Guidebook Igboland

Exploration Igboland – Deepen into the beliefs of the Igbo and discover your benevolent chi

A land that appreciates the death as much as the living – Igboland

Today I am telling you the remarkable story of my latest encounter significant to our rich cultured globe; my discovery of Igboland along the Niger River. As a western, my curiosity and passion for the African continent and its diverse ethnic communities has brought to the Southeastern community named Igboland. Prior to my arrival, my understanding and perception of the cultural values and beliefs of the Igbo people was limited. To be truly accurate in your portrayal of a certain culture, one will have to have experienced their lifestyle to understand the traditions they share. It is my honor today to elaborate and educate those who will be visiting the land of the Igbo people regarding diplomatic purposes. The western world opposes the Igbo in many different cultural aspects; therefore I’ll be presenting this guidebook to evoke equal respect, greater understanding and appreciation for their way of living.

There are a few important factors to take into account of when it comes to establishing prosperous diplomatic relationships with the Igbo people. First of all it is inaccurate to speak of the Igbo as a single people; there are over two hundred distinct groups with slight variations in dialect and customs. Sociopolitical organization is very important to undertake any initiatives within an Igbo community. Further more, one should also be aware of their religious composition and practices in order to prevent cultural misinterpretations and future conflict.

The social and political situations within Igboland expose complex structures with a lack of centralized political constructions. The Igbo lived in autonomous villages and towns ruled by their elders. However, there were some exceptions too: the Igbo lived under the essence of patrilineages. Patrilineages are lineage groups organized along lines of descent from father to son. It is very important to acknowledge that relationships within the Igbo community are formed through blood ties, whereby each person traced his or her descent to three groups; the smallest social unit uno (natural family with a father, mother and children), then you have the umunna (a group of houses) and finally the highest territorial authority the obodo (a group of lineages forming a village). Without this comprehension it is unclear to a western democratic citizen - like me - to identify the headman (onyisi) of each town and thus recognize the division of power amongst each town or village. The many towns within Igboland did not interact amongst each other and wars often broke out when the towns failed to pay equal respect towards each other.

The government of the Igbo was based on the five most important cross-cutting institutions regulating the principles of direct participation in the government. The council of elders, the age-groups, the acquisition of titles and the council of chiefs, the women’s association and the secret societies form the essence of the Igbo society. As a diplomat you should be fully aware of these structural terms in order to approach the leader of an Igbo town or village and discuss any diplomatic matter.

Council of elders à Matters of dispute amongst lineage members were discussed at the meetings of its elders, ndisi, with the assistance of the adult members of the lineage. The elders obtained their authority due to their reputation as the oldest representative of the founding ancestors within each town. However, the elders would never act without the approval of lineage members and mutual consensus.

Age-groups à The age-group association, known as the ogbo, consisted of men and women all of the same age. If you were born within a few years of each other in a town you belonged to the same age-group, men and women associations were held separate. The age-groups had specific names significant to an event that occurred during their birth. They were also quite purposeful as it automatically formed a system to assign special duties and responsibilities to the different segments of the community, in accordance with the principle of seniority. Each age-group promoted respect to the once of above them, with the aim to earn the same respect once their age-group advanced to higher grades. In addition, age-groups were known to support life-long friendships and close bonds.

Acquisition of titles and the council of chiefs à Within the Igbo community personal achievement was highly rewarded though prestige titles. The men who earned these titles were then acknowledged as great men or chiefs and were expected to showcase their community to outsiders. Social advancement is a concept that is taught early to children so they could learn how to become a powerful chief. They were aware of the consequences if one failed to progress beyond junior titles; they were given a humiliating name such as agbala (meaning ‘woman’) and were buried without dignity. Status attainment was clearly linked to the acquisition of wealth through hard work. The highest title attainable was ozo and to acquire this position you have to take ownership of all the junior titles and discharge all the duties assigned to members of the junior title groups. Initially the Igbo people did not believe any man could inherit immortality, except for those who’ve earned the title ozo. With those came the gift immortality and that person was no longer an ordinary human but a god.

As a colonist, it was very important to be aware of these social hierarchies in order to attain the values of their culture. Each town contained an ozo and a agbala, which meant my knowledge upon the values of their culture became quite extensive.  

Women’s association à In addition to the title acquisitions within the male society, women also had their own age-group associations and title associations that complemented those of the men. Women were often given the possession of superior spiritual healing. And headed many of the traditional cults and shrines. Women were also rewarded wealth through trading, farming or weaving and were treated as ndi ogalanya (meaning a wealthy person). Like the men, women are also exposed to the concept of social advancement. However, they learned that marriage, hard work and membership of a certain association enables them to participate fully in the Igbo society. The most prestigious woman association is the omu; only those who had enough wealth to pay for the initiation ceremonies were admitted. The members of the omu were allowed to attend meetings of the councils of chiefs and participated in discussions affecting welfare of the citizens. “Igbo women’s associations upheld gender balance and equality. Their political and social activities were very useful, though men occasionally felt they were contentious.”

Secret societies à It was hard to explore the secret societies within Igboland as the women and men who joined them did not want to expose any information about this secretive organization. However, they do have an important function within the Igbo communities when it comes to judicial matters; masked ancestors might come forward to pronounce the verdict. As a diplomat it is very important to take into account of secret societies when you are approaching a sensitive topic amongst the chiefs of the towns. There will always be someone who is watching and observing you.

To seek mutual respect from the Igbo people, your awareness of religious customs and rituals is essential. Their beliefs regarding life, shines and gods differs noticeably from our western culture. The Igbo people have strong beliefs in the existence of multiple functioning gods and the Supreme Being (Chukwu). The Chukwu is the origin of all things and lives far away in the atmosphere.

• ·      The names of the Igbo people reflect the beliefs of there culture.
• ·      Everything is attributed to the will of god, nothing happens by chance.
• ·      Shrines of worship were used to represent Chukwu because no one knows what he looks like.
• ·      The Igbo also believed in the existence of Ekwensu; the equivalent of Satan.
• ·      Rivers, streams, lakes and rain had life-sustaining qualities, and symbolized purity, cleanness, coolness, freshness, fertility and longevity. These were called the water spirits.
• ·      They believed in a personal god; chi, which is similar to the Christian concept of a guardian angel.
• ·      Their entire religious system of the Igbo people revolved around the idea of birth, death and reincarnation.