters. Nkwerre
iron smiths specialized in the manufacture of guns, hence Nkwerre is known in Igboland as
“Nkwerre Opia Egbe”, or gun manufacturers. Iron workers at Abiriba got their iron from the mines
of Okigwe-Aro-Cchukwu ridge (Isichei, 1976). Textile manufacturing was also widely defused
throughout Igboland in the past. Women were primarily employed in this industry. The
importation of foreign fabrics has reduced the demand for locally produced fabrics. However, a
corporative venture at Akwete now produces good textiles that can compete with imported ones.
The elaborate patterns have even been copied by foreign manufacturers. Because the Igbo like
foreign goods, “Akwete cloth bought in the Nigerian market is liable to carry a small neat label,
‘Made in Hong Kong!’ (Isichei, 1976, p. 31). There are now modern textile mills at Aba and
Onitsha.
Religion
The Igbo people are predominantly Christians. Some Christian denominations and
organizations found in Nigeria include Roman Catholic, Church Missionary Society (CMS),
Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Salvation Army, Seventh Day Adventist, Unity, Episcopal, and a
host of others. The first Christian missionaries to come to Igboland were with CMS, now known as
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Anglican Communion. The first place they landed was at Onitsha. There are also some
Charismatic Christian churches in Igboland but they are indigenous to Igboland. Paganism still
exists in Igboland but it is found only in the villages. Some people who have professed Christianity
may still involve themselves in pagan rituals when they go back to their villages.
Igbo Culture
The Igbo are very proud of their culture. The Igbo have many cultures, but only two will be
discussed here. There is a prestigious title in Igboland called the Ozo title. A man upon whom this
title has been conferred is called Nze, or “Chief,” in English language. His wife is called “Nyom”
in most parts of the Anambra state and “Lollo” in the southern parts of the Anambra, Imo, and
Abia states. However, some Igbo men in the United States are now making a mockery of the Ozo
or Chief title. Some of them are appending superlative words to their titles, such as High Chief,
Super Chief, or Super High Chief. Such designations do not exist in Igboland. None of them
would ever try to append such superlative words to their title when they go to their own towns in
Igboland because they would be ridiculed and fined. The irony of the whole thing is that these
“Chiefs”, who are supposed to show good examples and uphold the traditions of Igboland, is by
the virtue of altering their titles, and is disassembling the traditions of their ancestors just to inflate
their own egos.
Apart from the Ozo title, there is a tradition called the breaking of the Kola nut. Breaking of
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the kola nut takes precedence whenever the Igbo gather for any ceremony. It also takes place
during meetings when it is presented. Breaking a kola nut is a ceremony where the person breaking
the kola nut calls on God and Igbo ancestors to come to their mist and help them in what they are
about to do. A Christian invokes God and a pagan invokes gods to come and bless where they are,
bless their own country, Nigeria, and bless the country where they are breaking the kola nut if they
are in a foreign country. The person prays that they will receive good health, prosperity, and
longevity, and that their children will be successful in their endeavors. Most Igbo will give the
honor of breaking the kola nut to the Nri man. When Eze Nri is present at any place the Igbo have
gathered, he is the one to break the kola nut. In the absent of Eze Nri, a man from Nri is called upon
to break the kola nut. In the absence of Nri man, a man from Umunri is called to break the Kola
not. Umunri is made up of the following towns: Enugu- Agidi, Nnwofia, and Enugu-Ukwu. When
no person from Nri or Umunri is present, an Ozo title holder who is also called Nze or Chief from
any town in Igboland is called upon to perform the ritual. If there was no Nze man, the oldest man
in the crowd may be called to perform the ritual. When Igbo women are gathered alone and a kola
nut is presented to them, they will look for a man. In the absence of a man, a boy is asked to break
the kola nut.
The Igbo 1945 to the Present
World War II ended in 1945. A lot of Igbo men fought during the war; most of them in
Burma, now called Myanmar. Some joined the army on their own volition while others were
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conscripted while still in school. Some of them returned after the war. About the same time the
second batch of Igbo elites who had gone to study abroad started coming home too. Dr. Azikiwe
returned to Nigeria in 1935 before World War II. There was a move spearheaded by these Igbo
elites to gain Nigerian independence from Great Britain. Men and women from other tribes in
Nigeria also joined in this movement but Igbo men were the ringleaders. Some Igbo men and men
from other tribes in Nigeria were imprisoned by British colonial administrators for different
reasons, but primarily because of their quest for Nigerian independence.
British colonial administrators, beginning with Governor-General Lord Frederick Lugard
(1914-1919) and culminating with Governor-General Sir James Robertson (1955-1960), devised
an elaborate plan to prevent anyone from the southern part of Nigeria from becoming the head of
the Nigerian government when the country became independent. The British so favored the
Hausa/Fulani tribe that they even financed the campaign of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC)
in the 1956 election. Mbazulike Amechi, writing in the Vanguard, a Nigerian paper, described the
results of the pre-independence election that was conducted by the British on December 15, 1959
as follows:
(The) NCNC-NEPU Alliance scored a total of 2,595,577 votes to capture 73 seats. The
Action Group-UMBC Alliance scored 1,922,364 votes to capture 73 seats. The NPC
scored a total of 1,992178 votes to capture 142 seats. (Amechi, 2010)
The NCNC-NEPU was a party dominated by the Igbo tribe. The Action Group-UMAC
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was a party dominated by the Yoruba tribe, while NPC party was dominated by the Hausa/Fulani
Tribe. Not only did the British do everything possible for the Northerners to win, the
Governor-General, Sir James Robertson ordered his colonial staff to rig the election. This rape of
democracy brought Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa to power as the first Prime Minister of Nigeria.
According to a critic of K.W.J. Post, this was done because the British “had decided to give power
to Balewa, a Northerner, because he was quite a benevolent person who could be easily guided by
our people. He was not really a politician and was quite gentle and honest for a political stooge” (2
June 1997, http://www.biafraland.com/harold_smith/badguys.htm#FederalElestion.)
There are several articles located on the website,
http://www.biafraland.com/harold_smith/badguys.htm that chronicle British activities in Nigeria
around the time of Nigeria’s quest for independence. These include an article that criticized
K. W. J. Post titled “The Nigerian Federal Election of 1959” The Last Great Act of Treason.” On
the same website, you can read “The Administration of Nigeria 1900 to 1960” by I. F. Nicolson,
and “Transition in Africa: Sir James Robertson (Confession of a Witness to the Death of the
British Empire,” by Harold Smith. These articles read like an anthology of British recklessness in
Nigeria. American journalists and the academia are the best in the world. It would be nice if they
followed the links on this website as they followed the dollar during the Watergate Scandal to get
to the bottom of the story.
More writings and research on the activities of the British on pre- and post- colonial
Nigeria are needed. Sir James Robertson and his colonial administrators were a disgrace to British
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parliamentary democracy. They corrupted a fledgling Nigerian nation; the lessons they taught
Nigerians about rigging elections are being practiced in Nigeria today with impunity.
Former British Government senior civil servant, Harold Smith, whom Governor-General
Sir James Robertson asked to participate in the rigging of the election, had a unique perspective on
these corrupt elections. He refused to participate because it was a criminal act expressly abhorred
by the election laws of Nigeria. (See Rigging of Nigeria's Independence Elections by the British
Government), at http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/rarticles/rigging_of_nigeria.htm.
Smith said, “Sir James Robertson was chosen for his treachery because it was known that
he was a very hard man with an underdeveloped moral sense.” Smith wanted very badly to publish
that article and said the following:
Permission to publish this material was sought and granted by the Cabinet Office and
D-Notice Committee, subject to an agreement that no Secret Service officials should be
named. May I request correspondents to respect my obligation in this matter, and to kindly
withhold such personal details. Cabinet Office letters of march/April 1993, reference
A093/927/1152/1281, and Ministry of Defense letter DM/1712/DPBC of 13 January 1993
refer http://www.libertas.demon.co.uk and read “Plea for British Honour.”
The actions of the British affected all the southern tribes in Nigeria, but they appeared to hate the
Igbo tribe the most, and it was this group that was most affected. Post, writing on the activities of
Sir James Robertson said, among other things, that:
… the elections were clearly a total fraud and the British role had been entirely criminal…
This and the gross corruption of British puppets inevitably led to the military intervention
that ended in a bloody civil war in which up to two million innocent young people died.
(Post, 1992)
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The Igbo tribe has not been the same since the end of the civil war. Igbo are marginalized in
Nigeria today. There are more highly educated Igbo men and women in other countries than there
are living in Nigeria. These Igbo men and women have gone on a self-imposed exile. There are
many kidnappings for ransom in the southern parts of Nigeria, which includes Igboland. The
activities of Robertson in Nigeria did not end with his rape of democracy in pre-independence
Nigeria. British activities in post-independence Nigeria were one of the most heinous crimes in the
twentieth century. About two million Igbo men, women, and children were killed in the Northern
Nigeria in a pogrom that was planned, organised and instigated by the British colonial
administrators. Robertson described the Hausa/Fulani tribes of Northern Nigeria as submissive
and silly; they blindly followed the advice of Robertson and the other officials when they carried
out the pogrom. It did not end there. The British government planned and executed the war for
Nigerian federal troops. Smith’s website supports this claim and his articles can be read at
(http://www.biafraland.com/harold_smith/badguys.htm). However, the British machinations did
not stop with the pogrom; they blocked most of the news of the genocide to the outside world.
Many people in the world do not know about the genocide in Nigeria, although they do know about
the genocide in Rwanda. For Nicolson, British has not left Nigeria and they are “resourceful and
for another thirty years have played an active role in deciding who would rule as military dictator”
(http://www.biafraland.com/harold_smith/badguys.htm)
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The Future of the Ibo Tribe
The future of Igbo tribe looks bright in spite of the calamities they have seen and suffered. This is
especially so for the younger generation. The Igbo are a very strong and resilient people and have
always borne their calamities with equanimity. However, the present conditions in Nigeria have
forced them to behave in a manner Igbo ancestors would never have imagined, including the
killings and kidnappings that are going on in Igboland.
The Igbo place a high value on education and discipline. An Igbo man does not play with
education. He is willing to sell his land so that his son can be educated. The Igbo frequently use the
principle of “in loco parentis,” although it is now somewhat on the wane. For example, an Igbo
man will take care of an Igbo child even though he does not know the parents. This principle has
helped to shape the Igbo tribe, because children will not misbehave even when their parents are not
around. Any adult can discipline the child, and then go inform the child’s the parents, who would
thank him for assisting in the care of their child.
A challenge in Igboland today is that many Igbo cannot read or write their own language. A
formal study has not been done on this topic, but we think that about 90% of educated Igbo men
and women cannot speak the Igbo language without interjecting English words or phrases. The
same percentage is not able to count numbers up to one thousand in the Igbo language. An Igbo
association in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas has started to teach the Igbo alphabet and numbers to Igbo
22
adult men and women during their bi-monthly meetings. This move should be emulated by all the
Igbo, both at Igboland and abroad.
Another challenge the Igbo face is that they are losing their dress identity. It is difficult to
find a Hausa or Yoruba man who dresses like an Igbo man even when he lives in Igboland. Most
Igbo men do not have native Igbo attire. Sadly, this means that when the Igbo are having a party or
cerebration, one can only identify an Igbo man by conjecture. Some Igbo men have Hausa and or
Yoruba clothing without having a single item of Igbo clothing. This is a loss of cultural identity.
The only state in Igboland where most Igbo men cling tenaciously to Igbo attire is Abia.
It is disheartening that many Igbo children living in the United States do not know the
names of their hometowns in Nigeria. That may be also true with other Igbo children who are not
living in Nigeria. However, no one should blame them because some of their parents are not
setting good examples. A typical conversation with an Igbo man that one meets the first time
begins with, “Where do you come from?” He will give you the name of his state. Then one would
ask another question, “Where in the state do you come from?” But instead of giving the name of
his hometown, he says the name of his Local Government Area (LGA). Until this point, he has not
said anything tangible. The third question would be, “Where in your LGA is your home town?”
Now he gives the right answer. The question is, are some Igbo men ashamed of saying the name of
their hometowns? Igbo parents should teach their children the name of their country of origin, the
name of their state in Nigeria, the name of their home town, and the name of their village. The
Igbo, both at home and abroad should try to live as they lived before the Nigerian-Biafra civil war;
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the Igbo once loved themselves.
The love of an Igbo man for one another is illustrated by an article of Chief Mbazulike
Amaechi. He is the only surviving Igbo man who participated in Nigerian struggle for
independence. There was a meeting at Sir James Robertson’s house, the Governor General of
Nigeria. Rock was thrown at Dr. Azikiwe’s car window but it missed him. That was when Dr.
Azikiwe and some of his NCNC members which included Chief Amaechi drove into the
Governor’s compound. When the car finally stopped near the state house, a man drew a dagger
and wanted to stab Dr. Azikiwe as he alighted from the car. Chief Amaechi went to his rescue and
by so doing; the assailant stabbed him on the hand. Some police men and British colonial staff
were standing there but they did nothing. When they were struggling for the dagger, both of them
fell on the ground. Those standing by did not do anything. At this time Chief Amaechi shouted
twice; “Onwekwelunu Onye Igbo n’ebea” (Is there any Igbo person around here). Suddenly a
Police Inspector ran out from the Governor’s Office and used his baton to disarm the assailant.
Chief Amaechi was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment latter.
On further inquiry, Chief Amaechi found out that the Police Inspector who ran out to
disarm the assailant was Inspector Chukwuma, an Igbo man. More inquires by the authors
revealed that Inspector Chukwuma was Inspector Mosed Chukwuma of Ifete Village, Abatete,
Anambra State.
24
REFERENCES
Amechi, M. (2010, 15 May). Nigeria: Zik scuttled chances of ruling the country, handed me a
golden key, says Amechi. Vanguard. Retrieved June, 11, 2010 from
http://allafrica.com/stories/201005171084.html?viewall=1
Basden, G.T. (1921). Among the Ibos of Nigeria. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott.
Boston, J.S. (1968). The Igala kingdom (p. 48), quoted in M.A. Onwuejeogwu, An outline of an
Igbo civilization: Nri kingdom and hegemony (1981), Ethnographica, London.
Crowder, M. (1968). West Africa under colonial rule. Hutchinson, London.
Frobenius, L. (1913). The voice of Africa, I (pp. 274-275), quoted in M.D.W. Jeffries, “The Divine
Umundri Kings of Igboland,” Ph.D. thesis, London (1934), ch. 2, n.p.
Frobenius, L. (1913). The voice of Africa, I (p. 4), quoted in E. Isichei, A history of the Igbo people
(1976), London: Macmillan.
Hartle, D. (1966). The prehistory of Nigeria. (p. 65), quoted in E. Isichei, A history of the Igbo
people (1976), London: Macmillan.
Isichei, E. (1976). A history of the Igbo people. London: Macmillan.
Jeffries, M.D.W. (1956). The Umundri tradition of origin. African Studies, xv (p.121), quoted in E.
25
Isichei, A history of the Igbo people (1976), London: Macmillan.
Jones, G.I. (1964). The trading states of the oil rivers. (p. 30), quoted in E. Isichei, A history of the
Igbo people (1976), London: Macmillan.
Leonard, A.G. (1906). The lower Niger and its tribes (pp. 36-37), quoted in E. Isichei, A history of
the Igbo people (1976), London: Macmillan.
Nicolson, I.F. (1997, June 2). The administration of Nigeria: 1990 to 1960. Retrieved September
1, 2010 from http://www.biafraland.com/harold_smith/badguys.htm
Okonkwo, A.N. (2007). Nri kingdom: Igbo a lost Jewish race. Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos: Intraprints.
Onwuejeogwu, M.A. 1981. An Igbo Civilization: Nri Kingdom and Hegemony. Ethnographica,
London.
Post, K.W.J. (1992, February 9). The Nigerian federal election of 1959: The last great acts of
treason? Retrieved September 1, 2010 from
http://www.biafraland.com/harold_smith/badguys.htm#FederalElestion
Smith, H. (1997, June 2). Plea for British honour. Retrieved September 1, 2010 from
http://www.libertas.demon.co.uk/#plea
Smith, H. (1991, November 28). Rigging of Nigeria's independence elections by the British
government. Retrieved September 1, 2010
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http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/rarticles/rigging_of_nigeria.htm.
Thomas, N.W. (1913). Anthropological report on the Ibo speaking people of Nigeria. London:
Harrison and Sons.
Please Note:
We were given only two weeks to write the History of the Igbo. The last paragraph on Page 24 was not
included in the original text we submitted for the dedication of the Igbo Farm Village. We added it to
show how Igbo men looked at each other before our civil war. We also made some corrections.
The British colonial staff who revealed the atrocities of the British Government in Nigeria was poisoned
with a rear African disease. He survived but the British Government put restrictions on his writings.
Dr. Ikechukwu Mozie
Oguguo Ochoifeoma, M.A.
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