CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

The concept of chi and the role in Igbo traditional religion occupies a central role in relation to

interpretation of individual attitude or behavioral pattern and accomplishments in life. Life and

its meaning cannot be understood without recourse to chi as a reference point. As such scholars

on the Igbo religion and culture have divergent views on the real meaning of chi.

Chukwukere, I. in one of his books in 1983 observes that; in the immense but widely

scattered literature on chi, confusion still lingers over the exact meaning and full religious and

social significance of the term. The main reason behind this can be traced back to the apparently

strong legacy left by early Christian missionary scholars and ethnographers. From which modern

students of Igbo religion and epistemology ought to break away.

The above views account for different interpretatations of this concept especially from the

semantic angle which gave rise to two major definitions of it either as a personal divine guardian

spirit being or as an abbreviation for Igbo Supreme being Chukwu/Chiukwu. As an evident in

some Igbo names like Chukwubuike/chibuike, and chukwunonso/Chinonso.

Metu, I. E (1981:46) highlights the above categoztions when he opines that “Chi in my view is

one of those archaic root words which are found in some languages and which defy all

etymology.” Hence, he suggests that its interpretation should be sought among the traditional

Igbo “who have live their religion, whose language, culture and modes of thought and expression

are all permeated by it. These can best explain the terminology and meaning it implies.” The

complexity associated with the interpretation of this concept becomes more compelling on the

ontological level because a critical analysis of this phenomenon reveals that the concept of chi in

1
Igbo cosmo-ontological belief system is susceptible to three interrelated interpretations; Chi as in

Chineke the supreme Being who creates, Chi as Chi abola of chi efola (day break or as a form pg

greeting in the morning hours), chi as a personal guardian spirit/custodian of destiny or fortune.

Only the context determines which of the three is uppermost in the Igbo man’s mind when he

uses the word chi.

As such, Chi as in Chineke the supreme Being, who creates, usually spelt with capital letter “C”,

there are several hermeneutical exegesis of this phenomenon in Igbo religion by scholars.

Following it up to this extent, the Metu agrees with Chinua Achebe’s (1998;71) interpretation

because of its being in line with Igbo cosmology, when he avers that;

Chineke consist of three words; chi na eke. In assigning meaning to it the crucial word is na;

which itself has two possible meaning. Na means who or which. Chineke will then mean chi

which creates and it is said with a low tone, na can mean auxiliary verb does, in which case

Chineke will mean chi does create, and finally, said with a low tone, na can mean the conjunctive

and. Here, something fundamental changes because eke is no longer a verb but a noun. Chineke

then becomes chi and eke is the correct version.

Chineke which is being interpreted as chi who creates is nothing of the sort, but rather is an Igbo

traditional religious dual deity, chi and eke. Achebe notes that “the early missionaries by putting

the wrong tone on that little word na escorted a two-headed, pagan god into the holy of holies”

(Achebe 71). He futher substantiated this claim by saying that eke (or ala as sometimes realized

in some Igbo dialect) as having the same attribute as chi. For instance, the name chinweuba (chi

has increase) has another version Ekejiuba (eke holds increase) similarly, Nebechi (look to chi)

2
and Leweke (lemeke) look to eke, both appear to have exactly the same meaning except that eke

occurs instead of chi. He further explains that;

Chi and/eke are closely related deities, perhaps the same god in a twofold manifestation, such as

male and female; or the duality may have come into being for the purpose of bringing two

dialectical tributaries of Igbo into liturgical union.

The above assertion is plausibly based on Igbo cosmological principle of pairing as a way of

explaining reality. For instance Achebe further used the expression, ikwu na ibe that translates as

entire community of kinsmen and women; Ogbo na uke for militant and aggressive band of

spiritual adversaries; okwu na uka foe endless wrangling; nta na imo for odds and ends to bring

home his point. He therefore maintains that “if chi na eke should turn out to belong to this group

of phrases, the idea of using it to curs a man absolutely would then make los of sense. Thus, he

asserts that; “ if you want to curse a man in the most thorough fashion, you curse his chi and his

eke (or aka). That really takes care of him (Achebe 72). Arising from the above assertion Achebe

suggests that the attraction of early Christian missionanaries in Igbo land to translate chi na eke

as one word chineke “ must have been its seeming lack of ambiguity on the all-important

question of creation. They needed a “God who creates” and chineke stood ready at hand.

Meanwhile, the Igbo traditional thought in its own way and style did recognize chineke/chukwu

as the supreme creator, speculating only on the modalities, on how He accomplish the work and

through what agencies and intermediaries (Achebe, 72).

As earlier discussed, chineke appears to work through chi to create man and even consults or

work with man either in making the world or enhancing its habitability. The Igbo traditional

cosmology has it that the work of creation is not one fiat accomplice, but an onging process

3
where Chineke and man dialogue on critical issues and moments, sometimes agreeing and

sometimes not. Achebe (73) further attest that;

At crucial cosmological moments Chukwu will discuss His univers with man. The moments of

man’s first awareness of the implications of death were such a time. For as we have seen a man

may talk and bargain even with chi at the moment of his creation. And what was more, Chukwu

Himself in all His power and glory did not make the world by fiat. He held conversation with

mankind; he talked with those archetypal men of Nri and Adama and even enlisted their good

offices to make the earth firm and productive.

As a personal god, chi is believed to be responsible for the success or failure of a person in life.

According to Madu (1995: 33) describes it as a “ personal god-divine afflatus- the spirit that

animates human beings”. As such, Okere (1971:142) adds that “chi is really a personal god. It is

the Supreme God shared by each individual but more specifically in his aspect as giver and

authore of destiny”.

In Ekennia’s book (2003:27) he was more specific in his description of chi as a “unique life

force, which each person possesses. No two persons have the same chi, it is regarded as the Igbo

principle of individualization. And each person is unique and irreplaceable”.

According to Ojike (1955:183) similarly acknowledges that “ No one’s chi is like another

because no two persons are identical. A rich man’s chi is rich and a poor man’s chi is poor. A

man’s chi is masculine and woman’s chi is feminine. A man’s chi is equal to that man”. To that

note, Achebe (16) further stresses that “ chiukwu created humans in groups or sets but imbued

each with his spark chi. This is intended to continue the creative process until the individual dies

when his chi is recalled to Chiukwu.” Tus, for her creation in Igbo world is a continuos process

4
unlike the western perspective. Some scholars have even associated chi with the Christian

guardian angel. Hence, one is inclines to agree with Chukwukere’s (524) observation that “chi

represents the central unified theme that incorporates the different facets of Igbo social thought

and usages, especially those aspects concerning man’s relationship with the inscrutable realm of

supernatural “. Hence, Achebe (94-95) avers that:

Chi is an individual personal god which accounts for the fortune or the misfortune that one

experiences in life. Hence, the meaning of a person’s life is only realized as a collaborative

venture mu na chi m so between the person and his chi. People often make statements like I am

in agreement with my personal god or chi as a reference to the collaborative dimension in the

individual chi relationship. However, there are situations in a person’s life when it is believed

that one’s Chi may work against him.

Arinze F. (1978:88-89) collaborates the above assertion when he states that:

Most Ibos believe that each individual has a spirit, a genus or spiritual double, his chi, which is

given to him at conception by chukwu and which accompanies this individual from the cradle to

the grave. Chi is strictly personal. The ordinary Ibo man regards his chi as his guardian on whose

competence depends his personal prosperity.

For Ilogu, E (1974:146) “Chi is the divine particle in man by which he shares in the supreme

Being and the basis of which rests in man’s immortality and communion with the ancestors”.

Metu, I.E (68) also see it “as the immanent presence of God in man or man’s guardian angel in

life”.

5
Isichei, E (1976:25) assert that “Chi is a personalized providence which comes from chukwu and

reverts to him at a man’s death. Each man has his own Chi, who may be well or ill disposed”.

Achebe seems to be interested in its own divine origin when he adds that:

At creation, God entrusted each human being with a chi, a creative force, this creative force is

God’s representative and emissary on earth, which helps or work in very delicate collaboration

with each individual to fulfill those life’s possibilities and attributes which the individual

personally chooses.

To that extent, a critical aspect of chi revealed by the mentioned scholars above, despite the

overwhelming influence drawn from their Christian perspective especially as averred in Arinze,

Ilogu, Metu, Isichei and Achebe is the fact that they all affirm that there is a necessary

relationship between the individual, his/her chi and the choice of destiny/self actualization in

journey of life. Secondly, they also assert that the belief that chi is actively involved in the choice

of destiny package for oneself. The question still remain, who made the choice of destiny

package upon which the individual self actualization depends ? when we stand to look at

Achebe’s description of chi as a man’s “other identity in the spirit land, his spirit being

complementing his terrestrial human being” as being in line with Igbo cosmology theory of

complimentary dualism or what an Author OKafor call the “phenomenology of pairing”, which

is captured in Igbo expression that “ nothing exusts by itself, since wherever something exists,

something else exists beside it: as the Igbo adage will say “ Ife kwulu, Ife akwudebe ya”. Hence,

Ndi Igbo do not conceive of any unpaired manifestation of force or being in their world.

Therefore, the existence of chi as a counterpart of the individual in the spirit world is in line with

Igbo cosmology.

6
Central to this belief is the choice of destiny, which some scholars intrepretated to mean that

theindividual did in collaboration with his/her chi before birth.

Uke (2007:224) states that “Chi creates an individual and assigns him a personal spirit or chi.

This chi helps the individual in choosing the contents of his destiny package”. Following the

different assertions made by Igbo scholars, chi connotes Eke, which though are different concept

are essentially connected to each other as in Chi-na-eke as earlier explained by Achebe.

Thus Metu (50) succinctly adds that it is the “creative emanation of God, although Eke is

intimately connected with creative action, he does not create. Igb o belief has it that when Chkwu

creates, Chi chooses the destiny of the creature, and Eke let him out into the world”.

Metu (50) in an earlier work, he argues that:

Eke maintains the unbroken ontological bond between a person, his family. Linage, clan and

tribe. A son’s life is the prolongation of the life of his father, his grandfather, his ancestors and

the life of whole lineage. As its numerical strength increases, so does its life force becomes

stronger. Hence, the greater tragedy that can befall a man and his lineage is for him to die

childless. (Metu, 114)

There are some other scholars like Ezekwugo C.U.M (1987:101) opine that “no doubt, chi and

Eke are universal notions as far as Igbo land is concerned”. He explains that chi with the big

letter “C” Chiukwu or Chukwu is the supreme God in traditional Igbo religion, while the chi

starting with small letter represents the personal guardian spirit being”. He argues that both are

the same and different things simultaneously, and cites some Igbo sayings and expressions in

which they are portrayed as different entities, suggesting that chi is a person’s life-spirit received

7
from Chi (Supreme Being) while Eke is his patron-spirit (which can be either one of the

ancestors or even a deity). Uke C.O (224) further explains the sequence thus:

CHI creates an individual and assigns him a personal spirit or chi. This chi helps the individual in

choosing the contents of his destiny package and it is Eke who finally lets him into the world.

During his life on earth, chi and eke accompany, guard and guide him. At death, chi brings him

back to chi. The main point is that chi is the chi personalized for the sake of cultic convenience,

and Eke is an attempt to maintain the ancestral connection and origins of the life of the

individual. Eke is thus the patron, or something like a foster father, who, inter alia maintains the

essential ancestral link between its ward and forebears.

Another aspect of chi as personal guardian spirit which will help to understand its importance in

an individual’s life has to do with institutionalization in an adult home. Every adult married man

and woman is expected to install a shrine for his or her own for a man and as soon as she get

married and have her own home for the woman. their shrines adjacent to each other’s. (Okafor,

21)

The above point can be further buttress by the processes and items involved in its installation for

married woman in her husband’s house. This usually involves going to fetch the okuchi earthen

dish from her own mother’s established chi cult called inyi, irota, irolu or ikute chi (depending

on the dialect) containing chi bundle which symbolize the readiness of the person to feed the chi

with necessary sacrifices. (Ezekwugo, 1987:213)

The affairmentioned items are placed or buried within the tripod of planted ogirisi, ora and ogbu

tress to implant and institutionalize the chi cult in a married woman’s household from where the

alom-chiworship and annual sacrifice is offered. Ezekwugo (214) further explains that:

8
Alom-chi is a feast in honour of chi. Gratitude and appreciation for received favours disposes the

giver to continue his act of benefaction. The Igb o realizes that the giver of life and all good

things should be given thanks and that this disposes him to do yet more. For this purpose a day is

set apart in the year for a common worship of chi.

Thus, Ukeh (2007:224) opines that: “it is the chi, who brings a person all his good from the

supreme Being, CHI. He is the patron who wards off all evils from his god child, guides and

protects him at all moments of the day.”

In a simple summary, scholars on the chi phenomenon agree on its existence and relation with

each individual in the Igbo world. Consequently each person sees his/her chi as a personal being,

with which he/she could and should maintain an inter-personal relationship. What is our

contention here is the extent to which this phenomenon can influence individual identity and self

actualization in the Igbo world.

9
 CHAPTER THREE

IGBO ONTOLOGY

The previous chapter reviewed related literature to this work which serves as foundation to the

ideas of the researcher. This chapter therefore seeks to expose the cultural heritage of the Igbo

people of Nigeria to truly understand their stance in most of the cultural practices especially as it

partakes to the role of chi in self-actualization in Igbo land. Igbo societies are very sensitive on

what is responsible to man’s life in achieving his/her destiny, as such, many others are what this

chapter tries to expatiate.

3.0 THE ORIGIN OF THE IGBOS (NDIGBO)

Ndigbo are found in the tropical rainforests of southeastern Nigeria. They congregate majorly at

the central region of southeastern Nigeria. However, Ndigbo are found in the southernmost part

of Nigeria in Rivers State and Cross River State. They are also found west of the Niger in Delta

State. To the north, Igbo communities appear in Benue State and Kogi State,all in Nigeria.

Beyond Nigeria, Ndigbo are found in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Jamaica and Barbados

(Mwakikagile, 26).Although there are recent unsubstantiated tales linking Igbo’s to Hebrews,

Ndigbo are clearly an autochthonous people (Onochie, 205). There is no evidence of migration

from anywhere in Igbo oral tradition. The Igbo tradition of origin points to 'Eri' as the progenitor

of the Igbo race. However, the tradition holds that 'Eri' descended from the sky. This is another

way of saying that 'Eri' had no immigration history. The Hebrew account of Igbo origin, which is

relatively of recent origin was recently debunked with DNA tests conducted by Israel (Ameh,

217). Ndigbo, on the contrary have DNA similarities with people of the Niger-Congo area

(Veeranah et al, 210).

10
Although there are many dialects of the Igbo language, the central Igbo is understood by all Igbo

speaking communities. The variations in the language clearly indicate that Ndigbo were not of a

single origin. There must have been immigrations and contacts with other peoples which clearly

shaped the Igbo language. However, scholars are of the view that the Igbo culture is dominant,

hence it continued to be the defining culture even in Igbo communities where there are clear

historical evidences of mixture with non-Igbo people. This is largely the case among Western

Igbos. Despite the Edoid influences, the culture is distinctly Igbo (Kalu, 17).

Ndigbo are a fiercely republican people. They had a traditional religious system which was

neither doctrinaire in form, political nor with any formal leadership. Although the priestly people

of Nri were revered across Igboland, they had no formal control over the Igbo religion. They

were especially sought after to perform certain earth cleansing sacrifices. It appears that even the

gods were affected by the republican nature of Ndigbo. Ndigbo traditionally do not recognize

any supreme god. The concept of "Chukwu", the Supreme Being is a missionary creation.

Ndigbo are a traditionally polytheistic people. A very important factor in their religious attitude

is that they did not live for the gods. The gods lived for them. Their relationship with the gods

was basically a materialistic functionalism. Hence, when a god failed a community, the

community simply did away with it (Achebe, 58).

Like most West African peoples, Ndigbo experienced the transatlantic slave trade. It was a

traumatic experience for the slaves as Igbo concept of a slave differed radically from the Western

concept of a slave. Among Ndigbo, a slave was not required to do more work than other people

in the community. A slave could own a slave of his own, and people were rarely slaves for life

(Olaudah, 37). What was obtained in the American plantations was brutal servitude.

11
Consequently, there was a very high rate of suicides among Igbo slaves as they often chose

suicide as a way to escape slavery (Rucker, 206).

The experience of colonialism like happened among many African peoples led to loss of identity

of the Igbo as a distinct nation. Ndigbo became subsumed in Nigeria. The colonial experience

led to abrupt disruption in the Igbo traditional way of life. The introduction of Christianity and

the warrant chief system were among the major cultural upheavals suffered by Ndigbo.

3.1 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF THE IGBOS

Classical social anthropologists like Meek (1937), Green (1947), Forde and Jones (1950),

Uchendu (1965), Isichei (1976) among several others in giving historical accounts of the ancient

Igbo society have described it as a cephalous, segmentary or stateless. This classification is based

on the fact that the pre-colonial Igbo society consisted of autonomous villages and village groups

ruled via diffused authority without any sort of formalized, permanent or hereditary leadership

systems. The Igbo’s can be said to be republican by nature. They maintained a decentralized and

a cephalous society. Igbo society was democratic and egalitarian to some significant extent.

Uchendu (1965), summed up the traditional Igbo leadership system as an exercise in direct

democracy on the village level with a representative assembly on the level of the village group

(Uchendu, 41). Aside from the representative assembly, some Igbo communities, especially

trading cities along the Niger like Onitsha and Oguta, according to Nzimiro (1972) and the Nri

ancient kingdom had elaborated chieftaincy institutions in pre-colonial times (Afikpo, 31 - 68).

In all, the Igbo political system, comprises of established ranks and positions of honour. Political

organization is also markedly different. Thus there are "Ezes/Igwes/Obis" as well as other

12
honorary. Ascendance to the top is open and free for any individual irrespective of age or family

background.

The Igbo’s occupies the former Eastern Region (now South-East geo-political zone) and a part of

the former Mid-Western region. The Igbo’s, unlike the Yoruba and the Hausa - Fulani, had a

complex and complicated system of administration in pre-colonial era. Igbo society is reputed to

have had a more decentralized political structure than any other major group (Coleman, 28).

There is equally strong evidence of a cultural emphasis upon individual achievement affecting

rank status (Coleman, 30). The basic social unit among the Igbo has been a single extended

family or kindred composed of several such families and the largest political unit has normally

been the village group. The Igbo, generally had no kings or chiefs. They operated a democratic

system of government.

The executive, legislative and judicial powers were vested in the 'Oha-na-eze', the council of

elders; the family; the Age-Grades and the Umuada. In fact, Onuoha and Omenma (2007)

observed that there are basically four levels in Igbo Political System. These include the family

(under the headship of the father and comprises of nuclear members of the family which is

usually large depending on the number of wives a man married); the Kindred (a smaller social

unit made up of the head of the nuclear family – the Father or the Okpara); the Village

(comprises of kindreds and cluster of kindreds and headed by the Okpara of the most senior

kindred by order of birth): and, the Town (the highest political unit among the Igbo and is made

up of villages which are collections of kindreds with attachment to the land as a common bond).

With regards to the sub-cultural area of Igboland to which reference is being made, there were

lineage headships, influential age groups, and powerful titled and secret societies. There were

13
also individuals carrying the title Eze or Obi, indicating a special degree of influence and power,

though not independent of the person and, especially, the wealth it could mobilize. The majority

of such leadership positions were held by men.

However, there were also female assemblies and individual leaders, and female titles in some

places, in what has been described by Okonjo (1976) as a "dual-sex political system" with

gendered complementary structures. Some of the leadership positions were restricted to elders,

often of certain lineages only; others were based on individually achieved status and purchasing

power, especially the ozo-titles.

3.2 THE IGBO'S TRADITIONAL RELIGION

Religion is generally regarded as a great value for the Africans. For the Igbo in particular, the

phenomenon of religion is specially and culturally celebrated as sources social integration and

life. In fact, Igbo world view implies two basic (religious) beliefs: the unity of all things and, the

ordered relationship among all beings in the universe (Nwala, 54). Possessing a religious vision

of life therefore influences an aspiration for the existence of order, mutual coexistence and

interaction in the community.

In a bid to protect this cherished value of religion as well as the cosmic and social order of

reality, a number of prohibitions, taboos, and sanctions are created. Consequent on these

“values,” religion is hardly a value that is elusive for Igbo adherents. In fact, it is a concrete and

existential reality in their lives. Here, religious values tend to express themselves in the

transformation of their lives and existence.

From the foregoing insights, there is no doubt that religion remains an indispensable value in the

life of the Igbo, even in this contemporary jet age. Religion has been stereotyped in Igbo land as

14
a special value that represents an important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by the members

of the culture as a whole.

The Igbo religious code of conduct constitutes "Ome-na-ala" that prevails in the community. It

normally determines the various types of behavior approved of by the community as contributing

towards harmony. In the same way, it proscribes those actions and behaviors which are believed

to be opposed to the well-being of the community and consequently, contrary to the wishes of

the ancestors (Ogu, 45).

Igbo beliefs in 'Chi/Chukwu' (Great Creator), 'Chi' (personal spirit), 'Ala' (Earth goddess),

'Ndebunze' (spirits of ancestors), etc. are the ways in which the lgbo people culturally interpret

and organize their experience, and create meaning, value and order in their world (Ogu, 65).

The Igbo traditional religion is known as Odinani (Isichei, 512). The supreme deity is called

Chukwu (great spirit); Chukwu created the world and everything in it and is associated with all

things on Earth. They believe the Cosmos is divided into four complex parts: creation, known as

Okike; supernatural forces or deities called Alusi; Mmuo, which are spirits; and Uwa, the world

(Onwuejeogwu, 179).

Chukwu is the supreme deity in Odinani as he is the creator, and the Igbo people believe that all

things come from him and that everything on earth, heaven and the rest of the spiritual world is

under his control (Elechi, 32). Linguistic studies of the Igbo language suggest that the name

'Chukwu' is a compound of the Igbo words 'Chi' (spiritual being) and 'Ukwu' (great in size)

(Sucher, 63).

Each individual is born with a spiritual guide/guardian angel or guardian principle, "Chi", unique

to each individual and the individual's fate and destiny is determined by their 'Chi'. Thus the

15
Igbo’s say that the siblings may come of the same mother but no two people have the same 'Chi'

and thus different destinies for all. 'Alusi', alternatively known as 'Arusi or Arushi' (depending on

dialect), are minor deities that are worshiped and served in 'Odinani'. There are many different

'Alusi', each with its own purpose. When an individual deity is no longer needed, or becomes too

violent, it is discarded (Kirch, 71).

3.3 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF THE IGBOS

The Igbo language was used by John Goldsmith as an example to justify deviating from the

classical linear model of phonology as laid out in The Sound Pattern of English. It is written in

the Roman script as well as the Nsibidi formalized ideograms, which is used by the Ekpe society

and Okonko fraternity, but is no longer widely used. Nsibidi ideography existed among the Igbo

before the 16th century, but died out after it became popular among secret societies, which made

Nsibidi a secret form of communication (Oraka, 13 - 17).

Igbo language is difficult because of the huge number of dialects, its richness in prefixes and

suffixes and its heavy intonation. Igbo is a tonal language and there are hundreds of different

Igbo dialects and Igbo languages, such as the Ikwerre and Ekpeye languages (Fardon, 66).

In 1939, Dr. Ida C. Ward led a research expedition on Igbo dialects which could possibly be used

as a basis of a standard Igbo dialect, also known as Central Igbo. This dialect included that of the

Owerri and Umuahia groups, including the Ohuhu dialect. This proposed dialect was gradually

accepted by missionaries, writers, publishers, and Cambridge University (Oraka, 35).

In 1789, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano was published in London,

England, written by Olaudah Equiano, a former slave. The book featured 79 Igbo words (Oraka,

16
21). In the first and second chapter, the book illustrates various aspects of Igbo life based on

Olaudah Equiano's life in his hometown of Essaka (Olaudah, 9).

Although the book was one of the first books published to include Igbo material, Geschichte der

Mission der evangelischen Brüder auf den caraibischen Inseln St. Thomas, St. Croix und S. Jan

(German: History of the Evangelical Brothers' Mission in the Caribbean Islands St. Thomas, St.

Croix and St. John), published in 1777, written by the German missionary C. G. A. Oldendorp,

was the first book to publish any Igbo material (Oraka, 22).

3.4 VISUAL ARTS AND ARCHITECTURES OF THE IGBOS

There is such variety among Igbo groups that it is not possible to define a general Igbo art style.

Igbo art is known for various types of masquerade, masks and outfits symbolising people,

animals, or abstract conceptions. Bronze castings found in the town of Igbo Ukwu from the 9th

century, constitute the earliest sculptures discovered in Igboland. Here, the grave of a well-

established man of distinction and a ritual store, dating from the 9th century AD, contained both

chased copper objects and elaborate castings of leaded bronze. Along with these bronzes were

165,000 glass beads said to have originated in Egypt, Venice and India (Chuku, 43 - 44). Some

popular Igbo art styles include Uli designs. The majority of the Igbo carve and use masks,

although the function of masks vary from community to community.

Igbo art is noted for Mbari architecture. Mbari houses of the Owerri-Igbo are large opened-sided

square planned shelters. They house many life-sized, painted figures (sculpted in mud to appease

the 'Alusi' (deity) and 'Ala', the earth goddess, with other deities of thunder and water) (Oliver,

90). Other sculptures are of officials, craftsmen, foreigners (mainly Europeans), animals,

legendary creatures and ancestors.

17
Mbari houses take years to build in what is regarded as a sacred process. When new ones are

constructed, old ones are left to decay. Everyday houses were made of mud and thatched roofs

with bare earth floors with carved design doors. Some houses had elaborate designs both in the

interior and exterior. These designs could include Uli art designed by Igbo women (Obi, 157).

One of the unique structures of Igbo culture was the Nsude Pyramids, at the town of Nsude, in

Abaja, northern Igboland. Ten pyramidal structures were built of clay/mud. The first base section

was 60 ft. in circumference and 3 ft. in height. The next stack was 45 ft. in circumference.

Circular stacks continued, till it reached the top. The structures were temples for the god

Ala/Uto, who was believed to reside at the top. A stick was placed at the top to represent the

god's residence. The structures were laid in groups of five parallel to each other. Because it was

built of clay/mud like the Deffufa of Nubia, time has taken its toll requiring periodic

reconstruction (Basden, 109).

3.5 THE IGBOS AND PRINCIPLES OF MARRIAGE

The process of marrying usually involves asking the young woman's consent, introducing the

woman to the man's family and the same for the man to the woman's family, testing the bride's

character, checking the woman's family background, and paying the brides' wealth (Agbasiere,

114). Typically speaking, bride wealth is more symbolic. Nonetheless, kola nuts, wine, goats,

and chickens, among other things, are listed in the proposal, as well. Negotiating the bride wealth

can also take more than one day, giving both parties time for a ceremonial feast (Widjaja, 76).

Marriages were sometimes arranged from birth through negotiation of the two families (Ritzer,

248). However, after a series of interviews conducted in the 1990s with 250 Igbo women, it was

found that 94.4% of that sample population disapproved of arranged marriages (Okonjo, 339).

18
In the past, many Igbo men practiced polygamy. The polygamous family is made up of a man

and his wives and all their children. Men sometimes married multiple wives for economic

reasons so as to have more people in the family, including children, to help on farms (Uchendu,

114). Christian and civil marriages have changed the Igbo family since colonization. Igbo people

now tend to enter monogamous courtships and create nuclear families, mainly because of

Western influence (Ezeagbor, 34). Some Western marriage customs, such as weddings in a

church, take place either before or after the lgbo cultural traditional marriage (Yaw, 161).

3.6 THE IGBOS AND CULTURAL DRESSING STYLE

Traditionally, the attire of the Igbo generally consisted of little clothing, as the purpose of

clothing originally was simply to conceal private parts. Because of this purpose, children were

often nude from birth until the beginning of their adolescence - the time they were considered to

have something to hide (Chuku, 135). Uli body art was used to decorate both men and women in

the form of lines forming patterns and shapes on the body (Obika, 155).

Women traditionally carry their babies on their backs with a strip of clothing binding the two

with a knot at her chest, a practice used by many ethnic groups across Africa (Masquelier, 38-

45). This method has been modernized in the form of the child carrier. Maidens usually wore a

short wrapper with beads around their waist and other ornaments such as necklaces and beads.

Both men and women wore wrappers. Men would wear loin cloths that wrapped round their

waist and between their legs to be fastened at their back, the type of clothing appropriate for the

intense heat as well as jobs such as farming (Mbachu, 192).

As colonialism became more influential, the Igbo adapted their dress customs (Ukwu, 12).

Clothing worn before colonialism became "traditional" and worn on cultural occasions. Modern

19
Igbo traditional attire, for men, is generally made up of the Isiagu top, which resembles the

Dashiki worn by other African groups. Isiagu (or Ishi agu) is usually patterned with lions' heads

embroidered over the clothing and can be a plain colour (Isichei, 113). It is worn with trousers

and can be worn with either a ceremonial title holders hat or with the conventional striped men's

hat known as 'Okpu Agu' (McCall, 53) For women, a puffed sleeve blouse along with two

wrappers and a head tie are worn.

20