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