Equiano on Igbo Warfare (2)

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Equiano on Igbo Warfare (2) Equiano On Igbo Warfare (2) By A E Afigbo Department of History and International Relations Eboyi State University Abakaliki – Ebonyi State NIGERIA There is perhaps little doubt that Olaudah Equiano’s auto-biography, The Interesting Narrative,1 was conceived, written, published and distributed as a work of propaganda against the slave trade under which the author had suffered grievously but which he survived, he claimed, because “God is my Salvation,” and which trade at the time was becoming bad news in Western Europe. In the letter with which he forwarded copies of the book to the British Parliament he had made it clear that “the chief design” of the work was “to excite in your august assemblies a sense of compassion for the miseries which the Slave trade has entailed on my unfortunate countrymen. By the horrors of that trade was I first torn from all the tender connections that were naturally dear to my heart…”2 There is also little doubt that the author was a gifted propagandist as seen, among other things, in the fact that he recognized the need to give his story an enhanced veneer of verisimilitude by situating it in as many relevant contexts as he could command. The first set of contexts dealt with the period of his life before he was swept into the hated cesspool of slavery. These contexts were his village (Essaka); his nation (the Igbo nation), the, at the time much famed and romanticized, Benin Empire; the West African Region which at the time was the leading source of the slave trade across the Atlantic Ocean and across the Sahara Desert, and finally the little known African continent whose maps Swift’s geographers studded with images of elephants and giraffes for ‘want’ of towns! The afore-mentioned contexts formed four concentric rings and carried the foundation of the great literary edifice he erected to remind contemporaries and posterity of, as well as shock them with, the horrors of the slave trade. The first chapter of the book is devoted to a “comprehensive” ethnography of the two inner rings – Essaka and Igboland – a very ambitious project if ever there was one. The focus of this paper is on a very small fragment of this ethnography – a fragment that may be said to deal with Igbo warfare in the eighteenth century in some two pages and a third3. It is debatable indeed whether it could be said that Equiano wrote on ‘Igbo warfare’. What he did, to be precise, was to give an account of what he called ‘a battle’ between his community and a rival ‘nameless’ community which he said took place in one of their farmlands and which he said he had had the opportunity to watch from the top of a tree at a safe distance. According to him the battle was the result of a surprise and unprovoked attack on his community by the rival community. Thus on the side of his community there had been no specific preparation for the battle, while on the other side the story was different. They had chosen their time and place. They had prepared and attacked. But just as one swallow does not make a summer, one battle does not constitute a war. However, after the necessarily brief description of the battle he was privileged to watch, Equiano went on to make some general statements about such encounters. In the process he touched upon their causes, the fact of their frequent and regular occurrence, the fact that Igbo communities were always on the alert and ready for war, the fact that each community consisted of a standing militia and the fact that in Igbo culture war was not just for men but also for women - that is was gender- neutral. He also gave a list of Igbo weapons of war. To this extent it could be said that Equiano wrote on Igbo warfare through the back door. Be that as it may, Equiano’s very sketchy account now carries with it an importance, which is probably out of all proportion to its real historical value and that for one obvious reason. In the millennia before 1900 it is the only such account of Igbo warfare written from inside knowledge that is by one who not only described what he saw or heard or both but also was part of the happening. Without doubt a number of European visitors to the Bight of Biafra during the era of the slave trade have left us some tantalizing comments on the Igbo and on ‘war’ amongst them. John Grazilhier (1699), for instance, talked of “the Hackbous Blacks, a people much addicted to war and preying on their neighbours”4. Similarly Hermann Koler (1840) referred to what he called the “warlike nature” of the Igbo which he identified as one of the things about them that “makes a significant impact on their neighbours”.At another point he reported that the Igbo “are warlike, wild and rapacious” and that some of them “are cannibals”5. These statements were all based on hearsay since until very late in the nineteenth century hardly any European went into Igboland to explore it in any formal or significant manner. On this the scholar-administrator, Harry H. Johnston wrote in 1888 as follows: “For about three centuries we have hung about the coasts, and the terror of the climate, the savagery of the natives, and the bitter rivalry among the European traders, have prevented the exploration of the interior so much so that it is amazing to think that we have been acquainted with the Niger Delta for, as I have said, over three centuries and it is only during the present year, that I as the first white man, have explored many of its important rivers for the first time”6. As already implied such penetrations increased after Johnston’s visit until they led, by the beginning of the second decade of the twentieth century, to the British conquest and occupation of the whole length and breadth of Igboland and the adjoining territories occupied by the Efik, the Ibibio and the Ekoid Bantu peoples. Yet the changed situation did not immediately bring about remarkable improvement in the quality and quantity of the historical and ethnographic information available to the scholar on the state, societies and institutions of these hinterland peoples of the Bight of Biafra. The early military and administrative records compiled by the British concentrated on what the British did but paid little attention to the state of society in which those actions were taking place. Only from about the mid-1920’s, when it came to be fully recognized that more intimate knowledge of these societies could help reduce the problems encountered in their administration, did conscious effort to understand them begin. Even then more attention was paid to their political organization than to their economic, social and cultural organizations. This skewed approach characterized even the much orchestrated intelligence report investigations, which came after the women’s uprising of 1929. The result was that much of what was written on war in Igbo society continued to be based largely on armchair speculation. It was the same with the study of Igbo warfare in the 1956 by the highly rated Dr. M.D.W. Jeffries who gave it out that Igbo weapons of war were made mostly out of wood.7 The situation began to change only from the late 1970’s when those of us in the Department of History and Archaeology at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, introduced the long essay as part of the requirements for the B.A. degree and also instituted a post-graduate programme in history. Both innovations required students benefiting from them to go into the field to collect oral information with which to supplement the written records available to them. Some of the results of this effort, that is the collections of the undergraduates, are included in Professor Elizabeth Isichei’s anthology on the Igbo entitled Igbo Worlds. Now most of the undergraduates, at least in the early years of the programme, were made to write their long essays on topics dealing with the pre-colonial period. It is with the results of these investigations and others related to them that we shall interrogate Olaudah Equiano on his account of Igbo warfare. Our belief is that Igbo society did not undergo any radical socio-political revolution between about 1750 and the colonial century (1860 – 1960) and therefore that we should still have, by the time of these inquiries, in the traditions of the elders survivals of those apparently important features of Igbo warfare highlighted by Equiano in his work.. Igbo Wars: Causation. To Equiano Igbo wars were caused by slave raids which, according to him, were one of the two main methods of recruiting the millions of men and women shipped into slavery across the Sahara Desert and the Atlantic Ocean – the second method being by kidnapping. This, he said, was so not only for Igboland but also for all of Africa. “From what I can recollect of these battles”, he claimed, “they appear to have been irruptions of one little state or district on the other, to obtain prisoners or booty. Perhaps they were incited to this by those traders who brought the European goods I mentioned amongst us. Such a mode of obtaining slaves in Africa is common; and I believe more are procured in this way, and by kidnapping, than any other”8 . Equiano was the first to introduce the factor of slave raids as an important one in the explanation of aspects of Igbo history.
Recommended publications
  • Ph.D Thesis-A. Omaka; Mcmaster University-History
    MERCY ANGELS: THE JOINT CHURCH AID AND THE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE IN BIAFRA, 1967-1970 BY ARUA OKO OMAKA, BA, MA A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Ph.D. Thesis – A. Omaka; McMaster University – History McMaster University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2014), Hamilton, Ontario (History) TITLE: Mercy Angels: The Joint Church Aid and the Humanitarian Response in Biafra, 1967-1970 AUTHOR: Arua Oko Omaka, BA (University of Nigeria), MA (University of Nigeria) SUPERVISOR: Professor Bonny Ibhawoh NUMBER OF PAGES: xi, 271 ii Ph.D. Thesis – A. Omaka; McMaster University – History ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 1. AJEEBR`s sponsored advertisement ..................................................................122 2. ACKBA`s sponsored advertisement ...................................................................125 3. Malnourished Biafran baby .................................................................................217 Tables 1. WCC`s sickbays and refugee camp medical support returns, November 30, 1969 .....................................................................................................................171 2. Average monthly deliveries to Uli from September 1968 to January 1970.........197 Map 1. Proposed relief delivery routes ............................................................................208 iii Ph.D. Thesis – A. Omaka; McMaster University – History ABSTRACT International humanitarian organizations played a prominent role
    [Show full text]
  • South – East Zone
    South – East Zone Abia State Contact Number/Enquires ‐08036725051 S/N City / Town Street Address 1 Aba Abia State Polytechnic, Aba 2 Aba Aba Main Park (Asa Road) 3 Aba Ogbor Hill (Opobo Junction) 4 Aba Iheoji Market (Ohanku, Aba) 5 Aba Osisioma By Express 6 Aba Eziama Aba North (Pz) 7 Aba 222 Clifford Road (Agm Church) 8 Aba Aba Town Hall, L.G Hqr, Aba South 9 Aba A.G.C. 39 Osusu Rd, Aba North 10 Aba A.G.C. 22 Ikonne Street, Aba North 11 Aba A.G.C. 252 Faulks Road, Aba North 12 Aba A.G.C. 84 Ohanku Road, Aba South 13 Aba A.G.C. Ukaegbu Ogbor Hill, Aba North 14 Aba A.G.C. Ozuitem, Aba South 15 Aba A.G.C. 55 Ogbonna Rd, Aba North 16 Aba Sda, 1 School Rd, Aba South 17 Aba Our Lady Of Rose Cath. Ngwa Rd, Aba South 18 Aba Abia State University Teaching Hospital – Hospital Road, Aba 19 Aba Ama Ogbonna/Osusu, Aba 20 Aba Ahia Ohuru, Aba 21 Aba Abayi Ariaria, Aba 22 Aba Seven ‐ Up Ogbor Hill, Aba 23 Aba Asa Nnetu – Spair Parts Market, Aba 24 Aba Zonal Board/Afor Une, Aba 25 Aba Obohia ‐ Our Lady Of Fatima, Aba 26 Aba Mr Bigs – Factory Road, Aba 27 Aba Ph Rd ‐ Udenwanyi, Aba 28 Aba Tony‐ Mas Becoz Fast Food‐ Umuode By Express, Aba 29 Aba Okpu Umuobo – By Aba Owerri Road, Aba 30 Aba Obikabia Junction – Ogbor Hill, Aba 31 Aba Ihemelandu – Evina, Aba 32 Aba East Street By Azikiwe – New Era Hospital, Aba 33 Aba Owerri – Aba Primary School, Aba 34 Aba Nigeria Breweries – Industrial Road, Aba 35 Aba Orie Ohabiam Market, Aba 36 Aba Jubilee By Asa Road, Aba 37 Aba St.
    [Show full text]
  • The Nigeria-Biafra War, Popular Culture and Agitation for Sovereignty of a Biafran Nation
    African Studies Centre Leiden, The Netherlands The Nigeria-Biafra war, popular culture and agitation for sovereignty of a Biafran nation ‘Rantimi Jays Julius-Adeoye ASC Working Paper 138 / 2017 1 African Studies Centre Leiden P.O. Box 9555 2300 RB Leiden The Netherlands Telephone +31-71-5273372 Website www.ascleiden.nl E-mail [email protected] [email protected] © Senior Lecturer, Theatre and Film Studies, Redeemer’s University, Nigeria, LeidenASA Visiting Fellow 2017, March 2017 2 Abstract The date 6 July 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the war considered as one of the worst in recent human history, the Nigeria-Biafra war. My paper focuses on the representation of this war in popular culture – with an emphasis on film, fictional and non-fictional literature. It interrogates the role that fictional and non-fictional narration play in the collective and individual memory of Nigerians in general and the Igbos in particular. It also looks at the link between the depiction of the war in popular culture and the renewed agitation for the nationhood of Biafra, as since the 2000s, there has been renewed campaigning by young people of Igbo ethnicity for the creation of the Republic of Biafra. This research particularly concentrates on two organizations that are involved in this struggle: the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). It is my position that popular culture constitutes important material for the study and understanding of historical events and periods of time, while it also enhances our understanding of the ways in which these past events may have an influence in the present.
    [Show full text]
  • Modified Northern Common Centre Theory: an Attendant Issue on Origin and Migration of Ndiigbo in the Early 21St Century-Linguists Contribution
    www.idosr.org Longinus and Onuora ©IDOSR PUBLICATIONS International Digital Organization for Scientific Research ISSN: 2579-0765 IDOSR JOURNAL OF CURRENT ISSUES IN SOCIAL SCIENCES 7(1): 1-10, 2021. Modified Northern Common Centre Theory: An Attendant Issue on Origin and Migration of Ndiigbo in the early 21st Century-Linguists Contribution. Longinus Chukwuemeka Chinagorom1 and Onuora Ngozi Theresa2 1Department of Linguistics and Igbo Faculty of Humanities Imo State University, Owerri 2Department of Languages/Linguistics/Literary Studies/Theatre Arts Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo, Ebonyi State, Nigeria ABSTRACT The controversies bedeviling the question of uniqueness, identity and assimilation of people of Africa, which are borne out of the consequences of humanity’s quest for survival that have sparked off several noted revolutions, have given birth to the clarion call for a methodological cum systematic approach to the roots and branches of various peoples of the earth. The recent upsurge for self determination and referendum among distinct ethnic and linguistic groups need not be nipped in the bud; rather the attendant issue of showcasing genuine identities of peoples has become very relevant. In this early 21st Century, the challenges of directing and redirecting the dynamics of Igbo Civilization characterized by its autochthonous and primordial parlance of Ndiokpu na Ndiegede , projected lucidly in terms of self determination/Biafra Restoration and intent motivation for Ndiigbo to exhibit an inherent urge to develop resources towards contributing their quota in the domain of Globalization and current Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), spurs us to revisit some noted theories on the origin and migration of the Igbo. This paper tends to reassess the Northern Common Centre Theory; as among the most popular Schools of Thought on ground.
    [Show full text]
  • Gender Disparities in Witchcraft Beliefs: a Challenge to Nigerian and African Historiography
    Journal of International Women's Studies Volume 22 Issue 1 Article 26 February 2021 Gender Disparities in Witchcraft Beliefs: A Challenge to Nigerian and African Historiography Uche U. Okonkwo University of Nigeria V.O Eze University of Nigeria Victor Ukaogo University of Nigeria Stella Okoye-Ugwu University of Nigeria F.O Orabueze University of Nigeria Follow this and additional works at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws Part of the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Okonkwo, Uche U.; Eze, V.O; Ukaogo, Victor; Okoye-Ugwu, Stella; and Orabueze, F.O (2021). Gender Disparities in Witchcraft Beliefs: A Challenge to Nigerian and African Historiography. Journal of International Women's Studies, 22(1), 446-464. Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol22/iss1/26 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. This journal and its contents may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. ©2021 Journal of International Women’s Studies. V.O Eze Gender Disparities in Witchcraft Beliefs: A Challenge to Nigerian and African Historiography By Uche Uwaezuoke Okonkwo 1, V.O Eze2 , Victor Ukaogo3, Stella Okoye-Ugwu 4, F.O 5 Orabueze Abstract The understanding of how gender roles are assigned to abstract issues like witchcraft beliefs, remains a challenge to contemporary African historians. Witchcraft as a significant area of humanistic study, has not sufficiently engaged historians and literary critics.
    [Show full text]
  • Harnischfeger Igbo Nationalism & Biafra Long Paper
    Igbo Nationalism and Biafra Johannes Harnischfeger, Frankfurt Content 0. Foreword .................................................................... 3 1. Introduction 1.1 The War and its Legacy ....................................... 8 1.2 Trapped in Nigeria.............................................. 13 1.2 Nationalism, Religion, and Global Identities....... 17 2. Patterns of Ethnic and Regional Conflicts 2.1 Early Nationalism ............................................... 23 2.2 The Road to Secession ...................................... 31 3. The Defeat of Biafra 3.1 Left Alone ........................................................... 38 3.2 After the War ...................................................... 44 4. Global Identities and Religion 4.1 9/11 in Nigeria .................................................... 52 4.2 Christian Solidarity ............................................. 59 5. Nationalist Organisations 5.1 Igbo Presidency or Secession............................ 64 2 5.2 Internal Divisions ................................................ 70 6. Defining Igboness 6.1 Reaching for the Stars........................................ 74 6.2 Secular and Religious Nationalism..................... 81 7. A Secular, Afrocentric Vision 7.1 A Community of Suffering .................................. 86 7.2 Roots .................................................................. 91 7.3 Modernism.......................................................... 97 8. The Covenant with God 8.1 In Exile.............................................................
    [Show full text]
  • ABIA ORGANIZED CRIME FACTS.Cdr
    ORGANIZED CRIME FACTS ABIA STATE Abia State with an estimated population of 2.4 million and records straight. predominantly of Igbo origin, has recently come under the limelight due to heightened insecurity trailing South-Eastern Through its bi-annual publications of organized crime facts states. With the spike in attacks of police officers and police of each of the states in Nigeria, Eons Intelligence attempts stations, correctional facilities and other notable public and to augment the dearth of updated and timely release of private properties and persons in some selected Eastern national crime statistics by objectively providing an States of the Nation, speculations have given rise to an assessment of the situation to provide answers that will underlying tone that denotes all Eastern States as assist all stakeholders to make an informed decision. presenting an uncongenial image of a hazardous zone, Abia State, which shares a boundary with Imo State to the which fast deteriorates into a notorious terrorist region. West, has started gaining the reputation for being one of the The myth of more violent South-Eastern States than their violent Eastern states in the light of recent insecurity Northern counterparts cuts across all social media and happenings in Imo State. Some detractors have gone to the social status amongst the elites, expatriates, the rich, the extent of relying on personal perceptions, presumptions, poor, and the ugly, sending culpable fears amidst all. one-off incidents, conspiracy deductions, the power of invisible forces, or the scramble for resources to form an Hence, it is necessary to use verified statistics that use a opinion.
    [Show full text]
  • Induction Strategy of Igbo Entrepreneurs and Micro-Business Success
    ACTA UNIV. SAPIENTIAE, ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS, 4 (2016) 43–65 DOI: 10 .1515/auseb-2016-0003 Induction Strategy of Igbo Entrepreneurs and Micro-Business Success: A Study of Household Equipment Line, Main Market Onitsha, Nigeria Obunike CHINAZOR LADY-FRANCA Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Business Administration/Entrepreneurial Studies P .M .B . 1010, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria e-mail: ladyfranca8@gmail .com Abstract. This work justifies the “Igba-odibo” (Traditional Business School) concept as a business strategy for achieving success in business which is measured through business/opportunity utilization, customer relationship/ business networking and capital acquisition for business . It gives the in-depth symbolic interpretation and application of the dependent and independent variables used. The paper extends its discussion on the significance of these business strategies as practised among Igbo entrepreneurs and on how they equip Igbo entrepreneurs to immensely contribute their quotas in the area of developing entrepreneurship in Nigeria in particular and the globe in general . Research questions were formulated to investigate the relationship between business strategy and success . Related literature was reviewed . The study population covers the household equipment line of Main Market Onitsha in Anambra State, Nigeria, which has shop capacities of over five hundred, which were used to assume the population of the study – out of the 300 questionnaires administered to the directors of the business or the Masters/Mistresses, who were the business owners during the study, 180 were returned, 73 were invalid, so the researcher was left with 107 valid questionnaires to work with . The data collected were tested using frequency tables, percentages, Pearson Product-Moment correlation analysis, and regression analysis .
    [Show full text]
  • The Land Has Changed: History, Society and Gender in Colonial Eastern Nigeria
    University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository University of Calgary Press University of Calgary Press Open Access Books 2010 The land has changed: history, society and gender in colonial Eastern Nigeria Korieh, Chima J. University of Calgary Press Chima J. Korieh. "The land has changed: history, society and gender in colonial Eastern Nigeria". Series: Africa, missing voices series 6, University of Calgary Press, Calgary, Alberta, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/48254 book http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 3.0 Unported Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca University of Calgary Press www.uofcpress.com THE LAND HAS CHANGED History, Society and Gender in Colonial Eastern Nigeria Chima J. Korieh ISBN 978-1-55238-545-6 THIS BOOK IS AN OPEN ACCESS E-BOOK. It is an electronic version of a book that can be purchased in physical form through any bookseller or on-line retailer, or from our distributors. Please support this open access publication by requesting that your university purchase a print copy of this book, or by purchasing a copy yourself. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] Cover Art: The artwork on the cover of this book is not open access and falls under traditional copyright provisions; it cannot be reproduced in any way without written permission of the artists and their agents. The cover can be displayed as a complete cover image for the purposes of publicizing this work, but the artwork cannot be extracted from the context of the cover of this specific work without breaching the artist’s copyright.
    [Show full text]
  • New Projects Inserted by Nass
    NEW PROJECTS INSERTED BY NASS CODE MDA/PROJECT 2018 Proposed Budget 2018 Approved Budget FEDERAL MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL SUPPLYFEDERAL AND MINISTRY INSTALLATION OF AGRICULTURE OF LIGHT AND UP COMMUNITYRURAL DEVELOPMENT (ALL-IN- ONE) HQTRS SOLAR 1 ERGP4145301 STREET LIGHTS WITH LITHIUM BATTERY 3000/5000 LUMENS WITH PIR FOR 0 100,000,000 2 ERGP4145302 PROVISIONCONSTRUCTION OF SOLAR AND INSTALLATION POWERED BOREHOLES OF SOLAR IN BORHEOLEOYO EAST HOSPITALFOR KOGI STATEROAD, 0 100,000,000 3 ERGP4145303 OYOCONSTRUCTION STATE OF 1.3KM ROAD, TOYIN SURVEYO B/SHOP, GBONGUDU, AKOBO 0 50,000,000 4 ERGP4145304 IBADAN,CONSTRUCTION OYO STATE OF BAGUDU WAZIRI ROAD (1.5KM) AND EFU MADAMI ROAD 0 50,000,000 5 ERGP4145305 CONSTRUCTION(1.7KM), NIGER STATEAND PROVISION OF BOREHOLES IN IDEATO NORTH/SOUTH 0 100,000,000 6 ERGP445000690 SUPPLYFEDERAL AND CONSTITUENCY, INSTALLATION IMO OF STATE SOLAR STREET LIGHTS IN NNEWI SOUTH LGA 0 30,000,000 7 ERGP445000691 TOPROVISION THE FOLLOWING OF SOLAR LOCATIONS: STREET LIGHTS ODIKPI IN GARKUWARI,(100M), AMAKOM SABON (100M), GARIN OKOFIAKANURI 0 400,000,000 8 ERGP21500101 SUPPLYNGURU, YOBEAND INSTALLATION STATE (UNDER OF RURAL SOLAR ACCESS STREET MOBILITY LIGHTS INPROJECT NNEWI (RAMP)SOUTH LGA 0 30,000,000 9 ERGP445000692 TOSUPPLY THE FOLLOWINGAND INSTALLATION LOCATIONS: OF SOLAR AKABO STREET (100M), LIGHTS UHUEBE IN AKOWAVILLAGE, (100M) UTUH 0 500,000,000 10 ERGP445000693 ANDEROSION ARONDIZUOGU CONTROL IN(100M), AMOSO IDEATO - NCHARA NORTH ROAD, LGA, ETITI IMO EDDA, STATE AKIPO SOUTH LGA 0 200,000,000 11 ERGP445000694
    [Show full text]
  • Conflicts Between African Traditional Religion and Christianity in Eastern Nigeria: the Igbo Example
    SGOXXX10.1177/2158244017709322SAGE OpenOkeke et al. 709322research-article2017 Article SAGE Open April-June 2017: 1 –10 Conflicts Between African Traditional © The Author(s) 2017 https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017709322DOI: 10.1177/2158244017709322 Religion and Christianity in Eastern journals.sagepub.com/home/sgo Nigeria: The Igbo Example Chukwuma O. Okeke1, Christopher N. Ibenwa1, and Gloria Tochukwu Okeke1 Abstract Conflict is a universal phenomenon that is inevitable in human interaction. Hence, it cannot be avoided in the interaction between Christianity and African Traditional Religion. Since Christianity came in contact with the traditional religion, there has always been a sharp conflict between traditionalists and Christians. This bitter conflict has led to wanton destruction of lives and property, and this has become a source of great worry to the writers. This work investigates the conflicts existing between the two religions since the introduction of Christianity in Igbo land. It examines the nature, pattern, rationale for the conflicts. The method adopted by this study is qualitative and comparative. Both oral interviews and library materials were used. The study validates the following: There is occasional destruction of lives and property and demolition of the people’s artifacts and groves by Christians, and this has led to reduction in the sources of income of the people, and in the tourist sites available in most Igbo towns. It also led to syncretism in the people’s culture. Finally, it helped in refining some obnoxious beliefs and practices of the Igbo race. Keywords Igbo, conflict, criminology, social sciences, ATR, Christianity, culture Introduction the first human inhabitants of Igbo land must have come from areas further north, possibly from the Niger confluence.
    [Show full text]
  • A Linguistic Study of the Themes, Functions and Aesthetic Devices of Selected Igbo Proverbs
    A LINGUISTIC STUDY OF THE THEMES, FUNCTIONS AND AESTHETIC DEVICES OF SELECTED IGBO PROVERBS BY ANYANWU, JOSEPHINE IGBEMMA A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PH.D) (ENGLISH LANGUAGE) DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES, FACULTY OF ARTS, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA SEPTEMBER, 2018 A LINGUISTIC STUDY OF THE THEMES, FUNCTIONS AND AESTHETIC DEVICES OF SELECTED IGBO PROVERBS BY ANYANWU Josephine Igbemma P13AREN9023 A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PH.D) (ENGLISH LANGUAGE) DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES, FACULTY OF ARTS, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA SEPTEMBER, 2018 i DECLARATION I, ANYANWU Josephine Igbemma P13AREN9023 hereby declare that all parts of this dissertation have been researched and written by me in the Department of English under the supervision of Prof. (Mrs.) T. O. Gani-Ikilama, Prof. T. Y. Surakat and Dr. S. Abaya. It has not been presented to the best of my knowledge, in any previous application for a higher degree. All quotations are indicated and all sources of information are specifically acknowledged by means of reference. _________________________ ______________ _____________ ANYANWU Josephine Igbemma Signature Date. ii CERTIFICATION This is to certify that this study titled A LINGUISTIC STUDY OF THE THEMES, FUNCTIONS AND AESTHETIC DEVICES OF SELECTED IGBO PROVERBS carried out by ANYANWU Josephine Igbemma meets the regulations governing the award of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.
    [Show full text]