The Origin of the Igbos: Past, Present and Future

THE ORIGIN OF IGBO PEOPLE
Igbo people came into existence through a man called Ukeneme the son of Nwachukwu (Ishmael in Hebrew). Nwachukwu, Ukeneme’s father, was called God’s son because his earthly father abandoned him few years after he was born. An angel of the Lord was sent from heaven to adopt him on behalf of God. He was however to inhabit the forest, fight nature and wilderness in order to become a strong man. He eventually conquered the forest and his descendants became forest people where kings and queens emerged to rule the ancient world at various times.

Ukeneme (Hebrew Kedema) was actually the last son of Nwachukwu. He founded the settlement of Asaba-Igbo near Ethiopia and married an Ethiopian princess. His great grand daughter called Ada (Ethiopian Adwa) became the queen of Asaba (Hebrew Sheba). Her son became the Menelik 1, an emperor of unified Ethiopia while her other generations ruled at Aksum, Unubi-Igbo, Cush, and even Egypt. These kings created im-portant cities such as Maarib, Aksum, Adwa, Meroe, Ahiaragu, Enugu etc., on their way to their promised land. There may have been about 44 Ukeneme dynasties that ruled the world of Igbo people.
Arufo

1.0 Introduction:
In this Chapter, Ojemba would try to answer an expected question; Who is the Igbos? The book will try to provide the answer by developing a theory based on Ojemba’s Tales. Igbo people are therefore the generation of people that developed Aksum, Cush, Nubia and Sheba. Etc., originating from the horn of Africa (North East of the Sub Continent). They had moved to the Central and then to West Africa because these various kingdoms and empires declined and because they remained strangers among indigenous people whom they had ruled. They encountered several revolts because they were strangers and some of such revolts often became catastrophic, necessitating relocation. They were therefore able to establishment several communities in many regions. This book also tried to imply that some of such movements were really ordained in order that they fi-nally find the promised land, i.e. where they are today.

TRADITIONS, RELIGION AND CULTURE OF IGBO PEOPLE
OJEMBA TALES:
There are many things that constitute abomination in Igbo Land. People are forbidden from committing abomination such as killing not only of a fellow human being but some sacred animals in designated places. Because they have been through a lot and traveled so far to their present settlement, they became their own brother’s keepers. They were no pagans as far as their believe in one God is concerned even before the coming of Irish Catholicism and other European Christianity. Their religion was the Coptic Christianity accepted about 50 AD and adopted as the state religion in Nubia. They were not allowed to kill a royal python or fish in certain rivers. The observation of this law started when a queen of Egypt called Iputu committed abominations by killing her half brother who was the Pharaoh of Egypt as well as her sister. A king of Rome aided and abetted these abominations and God punished them both by turning Iputu into a beautifully colored snake called ‘Eke Iputu’ while the king of Rome was turned into a fish. Because these involved kings and queens, these animals became royal animals.
Arufo

IGBO PEOPLES WAY OF LIFE
Although as they arrived at the promised land, they did not set out to create an empire similar to that of Nubia and did not maintain a centralized government. They lived in numerous autonomous villages, with strict laws and customs for about 1000 years. The villages were organized into clans while each clan operated their government based on their special believe and ways of worships. Each clan therefore made and enforced codes of conduct commonly referred to as the traditions. In general, the occupation of the peo-ple, their traditions as well as their culture suggest strong relationship to the majority of tribes existing in modern day Zambia, Kenya, Southern Sudan, Uganda, Eritrea and Ethiopia, all in North East of Africa. Oral history also suggested that the traditions com-monly practiced by these tribes are similar to the practices of the ancient Jewish people as revealed by the Holy Bible (see books of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus). After Nigeria was created in 1900 and its attendant independence in 1960, Igbo tradition went into sev-eral transformations.

In this Chapter, Ojemba tried to show some of the culture that made the Igbo people unique in their present West African location. The account in this Chapter would explain how the people lived before the advent of Christianity, a factor that had much influence in the transformation of the culture of Igbo people. They have in recent time embraced European Christianity simply because their way of life as well as their belief had always been for one God. In accepting the European Christianity Igbo people renewed their faith in the supremacy of one God, the God of Abraham and Ishmael, their accepted forefa-thers.

2.1 The Culture in Perspective:
Like in the ancient Hebrew kingdoms of Israel and Judah, Igbo people manifests their culture in arts, literature, dance, music, drama, clothing, architecture and other esthetic designs. Story telling, proverbs, idioms, riddles, myths and folklore. All these play prominent role in the life of the Igbo people. Story telling for instance, serve to docu-ment actual events, entertain, teach morals and stimulate the imagination of the listener. Some stories also provide commentary on peoples lives in a given period. Myths are used to explain events especially the recurrent ones. Proverbs and idioms serve to com-municate the wisdom of the past generation. There is a proverb for every situation in life, typically formulated from home experiences and reflections throughout ages.

2.2 Socialization:
In the Igbo homeland, every person-man or woman- had a role assigned to him by the society. He or she learned the ways of the society and the tasks expected of him/she. It is usual for individuals to belong to groups other than family groups within the general society, such as hunters club, Ozo, Nze, Ekpe, Okonko, Oba, and other artisan guilds etc. These various organizations were meant to complement the family role and they exist also to perform certain traditional functions, sometimes in ritualistic ways. Igbo tradition offers two kinds of securities to the people, ‘Social and Psychological’.

In their villages, they were always assured of what to eat, in so far as the village had enough. They were assured of work. When they grow old, the kit and kin would provide for them. That was their social securities. They had to learn a single set of behavior. They know what was expected of them and what to expect from others. They know that when they were married or children are born, or a member of family died, the whole vil-lage could participate in an appropriate ceremony to mark the occasion. These were the psychological securities.

2.3 Oral Communications:
Igbo people speak ‘Ibo’ which is classified as the Niger-Congo language groups. Ibo belong to ‘Kwa’ sub family of such language groups. In terms of Igbo people’s popula-tion, Ibo is the largest linguistic stock of Negro Africa. Olauda Ekwiano was said to have been the pioneer of written language of Ibo. He, in fact, created the first set of Ibo alpha-bets as he translated his autobiography (1789), to the language, which he wrote under the pseudonym of Gustavus Vassa. He was kidnapped from Onicha-Ugbo in the former Be-nin Kingdom, and sold into slavery to the New World. He lived in England as a free man from where he wrote several articles including his life as Igbo boy. In the 20th century, many writers including the legendary F.C. Ogbalu produced Ibo grammar books and Ibo language had since been studied and used as medium of instruction in schools and col-leges in Nigeria and some institutions abroad.

Ibo language has a lot of dialects. The language changes as the location of Igbo people’s settlements changed. Going from the extreme south of Ikwere clan of the present day Rivers State of Nigeria to the extreme north of Igbo-Eze at the borders of Benue State, Ibo language has more than 66 variations. In fact sometimes more than a dialect exists in a province (collection of clans). This is perhaps one reason why non-Igbos can hardly learn the language. However, the complexities of Ibo language had made other neigh-boring languages very simple and Igbo people had learn to speak more than their own vernacular in every environment outside Igbo land. The progress Igbo people made in commerce especially had been their ability to speak Hausa, Yoruba and other languages spoken by smaller tribes such as Tiv, Igala etc. This has given them edge over other Ni-gerians in their ability to conduct business in the multiethnic Nigeria. They can commu-nicate and interact very effectively in every tongue in Nigeria and other West African lo-cations.

The complexities of the language are also manifested in various ways items were named. Some items are named differently in different clans and they are generally accepted as Ibo language. Most widely traveled Igbo people understand all of them. A word, Uri for instance could mean dance in Owerri province, or one of the tradition cosmetic herbs used by women to decorate their body during festivals. However, Onitsha or Awka per-son of Igbo origin may call the same word Uli having relatively the same meaning. While Igbo people traditionally know who speak what and how, it will be extremely dif-ficult for a non Igbo person or children born in Diaspora by Igbo parents to know what is what. In fact, several words in Ibo language have more than one meaning which led some people to suggest that Ibo language is incomplete. Also different words mean the same thing and it is understandable too. Drinking cup for instance, may be called obele, okuku or iko depending on the settlement. Ibo language has a few more alphabets than English language. Letters such as n, y, w, k, p, g, b, are combined in various forms to create extra Ibo alphabets such as nw, kp, gb, kw, gw etc.

2.4 Proverbs and Idioms:
Although Igbo people are excellent communicators but the practice of interjecting most sentences with Idiom or Proverbs had always confused most non-Igbos. Conversations are rarely concluded without an interjection of idiomatic expressions or parables (Ilu). There is a proverb for every situation in Igbo life. Those who can not follow conversions because of the added ‘Ilu’ are said to be less knowledgeable, while those who can effec-tively understand and follow conversations are said to be wise. That is, at all times, the elders had the expectations that the young ones could reason out events by themselves and the only responsibility of the elders was to give hints. This they believed would cre-ate wisdom because the idioms and proverbs as they are being used serve to communicate the wisdom of the past generations. They are typically formulated through home experi-ences and reflections throughout ages.

The difference between proverb and idioms is not distinctly clear. Ibo idioms still sounded like proverbs but they are actually figure of speech, which are common in other world languages. The beauty of both Idioms and proverbs are shown when they are written and spoken in Ibo. A phrase, ‘Our people said; or my father told; or the elders of our clan said in a proverb…’ usually start proverbs. However, for purposes of the reader-ship of this book, all the proverbs would be translated into English.

IDIOMS:
1.0 A child can not grow beyond his destiny.
2.0 A child can not pay for his mother’s milk.
3.0 A clan is like a lizard, if it lost its tail, it soon grew another.
4.0 A hunter’s dog can suddenly go mad and turn to his master.
5.0 A man is judged by his handwork.
6.0 A man who has sipped the spirit waters can not be revived.
7.0 A man who will not lend his knife to cut dog meat because that was a taboo but will offer his teeth for the same job.
8.0 A proud heart can survive a general failure, because such does not prick its pride.
9.0 Age is respected but experience is revered.
10.0 An outsider who weeps louder that the bereaved.
11.0 Every thing is possible but everything in not expedient.
12.0 God will not agree.
13.0 He is like small flying bird that so far forgot himself after a heavy meal, and then he challenged his personal spirit or Chi.
14.0 He tapped my palm trees to death.
15.0 He who brings kola brings life.
16.0 His worth and not that of his father judge a man.
17.0 I can not find the mouth to tell the story.
18.0 I owe them no yam and no cocoyams.
19.0 It is like pouring grain of corn into a bag full of holes.
20.0 Like a man in a song who had ten wives and not enough soup for his foo foo.
21.0 May bullet crack his head?
22.0 Never let a handshake pass elbow.
23.0 Nothing puzzles God.
24.0 Opposing him is like a proverbial fly trying to move a dunghill.
25.0 Proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten.
26.0 The man is as slippery as fish in water.
27.0 Those, whose kernels are cracked by their benevolent spirit, should try to be humble.
28.0 We are God’s flock, sometimes He chooses a young one to eat, and other times, the older ones may be chosen.
29.0 We must bale this water now that its is only ankle deep.
30.0 We should never fight a fight of blame.
31.0 You have put a knife on the thing that held us together and we have fallen apart.

PROVERBS:
1.0
2.0 A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatched.
3.0 A child on its mother’s back does not know that the way is long.
4.0 A child’s finger is not scalded by a piece of hot yam, which its mother put into its palm.
5.0 A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starva-tion.
6.0 A person who decided to chase after a chicken in the day light, for him is a con-stant fall.
7.0 An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in the proverb.
8.0 As a man danced so the drums were beaten for him.
9.0 As dog said if I fall for you and fall for me, it is a play.
10.0 As the elders said, if one finger brought oil it soiled the rest.
11.0 Eneke, the bird said that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching.
12.0 I cannot live on the bank of a river and wash my hand with spittle.
13.0 I have climbed the iroko tree today; therefore I must come down with as much firewood as I can find.
14.0 If a child washed his hands well, he could eat with the kings.
15.0 Looking at king’s mouth, it may seem he never sucked at his mother’s breast.
16.0 Madness may indeed depart, but never with all his clamorous train which haunt the eyelid.
17.0 Sun will shine on those who stood, before it could reach on those who knelt under them.
18.0 The belly does not bulge out only with food and drinks; it might be the abomina-ble disease.
19.0 The lizard that jumped from high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else noticed.
20.0 Those who gather ant-infested faggot must be prepared for the visit of lizards.
21.0 When a man says yes, his personal spirit or Chi will always concur.
22.0 When a mother cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth.
23.0 Whenever I see the dead man’s mouth, I see the folly of not eating what one has in one’s life.
24.0 Whenever you see a toad jumping in broad daylight, then know that someone is after his life.
25.0 Who will leave an Ozo feast to attend to poor ritual meals?
26.0 You can tell a ripe corn by its looks.

2.5 How Persons and Places are Named by Igbo People:
Igbo names are words and phrases used to identify and set people and place apart. Spe-cific names sometimes reflected parent’s experiences in life as well as described the cir-cumstances leading to the birth of such child. Such words or phrases can be descriptive adjectives turned into nouns or they may be substantive nouns. Majority of names of Igbo people often has a lot to do with the people’s belief in the theory of creation. The understanding was that children are direct gift from God (Seed of Stomach). Certain names are traditionally used to designate men while others are given to women. A num-ber of Igbo names can however be used for either sex. Today, in addition to the tradi-tional names given to children, Christian or baptismal names are common especially among Catholics. This came into existence when the Irish priests predominated the churches in Igbo land. Igbo people were then told that only names of Saints can be used during the baptism. However, Christian influence on first names, which was strong in the early times of colonialism, has began to be less important as some Igbo people began to embrace priesthood. The vernacular names are now being accepted universally as bap-tismal names or first names.

In the early times, before colonialism, Igbo people did not commonly adopt surnames and last names. People are known by the specific places they came from. However, after colonialism and the introduction of civil service systems, it became necessary to intro-duce consistent surnames or last names. It was mainly for purposes of taxation and for other administrative exigencies. Once introduced, Igbo people adopted it as they assume that it made for immortality. Succeeding generations used it venerate the family name as a symbol of permanence. Christianity, in its part, made Igbo people to adopt a threefold pattern of given, middle and surname or family name. Specific motivation for choosing names can be itemized below.

(a) Special relationship between persons can be object for naming children e.g. Azikiwe.

(b) When female children are produced while couples desired at least a male child, they can formulate names such as Nwanyibunwa or Nkechinyere etc.

(c) The people also recognize the limitation imposed by environment for their wishes and desires. Such natural hazards as wars, poverty, death and accidents etc., have influenced Igbo peoples choices of names of their children e.g. Balogu.

(d) Death (Onwu) and life (Ndu) are known to be mysteries of creation. The people therefore did not waist time to unravel them but expresses their faith in God’s domination of such mysteries. Names such as Agbapuruonwu, Onwudiwe etc., have therefore been formulated from those mysteries.

(e) Igbo market days and calendar consist of Afo, Nkwo, Eke and Orie. Children have been given names of those days especially when they are born in any one of the days. The names could be Nwafo, Nwankwo, Nweke, and Nworie for male children, Mgborie, Mgbafo and Mgbeke for female children.

(f) Children are also recognized as precious gift from God almighty and when they are born praise names are often given to them. There is also in recognition that, as precious gift from God, they are much more important than any material wealth or possession. . Example of such names includes Ibuaku, Nwakaego, Madukaeji-aka etc.
(g) Names such as Chukwumaeze, Chukwuemeka, Nnaemeka etc., are used to ex-press human faith in God almighty.

(h) Materials, Rivers, articles of household etc., can be used to name children in Igbo land e.g. Ofo, Aziza, Orji, Uzuh etc.
(i) Children names have been formulated based on the order for which children were born such as ‘Okpara’ for the first male children; Ada for the first female child etc.

Igbo villages bear names of mostly the founders. A town can bear a name as follows; Umuobom, Ndi-Izuogu, Ogwu, Nkerefi etc. In the first one, Umu means children and Obom may perhaps be the first settler or the ancestral father of all the inhabitants the par-ticular place. In the second name, Ndi means people of Izuogu probably because it in-cluded both his own children and his slaves. The prefix, Ndi is mostly used in the settle-ments created by former slave merchants mostly from Arochukwu. Some communities are named descriptively to signify the circumstances of its existence or the terrain and physical features of the specific location such as Ikpa and/or Ikpa-Okoli etc. Ikpa means a free range and probably located by Okoli who was the ancestral father or first settler in the location.

A place can also bear names used for the commemoration of a significant clan figure, historical event, or named after towns and cities of the ancient Cush and Nubia where the people originated. For instance, Asaba town across the Niger River was named after the original country of Igbo people, Saba, after one of the sons of Ham, the son of Noah in the bible. Unubi was also named after Nubia, one of the most powerful ancient empires created by the Saba people out of the land of Cushites, who were also the descendants of Ham (Gen. 10:6-8; Isa. 18:1; Jer. 13:22). RELIGION AND SACRED BELIEFS OF IGBO PEOPLE

3.0 Introduction
This chapter is designed to answer the question; “What is the people’s philosophy of life in general?’ Igbo people believed that religious faith and philosophical understanding are complementary. They combined ethical and supernatural beliefs into a spiritualistic way of life based on the belief that the soul is a prisoner of the body. The soul would be freed at death and reincarnated in a higher or lower form of life, depending on the degree of virtues achieved. Religion therefore, is a way of life while it controlled all aspect of Igbo culture and tradition. In general, Igbo belief system revolved around one God “Chukwu” who rule heaven and earth. Their God is omnipotent and omnipresent spirit. However, they also believed that to reach this mighty spirit, intermediary agents are necessary. One of the greatest agents was the spirit called “Ala “. It was said to be the same angel that guided Ishmael to the land of gold called Havilar/Shur at the eastern part of Egypt after he left his father’s country. Ala, the superior guiding angel of Igbo people was responsi-ble for morality, fertility and general conduct of the people. It was also their belief that more than Ala, God almighty appointed several other spirits to work for the general guid-ance of His creation including “Chi” generally accepted as personal spirit of individual Igbo person. Every other spirit reported to Ala, who ultimately reports to Chukwu who resides in heaven.

3.1 Origin of Igbo Religion
The belief system adopted by Igbo people came from their last empire, Nubia. The re-ligion was identified as Coptic Christianity. Fundamentally, the religion was closely in-tertwined with every thing else, from the daily task to the most exalted rituals. In the an-cient city of Aksum, there was a very powerful emperor called Ezana who was converted to Christianity by two Syrians, Frumentus and Adessius. After accepting the faith, he made it the state religion. While in Aksum, Frumentius played very important role in the emperor’s court. After the fall of Aksum and subsequently, Nubia or Cush, the people scattered to various locations in Africa. Igbo people were part of those who left with this belief into their present homeland in West Africa. .

When Europeans arrived in West Africa in the 19th century AD, they were able to con-vince the people that Coptic Christianity was equivalent to paganism, especially as they were looking for foothold to colonize the people. How could a people who believe in one indivisible almighty God be pagans? As far as history can tell, Igbo people had always been religious. However, Coptic Christianity may appropriately be described as primi-tive religion rather the paganism. This is because it lacked the body of sacred scriptures and formal written body of theology equivalent to the Bible of the European Christianity. Igbo religion therefore, was an integral piece within the rest of the people’s culture.


HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:




They Lived Before Adam ((Prehistoric Origins of the Igbo The Never Been Ruled)) ~ Catherine Acholonu

Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia ~ Douglas B. Chambers

Migration And The Economy: Igbo Migrants And The Nigerian Economy 1900 To 1975 ~ Mathias Mgbeafulu

Ndi Ichie Akwa mythology and folklore origins of the Igbos ~ I. N. C Nwosu

African Christianity Rises Volume Two: Eucharistic Inculturation in Igbo Catholicism ~ David Asonye Ihenacho

Overcoming Women's Subordination in the Igbo African Culture and in the Catholic Church: Envisioning an Inclusive Theology With Reference to Women ~ Rose N. Uchem

Igbo-English English-Igbo Dictionary and Phrasebook (Hippocrene Dictionary & Phrasebook) ~ Nicholas Awde

Traditions of Igbo Origin: A Study of Pre-Colonial Population Movements in Afric ~ John N. Oriji

African Christianity Rises Volume One: A Critical Study of the Catholicism of the Igbo People of Nigeria ~ David Asonye Ihenacho

Law and Justice in Post-British Nigeria: Conflicts and Interactions Between Native and Foreign Systems of Social Control in Igbo (Contributions in Comparative Colonial Studies) ~ Nonso Okereafoezeke

Igbo Women and Economic Transformation in Southeastern Nigeria, 1900-1960 (African Studies) ~ Gloria Chuku


African Cultural Values: Igbo Political Leadership in Colonial Nigeria, 19001996 (African Studies) ~ Raphael Chijioke Njoku