Yoruba Conflict With The Igbo

Being successful can be by wrestling, wealth, titles, and wives to men in the Igbo culture which for them is their personal achievement to have these in life. For example, “He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife”(8). This signifies the wealth the men have with yams and by having a title in their clan they can have more wives to show that they are able to support them and feed all of them. In contrast, Titles are a major symbol in men and their reputation, unlike women, care more about their families. For instance, “among these people, a man was judged according to his

In the novel Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, religion, an indispensable tradition is celebrated within the Igbo people. The Igbo people, hosts gatherings, worship, and celebrate their ancestors. They are polytheistic, in other words, they believe in many gods. The Igbo people also believe in sacrifices to their ancestors and crimes are considered as sins. Their ancestors and gods serve as a role model, or a sculpture, to whom they worship and sacrifice in Igbo society. However, the arrival of the European Missionaries not only brings tremendous changes to Igbo religion and culture, but also creates conflicts among them.

The new religion from the ‘white missionaries,’ was the complete opposite from what the Igbo society was used to. An example would be when the Igbo society was trying to get used to learning about the holy trinity rather than believing in many gods (Achebe, 145). Due to this change, many of the people turned away from their families and their own self to become a part of this new religion. This was a huge problem because before this

The Igbo people’s language is saturated with proverbs which allows the language to sustain a sophisticated way of communication. This shows they should be considered to be a civilized culture because the use of proverbs mean their language is advanced enough to be able to support the usage of metaphors and figurative talk. For example, Achebe states, “Okoye said the next half a dozen sentences in proverbs. Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten” (Achebe 10). This shows that the Igbo people stress the use of proverbs, a complex use of their language, to express their ideas and to communicate with others. Another example is when Okonkwo was justifying his role in killing Ikemefuna to Obierika. Okonkwo says, “The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger, A child’s fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam, which its mother puts into its palm.” (Achebe 64). This shows that Igbo’s use of complex proverbs and language allow for the people to prove their points and their arguments. This shows the culture is civilized because the Igbo language is used in it’s complexity to explain points of views and argument effectively, which is a sophisticated part of day to day communication. The use of language in the Ibo culture allows for the people to communicate and express their ideas in complex ways,

The Igbo people portray they are civil by having gender roles and a justice system, but they also could be mistakenly considered uncivilized because of their unjustified religious superstitions. In order for a society to be civil they need to have civilized characteristics; this includes being financially independent, organized, concerned with citizens needs. The Igbo people have one bad characteristic that could make a person think they are a uncivilized group, but no society is perfect. The Ibo society runs smoothly and efficiently making the Ibo culture

They also share one religion which is based upon the Christian religion as there is one creator, God. Family values in this cultures includes birth, marriage and burial. One most always be present to these traditional events. Unlike most of the common ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Igbo people do not possess a reliable historic story that infers their origins. Although, there is no common traditional story that explains their beginnings, theories do exist.

I am Obierika, and I am a part of the Ibo tribe of Umuofia which is in Nigeria. I have been through a lot with my tribe and sometimes I do not fully agree with the actions my tribe completes. I am writing this to defend the Ibo culture against what the District Commissioner wrote about us in The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger. The District Commissioner is an authority figure to the white government in Nigeria who thinks he completely grasps the culture of the Ibo.

Thousands of years ago there was a tribe filled with people known as the Ibo, now known as the Igbo. The Igbo were one of the first tribes to really be able to thrive and have order in their villages. Igboland is now one of the most populated countries in Nigeria. Though Igboland is now one of the most populated countries, it has managed to keep its historical charm. Igboland is now a very well thriving country, but it is still facing many hardships regarding their political system.

After the missionaries arrived, many Igbo people converted to Christianity; because of this, a majority of modern Igbo people are Christian, and even some Igbo people practice “a syncretic version of Christianity intermingled with indigenous beliefs” (“Igbo”). However, there were some negative effects on the religion. Christian reforms and attempts to destroy the religion caused less integration and unity between the Igbo people (Okeke et al. 9). While the religion was not completely forgotten, a majority of the Igbo have abandoned traditional

Throughout the reign of the Missionaries, the Igbo religion became lost. Clan members no longer worships their sacred gods and goddesses. “To abandon the gods of one’s father and go about with a lot of effeminate men clucking like old hens was the very depth of abomination,” (153; pt.2, ch.17) Okonkwo says in regards to his fellow clansmen converting to Christianity. At first, many members of the clan did not notice the changes around them. They became oblivious to the missionaries and what they had brought with them, “the white men has not only brought a religion, but also a government.” (155; pt.2, ch. 8) The changes brought by the white men, occur slowly and cautiously, until it becomes too late for the clan members to react. Members of

Don C. Ohadike claims that between 1900 and 1960, the colonial period, Igbos began gathering together in urban centers and discovered the similarities in their culture and language. Igbo farming communities stretched across Nigeria and were bordered by the Niger river, the Cross river, swamplands, and grasslands. Igbo religion was very prominent in their everyday life. Chukwu, they believed, was a supreme being so they didn't have any symbols of Chukwu because they didn't know what he looked like and they didn't have any shrines of Chukwu because they thought that he was everywhere. Ekwensu, the Christian equivalent of satan, supposedly made people commit crimes. Igbos also believed in life after death and that the spirits of the dead became unseen. The Igbo people had the theory that twins or triplets were abnormal and if born, they were thrown away

Like many other tradition societies, Igbo held men higher than woman on the social ladder. Men can take titles while women can not. Women even have no say in the village council nor they can grow king crop Yam.

The Igbo community is developed because they have fair ideology practice. For example, when Okonkwo shot his gun on accident and hit Ezeudu's son who’s father the clan was burying it says “The only course of action was to flee from

Look at what it has come to, a ruined society. All of the Igbo stand before me, yet diminishing by the hundreds. With the introduction of christianity our society is falling quickly. I shelter all but those who tread beyond me shall be cursed along with all damned souls who have dared. My mantle is in jeopardy now and without the faithful we are sure to be replaced with an extremest faith. Perhaps it is a blessing that i have not my village, for they have proven to myself that they are not worthy to stand below

The first was the weak sense of nationalism caused by all the ethnic groups where religion played a major part of the division. The main three ethnicities in Nigeria are Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo; the former is Muslim while the two latter are Christians. The second cause mentioned was the “divide and rule” which was a British tactic to employ ethnic groups against one another, and thus “helped ensure that ethnicity would be the main line of political cleavage after Nigeria became an independent country.” The third cause is the personal rule system based on “big men” and what this means is that Nigerian’s who worked for the British used their personal relationships to gain power and wealth, and in a certain way it is still used today in the Nigerian government. The fourth devastating cause was the “creation of an increasingly active and interventionist state during WWII and after until its independence in 1960, but that opened the doors to patronage, which would be used to gain political power and wealth. The past reveals the problems Nigeria has had for several decades, some of which have not disappeared but seem to get progressively worse. (CITATION)