1.
Imo State
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Imo is one of the 36 states of Nigeria and lies in the South East of Nigeria with Owerri as its capital and largest city. Its other major cities are Orlu and Okigwe, name=www. vanguardngr. com/> Located in the south-eastern region of Nigeria, it occupies the area between the lower River Niger and the upper and middle Imo River. Its Imo State is bordered by Abia State on the East, River Niger and Delta State to the West, Anambra State on the North, the State lies within latitudes 4°45N and 7°15N, and longitude 6°50E and 7°25E with an area of around 5,100 sq km. The main cities in Imo State are Owerri, Orlu and Okigwe, the Orashi River has its source in Imo State. Imo River, being the river in the State, drains through Abia State, where it is joined by Aba River from the North. There are Njaba River, Oguta Lake, Utu River and Awbana River in the State, otamiri River and its 9.2 km length tributary, Nworie River flow in the State. There are other rivers and creeks in the state including Onas Creek in Ohaji/Egbema, Okitankwo River in Umudi, the state is rich in natural resources including crude oil, natural gas, lead, Calcium Cabornate and zinc. Economically exploitable flora including iroko, mahogany, obeche, bamboo, rubber tree, other natural resources found in the State are white clay, fine sand and limestone. The main petroleum companies operating in the state are Addax Petroleum, Chevron Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell, some of the established oil-rich and producing Local Government Councils include Ohaji/Egbema, Oguta, Oru East, Iho, Oru West, Obowo and Ngor Okpala. In addition to presence of oil and gas investors, independent global brewer, the company manages the world-class Awo-omamma Brewery, a multiple-line brewery plant. Many more opportunities in oil and gas are yet to be fully exploited, establishment of industrial parks and processing zones to harness the huge agricultural produce and minerals would give a major boost to the States economic growth and industrialization. No doubt, production centers would employ large number of labor, Oguta Lake, Palm Beach Holiday Resort in Awo-omamma and a host of other tourist sites along the banks of the 26 km-length Njaba River present hotspots for tourism. The economy of the State depends primarily on agriculture and commerce, the chief occupation of the people is farming. However, with a population density and over farming the soil has been degraded. Their cash crops include oil palm, raffia palm, rice, groundnut, melon, cotton, cocoa, rubber, maize, etc. food crops such as yam, cassava, cocoyam and maize are also produced in large quantities. The rainy season begins in April and lasts until October with annual rainfall varying from 1, 500mm to 2, an average annual temperature above 20 °C creates an annual relative humidity of 75%. With humidity reaching 90% in the rainy season, the dry season experiences two months of Harmattan from late December to late February. The hottest months are between January and March, with high population density and over farming, the soil has been degraded and much of the native vegetation has disappeared
2.
Igboland
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Igboland, also known as Southeastern Nigeria, is the indigenous homeland of the Igbo people. It is a cultural and common linguistic region in southern Nigeria. Geographically, it is divided by the lower Niger River into two unequal sections – an eastern and a western section and it is characterised by the diverse Igbo culture and the equally diverse Igbo language. Politically, Igboland is divided into several southern Nigerian states, culturally, it is divided into several subgroupings, including the Anioma, Ngwa, Edda Egbebu, Ezaa, Ibeku, Ohuhu, Omuma and the Ekpeye. William Balfour Baikie remarked that in Igbo each person hails, as a sailor would say, from the district where he was born. And yet considerable differences exist between different parts of this country, and the dialects spoken also vary greatly. Igboland is surrounded on all sides by a host of large rivers, in the words of William B. On the north it borders on Igara, Igala and Akpoto, the earliest found settlements in Igboland date back to 4500 BC in the central area, from where the majority of the Igbo-speaking population is believed to have migrated. The northern Igbo Kingdom of Nri, which rose around the 10th century AD, is credited with the foundation of much of Igbolands culture, customs and it is the oldest existing monarchy in present-day Nigeria. In southern Igboland several groups developed, of which the most notable was the Aro confederacy, Igboland was part of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate of the British Empire and was amalgamated into modern-day Nigeria in 1914, the nation gained independence in 1960. Shortly afterwards Igboland was involved in its biggest war during Biafras movement for secession, balkie when signing a trade agreement with Igbo chief, Ezebogo in Asaba on August 30,1885. Early settlement of Igboland dates back to 6000 BC based on early pottery work found in the Okigwe, Oka Igwe, some local Villagers retains the Original name, like Umuzuoka, The Blacksmiths Ezioka, Okigwe, Imoka, etc. Oka, igwe-Nsukka axis. There is, however, evidence of Palaeolithic man settling in southern Nigeria from at least 10,000 years ago, anthropologists at the University of Benin discovered fossils and use of monoliths dating back to 6000 BC at Ugwelle-Uturu in the Okigwe area. Further evidence of ancient settlements were uncovered at a hypothesised Nsukka metal cultural area from 3000 BC, the Nsukka-Okigwe axis forms as a basis for a proposed Proto-Igbo cultural heartland antecedent to contemporary Igbo culture. It is unclear what cultural links there are between these pre-historic artefacts and today, much of the Igbo population is believed to have migrated from a smaller area in this region, starting several independent Igbo-speaking tribes, village-groups, kingdoms and states. The works were based in Igbo Ukwu and further finds were found by archaeology teams led by Thurstan Shaw in 1959-60, the works have been attributed to an isolated bronze industry which had developed without outside influence over time to reach such sophistication. Igbo trade routes of the second millennium reached the cities of Mecca, Medina. There was evidence of beads that originated in India in the 9th century Igbo Ukwu burial sites, the burial site was associated with the Nri Kingdom which began around the same century according to indigenous history
3.
Ezi na Ihite
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Ezinihitte Mbaise is a local Government Area in Imo State, Nigeria. The area consists of the town of Ezi na Ihite and its surroundings and is part of the Mbaise district, hence, this is the arrangement that shows the exact pairing found in the Ezi na Ihite communities. As you can observe, Akpodim is the fusion of Akpoku na Umudim
4.
Genevieve Nnaji
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Genevieve Nnaji is a Nigerian actress and singer. She won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2005, in 2011, she was honoured as a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic by the Nigerian government for her contribution to Nollywood. Nnaji was born in Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria but grew up in Lagos and her father worked as an engineer and her mother as a nursery teacher. She attended Methodist Girls College, before transferring into the University of Lagos where she graduated with a degree in creative arts. While at the university, she began auditioning for acting jobs in Nollywood, Nnaji started her acting career as a child actress in the then popular television soap opera Ripples at the age of 8. In 1998 at the age of 19 she was introduced into the growing Nigerian film industry with the movie Most Wanted and her subsequent movies include Last Party, Mark of the Beast and Ijele. In 2010 she starred in the award-winning film Ijé, The Journey, Nnaji has starred in over 80 Nollywood movies. Genevieve Nnaji is considered to be one of the best paid actresses in Nollywood, in 2009, she was referred to as the Julia Roberts of Africa by Oprah Winfrey. In 2004 she signed a contract with EKB Records, a Ghanaian record label, and released her debut album One Logologo Line. Nnaji has featured in several commercials some of which include those of Pronto beverage, in 2004 she became the Face of Lux in Nigeria in a highly lucrative sponsorship deal. In 2008 Nnaji launched the line, St. Genevieve. In May 2010 Nnaji was appointed to be the official Face of MUD in Nigeria, One Logologo Line Genevieve Nnaji at the Internet Movie Database
5.
Rita Dominic
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Rita Uchenna Nkem Dominic Waturuocha is a Nigerian actress. In 2012 she won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Rita Dominic is a member of the Royal Waturuocha family of Aboh Mbaise local government area in Imo State. She is the youngest of four siblings and her late parents were medical practitioners, her father was a medical doctor and her mother a nursing officer. Dominic started performing when she was a child, appearing in school plays, in 1998 she starred in her first movie, A Time to Kill. She won the City People Awards in 2004 as the Most Outstanding Actress and she has starred in over 100 Nollywood productions. Official website Rita Dominic at the Internet Movie Database
6.
Subsistence farming
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Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed themselves and their families. The output is mostly for local requirements with little or no surplus trade, the typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to feed and clothe themselves during the year. Planting decisions are made principally with an eye toward what the family will need during the coming year, tony Waters writes, Subsistence peasants are people who grow what they eat, build their own houses, and live without regularly making purchases in the marketplace. Subsistence agriculture also emerged independently in Mexico where it was based on cultivation. Subsistence agriculture was the dominant mode of production in the world until recently, Subsistence horticulture may have developed independently in South East Asia and Papua New Guinea. Subsistence farming continues today in parts of rural Africa, and parts of Asia. Many of the items, as well as occasional services from physicians, veterinarians, blacksmiths. In Central and Eastern Europe subsistence and semi-subsistence agriculture reappeared within the economy since about 1990. In this type of agriculture, a patch of forest land is cleared by a combination of felling and burning, and crops are grown. After 2-3 years the fertility of the soil begins to decline, the land is abandoned, while the land is left fallow the forest regrows in the cleared area and soil fertility and biomass is restored. After a decade or more, the farmer may return to the first piece of land, shifting cultivation is called Dredd in India, Ladang in Indonesia and Milpa in Central America and Mexico. However, such farmers often recognize the value of such compost and they also may irrigate part of such fields if they are near a source of water. In some areas of tropical Africa, at least, such smaller fields may be ones in which crops are grown on raised beds, thus farmers practicing slash and burn agriculture are often much more sophisticated agriculturalists than the term slash and burn subsistence farmers suggest. In this type of farming people migrate along with their animals from one place to another in search of fodder for their animals, generally they rear cattle, sheep, goats, camels and/or yaks for milk, skin, meat and wool. This way of life is common in parts of central and western Asia, India, east and south-west Africa, examples are the nomadic Bhotiyas and Gujjars of the Himalayas. In Intensive subsistence agriculture, the farmer cultivates a small plot of land using simple tools, climate, with large number of days with sunshine and fertile soils permits growing of more than one crop annually on the same plot. Farmers use their land holdings to produce enough, for their local consumption. It results in more food being produced per acre compared to other subsistence patterns
7.
Biafra
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Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a secessionist state in eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to January 1970. It took its name from the Bight of Biafra, the Atlantic bay to its south, the inhabitants were mostly the Igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions among the various peoples of Nigeria. Other ethnic groups that constituted the republic were the Efik, Ibibio, Annang, Ejagham, Eket, Ibeno, the secession of the Biafran region was the primary cause of the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War. The state was formally recognised by Gabon, Haiti, Ivory Coast, other nations which did not give official recognition, but provided support and assistance to Biafra included Israel, France, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Rhodesia, South Africa and the Vatican City. Biafra also received aid from non-state actors, including Joint Church Aid, Holy Ghost Fathers of Ireland, Caritas International, MarkPress, in 1960, Nigeria became independent of the United Kingdom. As with many other new African states, the borders of the country did not reflect earlier ethnic boundaries, thus, the northern region of the country is made up of Muslim majority, while the southern population is predominantly Christian. Following independence, Nigeria was divided primarily along ethnic lines with Hausa and Fulani majority in the north, Yoruba and Igbo majority in the south-west and south-east respectively. In January 1966, a coup occurred during which 30 political leaders including Nigerias Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. It was alleged to be an Igbo coup because Nnamdi Azikiwe, the President, of Igbo extraction, in July 1966 northern officers and army units staged a counter-coup. Muslim officers named a General from an ethnic group in central Nigeria, General Yakubu Jack Gowon. The two coups deepened Nigerias ethnic tensions, in September 1966, approximately 30,000 Igbo were killed in the north, and some Northerners were killed in backlashes in eastern cities. Biafra as a territory existed long before the amalgamation and independence of Nigeria as a republic, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in pursuit of a more agreeable arrangement for peaceful co-existence of all regions in Nigeria proposed for a confederated Nigeria. In January 1967, the leaders and senior police officials of each region met in Aburi, Ghana. After the federal and eastern governments failed to reconcile, on 26 May the Eastern region voted to secede from Nigeria, on 30 May, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the South Eastern Regions military governor, announced the Republic of Biafra, citing the Easterners killed in the post-coup violence. The large amount of oil in the region created conflict, as oil was already becoming a component of the Nigerian economy. The Eastern region was very ill-equipped for war, out-manned and out-gunned by the military of the remainder of Nigeria and their advantages included fighting in their homeland and support of most South Easterners. The FMG launched police measures to annex the Eastern Region on 6 July 1967, the FMGs initial efforts were unsuccessful, the Biafrans successfully launched their own offensive, occupying areas in the mid-Western Region in August 1967. By October 1967, the FMG had regained the land after intense fighting, in September 1968, the federal army planned what Gowon described as the final offensive
8.
Igbo people
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The Igbo people, also erroneously known as the Ibo people, are an indigenous linguistic and cultural people of southern Nigeria. Geographically, the Igbo homeland is divided into two sections by the Niger River – an eastern and a western section. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects, the Igbo homeland is almost surrounded on all sides by other ethnic peoples of southern and central Nigeria namely, the Ijaw, Edo, Isoko, Ogoni, Igala, Tiv, Yako, Idoma and Ibibio. The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, in rural Nigeria, Igbo people work mostly as craftsmen, farmers and traders. The most important crop is the yam, celebrations take place annually to celebrate its harvesting, other staple crops include cassava and taro. Before British colonial rule, the Igbo were a politically fragmented group, there were variations in culture such as in art styles, attire and religious practices. Various subgroups were organized by clan, lineage, village affiliation, there were not many centralized chiefdoms, hereditary aristocracy, or kingship customs except in kingdoms such as those of the Nri, Arochukwu, Agbor and Onitsha. This political system changed significantly under British colonialism in the early 20th century, the Igbo became overwhelmingly Christian under colonization. Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart is one of the most popular novels to depict Igbo culture, by the mid-20th century, the Igbo people developed a strong sense of ethnic identity. Certain conflicts with other Nigerian ethnicities led to Igbo-densely populated Eastern Nigeria seceding to create the independent state of Biafra, the Nigerian Civil War or the Nigerian-Biafran War broke out shortly after. With their defeat, the Republic of Biafra once again was part of Nigeria, MASSOB, a sectarian organization formed in 1999, continues a non-violent struggle for an independent Igbo state. Due to the effects of migration and the Atlantic slave trade, there are descendant ethnic Igbo populations in such as Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Their exact population outside Africa is unknown, but today many African Americans, according to Liberian historians the fifth president of Liberia Edward James Roye was of Igbo descent. The Igbo people have had fragmented and politically independent communities, before knowledge of Europeans and full exposure to other neighbouring ethnic groups, the Igbo did not have a strong identity as one people. As in the case of most ethnic groups, the British, Chinua Achebe, among other scholars, challenged this because of its negative connotations and possible wrong definition. He suggested defining the Igbo people as a nation although the Igbo do not have an officially recognized state of their own. The most common name for the Igbo in English was formerly Ibo and they have also been known as the Iboe, Ebo, Eboe, Eboans, or Heebo. Their territory and main settlement have also been known by their name
9.
Origins of the Igbo people
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The Igbo people, also erroneously known as the Ibo people, are an indigenous linguistic and cultural people of southern Nigeria. Geographically, the Igbo homeland is divided into two sections by the Niger River – an eastern and a western section. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects, the Igbo homeland is almost surrounded on all sides by other ethnic peoples of southern and central Nigeria namely, the Ijaw, Edo, Isoko, Ogoni, Igala, Tiv, Yako, Idoma and Ibibio. The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, in rural Nigeria, Igbo people work mostly as craftsmen, farmers and traders. The most important crop is the yam, celebrations take place annually to celebrate its harvesting, other staple crops include cassava and taro. Before British colonial rule, the Igbo were a politically fragmented group, there were variations in culture such as in art styles, attire and religious practices. Various subgroups were organized by clan, lineage, village affiliation, there were not many centralized chiefdoms, hereditary aristocracy, or kingship customs except in kingdoms such as those of the Nri, Arochukwu, Agbor and Onitsha. This political system changed significantly under British colonialism in the early 20th century, the Igbo became overwhelmingly Christian under colonization. Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart is one of the most popular novels to depict Igbo culture, by the mid-20th century, the Igbo people developed a strong sense of ethnic identity. Certain conflicts with other Nigerian ethnicities led to Igbo-densely populated Eastern Nigeria seceding to create the independent state of Biafra, the Nigerian Civil War or the Nigerian-Biafran War broke out shortly after. With their defeat, the Republic of Biafra once again was part of Nigeria, MASSOB, a sectarian organization formed in 1999, continues a non-violent struggle for an independent Igbo state. Due to the effects of migration and the Atlantic slave trade, there are descendant ethnic Igbo populations in such as Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Their exact population outside Africa is unknown, but today many African Americans, according to Liberian historians the fifth president of Liberia Edward James Roye was of Igbo descent. The Igbo people have had fragmented and politically independent communities, before knowledge of Europeans and full exposure to other neighbouring ethnic groups, the Igbo did not have a strong identity as one people. As in the case of most ethnic groups, the British, Chinua Achebe, among other scholars, challenged this because of its negative connotations and possible wrong definition. He suggested defining the Igbo people as a nation although the Igbo do not have an officially recognized state of their own. The most common name for the Igbo in English was formerly Ibo and they have also been known as the Iboe, Ebo, Eboe, Eboans, or Heebo. Their territory and main settlement have also been known by their name
10.
Archaeology of Igbo-Ukwu
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They are the oldest bronze artifacts known in West African and were manufactured centuries before the emergence of other known bronze producing centers such as those of Ife and Benin. The bronzes include numerous ritual vessels, pendants, crowns, breastplates, staff ornaments, swords, the Igbo-Ukwu bronzes amazed the world with a very high level of technical and artistic proficiency and sophistication which was at this time distinctly more advanced than bronze casting in Europe. Frank Willett says that the Igbo-Ukwu bronzes portray a standard that is comparable to that established by Benvenuto Cellini five hundred years later in Europe, denis Williams calls them an exquisite explosion without antecedent or issue. One of the objects found, a pot set in a mesh of simulated rope is described by Hugh Honour. Its elegant design and refined detailing are matched by a level of accomplishment that is notably more advanced than European bronze casting of this period. Some of the glass and carnelian beads have been found to be produced in Old Cairo at the workshops of Fustat thus establishing that trade contacts did exist between Igbo-Ukwu and ancient Egypt. Archaeological sites containing iron smelting furnaces and slag have been excavated dating to 2000BC in Lejja, the initial finds were made by Isiah Anozie while digging in his compound in 1939. He was not aware of the significance of the objects he had found and gave some of them to friends and neighbors. Field, the British colonial district officer of the area learned of the finds and was able to purchase many of them. He later handed over the artefacts to the Nigerian department of antiquity, the Igbo people are not themselves metal workers, and as far as is known they never have been it is improbable that it has lain buried for more than a century at the most. Subsequent research was to prove him wrong, the archaeological digs revealed hundreds of copper and bronze ritual vessels as well as iron swords, iron spear heads, iron razors and other artifacts dated a millennium earlier. It is therefore perplexing that they were able to create objects with such fine detail that they depict. Though these appear to have been riveted or soldered on to the artifacts, the Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art describes them as being among the most inventive and technically accomplished bronzes ever made. The origin of the ore used to produce the bronze has been located to old mines in Abakiliki about 100 kilometers from Igbo-Ukwu
11.
Kingdom of Nri
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The Kingdom of Nri was the West African medieval region in southeastern Nigeria, a subgroup of the Igbo-speaking people. The Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland, the Eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Nri people, and possessed divine authority in religious matters. The kingdom was a haven for all those who had rejected in their communities. Nri expanded through converts gaining neighboring communities allegiance, not by force, Nris royal founder, Eri, is said to be a sky being that came down to earth and then established civilization. One of the remnants of the Nri civilization is its art. Nris culture permanently influenced the Northern and Western Igbo, especially through religion, British colonialism, the Atlantic slave trade and the rise of the Bini and Igala kingdoms contributed to the decline of the Nri Kingdom. The Nri Kingdom is going through a cultural revival, the Nri kingdom is considered a center of Igbo culture. Nri and Aguleri, where the Umueri-Igbo creation myth originates, are in the territory of the Umu-Eri clan, eris origin is unclear, though he has been described as a sky being sent by Chukwu. He is credited with first giving societal order to the people of Anambra, archaeological evidence suggests that Nri hegemony in Igboland may go back as far as the 9th century, and royal burials have been unearthed dating to at least the 10th century. Eri, the founder of Nri, is believed to have settled the region around 948. The first eze Nri, Ìfikuánim, follows directly after him, according to Igbo oral tradition, his reign started in 1043. At least one historian puts Ìfikuánims reign much later, around 1225 CE, in 1911, the names of 19 eze Nri were recorded, but the list is not easily converted into chronological terms because of long interregnums between installations. Regardless of the date, this period marks the beginning of Nri kingship as a centralized institution. Colonization and expansion of the kingdom of Nri was achieved by sending mbùríchi, or converts, allegiance to the eze Nri was obtained not by military force but through ritual oath. Religious authority was vested in the king, and ties were maintained by traveling mbùríchi. By the 14th century, Nri influence extended well beyond the nuclear northern Igbo region to Igbo settlements on the west bank of the Niger, there is strong evidence to indicate Nri influence well beyond the Igbo region to Benin and Southern Igala areas like Idah. At its height, the kingdom of Nri had influence over roughly a third of Igboland and beyond and it reached its furthest extent between 1100 and 1400
12.
Igbo people in the Atlantic slave trade
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The Igbo in the Atlantic slave trade became one of the main ethnic groups enslaved in the era lasting between the 16th and late 19th century. Located near indigenous Igbo territory, the Bight of Biafra, became the area in obtaining Igbo slaves. The Bights major slave trading ports were located in Bonny and Calabar, slaves, kidnapped or bought from fellow Africans, were taken to Europe and the Americas by European slave traders. An estimated 14. 6% of slaves were taken from the Bight of Biafra between 1650 and 1900, the third greatest percentage in the era of the slave trade. Ethnic groups were fairly saturated in certain parts of the Americas because of planters preferences in certain African peoples, the Igbo were dispersed to colonies such as Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Barbados, United States, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago among others. Elements of Igbo culture can still be found in these places, in the United States the Igbo were found common in the state of Maryland and Virginia. It is estimated that a total of 1.4 million Igbo people were transported across the Atlantic in the era of Atlantic slave trade, most of these ships were British. The Igbo were dispersed to Barbados in large numbers, olaudah Equiano, a famous Igbo author, abolitionist and ex-slave, was dropped off there after being kidnapped from his hometown near the Bight of Biafra. After arriving in Barbados he was shipped to Virginia. At his time,44 percent of the 90,000 Africans disembarking on the island were from the bight and these Africans were therefore mainly of Igbo origin. The links between Barbados and the Bight of Biafra had begun in the century, with half of the African captives arriving on the island originating from there. Some slaves arriving in Haiti included Igbo people who were considered suicidal, according to Adiele Afigbo there is still the Creole saying of Ibos pendcora yo. Aspects of Haitian culture that exhibit this can be seen in the Ibo loa, Bonny and Calabar emerged as major embarkation points of enslaved West Africans destined for Jamaicas slave markets in the 18th century. Dominated by Bristol and Liverpool slave ships, these ports were used primarily for the supply of slaves to British colonies in the Americas. In Jamaica, the bulk of Igbo slaves arrived relatively later than the rest of other arrivals of Africans on the Island in the period after the 1750s, in the United States the Igbo slaves were known for being rebellious. In some states such as Georgia, the Igbo had a suicide rate. The Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia estimates around 38% of captives taken to Virginia were from the Bight of Biafra, Igbo peoples constituted the majority of enslaved Africans in Maryland. Chambers has been quoted saying My research suggests that perhaps 60 percent of black Americans have at least one Igbo ancestor,17 Stones Cemetery / George Washington National Forest
13.
Aro Confederacy
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The Aro Confederacy was a political union orchestrated by the Igbo subgroup, the Aro people, centered in Arochukwu in present-day southeastern Nigeria. Their influence and presence was all over Eastern Nigeria, lower Middle Belt, the Arochukwu Kingdom was an economic, political, and an oracular center as it was home of the powerful Ibini Ukpabi oracle, High Priests, the Aro King Eze Aro, and central council. By the mid-18th century, several Aro business families had migrated to the Igbo hinterland and to adjacent areas as a result of the rise of the demand for slaves and for palm oil. Aro activities on the coast helped the growth of city-states in the Niger Delta, such city-states included Opobo, Bonny, Nembe, Calabar, as well as other slave trading city-states controlled by the Ijaw, Efik, and Igbo. The Aros formed a trading network, colonies, and incorporated hundreds of communities that formed into powerful kingdoms. The Ajalli, Arondizuogu, Ndikelionwu, and Igbene Kingdoms were some of the most powerful Aro states in the Confederacy after Arochukwu, some were founded and named after commanders and chiefs like Izuogu Mgbokpo and Iheme who led Aro/Abam forces to conquer Ikpa Ora and founded Arondizuogu. Later Aro commanders such as Okoro Idozuka expanded the states borders through warfare at the start of the 19th century, Aro migrations also played a large role in the expansion of Ozizza, Afikpo, Izombe, and many other city-states. For example, Aro soldiers founded at least three villages in Ozizza, the Aro Confederacys power, however, derived mostly from its economic and religious position. With European colonists on their way at the end of the 19th century, during the 1890s, the Royal Niger Company of Britain bore friction with the Aros because of their economic dominance and alleged human sacrifice. The Aro resisted British penetration in the hinterland because their influence economically and religiously was being threatened, the Aro and their allies launched offensives against British allies in Igbo and Ibibioland. After failed negotiations, the British planned on capturing the Aro Confederacy in 1899, by 1901, the tensions were especially intensified when British prepared for the Aro Expedition. The invasion of Obegu was the last major Aro offensive before the start of the Anglo-Aro War, in November 1901, the British launched the Aro Expedition and after strong Aro resistance, Arochukwu was captured on December 28,1901. By early 1902, the war was over and the Aro Confederacy collapsed, contrary to the belief that the Ibini Ukpabi was destroyed, the shrine still exists, and is intact in Arochukwu and serves mainly as a tourist site. The Evolution of the Aro Confederacy in Southeastern Nigeria, 1690-1720, arookigbo. com Countrystudies. us Nigeriafirst. org Apuncna. com Aronewsonline. org http, //www. ebonyionline. com/the-concise-history-of-ozizza/
14.
1966 anti-Igbo pogrom
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These events led to the secession of the eastern Nigerian region and the declaration of the Republic of Biafra, which ultimately led to the Nigeria-Biafra war. The 1966 massacres of southern Nigerians have been described as a holocaust by some authors and have variously described as riots. The events took place in the context of military coups detat, the lack of Igbo humility has been identified as one of the factors that sparked the pogroms, resulting in popular hostility toward the Igbo. The immediate precursor to the massacres was the January 1966 Nigerian coup detat led mostly by young Igbo officers, most of the politicians and senior army officers killed by them were northerners, including the Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna of Sokoto. The coup was opposed by other senior army officers, an Igbo officer, Aguiyi-Ironsi stopped the coup in Lagos while another Igbo officer, Emeka Ojukwu stopped the coup in the north. Aguiyi-Ironsi then assumed power, forcing the government to cede authority. He established a government led by himself as supreme commander. In the months following the coup it was noted that four of the five army Majors who executed the coup were Igbo. It was feared that the Igbo had set out to control of the country. In the aftermath, Yakubu Gowon, a northerner assumed command of the military government and it is with this background that increasing ethnic rivalries led to further massacres. The massacres were widely spread in the north and peaked on the 29 May,29 July and 29 September 1966, by the time the pogrom ended, virtually all Igbos of the North were dead, hiding among sympathetic Northeners or on their way to the Eastern region. The massacres were led by the Nigerian Army and replicated in various Northern Nigerian cities. vermin, Northern Nigerians were however also targeted in the Igbo dominated Eastern Nigeria. Thousands of Hausas, Tiv and other Northern Tribes were massacred by Igbo mobs, on 24 May 1966 Ironsi issued a unitary decree, which led to an explosion of attacks against the Igbo in Northern Nigeria on 29 May 1966. The British press was unanimous in its conviction at the time that these 29 May killings were organized, the Ironsi regime was also perceived to have been favoring Southern Nigerians in the appointment to key positions in government, thus heightening the inter ethnic rivalries. The failure of the Ironsi regime to punish the army mutineers responsible for the January 1966 coup further exacerbated the situation, the May 1966 pogrom was carried out by rampaging mobs with the connivance of local government. The unprofessional attitude of some elements of the press are also known to have added to the existing tension. This spree of killings carried on into early October and was carried out by civilians sometimes aided by army troops and it has been described as the most painful and provocative incident leading to the Nigeria-Biafra war. The pogroms led to the movement of Igbo and other Eastern Nigerians back to Eastern Nigeria
15.
Nigerian Civil War
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The Nigerian Civil War, better known as the Biafran War, was a war fought to counter the secession of Biafra from Nigeria. Biafra represented nationalist aspirations of the Igbo people, whose leadership felt they could no longer coexist with the Northern-dominated federal government, the conflict resulted from political, economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions which preceded Britains formal decolonisation of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963. Immediate causes of the war in 1966 included a military coup, a counter-coup, control over oil production in the Niger Delta played a vital strategic role. Within a year, the Federal Military Government surrounded Biafra, capturing coastal oil facilities, the blockade imposed during the ensuing stalemate led to severe famine—accomplished deliberately as a war strategy. Over the two and half years of the war, there were about 100,000 overall military casualties and this famine entered world awareness in mid-1968, when images of malnourished and starving children suddenly saturated the mass media of Western countries. The plight of the starving Biafrans became a cause célèbre in foreign countries, enabling a significant rise in the funding, Britain and the Soviet Union were the main backers of the Federal Military Government in Lagos, while France and some independent elements supported Biafra. France and Israel provided weapons to both combatants, the civil war can be linked back to the 1914 amalgamation of Northern and southern Nigeria, which was for the purpose of better administration due to close proximity. However, there was so much difference in the culture and religion of the people, after the amalgamation, oil was discovered in Eastern Nigeria, and this was a turning point in the history of Nigeria, as this led to the struggle for control amongst the regions. At this point, there was a power tussle to see who could control the power and with southern Nigeria not as united as the north. In July 1966 Northern officers staged a counter-coup to revenge on the easterners which saw Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon emerge as the head of state, during his tenure killing of Easters in the north continued and this led to several actions which eventually resulted in the Biafran war. Nigeria, which gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, had at time a population of 60 million people consisting of more than 300 differing ethnic. More than fifty years earlier, the United Kingdom had carved an area out of West Africa containing hundreds of different ethnic groups and unified it, calling it Nigeria. Although these groups have their own homelands, by the 1960s they were dispersed across Nigeria, when the war broke out in 1967 there were still 5,000 Igbos in Lagos. The semi-feudal and Islamic Hausa-Fulani in the North were traditionally ruled by a feudal, conservative Islamic hierarchy consisting of Emirs who, in turn and this Sultan was regarded as the source of all political power and religious authority. The Yoruba political system in the southwest, like that of the Hausa-Fulani, also consisted of a series of monarchs, in its zenith the Kingdom controlled most of Igbo land, including influence on the Anioma people, Arochukwu, and Onitsha land. Unlike the other two regions, decisions among the Igbo were made by an assembly in which men could participate. The differing political systems among these three peoples reflected and produced divergent customs and values, political decisions were to be submitted to. As with other highly authoritarian religious and political systems, leadership positions were taken by persons willing to be subservient, a chief function of this political system was to maintain Islamic and conservative values, which caused many Hausa-Fulani to view economic and social innovation as subversive or sacrilegious
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Aro people
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The Aro people or Aros are an Igbo subgroup mixed with Akpa and Ibibio ancestry that originated from the Arochukwu kingdom in present-day Abia state, Nigeria. The Aros can also be found in about 250 other settlements mostly in the Southeastern Nigeria, the Aros today are classified as Eastern or Cross River Igbos because of their location, mixed origins, culture, and dialect. Their god, Ibini Ukpabi, was a key factor in establishing the Aro Confederacy as a power in the Niger Delta. The history of the Aros predates Igbo migration and founding of the kingdom of Arochukwu. Before Igbos started arriving to the Aro region in the 17th century, Ibibios arrived from the Benue and plateau area and founded states such as Obong Okon Ita and Ibom west of the Cross River. Igbo migrations led by Eze Agwu and Nnachi from the Abiriba and these Igbo migrants were resisted by the indigenous Ibibio. The Aro-Ibibio wars and the migration of the Akpa from east of the Cross River, the Igbo and Akpa alliance, defeated and assimilated the original Ibibio inhabitants after long years of warfare. By this time, the oil and slave trade was popular in the hinterland. By the mid-18th century, there were migrations of Aro businessmen to the Igbo hinterland. However, Aro economic hegemony was threatened by the penetration of Europeans, tensions finally led to bloodshed, and the Anglo-Aro war took place from 1901 to 1902. The Aro Confederacy stoutly resisted but eventually suffered defeat and this helped the British to occupy the rest of what became Eastern Nigeria. The Aros have a rich tradition, one factor is the Ekpe society which is a sacred cult originally from east of the Cross River. The highly religious and judicial cult took a part in Aro cultism. The use of the system, Nsibidi, was based on secret societies like Ekpe. Uli, another writing system, occurred mostly in the form of body art, another factor is the Ibini Ukpabi shrine, who was a mediating god among the Aros. They influenced neighbors and allies before the British invasion, the shrine was later corrupted, commercialized, and used for selling slaves during the slave trade. The Ekeleke masquerade activity was important in Aro settlements rather than Ekpe, brought from the Aros in the western Niger Delta, it eventually spread to the Oguta area. They also were known for wearing the popular George cloth, the Ikperikpe warrior dance was very famous among warriors in the old days and continues to in use
