Political Organization in Nigeria Since the Late Stone Age: A History of the Igbo People

Political Organization in Nigeria since the Late Stone Age

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Political Organization in Nigeria since the Late Stone Age A History of the Igbo People

John N. Oriji

political organization in nigeria since the late stone age Copyright © John N. Oriji, 2011. All rights reserved. First published in 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States - a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the World, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN: 978–0–230–62193–0 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Integra Software Services First edition: January 2011 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America.

Contents

List of Illustrations and Tables

vii

Acknowledgments

ix

1 Introduction

1

2 Igboland Before and During the Iron Age: From Stateless Societies to Mini States

31

3 The Igbo and Their Neighbors Before the Fifteenth Century

61

4 The Igbo and the Benin, Igala, and Ijo Mega States During the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

87

5 The Aro Trade Network: Changes in Igbo Society During the Eighteenth-Nineteenth Centuries

107

6 Abolition of the Slave Trade and the Geneses of Legitimate Commerce, Christianity, and the New Imperialism

139

7 Developments in Igboland from the 1890s to the 1970s

161

8 Conclusion

183

Notes

187

Bibliography

225

Index

241

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List of Illustrations and Tables

Maps 1.1 Igboland drawn by the Graphic Communications Institute, Cal Poly State University 3.1 Peoples and languages of Southern Nigeria drawn by the Graphic Communications Institute, Cal Poly State University 4.1 Migrations of the Umuchima Clan from the Benin Empire drawn by the Graphic Communications Institute, Cal Poly State University 5.1 Towns and Villages Invaded by the Abam drawn by the Graphic Communications Institute, Cal Poly State University

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95

120

Images 2.1 Igbo Yams from Oguta area displayed for sale at Owerri yam market 2.2 The Earth-Goddess (Ala, Ani) at the Mbari Center, Owerri 5.1 Chukwu (Aro Oracle) at the Mbari Center, Owerri 5.2 Igwekala Oracle at the Mbari Center, Owerri 7.1 Warrant Chief at the Mbari Center, Owerri 7.2 District Officer “Nawadisi” (Initially called District Commissioner) at the Mbari Center, Owerri

39 46 113 122 169 172

Sketches 1.1 2.1 2.2 2.3

Isuama Migrations Locations of the Gods of a Village A Diagrammatic Representation of Igbo Cosmology Location of the Principal Deities of a Compound

6 43 45 48

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List of Illustrations and Tables

Tables 5.1 British Export of Arms and Ammunitions to West Africa 5.2 Methods of Enslavement of Koelle’s Informants by Percentage of known Instances

109 134

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank many institutions and individuals who, in various ways, contributed to the publication of this book. My archival, library, and oral research in Nigeria (2007/2008) was sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts, California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), through its Faculty Support Program. I also want to extend my appreciation to the Cal Poly Library, which readily supplied me through its interlibrary loan unit, the numerous materials I needed for my research, including books and journal and magazine articles. I received much assistance from the public library at Umuahia, Abia State of Nigeria; the Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka; and the Nigerian National Archives, Enugu. Similarly, B. Njoku, the Curator of Imo State Council of Arts and Culture, Owerri, conducted me around their Mbari clay figurines and allowed me to take photographs of the various gods, the District Officer, and the Warrant Chief, which are published in this book. Many Traditional Rulers (Ndi Eze/Igwe) showed great interest in my research, and some of them gave me copies of rare booklets and manuscripts dealing with the history and culture of their communities. I owe much gratitude to my colleagues in the United States who critiqued this work and offered invaluable advice, especially the archeologist Professor Terry Jones, Chair, Department of Social Sciences, Cal Poly, and to the anonymous readers who reviewed the preliminary copies of the manuscript for the publisher. I received immense technical assistance from Lyndee Sing, Director of Graphic Communications Institute, Cal Poly, who not only drew the maps, but produced CD copies of the maps and photographs for the publisher. George Levin, a graduate student in the History Department at Cal Poly, helped in designing the sketches and in typing part of the manuscript, while Brinn Stange, a graduate student in the English Department, assisted with the proofreading. My profound gratitude also goes to the professional team at Palgrave Macmillan, who worked assiduously either in the proofreading of my manuscript or its publication, particularly, Chris Chappell (Editor), Sarah Whalen (Assistant Editor), Afrin Kabir (Project Manager) and Erin Ivy

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Acknowledgments

(Production Manager). This book is dedicated to my wife and family members who gave me unparalled support while I toiled at odd hours to meet the deadlines of the publishers. It would have been impossible for me to write a book of this nature, which seeks to define Igbo history since the prehistoric period, without relying on the existing works of historians, anthropologists, archeologists, and many other specialists. Their contributions have been acknowledged in the endnotes and the bibliography. The book is somewhat shorter than my original manuscript, and even though some of the sources I consulted are not included here, it contains the major thrusts of my arguments. The condensed version needs to be seen as a necessary compromise I had to make to publish this work, which hopefully would help in advancing the frontiers of knowledge in African history during the twenty-first century, when rapid technological and social changes are attempting to erode the historical and cultural identities of humankind. As a pioneer work, the book is meant to be controversial, and I will be satisfied if it achieves this goal and opens up new areas of scholarship in African historiography.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

A

lthough the Igbo constitute one of the three largest ethnic nationalities of Nigeria, little is known about their political history prior to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The existing works deal primarily with the modern period, for which documents exist. Many of them, especially those authored by synchronists, are limited in historical depth. Hence, they create the misleading impression that the Igbo have lived in a stateless and static society throughout their history. Many Igbo people, including the educated elite, have uncritically accepted the views of the synchronic school in spite of their obvious limitations. The views have also gained greater credence due to the rapid pace of changes in Igbo society in modern times, leading to the erosion of its ancient politico-religious institutions and cosmologies. These facts have contributed to shaping the ideas and values of a new generation of Igbo people, who believe that the “Igbo world” was void in the past, lacking sacred authority holders and traditional institutions of governance. Their distorted perceptions of the Igbo world, disregard for experience, and mindless quest for power and wealth have contributed to the leadership crises the Igbo are facing in modern Nigerian politics. In spite of the mind-sets of many people, memories of the rich Igbo cultural heritage continue to linger in the minds of the few surviving elders versed in the Igbo past. When the elders are gone, we may lose their knowledge of the human experience as well as the abundance of wisdom—spanning many millennia—they have accumulated. The preservation of Igbo history for posterity is certainly one of the most significant challenges Igbo specialists and other Africanist scholars are facing at the present time. This book is then a pioneer effort that hopes to reinforce the quest for new perspectives in Igbo historiography. It seeks to understand the changes Igbo history and political systems have undergone since the prehistoric period.

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Political Organization in Nigeria since the Late Stone Age

The book is not only important to the Igbo and their neighbors, but also to researchers, who might find its methodology fruitful in studying the so-called stateless societies and thereby enrich our knowledge of African history. The book is organized chronologically around interconnected themes that address major issues related to Igbo history and African historiography. Chapter 1 examines the geographical background of the Igbo, their economy and culture, and moves on to discuss the various methodologies adopted in studying their history and political systems. Chapter 2 analyzes the types of political systems the Igbo developed as they shifted from foraging to agriculture. Particular attention is paid to the techno-cultural complexity Igbo mini states (villages and village-groups) acquired during the African Iron Age, culminating in the emergence of the Igbo-Ukwu mega state (ninth-tenth centuries a.d.). Chapter 3 embarks on a comparative study of the history and political systems of Igbo-Ukwu and Igbo mini states on the one hand, and other states of the forest region of Nigeria on the other, to explain their similarities and areas of divergence before the genesis of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Chapter 4 analyzes the dynamics of Igbo history and political systems during the slave trade and the emergence of militaristic mega states in the Yoruba-Edo (Bini) and Igala areas (fifteenth-eighteenth centuries). It also compares Igbo history and political systems with those of their neighbors, especially the Efik-Ibibio and the Eastern Ijo city-states. Chapter 5 discusses the rise of the Aro trade network and the diverse ways it affected Igbo history and political systems between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In addition, the chapter examines how the Aro trade network contributed to the emergence of kings and kingmakers of Igbo ancestry in some of the eastern delta states. Chapter 6 deals with the changes Igbo history and political systems underwent during legitimate commerce (nineteenth century), while Chapter 7 examines similar themes from the Aro Expedition (1901–1902) to the 1980s. Chapter 8 concludes the book, using the Igbo example to contribute to the debate on the theories of state formation and the classification of African political systems. Geographical Setting, Economy, and Society The homeland of the Igbo, who number over 35 million, lies in southeastern Nigeria. It is located between latitude 5–7 degrees north and longitude 6–8 degrees east, and occupies a total landmass of about 15,800 square miles.1 The area is part of the larger tropical rain forest region of southern Nigeria, extending about 200 kilometers from the coastal region to Idah in the north (map 1.1).2 In the past it was one of the richest and most diverse habitats

Introduction

Map 1.1

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3

Igboland drawn by the Graphic Communications Institute, Cal Poly State University

in human history. There were a variety of indigenous species of wild and domesticated yams (ji), cocoyams (ede), and three-leaved yams (onu). Its fauna included cows (ehi Igbo), goats (eghu Igbo), chickens (okuko), elephants (enyi), leopards (agu), and monkeys (enwe). There were also various

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species of fish (azu), reptiles, and insects. Birds ranged from eagles (ugo) to kites (egbe) and parrots (iche), while indigenous trees, which later became major cash crops, included the oil palm tree (Elaeis guineesis), raphia palm (Raphia vinifera), and hardwoods such as iroko (oji) and mahogany, used either in building houses or as sources of firewood. Also important were the different species of plants, vegetables, and fruits that either served as dietary supplements or were used by native doctors (Dibia) in preparing herbs for preventing and curing diseases. The major minerals included the iron ores of the Nsukka-Udi-Awgu escarpment and the salt mines of Uburu and Okposi. The location of the Igbo in the rain forest zone affects the rhythms of their economic and social activities during their two distinct seasons: the rainy season (April-October) and the dry season (November-April). During the rainy season, ushered in by the maritime southwest winds, the Igbo are engaged in tending their yams and other root crops and in weeding their farms. They celebrate the new yam festival honoring their ancestors (Ndiche/Ndichei) and the god of yams (Njoku, Ahajioku) during the first harvesting of some species of their yams (ikeji), between July and August. A more elaborate thanksgiving ceremony of the earth-goddess (Ala/Ana, the goddess of land, fertility, and agriculture) takes place after the final harvesting of yams (igwu ji), between September and October. The ceremony, in the past, involved an entire community, and various age groups assembled in the cultural center of their villages with their dance troupes. The festival reached its peak when the audience welcomed to the arena, with resounding ovation, a masquerade representing the earth-goddess.3 The dry season is marked by a short spell of the dusty and windy weather, the harmattan (uguru), which helps in “clearing the bush” in December, reminding the Igbo that the farming season is about to begin. The bushes are cleared in January, and the grass is burnt not only to kill harmful insects but also to increase the fertility of the soil; the planting of crops commences when the rain sets in between February and March. The tropical environment of Igboland has, however, changed over time due to its varying physical features, levels of rainfall, and human activity. For example, the northern section, which is more elevated (Enugu/Elugu) than the southern part, is susceptible to soil erosions, gullies, and landslides. In addition, although the average monthly rainfall of Igboland during the rainy season is about 70 inches, rainfall is heavier in the southern portion near the coast than in the north. Similarly, while the annual average temperature is about 80◦ F, it gets increasingly hotter northward, particularly during the dry season. These variations, as will be discussed, shaped the economy, settlement patterns, and cultural history of Igboland before the colonial period.

Introduction

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5

Cultural History: Igbo Origins The study of Igbo origins has gained greater momentum since the Nigerian civil war (1967–1970), when the quest for Igbo identity began to occupy a more central space in academic discourse.4 Some researchers have explored the etymology of the nomenclature “Igbo” to offer clues to their origins and common cultural identity. M.D. Jeffreys, for example, argues that “Igbo” means “forest dwellers” or the indigenous inhabitants of the forest region, whereas C. Ifemesia postulates that it is associated with the ancients (Ndi-gbo) who lived in the forest region.5 In his own contribution, M. Onwuejeogwu maintains that the concept “ Igbo” simply means “a community of people” who shared common values and ideas.6 But instead of attempting to define the concept “Igbo,” other researchers have provided different perspectives on Igbo origins. A.E. Afigbo, for example, hypothesized that the pristine homeland of the Igbo was the Niger-Benue confluence area, where the kwa-speakers of the Niger-Congo phyla, associated with the Nok Complex (500 b.c.–200 a.d., the first iron-using culture of West Africa), expanded to the territories they presently occupy. Current archeological research, however, suggests that the early occupants of the Igbo area were foragers who had shifted to agriculture before the Nok Complex, using iron tools to cultivate yams and other staples (Chapter 2). V. Uchendu, E. Isichei, and others have turned their attention to Igboland, to differentiate between the primary core areas of its heartland, where the various groups lived before their migrations to the frontiers including the Nri-Awka zone, the Isuama Orlu, and the Owerri-Okigwe axes.7 Oral traditions, however, indicate that the Isuama trace their origins to a common mythical ancestor called “Igbo,” who lived at Amaigbo (lit. the abode of Igbo) in Orlu area. A.E. Afigbo, an advocate of the Nri monolithic school of Igbo cultural roots, has recently affirmed the view that Amaigbo was a major center of ancient Igbo settlement and migrations.8 The Amaigbo traditions are popular among many Igbo groups, including the Isuama-Owerri, the Eastern Isuama groups of Ahiara-Obowo, Ohuhu-Ngwa, and IkwerreEtche axis (sketch 1.1). In addition, traditions of the Eastern Isuama of Umuahia-Ibeku claim that their progenitor was one of the sons of “Igbo” who migrated from the Orlu axis. Hence, as C.J. Pleass noted, Ibeku is highly respected among communities in the Umuahia complex that trace their legendary origins to the town, including Umuokpara, Uzuakoli, Isu-Item, and those located in the Ohaffia-Abam-Arochukwu axis.9 According to G.I. Jones, it was from the Ohaffia-Arochukwu ridge that an offshoot of the Eastern Isuama migrated to the eastern plains, forming the Northeastern Igbo.10 The Isuama also constitute the autochthones of the Okigwe axis, and D. Forde,

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Political Organization in Nigeria since the Late Stone Age Arochukwu

Isuama okigwe

Ohaffia edda abam

Isuma of western igboland

Isuitem Isuma nri awka

Amaigbo isuama orlu

Ahiara− Abaja− obowo ehime

Isuma nnewi Isuama owerri

Eastern isuama

Umuahia− lbeku Ohuhu ngwa

Abangwa & ukwa Axis Etcheikwerre

Sketch 1.1

Isuama Migrations

G.I. Jones, P.A. Talbot, and H. Mulhall have classified the Nri-Awka as part of the larger Isuama Orlu group.11 Nri traditions claim that Isu (Isuama) constitutes the senior ward of the Agbaja (Ana-Edo) clan in Nnewi area, while H. Henderson’s study shows that the Isuama of Awka-Orlu uplands and other clans were already living in Onitsha before immigrants from the Benin Empire settled in the town during the fifteenth-sixteenth centuries.12 Although the Isuama migrations in western Igboland have not been studied in detail, extant traditions of Ahaba (anglicized as Asaba) and Ibusa (Igbouzo) suggest that their progenitors were from the Isuama-Nri-Orlu area.13 Broad comparative studies of the various traditions indicate that the Isuama, who are the largest autochthonous settlers of Igboland, shared a common culture. According to traditions, the sacred authority holders and elders of some Isuama groups used to assemble annually at Amaigbo to worship their common earth-goddess (Ala Amaigbo) and renew their common cultural and religious ties. It is noteworthy that during the meetings of the now defunct Igbo State Union, elders from the Amaigbo-Orlu axis were given the privilege of blessing kolanuts before they were shared amongst the attendees.14 Admittedly, modern education and means of transportation and communication have helped in arousing a greater sense of common consciousness and identity among the Igbo. But there is little doubt that before colonialism, some Isuama and other groups associated themselves with their common Igbo name. Attesting to this fact, W. Baikie, who visited

Introduction

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7

parts of Igboland in 1854, noted that “the name Ibo or Igbo is familiarly employed amongst the natives as London among us.”15 Similarly, Olaudah Equiano, whose work was published in 1789, constantly called his people “Eboe” (Igbo), and there is no evidence that he learned their name from outsiders.16 The Isuama traditions, however, do not provide a clue to the origins of all Igbo people because the area they occupy at the present time has witnessed waves of population movements since ancient times. It is likely, for example, that the massive population movements stemming from the desiccation of the Sahara (2500 b.c.–2300 b.c.) led to the infiltration of some displaced peoples into Igboland and other parts of the forest region. More recent movements comprising a larger number of people, recorded in oral accounts, include those who fled and took refuge in Igboland during the expansion of the Yoruba, Benin, and Igala kingdoms between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries and during the Fulani Jihad in northern Nigeria (1804–1841).17 Archeological and linguistic studies show that humans had occupied Igboland before the Bantu began to migrate from there and other parts of southeastern Nigeria to occupy and populate most of sub-Saharan Africa between 500 b.c. and 200 a.d.18 It is also significant that the Igbo had attained an outstanding degree of cultural complexity between 500 b.c. and 1000 a.d. Hence, they are classified by archeologists as among the “Pioneer Iron Age cultivators of West Africa.”19 The antiquity of Igbo culture brings into the limelight the tradition associating its origins with the Hebrews/Jews or “the lost tribe of Israel.” The tradition has continued to gain popularity in modern times among publicists, romanticists, nonprofessional historians, and others who are generally concerned about the marginalization of the Igbo in Nigerian politics.20 Many of them have equated the Igbo experience with the sad chapters of Jewish history. Some go to great lengths to buttress their views by citing the Hebrewisms in Igbo culture found in the works of O. Equiano and J. Horton, and colonial officers and missionaries. It is, however, apparent that humans had settled in Igboland before the exodus of the Jews from Egypt around 2000 b.c. The Hebrewisms in Igbo culture, then, need further scholarly inquiry to determine their origins. They might have been independent developments, coincidental, or a result of diffusion, since the Igbo-Ukwu excavations suggest that the Igbo were probably linked by international trade with the Arab-Indian world between the ninth and tenth centuries a.d. As already noted, the autochthonous settlers of Igboland lived initially in their primary core areas, and as their population increased, they migrated in varying waves and at different historical periods to settle in other ecological zones.21 But the early inhabitants of the Igbo area did not live in isolation.

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Political Organization in Nigeria since the Late Stone Age

They received for many millennia new neighbors from other parts of Nigeria, who settled among them and contributed to the complexity and diversity of their culture. Diversity of Igbo Culture: The Igbo and Their Neighbors In addition to immigrants, the diversity of Igbo culture has been dictated by the location and ecology of the various Igbo groups. For example, some traits of Benin political structure are found among the Western Igbo and some Niger Igbo communities, although they also retained the basic elements of their indigenous political systems. Igala political influences are noticeable in the Nsukka area, while Nri ritual specialists helped in spreading the Ozo title society and “Ikenga” (the cult of the right hand and of success) to parts of northern Igboland. Similarly, the Aro and their trading partners propagated in many parts of southern Igboland, Efik-Ibibio politico-commercial institutions like the Ekpe/Okonko title association. Some Southern Igbo communities that traded with coastal middlemen were influenced by the culture of Bonny and other Ijo city-states. As A. Afigbo has aptly noted, the encounter between the Igbo and their neighbors was not a one-way traffic. It was characterized by mutual exchanges of people, goods, services, and ideas.22 Igbo influences were noticeable in Bonny, Kalabari, and other city-states even before the genesis of the TransAtlantic slave trade, and some of their leading kings and chiefs bore Igbo names and married Igbo women. It is also noteworthy that borderland Igbo people living near the Ibibio, whom they call “Nmogho,” are bilingual due to intermarriages, long-standing commercial contacts, and periodic skirmishes over territorial boundaries. For similar reasons, the borderland Ibibio also speak the Igbo language. The influence of the Aro oracle (Ibini Ukpabi) spread northwards to the Igala and Idoma areas, westwards to the IsokoUrhobo, and southwards to the coastal Ijo communities. The Kamanu oracle was consulted by the Kalabari and other coastal city-states, and its offshoot, the Igwekala oracle of Umunoha, had a similar impact among the Southern Igbo and their neighbors. The Agbala of Awka of northern Igboland was popularized by its itinerant diviners, who, at times, traveled outside the Igbo area. The Onoja Oboni oracle of Ogurugu in the Nsukka axis played a key role in the installation of the Attah/King of the Igala. Igbo influence in the kingdom is further evidenced by the fact that Omeppa, said to be of Igbo ancestry, was appointed the prime minister (Achadu) of the Igala, and head of their kingmakers (the Igala Mela).23 It is also noteworthy that the borderland Nsukka-Igala communities are bilingual, having intermingled with each other for many millennia.

Introduction

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9

Classifications of Igbo Culture and Politico-Social Organizations The complexity of Igbo culture has posed a major puzzle in classifying it either as a single culture (advocated by the melting pot theorists) or as subcultural groups (espoused by the salad bowl theorists). This puzzle is difficult to resolve. Although Igbo language is often used as a common cultural identity of its speakers, V. Uchendu has noted that Igbo language is characterized by different dialects that are mutually unintelligible between the polar communities due to the linguistic influence of their non-Igbo neighbors and “greater marginal isolation.”24 For this reason, an Nsukka native may find it difficult to understand the dialect of the Ikwerre. During the Igbo Women’s War of 1929, for example, a District Officer who had mastered the Onitsha dialect was unable to comprehend the dialect of communities in Bende Division when he was posted to that area.25 There are then many classifications of Igbo culture, each adopting different variables in distinguishing between the various cultural subgroups. The work of D. Forde and G.I. Jones, who pioneered the classifications in 1950, is important, especially in light of the insights they provide into the diverse cultures, economies, and politico-religious organizations of the five subgroups that featured in their typology. The first, the Northern Igbo/Onitsha Igbo, comprises Nri-Awka, Elugu/ Enugu, and Onitsha town. The Nri are reputed as ritual specialists who developed a mega state headed by hereditary sacred rulers, while the Awka are blacksmiths and traders and former agents of the Agbala oracle. The Ozo and Mmo (representing ancestral spirits) were involved in governance among both groups. The Elugu, consisting of communities that occupy the Nsukka-Awgu-Udi escarpment, are versed in blacksmithing, although they are primarily farmers. Their sociopolitical organization is headed by the Onyishi (priests of fertility), but the Ama title holders and Odo and Omoba ancestral spirits play important roles in the administration of their communities. As for Onitsha town, located near the banks of the Niger River, it developed a highly stratified society headed by a king (Obi), who ruled with his council of elders and Ofo holders (Ndiche Ume), and members of the Ozo, and Muo title societies.26 The Southern Igbo, consisting of the Isuama, Oratta-Ikwerre, OhuhuNgwa, and Isu Item, are the second subgroup. They are primarily farmers, and the Ezeji (chief/king of yams) title is said to have originated among them. The priests of the earth-goddess (Ezeala) served as their dominant authority holders in the past. Also involved in the administration of the communities were the council of elders (Amala) and the Okonko society. The Isuama-Orlu, who live in a densely populated area, have taken to trade,

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pottery, and other crafts, while the Oratta of Owerri, who continue to be farmers, are reputed for their Mbari houses featuring clay sculptures of the earth-goddess and other deities, animals, and contemporary events.27 Two famous oracles are located in the area: the Kamanu oracle of Ozuzu in the Ikwerre-Etche axis, and its offshoot, the Igwe-ka-Ala oracle of Umunoha near Owerri. As for the Ohuhu-Ngwa, they are associated with one of the largest population movements in Igbo history, leading to the settlement of the Ohuhu in Ezinihitte (Mbaise), Obowo, Mbano, and parts of southern Umuahia (Ohuhu, Ibeku, and other places). The central section of Umuahia is occupied by the Isu-Item, consisting of Alayi, Item, and Ozuitem, and among them, the Otusi (priest of fertility), Amala (village council), the Ekpe society, and age-grades served as major organs of government. The Ngwa settled in most of what was later called Aba province; some migrated further southward and infiltrated into many places, including the Ikwerre-Etche axis, founding towns like Diobu (Ndi Obia, called town of strangers/immigrants by the Ikwerre) and Bonny. The Ngwa and the Ukwa (Asa and Ndoki) were among the Igbo communities that engaged in relay/regional trade with Bonny and other coastal towns before the emergence of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.28 The Eastern/Cross River Igbo, the third subgroup, include the Ada (Edda), Abam, Ohaffia, and Aro and live in the fertile plains of the Cross River. They are, therefore, primarily farmers, although the Abiriba were noted for blacksmithing, while the Aro used their oracle (Chukwu) and local warriors generically called “Abam” and the Ekpe/Okonko society to dominate the slave trade and emerge as leading itinerant traders of Igboland. The Aro are patrilineal and they established a mega state headed by their priestly chief of fertility (Eze Aro), whereas the other groups are matrilineal, and their political system was based on the age-grade system.29 The fourth subgroup, the Northeastern Igbo of Afikpo-Abakaliki axis, consists of Afikpo town, Amaseri, Okpoha, Unwana, Akaeze, and Nkporo as well as the three Abakaliki communities of Ezza, Ikwo, and Izzi. S. Ottenberg examined the social organization and the double descent system of the Afikpo, which parallels those of their Cross River neighbors, while he and Jones discussed how the Ezza, Ikwo, and Izzi subdivided into smaller groups while expanding from their homeland to the Cross River and the southern Idoma area to occupy a total landmass of about 2,000 square miles.30 The Northeastern Igbo live in a fertile area of low population density, and they were and still are among the major yam cultivators of Igboland. They are called “Ogu Uku” due to the large and circular blades they use in farming. Their political organization was centered on the head of the fertility cult (Isi Ala), but the “horse title” is more widespread among them than the Ekpe/ Okonko society.31

Introduction

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11

The fifth subgroup, the Western Igbo, is subdivided into the Northern Ika, Southern Ika (Kwale), and the Riverain (Oru).They are primarily farmers and fishermen, although Aboh and the towns on the Niger were actively engaged in trade. Northern Ika communities bordering the Edo, such as Agbor, have been influenced by the Benin title system, and authority is vested in their leading chiefs (Obi, Diokpa) and the council of elders (Onuto, Olinze). As for the Southern Ika, political authority among them is exercised by the head of the senior lineage (Okpara Ukwu), the senior age-set (Ndi Okwa), and ancestral masked spirits (Ekeleke). The Riverain Igbo comprise heterogeneous communities like Ahoada, Ogba, and Egbema. The communities were administered by their traditional authority holders (Eze) and council of elders (Amala) and others, but those located on the Niger and its tributaries (such as the mega states of Aboh and Oguta) shared some traits of the Benin political system.32 The water goddess (mammy wata) associated with fertility, and prosperity in trade, is a major religious institution of the Niger Igbo and other Riverain peoples of Nigeria.33 Controversy Stemming from the Classifications of Igbo Political Systems Although the classifications of Forde and Jones continue to serve as a model for understanding the diversity of Igbo culture and political systems, they have aroused some controversy. A. Afigbo and M. Onwuejeogwu, for example, have used the classifications to arrive at different typologies based, respectively, on ecological zones and civilizations.34 The most recent debates over the classifications have been generated by V. Uchendu’s typology, which is based on the kinship principle: “the Ikwu Kinship Belt” and “the Umunna Kinship Belt.”35 Uchendu then used the two belts to arrive at three broad types of political organizations/systems that existed in Igboland: Type I. Double Descent Corporate Groups “Ikwu Kinship Belt”: The Age-set System The double descent groups, or the “Ikwu Kinship Belt,” are located in eastern/Cross River Igboland and comprise the Ada, Abam, and Ohaffia. Others include those studied by S. Ottenberg, such as the Akaeze, Amasiri, Okpoha, and Afikpo. Their kinship system enables an individual to inherit property from both the patrilineal and matrilineal descent groups. Political authority is exercised by a hierarchy of age-grades, although the Ada and Abam lack the ancestral Ofo symbol of authority found in most Igbo communities.36

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Type II. The Patrilineal Corporate Descent Groups “Umunna Kinship Belt”: The Western Igbo and Niger Igbo Unlike the Cross River Igbo, the Western Igbo and Niger Igbo are patrilineal, and therefore, belong to the Umunna Kinship Belt and also have different political systems. The political organization of the Western Igbo, for example, was headed by the Okpara Ukwu/Diokpa, while the Niger Igbo had a hereditary kingship system that incorporated autochthones, immigrants, titled men, and others in their elaborate political structure. It is, however, noteworthy that I. Nzimiro and K. Okonjo’s case studies show that in addition to the Obi (king), and others involved in governance, the leader and spokesperson of women known as the Omu or the Queen Mother, and Umuada (married, unmarried, and divorced daughters of a community) played significant roles in the political and social affairs of their communities.37 Type III. The Patrilineal Corporate Descent Groups “Umunna Kinship Belt” of Northwestern, Northeastern, Central, and Southern Igboland The other communities that belong to Type III, containing over 80 percent of the total Igbo population, constitute the major zone of the “Umunna Kinship Belt.” Their political organizations are mixed, ranging from the mega states of Nri and the Ozo titled society of northern Igboland to the mini states of southern Igboland where sacred authority holders (Ezela, priest of the earth-goddess), the council of elders (Amala), and Okonko featured in their political administration. The “Umunna Kinship Belt” will be the primary focus of this study, although data from the other belts will be used for comparative purposes.38 Critique of Typologies Bearing in mind that Igbo communities have experienced varying degrees of immigration in their history, the problem with the kinship belt taxonomy is obvious. A typical Igbo village, for example, comprised its original founders, who formed the senior lineage or ward, while those of later settlers were ranked in the order in which their ancestors had immigrated and settled in the locality. The “kinship belt” approach, then, ignores the ranking of lineages and the cultural complexity Igbo villages had attained before colonialism. In addition, since there was hardly an Igbo village whose entire population could biologically trace its ancestry to a common founder, kinship in the Igbo lexicon was and is still a flexible concept used as an idiom of political organization to incorporate different lineage groups into a common

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political territorial community such as the village or village-groups (mini states). Thus, when immigrants arrived in a village, the Ofo Ala (the community ofo of the senior ward) was used to ritually integrate them into the mini state, and thereafter, all members of the polity began to see themselves as “Umunna,” an exogamous group of “kinsmen.” But in places where the immigrants were not ritually integrated into the village, its members have continued to practice intermarriage till the present time. Similarly, among the Riverain and other communities that had a large number of slaves, people in the same compound or ward, who fictively call themselves “kinsmen and women,” intermarried with one another. More importantly, although typologies are a valuable analytic tool in the natural and social sciences in that they provide simple and comparative frameworks for understanding the human condition, their limitations are noteworthy. Typologies are conceptual maps reflecting the “mental images” and theoretical paradigms of researchers, and consequently, they do not fully capture the complexities and configurations of the human experience.39 In addition, typologies deal with the ethnographic present, or a synchronic analysis of a static human condition. Hence, they fail to account for the economic, technological, demographic, and other factors that have contributed to the dynamics of Igbo political systems since prehistory. To fully understand the problems created by the various typologies, let us examine in greater detail the sources and methodology of the synchronic school of thought that has dominated Igbo historiography for over 80 years, before discussing the diachronic approach that has informed this study. Sources and Methodology: The Synchronic Approach and its Critics Intense study of Igbo political systems began after the Igbo Women’s War of 1929. The Women’s War shook and astonished the colonial administration and compelled it to appoint a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the causes of “the disturbances.” District Officers were also instructed to compile intelligence reports dealing with the roots of the Women’s War and the sociopolitical organization of communities under their jurisdiction, while anthropologists like M. Green and M. Perham were commissioned to embark on case studies of Igbo women and other aspects of the culture of specific Igbo communities.40 Although the various works have helped in enriching Igbo historiography, they were primarily meant to provide useful information that would enable the colonial administration to fashion a better policy of indirect rule in southeastern Nigeria. Hence, much emphasis was placed on the study of

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modern Igbo political institutions to establish some extrapolations on their past history. Some District Officers, however, found it difficult to combine the writing of the reports with their daily administrative duties, especially due to the deadline given to them. Their reports are therefore wanting in scope and scholarship. Also important is the ethnocentric bias of the colonial writers, which M. Chamberlain has noted in her critique of the historiography of the era.41 The colonial writers presumed that the Igbo lived in a stateless society since they did not have mega states like the British Empire or similar political systems found in parts of northern and western Nigeria. R. Stevenson was one of the most outstanding critics of the application of the synchronic approach in studying Igbo political systems. On the basis of his comparative data derived from different parts of Africa, Stevenson maintained that traditional Igbo political systems had undergone rapid changes in the past, creating a cleavage in modern times between de jure (sacred authority holders) and de facto (modern chiefs) rulers of Igboland. As he put it: In a relatively stable and homogenous society, such an attempt (based on the synchronic approach), might bear meaningful results; but in a society where rapidly developing trade and commerce was, and had for a long time been creating wide differences in wealth, power and status, traditionally sanctioned authority and de facto power are likely in practice to be widely divergent . . . even apart from post colonial changes.42

Stevenson’s provocative analysis elicited some positive responses from certain researchers, who called for a reevaluation of the existing synchronic analysis of the traditional Igbo political system. S. Ottenberg, for example, noted that Stevenson’s work, in addition to my own researchers into the pre-European period at Afikpo . . . and the ability of the Igbo, demonstrated in the recent Nigerian crisis (1967–1970), if not in the earlier nationalist movement and the regional government, to develop considerable centralization of authority, raises the question of whether there has not been more direct authority in the traditional sphere than previously realized.43

G.I. Jones, a doyen of Igbo historical anthropology, offered another enlightening criticism of the synchronic approach and its underlying assumptions. In reviewing a major work edited by M. Fortes and E. EvansPritchard, entitled African Political Systems, Jones faulted the book’s typology, which divided African societies into two extreme categories—mega states (empires/kingdoms) and stateless systems of foragers and semisedentary

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peoples—leaving out the middle-level political systems or the mini states found in the Igbo area and other places. He then concluded: An Igbo village [village-group] possesses the requirements of a state in that it has some centralized administrative and judicial institutions, and cleavages of wealth and status corresponding to the distribution of power and status.44

Similarly, Susan McIntosh has examined what she described as “the static and ahistorical classificatory muddles” created by the existing works in African ethnography. In a seminal work edited by her, Beyond Chiefdoms: Pathways to Complexity, she noted that the existing works not only equate “complexity with the emergence of [kingship],”45 but ignore the structural complexity attained by the political systems of the Igbo and other African societies that belong to the intermediate- level/middle-range category of social formation. In his own contributions on traditional Igbo political system, P. Coutsoukis began with a witty poser in his write-up in The Library of Congress Country Studies, entitled “The Igbo: A Stateless Society?” He then went on to respond to his poser, disputing the view that the Igbo were a stateless people, especially in light of the Igbo-Ukwu archeological discoveries.46 Although the synchronic approach has attracted a barrage of criticisms, its controversial views have been perpetuated in recent times by three schools of thought with divergent orientations and perspectives of history. The first school is exemplified by R. Horton and D. Northrup, whose works were published in the 1970s.47 They were fascinated by the “unique case” of the Igbo in African history, idealizing their stateless and highly egalitarian society in which the individual assumed exclusive responsibility for his/her security, economic well-being, and psychic comfort. Unlike Northrup, Horton discussed his methodology in detail, and a brief review of his views is informative. He applied the “conflict and equilibrium model” in his study and came to the conclusion that when conflicts arose in an Igbo community, lineages simply allied against one another until equilibrium was restored, since the Igbo lacked a central organ of law arbitration.48 Jan Vansina’s criticism of the “conflict and equilibrium model” used in studying the so-called “segmentary societies” is relevant to the Igbo case. The model, as evidenced by Horton’s analysis, is deterministic in that it assumes that the Igbo had no history, and hence, they lived in a segmentary society that was “congruent with kinship, not with kingship, in sharp contrast to [their neighbors].”49 In addition, Horton’s mechanical analysis of conflict resolution among the Igbo ignores their ancient complex systems of jurisprudence. Thus, as will be discussed, there were acts of abominations associated with violations of the laws and taboos of gods and the ancestors that upset the ritual balance of the

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entire community. When such violations occurred (aru, alu), the offender was held liable and responsible for the crime. The Igbo then had institutionalized mechanisms for resolving conflicts that transcended lineage alliances. The second school of thought comprises scholars of Igbo ancestry, and their works can be divided into two categories. The first category of works was authored by nationalist historians who attempted to decolonize Nigerian history to justify the quest for self-government and independence. They maintained that the Igbo lived in a modern “republican” and “democratic society” similar to those found in the Western world. Some of the leading exponents of this school, like E.N. Njaka, went to great lengths in highlighting the normative and idealistic features of the traditional Igbo political system variously associated with “Ohacracy” and “Ofoism,” which placed emphasis on individualism, achievement, egalitarianism, and the participation of all adult males in governance.50 The second category of scholars has given a different twist to the synchronic analysis. Their views are similar to those of the “literate elite” of the colonial era, who, in their unrelenting effort to usurp the functions of the traditional authority holders of Igboland, informed colonial officers that the Igbo had no chiefs/kings, “Igbo enwe Eze.” Some of the modern scholars who see themselves as epitomizing every dimension of excellence in “an individualistic and stateless” Igbo society have helped in popularizing the slogan “Igbo enwe Eze” to justify the key positions they occupy not only in academia, but in the modern politico-bureaucratic structures of Nigeria. The concept “Eze” is as ancient as agrarian Igbo society, and in the traditional lexicon it is an honorific title of a king or chief of a community. Hence, the politicoreligious heads of mega states (kingdoms) and mini states (chiefdoms) bear the same honorific title. The tendency of synchronists to assign the title exclusively to the autocratic heads of the mega states has contributed to their misleading analysis of the structure of traditional Igbo society. It is noteworthy that Chieka Ifemesia, after examining the traditional organization of Igbo societies from a historical perspective, concluded that the concept of Eze (King/Chief ) is “so traditionally entrenched in Igbo culture [and] so deeply built into the Igbo language, that it [could not] have been of alien or more recent provenance.”51 Age and repetition have, however, helped in lending credence to the views of the synchronic school of thought, which have been perpetuated for nearly eight decades in books; journals; and the popular media, including newspapers and televisions, giving them the aura of a religious doctrine that no one dares challenge. Thus, when the anthropologist A. Onwuejeogwu boldly questioned the claims of the physicist C. Onwumechili, who delivered the Ahajoku lecture of 2000, “Igbo Enwe Eze” (the Igbo have no kings/chiefs),

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a split occurred among Igbo specialists and other members of the audience, leading to the formation of “The Front for the Defense of Igbo Heritage.”52 The schism produced fruitful results because A. Afigbo, who was by then the Chairman of the Ahajioku Lecture series, later offered a clearer analysis of the dynamics of Igbo political systems since colonialism, incorporating some of the views of the Onwuejeogwu school of thought. Afigbo, however, defended some of the postulations of Onwumechili, blaming the controversy his lecture aroused on his sojourn in the United States, which prevented him from realizing that “he was stepping into an academic and political minefield.”53 But Onwumechili’s sojourn in the United States probably had little or nothing to do with the basic underpinnings of his lecture. The truth is that Onwumechili is neither a historian nor a social scientist familiar with the historiography of Igbo political systems. He therefore fell into the same trap as earlier synchronists by comparing the Igbo example with the mega states of northern and western Nigeria, ignoring the fact that traditional Igbo society belonged to the mini state category of social formation. In addition, Onwumechili used the eminence he has attained in the scientific community to justify his view that the Igbo had no chiefs in the past. He then argued that there are Some parallels between scientific culture and the legacies of Igbo Enwe Eze. Scientific culture recognizes no kings and chiefs with divine knowledge. The tests of demonstrability and conformability are applied to the views of all scientists. The ancestry, country of origin, and position in society do not confer any privilege on the discoveries and views of a scientist. The long-standing researchers and great achievers in a field of science may be respected and may be invited to write or review progress in the field but there is no servility to their views. Thus like the Igbos, science has no king.54

The comparison of Igbo society with the scientific community ignores some fundamental aspects of its cultural history. Traditional Igbo society was not static. Instead, it has undergone many remarkable changes over time that contributed to the transformation of its institutions, ideas, and values, leaving us with a “modern Igbo culture” that is different from the traditional one. In addition, as an Igbo proverb claims, “mpisiri aka ahaghi nna” (lit. all fingers are not equal). Hence, as will be discussed in this book, traditional Igbo society was highly stratified, including a hierarchy of lineage groups (onumara); hereditary office holders of a lineage group, the Okpara; and villages and village-groups, or mini states, the Ezeala/Ezeana (priests of the earth-goddess); Ogaranya (a wealthy person) and Ogbenye (a poor person); Okonko, Ozo, Ezeji, and Eze-ede titles based on achievement; varying statuses ranging from Amadi/Nwadiala or indigenes, who had full rights of citizenship, to Ohu or slaves, who had limited rights; the Osu, cult slaves with more circumscribed

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rights; and the Ume, low-caste groups whose deplorable social conditions were similar to those of the untouchables of India. G. Balandier is, then, right when he argued that Political power organizes legitimate domination and subordination and creates its own hierarchy . . . There are no societies without political power and no power without hierarchies and unequal relations between individuals and social groups.55

Also important is the fact that Onwumechili’s scientific world ignores Igbo cosmology and its sacred spaces and centers of authority, and other aspects of Igbo traditional politico-religious institutions, which were similar to those of other pre-industrial societies. Thus, for example, sacred spaces in Africa, Asia, and other regions have helped historians and social scientists to better understand the holistic cosmology of traditional societies and the broad range of relationships that existed between sacred authority holders and the larger community for centuries.56 Pointing out the central role religion played in shaping the holistic cosmology of these societies, Balandier opined: Every society links its own order to an order beyond itself, and in the case of traditional societies to the cosmos. Power is sacrality because every society affirms its desire to be eternal and fears a return to chaos as the realization of its death.57

Similar views have been expressed by G.I. Jones, O. Kalu, and others versed in Igbo cosmology.58 It is also noteworthy that W. Horton concluded, after studying the Nike of northern Igboland, that Throughout most of Ibo-land, there is nothing resembling secular chieftainship, the institution through which political power was most readily accessible in the pre-colonial days [was] clearly those involving mediation with the supernatural.59

The obvious limitations of the synchronic approach have created the need for us to examine the diachronic approach and explain its contributions to the study of the dynamics of Igbo political systems. The Diachronic Approach: Sources and New Perspectives on Igbo Political Systems Many scholars have examined the diachronic approach and its contributions to scholarship, including R.W. Harms, who studied the history of the

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so-called stateless societies of the Mediterranean world.60 Also significant is the work of the archeologist B. Fagan, who is critical of “the ethnographic present.”61 He adopted the diachronic approach in studying African and other societies in different parts of the world, to explain the variations found in their cultures and sociopolitical organizations. Africanist scholarship has also made fruitful contributions to the diachronic approach as evidenced by recent works edited by J. Philip, Writing African History, and T. Falola and C. Jennings, Sources and Methods in African History.62 Of particular importance to this study are the archeological works of T. Shaw, D. Hartle, E.E. Okafor, and others that deal with Igbo prehistory,63 and A. Ogundiran’s comparative chronological analysis of Yoruba-Edo history (500 b.c.–1800 a.d.).64 As already noted, the names of Igbo specialists whose publications have helped in enriching this book have been acknowledged in the endnotes and bibliography. But some of them who delved into the Igbo past before and during colonialism deserve to be mentioned, including A.E. Afigbo, E. Isichei, G.I Jones, M. Onwuejeogwu, and R. Henderson.65 The diachronic approach adopted by some of the aforementioned Igbo specialists, and other scholars, is helpful in studying the dynamics of Igbo history and Igbo political systems. As an example, it will be hypothesized in this study that the changes in Igbo history and political systems are associated with parallel changes in the economy, technology, and population density and movements in Igboland. Changes stemming from any one of these variables affected the others. Thus, when the Igbo shifted from foraging to agriculture, their history and political systems, economy, and other variables also changed (Chapter 2). Similar changes took place during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, legitimate commerce, and colonialism (chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7). Further illustrations of how these variables have affected the various dimensions of change in Igbo society are enlightening. Time Dimension Time dimension is central to any major historical research. Without taking it into consideration, a researcher may create the misleading impression that the society he/she is studying has remained static throughout its history. Hence, in this book, the variables that helped in shaping Igbo history and political systems will be discussed in time perspective. Location: Internal and External Factors It is a myth to assume that there is a pure and static society that has not been influenced by its external environment. But the impact of external factors is

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dependent on the internal structures of the society and its location. Take, for example, Igbo communities located on the Niger and its tributaries such as Nri, Onitsha, Aboh, and others. They were engaged in international trade, which enabled them to acquire new ideas and technologies. The communities also experienced considerable population movements from the Igala area, the Benin Empire, and other places during certain periods of their history. It is, then, not surprising that their mini states were transformed into mega states, whereas the hinterland Igbo, who were relatively more isolated, continued to retain their mini state structures. The rise of the Aro trade network during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and its diverse impact in the hinterland were also dependent on the location of Igbo societies. As will be examined later, the Aro trade network changed the history and political systems of many Igbo societies, as well as their technologies of warfare, and precipitated unprecedented massive population movements remembered in their history (Chapter 5). Similarly, the location of Igbo societies is helpful in understanding the diverse ways colonial rule affected them. For example, Onitsha, which had considerable contact with foreign traders and European missionaries by the second half of the nineteenth century, adapted much better to the colonial situation than many other societies. Likewise, some hinterland trading partners of Opobo middlemen, including Akwete and Obegu, which the colonial administration regarded as “friendly towns,” were not invaded during the British military incursions into the Igbo area (1901–1902), whereas others, like Ihie and Umuocham near Aba, were razed. Other Sources: Research Interests and Publications on Igbo History In addition to the sources that deal with methodological issues, it is necessary for me to discuss my background, and experiences in research and scholarship for the past three decades, to show how they culminated in this study. I developed a keen interest in history during my childhood days. I used to hang around my father, Chief Erugo Oriji, who was a Customary Court Judge (1936–1966), after he had returned home from his official duties to arbitrate local disputes along with elders of my village (Eziama-Nvosi) and nearby areas in Isiala Ngwa. I was thrilled by their mastery of customary laws and traditions and with the emphasis they placed on historical precedence in adjudicating disputes. I was also highly impressed by their wisdom and the uncanny ability they displayed in arriving at a consensus after heated discussions. In announcing the consensus opinion of the elders, my father often said, “Ikpe mbu uvuru, ejighi aroya aro” (lit. justice is like a tender and fragile tree, you cannot bend it without breaking it). I also learned about the

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mysteries of history from the folklores my mother and older sisters and brothers narrated to us before we went to sleep at night. Some of the folklores dealt with powerful animals like elephants and lions, and others with the mysterious and foxy skills of the tortoise (mbe) that helped it outwit other animals. My high school teachers in history also had some lasting impact on me, especially in terms of their versatile knowledge of kings, philosophers, and other agents of history and the high sounding words they used in class, including some words of wisdom in Latin. I still remember some of the witty sayings in Latin, which I often cite to my kids not only to entertain them, but also to arouse their curiosity, “cum Deo omnia facilia sunt” (with God, everything is possible). My background and my fascination with history account for the burning desire I had to study history at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). During that period (1963–1967), there was an upsurge of nationalism and optimism in Nigeria and other newly independent African countries. I was, like other young people of my generation, highly impressed with the passionate efforts eminent scholars in the discipline were making to decolonize African history. The role of history in nation building was also popularized by Nnamdi Azikiwe (Zik), the preeminent Nigerian nationalist, who laid the foundation for the establishment of UNN when he was Premier of the Eastern Region of Nigeria (1954–1959). Zik, who served as the first Chancellor of UNN and also as the first President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1960–1966), mesmerized the audience with his unusual rhetorical skills and charming personality whenever he gave public lectures at the university. He defined the goals of UNN and fashioned its motto, which, according to him, was to produce young men and women who would “Restore the Dignity of Man.”66 The pioneer teachers of the History Department, however, realized that there was a scarcity of information on Igbo history. They therefore required all history majors to write final-year projects on the history of their communities using interviews and available documentary sources. My final-year project on Ngwa history, including the traditional narratives regarding the origins of the people, their settlement patterns, and their cultural/sacred centers, heightened my curiosity and made me want to do more research in African history. But the Nigerian civil war (1967–1970) prevented me from achieving my academic ambitions. My dreams were rekindled when I was employed in 1971 as a Research Fellow in the Institute of African Studies (IAS), UNN, and granted a sabbatical to attend graduate schools in the United States (1972–1977). The information I collected on Ngwa history at UNN helped me in writing research papers in history, anthropology, and the other courses I took in graduate schools at the Johns Hopkins University (1972–1974) and Rutgers

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University (1975–1977). It is, then, not surprising that when the time came for me to choose a topic for my doctoral dissertation, I happily reviewed my research papers and selected a topic entitled “History of Ngwa People: A Study of Social and Economic Developments in Igboland from the Precolonial Period to the Twentieth Century.” In keeping with the canons of historical inquiry, I was required to read diverse sources relevant to my thesis—books, journal articles, and archival materials, among others—before embarking on interviews. I carried out archival research at the Nigerian National Archives, Enugu, and interviews in Nigeria from December 1974 through March 1975. I ensured, during the interviews conducted in Igbo language, that I covered not only the Ngwa area but also the neighboring communities of Mbaise, Ohuhu, and Nsirimo in the Umuahia axis, as well as Asa, Ndoki, and Etche. The interviews were translated into English, collated, and used with the documentary sources in writing my doctoral thesis. As a young researcher burning with many ideas, I was looking for an academic forum to present some of my research findings. The opportunity came in June 1977 when I presented a paper in New York, “Central Places and Trade Networks in Ngwaland before Colonialism,” during the Social Science Research Council Conference in Urban Africa. I returned from the United States to UNN in September 1977 with unparalleled zeal to publish the research findings of my doctoral thesis. The Institute of African Studies (IAS) provided the academic environment conducive to actualizing my professional goals. I revised the conference paper I presented in New York, and it was published in a journal in 1980.67 The same year, I authored another article dealing with the traditional politico-religious structure of Ngwa society, which was also published in another journal.68 The journal article was so popular that the Director of IAS decided to reproduce it as a monograph. In addition, I revised and published other themes in my doctoral thesis in Oral History Review (1981) and in the Bulletin de I’Fan (1982) discussing, respectively, the complexity of the oral traditions of the Ngwa and their traditional sociopolitical organization.69 Also relevant to this study is my work on the economic history of the Ngwa, dealing with the slave and palm produce trades, published in the Canadian Journal of African Studies (1982).70 My close study of Ngwa history served as a great incentive for me to explore the larger history of Igbo people. Considering the example of the Ngwa and their neighbors, I became increasingly concerned with the existing synchronic studies and their analytic assumptions. Consequently, I was delighted when I received a grant from the IAS in 1984 to study the traditions of Igbo origins and to explore, among other themes, how the diverse precolonial population movements impacted their settlement

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patterns, sociopolitical organization, and economy. I adopted the same methodology I had used in the past in carrying out the research. Realizing that the Igbo cultural area is large and diverse, I selected some communities among the Southern, Northwestern, and Northern Igbo for my interviews, while the works of G.I. Jones, M. Onwuejeogwu, and others helped me to fill the missing gaps in the areas I was unable to visit, especially western and Riverain Igboland.71 My fieldwork coincided with the era when the quest for Igbo identity was still on the upswing. My interviewees, therefore, displayed unusual enthusiasm in recounting the origins of their villages and villagegroups, and their traditional ways of governance. E. Isichei arrived at a similar conclusion in her own study, noting that No historical question arouses more interest among the present day Igbos than the enquiry, “Where did the Igbo come from?” It is sometimes discussed in the press and often put to the author in conversation.72

The oral information provided by my interviewees varied in terms of its content and breadth. There are many members of the younger generation, especially those engaged in modern occupations, who know little about the oral history of their communities, thinking that history is not relevant to their material needs. Among them, however, are a few people who, along with some elders, serve as the “spokesmen and women” of their communities (Onu Nekwuru Oha). They are versed in rhetoric and storytelling, although their accounts are often created, idealistic images of their heroic ancestors. The richest accounts were provided by the sacred authority holders and other elders associated with the politico-religious institutions of their communities. I recorded the ritual ceremonies the authority holders performed during their new yam festivals (Ahiajoku), in which they recounted names of their ancestors and offered food and palm wine to each one of them. I also recorded similar ritual ceremonies performed by the priests of the earth-goddess, and the songs, dance, and other activities that featured during the communal worship of the goddess. The names of the ancestors recounted during such occasions were helpful in establishing a chronological history of lineage groups, villages, and village-groups, even though some of the names were lost to memory and others who died prematurely were deliberately omitted due to their short reigns. The latter were excluded from the list of the revered ancestors because it was believed that they had violated their taboos and were therefore killed by their Ofo (ancestral staff of office). I completed a monograph of my research on Igbo origins in 1985. But before then, I discussed aspects of the research dealing with the traditional sociopolitical organization of Igbo societies in a paper entitled “Evolution of Chieftaincy

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Institution in Igboland” that I presented during a conference sponsored by the Institute of African Studies, Ibadan University, in 1984. The proceedings of the conference were published in book form in 1985/86. In addition, my research led to the publication of two journal articles in 1986: “Political Authority in Igboland: An Overview” and “The Slave Trade, Warfare and Aro Expansion in the Igbo Hinterland.”73 I continued with my research and professional activities when I accepted a teaching position at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, in 1987, and used the opportunity to publish more works that laid the foundation for this study. These works include the first and revised editions of my doctoral thesis on Ngwa History and a monograph on The Traditions of Igbo Origins.74 In addition, some important themes of my research projects were published in journals and as chapters of books, including “Sacred Authority in Igbo Society,” “Igbo Women from 1929 to 1960,” and “Igboland, Slavery and the Drums of War and Heroism.”75 As already noted, my last research trips to Nigeria (2007/2008) were sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts, whose Faculty Support Program enabled me to continue my study of Igbo political history. My previous studies, and the voluminous archival, library, and other data I had accumulated on the subject, helped me in carrying out the project. I began, as usual, to use interlibrary loans and Web-based research to avail myself of the existing sources of Igbo history in the United States, and then prepared questionnaires, which I modified slightly after reading some archival sources at the Nigerian National Archives, Enugu, and some libraries in Nigeria. I also purchased some rare books from the UNN bookstore and obtained a copy of a publication dealing with the chieftaincy institution in Igboland from the Abia Ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs, Umuahia. As mentioned earlier, some traditional rulers (Eze/Igwe) in Abia, Imo, Anambra, and Enugu states gave me complimentary copies of booklets and manuscripts that discuss their local histories. My fieldwork experiences lasting from December 2007 to January 2008 and from August to September 2008 were, however, very different from my previous research trips in Igboland. Most of the sacred authority holders and elders of many communities had died, and in some places the institutions they represented were threatened with extinction. Hence, it was difficult for me to find anyone offering sacrifices either to their ancestors or to the earthgoddess and other deities. In fact, in some places, the sacred centers had been abandoned and their shrines had become surrounded by weeds. The situation has worsened due to the new waves of Christian evangelism and fanaticism that are spreading across Igboland, leading to the destruction of ancestral shrines, the cutting down of ancient trees that adorn the shrines, and other unimaginable iconoclastic activities. In some places, the fanatics accuse innocent elders of witchcraft and burn their ancient religious icons, such as Ofo

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and Ikenga, to cleanse their community of what they perceive as “evil forces.” For example, in a recent write-up, “Destroyer of Shrines in Obosi,” in the Nation, a Nigerian newspaper, an evangelist called Ononye defended his war against the traditionalists, arguing that “the cleansing exercise going on [in the town] is the perfect will of God, and I know that nobody can stop the work of God.”76 In another town in Anambra state, a reporter, in article entitled “The Slaughter of the Gods of Ezinihitte,” gave a chilling account of similar evangelical cleansings going on in the Amaekwulu community of Ezinifitte, Aguata Local Government area. In his own words: A group of Christians, mainly youths, were on the prowl one night about seven years ago. They were angry with the indigenous gods. The gods, they said, were responsible for their misfortunes and many evils in the town. Before dawn, the shrine of popular Ojukwu deity in the community was reduced to shambles . . . The destructions met no resistance. The shrine has been lying fallow as the last surviving priest had either died or joined Christianity. Not satisfied, a few years after [the youths] went on rampage again. This time, their grievances shifted to homes of major masquerades. In separate incidents, the houses that accommodated Agbaa-Asaa and Oke-Mmuo masquerades were reduced to ashes . . . [Some Christians who disagree with the youths] dare not protest . . . [because they would be labeled] as the perpetrators of the evil forces[that] have been ravaging the community.77

The reporter concluded by noting that some giant trees surrounding the Ojukwu shrine have been cut down and sold for economic reasons and other sacred forests might follow suit. Similar evangelical movements have been reported in places as far off as Ohaffia, Mbaise, and the Ngwa areas of Abia state. In Ngwaland, for example, the movement headed by one obscure and erratic young man, Utu, began in 2007, leading to widespread witchcraft accusations and mock-trials, and to the death of over 500 people, including innocent men and women who could not pay the huge sums of money demanded to purge them of “their devilish acts.” Many sacred shrines and their trees were destroyed in the wake of the Utu movement. The trees located outside the shrines were not spared either. They were seen as forces of evil, mowed down, and sold to timber dealers.78 The new wave of evangelism is more pernicious than the iconoclastic “Garrick Braide Movement (1914–1939),” which Nigerian nationalists assailed as a feature of colonialism and a manifestation of its intolerance of African religions. Ironically, this time, it is the Igbo who are destroying their own ancient heritage. It is noteworthy that the Igbo Scholars Association (USA) and Igbo specialists in the United States and Nigeria have condemned the excesses of the fanatics. A. Afigbo was probably speaking for many people when he stated that the destruction of the ancient and rich

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cultural heritage of the Igbo “signifies the death of essence.”79 In addition to religious fanaticism, there was increasing fear of insecurity in many places, including the universities, where cultism had become a bane of the academic community and the larger society. Stories of armed robberies, kidnappings, and other crimes featured in the local newspapers, reminding us of the gruesome murders of eminent Igbo scholars such as Professor Victor Uchendu, a renowned anthropologist; Chimere Ikoku, the former Vice-Chancellor of UNN; Jonnie Onyeka, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Jos; and many others. Igbo historiography can no longer afford the luxury of isolating itself from the contemporary problems of Igbo society. In spite of the foregoing problems I noticed during my fieldwork, my interviews were fruitful, and I collected the data that have helped in enriching the existing research I have done on Igbo political history. In addition, I have authored two journal articles embodying my fieldwork experiences: “The Ivory Tower and Its Descent to the Dark Ages: A Study of Cultism in Nigerian Universities” and “The End of Sacred Authority, and the Genesis of Amorality in Igbo Society.”80 Chronological Problems: Oral, Archival, and Library Sources As already noted, this study has benefited from existing sources and my own research and scholarship. The various sources were compared and contrasted to arrive at objective analyses of Igbo history. Objectivity, however, is a relative concept whether one is writing as an indigene of a society (an insider) or as a foreigner (an outsider) because our views are not grounded on the absolute and unchanging laws of gravity. Consequently, even though historians rely primarily on evidences in providing us with “many voices of the past,” they also carry some mental images that affect their understanding and interpretations of the human condition. The problems of objectivity are exemplified by the difficulties I encountered in using the various sources to establish a chronology of Igbo history. None of the primary and secondary sources featuring in this study can be used exclusively to establish a chronology of Igbo history since the Late Stone Age. Oral traditions, for example, are hardly valuable for dating events that occurred in the distant past, although they may provide clues for establishing a chronology of more recent events. Their limitations have been summarized by G.I. Jones, who divided the oral traditions of the peoples of southeastern Nigeria into three periods.81 The first one, known as the “early period,” is rich in oral accounts since it is associated with legends of the “heroic progenitors,” who are often used to legitimatize the existing political order. The second, or middle period, which J. Vansina calls “the floating gap,” is characterized

Introduction

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by a dearth of information due to the cyclical perception of history, memory loss, and the elision of names of lineage heads who, as already noted, were believed to have been stricken with death by their ancestors for their arbitrary rule and other acts of abomination. The third, or protohistoric period, is associated with the arrival of Europeans on the West coast of Africa since the 15th century. European records are valuable for studying the history of the Bight of Biafra and its Igbo hinterland. Linguistic sources as well as T. Shaw and A. Holl’s chronology of West African prehistory are helpful in resolving some of the problems created by oral traditions, since they provide the data for studying Igbo history before and during the Iron Age (500 b.c.–800 a.d.).82 Also significant are Donald Hartle’s contributions, based on his excavations of 15 archeological sites in Igboland.83 These sources are used to periodize Igbo history after comparing them with A. Ogundiran’s chronological analysis of the broad trends in the historiography of the Yoruba-Edo region.84 The Igbo case is further illuminated by comparing their history with those of other peoples of West Africa and the larger world to shed some light on the middle period, whose political and cultural accomplishments reached their peak with the efflorescence of the Igbo-Ukwu mega state during the ninth-tenth centuries a.d. Archeological sources and M. Onwuejeogwu’s chronological study of Nri history provide valuable guidelines for studying Igbo history prior to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.85 The chronology of Igbo history becomes increasingly easier to compute from 1700 to 1960 a.d., the period that has been most studied in Igbo historiography, covering diverse themes such as the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, legitimate commerce, and colonialism. Although all the aforementioned sources are helpful in periodizing Igbo history, our chronology and analytic assumptions are based on available evidence. They are, therefore, not absolute. It is hoped that historians, archeologists, and other researchers will fill the lacuna that exists in the chronology and offer their own interpretations that would advance our knowledge of the political history of the Igbo. A more detailed periodization of West African history is examined in the concluding part of this chapter. But the periodization has been modified to reflect the distinctive patterns of Igbo history, since the human experience varies from one area to the other in the West African subregion.

An Overview of the Chronology of Igbo History The Stone Age There is a paucity of information on the foraging cultures of West Africa, including the Igbo, Yoruba, and Edo regions during prehistory. Human

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occupation of West Africa, however, began during the Stone Age, which is divided into three major periods: Early Stone Age (ESA), 1.9–0.2 million years ago Middle Stone Age (MSA), 200,000–50,000 years ago Late Stone Age (LSA), 50,000–2,500 years ago

ESA and the Ugwuele-Uturu Archeulian Hand Axes Archeulian hand axes manufactured by the Homo Erectus during the ESA have been recovered from Ugwuele-Uturu in the Igbo area and the Jos Plateau in the middle-belt region of Nigeria. Human occupation of West Africa associated with the late Homo Erectus during the MSA has also been found in the Jos Plateau. Ugwuele-Uturu artifacts excavated by a team of archeologists led by F. Anozie, however, have attracted much scholarly inquiry because they are said to be the largest Archeulian hand axes found in the entire West African subregion. Archeologists like P. Allworth-Jones, who examined them, share the views of J.D. Clark that the hand axes constitute “Preforms which, in their initial stages, bear some resemblance to Acheulean bifaces and, in the later stages, to the preforms extensively traded in Neolithic times in Western Europe and the New World.”86 Clark’s analysis affirms the broad archeological study of Holl, who noted that the ESA manufacturers of the hand axes of Ugwuele-Uturu and the Jos Plateau were hominoids associated with the Homo Erectus and the earliest Homo sapiens.87 It is, then, likely that these earliest human ancestors were primarily hunter/scavenger-gatherers. As for the LSA, it is marked by the appearance of microliths and a wide variety of stone tools. Bone tools also appear for the first time in human history. The LSA is subdivided into three periods: Lower LSA, 50,000–10,000 years ago Middle LSA, 10,000–5,000 years ago Upper LSA, 5,000–2,500 years ago

Although the LSA for the entire African continent dates back to about 50,000 years,88 the earliest manifestations of LSA artifacts in the Nigerian forest region were derived from the Iwo Eleru Rock Shelter in Yorubaland (8000 b.c.) associated with microliths used in hunting and gathering.89 Archeological sources, however, become richer at the onset of the Holocene (10,000 years ago), associated with the Middle LSA, and it is clear that the Igbo area was, by then, occupied by foraging populations. The Holocene can be divided into the following periods on the basis of archeological and historical records and oral traditions:

Introduction

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Middle Late Stone Age (Foraging), 8000–3000 b.c. Upper Late Stone Age (Incipient Agriculture), 3000–500 b.c. Iron Age, 500 b.c.–800 a.d Classical Period, 800 a.d.–1000 a.d. Intermediate Period, 1000 a.d.–1300 a.d. Early Atlantic Period, 1400 a.d.–1600 a.d. Atlantic Period, 1700 a.d.–1800 a.d. End of Slavery, Nineteenth Century

Archeology covers a long period of human history in West Africa. Yet, as will be discussed in the next chapter, our study will begin from the Middle Late Stone Age when we have linguistic and other sources that deal with the foraging cultures of Igboland.

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CHAPTER 2

Igboland Before and During the Iron Age: From Stateless Societies to Mini States

A

rcheological and linguistic sources suggest that foragers occupied Igboland during the Middle LSA (8000 b.c–3000 b.c.).1 The sources also affirm that some foragers from the Igbo area as well as from other parts of southeastern Nigeria, inhabited by the Bantu, had started to migrate in waves from their homeland to populate most of sub-Saharan Africa between 5000 b.c. and 4000 b.c.2 Oral traditions of the early Igbo dealing with foraging are lost to memory. The Nri, for example, give faint hints of the foraging era by claiming that their mythical founder, Eri, descended from the sky to the Anambra River when yams and other crops had not been domesticated in the area.3 There are similar traditions of autochthonous groups who had occupied different parts of the Igbo hinterland in ancient times, saying that they “sprouted from the earth.” Their movements across the dense tropical rain forests were probably facilitated by “elephant paths.” Although the tradition of Aba town, for example, deals with a later period, it claims that the progenitors of the town, from northern Ngwaland, used elephant paths to migrate and settle near the Aza River. Hence, Aba is popularly called “enyi mba” (lit. the elephant town).4 The traditions and P. Manning’s study of human migrations suggest that riverbanks, seashores, and lakesides were among the early zones of human habitation in Igboland during the foraging era.5 Their strategic locations enabled foragers to sustain themselves with the resources of both the riverain and forest ecological zones. In addition, it was easier, faster, and safer for them to travel on the rivers than through the thickly forested areas populated by wild and dangerous carnivores.

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Foragers possessed tools that enabled them to carry out their daily economic activities. They used Archeulian hand axes (egbugbu) for hunting, “woodworking, scraping skins, and especially skinning and butchering animals.”6 Other tools were traps (onya), and bows (uta) and arrows (aku) for hunting and for defending themselves against carnivores. Their tool kits also included sharpened sticks (mbazi) for hunting and for digging up wild growing yams (adu), cocoyams (ede inyamkpe), and other root crops. Those who lived near riverbanks manufactured nets and boats made of reed and tropical bamboo rafts for fishing. The tools of hunter-gatherers were relatively simple, and some have described foragers as “jacks of all trades and masters of none.”7 But it needs to be borne in mind that forgers developed special skills—relevant to their needs—in hunting, fishing, and other economic activities. In addition, the making of hand axes, which were shaped in different sizes and forms, involved skills in stone technology that attained increasing complexity over many millennia. Similarly, foragers displayed a lot of dexterity in carving and polishing some of the stone tools they used for ritual purposes. Furthermore, as a result of their organizational ability, foragers were able to accomplish their daily tasks without a large labor force. Their population density was probably low for a variety of reasons. As nomads, foragers lived in one area for a certain period, and once its resources were exhausted, they moved to another location of abundant fauna and flora. Such periodic migrations required small family size, especially when it became necessary for them to relocate quickly and abruptly from a hostile environment associated with droughts, carnivorous animals, malaria fever, or other tropical diseases. Shaw speculated that in Igboland and other parts of the West African forest region a few dozen persons belonging to different families formed a band, their major social organization.8 He further hypothesized that the occupational division of labor along gender lines and the patrilineal system of kinship (which became a major feature of traditional Igbo society) evolved during foraging.9 Men, for example, who became the family heads, took on the more arduous responsibility of hunting wild animals like elephants, lions, and hyenas, while women were engaged in a more reliable source of food supply involving the collection of root crops, vegetables, and fruits. As for the band, the oldest male member became its leader, and he, with other family heads, offered ritual sacrifices to the ancestors, arbitrated disputes, and determined when it would be propitious for the band to relocate to another area.10 Foragers led a nomadic life that did not promote the accumulation of resources. Their society was therefore largely egalitarian, and there were no sharp differences in wealth and power among them. Available evidence shows that foragers did not engage in trade, and they also lacked storage and

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transportation facilities. Food, their major asset, would rot away unless it was consumed within a short period. That is why foragers shared and ate the foods they collected together, without leaving anyone out. Like the Kung of the Kalahari desert, they practiced a simple form of communalism, and one might speculate that an ancient Igbo saying admonishing kinsmen and women to care for one another (onye aghala nwa nne ya) originated during this period.11 In addition, experts agree that foragers had more leisure time than agrarian peoples and those living in the modern industrial era. Their leisure time was spent in dances, ritual activities, and other ceremonies involving the consumption of their surplus foods. The sociopolitical organization of foragers was based on rudimentary kinship principles. They were a stateless and nomadic people who did not settle in a particular place with defined borders. In addition, foragers did not have a government, with its complex structures involved in law making, law arbitration, and law application. These complex structures developed when the Igbo, Yoruba, Edo, and others shifted from foraging to agriculture during the Late Stone Age. Genesis of Agriculture: The Diffusionist and Multiregional Theories and Their Relevance to Igboland Unlike foraging, the invention of agriculture and iron technology is embodied in the oral traditions of many Igbo communities. As already noted, some communities claim that the nomenclature “Igbo” was applied to them in the past because they were reputed for domesticating yams and cocoyams. The Isuama of Orlu, for example, maintain that their progenitors were the inventors of agriculture and iron technology in the forest region. It is noteworthy that Yoruba traditions, which need further research, assert that their indigenous farming communities before the genesis of the Oduduwa era were collectively called “Igbo.”12 The Nri tradition, which will be discussed later, associates Eri, the progenitor of the Nri, with the discovery of yams and other root crops in the valleys of the Upper Anambra River. The origins of agriculture, popularly called the “Neolithic Revolution,” have continued to arouse much debate among archeologists, historians, and other researchers. Current data derived from archeology and historical linguistics have helped to fuel the debate by showing that oil palm trees and yams, which are indigenous to the West African region, were already domesticated in that region by 900 b.c. and 11,000 b.c., respectively.13 According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, West Africa continues to be “the most important [yam] cultivation zone in the world, producing about 93% of the world’s edible yams.”14

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J. Webb and others have used the West African example to question the popular diffusionist, Euro-Asiatic theory propounded by V. Childe, who claims that agriculture spread from the fertile crescent to Egypt and North Africa, and from there to the Middle Niger valley and other parts of West Africa.15 Their research affirms the prevailing multiregional theory, which maintains that agriculture was invented independently in different regions of the world. The multiregional theory also casts some doubts on the linear and diffusionist theory, which claims that agriculture, including yam cultivation, spread from the southern fringes of the savanna area of West Africa to the rain forest region. The discovery of agriculture probably took many centuries of trial and error to accomplish. Hence, Igbo foragers, like their Paleo-Indian counterparts studied by B. Fagan, might have been driven by the demands of their environment to shift from foraging to agriculture.16 Their food production and population increased as a result of the cultivation of cultigens like yams, which, according to A.G. Hopkins, are known “to produce ten times as much weight of food per unit of land as cereals, and are [therefore], capable of supporting greater population densities.”17 Similarly, Jan Vansina has noted the significance of plantains (AAB species of bananas) that were probably cultivated in Igboland and other parts of West Africa from the eleventh century a.d. onward. They are said to be “ideally adapted to the evergreen rainforests”18 and also less labor intensive to cultivate than other staples. More importantly, “the yield of [plantains] exceeds that of yams by a factor of ten, and is equaled only by the yield of manioc.”19 The use of iron tools, such as knives and axes, in cultivation also contributed to more food production and rapid population growth, along with their attendant ecological problems. The situation worsened due to the shifting system of cultivation; natural forces like heavy rains and thunderstorms; bushfires of the harmattan season; and elephants, which played key roles in the destruction of the pristine tropical rain forests. In fact, Shaw has noted that in the Igbo area and other parts of Nigeria, “elephants can set in motion locally a 300-year cycle which can change an area of forest to savanna before it reverts to forest again.”20 The ecological deterioration that probably occurred after many decades contributed to the movement of the Igbo and their settlement in village and village-group clusters around the zones of their early settlements. As oral traditions suggest, it is likely that some of those who initiated the movements to the frontiers were enterprising young men, hunters, blacksmiths, and medicine men who were looking for greener pastures. Others include those who fled from their homeland for diverse reasons, such as political oppression, sudden and inexplicable deaths, and other occurrences associated with evil omens.21 Although it was a slow process lasting many millennia,

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the discovery of agriculture marked a turning point in the history of the Igbo in that it precipitated their movement to the frontiers and changed their economic activities, technology, and politico-religious organization. The Genesis of Agriculture during the Late Stone Age (2935 B.C.–15 A.D .): The Early Formative Period of Ancient Igbo Political Systems D. Hartle’s excavations at Ezi-Ukwu Ukpa Rock Shelter in Afikpo Rock provide valuable information for making some extrapolations about the culture and sociopolitical organization of the Late Stone Age occupants of the rock shelter, who were shifting from foraging to agriculture between 2935 b.c. and the first century a.d.22 They were engaged in both foraging and farming. Although their stone industry lacked microliths, their tool kits included pots and ground stone axes. As in other parts of West Africa, the rock-shelter dwellers probably foraged and cultivated in small family units outside their residence, and later began to establish permanent settlements and a more complex social structure of family units, villages, and village-group clusters when they took increasingly to cultivation and pastoralism. They probably cultivated root crops like yams and cocoyams and reared goats and other animals. As T. Shaw stated, the fertility cult was a major feature of Nigerian Late Stone Age peoples when agriculture became their dominant economic activity.23 It is, then, likely that the sociopolitical organization of the Igbo during the Late Stone Age was centered on their sacred authority holders-the lineage heads (Okpara) and priests of Ala (Ezeala, the goddess of the land, fertility, and agriculture)-and the village council of elders (Amala). Admittedly, the exact period when the Late Stone Age people of the Igbo area permanently took to farming remains unknown, but the example from the Yoruba-Edo region is informative. Archeological studies of Iffe-Ijuma, for example, show that its inhabitants continued to use a mixed tool kit for foraging and farming, including stone axes and other microlithic tools, until 500 a.d.24 The relatively rudimentary techno-culture of the Late Stone Age laid the foundation for a more institutionalized and advanced political system that developed in Igboland and other parts of the Nigerian forest region during the Iron Age. Genesis of Iron Technology (500 B.C.–800 A.D.): Consolidation of Lineage Groups, Villages, and Village-Groups Existing social structures changed over time among the Igbo, Yoruba, and Edo during the genesis of iron technology in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria

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(the Nok culture, 500 b.c.–200 a.d.). The earliest evidence of these changes in the Yoruba-Edo axis is provided by the Oluwaju Rock Shelter, associated with iron technology by 160 a.d.25 The rock-shelter dwellers are said to have spread out to nearby areas to occupy more land for farming and other economic activities. Their social organization in the nucleated settlements acquired more complexity over time. As in the Late Stone Age, extended family members lived close to one another in their household or compound, and as their population increased, the various lineage groups aggregated into larger villages and village-groups for defense against “the forces of nature and human aggression.”26 The 13 ancient farming villages that developed in Ile-Ife, collectively called “Igbo,” shed some light on the politico-religious system the Yoruba had established by 800 a.d. Each village was headed by its priestly chief of agriculture (Ogbene), while the village-group head was the priest of their common fertility cult, although he was largely seen as primus inter pares since each village enjoyed considerable autonomy.27 Traditional Yoruba politico-religious organization was similar to that of the Igbo, who developed a more advanced level of techno-cultural complexity than the Yoruba-Edo region because of the antiquity of iron technology in their area. For example, recent archeological research in the Nsukka axis shows that the people of Opi had started to manufacture diverse types of iron tools between the fifth century b.c. and the second century b.c.28 The town is reputed to have the largest iron ore deposits in Nigeria. Many other communities located within the iron ore zone, stretching from the NsukkaAwgu-Udi escarpment, are versed in iron-working. As will be examined later, it was from these communities that the techniques of iron smelting spread southward to Awka and other towns.29 Igbo villages and village-groups (mini states), headed by their sacred authority holders and priests of the earth-goddess (Ezeala), developed a highly complex sociopolitical organization during the Iron Age. As already noted, the mini states had during that period fashioned more durable and productive iron tools that helped them to produce more food, increase their population, and expand to the frontiers. D. Hartle’s excavation of the Nwankwo site in Bende in the Umuahia axis provides evidence of Igbo expansion to the southeastern and northeastern areas of their homeland. According to Hartle, an Igbo family had, since the ninth century a.d., continuously occupied the site for over 12 generations.30 The Ohuhu-Ngwa migrations, which have been studied in greater detail, probably occurred by then, leading to the settlement of the Ngwa in Aba area and the Ohuhu groups in Mbaise, the Obowu-Etiti axis, and the Umuahia complex, stretching as far north as Bende and Arochukwu.31

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G.I. Jones has provided more insight into the pattern and magnitude of the Ohuhu-Ngwa migrations. As he put it: One can more positively distinguish a later and more massive dispersal which traditions do refer to and which was mainly southeastwards from the Igbo center into what is now the Eastern Isuama area. From this subsidiary dispersion area there was one movement south-southeast into Aba Division to form the Ngwa group of tribes, and another movement east into Umuahia area and thence to Ohaffia-Arochukwu ridge, with an offshoot that struck north to become isolated in the heart of the eastern plains to develop into the Northeastern Igbo.32

The Ohuhu-Ngwa migrations from the “Agbaja area” (lit. dry and infertile land) of the Owerri-Umunoha axis were said to have stemmed from population pressure and perhaps from climatic changes and other natural factors that worsened the ecological deterioration of their homeland. Leaders of the Ohuhu-Ngwa migration moved with their earth-goddesses, yams, and iron tools associated with the advanced agrarian culture of the Igbo heartland.33 The settlement patterns of the Ohuhu-Ngwa affirm that the Igbo area was not settled haphazardly. Family and lineage group members interacted with one another in a section of the village where they lived together for economic, security, and other reasons. Consequently, it was almost a taboo for anyone to live alone in a compound where he/she would be isolated from his/her larger kinsmen. Such lonely and isolated people, who lived outside the pale of Igbo culture, were often accused of witchcraft and other acts of abomination. Immigrants tended to reinforce the nucleated settlement patterns instead of upsetting them. Hence, they preferred to live in the existing villages than settling in distant places where they would be isolated and subjected to untold hardships. Evidence of the nucleated settlements of the Igbo in both their core areas of dispersion and the places in which they later settled is embodied in their oral traditions and their historical ethnography aptly summarized by G.I. Jones: All expansion of a maximal lineage has to be contained in a lineage territory . . . It was and still is, by normal Igbo standards uneconomic to farm more than a few miles from the household . . . Thus members of a [village] lived reasonably together in a zone reserved for habitation, they associated constantly together and had a large number of institutions reinforcing the solidarity of the group.34

The nucleated settlements might have intensified conflicts over family, lineage group, and village land boundaries, especially as the population density

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increased. To mitigate these conflicts, which often led to skirmishes or wars, mounds were erected to demarcate the boundaries, and perennial trees like Uha, ritualized with the cult of Ala, were planted on them.35 People refrained from destroying the mounds to avoid violating the taboos of the earth-goddess (iru ala, alu), the worst crime in agrarian Iron Age Igbo society.36 To better understand the corpus of laws associated with the earth-goddess, it is necessary to examine how Igbo society attained greater politico-religious complexity due to the cultivation of some staple crops and the development of iron technology. The study becomes important in light of the controversies that are ranging over the Igbo political system and the towering ritual influence the Igbo-Ukwu mega state began to exercise among its neighbors during its efflorescence between the ninth and tenth centuries a.d. According to T. Shaw, the Igbo-Ukwu during that period had A highly developed and sophisticated level of social organization . . . We appear to have in [the town] evidence of a centralized authority . . . some hundreds of years before the earliest dynasty in Benin.37

Cultivation of Yams and Cocoyams: Work Ethic, Social Stratification, and Division of Labor The primary economic activity of the Igbo during the Iron Age was cultivation of yams (ji) and cocoyams (ede), which constituted their staple. The cultivation of both crops helped in shaping their work ethic and competitive spirit. In addition, it intensified social stratification and the division of labor amongst them. Traditionally, yams were seen as “men’s crops” and “the king of all crops” because of the dominant role they played in the diet of the people. Unlike other seasonal crops, yam tubers can be stored and eaten all year round. Yam tubers became particularly important after the planting season (March–June), a period of scarcity, when they were used to stave off famine (unwu). Little wonder why the Igbo invested so much time, energy, and effort in yam cultivation, and as D. Coursey, the world’s leading expert on yams, aptly noted, the Igbo are among the “most enthusiastic yam cultivators in the world.”38 He further maintained that the cult of the yam deity (Njoku, Ahiajioku), which regulates the cultivation, harvesting, and preservation of yams, is highly institutionalized among the Igbo.39 The Igbo were the domesticators of some of the 60 species of the Dioscorea genus, especially the “Guinea Yam” (Dioscorea rotundata), which is closely associated with their name, “Eboe/Heebo” or “Igbo” yams. It is significant that the Igbo Diaspora in the New World were

Igboland Before and During the Iron Age

Image 2.1

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Igbo Yams from Oguta area displayed for sale at Owerri yam market

also associated with “Eboe yams,” which constituted a major source of food for slaves shipped from West Africa to the Americas. European merchants and proprietors of plantation agriculture probably encouraged their slaves to cultivate yams in the New World to reduce the costs of feeding them. Igbo slaves in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, for example, were reputed for cultivating Eboe yams. In Grenada, the Igbo Diaspora, which cultivated Eboe yams, were given precedence over other ethnic nationalities in displaying their dances and music during the island’s annual yam festival40 (see Image 2.1). Yam cultivation was highly advanced in Igboland because the area was generally devoid of frost and had adequate moisture necessary for the growth of yam tubers during the rainy and dry seasons, lasting, respectively, from April to October and from November to April. In addition, Igbo men displayed much dexterity during the planting and harvesting of yams and in their storage. They cleared the bush with their knives, burned it for planting, and then used their long and heavy hoes (ube) in digging mounds for planting yam tubers. Men were also responsible for staking the growing vines and harvesting the tubers with sharpened wood (mbaze) to minimize damage, and tying the tubers individually with ropes for storage in their barns (oba). The fertility of the soil was enhanced by the slash and burn agriculture, the fallowing and mulching system, and other skillful techniques used in preventing soil erosion and pest infections from beetles, termites, and bugs.

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The number of yam barns men possessed served as a major index for measuring their rank and status. Consequently, a man who had staked a large number of yams in his barn could seek initiation into the yam title society (nzuko ndi ezeji). He had to pay the necessary initiation fees, perform an expensive feasting ceremony for yam title holders, and make ritual offerings to Njoku before the leading members of the society conferred on him the title of Ezeji/Duruji (lit. king/chief of yams), one of the most prestigious titles in agrarian Igbo society.41 Yam cultivation helped to distinguish the degree of wealth and power men possessed in that it differentiated the Ezeji/Duruji not only from those who had fewer yams, but from others who had little or none at all (Ogbeneye, a poor man). Although C. Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart deals with a later period of Igbo history, it shows how the main character, Okonkwo, despised his father, Unoka, who was labeled a lazy man and a failure because he lacked enough yams to feed his family. Okonkwo decided to become a successful yam cultivator, acquiring the Ozo title to enhance his social status.42 Women in Agriculture: The Cultivation of Vegetables and Cocoyam Like the men, women played key roles in the traditional Igbo agrarian economy. For example, they helped their husbands in carrying the yam tubers to the farms and in planting them in the mounds. Women were also responsible for weeding the farms with their hoes (ogu) to ensure that they would not be overgrown with weeds. More importantly, they planted crops that exclusively belonged to them, called “women’s crops,” including okra (Abelmochus esculenta), which was probably domesticated in Igboland; pepper; melon (Colocynthis vulgar; Igbo, egusi); and the three-leaved yam (onu).43 The “queen of crops” among women, however, were the indigenous species of root crops such as cocoyams (ede inyamkpe and akalangwugwu), those introduced from Asia during the eleventh century a.d. (Colocasis spp.), and from the Americas during the slave trade. Like yam cultivation, the cultivation of cocoyams elicited much competition and hard work among women. Leading cultivators of cocoyams then had their own association, which conferred on its members the title of “Eze ede” (king/chief of cocoyams). Many of the Eze ede title holders emerged as leaders and the spokeswomen of their communities.44 The Iron Age: Population Growth and Social Complexity In addition to cultivators, blacksmiths played major roles in Igbo history during the Iron Age, especially when the population density of the mini

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states began to increase. Blacksmiths fashioned tools of different sizes and shapes for the various occupational groups, including farmers, ritual specialists, medicine men, and hunters.45 Oral traditions confirm that each village and village-group had its own blacksmiths, and even during the period the Igbo expanded from their core areas to other places, they were often accompanied by blacksmiths, who manufactured iron tools that helped them to exploit the resources of their frontier territory. Thus, for example, among the Mbaise, Mbano, Southern Umuahia, and Ngwa, the original villages associated with blacksmiths are still called Amauzu (lit. village of blacksmiths).46 Some of the blacksmiths migrated to other frontier communities where their services were in great demand. A case in point is the Etche village of Amuzu, whose traditions claim that their progenitors originated from an Isiala-Ngwa village bearing the same name.47 It is, then, necessary to reexamine the hypothesis that creates the misleading impression that iron smelting was a monopoly of the northern parts of Igboland, which have rich iron ore deposits.48 T. Shaw’s study shows that the iron ore that can be used for preindustrial furnaces (Catalan) is “common in [Igboland and other parts of ] Nigeria.”49 The most famous blacksmiths, however, were the Nkwerre, Abiriba, Awka, and particularly communities located on the Nsukka-Awgu-Udi escarpment, which, as already noted, have the oldest tradition of blacksmithing in Igboland, dating back at Leja to the fifth-second centuries b.c.50 The techniques of iron smelting spread later to other nearby communities like Owerri-Elu between the ninth to the tenth centuries a.d.51 It then appears that it was from Udi that iron smelting spread southward to Awka, a town renowned for its blacksmiths and craftsmen. Awka traditions affirm that blacksmithing was introduced in the town by one Nnebuzo and his kinsmen, reputed to be seasoned hunters and blacksmiths, who migrated from Agbaja Umuana in Udi and settled in the Agulu Umuana section of the town. Their workshop at Amaikwo attracted many apprentices, and until the present time, the descendants of Agulu Umuana are the leading blacksmiths in Awka.52 The detailed studies of N. Neaher and O. Njoku provide further evidences of the northward spread of iron technology from the Nsukka and Udi axis to Awka.53 Awka traditions also shed some light on the genesis of other occupational groups in the town: Obe villagers, who were among the early settlers, specialized in farming; powerful medicine men from the Omo village on the banks of the Anambra River established the famous Agbala oracle; and the Umeri from Nri, skilled in carving, became the town’s master craftsmen.54 The Awka example provides valuable insights into how skills and occupational specialization developed and spread in Igbo communities, helping them to acquire a high degree of complexity before and during the rise of the Nri mega state.

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Onwuejeogwus’s study of Nri history lacks comparative data that would illuminate the chronolgical history of the various occupational groups in Awka and other nearby communities during the formative era of the Nri mega state. For example, a variant of the Nri myths of origin recorded by Onwuejeogwu noted that Eri, the founder of the Nri kingdom, was said to have landed on earth “from the sky” with the help of Awka blacksmiths. This mythical account suggests that that Nnebuzo and his kinsmen had settled at Awka before the “landing” of Eri between the ninth and tenth centuries a.d. Similarly, Even though the Agbala oracle mentioned in Awka and Nri traditions was probably established before the same period, Onwuejeogwu’s chronology, which relied on Nri traditions, associates the genesis of the oracle with the reign of Eze Nri Ifikunami, between the tenth and eleventh centuries a.d.55 His work however, provides valuable information on the organization of trade and local markets in Nri and the communities its priestly rulers ritually controlled.

Organization of Trade and Other Economic Activities: Emergence of Politico-Religious Authorities Nri history and other sources already discussed show that the development of iron technology and agriculture led to the production of surplus food items, goods, and services that created the need for markets for exchanging them. Although the rulers of Igbo-Ukwu had ritual control over trade and the markets under their cultural influence, D. Northrup has argued that Both in the market-place and on the road it was a clear principle of life [in the Igbo] hinterland that the trader was responsible for making his own security arrangements. There simply did not exist a public force charged with and capable of safeguarding travelers.56

Northrup’s views, however, are not supported by the numerous sources that exist on ancient Igbo agrarian cosmology, which integrated their economic and politico-religious institutions. Markets and trade among the Igbo were, therefore, conducted under the aegis of their politico-religious authorities. The location of the markets in sacred spaces and cultural centers is affirmed by D. Forde and G. Jones, who stated that an Igbo village-group topographically consists of “a cluster of villages sharing a market place, which is at once a ritual, political and market center”57 (Sketch 2.1). Providing more insights on the development and organization of local markets in traditional Igbo societies, U. Ukwu stated that periodic markets

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Commercial and cultural center

+ Kamanu + Njoku Religious center Ala shrine

Sketch 2.1

Locations of the Gods of a Village

evolved from the Igbo custom of the rest day, when the earth-goddess was propitiated: By this custom . . . different village-groups have different days within the fourday week . . . on which they abstain from farm work . . . most of the local festivals and ceremonies also fall on the rest day. A market system thus found a ready-made institutional framework . . . Most village-groups have a central market, usually claimed to date from the origin of the settlement . . . and located in and controlled by the senior village.58

Local, Regional, and Long-distance Trades: The Sacred Centers of Igboland Local and regional trade was, therefore, conducted in the sacred politicoreligious and commercial center of a senior village headed by its priestly-chief of the earth-goddess (Ezeala). Some of the ancient markets in parts of Igboland were called “ahia muo ala” (lit. markets of the earth-goddess) because of the close association between them and the goddess.59 The markets were held during the weekly propitiation ceremony of Ala, a major religious festival involving the entire community. The market day was, therefore, seen as a “holy day,” comparable to the “the truce of God” imposed on medieval Europe by the Catholic Church, when knights were forbidden to fight on particular days.60 The taboos of Ala were strictly enforced, and those who violated them faced dire consequences, including ritual cleansing of the goddess for committing an act of abomination (iru ala, alu). C. Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart is informative because when Okonkwo

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violated the taboos of Ala by beating one of his wives during the “week of peace,” he was obliged to pay the priest of Ala the necessary restitutions for cleansing the earth.61 Available evidence suggests that local trade, which dates back to the founding of the mini states, was dominated by women. The goods bartered in the local markets were primarily yams and cocoyams, fishes, vegetables, salt, and other foods, as well as basic utilities like pots, traps, and clothing. T. Shaw’s archeological study suggests that Igbo-Ukwu and some Igbo mini states were already engaged in regional/relay trade and long-distance trade between the ninth and tenth centuries a.d. Regional trade enabled the Igbo and their neighbors to exchange specialized products from various ecological niches, like food items, iron tools, pots, and salt, through a relay system. Borderland communities constituted the primary zones for obtaining and relaying goods to nearby and distant exchange centers. Unlike local and regional trades, men played a dominant role in long-distance trade since it involved traveling for a long time through winding and risky routes on land and rivers (see chapters 3, 4, and 5).

Politico-Religious Organization of Igbo Mini States The organization of trade and markets clearly shows the crucial roles priests of the earth-goddess (Ezeala) and the earth-goddess (Ala) played in governance during the Iron Age. Although the cult of Ala exists in most agrarian societies, it attained a high cultural complexity among the Igbo, dominating their cosmology. As A.G. Leonard stated: Everything [the Igbo] possessed outside his own person, everything which preserved and prolonged his own existence-shelter, food and drink-were all products of that earth in which he lived. And just as he saw plants, trees, and hills, and stones growing out of the earth, so he conceived of his own kind and of animals that they had also preceded from the same great source.62

Similarly, P.A. Talbot, in his study of Nigerian fertility cults, opined that Ala was “the nearest and dearest of all deities” among the Igbo, and her cult was highly institutionalized from the compound level (ala ezi) to the mini state level (Sketch 2.2).63 Chieka Ifemesia, who is versed in Igbo culture and cosmology, was among the pioneer historians to examine the dominant role the priest of the earth-goddess played in traditional Igbo politico-religious organization. In his work Traditional Humane Living Among the Igbo: An Historical Perspective, Ifemesia noted that

Igboland Before and During the Iron Age The sky (Elu-Igwe)

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Supreme being (Chukwu) god of rain lightning and thunder (kamanu) major divinities

Humans Human world (uwa) or earth (ala)

Earth-Goddess Nature spirits Minor divinities Evil spirits Death

World of sprits or world beneath (ala-muo)

Sketch 2.2

Ancestors One’s personal god (chi) Demons

A Diagrammatic Representation of Igbo Cosmology

The one phenomenon which most effectively demonstrates both the complete integration and intrinsic humanness of Igbo cosmology is the transcendental cult of Mother Earth (Ani, Ali, Ana, Ala). The [earth-goddess] was . . . the most important single factor in the many-sided life of the traditional Igbo community. The priest of the Earth Deity (Eze-Aja-Ani, Eze-Ani) was often the foremost and greatest of the religious functionaries of the village. He was the cleanser of abominations committed against the land (nso ani); the receiver of tributes paid at the beginning, and the oblations presented at the end, of the farming year (nru). Okwa ani (the Earth Shrine) was the venue for taking superior decisions and swearing supreme oaths-enactments irrevocably binding on all concerned within the community.64

Evidences from the works of other anthropologists and the intelligence reports of some District Officers, who delved into the traditional political structure of Igbo societies, show that the priests of Ala (Ezeala) were the politico-religious heads of their mini states. A few examples, selected from different zones of Igboland, are enlightening. A. Shelton explained why in the Nsukka area the head of the senior ward and priest of fertility was accorded primacy in the affairs of his community: It is often argued that the senior ward [headed by Onye Isi, the priest of fertility] was the only village at one time, but it was decided that strangers would be permitted to join the village on the agreement that they would aid in mutual defense, cooperation in the rotation of certain farmlands, and in general respect the seniority of the originators of the village.65

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Image 2.2

Political Organization in Nigeria since the Late Stone Age

The Earth-Goddess (Ala, Ani) at the Mbari Center, Owerri

W.R.G. Horton’s study of the Nike village-group in northern Igboland also confirms the key roles the earth-goddess (Ani) played in their politicoreligious organization. According to him: The most important of the Alosi (Spirits) is Ani . . . She is the ruler of the land of the dead, the guardian of the community’s moral code, the bringer of fertility, and the supervisor of the farming circle . . . In Nike, however, there are cults of Ani from the village-group downwards. Thus Anike (Ani Nike) is the spirit of the land farmed by Nike as a whole, and her cult is administered by a priest on behalf of the group.66

Horton then went on to examine the structural relationship that exists between Anike and the Ani of villages and compounds (Ani Mbalezi),

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offering insights into how some communities confederated for defensive purposes using Ani as a common symbol of unity among them.67 V.H. Boult, in his intelligence report on the Oguta Native Area, noted that even though immigrants from the “Benin Empire” disrupted the social and economic life of Oguta when they invaded and settled in the town during the fifteenth-sixteenth centuries, the head of the autochthonous Obeagwa senior kindred still retains “the principal shrine, Ala in Oguta in recognition of their original occupation.”68 Amongst the Oratta-Owerri, the cult of the earth-goddess (Ala) was also highly institutionalized, as evidenced by Mbari, the foremost artistic figurines in Igboland honoring the goddess and other deities. The priestly-chief of Owaelu, the senior ward of the large Uratta clan, was recognized as politicoreligious head of the clan.69 In his own study of the Nkwere community in the Orlu axis, J. Cook maintained that the town was founded by one Okwaraeshi, who became the priestly-chief of its earth-goddess (Eze Ala-Ukwu Nkwere). He then concluded that since the genesis of Nkwere, the descendants of Okwaraeshi have continued to serve as the priestly-chiefs of its earth-goddess.70 Similarly, among the Ngwa, who constitute the largest sub-ethnic nationality of the Igbo, J.G.C. Allen’s three-volume intelligence reports showed that the cult of Ala was used to establish a complex political community that transcended the village-group level. He also explained why the earth-goddess of their progenitor and her priest, located at their cultural center (Amaukwu, Okpuala-Ngwa), played a dominant role in the politico-religious affairs of the people: [The earth-goddess] possessed a peculiar importance and was revered by the whole community. This importance was based . . . on the fact that it enshrined the spirit of the august ancestor . . . The shrine which was given the name “Ala Uku” or the “Great Ala” was situated in the town meeting place, and was entrusted to the care of the oldest lineal descent of the founder.71

The situation is the same at Isiokpo, the cultural center of the large Ikwerre group where the hereditary system of succession to the priestly-chief of the town has continued till the present time: The grand land deity of Isiokpo known as “Ali Isiokpo” which was the dominant juju from ancient days, is the deity revered by all the people of Isiokpo. The grand priest of Ali Isiopko sits on the stool and is referred to, as the Eze-Ali Isiokpo.72

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Political Organization in Nigeria since the Late Stone Age +Kamanu

Sketch 2.3

+Njoku

+Ala-ezi

Okpara’s house

House of Okpara’s krishmen

House of Okpara’s krishmen

Meeting place (ovu)

Location of the Principal Deities of a Compound

Finally, G.I. Jones’s research confirmed these views: In this part of West Africa [Igboland] . . . the elders (Ndiche or Ndioke) who can be identified as heads of lineages, are represented as having the right “to rule,” as they have behind them, the authority of the lineage ancestors . . . They are the living embodiment of the men who founded the lineages of their successors in this particular role.73

The elaborate authority the Ezeala, heads of lineages (Okpara), the council of elders (Amala), and their executive organs exercised in agrarian Iron Age Igbo society is better understood in the context of Igbo cosmology and its sacred spaces, and the diverse roles gods and their agents played in human affairs. Examples derived from the ancient settlements of the Owerri/Southern Igbo and their sacred spaces are enlightening, especially because the priests of Nri were also the fertility goddesses of their communities, and they incorporated Chukwu and some other gods in their cosmology (Sketches 2.1–2.3). The Sacred Spaces, Hierarchy of Politico-Religious Authorities, and the Development of Sacred Laws The cosmology of the Southern Igbo differentiates between three sacred spaces of power (Sketch 2.1): The first one comprises the sky (elu-igwe), the abode of the high god (Chukwu); the god of rain, lightening, and thunder

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(Kamanu); and other major divinities. Humans are located in the second space (uwa, ala) and so are deities subordinate to Chukwu, such as the earthgoddess, nature spirits, and the minor divinities. In addition, evil spirits are located in the same space, although they are not worshipped. The third space, the world of the spirits (ala muo), is occupied by the ancestors, one’s personal god (chi), and demons. But the three spaces are interconnected. Although Chukwu is the head of the Igbo pantheon, he is believed to have created a perfect world in his own image. The Igbo, then, distinguished between the “perfect or ideal world” and the “human world” spoilt by the violations of the taboos of Ala and ancestral laws, which are believed to be causes of sudden death, famine, drought, and other calamities. The quest for the restoration of the “perfect world” explains why the Igbo and other agrarian African peoples placed emphasis on Moral uprightness, peace with the gods, and peace with men. Purity was essential in blocking the anger of the gods or the ruin of evil spirits. Hence seasonal festivals included purification rites and the onslaught of epidemic, a bad harvest or incest were countered with divination and special purification rights.74

Chukwu, however, lived so high in heaven that the Igbo attitude toward him was that of resignation. Sacrifices meant to restore “the perfect world” were, therefore, offered to him through a hierarchy of gods in the three sacred spaces connected with the human world (Sketch 2.2). The priests of these gods—Ala, Kamanu, and Njoku (the yam god)—as well as the ancestral spirits (Ndiche)—all associated with agriculture—exercised institutionalized authority in Igbo society. The Ezeala and the agnatic heads of lineage groups (Okpara), respectively, and the Amala (village Council) were responsible for law making and law arbitration, while agents of Kamanu and Njoku served as organs of law enforcement. It is important to distinguish between two levels of ancient Igbo political communities where the gods and their human agents or sacred authority holders exercised politico-religious authority: the kinship/lineage group level and the territorial/mini state level. At the kinship level, the Okpara, who held its ancestral staff of office (Ofo), was the dominant authority holder of his lineage group. His kinsmen often called him “onye nwe ezi” (lit. the owner of the compound).75 The Okpara and his kinsmen offered sacrifices to their ancestors (Ndiche) and Njoku (the yam deity) at their common meeting place (ovu) before new yams were harvested. He also ensured that ritual offerings were made to Ala-ezi, the moral force of the compound, and to Kamanu, located at the entrance of the compound to protect its members from sinister forces and evil people (Sketch 2.3).

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The Ezeala was the head of his community at the mini state level. He held the ancestral staff of office of the progenitors of the mini state (Ofo Ala) and was called “onye nwe ala” (lit. the owner of the land) due to the ritual rights he exercised over the entire land in his community.76 The Ezeala was responsible for the weekly propitiation ceremony of Ala during their market day (ize muo) as well as for ritual offerings to the Njoku and Kamanu shrines located around the shrine of Ala (Sketch 2.1). Similarly, he presided over the annual communal worship of the goddess, attended by the Okpara, Ezeji titled men, and other members of the community. In addition, he plucked a palm frond each month, using them to fix the dates of major cultural events in the annual lunar calendar of his community.77 The Okpara and the Ezeala’s respective symbols, Ofo and Ofo Ala, conferred legislative and judicial powers on them. Thus, for example, the Okpara and his compound and family heads had the right to make laws on marriage, birth, and death ceremonies of their kinsmen. They also arbitrated disputes stemming from feuds, inheritance, and succession. Similarly, the Ezeala presided over the meetings of the village council (Amala, derived from Ama-ala; lit. abode of Ala, and the meeting place of the community), held at its common politico-religious and commercial center. The meetings of Amala were attended by the Okpara, Ezeji titled men, the Dibia (medicine men and diviners), and all adult male members of the community. They settled disputes and made laws, but important laws considered necessary for the survival of the community were ratified with Ofo Ala, giving them sacerdotal sanctions. As C.K. Meek, who studied the traditional Igbo system of jurisprudence, noted: Ala is the fountain of human morality, and in consequence, a principal legal sanction. Homicide, kidnapping, poisoning, stealing, adultery . . . and all offences against Ala must be purged by rites to her. Ala deprives evil men of their lives, and her priests are the guardians of public morality. Laws are made in her name and by her, oaths are sworn. Ala, is in fact the unseen president of the community.78

A violation of the sacred laws of Ala constituted an act of abomination (iru ala, alu) that upset the ritual equilibrium of the community. The offender was then held liable and responsible for his crime to avoid arousing the wrath of the earth-goddess. Thus, for example, when homicide was committed, the Igbo, like the Barotse, believed that it was A heinous breach of moral duty for a man to conceal that he had killed another, since killing set up a spiritual barrier between the two sets of kins . . . The killer

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himself had to be cleansed from his spilling of blood. Hence there was no problem of fixing guilt.79

Chinua Achebe’s novel illustrates the severe punishment meted out against Okonkwo for violating the taboos of Ala by killing a kinsman accidentally during a burial ceremony. His compound and yams were destroyed, and he had to go into exile with his family members for seven years.80 But the laws of Ala were made not only for humans; they encompassed animals and other forms of life that thrive on earth. For example: If a goat climbs on to the roof of a house, it is regarded as having committed an offence against Ala and is, or was in olden days . . . [killed]. A cock that crows at [odd hours] or a hen that lays at night in an open space is killed . . . It is ordained that a hen which hatches out a single chicken shall be deprived of its life . . . Similarly, a cow which bears two calves must be taken out of the community.81

Law Enforcement and the Benevolent-Malevolent Deities: Njoku and Kamanu The Ofo and the Ofo Ala of the sacred authority holders were two-edged swords that ensured that the Okpara and the Ezeala dispensed justice fairly. If they failed to do so, it was believed, their symbols of authority would kill them. The political structure of the mini states also constrained their sacred authority holders from exercising arbitrary power—because of the traditional checks and balances provided by the Ezeji and other title holders as well as the Dibia and other influential individuals who were involved in governance. The Dibia exemplified the distribution of roles in agrarian Igbo society, which ensured that no particular lineage group monopolized the exercise of authority and power. Consequently, in many communities the Dibia were often not from the same lineage group as the Ezeala. In fact, because of the sanctity of their office, the Ezeala worked closely with the Dibia but distanced himself from some of their ritual activities, including divination and invocation of Agwu and evil spirits that could strike an offender with an ailment, and lead to his death. In addition, the sacred authority holders were aware of the fragile nature of political power and its economic base. Hence, as will be discussed, the more people the authority holders attracted to their communities, the greater the tributes and other resources they acquired from their “kinsmen.” Good governance sustains a population and helps it to grow, bringing an increase in prosperity, and as succinctly put by an Igbo adage, “Madu ka ego” (lit. humans, the creators of wealth, are more important than wealth

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itself ). Authority holders who failed to uphold this adage and misruled their communities, lost both their moral and economic bases of power. Igbo history is rife with examples of people who migrated and settled in other places due to political oppression and the social discord and economic distress it created in their communities.82 The authority holders had to exercise caution not only in law making to ensure some consensus, but also in the enforcement of laws. For example, they and the Dibia might pronounce curses against a recalcitrant offender and thereby force him to change his ways. If the offender, however, persisted in his old ways and suddenly passed away, it was often claimed that the ancestors or Ala had killed him. Yet, this claim is often contradicted by Igbo cosmology, which also, respectively, regarded the ancestors and Ala as benevolent-sacred spirits and goddesses that had no hand in death.83 Major organs of Igbo law enforcement at the lineage group and mini state levels included agents of Kamanu (the god of rain, lightning, and thunder) and Njoku (the god of yams) (Sketches 2.1 and 2.3). Their agents represented both benevolent/malevolent deities. They could combine and fertilize, through rainfall, the farmland of an upright man and help him to produce abundant yams and other crops. The gods and their human agents might, on the contrary, decide to bring famine (unwu) to those who violated their ancestral taboos, and if necessary, strike them to death with thunder. The Osu (cult slaves) also served as administrative organs of a mini state. Many of them were people who took refugee in the shrines of Ala after committing acts of abomination, including incest, homicide, and rape (aru/alu). Although the refugees were free from prosecution, they lost their rights as free citizens. They were, for example, forbidden to return home without the ritual cleansing of Ala. The Osu were also forbidden to intermarry and have regular communication with free members of their communities. If they desired to marry, the Osu had limited choices and were only allowed to marry the Nmaji (women dedicated to Ala or Njoku), who were often not available.84 Because of the social restrictions placed on the Osu, cases abound in which those who were alleged to have violated the taboos of Ala escaped and fled to distant places to avoid either serving as Osu or facing the wrath of their communities. The escapees are said to be the progenitors of Ogwashi-Ukwu in western Igboland, Umuru of Etche, Osu of Mbano, and many other communities.85 M.O. Ene has provided more instances of how some people acquired the Osu status in different parts of Igboland before colonialism. For example, a man who had failed to meet his social obligations in Orlu area was said to have escaped to a local shrine to become an Osu and thereby saved himself from being arrested and punished by the masquerades of his community. In the Njikoka community, a widow

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disinherited by her husband’s relatives fled with her children to their central shrine to seek justice. The widow’s flight and Osu status outraged many people, who decided to pay for the ritual ceremonies that led to the restoration of her full rights of citizenship, including the inheritance of her deceased husband’s property. In Agbaja and Orlu axis, people who violated the taboos of their communities during the slave trade, took refuge in the shrines of their local gods to avoid being sold into slavery. An Igbo-Etiti woman, who probably had problems with childbirth, is said to have dedicated her only child to the local Efuru Shrine (deity of fertility) as a mark of gratitude to the deity.86 S. Leith-Ross, in her study, examined the psychological and ecological factors that led to the recruitment of the Osu. According to her: A man who had a persistent run of ill-luck, whose children died, whose crops failed, whose household was constantly sick, [often consulted] a diviner who would [reveal to] him [the sources of his problems, claiming that his misery would end if he dedicated someone to serve as an Osu of the earth-goddess].87

The Osu performed many services, including the upkeep of the Ala shrine and helping the Ezeala to assemble the ritual objects he needed for the weekly propitiation ceremony of Ala. The Osu also served as messengers of the Ezeala, who used them in summoning the Amala or the Okpara and other dignitaries to discuss important affairs of the community. Another major arm of government comprised the Umuada/Umuokpu (married and unmarried and divorced daughters of a community), who were associated with the ritual propitiation of the Ala-ezi of their compounds (Sketch 2.3). They were, therefore, believed to be a moral force in their natal villages, cleansing abominations ranging from the birth of twins to adultery committed by a woman in her husband’s compound. In addition, as K. Okonjo noted: Because of the exogamous nature of marriage in Igboland, the [Umuada] acted as arbiters between their natal lineage, and village, and the lineages into which they were married. They were thus, able to prevent wars. They also took a keen interest in the politics of their natal lineage, and village. When necessary, they took a common stand on an issue, forcing the political authorities of their villages to implement their wishes, or demands.88

The Umuada also played a key role during the death and funeral rites of their patrilineal kinsmen, acting “as support network for lineage widows, conducting vigils and providing material support for [the deceased’s family].”89 The Umuada were, therefore, feared and respected because they could threaten an offender who had violated his ancestral taboos with abstaining, when he died,

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from performing the funeral rites necessary for his spirit to join the world of his ancestors (ala-muo). The spirit of the offender would then wander helplessly and aimlessly on earth without eternal rest (Sketch 2.2).90 Although married women of a village had no shrine located in its central sacred spaces, they possessed their own organs of governance. In patrilineal Igbo societies where men exercised considerable political power, women formed their own sociopolitical organization (Nzuko Ndem, Otu Inyemedi/Unyedi, Otu Alutaradi) that complimented those of the sacred authority holders and the village council. Nzuko Ndem was headed by experienced and titled women who had distinguished themselves in the cultivation of cocoyams (Eze ede, lit. king/chief of cocoyams), healing and divination (Dibia), and other professions. It made laws of common interest to the women and arbitrated disputes among them, imposing necessary sanctions against offenders.91 As will be discussed, the dual sex political system of the Western and Niger Igbo had a similar organization, although it incorporated, probably from the sixteenth century, the Bini institution of the Omu (Queen Mother). The gender distribution of political authority in traditional Igbo societies helped in empowering women. Their leaders and representatives, for example, were invited to the meetings of the Amala to articulate the opinions of women before it made decisions on important matters affecting them. The primacy of the Amala in governance was certainly one of the major features of partrilineal Igbo societies until the modern period. Young men of the junior age-sets (ogbo) were, however, the main secular organ of law application of the Amala. They were responsible for maintaining and policing the roads, markets, and other public places and for defending their communities against external aggression. The age-sets also helped in arresting criminals and bringing them to the Amala for prosecution and trial. Surely, the Igbo adopted the democratic principle in adjudicating disputes in that all adult males of the village were free to voice their opinions. But the nature of the crime determined the type of punishment the Amala imposed on the offender. If the offender, for example, committed an outrageous crime associated with the violation of the sacred laws and the taboos of the ancestors and Ala (aru/alu), he/she was usually found guilty and asked to embark on ritual propitiation ceremonies meant to cleanse the earth (isa/ikwa ala). If the crime involved a violation of the secular laws of the community, such as failure to participate in the maintenance of roads and other public places, the trial of the offender might generate some partisan debates. His kinsmen and friends might accept the reasons he adduced for his absence, while others would reject them. No matter the nature of the crime, it is important to mention that all the voices of Amala were not equal. The meetings of Amala

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were dominated by elders and other powerful people, who were seasoned in rhetoric and native laws and customs. They constituted the inner council of Amala, which retired after its deliberations to arrive at a consensus (izuzu) before the Ezeala pronounced the final judgment. Amala was then a training ground for members of the younger age-sets to acquire the experience and wisdom necessary for mastering the complex jurisprudential systems of their community.92 The sacred authority holders observed many rituals and taboos meant to reinforce the sanctity of their offices and to enhance their social status. The Okpara, for example, were forbidden from engaging in mundane activities like trading, harvesting oil palm trees, and taping raffia palm. The Ezeala were surrounded with more elaborate taboos comparable to those of the kings of African mega states. In many communities, the Ezeala lived exclusively with their senior wives (Nnekwu) in a house located within the shrine of Ala to ensure that they carried out their ritual functions promptly.93 To further restrict their movements, the Ezeala were not expected to cross a river or an ocean. They were forbidden to eat animals considered unholy, such as rabbits and snakes and other carnivores. It was taboo for the Ezeala to greet anybody before the propitiation of Ala on their market day. In addition, they were expected to abstain from engaging in various activities openly, to ensure that their humanity would not be betrayed, including eating, drinking, and having a haircut outside their houses. Similarly, their paraphernalia of office, like Ofo-Ala (symbolizing the earth-goddess), staffs of office (nkpara muo), red cap (okpu), and iron bangles (ola), were regarded as sacred and ordinary people were prohibited from touching them. The Ezeala shook hands only with titled men wearing elephant tusks, and since they had no hand in deaths, corpses were forbidden near their houses and the shrines of Ala.94 It is noteworthy that the Eze Nri and pre-Oduduwa Yoruba priestly-chiefs of the fertility cults of villages and village-groups observed similar taboos, and Onwuejeogwu noted that an Eze Nri, Agu, found the taboos and rituals so austere and restrictive that he resigned his office and took to trade.95 The sacred authority holders, then, had to rely on the rewards of their office to meet their material needs. They received the lion’s share of the fees and fines litigants paid to Amala. The Okpara, for example, was entitled to the vital organs of the animals adult male members of his agnatic group killed during hunting, religious festivals, and other occasions (ihu), including the heart, gizzard, and liver. His agnatic male members also gave him numerous gifts during the Ahiajoku ceremony, such as yams, chickens, goats, and kolanuts. He had usufructuary right over the large ancestral land attached to his office (ohia ofo ukwu) and was also responsible for sharing part of that land to his kinsmen during the farming season.96 In addition, the Okpara

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received tributes of free labor and material goods from his kinsmen, who were obliged to work: On his field for one day of the Igbo four-day week (oru orie) . . . He [was] entitled to receive on orie days, the palm or raffia liquor tapped for his compound members (ngwo orie).97

The Ezeala received similar tributes from his kinsmen, although he had more diverse ways of acquiring resources. The Okpara, titled men, elders, the Ezeji, and all adult members of Amala offered sacrifices to Ala during their annual ceremony honoring the goddess. As “onye nwe Ala” (owner of the land), the Ezeala also received periodic gifts from heads of immigrant families, whom he gave land to settle, and sacrificial offerings from those who came to seek the blessings of Ala. Similarly, the Ezeala received gifts from the parents of a young girl during the ceremony marking her rites of passage to adolescence (ngbede). The ceremony ended and reached its peak with songs and a musical procession of the celebrants to the shrine of the earth-goddess, where the girl knelt on a large piece of rock (ajarata, a symbol of fertility) as the Ezeala called upon the goddess to bless her with a caring husband, children, and long life. Lastly, it is important to note that, in many places, the earth-goddess and her priest could ask for sacrificial offerings from well-to-do members of the community when the need arose (ida aja).98 The authority holders were, however, not concerned with the selfish accumulation of wealth. They served as the redistributive centers of their community. Elders and other members of Amala who visited them were offered free palm wine, meat, and other edibles. The authority holders acted as consultants to those in distress and aided anyone who could not afford his/her sacrificial offerings. They served as the “economic anchors” of their communities during periods of crop failure or poor harvests, when people were threatened with famine (unwu). The authority holders also gave yams to young people to cultivate and contributed to the resources that enabled them to marry and climb the social ladder. The reciprocal relationship that existed between the authority holders and members of their community was one of the most outstanding features of agrarian Igbo society.99 Uchendu was, then, right when he opined that “the object of wealth [was] to further achievement both personal and communal. Traditionally, wealth was not used for things that would not effect a positive change in [society].”100 The Nri and the Evolution of the Igbo-Ukwu Mega State The Nri also had reciprocal relationships with the autochthonous Umudiana clan of Aguleri (Chapter 3). In addition, after Eri, the putative progenitor

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of the Umunri clan, had settled at Aguleri between the ninth and tenth centuries a.d., the Eze Nri (King of the Nri) retained some of the basic elements of traditional Igbo politico-religious organization. For example, the Eze Nri was recognized as the priestly-chief of the fertility cult (Ani/Ala) and the head of the Aguleri community. He also involved the agnatic heads of lineages (Okpara) and Ozo titled men in the governance and attracted the Osu, who took refuge in his shrine to save their lives.101 But Nri cosmology differed from those of their Igbo neighbors during the mega state era, featuring the familiar contradictions inherent in all myths of cultural imperialism. For example, Eri was believed to have lived in the “sky,” acting as an agent of the high God (Chukwu, the Creator). When at last Chukwu asked him to descend to the earth and settle on the shores of the Anambra River, Eri, who presumably found no trace of life there, was unable to land. He then had to sit on an Ant-hill as the land was a morass or waterlogged . . . When Eri complained, Chukwu sent an Awka blacksmith . . . to dry up the land. After the Awka blacksmith had finished his assignment, Eri rewarded him with Ofo which conferred on him special claims to the smithing profession.102

The fact that an Awka blacksmith helped Eri to land on earth clearly shows that blacksmithing had become a major profession in the Igbo area before the genesis of the Nri mythology. In addition, Onwuejeogwu’s study affirms that the Umudiana, who were ritual specialists, farmers, and fishermen, were already living in Aguleri before Eri and his kinsmen settled in the town. Their relationship was strengthened when the head of the Umudiana lineage group married a daughter of the Eze Nri. Hence, up until the present time, the Umudiana have continued to serve as the leading palace officers, playing key roles in the crowning and burying of Eze Nri.103 The Nri myths become more elaborate when they deal with the “divine mandate” given to Eri to introduce agriculture in the Igbo area. The myths again began with a bleak situation in which hunger and famine threatened the lives of Eri and his kinsmen until he saved them and the entire community from their terrible plight, after consulting Chukwu. Eri had to sacrifice his son and daughter and on their graves grew, respectively, yams (men’s crop) and cocoyams (women’s crop), marking the beginning of agriculture and division of labor in the Anambra River region. Eri is also believed to have sacrificed his male and female slaves, and on their graves sprouted oil palm trees and breadfruit trees, respectively.104 These myths are, however, not supported by available archeological and historical evidences, which show that the Igbo were already advanced in the cultivation of their staple crops many millennia before the Eri period.

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The myths associating Eri with the staple crops of the Igbo were meant to empower the priestly rulers of Nri, providing them with what Jones described as a “validation charter” for justifying the ritual control they began to exercise over their neighbors in the Anambra River region and parts of northern Igboland.105 Nri priests and their agents, then, assumed the responsibility of Cleansing every town of an abomination or breach, of crowning the eze of Aguleri, and tying the ngulu (ankle cords) when a man took the title of Ozo. Also [Eri) and his successors would have the privilege of making the oguji, or yam medicine, each year for ensuring plentiful supply of yams in all surrounding towns, or in all towns that subjected themselves to Eze Nri. For this medicine all the surrounding towns would come in and pay tribute, and [Nri people] then could travel unarmed through the world and none would attack or harm them.106

Before the Nri myth, the Ezeala, Okpara, Dibia, and others were responsible for cleansing abominations in their communities. The fact that the Nri took on these responsibilities might have intensified conflicts, contributing to the decline of the Igbo-Ukwu mega state (Chapter 3). As for the yam medicine, little is known about the population density and climatic conditions during the Eri period that might have adversely affected crop yields. Whatever the situation might have been, the myth was once more tapping into the centrality of yam cultivation in Igbo culture and agrarian economy. It is likely that many people who desired to increase their yam yields and enhance their social esteem bought the yam medicine and ritually brought themselves under the control of Eze Nri. It is noteworthy that the yam medicine enabled Umunri priests and their agents to move freely in some communities to engage in ritual cleansing, blessing of new settlements, and other activities. As Afigbo has correctly noted that, the power Nri priestly chiefs acquired stemmed primarily from their ability to manipulate the existing cosmology of Igbo communities.107 Their ritual influence spread to parts of northern Igboland and some communities among the Western Igbo. It is, then, necessary to question the popular myth that Nri ritual influences were felt throughout Igboland (Chapter 3). Many other Igbo societies have similar myths. For example, E. Okafor, an archeologist versed in the prehistory of blacksmithing in the Nsukka area, has examined a myth associated with the blacksmiths of Amube. It claims that In Igboland, blacksmiths from Amube in Orba-Nsukka are solely responsible for making alo or ofo (sacred staff of office held by the oldest man in the family or village). Nobody in Orba community could hold the sacred staff of office not made by the Amube smiths. The Amube smiths also perform all

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the functions associated with cleansing abominations brought about by the defilement or desecration of the land . . . Orba men do not normally eat yams until the Ekwensu uzu festival . . . has been held by blacksmiths [to offer] the first fruits of the farm to the god of iron (the creator of farm implements).108

The Nri and Amube myths affirm the important roles religious specialists, blacksmiths, and others played in Igbo societies during the Iron Age. The myths are circumscribed reflecting the emerging centers of power in Igboland, although they erroneously claim the entire Igbo area as their cultural constituency (Chapter 3). The Nri myths, however, do not provide any information on the roles trade and external cultural influences played in the rise of the Igbo-Ukwu mega state. The priestly chiefs of the state ritually controlled markets in their area of cultural influence, adjudicated disputes, and helped to fix market days for some communities. As a fluvial civilization, Igbo-Ukwu was located in a zone of intercommunication. Hence, its people were able to share ideas through the Niger and its tributary (the Anambra River), with the Igala, Nupe, and others in the northern parts of Nigeria, and the Igbo and Ijo communities in the south. Shaw has noted that the priestly rulers of IgboUkwu were engaged in the international trade that linked them with the Arab-Indian world, as evidenced by the manila-like objects (slender copper wristlet) and foreign goods found at one of the sites. They acquired much wealth from both local and international trade, which enabled them to surround themselves with expensive and luxurious locally manufactured goods and works of art. Igbo-Ukwu priestly rulers might not have had their “official artists” like the Obas of the Benin Empire, but they patronized leading artists in the communities under their ritual control. Onwuejeogwu’s study has provided some insights on the creators of some of the various works of art and luxury items that made Igbo-Ukwu famous.109 For example, Nri decorative and ritual pottery types (Ite Ike) were and are still manufactured at Achi and Inyi in Udi area and in the northern Orlu axis, which is rich in clay. The Umudioka bordering Ogidi and Ogbunike, reputed as itinerant facial carvers, were responsible for the delicate ichi (facing markings) found at Igbo-Ukwu. Similarly, the wood carvers of Uga and Nri’s local artists carved the ritual vessels and other objects, while Awka, Nsukka-Udi, and other blacksmiths versed in metallurgical technology “through hammering, bending, twisting and incising” were among the earliest “Africans to use the lost-wax technique in the production of bronze sculptures” of Igbo-Ukwu.110 A recent isotope analysis of the Igbo-Ukwu bronzes, which contain only 5 percent tin, indicates that 90 percent of the copper used in manufacturing the bronzes was

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procured from an Abakiliki copper mine. It is also noteworthy that the IgboUkwu bronzes were manufactured about 300–400 years before the famous brass bronzes of Ife and 650 years earlier than those of Benin.111 Attesting to the ingenuity of Igbo-Ukwu craftsmen, J. Iliffe noted that The discovery at Igbo-Ukwu, in south-eastern Nigeria of the grave-goods buried with a ninth-century ruler . . . including bronze objects made from local metals, in African style [provide evidence of ] a superb technical skill that was both distinctive and arguably unequalled elsewhere in the world at the time. Their symbolism, especially, the animal motifs shows remarkable continuity with that employed by Igbo people of the area a thousand years later.112

The great techno-cultural heights Igbo-Ukwu attained during the agrarian period were, then, interconnected with the accomplishments of its neighbors and other Igbo mini states. As will be discussed in the next chapter, the IgboUkwu mega state and the Igbo mini states underwent many changes before the Trans-Atlantic trade, for a variety of reasons ranging from succession disputes and the structural weaknesses of a “ritual mega state” to the shift of power to other parts of Nigeria.

CHAPTER 3

The Igbo and Their Neighbors Before the Fifteenth Century

N

igerian historiography has concentrated largely on the mega states without paying much attention to the mini states that provided the foundations for their cultural advancements. This chapter will, then, attempt to examine the politico-religious organization of the mini states of the forest region and the Eastern Ijo delta of Nigeria before the genesis of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade to better understand their similarities and differences. In addition, the study will discuss the intergroup relations that existed between the Igbo and other peoples of the forest region before the fifteenth century, and then move on to examine the theories and myths of state formation. The concluding section hopes to delve into the history of Igbo-Ukwu, using its example to explain the diverse historical factors that contributed to the decline of the mega states. Although there are some variations, the peoples of the forest region share some common cultural features. They, for example, belong to the Kwa-sub language family (see Map 3.1), and are also among the pioneer Iron Age cultivators of West Africa (500 b.c.–200 a.d.). The major crops they domesticated comprised yams and cocoyams, even though the Igala, who are partly located in the savanna region, grew millets and other cereals, while the Ijo were primarily engaged in fishing and manufacturing salt. Their cosmologies were also similar, as evidenced by a common belief in the high god, the ancestors, and the earth-goddess. Similarly, the various peoples lived in villages and village-groups although the Igala clans were dispersed in different localities. Chronologically, the documented oral histories of Igbo communities on the Niger River and its tributaries provide evidence of early Igbo contact with their Igala and Edo neighbors, which probably predated the dynastic periods of their histories.

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Map 3.1 Peoples and languages of Southern Nigeria drawn by the Graphic Communications Institute, Cal Poly State University

J. Boston has noted that the development of the Igala mega state was contemporaneous with the protohistoric period of the Benin kingdom during the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries.1 As will be discussed, oral traditions and ethnographic sources dealing with the histories of the Efik-Ibibio and the Eastern Ijo also show that the Igbo and their eastern neighbors were engaged in mutual exchange of ideas through trade, intermarriage, border skirmishes, and other forms of human communication before the genesis of the TransAtlantic slave trade. Hence, contrary to the prevailing synchronic views, the interactions between the various peoples contributed to political, economic, and cultural changes in their societies. It is necessary to broach these themes to better understand the changes the mini states of the forest region underwent during the period under study.

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Efik-Ibibio Mini States The Efik-Ibibio, who constitute the largest Bantu group of the Cross River valley, are said to be among the oldest inhabitants of the forest region of southeastern Nigeria.2 The works of D. Forde and G.I. Jones, and that of P. Talbot affirm that the cosmology, settlement patterns, and politicoreligious organization of the Efik-Ibibio were similar to those of their Igbo neighbors.3 The head of their pantheon was a high god (Abasi) who had “no specific cult, priesthood or place of worship.”4 In addition, the cult of the ancestors (Ekpo), and the earth-goddess were widespread among them. Like the Igbo, the Efik-Ibibio also lived in villages (idun/obio) and villagegroups (ison) that had common cultural centers where their councils of elders made laws, and settled disputes during their meetings. Those who played important roles in governance were the agnatic heads of lineage groups (Ete Ekpuk) and villages (Obon/ Ete Idun), as well as village-groups (Obon). Others included titled men of the Egbo/Ekpe and Idiong societies, and various age sets.5 Igbo and Efik-Ibibio Intergroup Relations Available sources do not provide much information on Igbo and Efik-Ibibio intergroup relations before the slave trade. The archeological study of the Nwankwo site in Bende area dated ninth century a.d. suggests that the Igbo and probably the Efik-Ibibio had started, by then, to expand to their frontiers, although it probably took some time for them to encounter each other.6 Oral traditions and inferences from existing works are helpful in distinguishing three phases of Igbo and Efik-Ibibio intergroup relations that cannot be dated with certainty until archeological data are available. During the first phase, dating back to the early contact period, their relations fluctuated between peaceful interactions and border clashes. It probably lasted a few decades since the borderland communities had to consolidate their original settlements and build up a critical population base before attempting to expand to the land belonging to their neighbors.7 The communities also traded with each other in spite of language barriers. Providing valuable information on the method both groups adopted in exchanging their products, A. Nwulu, a local historian of the Ibeme community in eastern Ngwaland bordering the Annang-Ibibio area, stated: In ancient times, our people used to sell plenty of yams in Abala market [in Ibeme] and since the Ibibio did not understand our language, we traded with them by barter, using pieces of sticks to make strokes on the ground until both sides reached a mutually acceptable price for exchanging their commodities.8

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Trade brought the borderland communities together, leading to intermarriages, mutual exchanges of visits, and gifts between friends and in-laws during their communal festivals. In addition, as the Arochukwu example indicates, the borderland communities were engaged in periodic border skirmishes that often culminated in major wars and the formation of a multicultural society (Chapter 5). The Bende axis provides us some examples of the second phase of the relations that existed among the borderland communities in that both the Igbo and the Efik-Ibibio crossed their porous borders, settling among each other’s villages. Thus, the borderland communities of Itu Mbuzo and Bende Ifufa are bilingual.9 Also, in the Ndoki axis, where the relations between the borderland communities have been largely peaceful, there are Igbo settlements in the Ibibio side, such as the village of Nung Ita said to be founded by an Ndoki hunter, and Akirika, an offshoot of an Azumini community bearing the same name.10 Similarly, the six Ibibio villages located in the Azumini area are said to have established such strong ties with their Igbo neighbors that during the colonial period, they preferred to be grouped in Aba Division with neighbors than with their kinsmen in Abak Division.11 The borderland communities have then developed a common frontier culture of mutual interdependence, after many decades of trial and error. The Ibeme of the Ngwa-Igbo and the Otoro clan of Anang-Ibibio constitute the third example of some borderland communities that are still engaged in violent border clashes. Inter Group Relations between the Ibeme and Their Otoro Neighbors: Rivalry Over “No Man’s Land” The relations between the Ibeme and the Otoro shed light on some aspects of Igbo and Ibibio history that have not been fully explored. For example, it is often argued that the Igbo expanded outside their frontiers due to their high population density, which, in some places, amounted to over 1,000 persons per square mile during the 1950s. Surely, population pressure was a major engine that drove the Igbo to the frontiers of their homeland, but population pressure was not an exclusive phenomenon of Igbo society. As Forde and Jones noted, it also contributed to the Ibibio expansion to their borderlands.12 The population densities of the Ibeme the Otoro-Abak area in the 1950s were respectively about 620 and 802 persons per square mile.13 The Ibeme then encountered the Otoro on their common border, which colonial officers called “no man’s land.”14 Jones, in his study of the pattern and rapid rate of the Otoro expansion from their nuclear settlements in the Abak area, noted that they jumped across some Ibibio groups like the Ikpe-Anang and then turned

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[northward and] beyond as a single [clan]. Towards the west,[their expansion] consisted of uncoordinated piecemeal movements of bands of settlers drawn from parent villages, most of which remained attached to the Abak tribe. This expansion soon came against the Ika tribe expanding in the opposite direction, and unable itself to expand westward through pressure from the Igbo tribe of Ngwa.15

Some of the existing studies of the borderland Ibeme and Otoro have, however, led to a misleading and confusing analysis of their origins, and the reasons for their expansion. For example, because the Ibeme and the Otoro share similar cultural traits found in other borderland communities, J. G. C. Allen interchangeably applied the concept “Ngboko” and “Nmogho” to both groups without realizing their cultural differences.16 Among the Ngwa and some Southern Umuahia groups, Igbo communities closest to the Annang are generically called “Ngboko” while their Ibibio counterparts are labeled “Nmogho.” The “Ngboko” are, therefore, not of Ibibio origin. Etymologically, the concept Ngboko is associated with a small group of the Ibeme-Igbo who had infiltrated into parts of Ukwa and eastern Ngwaland as itinerant medicine men and diviners (Dibia). They, like the Nri, were ritual specialists who traveled to parts of the places they settled, healing the sick and blessing new settlements to ward off evil spirits. This fact explains why some villages in eastern Ngwa, for example, appended the name “Ngboko” to their settlements to symbolize the ritual cleansing of their communities even if they had no Ngboko settlers.17 As for “Nmogho,” it was probably a concept the Igbo used to describe the Annang, whose language sounded strange to them, and perhaps for a similar reason, the concept, as Allen noted, acquired a pejorative meaning among the Ibeme as they clashed over the no man’s land that separated them from the Otoro.18 Surely, population pressure and economic factors contributed to the Ibeme-Otoro rivalry over “no man’s land.” Both groups wanted and still want to acquire the land for hunting and the cultivation of food and cash crops. In addition, the virgin forests of the no-man’s land are a source of the herbs their Dibia use in healing and divination. But one should also bear in mind that the no-man’s land has helped in shaping their cosmology for many centuries, and they see its virgin forest as the abode of some of the mysterious spirits that control their physical world. The border clashes between the two groups were frozen during colonial rule, but the relations between them remained uneasy, and during the 1960s and 1970s, each group cultivated its own section of the no-man’s land without settling on it. But as their population increased, the situation degenerated into mutual suspicions and violent clashes fought with modern weapons. The

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Federal Government of Nigeria has taken drastic measures to contain the violence, including exercising direct control over the no man’s land, and the establishment of military and police stations in strategic locations along the Ibeme-Otoro border.19 The Eastern Ijo Fishing Villages and Their Politico-Religious Organization Unlike the Ibibio, the Eastern Ijo, who are the southern neighbors of the Igbo, are located in fishing villages of the delta that lack much cultivable land. They, therefore, specialized in fishing and salt manufacturing. The fishing villages were autonomous, lacking the village-group level of organization found among the Igbo and Efik-Ibibio. But as R. Horton noted, their politicoreligious organization was similar to those of other groups in southeastern Nigeria: [The] government [of a fishing village] was traditionally carried out by an assembly of an entire adult male population of the village, which sat in three age-grades and had both legislative and judicial functions. The assembly was presided over by the Amanyanabo or village head . . . chosen from a single descent group.20

In addition, the cosmology of the Ijo, featuring the High God (Tamuno) and the cult of the ancestors, parallels that of the Igbo, although there is a strong belief in water goddesses (owu) and the roles they play in human affairs. Controversial Historiography: Igbo-Ijo Intergroup Relations In spite of some similarities in Igbo and Ijo cultures, their historiography is riven with controversy, especially after the publication of K. Dike’s pioneer study in 1956. Dike postulated that Eastern Ijo politico-religious institutions were formed during the fifteenth century when the Trans-Atlantic slave trade began in the eastern delta.21 G.I. Jones, in reviewing the work, accepted Dike’s thesis, but modified the period of the migrations and settlements of the leading Eastern Ijo delta states of Bonny and Kalabari to the Portuguese period (1450–1550), or probably before then. He also criticized Dike’s analysis of the oral traditions of Bonny.22 The controversy over Dike’s work, however, took a new dimension when E. J. Alagoa, offered an antithesis to his thesis, arguing that Ijo politico-religious institutions were already established in the eastern delta before the genesis of the slave trade. Alagoa went to

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great lengths in using Ijo oral traditions to trace the migrations of the Eastern Ijo, and the roots of their traditional politico-religious institutions to their homeland in the central delta.23 Early Igbo-Ijo Encounters and Intergroup Relations: The Kalabari Example Alagoa’s work, which was probably meant to promote Ijo cultural nationalism, raises a number of historiographical problems, which the present writer has examined in detail elsewhere.24 For example, he used what he labeled as “the Mein tradition” to establish the exclusive Ijo cultural base of the two leading city-states of the delta, Elem Kalabari and Bonny, and thereby expunged the significant web of economic and cultural contacts that existed between them and the Igbo hinterland before the slave trade.25 The Mein tradition, which claims that the progenitors of the city-states migrated from their homeland in the central delta to settle in the eastern section, is not, however, supported by current archeological studies, which have yielded the following dates for Eastern Ijo communities: Key, 770 a.d., and Cheshire, 940 a.d., whereas those of the Central Ijo indicate a later period of human occupation—Saikiripogu, 1135 a.d.; Oyoma, 1275 a.d.; Isonmabou, 1030 a.d.; and Agadagbbou, 1640 a.d.26 G.I. Jones, who is versed in the oral traditions of the peoples of southeastern Nigeria, has in his evaluation of the Mein tradition, aptly concluded that it was invented to “promote Ijo tribal solidarity.”27 Small wonder why Alagoa, its major exponent, seemed to have ignored the fact that the cultural borrowing between the Eastern Ijo and Igbo during their encounter was primarily based on self interest. Hence, individuals involved in the encounter made their own personal choices, which were neither determined by the common interests of their ethnic nationality, nor were they necessarily meant to promote them. For example, some Ijo people found it necessary to establish shrines of Igbo deities to enhance their status as priests and seers. Similarly, some borderline Igbo traders acquired prestige among the farming folks of their communities because of their relative affluence, their identification with Ijo names, and their expensive bangles and dresses. The Kalabari example is enlightening. Alagoa noted that the Ikwerre-Igbo town of Amafa was the last place the Kalabari lived before moving to the delta to settle at their common capital, Elem Kalabari, located at the banks of the Rio Real River. Admittedly, nobody knows how long the Kalabari lived at Amafa, but Alagoa has conservatively estimated that their sojourn there lasted about a generation.28 It is, then, likely that the Kalabari, during their decades of interaction with the Ikwerre, intermarried and traded with them leading to the development of a

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bilingual population. Some members of the bilingual population and a few Amafa people, who were river-farers versed in canoe transportation, might have moved and settled with the Kalabari at Elem Kalabari. Horton’s study affirms that the seven original sections of Elem Kalabari village were founded by people of diverse ancestry: Each section of [the village was] made up of a number of descent-groups, whose founding ancestors are generally seen as unrelated to each other, and are often thought to have converged on the present sight from diverse directions. Instead of looking to descent from a common ancestor as the basis of it identity, the Kalabari village looks to a culture common to all its members and distinctive from that of its neighbors.29

Although Alagoa noted the fact that Elem Kalabari village was occupied by a heterogeneous population, he exclusively associated the Ijo with the origins of the village.30 It is significant that the first priestly-chief of the Kalabari when they emigrated from Amafo, one Ende, was succeeded by an Igbo native doctor called Kamalu/Kamanu (the god of rain, lightning, and thunder), a popular name among the Ikwerre-Etche, and also the name of their famous oracle. The native doctor was probably an agent of the Kamalu oracle who moved to Elem Kalabari to practice his craft. It is also likely that Kamalu’s contemporary, Agbaniye Ejike, the first priestly chief of the Bile community near Elem Kalabari was an Igbo.31 P. A. Talbot’s comparative study of Igbo and Ijo religions affirms the important roles Kamalu and other Igbo gods played in Kalabari cosmology. Reporting on his research findings, Talbot stated: According to the testimony of a considerable number of old chiefs and priests, Amadie Onhia the Thunder God [also] called Kamalo [Kamalu] and Igwe the Sky God, are sons of Chi [the High God]; while Ale, the Earth Goddess, known to some tribes as Ala, Ana, or Aja, is usually represented as her daughter. The three-lasted named deities appear to have been adopted by the Kalabari from Ibo sources, and possibly traces of an earlier Kalabari thunder cult may be found in the So-Alagba (Sky-gun) juju.32

Talbot also went further to show how another Igbo religious institution, Chi, associated with the individual’s soul and achievement, spread to the Kalabari area, where its symbols were embodied in the “Chi Shrine.”33 It is noteworthy that the Kalabari continued to consult the Kamalu oracle until the colonial period. In addition, their major markets are located in

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the Ikwerre-Etche axis, where they exchanged fish and salt with yams, garri, livestock, and other local products (Chapter 5). Igbo-Bonny Relations: Origins, Cultural, and Commercial Contacts Alagoa also gave a monolithic account of Bonny origins, based on the MeinIjo version, dismissing the accounts of colonial officers and European traders and travelers that associated the progenitors of Bonny with the Ngwa-Ndoki Igbo, including A. G. Leonard, P. A. Talbot, Captain H. Crow, J. Adams, T. Hutchison, and C. de Cardi.34 Little wonder why he arrived at the controversial view that Present Bonny traditions are unable to give a precise location of [the] original home [of the Ibani, or Bonny people in Ijo; Ubani, Igbo] in the Central Delta . . . there is, however, a tradition in the Central Delta that the Ibani migrated from the Isedani lineage of the Kolokuma . . . Like the Kalabari, the ancestral Ibani moved northeastwards out of the Central Delta through the mainland of Ndoki and Ogoni country. It was from here the hunter Alagbriye finally located a site suitable for hunting and fishing at Orupiri. They moved later two miles westwards to Bonny town, named by them, Okoloma, meaning curlew town.35

Alagoa’s accounts seem to be conjectural. It is unlikely that Bonny people, who are more culturally sophisticated than many Eastern Ijo communities, could have totally forgotten their origins and the foundations of their society. Again, as in the Kalabari example, Jones has criticized what he aptly called “the Bonny authorized version of [Ijo] origins first given in 1938,” which is different from the earlier version that associates the origins of the town with the Ndoki-Ngwa.36 C. T. Ennals, who carried out a detailed study of the Ijo migration from the Ndoki area, has presented a more complex and holistic perspective of Bonny origins. He hypothesized that the Ijo immigrants, who were probably few in numbers, might have traveled through many circuitous and dangerous routes in the Igbo hinterland before settling in some places among the autochthonous population. They probably traveled through the Engenni and Orashi Rivers and landed at Oguta. Some moved across Umunoha and turned northward toward Ndizuogu. They later moved southward “as they were pressed forward by the original inhabitants,” infiltrating and settling among the indigenous inhabitants of some Ndoki and Ngwa communities like Ohanso, and between Ohambele and Umugo, while a few passed through the Azumini creek and finally settled at the town of Umuagbayi in Ndoki

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axis, an offshoot of an Ngwa community near Aba bearing the same name. It was from Umuagbayi that some of the immigrants later moved to settle in Bonny.37 It is impossible to estimate how long it took the Ijo to traverse the Igbo hinterland before settling in some Ndoki and Ngwa communities. In fact, oral traditions dealing with the infiltration of the Ijo into these communities are lost to memory. Granting, however, the Ijo settled among the indigenous population of Umuagbayi-Ndoki, nobody knows how long they lived there before continuing their movement to Bonny. Their sojourn at Umuagbayi probably lasted many generations, leading to their integration into the local population. Ennals, who was concerned about the puzzle raised by the Ijo migrations, arrived at a similar conclusion, saying that the immigrants might have been acculturated. He then went on to document Umuagbayi traditions dealing with Bonny origins: There [were two brothers in Umuagbayi] . . . one of whom stayed here [called Okwuleze] and the other [Agba, Abayi-egbe, Igbo; Alagbanye, Ijo] went to Bonny . . . One brother tapped tumbo [raffia palm] the other went hunting. The hunting brother came to a place where there were many birds, especially curlews [Igbo, Igoloma; Ijaw Okoloma], the name which was given to Bonny . . . and later decided to settle there.38

In addition to the two brothers, the names of their agnatic kinsmen are unmistakably Igbo: Ezi, Ihu, and Kwokwo (Nwankwo). Agba was said to have returned to Umuagbayi to travel once more to Bonny with his family members and kinsmen, including Okpala Ndoli, who were delighted about his account of the abundant resources that awaited them on the island. Agba, who is said to have been recognized as the first priestly chief of Bonny, was succeeded by Okpala Ndoli. Confronted with these hard facts, Alagoa, in another work he authored with A. Fombo, changed his view that the Ijo were the progenitors of Umuagbayi and other Ndoki towns, although they still disputed the towering pre-Trans-Atlantic slave trade Igbo influences in Bonny.39 What is emerging from a comparative analyses of the various sources is that pre-slavery Bonny society, like its Elem Kalabari counterpart, consisted of a heterogeneous population including the Igbo, Ijo, and others. The key roles the Igbo played since the founding of the town are incontrovertible, and that is why the koronogbo society of Elem Kalabari, which forcefully integrated slaves into the local population, never existed in Bonny, Okirika, and other islands where the Igbo language prevails till the present time.40

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Pre-Slavery Igbo Commercial Relations with Bonny It is also important to note that the Ndoki-Igbo established close commercial ties with Bonny during the formative period of its history when the town gained a reputation as a major salt manufacturing center. Their commercial ties were later cemented with a marriage alliance between the priestly head of the Ndoki town of Azuogu, and the daughter of his Bonny counterpart to avoid the disputes that had disrupted their past cordial relationship. Traditions provide an example of one of the disputes between the Ndoki and Bonny, resolved by their authority holders, who appealed for peace, saying, we are relatives “anyi bu umunne,” what are we quarrelling for? (Igbo, “anyi na ado kwa nu ke?”). The etymology of Ndoki is said to have been derived from the poser, and since then communities of Ngwa origins on the Imo, including Umuagbayi, are called Ndoki-Ngwa towns.41 Hinterland Ndoki-Ngwa traders traveled regularly through the Imo River to Bonny to exchange salt and fish with their agricultural products. Noting this pattern of trade between the two complimentary ecological zones, Pachecho Pereira, who visited Bonny during the early sixteenth century, affirmed that the town had become a major distributive center in the Bight of Biafra. In his own words: The bigger canoes here, made from a single trunk, are the largest in the Ethiopas of Guinea; some of them are large enough to hold eighty men, and they come from a hundred leagues or more up this river bringing yams in large quantities. They also bring many cows . . . goats and sheep . . . they sell all this merchandise to the natives of the village for salt.42

Although Pacheco’s measurement might be inaccurate, the ethnic identity of the people who were engaged in trading with Bonny remains controversial.43 But, as already noted, the traders were probably the Ndoki-Ngwa who served as leading trading partners of Bonny middlemen during the slave and palm produce trades (Chapter 5). Yoruba Mini states: Ile-Ife and Old Oyo Unlike the Eastern Ijo fishing villages, the Yoruba mini state of Ile-Ife did not have direct interaction with the Igbo during the early period of its development. As already noted, the original settlements of Ile-Ife were transformed into villages and village groups (mini states) headed by their priestly chiefs from 500 a.d. to 800 a.d. The Yoruba mini states later underwent structural changes between 800 a.d. and 1000 a.d. when Oduduwa, representing the merchant class, was engaged in a protracted conflict with

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Obatala, representing the autochthonous farming population, called “the Igbo.” Oduduwa and his supporters defeated the Igbo who had to flee from Ile-Ife and settled in other parts of Yorubaland. Ile-Ife became, during the thirteenth century, the first metropolis of the Yoruba and their cultural and artistic center.44 The displacement and movement of the Yoruba population continued when power shifted during the fifteenth century from Ile-Ife to Old Oyo, a more militaristic mega state. The impact of these population movements in the Igbo area has not been fully studied. But among the Western Igbo, where some of the Ile-Ife and Old Oyo emigrants might have settled, people who claim Yoruba ancestry are generically called “Olukumi.” They still speak their native language as well as Igbo and their largest concentration is found among the Odinani clan, comprising Ugbodu, Ukwunzu, Ubulubu, Idumu Ogo, Ugboba, Anioma, and Ogodo.45 Some of them claim that their ancestors were among the entourage of prince Oranminyan of Ile-Ife whom Oduduwa sent to Benin City to be crowned its Oba. But when the Ogisos rejected the prince, the Olukumi decided to settle among the Western Igbo instead of returning home.46 Others maintain that they were displaced from their homeland either due to the Benin incursions in the Oyo Empire or as a result of the Yoruba civil wars and Hausa-Fulani slave raids in the Ilorin area.47

Igbo and Edo (Bini) Mini states Pre-dynastic Edo societies of the twelfth century were similar to those of the Yoruba and Igbo. Authority was invested in the priestly heads of villages (Onogie), heads of lineage groups, councils of elders (Edio) and age grades.48 In addition, as R. Bradbury stated, there existed in the past Ties of friendship and mutual co-operation . . . [among village-groups]. On the basis of such factors as alleged common descent of their founders, joint exploitation of farming and hunting territory, common markets, and common possession of the same cult.49

Little is known about Western Igbo-Edo intergroup relations during the pre-dynastic period. The earliest account of their encounter is provided by J. Egharevba, who claims that during the reign of Oba Ewedo, which probably began about 1255 a.d., one of his sons, called Obuobu, “a war-like prince,” had led a military invasion of western Igboland lasting three years.50 The invasions were intensified during the fifteenth-sixteenth centuries (Chapter 4).

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The Igbo and Igala Mini states and Intergroup Relations Like the Edo example, pre-dynastic Igala political structure in some ways parallels that of the Igbo. The capital Idah for example, was occupied by an autochthonous population of about nine independent chiefdoms, headed by their priestly-chiefs of fertility. Heads of the chiefdoms later constituted, during the genesis of the Igala mega state, the powerful council of king makers (Igala Mela).51 Similarly, as J. S. Boston noted, Igala villages and districts outside Idah were headed by their hereditary office holders, called “chiefs of the land” (Onu Ane), who had “sovereign rights over the area.” Their legitimacy was derived from traditions that claim that they were the descendants of the progenitors of the communities. Heads of later immigrants acknowledged the sovereignty of the Onu Ane by paying tributes to them, and respecting their primacy in the politico-religious affairs of the communities.52 It is likely that the Igbo and Igala mini states were engaged in a longer period of peaceful mutual exchange of ideas and services than their Edo neighbors. Igala oral traditions suggest that the Igbo had migrated in small waves and settled at Idah and other places during the protohistoric period. Igbo artistic and cultural influences in the Igala area are affirmed by Boston’s seminal study of the Ikenga cult (the god of the right hand and success). According to him, the Ikenga cult originated in Nri-Awka area of northwestern Igboland and then spread extensively to the nearby Ibaji communities of Igala, and further northward to Ida area.53 The works of N. Neaher and O. Njoku indicate that itinerant Awka smiths were, before colonialism, practicing their crafts not only in the borderland Ibaji-Igbo area, where the royal blacksmith of Ida, Onu Ayija (Aleji), lived, but in other parts of Igalaland.54 Boston also pointed out that the Igbo artistic and cultural influences among the Ibaji were so outstanding that they were classified as part of the Anambra-Igbo during the colonial period.55 Igbo politico-cultural influence among the Igala reached its apogee during the establishment of its first dynasty at Idah. According to M. Clifford and R. Palmer, the origins of the dynasty are associated with Abutu Eje who was the priestly chief of the Amagede mini state on the southern bank of the Benue River. But when he died, his daughter and heiress, Ebele Ejianu (Ebelejonu) married one Omeppa (Meppa), an Igbo hunter, and appointed him the head of the Igala Mela and the prime minister of the chiefdom (Achadu).56 The reign of the next two successors of the heiress was brief, and the other chiefdoms continued to guard their independence jealously. But Omeppa’s son, who had occupied the post of Achadu after the demise of his father, lived near Idah, where he nursed the ambition of

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uniting all the chiefdoms under the control of the Abuta Eje dynasty. He was said have been highly respected in the town due to “his entourage, his apparent wealth and importance . . . and by the awe-inspiring mysteries surrounding his religion.”57 The Achadu used his towering influence to invite Ayagba, a grandson of Abutu Eje, to Idah to be crowned as the first Ata (king) of the emerging Igala mega state. Ayaba became the most popular king in Igala history, and hence, most of the Atas trace their genealogy to him.58 Boston has also examined the various myths associated with the evolution of the ruling dynasty at Idah, arguing that the marriage between the Achadu and Ebele Ejianu symbolized the alliance between the ruling dynasty and the Igala Mela or non-royal lineages, which constituted a counter and balancing force against the royal clan. Boston then explained why Omeppa rose to fame in the Igala kingdom as its Achadu, arguing that as a hunter, he possessed unusual Skill in the use of magic and medicines, in a sense he [personified] the world of magic since he [moved] in the world of plants and trees from which almost all medicines and magical substances are compounded.59

The Achadu was the second most powerful official of the kingdom. For example, in memory of his earlier marriage with Ebele Ejanu, future kings were seen as “Achadu’s wife,” and that is why their ears had to be pierced like that of a woman.60 His title was hereditary, and he Maintained an impressive court at Igalogwa, the traditional seat of every Achadu . . . which mirrored the royal palace. Like the Ata, the Achadu was attended by a large following and met regularly with his titled councillors to settle disputes arising within the area under his jurisdiction. In addition to controlling an extensive fief directly, the Achadu was the . . . intermediary for all title holders in the Ibo border area who were not directly related to the king . . . The Achadu carried out the same kinds of daily ritual as the Ata, and at the great annual festivals, acted as ritual custodian of the land shrine [erane], which in a political sense belongs to the Ata.61

The Igala Factor in Igbo History: The Niger as a Zone of Intercommunication The important roles the Igbo played in Igala history parallel those of the Igala in the Igbo past. It appears that Igala influences began before the establishment of the Igbo-Ukwu civilization during the ninth and tenth centuries a.d. Although existing works on kolanuts, cowries, and other means of

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exchange associated with the Trans-Saharan trade do not deal with the Igbo area, it is likely that the cowries used in decorating the ritual “royal pot” of Igbo-Ukwu (ududu eze) were obtained from the Igala.62 T. Shaw has postulated that a caravan route from Egypt connected the lake Chad region by the late ninth century a.d.63 European merchants are known by then to have exchanged the cowries they obtained from the Maldives in Cairo, their major entrepot. It therefore seems that caravans from Cairo exported the cowries to the eastern Sudan to reach Hausa and Igala traders, who respectively dominated trade in the savanna region and the lower Niger. The Igala also marketed salt, cloth, and other commodities, as well as the red-fez cap and the horses the politico-religious elite of northwestern and northern Igboland used in title-taking. In addition to trade, the Niger and its tributaries promoted cultural interaction between the Igala and the Igbo. Their interaction was strengthened when the Igala began to settle on the Lower Niger, intermingling with the local Igbo population. Consequently, there are towns on the Niger, like Illah, that claim both Igala and Igbo origins. R. Henderson’s history of Onitsha also shows that the town was populated before the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by a mixture of people, including Elements of Riverain Ibo, Igala speakers, Awka-Orlu uplands Igbo, western Ibo, and possibly others. Its cultural heritage contains elements from Benin, Igala, Nri, and the lower [Niger] River.64

E. Isichei has also noted many other towns along the Niger that either have Igala quarters or are associated with Igala origins, although, as in other places, the immigrants encountered an autochthonous Igbo group on their arrival. The towns include Asaba, Oko, Odekpe, and particularly Ossomari, which became a leading commercial center during the Trans-Atlantic trade.65 The traditions of the Niger communities provide further insights into Igbo political system before the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and the important roles assigned to the autochthones when their mini states were transformed to mega states. According to I. Nzimiro: One of their special roles is to provide the priest, Eze Ani (Priest of the earthgoddess). In most of these states they maintain a separate corporate identity as wards or subdivisions of wards and take part in all cultural and ritual ritual activities excepting those which are specifically associated with the immigrant groups and which they are believed to have brought with them from their place of origin.66

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Igala Influences in Aguleri: The Igbo-Ukwu Mega-state The examples of the Niger communities are relevant to the debate raging over the origins of the Igbo-Ukwu civilization and the roles played by its autochthones. In a recent study, N. Nwaezeigwe provided detailed information about the cultural plurality of the three agnatic groups of Aguleri, where Eri initially settled before his descendants migrated to other places.67 They are, in order of seniority: the Ivite (Ifite) who constitute the autochthones, variously called “Umudiana,” “Adama,” or “Okpu/Okpu-Enu” (lit. children of the earth, the ancients, or aborigines); the Ikenga whose origins are associated with the Igala; and Ugwu-na-Adagbe comprising two villages of Enugwu and Ezi populated by immigrants from the Igbo communities of Omasi, Nsugbe, and Urada. The Umuezora agnatic group of Enugwu, however, claims that its progenitor, Ezeora, who migrated from Benin, founded the dynasties of Benin City, Aguleri, and Idah. The Umuezora tradition should not be taken literarily. It probably deals with the interaction between the three sacred centers rather than the roots of their civilization. We shall concern ourselves with the first two agnatic groups to better understand the history of Aguleri before and during the rise of the Igbo-Ukwu mega state. Onwuejeogwu has correctly opined that the Umudiana were the earliest inhabitants of Aguleri, whom Eri and his kinsmen encountered when they arrived in the town: Eri, on arriving at Aguleri, met an autochthonous group who had no living memory of their origin. Autochthony . . . is found in many ancient Igbo towns such as the Umudiana in Nri town who claim they were there during the migration to the present town called Nri. The Umudiana also claim “amnesia” which means they recall nothing of their origin.68

The roles the Umudiana played in Aguleri society are, however, different from those of other autochthones of the Niger mega states, who were integrated into the political system and allowed to continue their traditional rituals centered on the earth force. Thus, for example, the younger children of the Umudiana served as palace officials who were maintained by the Eze Nri. In addition, the marriage of Eri’s daughter to the head of the Umudiani lineage group parallels the alliance between the ruling elite on one hand, and the Igala Mela on the other, meant to consolidate the distribution of power between the two most important groups in society.69 Similarly, the Umudiana were the major ritual specialists in the Anambra valley before the Eri era. It is, then, not surprising that their ritual roles expanded during the establishment of the Igbo-Ukwu mega state.

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The Roles of the Umudiana in Aguleri and Other Umunri Settlements Little is known about the environmental history of the Anambra Valley before the arrival of Eri. As already noted, it is likely that the ecological deterioration of the area, and the attendant poor crop yields had lasted many years before the arrival of Eri, who was sent by the high god to save the situation. The Umudiana, like the Bedouins of the Middle East, might have adapted to the challenges of their harsh social conditions by engaging in intense ritual and other religious activities. The arrival of Eri and his kinsmen exacerbated the situation and strengthened the ritual roles of the Umudiana in Aguleri. Thus, after the establishment of the Igbo-Ukwu mega state, the Umudiana ritual specialists continued to serve as the priests of the earth force. They were also given the exclusive rights of cleansing abominations, blessing new settlements to ward off evil spirits, and sanctifying Ofo Ndiche for agnatic heads of lineages and Ofo-Ozo for Ozo title holders.70 In fact, in some communities, those seeking initiation into the Ozo title society were obliged to offer sacrifices to the earth-goddess of the Umudiana, and in the Udi-Awgu axis where the Ozo title system was introduced at a later period, initiation into the Ozo society was carried out by the priests of Ani/Ala in their common religious and cultural centers.71 The Umudiana continued to carry out their ritual functions after the migration of the Umunri from Aguleri to other communities, including Akampkisi, Adazi-Enu, and Oraeri. Hence, the Umunri were directly involved in cleansing abominations only in their communities, which lacked Umudiana settlements.72 The Umudiana were also exclusively responsible for carrying out ritual offerings that gave an Eze Nri the politico-religious legitimacy he needed before ascending the throne. Consequently, during the first stage of his coronation ceremony, the Eze Nri had to offer sacrifices to the earth-goddess of Umudiana, and the shrine of its progenitor. He also presented gifts to the agnatic head of the Umudiana lineage before performing similar rituals in other sacred places.73 The other ritual ceremonies the Umudiana performed include the “ritual death” and “resurrection” of the Eze Nri, meant to transform him into a sacred ruler, and the presentation of his paraphernalia of office during his coronation. Providing some insightful information on the dominant role the Umudiana played on the coronation day, m.d. Jeffreys noted that once the Eze Nri-elect mounted the throne The [Umudiana] priest places on the cowhides before the king . . . the brass face-mask, the sacred spear, the ofo and odudu or orb. The priest taking his ofo invokes long life and prosperity for the new king; exhorts him to perform

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wonders similar to those of his predecessors; and asks that the ancestral ghosts should abide in and guide him . . . The divine king giving his assent, the regalia are handed to him by the . . . priest, who now places on the king’s head the cow-hide-crown adorned with eight white fish-eagle feathers. The divine king [then] assumes the title of “the sky” (igwe).74

Unlike the Igala kingdom, where fiefdoms were granted to the Igala Mela and other important office holders, the Eze Nri relied primarily on tributes in rewarding his ritual specialists. According to Jeffreys, the Eze Nri gave 50 percent of the tributes he received to the Umudiana whom he regarded as his closest fictive kinsmen.75 Thus, when he died, they performed his burial rights, and inherited his property. There is a popular saying in Aguleri that claims that the Umudiana are the inheritors of Eze Nri (Umudiana/Adama na-eri Nri ekpe).76 The Ikenga Agnatic Groups Unlike the Umudiana, Ikenga agnatic groups constituted the royal lineages, comprising the Igbezunu, said to be founded by Eri, and the Umunkete, which associates its origins with Onoja Oboni, the legendry slave trader who raided Northeastern Nsukka communities, the Anambra valley including Aguleri, and other places during the eighteenth century. Although each one of the two royal lineages claim Igala ancestry, we will concern ourselves, here, with the Igbezunu lineage group, and examine later, the Onojo Oboni legend that was incorporated into the corpus of Aguleri myths during the slave trade (Chapter 4). A. E. Afigbo has extensively evaluated the tradition that claims that the Igala pioneered the Igbo-Ukwu civilization.77 Although his views will not be repeated, exponents of the “Igala School” do not appear to have taken into consideration the complexity of Agueleri history, and the changes it has undergone over time. Igbo-Ukwu is a fluvial civilization. It therefore developed in a multicultural environment, encompassing the diverse populations of Aguleri, its neighbors in the Anambra valley, and other parts of northwestern Igboland. The civilization did not emerge overnight. Instead, according to Shaw, it took at least 1,000 years to attain the peak of its fame. Granting that the Igala founded the Igbo-Ukwu mega state, it is a truism that its civilization was nurtured and naturalized in Igboland for many millennia, making it a centerpiece of the Igbo cultural heritage. In addition, as Boston’s study shows, “Ikenga” (the cult of the right hand and success), the name of the Igala agnatic group, owes its etymological origins to the Nri-Awka axis. Henderson has then argued that if Eri and his kinsmen were not from northern Igboland,

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their ancestral homeland was probably located in the Igbo-Ibaji borderland.78 It is noteworthy that the name of the progenitor of the Umunri, Eri, is not found in Igala king lists. But Eri, like Oduduwa and other “sacred kings” had to trace their origins either to the extraterrestrial world or to a major center of civilization when their mini states were transformed to mega states. Since the myths of origins of the “sacred kings” have been a dominant theme in Nigerian history, it is necessary to review them briefly to enrich the debate on the theories of state formation. Kings of Mega States and Their Myths of Origins The Igbo-Ukwu myth, which claims that Eri descended from the sky to Aguleri, has already been discussed. But a new Judeo-Christian twist, representing the official history of the Umunri, has been added to the myth recently, claiming that Eri was one of the leaders of the 12 tribes of Israel, who migrated to Egypt around 2400 b.c., and later moved to the Sudan before settling on the Anambra River.79 Similarly, a Yoruba myth maintains that Oduduwa, the son of the high god (Olorun), who established the Ile-Ife mega state, was ordered by Olorun to descend from the sky, but on arrival on earth, he discovered that it was flooded, barren, and uninhabited. Oduduwa then had to spread a handful of dirt he carried with him to create a landing place at Ile-Ife, which emerged as the cultural and artistic center of the Yoruba. Another tradition claims that Oduduwa was the son of Laurudu, a prince of Mecca who migrated from the Middle East to Ile-Ife where he and his descendants founded the seven original Yoruba mini states: Owu, Sabe, Popo, Oyo, Ila Orangun, Ketu, and Benin.80 Although Yoruba sources associate Oranmiyan, a descendant of Oduduwa, with the founding of the Edo mega state of Benin, the Bini have their own version, which is meant to give them primacy in Yoruba-Edo relations. According to their version, the pristine rulers of Benin City were the Ogisos (kings of the sky), and the first Ogiso is said to be the youngest son of the high god (Osanobua), who was sent with his brothers, including the kings of Ife and other places, to live in the world. But before their departure, each one of them was asked by Osanobua to choose what he needed before landing on earth. Some chose wealth, magical powers, and other things, but the first Ogiso chose a snail shell. His brothers, who found the earth inundated during their descent, were unable to land, while the Ogiso turned his snail shell downward to let sand fall out from it, and dry a spot in Benin City where he settled. His brothers were obliged to recognize him as the first Oba (king of Benin) and the owner of the land when he allowed them to land and settle

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in the city.81 A variant of the tradition claims that the first son of the Ogiso, called Ekaladerhan, was the first Ooni (king) of the Yoruba kingdom of IleIfe, while in his own account, J. Egharevba maintained that the Edo migrated from Egypt to the Sudan and Ile-Ife before settling in Benin City.82 Similarly, the Igala associate the origins of their mega state with either Ebeble Ejaunu, the daughter of a nobleman of the Jukun kingdom, or with Agenapoje, a “sky god” who landed on a rock near Idah, where he established the first dynasty of the kingdom.83 An Evaluation of the Myths of Sacred Kingship Researchers have offered varying explanations of the historical roots of sacred kingship in Africa. For example, T. Shaw, an archeologist who adopted a comparative approach in his analysis, saw some parallels between the myths of sacred kingship in the Nigerian forest region, and those of pre-industrial European societies. He therefore opined that the myths were meant to justify the privileged positions the ruling elite occupied in the mega states, including their rights to exercise authority over human and natural resources.84 Shaw also evaluated the genre of myths that associate the rulers of the mega states with centers of civilization in North Africa, the Middle East, and other places, noting that When people pass from a preliterate to a literate stage, and become swept up into the orbit of a culturally or technologically more advanced world after a long period of isolation, they tend to be dissatisfied with the old folk-tales and the traditions of origin, and try to show their ancient connections with what are currently regarded as the more prestigious centers of civilization and progress.85

Shaw’s views vary from those of anthropologists who belong to J. Frazer’s diffusionist school of thought. They have used the common myths of sacred kingship of the mega states to trace their origins to the Afro-Asian world. According to m.d. Jeffreys, a leading exponent of the school, the Hamites of North Africa spread the ideas of state formation southward to the Jukun Empire, and from there to the Igala, Igbo-Ukwu, Benin, Oyo, and other mega states of the forest region.86 Although the diffusionist hypothesis has attracted much criticism in African history, its monocausal and deterministic analysis of the roots of the mega states simplifies the complex historical factors associated with state formation. For example, it erroneously presumes that all the states were established at the same period, and fails to explain when and how the ideas of state formation spread from one region to the other. Moreover, as this

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study has shown, the pre – mega state societies of the forest region possessed similar politico-religious institutions, and their governance was associated with priests of the earth-goddess, agnatic heads of lineages, council of elders, and others. In accounting for their common features, we then need to go beyond the diffusionist hypothesis, and seek more complex factors that would be helpful in explaining the roots of their common ideas. For example, all the mini states occupy contiguous territories that enabled them to exchange ideas through trade, intermarriage, and other forms of human interaction. As already noted, they also belong to the Kwa-sub-language phylum, which possesses words with common roots and meanings. Economically, the mini states were among the pioneer Iron Age cultivators of West Africa, and they shared similar cosmologies. All these factors helped them to develop some common fund of ideas and values. A comparative study of the mini states of the forest and savanna regions of Nigeria also reinforces the view that they possessed similar politico-religious organizations. Thus, among Iron Age agrarian Hausa societies, heads of their mini states were known as the Sarkin Noma/Sarkin Kasa (lit. chiefs of farming and priests of the fertility cult). Large states like Kano evolved around ancient religious centers. Consequently, priests of the Tsumburburai, the Dala hill, and the grove of Jankara constituted its politico-religious heads of authority.87 In spite of the substratum of ideas the mini states of Nigeria share, some of them were transformed into mega states while others retained their ancient agrarian political structures. The Nigerian historian J. Atande has examined the period when the various societies began to diverge and develop different political systems: [Excepting Igbo-Ukwu], the efflorescence of mega states and therefore, of traditional monarchs [in Nigeria] came in the period 1400–1800. The period saw the transformation of Kanem-Bornu empire, the making of the Hausa states, the rise of Oyo empire, the emergence of Nupe kingdom . . . [and] the expansion of the Benin kingdom . . . The period also saw the beginning of the transformation of Ijo fishing villages into kingdoms.88

It is then true that the location of each mini state and its ability to participate in trade, particularly the Trans-Saharan and the Trans-Atlantic trades, contributed to its transformation into a mega state. For example, both IgboUkwu and the Igala mega states were located on zones of intercommunication on the Niger River and its tributaries. Similarly, Ile-Ife’s location enabled it to control the southern terminal of the Trans-Saharan trade route on the middle Niger. Oyo had greater advantages, in that it “was a savanna state [and] its capital was located only about 50 km from the Niger and 300 km inland

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from the coast.”89 The Benin Empire also played the role of a middleman between the Trans-Saharan and Trans-Atlantic trades. The strategic location of the mega states enabled their rulers to obtain imported goods, especially firearms, which they used in conquering others, to acquire the manpower and material resources necessary for building elaborate bureaucracies. Historically, the mini and mega states shared some basic politico-religious institutions, participated in similar economic activities, and also used similar tools. The differences between them are a matter of scale, exemplified by their varying sizes and bureaucratic elaborations. But neither the mega states nor mini states have been eternal. They develop; reach the peak of their fame, and then decline. The Igbo-Ukwu example is insightful. Igbo-Ukwu: Its Geographical Boundary and Decline The geographical boundary of the Igbo-Ukwu mega state, especially the mini states it ritually controlled, remains controversial. A.G. Leonard, who was a District Officer in the Awka area, overemphasized the significance of Nri and the Igbo-Ukwu in Igbo history, claiming that Somewhere in this locality of Isuama [Nri] in which the purest Ibo is said to be spoken, is to be found the heart of the Ibo nationality, consequently it is quite reasonable to look among its people for the original fountain-head from which other clans have sprung. This inference too is supported not only by the purity of its language but by the right of dispensing or rather conferring royalty which is undoubtedly the prerogative of the Nri.90

D. M. W. Jeffreys, who is a specialist in Nri culture, cautioned against the sweeping generalizations of Leonard, saying: In the past, it had been advanced that all the Igbo were descended from this group [Nri]. This statement confuses the origin of a culture with the origin of a people.91

It is also necessary to mention that Leonard was not a linguist and his views about the superiority of the Nri dialect over others cannot be taken seriously. Similarly, P. A. Talbot has argued that the Oratta-Isuama of Owerri was a major area of Igbo dispersion, claiming that the Oratta-Owerri spoke “the purest form of Ibo dialect.”92 Furthermore, Leonard, in arguing that the Nri had the prerogative of conferring royalty to the Igbo, failed to realize that the Ozo title system and its initiation ceremony involving the Eze Nri were not a feature of most Igbo societies. Jeffreys has correctly noted that

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Not all Ibos are aware of [the Nri traditions] or [their] rituals. It must be be expected that the farther away from the center investigations are made, the fewer will be the facts obtained and that those that are obtained will be liable to distortion.93

The historian, Nwaezeigwe, who specialized in Nri history, came to a similar conclusion when, in questioning the primacy of Nri in the Igbo culture area, he opined that “if the facts . . . are put together, it becomes a case of cultural quixotism for the Umunri to claim the right of the ritual breaking of the kolanut for the entire Igbo nation.”94 In spite of its limitations, the Nri myth continues to be perpetuated in modern Igbo historiography, gaining more momentum after the Nigerian civil war (1967–1970). The end of the civil war coincided with the publication of T. Shaw’s two-volume archeological study of Igbo-Ukwu in 1970, when the quest for Igbo identity intensified, engaging the attention of many Igbo specialists. Shaw’s publications gave hope to the specialists, reminding them about past cultural accomplishments of their people, and the possibility of rebuilding their economy and infrastcture, devastated during the civil war. In addition, Igbo identity and ethnic boundaries became a large issue after the civil war, especially as the Ikwerre and other groups dissociated themselves from the larger Igbo stock. Thus in his 1979 Ahiajokku lecture entitled “A Matter of Identity,” the erudite scholar M.C. Echeruo hit the nail on the head when he expressed concern about the crises of identity the Igbo are facing, using the Ikwerre as an example of People who say they are neither Igbo nor Ijo, but a totally new species of blackmen tracing their ancestry over the heads of their immediate neighbors, perhaps to Egypt or Israel.95

The Igbo-Ukwu centered historiography, as evidenced by the works of M.A. Onwuejeogwu and A. E. Afigbo, its most outstanding advocates, was, then, meant to provide a cultural rallying point for the Igbo as they grappled with crises of the post civil war era. Afigbo, for example, saw the Nri corpus of myths as paralleling those of Ile-Ife in Yoruba mythology, arguing that In spite of . . . [the] eloquent testimonies to the important place which Nri occupies in Igbo history, scholars failed until lately to recognize that it was for the Igbo what Ile-Ife was for the Yoruba peoples-the center around which their world was believed to have been created, their cultural homeland and that probably its history holds some of the answers to many complex questions posed by early Igbo history.96

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Little wonder why Afigbo and Onwuejeogwu tended to trace the origins of the Igbo and their culture to Nri, including the invention of yams, the new yam festival (Ahiajoku) and the yam title (eze ji), the fertility cult of Ala/Ana and her elaborate cosmology, blacksmithing, and many others. These views, which border on cultural imperialism, create the misleading impression that nothing existed in Igboland until the Nri invented it. The deterministic and linear approach of the Nri School also ignores the diversity of Igbo culture, the creativity of other groups, and their contributions to Igbo civilization. Henderson’s study gives a closer estimate of the areas the Nri controlled ritually, and they are located largely in Nri-Awka complex and other communities in northwestern Igboland.97 Nri cultural influences also spread to nearby Ibaji-Igala communities in the north and parts of western Orlu. Similarly, there were Nri influences among the Northwestern Nsukka and some Western Igbo communities where Nri emigrants settled, including Ibusa, Owa, Issele-Ukwu, Ogwashi-Ukwu, and Akwukwu-Igbo.98 Nri ritual control, as already noted, did not extend to a majority of Igbo people living in the southern, northeastern, and northern ecological zones. In fact, it is likely that most of them never heard of Nri, even during the colonial period. Onwuejeogwu uses a contentious concept like hegemony to describe the Nri ritual control over their neighbors. Hegemony, as I. Wallerstein and other social scientists have noted, involves military, technological, economic, and politico-cultural dominance of a state over others.99 Nri was, then, not a hegemonic state. It had neither a government involved in making laws for the communities it ritually controlled, nor an effective means of coercion for enforcing them. Igbo communities are reputed for guarding their political autonomy jealously. Thus, as Henderson pointed out, many communities in northwestern Igboland said to be under the ritual control of Nri remained virtually autonomous in administrating their local affairs, including Adazi, Nnokwa, Nnobi, Abaja, Ojoto, Oba, Obosi, and Onitsha.100 It is therefore obvious that the Nri myth, like its Ile-Ife counterpart, is a mirage that failed to embody the collective experiences of all Igbo people. The debate raging over the Ile-Ife example, and the rival claims by Oyo and Benin Empires, show that such myths might divide the people they are supposed to unite.101 Igbo identity exists in the mental images of the various Igbo groups. But the images are not static, and as the Ikwerre example suggests, they are subject to change depending on historical circumstances. A major task facing Igbo specialists is to find diverse ways and means of protecting and sustaining the common interests of all Igbo people to ensure that the boundary of their ethnic nationality does not continue to shrink. Maybe there are some lessons to be learned from the Ikwerre example in terms of the solidarity the Igbo displayed under the leadership of Nnamdi

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Azikiwe, their hero and champion of Nigerian Nationalism. The Umunri also regarded Eri, their progenitor as their hero. But once the hero passes away, his people who longer have a common rallying point, begin to go in different directions. Eri’s death led to succession struggles among his sons who migrated from Aguleri to other towns: Ogbodudu migrated from Aguleri to Amanuke; Onogu to Igboriam; Onoja to Igala; Iguedo to Umeleri, Nando, Awkuzu, Nteje and may be Nsugbe. Agulu remained at Aguleri. From this point each settlement pursued its own separate existence and development, owing allegiance to Aguleri, where the collective ancestral temple of Eri still stand to this day.102

Eri Ifikuanim, who is said to one of the most famous sons of Eri, also migrated from Aguleri to Enugu-Ukwu, where he became the first Eze Nri of the town. Ifikuanim was so powerful that he exercised ritual control over many other towns, including Nneofia, Enugu-Agidi, Nimo, Nibo, Nisi, and Agulu. But when he died, his sons like those of Eri, were engaged in protracted succession disputes, which led to their migration and the fragmentation of the central authority.103 In addition to its internal crises, the Igbo-Ukwu mega state, based on rituals and other religious symbolisms, was increasingly weakened by the emerging secular and militaristic world of the slave trade. It was, therefore, unable to compete effectively with the emerging powerful mega states of Oyo, Benin, and Igala, whose rulers expanded their frontiers and became increasingly wealthy during the slave trade (Chapter 4). Similarly, there was a shift of power from Nri to the states of the Lower Niger, and the Southern Igbo region where Kamalu of Ozuzu and Igwe-ke-Ala and other religious institutions began to play key roles in the slave trade (Chapter 4). Power shifted once more to the Cross River area from the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, when the Aro dominated the slave trade. Nri ritual power had, during the period, faded so much that Aro warriors called Abam raided the areas the Nri controlled with impunity (Chapter 5). The dialogue between Onwuejeogwu and his interviewee, one Nwoye of Awka, provides a good example of the secular world that was dawning during the decline of Igbo-Ukwu. According to Nwoye: Nri men were very clever and cunning, they [ritually controlled] many places by trickery. When asked [by Onwejeogwu to explain] what he meant by cunning, he responded: We are now doing all they forbade us before, and we are not dead yet! Why? Were they not deceiving us before?104

We do not know how Awka blacksmiths and other craftsmen responded to the challenges they faced during the decline of Igbo-Ukwu. They probably

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acquired more clientele by traveling to nearby ecological zones and later expanded their itineration to other places. There is, however, little doubt that Awka blacksmiths, for example, were, during the slave trade, practicing their crafts in Igala, Ijo, and other communities outside Igbloand (Chapter 5). The blacksmiths migrated and returned home on their own volition. But, as will be examined in the next chapter, many Igbo people who were forced to migrate from their homeland during the expansion of the Benin Empire, and the genesis of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade never returned home.

CHAPTER 4

The Igbo and the Benin, Igala, and Ijo Mega States During the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

D

uring the early Atlantic period (fifteenth-sixteenth centuries), West Africa was characterized by the rise of powerful mega states that changed intergroup relations between the different ethnic nationalities. Using the Edo (Bini), Igala, and Eastern Ijo mega states as examples, this chapter hopes to shed more light on the theories of state formation and explore how the encounter between each of these mega states and their Igbo neighbors impacted Igbo history before the beginning of the Aro trade network. The Benin Mega State and the Igbo during the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries

According to Ryder, Benin City was still a mini state before the early decades of the fifteenth century, and its influence was largely confined to a few scattered villages located within a radius of about 15 miles from the city walls.1 But between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Benin Empire emerged as the hegemonic mega state of the Nigerian forest region, undermining the supremacy of Igbo-Ukwu, Ile-Ife, and Oyo. It expanded northeastward and brought some Yoruba communities under its sphere of influence, including Owo and Akure, and the southern coastal towns of Lagos, Badagry, and Wydah, which developed rapidly during the Trans-Atlantic trade. Southward the Benin expansion affected the Kwale Igbo, Isoko, Urhobo, and Ijo, leading to major population movements in these communities. It had a similar impact eastward among the Ado-na-Idu and some Western Igbo, who migrated and settled on the Niger and other places. Northward,

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the Benin Empire expanded to the Ishan-Edo-speaking people bordering the Igala and the Igbirra of the savanna, linking it to the southern termini of the Trans-Saharan trade on the lower Niger.2 Although there might have been some internal factors that contributed to the rise of the Benin Empire, its expansion was stimulated by the Trans-Saharan and Trans-Atlantic trades. The Rise of the Benin Empire J. Egharevba, who recorded the official history of the Benin Empire, does not provide much information on its military organization and the types of weapons and strategies its rulers used during their numerous wars of expansion. Although he noted that guns were introduced in the empire during the sixteenth century, his book creates the impression that the Obas won their wars due to their inherent warrior culture and magico-religious powers.3 Similarly, the reasons why the Obas waged their wars of conquests are controversial. Once more, inferences from Egharevba’s work indicate that the Obas, like other imperialists, probably believed that they were heirs to a superior culture and hence had a sense of manifest destiny to civilize their benighted neighbors.4 Historians like D. Ohadike have classified some of the wars the Obas waged as punitive measures that were not motivated by material gains.5 S. Stride and C. Ifeka, who did not classify the wars, offered a different perspective on the debate raging over the expansion of the Benin Empire during the slave trade. They shared the views of Ryder, claiming that the slave trade offered little material benefits to the Benin Empire and was therefore not contributory to the great heights it attained in West African history: There is . . . no reason to associate Benin’s wealth and growing power with the slave trade. In point of fact it was mainly female slaves, who were exported, but the most stable and important exports were ivory and pepper, later palm oil.6

These monocausal explanations offer limited insights into the reasons why the Obas of Benin City expanded its territorial boundaries over time, establishing one of the most powerful multiethnic empires in West African history before colonialism. The expansions were similar to those of Old Oyo, and they stemmed from diverse factors, including the strategic location of the emerging empire, the Obas and their quest for political and economic power, and the arrival of the Portuguese and other European traders, which changed the balance of power in the entire West African subregion. Let us briefly review how each one of these factors contributed to the rise of the Benin Empire.

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Location, Trade, and Social Stratification As already noted, the Benin Empire was strategically located at the crossroads of the southern termini of the Trans-Saharan trade routes, and the TransAtlantic trade centered at Ughoton, its leading port in the western Niger delta. But before the Trans-Atlantic trade, the Obas had pursued a policy of expansionism that culminated in the reign of Ewuare the Great (ca. 1440– 1470). Like his predecessors, Ewuare was the supreme commander of the army, but to facilitate his territorial conquests, he created the office of the Iyasare (commander in chief of the army) held by one of his senior chiefs.7 Ewuare is, then, reputed to be the first Oba to transform Benin City into a large empire. It was during his reign that the boundaries of the Benin Empire expanded into many ecological zones, including the southern termini of the Trans-Saharan trade.8 Consequently, the empire was able to exchange its products—like ivory, pepper, and perhaps some slaves captured during wars—with salt, cowries, and copper for its famous brass bronzes. Trade was controlled by the Oba, and it brought much wealth to the empire and intensified social inequality. Oba Ewuare and his successors also increased their wealth by the tributes they received from the conquered areas. They divided the entire kingdom into units controlled by their tributary chiefs, whose “main duty was to organize the yearly or twice-yearly tribute of yams, palm-oil, meat, livestock and other foodstuffs.”9 There is a dearth of information on the various ways the military organization of the savanna mega states and their cavalry-oriented armies influenced Ewuare and his commanders. The Benin army comprised a well-equipped infantry that defeated the cavalries of Oyo and other states. It is likely, however, that Ewuare acquired some weapons from the savanna region and also improved his strategies of warfare during the various military encounters he had with other societies. R. Smith has noted that “the weapons of the savanna were the spear, the javelin and the bow and arrow.”10 The Benin army used similar weapons, especially iron spears and bows and arrows manufactured by the Oba’s guild of blacksmiths, although by 1675 its firepower increased considerably due to the importation of foreign weapons like matchlock, wheelock, and flintlock muskets.

The Portuguese, the Slave Trade, and the Emergence of a Hegemonic State The expansion of the Benin Empire, however, gained greater momentum during the Portuguese era when the political and commercial interests of the Obas shifted gradually from the savanna to the coastal region. Since the Bini

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were landlubbers, the Obas faced major logistical problems in controlling the delta. They surmounted this problem by deploying Ijo canoe men to carry their soldiers to Lagos and other coastal towns that fell under their sphere of influence. The development of a naval force and an army helped the Benin Empire to become a leading military power in the forest region. As will be examined later, the next two Obas who succeeded Ewuare, Ozolua (ca. 1481– 1501) and Esigie (ca. 1504–1550), intensified his policy of conquests and expansionism. Ozolua, for example, pursued the policy of expansionism with such vigor and regularity that he was said to have waged wars “almost every six months . . . and won no less than 200 battles.”11 Although Oba Ozolua welcomed the Portuguese traders and missionaries who arrived in Benin in 1485 and also established diplomatic relations with Lisbon, the king of Portugal consistently denied his request for weapons because he was not a Christian. Thus, as Ryder argued, the Portuguese Took stringent precautions to prevent arms smuggling from the islands [of Sao Tome and Principe], and the theft of vessels lying in the rivers. On the whole, these measures were very successful; so the great achievements of Benin armies in the sixteenth century owed nothing to the use of firearms.12

Ryder’s views are contentious. As will be discussed, guns were introduced in Benin during the reign of Oba Esigie (ca. 1504–1550), and he used them for varying purposes, including the recruitment of slaves. The Portuguese crown was inconsistent in imposing its ban on the export of weapons to nonChristian kings. The crown, for example, readily supplied guns to the natives of the coastal Fanti region of the Gold Coast, called Costa da Mina, to help in defending the forts at Elmina and protect its monopoly of the lucrative gold trade that yielded her an annual profit of 500 percent.13 The introduction of guns in Benin was also interconnected with the developments in the gold-producing hinterland regions of the Gold Coast, which experienced a high rate of mortality among the gold miners due to overwork and poor working conditions. The situation in the gold mines compelled the middlemen of the Fanti coastal towns already colonized by the Portuguese in 1471 to demand payments for their gold in slaves in order to increase their productivity.14 The acute shortage of labor intensified in the Portuguese sugar plantation island of Principe, which became the single largest producer of sugar in the world until the sugar revolution spread from West Africa to the Portuguese colony of Brazil during the 1580s.15 The Portuguese crown therefore decided in 1519 to engage directly in the slave trade to protect its monopoly of the lucrative gold trade and the interests of its merchants in the colonies.16 Surely

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the Portuguese obtained their slaves from the Congo and other colonies, but the Bight of Benin and its Five Rivers, called “the Slave Rivers,” including the Benin River, were also a major source of their slave labor.17 It is likely that the first slaves sold to the Portuguese from the Benin River during the late fifteenth century were obtained peacefully from the Edo, Itsekiri, Urhobo, Ijo, and “Opuu” (Igbo), but as the demand for slaves increased, warfare and raids became the dominant methods the Obas and others used in recruiting slaves.18 The total number of slaves exported from the Benin River is unknown, but Ryder estimates that about 220 slaves were exported annually from the Five Rivers to Sao Jorge da Mina, one of the three major coastal ports in the Gold Coast, between August 1504 and January 1507. The exports to the plantations were much higher, and in 1493 King John II of Portugal granted a license to the Captain of Sao Tome to annually import about 1,080 slaves from the Five Rivers over a period of five years.19 Similar privileges were given to Carneiro to import slaves from Benin to the island of Principe for four years, and his agents are said to have exported over 1,000 slaves annually from Benin to the island.20 Oba Esigie (ca. 1504–1550): Guns and the Expansion of the Benin Empire Benin was therefore seen as an important part of the growing Portuguese Empire, not only because of its pepper, elephant tusks, stone beads (Coris), and other commodities, but also as a source of slaves. Perhaps no other ruler before him had geared his foreign policy to meet the expectations of the Portuguese crown more than Oba Esigie (ca. 1504–1550). He hoped to acquire military weapons to consolidate his power and expand the frontiers of his empire, and also to contain the threats of the nearby rival Itsekiri kingdom. Esigie, then, established diplomatic relations with Lisbon. His ambassador was the Olokun priest of the port of Ughoton, who was probably a Christian convert, while John Affonso (who served as the Portuguese ambassador) was associated with the introduction of guns in Benin City.21 The Oba attracted through Affonso, Roman Catholic missionaries to spread Christian evangelism in his empire, beginning with his court, where he encouraged his sons and two noblemen to join the new religion. The missionary enterprise is said to have been so successful that thousands of people in Benin were baptized. Esigie also promoted the economic interests of Portuguese traders, who purchased the local goods they needed and established a factory at Ughoton.22 No wonder he won the support of the local Portuguese population, and during his wars, Portuguese mercenaries were said to have been

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In close contact attendance with the Oba, assisting him in military affairs, and perhaps giving him occasional support with their own firearms . . . [and] early in 1516 the master of one of the [ships] had seen one of these white men who are with the Oba at the war . . . In October 1516 . . . [some Portuguese] . . . were again accompanying the Oba on a campaign [against the king of Idah].23

It is also noteworthy that Portuguese missionaries accompanied the Oba during the Idah campaign and stayed with him until he returned to Benin City. The Oba also used his weapons to defeat the Udo/Ondo of the Yoruba area, who agreed to pay tributes to him. As will be examined later, Esigie’s army also invaded “Ado na Idu,” and its population had to flee to western Igboland, the River Niger, and other parts of Igboland.24 It is, then, clear that Esigie and other Obas engaged in their wars of expansion to acquire political and economic power. Researchers have dealt primarily with the slave exports from the Benin Empire, ignoring the internal dimensions of the slave trade or the varying roles slaves played in the empire. A large number of slaves were recruited during the wars of expansion to serve in the Benin army and some of them rose to high ranks, as exemplified by the commander of the Queen Mother’s army, who was deployed with his soldiers to assist Esigie’s military during the war with Idah.25 Similarly, when the Benin Empire declared a war against Ubulu-Ukwu in 1750, its army composed of soldiers from Bini, and the satellite communities of Ishan and the Yoruba areas, including slaves.26 Many slaves also served as domestic servants and as members of the Obas’ harem and mistresses of the ruling elite, while others were used as sacrificial offerings to the gods.27 The wars of expansionism, which became a central feature of the reigns of Ozolua, Esigie, and other Obas, must have depleted the manpower resources of the empire, leading to the imposition of strict restrictions on the sale of male slaves during the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries. Demographically, it then appears that the huge export of female slaves and the loss of male soldiers during wars led to low fertility rates and also fuelled the quest for more territories to recoup the population loss and meet the growing manpower needs of the expansionist state. It is true that guns alone may not win wars. But their blistering sounds spread panic and confusion among people who had never known them before, enabling the Benin infantry to attack and defeat them. As E. Isichei noted, there are cases in Igbo history where a single gun proved decisive in battle.28 Benin’s expansionist policy affected its tributary states in various ways. Some Edo-speaking Ishan people migrated northeastward, constituting the Edo chiefdoms bordering the Niger in the east and the Kukuruka northward, while the displaced Yoruba of the Oyo Empire and other places relocated themselves in parts of Yorubaland. Southward, the Benin expansion

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affected the ethnic nationalities that had already settled in the area, leading to the infiltration of “Benin immigrants” into many communities. The traditions of “Bini immigrants” are still remembered among the Itsekiri, the Urhobo, the Riverain Igbo (Kwale, Aboh, and Ahoada), and the Ijo of the delta.29 But the dispersion of the Ado-na-Idu to western Igboland, the Niger River, and other places provides a good illustration of the nature and consequences of the emigrations that occurred during the hegemonic period of the Benin Empire. Ewuare the Great (ca. 1440–1473) and the Western Igbo As already noted, Ewuare the Great was the foremost empire builder in Benin history before the genesis of the Trans-Atlantic trade. However, Egharevba, who gave the “official accounts” of Benin history, appears to have exaggerated the achievements of Oba Ewuare, saying that He traveled [to] every part of Nigeria, Dahomey, Ghana, Guinea, and the Congo, and fought against and captured 201 towns and villages in Ekiti, Ikare, Kukuruku, Eka, and the Ibo country on this side of the Niger. He took their petty rulers captive and caused the people to pay tribute to him.30

It is unlikely that Ewuare either traveled to the countries listed or incorporated the entire Western Igbo area into his empire since the conquests that led to the most massive emigration of the Igbo occurred after his reign. D. Ohadike’s study shows that some of the Igbo who were displaced during his conquests and those of earlier Obas were small groups of people who settled in the Ikelike quarters of Ogwuashi-Ukwu, the Ikwumaga quarters of Illah, and the Opu quarters of Akwukwu.31 Oba Ozolua (ca. 1481–1504) and Esigie (ca. 1504–1550): Igbo Emigration from the Benin Empire Unlike Ewuare, Oba Ozolua and Esigie feature prominently in the oral traditions of some Western Igbo and others who emigrated from the Benin Empire to settle in parts of Igboland. The most documented accounts are those of the Umuchima clan, which give detailed information on their leaders, the places they settled, and their encounter with the autochonous inhabitants of their settlements.32 The traditions of the Umuchima clan claim that they emigrated from a place called “Ado na Idu,” probably located in the borderland between the Bini-Igbo areas that had become tributaries of the Benin Empire.33 Aboh traditions maintain that the emigrations occurred during the reign of Ozolua

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(c. 1481–c.1504), while the Onitsha version asserts that the emigrations took place when Oba Esigie (c.1504–c.1550) was in power. These conflicting accounts suggest that there was no single exodus of the Umuchima clan from Ado na Idu, but different population movements, which probably began during the reign of Ozolua and continued during that of Esigie. In fact, A. Ryder’s work shows that Ozolua was killed during a mutiny of his war-weary soldiers, who were engaged in a protracted military invasion of the Uromi of Ishan.34 It is, then, likely that the conquest and destruction of Ado na Idu that began during his reign was completed by his successor. It is noteworthy that each one of the population movements is said to have been led by Chima, the putative head of the Umuchima clan, even though the Aboh version claims that he died at Agbor, while the Onitsha account states that he passed away at Illah. The contradictory accounts are understandable in light of the fact that the myth of Chima provided a validation charter for each group, helping it to justify its ancestry from the powerful Benin Empire. The reasons given for the emigrations of the Umuchima clan also vary. According to the Aboh version, Chima was their ruler during the period when a fierce succession struggle over the Obaship of Benin ensued between him and Ozolua. After his defeat, Chima and his supporters fled from Ado na Idu, founding the Osisa, Obetim, and Ashaka communities of western Igboland, while a majority of the refugees settled in the town of Aboh on the Niger.35 J. Egharevba affirmed that the Onitsha emigrated from the Benin Empire during the reign of Oba Esigie, but he did not provide any reasons for their emigration. Onitsha traditions, however, offer three different reasons why the Umuchima fled from Ado na Idu. The first reason is similar to the Aboh version, although the succession dispute is said to have involved Chima and Esigie. The second is associated with a civil strife that broke out after some Onitsha people seized and beat up Esigie’s mother, who had gone to their farmland to gather firewood. The Oba, who was said to have been outraged by the incident, sent Gbunmara, his military commander, to invade Ado na Idu, and after many battles the Onitsha capitulated and fled from their homeland.36 The third reason for their flight, recorded by G. Basden, claims that Chima and his people had revolted against the arbitrary authority of Esigie by refusing to pay him tributes and levies. The Onitsha were also said to have ignored the 21-day period of mourning and fasting Esigie had imposed on his empire to mark the death of his daughter.37 Unlike the Aboh account, the Onitsha claim that Chima and his supporters moved in different directions (Map 4.1). A few of them emigrated south of Ado na Idu and settled at Obio. A majority emigrated to Onicha Ugbo, where they subdivided into two groups. One group moved northward to Onicha Ukwu, Ukunzu, and Obamkpa, while the other groups continued

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Map 4.1 Migrations of the Umuchima Clan from the Benin Empire drawn by the Graphic Communications Institute, Cal Poly State University

their movement, founding Isele Ukwu, Isele Asagba, and Isele Mkpitime. Some members of the group continued moving southward, founding Onicha Ulonna and Ezi, while others settled at Illah, where Chima is said to have died. It was from Illah that some of the descendants of Chima were transported by canoe to Onitsha by Igala fishermen, called Ulutu or Ngbkeleke, who had established a camp in the town.38 Oguta, Egbuoma, and Omoku Examples In addition to the Onitsha, the Oguta, a branch of the Umuchima clan, claim that their eponymous ancestors lived at Illah, including Ekenyi, Ugwunta,

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and Inyi. But their settlement was sacked and ravaged by the Igala and Aboh people, who, during a war that raged between them, invaded the Oguta section of Illah accusing its ruler of taking gifts from them without arranging a truce to end the war.39 Besides the Umuchima clan, there are some communities located outside the Niger and its tributaries that associate their progenitors with the Ado na Idu emigration. For example, the founders of the Umuezeala village of Egbuoma trace their ancestry to the Aboh emigrants from Ado na Idu, while the Omoku of Ahoada maintain that their progenitors were among those who emigrated from Ado na Idu during the “Oguaro/Ewuare war.”40 Impact of the Ado na Idu Emigrations: The Conquest and Displacement of Indigenous Communities Researchers have paid little attention to the “conquistador and Machiavellian culture” of the Umuchima warriors and its impact on the autochthonous Igbo communities they encountered in their new settlements. Although traditions do not provide much information on the kinds of weapons the warriors carried during their emigration, they probably possessed guns, spears, poisonous arrows, and other weapons used in the Benin Empire. Thus, as they moved, the warriors were said to have ravaged and “plundered all that stood on their way,” acquiring the name “Onicha” (lit. snatchers).41 In Onitsha town itself, the Benin emigrants fought the autochthonous Oze and took over their land. They also engaged in wars during their expansionist period with the neighboring communities of Obosi, Awkuzu, and Ogidi.42 Similarly, when the Benin emigrants arrived in Aboh, they found out that the town was occupied by Akri, who were said to be versed in fishing, riverain trade, and transportation. Their warriors fought and chased away the Akiri from Aboh, leading to their emigration and settlement in three different locations on the Niger: Akri-Ugidi, Akri-Uteri, and Akri-Utani. The rulers of Aboh continued to assert their control over the Akri in their new settlements, forcing them to pay tributes to “their former conquerors.”43 The experiences of the Awa, who constituted the indigenous Igbo inhabitants of Oguta, were similar to those of the Akri. The Oguta were in dire need of a permanent place of settlement after they had fled from Illah and taken refuge in an obscure place on the Orashi River called Obodo Akpuruekwe. It, however, happened that one of the Oguta settlers called Eneke Otutu, who had gone on a fishing expedition, suddenly rowed into the Oguta Lake, which he reasoned would be an ideal place for his people to settle. The fisherman contacted the priestly chief of Awa, requesting for a piece of land to be allocated to his people. The priestly chief is said to have contacted the

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heads of nearby communities like Obeagwa and Obutu to consider Eneke’s request, and after giving their consent, they asked the immigrants to confine themselves to the land allocated to them. Eneke then returned home and enthusiastically told the Oguta about the wonders of the new land he had acquired for them. They gave him a heroic reception and called him “Eneka Oka Itutu” (lit. Eneke the Great). But when the Oguta began to move to their new home, their warriors were in a war mood: Each village was in its canoes and military leaders were playing war dances (ekeleke). The sight of so many warriors frightened the Awa people. They fled, and their [chief ] was killed and buried on the spot his throne . . . was erected.44

The settlers also killed many other Awa people and chased away the survivors to a distance of about 15 miles from their homeland. Eneke Otutu then took over the palace of the priestly chief of Awa (Ukpo Awa), where he was installed as the ruler of Oguta (Eze Igwe).45 The Overthrow of Existing Political Authorities: The Oraifite, Ozubulu, Ihembosi, Ihiala, and Ohaffia Examples Similarly, in other communities where the emigrants from the Benin Empire settled, they plotted or used their weapons to overthrow the existing political authorities. For example, oral traditions of the Oraifite claim that an exiled prince of Aboh called Anumanu, who belonged to the Umuchima clan, and his supporters took refuge in their community after losing a succession struggle to the throne. They initially settled near the Ibolo tree in Unodu village, forming its Ibolo section. But shortly after their arrival, a border skirmish broke out between their host village and Ezumeri, another village in Oraifite. The Ibolo took advantage of this situation and settled their armed “flute men” (ndi negbu opi) along the disputed border area of the two villages to restore peace among them. They then moved over to Ezumeri, dethroned its sacred authority holder (Isi Obi), and usurped the traditional rulership of the town for many decades. Their political dominance was, however, undermined in 1976 when the community opted for a rotatory system of chiefship among its major lineage groups.46 As in Oraifite, the arrival of immigrants from Aboh called Dara and Dioha Mburuzo, who were said to be two brothers, and their settlement among the autochthonous population of Ihiala and Ihembosi, respectively, brought political changes to both communities. The two brothers, who claimed that they were members of the Benin royal family, maintained that they “ran away from Benin . . . after failing to secure the vacant stool of the Oba.”47

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But after some time, Dara contacted Dioha to help him in fighting against some of his enemies in Ihiala who had been Harassing his subjects. [He then] promised to crown him [Dioha] the Eze (king/chief of the town) if he could decisively defeat [them]. They made a covenant to this effect. Dioha agreed and said that he was going to do so “maka ihi Dara” (for the sake of Dara). This phrase was shortened to “Ihi Dara” which in Onitsha dialect became “Ihiala.”48

The tradition also showed the roles Nri priests played in warfare in the past. Dioha, before going to war, is said to have contacted an Nri priest, Ejimoke, to prepare a war medicine for him called “egbu rie omapkuru” (lit. obedient follower), which ensured that those who drank it would be his loyal warriors. The priest himself, who was the first person to drink his medicine to test its efficacy, quickly volunteered to lead the warriors. Others who took the medicine included Dimogo, probably a relative of Dara, and hunters from the nearby Ohakpu village. Dioha, with his enthusiastic and frenzied warriors, defeated the Ihiala people and took over the traditional rulership of the town. He rewarded his warriors by giving them land to settle, and some of them became the progenitors of the Umudiomogu and Ubahuekem quarters of Ihiala.49 A similar development occurred in Ozubulu, a town that is said to have derived its name from Ubulu-Ukwu in western Igboland. According to tradition, when Ubulu-Ukwu immigrants, who fled during a war with the Benin Empire, arrived in the town, they waged a war against the autochthones called Akpulu, using missiles (agha mpiti) to defeat them. The immigrants then took over the traditional rulership of the town, displacing the autochthones.50 In addition, Ohaffia traditions suggest that some refugees from the Benin Empire called the “Mben” settled among the autochthonous inhabitants, called Nta, during the Benin-Idah war (1515–1516). The Nta are said to have been concerned about the settlement of the Mben and their encroachments on their farmland. They therefore attempted to stop the intruders, saying “Oha ofia bu nke anyi” (lit. all the land is ours), shortened to “Ohaffia,” (the current name of the town).51 The leader of the Mben, called Okpokpo, who claimed to be a commander of the Benin army, had fled with his wife, Orieji, and their relatives during the Benin-Idah war. The reasons why Okpokpo, who was probably a straggler in the Benin army, had to flee are unknown. But their first place of sojourn was the riverain town of Ndoni, whose ruler, Owo, is said to have welcomed them warmly in the hope that Okpokpo would lead his warriors and help in defeating some Egbema and Ahoada communities that were at war with him.

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Okpokpo, after vanquishing the communities, was soon expelled by Owo for undermining his authority. He and his relatives immigrated to the Andoni area, near Opobo, but due to the hostility of the people, they moved and settled in the Igbo hinterland village of Isieke-Ibeku in Umuahia area, forming its Umuajiji quarter. The relations between the Mben and their hosts, however, soured, and soon escalated into open hostility and mutual suspicion. The sudden departure of the Mben from Umuajiji is said to have been triggered by a false alarm associated with a woman preparing a late meal at night: As she was [about] to get some calabashes containing some food condiments from a raffia wicker (ngu ukoku) above the fire place, she slipped and the calabashes crashed [on] the floor. The ensuing noise was inflated by the silence of the night. The Umuajiji mistook the noise for war signal . . . panic spread and [they] quickly hurried out of [their settlement] under the cover of darkness.52

It was from Isieke-Ibeku that the Mben migrated through Bende to settle at Elu Ohaffia. But on their way, Okpokpo’s wife gave birth to Abam, who is said to be the progenitor of a community named after him.53 Although the Benin emigrants changed the history of many communities, the political impact of the Benin Empire on the Western and Niger Igbo has continued to draw partisan debates among historians and social scientists. The Benin Empire and the Western and Niger Igbo The encounter of the Western Igbo with the Benin Empire changed their traditional political system. For example, the Obas often appointed either their sons or their brothers as chiefs (Enigie) of the tributary communities and held their deposed authority holders hostage in the royal capital, where they were exposed to Benin cultural tutelage. The “acculturated” authority holders were later allowed to return home and play subordinate roles in the administration of their communities.54 The new political hierarchy, headed by Enigie and their subordinate chiefs, created tensions in the Benin Empire, and as Egharevba pointed out, tributary states like Agbor and Akure were reputed for their rebelliousness.55 Benin influences are also noticeable in the settlement patterns and military organizations of the Western Igbo. Many of them began to live in more compact settlements and towns—paralleling military encampments— that helped their inhabitants to defend themselves more effectively against outside intrusions. The towns, as D. Ohadike pointed out,

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[were organized] on a war footing, [divided] into sections, each section being placed under a non-hereditary war chief, fashioned after Benin, and bearing such Edo-derived titles as Iyase, Onishe, Ezoma, and Uwolo.56

The Institution of the Omu (Queen Mother) In addition, Benin influences affected the organization of women, leading to the emergence in both the Western and Niger Igbo of the powerful institution of the Queen Mother, called Omu. Although the institution called “Iyoba” (Queen Mother in Bini) was first created by Oba Esigie during the early sixteenth century, the Western Igbo, for example, adopted it and changed its meaning and functions to meet the needs of their political and cultural environment. K. Okonjo has argued that the concept of Omu is not synonymous with the “Iyoba” since she is neither the mother nor a relative of the Oba among the Western Igbo. Instead, the etymology of the concept is derived from “Mona” or “Nneomumu” (lit. she who bears children) abbreviated to “Omu” and used in greeting respectful, wealthy, and powerful women leaders or “mothers” of a community, and the female counterpart of the matrilineal chief/king of a community (Obi). The post of the Omu among the Asaba, Igbuzo, and other communities is elective, whereas it is hereditary among members of the ruling family in Ubulu-Ukwu. Generally, the Omu presides over the meetings of married women of her community (Iyamedi), and like her male counterpart, she selects her own council of advisors, conferring on them different titles. Her diverse functions include the adjudication of disputes among women, cleansing widows, and freeing those of them engaged in protracted ritual mourning. The Omu is also responsible for protecting the economic interests of women, especially the ritual cleansing of markets to ward off epidemics, as well as the enforcement of regulations that are meant to promote peace and civility in exchange centers.57 The selection of the Omu and her functions also vary among the Lower Niger mega states and some Umuchima communities. In Onicha-Ugbo for example, the Omu is required to be an Ozo title holder, and she presides over the council of titled women (Otu Omu society), who are the custodians of the cult of the marketplace and the charms meant to protect the entire community against sinister forces. Similarly, in Onitsha the Omu is expected to be a member of a senior lineage of the town, and as the female counterpart of the Obi (King), she is given the privilege of holding the Ofo ancestral symbol of authority reserved exclusively for agnatic heads of communities. The Omu of Oguta was the head of the most powerful women’s organization of the town (Otu Ogene), while in Ossomari, the Omu wielded considerable

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economic and ritual powers, and her war canoe, said to be invincible, was placed in front of all others during naval wars waged by the king and other members of the ruling elite.58 In spite of Benin influences, the Western and Niger Igbo retained some of their basic traditional institutions since the Obas were unable to exercise direct authority over the large empire they established. Their authority and influence were therefore felt more in territories closer to Benin City than in the peripheral tributary communities, where, according to Ryder, the ties between them and the capital were As light as air, demanding little more than a formal acknowledgement of the Oba at the beginning of his reign and a friendly attitude thereafter.59

Unlike the Western Igbo, some Niger Igbo states still claim closer cultural affinity with the Benin Empire, even though they fled from its imperialistic and authoritarian rulers. This historical irony needs to be explained in light of the politico-religious systems they established after fleeing from the empire. Like their Western Igbo neighbors, the Lower Niger states of Onitsha, Aboh, and Oguta live in compact settlements of high population density. But historically, one can also argue that their settlement patterns were dictated not so much by Benin influences, but by their circumscribed riverain environment and insular locations that lacked enough land for expansion. In accounting for the origins of the mega states of the Lower Niger, one should bear in mind that the Umuchima clan did not settle on the Niger randomly. They made use of the Igala and other guides who were familiar with its terrain, and consequently, their settlements were located on strategic commercial centers. Trade intensified social stratification among them, leading to the emergence of different categories of people with unequal access to wealth and power. One must, then, be leery of using oral traditions that stress the Benin cultural roots of the Umuchima clan in explaining the evolution of mega states among them, especially since other communities located outside the Niger, which also trace their ancestry to the Umuchima clan, did not develop mega states in spite of their “Bini cultural traits,” including the Obamkpa, Ezi, and others in western Igboland. The same is true of Oraifite, Ihiala, and Ihembosi and other communities east of the Niger that were infiltrated by some members of the Umuchima clan and refugees from the Benin Empire. Henderson’s case study of Onitsha history affirms that the Lower Niger communities were small villages (mini states), whose transformations to mega states were accomplished after many decades of adjustments and economic and population growths. Communities like the Old Oyo, Benin, and others played the role of middlemen during the slave and palm oil trades, leading

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to a fierce commercial competition and “trade wars” among them. Aboh, the leading mega state of the Lower Niger, developed its war canoes, patterned after those of its Ijo trading partners, during the eighteenth century. It used the war canoes, equipped with foreign weapons, to fight against Ossomari, its main commercial rival on the Niger. Thus, by the nineteenth century, Aboh had emerged as the supreme naval and commercial power on the Lower Niger, and its king, Obi Ossai, and his leading chiefs, including his senior and titled wives, called Idibo, recruited slaves to man their war canoes and protect their Trading canoes from pirates, and [engage] in such raids and wars as their masters might direct. These personal troops were placed at the disposal of the Obi [king of the town] in the event of a general war.60

It is noteworthy that when the Royal Commissioners campaigning against the slave trade visited Aboh in 1841, they confirmed that Obi Ossai was so powerful that he could mobilize 300 war canoes, mostly armed with muskets and canons, to fight against his neighbors. Thus, when his war canoes invaded Onitsha, firing canons and other weapons, the town was stricken with panic, forcing its king to relocate the central market from the beach of the Niger River to a more secure area on the Anambra River. Oguta was another mega state that played a key role during the slave and palm produce trades. The town linked the hinterland Owerri, Isuama Orlu, and other communities with Kalabari middlemen. Oguta grew rapidly during the nineteenth century, when the middlemen and other traders settled in the town. Although the mega states of the Niger were headed by their king (Obi/Igwe) and his hierarchy of title holders, none of them adopted the Benin principle of succession based on primogeniture.61 For example, succession to the office of the Obi in Onitsha and Aboh was open for competition by every agnatic member of the royal clan. But in Oguta, which lacked a royal clan, succession was much more competitive, involving the consensus of about 25 wards of the town. Furthermore, the Niger mega states lacked town chiefs, tributary chiefs, and other title holders of the Benin Empire, as well as its military structure. The aforementioned differences do not appear to have been taken into consideration by I. Nzimiro and other advocates of the Benin origins of the Niger mega states. Granting that the progenitors of the mega states were Bini people, their culture has not remained static since the fifteenthsixteenth centuries, replicating those of their ancestral homeland. The Benin emigrants adapted themselves to the needs of their local environments by interacting with their neighbors in various ways, including warfare, trade, and intermarriage. In addition, they adopted Northwestern Igbo sociopolitical

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institutions, like the Ozo title association and the Ikenga cult, and hence, their emerging culture bears distinctive Igbo features.62 More importantly, it is unlikely that the Umichima clan and those who infiltrated into the Igbo hinterland were from Benin City. The names of all their leaders were Igbo and not Bini (Edo), and virtually all the members of the Umuchima clan spoke the Igbo language before and after their settlement on the Niger. The Niger Igbo also traded with the Igala, whose mega state reached the peak of its fame during the eighteenth century. The rise of the Igala mega state and its Niger Igbo counterparts contributed to the shift of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade from the Bight of Benin to the Bight of Biafra and the decline of the Benin Empire between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Igbo-Igala Intergroup Relations during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Although the Igala mega state participated in the Trans-Saharan trade, its emergence as a hegemonic state of the forest region began during the middle of the sixteenth century, when the Niger emerged as a major artery of the Trans-Atlantic commerce. The Igala state reached its political and commercial supremacy when it became a leading exporter of slaves to the coastal region. Its growing power, however, disrupted the complex relations the Igala had established with some Igbo communities. Summarizing the emerging IgalaIgbo relations, Afigbo stated that The tempo and character of the relationship between the two peoples started changing from the 16th century or so . . . [when] the European slaving business [in the coastal region], spread up the Niger gradually, probably making its impact on the Igala by the late 17th century. In response to all these pressures, the Igala not only organized themselves better politically speaking, but also resorted to raiding slaves instead of merely waiting to buy them from their agents and brokers across the frontier.63

No other individual played a greater role in shaping Igbo-Igala relations during the eighteenth century than Onoja Oboni, the legendary Igala warrior and slave trader. His rise to power affected the history of the Northwestern Nsukka and the Igbo communities on the Anambra River and the Lower Niger during the Igala commercial ascendancy. Onoja Oboni and Igala Slave Raids in the Igbo Area The study of Onoja Oboni and the varying images he conjures as “a slave raider, conqueror, and imperialist” are controversial themes in Igbo-Igala historiography. For example, the Umunri traditions claim that Onoja Oboni

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was a son of Eri who emigrated northward and became the progenitor of the Igala.64 But the Umunri traditions, which are chronologically compressed to accommodate the legends of Onoja Oboni, are a reflection of Igala influences in the Anambra River during the eighteenth century. The Igala, however, do not associate their origins with either the Igbo or Onoja Oboni. C.K. Meek, in his study of Onoja Oboni, argued that Most of the Nsukka Division was at one time . . . overrun by an Igala raider known as Onu Ojo Ogbonyi [Onoja Oboni]. This person is reputed to be the son of Ata of Idah and to have devastated the Okpoto country, carrying off many of the inhabitants to serve him as soldiers or slaves. He settled eventually at Ogurugu, which he fortified and used as a center for raiding the surrounding Ibo villages. His attacks penetrated as far south as Opi. He is said to be a giant with six fingers and six toes and to have died at Ogurugu.65

Boston’s study, however, does not affirm that Onoja Oboni was the son of the Atah. Instead, he is said to belong to one of the three sub-royal clans that “stand genealogically outside the framework of the main ruling subclan.”66 Onoja Oboni’s sub-royal clan, therefore, claims descent from him and holds the priestly title of Obajadaka, but his relationship to the royal dynasty of Idah is cloudy. Consequently, some members of the ruling subclan regard “him as an omonbule or uterine kinsman rather than a full fledged member by agnatic descent.”67 Similarly, D. Hartle’s archeological excavations at Nsukka have affirmed the fortifications Meek mentioned in his work, called “okpe Igala.” Hartle, however, suggested that the fortifications were used either as defenses by the local people against Igala slave raiders or as temporary warehouses for slaves whom Igala slave traders transported through the Anambra River to Onitsha before selling them to coastal Ijo middlemen.68 Onitsha traditions also provide evidence of the influence of Onoja Oboni in the history of some Niger Igbo towns. According to Henderson, during the reign of Obi Akoli of Onitsha The great Igala warrior Onojo (Onoja) Oboni came from Ogurugu, raided the river towns for slaves, and took Akoli’s daughter, Usse in marriage . . . During [the reign of Akoli’s successor], Onoja Oboni and Usse . . . had a son, Idoko . . . [who] during reign of king Omozele [was sent to Igala to buy its] cloth with black spots representing the royal leopard, brass anklets . . . and brass royal sword . . . [which] have since been the traditional royal attire for the [annual ofala ritual festival].69

Asaba people have similar traditions of Onoja Oboni and the towering role he played in the slave trade between the Anambra and Niger Rivers.70

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The are, however, conflicting views on the impact of Onoja Oboni in northern Igboland. A. J. Shelton, in his pioneer study, for example, regarded Onoja Oboni’s conquests as a larger attempt by the Ata of Igala to control and replace the authority holders of Northwestern Nsukka mini states (Eze/Onyishi) and their traditional gods (alusi) with his appointees and priests (Atama).71 In his own contribution, Afigbo questioned the historicity of Onoja Oboni, although he admitted that the Igala conquered the northwestern part of Nsukka.72 The conquests of Onoja Oboni are interconnected with the growing need for African slave labor in European colonies in the New World. Consequently, European nations readily supplied arms and ammunitions to African rulers and middlemen during the eighteenth century, to provide them with slaves and other export commodities. Onojo Oboni’s warriors were armed with locally manufactured and imported weapons, and their invasions and raids devastated many Nsukka and Lower Anambra River communities, forcing the natives to flee from their valley settlements to the mountain tops.73 Nobody knows the total number of Igbo slaves the Igala sold to coastal Ijo middlemen during the heydays of the slave trade, but the fact that slavery changed the image of the Igbo among them is historically significant. Thus, unlike the pre-slavery era, the Igala and the Ijo began to pejoratively associate the meaning of the concept of “Igbo” with slavery, because of the large number of Igbo slaves they either sold overseas or kept at home as domestic servants.74 In addition to the Igala and Niger Igbo, Southern Igbo communities also played a major role in the slave trade before and during the eighteenth century, and their traditions provide some hints on the genesis of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in the hinterland. Genesis of the Slave Trade in Igboland: The Kalabari Example The Kalabari were among the earliest Eastern Ijo traders to engage in the international exchange system during the middle of the sixteenth century. The traditions of their Ikwerre-Etche trading partners reinforce B. Davidson’s view that the slave began in Africa “as a trickle,” before reaching its peak during the eighteenth century.75 According to the traditions: The devotees of Kamalu of Ozuzu [in the Ikwerre-Etche axis], who linked Kalabari middlemen of the eastern Niger Delta with the hinterland Igbo, pioneered the slave trade in Igboland . . . [traditions further claim] that Igwe-ka-ala oracle of Umunoha was established by oracular agents from Ozuzu. The priests settled in the Owerri axis, a section of Igboland which was characterized by high population density to meet the increasing demands for slaves.76

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Among those whom the oracular priests enslaved were the Osu, or cult slaves, and others who were said to have committed acts of abominations. The priests traveled freely in parts of southern Igboland, establishing shrines of their oracle and buying the Osu from the Eze-Ala (Priests of the earthgoddess) and other sacred authority holders. The oracular priests of Agbala and some of the itinerant Awka blacksmiths associated with them might have also sold the Osu and other slaves to Aboh, Ossomari, and Igala middlemen on the Niger. It is significant that Ryder has noted a similar trend in the Bight of Benin, where religious institutions provided the early slaves sold to the Portuguese, including cult slaves and those found guilty of committing serious offenses in their communities.77 It is, however, unlikely that the peaceful methods of recruiting slaves lasted until the late decades of the seventeenth century, although O. Dapper, who had visited the Kalabari by then, stated that the slaves they sold to the Dutch and other Europeans were obtained from the hinterland by peaceful methods: All the slaves [Kalabari middlemen]sell to the Hollanders are not prisoners of war. There are many more which they bring from their neighbors, and these neighbors in their turn buy them from people further removed north. They also bring provisions by canoe; yams, bananas, palm oil, pigs, deer [and] poultry.78

Dapper’s account is based on secondhand information, since he did not visit the hinterland. Some of the slaves sold to the Kalabari were recruited during raids, kidnappings, wars, and other violent situations, especially when the demand for slaves increased during the Aro trade network (Chapter 5).

CHAPTER 5

The Aro Trade Network: Changes in Igbo Society During the Eighteenth-Nineteenth Centuries

U

nlike the existing oracles, the Aro oracle (Chukwu, Ibini Ukpabi, Long Juju) and the Aro trade network have continued to attract much scholarly inquiry since the colonial period.1 This development is not surprising because British colonial officers documented much information on the Aro, whose “high command,” they reasoned, constituted the major obstacle to their policy of “free trade” and the colonization of the Biafran hinterland.2 In addition, Nigerian historians have used documentary and oral sources to enrich our knowledge of the Aro past. This chapter will, then, attempt to examine the rise of the Aro trade network in the broader context of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, showing how it impacted the Igbo hinterland and the eastern delta states of Elem Kalabari, Bonny, and Opobo. Prelude to the Aro Trade Network The dominant roles the Aro played in the hinterland trade during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have led many researchers to pay undue attention to their trade network, ignoring the various institutions of trade that existed before that period, associated with the sacred authority holders; Kamalu, Igwe-ka-ala, and Agbala oracles; and the Omu (Queen Mother).3 The Aro, no doubt, used the existing infrastructures of trade, including markets and trade routes, in establishing an elaborate trade network in Igboland. For example, in the Abakaliki area studied by S. Ottenberg, Aro middlemen who linked “the Igbo interior and coastal peoples . . . settled near or at the existing markets, to purchase, kidnap and sell slaves, or arrange for others to do so for them.”4 Ottenberg provided more detailed information

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on how small Aro settlements around existing exchange centers at Abakaliki and Uburu towns were connected to their settlement in Ekeimoha market, a major source of their slaves and trade network in the area. The Slave Trade and the Aro Trade Network Although the Aro traded in other goods, slaves constituted the major commodity they sold to coastal middlemen. Historically, it appears that the rise of the Aro trade network and the commercial supremacy the Aro attained in the hinterland trade were correlated with the increased demand for slave labor from the New World when the sugar revolution spread from the Portuguese colony of Brazil to the British Caribbean. The Caribbean then became a leading exporter of sugar in the world by 1700, when its total annual sugar exports amounted to about 50 millions pounds.5 The need for slave labor further increased by the subsequent spread of the sugar revolution to British North America and the cultivation of tobacco, called the “miracle crop,” in Virginia and Maryland.6 The British crown therefore decided to grant a charter to the Royal African Company (RAF) in 1672 to enable its merchants to dominate the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. It is noteworthy that the goods the RAF exported to the coastal regions of Africa engaged in the slave trade, including the Bight of Biafra, were primarily Indian and European textiles, and liquor and tobacco, which, respectively, constituted 50 percent and 25 percent of its total exports. Others were weapons, beads, cowrie shells, and metals and metalware. The Aro and other slave dealers who traded with coastal middlemen used these commodities in buying slaves in the Igbo hinterland.7 P. Lovejoy’s estimates show that British ships carried 2,532,300 out of a total of about 6, 132,900 slaves exported from Africa to the New World from 1700 to 1800.8 D. Eltis and D. Richardson arrived at similar conclusions, stating that from 1662 to 1807, British ships carried about 80 percent of the slaves from the Bight of Biafra. They also postulated that the Niger delta ports supplied nearly 90 percent of the slaves shipped from the Bight during that period, and a majority of those slaves were Igbo and Ibibio people.9 D. Chambers’s estimates shed further light on the magnitude of the slave trade in the Igbo hinterland during the Aro trade network. According to him, out of about 1.34 million Igbo slaves who landed in the New World during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, a majority of them comprising nearly 50 percent the total exports were shipped to British American plantations from 1750 to 1807. The single most important destination of Igbo slaves was Jamaica, and the West Indies in general. They also constituted about 50% of the labor force in the British Atlantic backwater, while a few of them worked in Virginia and Maryland.10 Captain Adams, who undertook ten slaving voyages to Africa from 1786 to 1800, also confirmed the large volume of slave

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exports from the Igbo area. According to him, the Igbo constituted 16,000 out of over 20,000 slaves sold daily in Bonny. He further estimated that over a 20-year period, a total of about 320,000 Igbo people had been sold to European traders at Bonny, and about 50,000 at Old and New Calabar.11 Social Inequality, the Aro Trade Network, and Slavery As already noted, Igbo society was stratified before the arrival of the Portuguese on the Bight of Biafra, and the Igbo who were sold into slavery to coastal middlemen when the Trans-Atlantic slave trade began were probably cult slaves (Osu), the poor, and other less privileged people (Ogbeye).12 This view is reinforced by V. Uchendu, who succinctly stated that slavery in Igbo society constituted a continuum of status disabilities.13 But during the Aro trade network, a broader spectrum of people were enslaved, including farmers, artisans, healers and diviners, and young men and women, who naturally resented plantation slavery in the New World. Small wonder why planters hesitated to buy Igbo slaves, who were generally said to have preferred to commit suicide than to work as chattels. The historic landmark in Sapelo Island in Georgia called “Ibo Landing” continues to attract much interest among historians because it is dedicated to Igbo slaves who simply jumped into the sea to drown themselves and “return to their homeland” instead of working in the fields.14 The coerced enslavement of the Igbo is evidenced by the large quantity of arms and ammunitions Europeans exported to West Africa during the Aro trade network. According to Joseph Inikori, the total European gun exports to the region during the second half of the eighteenth century ranged between 2,83,000 and 3,94,000 annually. The British who dominated the slave trade exported to West Africa from 1750 to 1870, a total of 49,130,368 Ibs of gunpowder amounting to an annual average of about 847,075 Ibs (Table 5.1). Although British exports of lead and shot to the same region from 1750 to 1807 remain unknown, their annual average is estimated at 200,000 Ibs, while their total export of guns from 1796 to 1805 was about 1,615,309 guns at the annual average of 161,531 guns.15 Admittedly, guns were not used exclusively for recruiting slaves; they served other purposes as well, including self-defense and the hunting of animals. Guns were also fired in the air during cultural festivals and funeral Table 5.1

British Export of Arms and Ammunitions to West Africa

Date

Total Exports

Annual Average

1750–1807 1750–1807 1796–1805

49,130, 368 lbs of gunpowder lead and shot (unknown) 1,615, 309 guns

847,075 lbs 200,000 lbs 161,531 guns

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ceremonies of agnatic heads of lineage groups and titled men. But there is little doubt they were a major means of exchange the Aro adopted in trading with coastal middlemen and their hinterland brokers during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The unrestricted importation and use of guns confirm the slave-gun theory, which associates firearms with the slave wars and raids that featured in West African history during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. O. Equiano’s memoirs confirm that social violence promoted by firearms and gunpowder was a major feature of Igbo society during the Aro trade network: We have also markets . . . which are sometimes visited by Stout Mahoganycolored men from the south-west of us: We call them Oye-Eboe which term signifies red men living in a distance. They generally bring us firearms, gunpowder, hats, beads and dried fish . . . They always carry slaves through our land.16

G.I. Jones has suggested that the red men were Igbo traders who rubbed camwood on themselves.17 They were probably Aro traders who sold camwood in the hinterland and applied it on their faces not only as a ritual protection, but as a way of disguising themselves during slave raids. The establishment of the Aro trade network was, however, not an easy task. It was a long process that matured during the eighteenth century, when the Aro had consolidated political authority in their homeland and developed their own commercial institutions that helped them to meet the challenges they encountered in the various ecological zones of the hinterland. The Aro were, therefore, the only oracular traders who linked the various ecological zones of southeastern Nigeria with the middle belt region. The supremacy the Aro attained, leading to their establishment of over 150 trading colonies in the Igbo and Ibibio areas, constitutes a major feat that needs further historical explanations. The Aro: Geographical Location and the Rise of their Chiefdom and Trade Network Arochukwu, the homeland of the Aro, is located in a culturally complex area of the Cross River (Rio del Rey). The Ibibio were the original inhabitants of the area, and like their Bantu neighbors, they were engaged in fishing and farming. But their population increased due to the immigration of the Aro and the Ekoi, intensifying social tensions and the quest for resources in their insular location. K.O. Mbadiwe, an eminent Aro politician and educationist, has correctly argued that the Aro expansion was largely driven by economic forces. According to him, the Aro who were

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Shut out in a small island and blessed with unproductive soil . . . knew that the quest for food, shelter, and clothing must be satisfied from the soil of other towns.18

The rise of the Aro trade network is also correlated with the shift of the slave trade from Elem Kalabari to Bonny and Old Calabar during the seventeenth century. The works of Falconbridge and H. Crow affirm that before then, Old Calabar was hardly visited by European traders.19 The Aro dominated the hinterland trade connecting the Igbo with the Eastern Ijo, and the Efik-Ibibio of Old Calabar, who developed their own trading house systems and plantations that used Igbo and Ibibio slave labor. In a recent study, S. Ottenberg gave an account of the Aro trade routes that connected hinterland Abakaliki communities with the Cross River and Old Calabar: During the European slave trade, [the Aro] moved slaves south from Abakaliki by land to Arochukwu and then further south to [the] Efik community at Itu and Calabar, where they traded them with the Efik who in turn traded them to the Europeans.20

As already noted, the settlement of the Aro in Arochukwu heightened the ecological crisis in the Cross River area, leading to land disputes between the settlers and the indigenous Ibibio population. The escalation of the land disputes into open warfare contributed to the rise of the Aro chiefdom during the second half of the seventeenth century. The Aro, who were hard pressed, sought the help of Nachi, an itinerant native doctor from the Eastern Igbo town of Edda. Nachi not only prepared war medicine for the Aro, but also invited Ankpa warriors from the Ekoi area to assist them. The Ankpa warriors, said to be armed with guns, were able to vanquish the Ibibio and some of them fled, including those who settled among the Efik of Old Calabar. The Ankpa were, however, rewarded for their military assistance, and one of their leaders, called Akuma, was allocated a large piece of land and recognized as the first priestly chief of Arochukwu (Eze Aro).21 The war with the Ibibio laid the foundation for the Aro trade network. Nachi, the native doctor, appears to have attracted some devotees—who hoped to acquire his mysterious powers—including a local trader called Ukpabi. The trader is said to have established the shrine of a deity called Chukwu (the high god), which blossomed into the famous Arochukwu oracle.22 In addition, the Ekoi, who were versed in long distance trade in the Cross River and the Andoni-Bonny axis, are said to have introduced the Aro to the Trans-Atlantic trade. The Aro, as will be examined later, used the Ekpe/Okonko titled society, which originated in the Ekoi area, in

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trading in eastern and southern Igboland. It is also likely that the deployment of the Ankpa-Ekoi warriors helped the Aro to learn the decisive roles warriors could play in warfare and territorial expansion. They then began to recruit local warriors, collectively called Abam, from the Eastern Igbo communities of Edda, Ohaffia, and Abam, during their expansion. The fact that the Ankpa were the first warriors used by the Aro casts some doubts about the development of pre-slavery warrior culture of the Abam. Nachi, the native doctor, was from the Abam-Edda axis, and if his homeland had had warriors, he would have sought their assistance instead of traveling to the more distant and remote Ekoi area to recruit its local warriors. Although the Aro adapted their trade to the demands of the various ecological zones, a review of the roles played by each arm of their trade network provides further insight into how they emerged as the dominant long-distance traders of the Igbo hinterland during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The Aro Oracle and Transformations in Igbo Cosmology and Systems of Law Arbitration The establishment of the Aro oracle (Chukwu, Image 5.1) helped in transforming Igbo cosmology and systems of law arbitration. Surely, as already noted in Chapter 2, Chukwu was the head of the Igbo pantheon, but he was a remote god who was believed to have no direct control over the daily affairs of his worshippers. Most Igbo societies, therefore, did not have shrines of Chukwu, and sacrifices were offered to him through the earth-deity and other gods.23 But the roles of the high god changed during the Aro trade network, when the Aro began to proclaim themselves as his agents. The claims of the Aro, and various powers they assigned to Chukwu, helped to enhance their ritual status and popularity in the hinterland. Thus, as S. Ottenberg pointed out, pilgrims began to visit Arochukwu hoping that the oracle would solve their problems associated with “poor crops, continued illness, epidemics and lack of children.”24 The oracle became a powerful rival ritual center in Igboland, because it attempted to take over many of the functions performed by Ala (earth-goddess) and Amala (Village Council), including the arbitration of disputes. In addition, in some Northeastern Igbo communities like the Ezza of Abakaliki area, “swearing innocence to Ala was largely replaced with swearing at a local Ibini Ukpabi shrine.”25 The oracle also served as a major court of appeal among the Igbo, Efik-Ibibio, Ijo, and other ethnic nationalities of southeastern Nigeria and the middle belt region of Nigeria, which referred difficult cases that

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Chukwu (Aro Oracle) at the Mbari Center, Owerri

might threaten their stability to Chukwu for arbitration, including protracted succession and land disputes.26 The oracle Reached a decision said to be mystically derived, but often, in fact, based on the knowledge of the case brought to the oracle by the Aro or other persons from the locality involved. This frequently involved bribery of the Aro agents who were taking disputants to Arochukwu or of other Aro living in the town.27

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Although those found guilty were said to have been “eaten” by the oracle, they were in actuality secretly sold into slavery to the middlemen of Old Calabar and other slave dealers. For example, out of the 800 accused people from the Western Ijo area who were taken to the oracle in the 1890s to determine their guilt, only 136 returned home. The rest were enslaved and sold by the priest of Chukwu and his Aro agents.28 In addition to enslaving those found guilty, the priest of Ibini Ukpabi received material benefits from litigants, who paid him consultation fees. Aro traders involved in long-distance trade also gave him periodic gifts, especially during annual festivals honoring the oracle. Aro traders, who used the oracle to have free access to the hinterland markets, established close commercial contacts with some leading “big men” of many communities, who began to serve as their local trading agents. Traditions claim that the local agents of the Aro were the pioneers of the Ekpe/Okonko title society in Eastern/Cross River Igbo area and southern Igboland. Ekpe/Okonko Title Society in Eastern/Cross River Igbo Area and Southern Igboland and the Rise of “Big Men” Little is known about the origins of the Ekpe/Okonko title society and the period the society began to spread to the Eastern/Cross River Igbo area and Southern Igboland. G. I. Jones’s work indicates that Okonko was derived from the Ekpe society of the Efik-Ibibio.29 A. G. Latham, however, has given us more insights into the history of Ekpe. According to him, Ekpe originated in the Ekoi area around 1720, emerging as a powerful title society among the mercantile-ruling elite of the Efik-Ibibio of the Cross River basin.30 It is, then, likely that Aro traders acquired knowledge of Ekpe society from the Efik-Ibibio-Ekoi axis and then began to propagate it in eastern and southern Igboland during their commercial expansion in the early decades of the eighteenth century. Oral traditions of the Ngwa and some other Southern Igbo communities confirm that Ekpe, popularly known as the Okonko title society, was introduced by the Aro, and its members often called their society “Ekpe Aro” to emphasize its Aro origins. Some of them joined the Aro troupes comprising headmen, traders, apprentices, armed guards, and porters exchanging local and foreign products with slaves, as well as food items and other commodities needed by coastal middlemen and European traders.31 Okonko therefore served as a major commercial and cultural network that connected eastern Igboland with Bende, a major slave market where the Aro held fairs with Southern Umuahia groups like Ibeku, Olokoro, Old Umuahia, Ubakala, and Nsirimo. Okonko also served as a major commercial institution among the Ngwa, Asa, Ndoki, and Ikwerre-Etche groups. The Okonko zone comprised other Southern Igbo groups of Etiti, Mbaise, Mbano, Okpuala,

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Ikwerre-Etche, the Owerri axis, and parts of Orlu area. Okonko still thrives at the present time in the coastal town of Opobo, which had close commercial ties with the Igbo hinterland. The Aro also taught their local agents the secret writings of Okonko, Nsibidi, known only to full-fledged members of the society. Knowledge of Nsibidi became the most important yardstick for excluding outsiders from the activities of the society in the Igbo hinterland. For example, itinerant traders and others who claimed to be Okonko members were granted the rights to participate in the weekly activities of the society. They were later taken to a private room of Okonko (Ulo Ekpe) to display their skills in writing Nsibidi. Many severe sanctions were imposed on the impostors who failed the “Nsibidi test,” ranging from heavy fines to the outright sale of some of them into slavery. Okonko and Traditional Authority Holders: The Era of Contested Political Power Okonko was an exclusive organization that placed much emphasis on rank and gender. The founder and president of the society, called Eze ngbara (king/chief of ngbara), presided over its weekly meetings and regulated its affairs with the multi-title holders (Ndi ochi akalabu). The single title holders (Eze Okonko) and those seeking initiation (Okpo) formed the third and fourth ranks, respectively, and some of them served as the executive arm of Okonko.32 P.A. Talbot has noted that people joined Okonko and other title societies to increase their wealth and power since initiation fees were shared in relation to the number of titles members had purchased.33 Those who established Okonko or joined the society during its formative period were, however, not necessarily the sacred authority holders, like the agnatic heads of lineage groups and villages. Oral traditions and the documentary accounts of colonial officers suggest that the establishment of Okonko, and its propagation during the slave trade and legitimate commerce, corresponded with the era of contested political power in some parts of Igboland. The authority holders and elders of Ngwaukwu and Ntigha village-groups in northern Ngwaland, for example, are said to have initially prohibited the founding of Okonko in their communities fearing that it might be a rival source of politico-religious power.34 The fears of the authority holders were justified because according to Allen: As Okonko increased in power and arrogance, it began to take over many of the duties which hitherto had been regarded as the prerogative of [the Ezeala] and the village council or Amala.35

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Okonko members arbitrated disputes associated with feuds, divorce, and inheritance. As part of the Aro trade network, they were also involved in the maintenance and policing of trade routes, the collection of debts, and the enforcement of commercial contracts. The masked men of Okonko, who acted as its executive organ, gained notoriety for the ruthless manner in which they dealt with “offenders.” They could destroy the property of offenders, including their houses, yams, and goats, and sell them into slavery. These speedy and “instant” methods of law application attracted many litigants to Okonko, weakening the power of traditional authority holders and their executive organs.36 Major A. G. Leonard’s account of Okonko is valuable in making some extrapolations on how its members increased their income during the global economic depression of the late nineteenth century. Thus, while traveling to Bende in 1898, Leonard was astonished by the large number of Okonko toll-booths he encountered in the Ngwa area: It appears that these Conko [Okonko] houses are nothing but toll-bars hence their close proximity to the roads . . . The custom is for certain members to take it in turn to sit there and demand toll from all passing with goods for trade . . . If this is refused, the club members plunder the goods, and in many cases, seize the owners, or drive them away.37

Toll collection was not confined to the Ngwa area alone, but was quite widespread in other parts of Igboland. Ekejiuba, for example, noted that Aro traders paid tolls in the hinterland.38 The works of many experts like E. Isichei, G. I. Jones, and Stevenson, as well as those of European travelers, including T. Hutchinson, affirm that tolls were collected in the hinterland during the slave trade and legitimate commerce.39 These works further help in questioning the synchronic view, which assumes that the hinterland Igbo lived in a stateless society since they lacked institutionalized authorities like Okonko that collected tolls and protected traders and other travelers.40 As will be examined later, the roles of Okonko and its relations with the authority holders changed over time, especially as Okonko began to attract some heads of compounds, lineage groups, and villages, who used it as an effective arm of local administration. The pioneers of Okonko were primarily the newly rich, engaged in diverse economic activities, including long-distance trade, farming, and the production and marketing of palm oil. It is noteworthy that the palm oil belt of southern Igboland, where Okonko flourished, produced a large quantity of the palm oil eastern delta middlemen sold during the sixteenth century to the Portuguese, who used some of it as provisions for their slave ships and resold the rest at Elmina in the Gold Coast.41 During the Aro trade network,

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the region’s production of palm oil increased, and by the 1780s, Liverpool merchants were exporting about 40 tons of palm oil annually from Bonny and Old Calabar.42 Okonko was, therefore, attractive to the emerging class of well-to-do people in a community associated with the Aro trade network, in that it provided them a forum to protect their common commercial and political interests. In addition, like the House System of the eastern delta and Efik-Ibibio, Okonko promoted upward social mobility essentially on the basis of a man’s material accomplishments rather than his ascribed status. Consequently, Okonko, like the Ozo, Ezeji, and other title associations, helped in reinforcing the ethic of hard work, competition, and individual achievement in Igbo society. Okonko was, however, not a modern democratic society that aspired to give equal opportunity to everybody. Its membership was open only to men who could afford the expensive initiation feasts, and fees ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 manillas during the colonial period, and also perform the rituals considered necessary for upholding the secret symbol and writings of the society. Poor men were left out, and slaves could not aspire to enroll in Okonko due to their status. Similarly, women were excluded from Okonko, not only due to its costly initiation fees, which many of them could not afford, but because they were said “to prattle a lot” and were therefore considered incapable of upholding its secrets.43 Okonko and Aro Traders: A Pan-Igbo Commercial Passport Okonko was established in most Southern Igbo communities, especially along the trade routes. Membership of the society, therefore, served as a pan-Igbo commercial passport to its holder. As Ekejiuba’s study shows, Aro network traders from different parts of Igboland usually stopped at local Okonko houses, “club houses,” where they joined their counterparts in eating, drinking, dancing, and other social activities that were regular features of Okonko weekly meetings.44 Besides providing hospitality, accommodation, and security to Aro traders, Okonko members purchased many foreign goods from them, such as guns, cloth, gin, and tobacco. At times, the Aro granted them credit facilities to buy slaves, food items, and other commodities they needed. As already noted, the involvement of Okonko members in the arbitration of disputes increased the tensions between them and the authority holders, although it yielded more slaves for the Aro, since those found guilty were often sold into slavery. In addition, the guns Okonko members purchased from the Aro probably intensified local wars and raids that led to the enslavement and sale of war captives. Unlike other types of trade that took place openly in the marketplace, the slave trade was often conducted clandestinely. The secrecy surrounding the

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trade stems from the fact that many of those who were sold into slavery were kidnapped. But kidnapping was a risky activity, and once relatives and members of a community learned about it, they demanded immediate compensation. Failure to meet their demands could lead to war. A typical example is the Umundogu village of Ngwa-Obi in northern Ngwaland. A man from the village is said to have kidnapped a young woman born in Umuokoro village, who died during the incident. Outraged, Umuokoro people took up arms and almost wiped out the kidnapper’s village.45 Similarly, Chinua Achebe’s novel also shows that the Umuoffia clan was ready to go to war in defense of its honor, when a woman who hailed from the clan was killed by Mbaino people.46 To avoid reprisals, Akwete people claim that they hardly bought slaves from their Ngwa neighbors. Thus, unlike the Isuama Orlu and other hinterland communities, the Ngwa do not have any slave settlements/quarters established in the town after the abolition of the slave trade.47 Okonko members and Aro traders were therefore obliged to keep their transactions secret to avoid disclosing the identity of their victims. The organization of the Aro trade network parallels in some ways those of the trading diasporas studied by A. Cohen in other parts of West Africa because their members formed A moral community which [constrained] the behavior of the individual and [ensured] a measure of conformity with common values and principle. [They were] a nation of socially interdependent but spatially dispersed communities.48

The Aro and Their Abam Warriors of the Eastern/Cross River Igbo The next important arm of the Aro trade network are the Eastern Igbo neighbors of the Aro, comprising the Abam, Edda, and Ohaffia, who are collectively called Abam. They were reputed for giving their young men some training in guerrilla warfare to enable them to behead a man in battle and acquire full rights of citizenship. Young men who had accomplished this seeming act of bravery were called Ufiem (heroes) and entitled To don the eagle’s plume and red tail feathers of a parrot in token of their prowess in battle. In life [they] enjoyed special privileges and in death [were] accorded the dignity of a warrior’s funeral with a special dance known as okerenkwa.49

The Abam youth who were afraid of engaging in wars were taunted as cowards (Ujo) and subjected to many forms of indignities and discrimination. For example, the Ujo were regarded as adolescents and consequently they were

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forbidden to marry. In addition, the Ujo were not allowed to accumulate wealth in any form, including yams and domestic animals. If they did, the Ufiem had the right to seize their property without any legal redress.50 The Aro, during the slave trade, took advantage of the yearning zeal of the Abam youths to attain the Ufiem status. Thus, when they had targeted a community for invasion, the Aro gave gifts to Abam chiefs and entered into blood covenants (igba ndu) with them to guarantee that their warriors would neither be betrayed nor sold into slavery. The chiefs then summoned the Ujo in their various communities to join the Aro in their invasion. As already noted, Abam invasions were more widespread when the demand for slaves increased in the Bight of Biafra during the eighteenth century. O. Equiano noted by then the disruptive effects of the slave trade in the Igbo hinterland and the types of weapons his people used to defend themselves against the depredations of the slave raiders. The weapons included “firearms, bows and arrows, and broad two-edged swords and javelins . . . [and] shields . . . which cover a man from head to foot.”51 Although Equiano did not name the slave traders, they were probably the Aro and their Abam warriors, who invaded many communities during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Abam, however, did not have monopoly of any weapons in the hinterland. In fact, they used simple weapons made of wood and machetes and refrained from deploying guns in their raids to avoid alerting people of an ongoing invasion. The success the Abam attained in battle was therefore not due to their superior weapons, but primarily because of their skillful guerilla tactics. They raided a community in the early morning hours, beheaded some of their victims, and returned to their base quickly, after the Aro had hurriedly captured and enslaved as many people as possible. Their raids in Igboland varied from one ecological zone to the other, although logistical and other problems prevented them from invading some riverain communities (Map 5.1). Abam Raids in Eastern/Cross River Igboland There was mutual understanding between the Aro, the Abam, and some nearby communities that belonged to the so-called Abam military confederacy, not to raid and enslave one another. The communities shared some common cultural and commercial ties with the Abam and were located in an area that the Aro considered strategic, because it contained some of the major trade routes used by pilgrims who visited Arochukwu to consult its oracle. Thus, for example, Bende was the central terminal of a trade route linking Arochukwu with leading Aro settlements, such as Arondizuogu, and

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Map 5.1 Towns and Villages Invaded by the Abam drawn by the Graphic Communications Institute, Cal Poly State University

Ndienu northward, and a southern route connecting Opobo, Bonny, and other Eastern Ijo coastal communities. The peaceful expansion of the Aro trade in the zone was also facilitated by the Ekpe/Okonko title society, which, as already noted, constituted an

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important arm of the Aro trade network. But there were occasions when the Abam raided Nkalunta, the first Aro colony in Igboland, and some Southern Umuahia communities.52 Their invasion of Ohuhu-Umuahia, for example, is said to have been a failure, leading to the death of many of the warriors.53 Abam incursions in the Igbere town of eastern Igboland are significant in that they provide good examples of the strategies authority holders, elders, and other members of Igbo communities adopted in resisting slave raids and kidnappings. According to traditions, the Igbere, originally called Ebiri, the name of their putative ancestor, were targeted on two occasions for raids by the Aro, called “Aro Oke Igbo,” and their warriors. During the first Abam incursion, some Ebiri were kidnapped or killed, forcing the survivors to flee from their Oroni homeland to a new location later called Eke-Igbere. The flight of the Ebiri helped them to become more vigilant and security conscious. They are therefore said to have mobilized and armed their young men to patrol their community regularly. Unsurprisingly, when the Abam mounted their second invasion, they were defeated and forced to retreat. The heroism the Ebiri displayed during the invasion is still remembered in their local folklore and in the ways each one of their leaders proudly greets the audience during important ceremonies: “Igbo Erughi kwenu!” (lit. the town the Aro could not reach/capture, I salute you!), and the audience responds with thunderous ovation, “ha . . . ha” (lit. yea). The abortive Abam invasion has continued to provide a sense of collective identity among the Ebiri, who were popularly called “Igbo Erughi” until the colonial period, when their name was anglicized as Igbere.54 Southern Igboland As already discussed, the Okonko society was widespread in southern Igboland, and the Aro used it to solve some of the major problems of trade they encountered in the area. Its dense rainforest and the winding, and dangerous routes prevented the Abam from raiding many communities. The Aro were aware of the fact that warfare was incompatible with trade, and consequently, they allied with leading Okonko members and some heads of communities to promote their commercial interests. Similarly, the Kamalu oracle was already institutionalized in some Southern Igbo communities before the genesis of the Aro oracle. The shrines of Kamalu were located with those of the earth-goddess and other deities in the common religious centers of southern Igboland, where its agents served as an executive arm of government.55 In addition, Kamalu (called Kalu among the Cross River Igbo) was probably the most popular deity of Ohaffia, Abiriba,

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and other Igbo groups.56 As for Igwe-ka-ala, its ritual influences radiated from Umunoha to other parts of the Owerri-Igbo and the Nnewe-Awgu area, where its local shrines existed before colonialism.57 (see Image 5.2) E. Isichei’s work shows that Igwe-ka-ala was often consulted by the Ezza of the Cross River Igbo during their wars of territorial expansion.58 As already noted, agents of Kamalu and Igwe-ka-ala oracles were associated with recruiting slaves for Kalabari and other coastal middlemen during the advent of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The Aro therefore faced stiff competition in the existing oracular centers and localities associated with both oracles. It is noteworthy that there are no Aro settlements in the oracular towns of Ozuzu and Umunoha, and the authority holders of Mberi and Egbu are said to have mobilized their people to prevent Aro settlements in their communities.59 Similarly, the Aku of the Nsukka area expelled the Aro from their community after a dispute.60 At times, some authority holders used the Ikoro drum to alert their people of impending Abam raids, and their warriors versed in understanding the drum

Image 5.2

Igwekala Oracle at the Mbari Center, Owerri

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signals took up arms to forestall the raids. But, as in other ecological zones, the Abam raided some communities in southern Igboland. Examples from Ngwa area provide further insights into the varying patterns of resistance to Abam incursions. They will also show how the enslavement of some communities led to their dislocation and changed their cosmologies, giving rise to new place-names, totems, and taboos. Abam Raids in Ntigha-Uzo/Okporo Ahaba and the Evolution of the Plantain Totem (Abirika) Ntigha-Uzo, called Okporo Ahaba during the colonial period, was located in a strategic agricultural and commercial area in the Owerrinta axis of northern Ngwaland (see map 5.1). Its large market, situated at Umuajuju, the politicoreligious center of the community, was said to have attracted a large number of people from nearby Ngwa villages, and others from Etche, Okpuala, and Mbaise-Owerri area, as well as some regional traders as far flung as the Annang/Ibibio axis. The Aro, however, began to attend the Umuajuju market during the slave trade, and some of them decided to settle in the community. The earliest Aro immigrants were two brothers, Okachi and Ngiri, from the Umunkita quarters, who claimed that they were displaced from their homeland by floods. The natives, out of sympathy, were said to have given them land to settle. The next wave of Aro settlers, led by Okoroafor, from the Obi Ekwensu section of Arochukwu, appears to have been larger in number, and it included his slave, called Ukpabi. As their population increased, the Aro, who had a good reconnoiter of the community, decided to deploy the Abam to invade and colonize its strategic market of Umuajuju. The invasion, which took place in the early morning hours, created much panic and confusion in the area as the Abam killed some people, while the Aro enslaved many others. But a majority of the people are said to have miraculously escaped, and those who reasoned that their homeland was no longer safe decided to migrate and settle in the more remote communities of Ngwaobi, Amaise, Amavo, and Amasa. Among the survivors was the priestly chief of the earth-goddess, called Esu, who hid himself in a plantain grove. Since the Abam invasion, the people of Ntigha-Uzo, and their large offshoot settlements in eastern Ngwaland and other places, have continued to recognize the plantain tree as a sacred object for protecting their priest and other escapees. They are, therefore, popularly called “ndi oso abirika” (lit. those who do not eat plantains) by their Ngwa neighbors. It is noteworthy that one of the villages, whose agnatic head escaped during the Abam raids by hiding himself in his wife’s chicken pen (Nkpuka), took on a new name after the raids, and up until the present time it is called “Nkpuka.”61

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Abam Raids in Ohia-Ukwu Ohanze: The Development of the Three-Leaved Yam (Onu) Totem and Resistance to Slavery Like Umuajauju, Ohia-Ukwu, the politico-religious center of the Ngboko Ohanze in eastern Ngwa, was said to be a major commercial center that attracted traders from neighboring Ngwa communities, the Ukwa (Asa and Ndoki), and the Annang/Ibibio areas (see map 5.1). Aro traders, who hoped to colonize Ohia-Ukwu and link it with Bende and the southern terminal of their trade route in the eastern delta, used the Abam to invade the town. Their invasion, which led to what Allen described as “a massacre” of many people and the enslavement of others, precipitated the most massive population movement remembered in the history of the community.62 Some of those who survived migrated to Ngboko-Amiri, Ndiakata, and Ibeme. But as in Ntigha-Uzo, the priestly chief of Ngboko Ohanze survived the raids by hiding himself under the cover of the three-leaved yam (onu), and as a result, the Ngboko adopted the three-leaved yam as their totem. It is therefore a taboo for anyone to destroy it or eat its tuber. Another taboo that stemmed from the invasion is associated with a dog, which is said to have nearly betrayed the priestly chief by barking near the place he was hiding. The Ngboko prohibit the rearing of dogs in their community due to the perfidious roles they are said to have played during the raids.63 The Abam invasions aroused a sense of military alertness among the Ngwa. For example, women carried out economic activities like farming in groups (oru ogbo), and those who attended distant markets were accompanied by their armed husbands. Authority holders and elders used the Ikoro drum to alert their warriors and the entire community about suspicious movements of the Aro and the Abam, and in some places, like Ikem Elu of Nvosi in Isiala Ngwa, Aro trade routes were blocked, and their armed young men threw stones and other dangerous objects to chase away Aro traders. The Aro avoided the Ikem Elu route, nicknaming the village Ndi Olu Mbe (lit. those who throw stones at us), a popular name the village continues to bear till the present time. In addition, war gods like ike-oha (lit. the power of the community) and udu-agha (lit. war pots) were consecrated to provide defensive training skills to young men, who served as local warriors and policemen of their communities. Those who killed the Abam and other slave raiders were seen as heroes and granted the privilege of joining the authority holders, elders, and titled men in dancing the famous ese-ike (lit. powerful drums) music played during the funeral ceremony of men reputed for their outstanding accomplishments.64 The warriors were initially equipped with machetes and other local weapons, as well as Dane guns, also called flintlocks, which were imported

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in large numbers in the Ngwa area during the slave trade. It is significant to note that the traditions of Owerri, a town that was probably founded during the eighteenth century, claim that one of the pioneers of the town defeated his rival with guns he bought from Ngwa traders.65 Major Leonard provides us with an account of the Ngwa and their military alertness during the late nineteenth century: Although the people [the Ngwa] who enroute turned out in thousands to look at us appeared to be very friendly and peaceably disposed, not a man apparently moved a step without carrying a naked sword in one hand and a rifle at full lock on the other. Even the boys, some of them not higher than ordinary man’s knee . . . walked out armed with bows and pointed arrows.66

The alertness of the Ngwa prevented further, more extensive Abam raids in their large territory, and as F. Ekejiuba noted, the Aro regarded the trade routes crossing the area as among the most dangerous in southeastern Nigeria.67 The increasing hostility and insecurity the Aro experienced in Ngwaland is helpful in understanding why they relied increasingly on Okonko and other more peaceful methods of trading in some Southern Igbo communities. Riverain and Coastal Communities and Western Igboland Unlike other ecological zones, the Aro and the Abam encountered transportation, logistic, and military problems in the Riverain and coastal communities and western Igboland. They are landlubbers, lacking skills in canoe transportation and riverain warfare. The Aro and the Abam also avoided raiding the Riverain and coastal towns that traded directly with eastern delta middlemen and fortified themselves with imported muskets and canons. Consequently, the Aro established different types of commercial relations with the fortified towns. For example, the politico-commercial heads of Oguta, Ahoada, and Isiokpo allowed the Aro to settle in their towns and trade directly with eastern delta middlemen.68 But those of Akwete and some other towns on the Lower Imo River forbade the Aro from settling in their communities, to enable them to monopolize the trade with Bonny and Opobo coastal middlemen. As will be discussed, the tensions that developed between the politico-commercial heads of Akwete and Obegu, on the one hand, and Aro traders on the other hand, contributed to the so-called Aro Expeditions that led to the British invasion and conquest of the Igbo area (1901–1902).69 Similarly, the Aro did not trade on the Lower Niger, dominated by the Igala and the two most powerful mega states of the area, Ossomari and Aboh,

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which had, by the eighteenth century, developed armed trading canoe houses similar to those of the eastern delta. The Aro and their Abam warriors were also prevented by the Niger from operating in western Igboland. Social violence in the area was promoted by the Ekumeku society, whose members were dreaded as much as the Abam because when they invaded towns, “all available property was looted and any captives taken were condemned to slavery.”70 Northern Igboland: Aro Alliances with the Ogaranya (wealthy and influential men), including Leading Members of Ozo and Eze Anyinyi (Horse) Title Societies and Heads of Ezza Communities There were greater concentrations of Abam raids in northern Igboland than the other ecological zones (Map 5.1). As E. Isichie correctly noted, “most of the [raids] took place in the Nsukka, Awka, and Anambra areas.”71 The area was far from the Aro homeland, and as a result, it did not have the Ekpe/Okonko society that often deterred the Aro from invading many Eastern and Southern Igbo communities. Ecologically, the grasslands of northern Igboland and its semi-savanna environment facilitated the movement of Abam, posing less transportation, logistical, and communication problems than the forest region. The high population density of the northwestern section, and its ecological deterioration, tended to intensify political rivalries and land disputes among some communities. Consequently, the wealthy and influential men of the communities (Ogaranya) including Ozo titled men took advantage of the situation by allying with the Aro and their Abam warriors.72 A similar alliance with Aro and their warriors was established by some leading men of the horse society (Eze Anyinyi) of the Abakaliki-Nsukka axis, whose membership was based on competition and personal achievement. The alliances the Ogaranya struck with the Aro and their warriors enabled them to acquire considerable political power during the slave trade.73 For example, heads of Ezza communities in Abakaliki, who were expanding against their neighbors, used the guns and ammunitions they purchased from the Aro to equip their own warriors and increase their agricultural land as well as political and economic power.74 Abam warriors also invaded some communities in the Abakaliki axis, including Afikpo and Uburu, where the Aro established trading colonies. Similarly, the Abam raided many towns in the Enugu area, including Agbaja and Ukpati. They settled at Abboh after their raids and allied with the Nike, who were the local slave dealers of the UdiNsukka axis. The Abam teamed up with their ally to invade Opi, Ukehe, and other communities. Abam raids devastated the Nsukka town of Eror, leading to its disintegration into the three distinct communities of Eror Uno, Eror

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Agu, and Umualor.75 The Nike, themselves, established two major types of settlements during the slave trade. The first type of settlements comprised mostly villages of the free-born indigenes and slave raiders (Amadi) and a few villages occupied by slaves (Ohu). The second category of settlements, which served as pickets to the Amadi villages, consisted of villages almost exclusively populated by the Ohu, located in the expanding borderland and farming areas, captured during the slave raids called Ndi Agu (lit. those in the field).76 The slave raids in the northwestern part of Nsukka became more intensive and destructive as the Aro and their Abam warriors competed for supremacy with Onoja Oboni, the Igala slave trader.77 The Ogaranya of northwestern Igboland who traded with Aro sometimes deployed the Abam in local wars and in raiding nearby communities to acquire slaves. The Ogaranya also had their own large labor force, including their family members and slaves, who were divided into two major categories. The first category comprised their “personal warriors,” who were equipped with guns and other weapons bought from Aro traders. The warriors were responsible for fighting wars meant to protect the interests of their masters and for protecting trade routes and long-distance traders. The second category of the labor force was engaged in food production, trade, and other economic activities that increased the wealth of their masters. The wealth and influence the Ogaranya acquired, and the politico-judicial and executive powers they exercised in their communities, posed a threat to the traditional authority holders. The fragmentation of political authority in Igbo society, which probably gained greater momentum during the expansion of the Aro trade network in the eighteenth century, was intensified in the nineteenth century, leading Isichei to conclude that the latter period was “a time of changing political forms when the rule of the elders was undermined by the rule of the wealthy and powerful.”78 E. Isichei also noted how other individuals and communities associated with the Aro trade network acquired political power in northern Igboland. For example, Ikelionwu, the founder of a settlement in the Awka area, named after him (Ndikelionwu, lit. kinsmen/descendants of Ikelionwu), was said to be a slave of the Aro who used firearms to play a decisive role in a local war that had bedeviled various communities in the area.79 His military victory enabled him to emerge as a leading authority holder of the communities, and Ndikelionwu became one of the major Aro settlements, supplying slave troupes to the fairs that the Aro held in Bende.80 In addition, the Nnewi, who had border disputes with their Awka-Etiti neighbors, hired the Abam to attack their neighbors, forcing them to flee into a thick forest called “ohea akpu Chukwu.”81 The Abam were also used in the civil war that raged among the different sections of the Nnewi community between the 1860s and 1890s.

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The Uruagu section, which retained the services of the Abam, deployed them not only in raiding their opponents, but in attacking nearby towns like Nnobi and Oraifite.82 Similarly, the protracted dispute between members of the Anaedo/Agbaja clan, comprising Nnewi, Orifite, Isu, and Ichi towns, probably escalated during the Aro trade network, leading to the dissolution of the clan. Nnewi, which was targeted for invasion by warriors retained by one of the rival towns, is said to have acquired its name after a rabbit saved it from the invasion. John Alutu, an Nnewi historian, has given an account of the etymology of “Nnewi,” claiming that before the invasion A [native] doctor was summoned to prepare a charm which at night, transformed itself into a rabbit (ewi) that covered the entire fringes of Nnewi with its footprints. When at last, the individual invaders drew near, they saw these footprints and concluded that [nobody lived in the area]. Thenceforth, they retreated and the invasion fizzled out. Thus, Nnewi became safe and, in commemoration of the [event], the town was given the name, Nnewi by its inhabitants.83

Although the historicity of the myth of the rabbit is difficult to establish, it is noteworthy that the rabbit remains a totem among the Nnewi. In addition, the myth failed to provide some insights into the identity of the invading warriors. It is, however, likely that they were the Abam, who had not familiarized themselves with routes leading to the town before the invasion. The Obosi are also said to have hired the Abam to invade Onitsha people, who had perennial land disputes with them. Abam raids were so much feared in Onitsha that, when it was rumored in 1876 that the Abam were about to invade the town, its population fled and took refuge in the bush and other places.84 The Awkuzu, who also had land disputes with their neighbors, deployed the Abam in the 1890s to raid Nteje, Igbariam, and Aguleri.85 Arondizuogu, the most important Aro colony in Igboland founded in the eighteenth century, served as a springboard for more far-reaching invasions of the Abam in the Okigwe area. The Abam wrecked many Isu towns, and according to Jones, during their invasion of the Isu group in Orlu District, the Ora were almost wiped out and the nearby communities of “Uzi, Umuagwo and Umuakaru suffered heavily and the two latter have almost died out.”86 Similarly, Abam raids in Elugu forced its inhabitants to flee to the hill tops.87 The Aro took advantage of the flight of the Elugu to establish their colonies of Ndienu and Ujalli in the community. Abam invasions of the Otanchara community led to the enslavement of many people, forcing others to flee from their homes.88 The various raids and invasions yielded a large number of slaves, making Arondizuogu a major source of slaves for the Aro slave fairs in

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Bende.89 As in other parts of the hinterland, the Aro and their Abam warriors encountered much resistance in northern Igboland. Resistance to Abam Invasions in Northern Igboland The Nri kingdom, as already noted, had declined during the secular and militaristic era of the slave trade. It lacked the means of coercion to contain Benin invasions of western Igboland, the raids of Onojo Oboni and the Abam in the Nsukka axis, and the Abam incursion in the Nri-Awka axis. Nri’s pacificist philosophy, which contributed to its decline, is evidenced by the types of weapons its blacksmiths manufactured: [They] . . . made spears and cutlasses and [at a] later date Dane guns. But these primitive instruments of naked force were transformed into ritual objects. Thus spears were used as the staff of peace (otonsi), and the staff of political office (alo). The club was used as the staff of ritual-political authority (ofo), and cutlasses as objects of yam cult (ifejioku) . . . In the face of militant cultures . . . the Nri kingdom simply recoiled like a snail in its shell.90

Eze Nri Enweleana was the only priestly-king of Nri who adopted innovative and different strategies in resisting the Abam raids. According to tradition: He relentlessly opposed the intensifying brutal activities of the notorious Aro slave dealer, Okoli Ijoma of Ndikelionwu. He sent agents to dissuade Ijoma from instigating [communities] to fight one another with arms and [warriors] from Abam, Abiriba and Ohaffia.91

But when Ijoma refused to heed the warnings, the Eze Nri cursed him and formed a military alliance of nearby Nri-Awka communities (called Amakom) to end the depredations of the slave raiders. The members of the alliance comprised Awka, Nibo, Nise, Amawobia, Ugwuoba, Enugu-Agidi, Ebenebe, Ukpo, and Amansi members.92 The military alliance is said to have achieved some success, since it checked Abam invasions in the Awka-Agulu axis. The alliance probably dissolved due to internal rivalries, which enabled the Aro to open up new fronts in Orlu and Ihiala areas. Although the Awka were members of the Amakom military alliance, they took many measures to defend their community against Abam raids. They formed vigilante groups armed with snider rifles to prevent Abam incursions.93 To ensure that all adult males participated in the vigilante groups, the Awka established the otite festival, mandating itinerant blacksmiths to return home annually to participate in the festival. The blacksmiths then had to work on six-monthly rotations to avoid paying the stiff fines

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imposed on those who failed to attend the otite festival and to defend their community.94 The architectural designs of Awka buildings also reflected the emphasis the community placed on its security. For example, residential buildings of family members and their kinsmen were enclosed with high walls containing perforations for firing guns. The walls also had towers for monitoring the movement of slave traders and intruders. Unlike the Awka, the Enugu-Ukwu, who also belong to the Nri-Awka complex, adopted the strategy of the fox and waged a cold war against the Abam. Their strategy involved dropping poisoned foods, water, and wine along the routes the Abam used to invade the community. This strategy terrified the Abam, who mysteriously died in large numbers before their invasion. The Abam decided to exclude the town from future invasions. As a mark of their victory over the invaders, the Enugu-Ukwu proudly called themselves “Ike Melu Edda” (lit. the powerful town that defeated the Edda/Abam).95 Some communities that individually lacked the necessary manpower and material resources to defend themselves against external incursions formed a ritual alliance among themselves to ward off Abam raids. A typical example is the Umuchu confederacy, comprising Ihite, Ogwugwu, and Okpu-na-Achala autonomous communities, which hired a native doctor to perform a ritual that would unite them and also prepare some preventative medicine against Abam invasions called ichu (lit. prevention, driving away). The native doctor buried the symbols of ichu in many places, including the Nkwo market and Odere Lake, which were then renamed Nkwo ichu and Odere ichu, respectively, and up to the present time the three communities are still called Umuchu (lit. the children of Uchu).96 Similarly, the Isochi and Nneato of Okigwe formed a confederation to ward off Abam incursions.97 Debates Raging Over the Aro Trade Network: The Political Dimension The political impact of the Aro trade network in the Igbo hinterland has been a source of much heated debate among historians, anthropologists, and other social scientists. S. Ottenberg, for example, opined that the Aro trade network constituted an important integrative mechanism in Igbo society, linking the various ecological niches of southeastern Nigeria and the middle belt region with the Atlantic system.98 K.O. Mbadiwe, who was fascinated by the establishment of the Aro trading colonies and Abam conquests, has argued that Pax Britannica prevented the Aro from colonizing and integrating the entire Igbo area into a political entity.99 These views tend to ignore the contradictory effects of the Aro trade network, which also served as a source of political

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fragmentation in the hinterland. Thus, in many communities, there were two rival authorities: the traditional authority holders on the one hand, and the Ogaranya and leading men of title societies on the other. The crisis took a different form in some communities that experienced intensive Abam raids, including Ntigha-Uzo, Ohia-Ukwu, and Arondizuogu. The destruction of the politico-religious institutions of some of the communities and the displacement of the local population to a “new world” where they evolved new place-names, taboos, and totems are reflections of the dark and gloomy sides of the Aro trade network. In addition, even though the Aro adapted their trade network to the demands of the various ecological zones, it is unlikely that they would have succeeded in colonizing Igboland. Take for example the roles played by each arm of the Aro trade network, which some people have used to justify the establishment of the “Aro trading state/empire.”100 It is obvious that the structure of the Aro trading empire did not parallel those of conventional African mega states, since it lacked central organs of law making and law application. In addition, G. I. Jones has disputed the prevailing views in colonial circles that were used to justify the Aro Expedition (1901–1902), claiming that the Aro trade network was highly organized and coordinated by a central command structure.101 M. Klein expressed a similar opinion, arguing that members of the Aro Diaspora and their trade network “maintained a high degree of local autonomy, and their separate activities were in no way coordinated.”102 The Aro oracle served as a loose and nominal court of appeal in the hinterland, because transportation and logistical problems prevented many communities far away from Arochukwu from consulting it. The communities relied on their own judicial methods in settling protracted disputes their village councils failed to resolve, including the consultation of nearby oracles and the administration of ritual oaths with the staff of offices of the ancestors (ofo Ndiche/Ndichei), healers and diviners (ofo Dibia), and the priest of the earth-goddess (ofo Ezeala). It is also remarkable that the ancestral laws of the earth-goddess continued to serve until the colonial period as the central moral codes of Igbo communities. Hence, even though the Aro and other oracles transformed Igbo cosmology, they did not proclaim any sacred laws that were observed in Igbo society. Similarly, the Abam and members of Ekpe/Okonko, Ozo, and other title societies did not constitute executive arms of the Aro trade network, since they were neither maintained by the Aro, nor rewarded by them for their services. The symbiotic relationship that existed between them and the Aro remained fluid, and at times broke down when the latter failed to protect their mutual interests. For example, Ohaffia warriors are said to have abstained from the Abam invasion of Obegu town in 1901, because

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they accused the Aro of attacking and enslaving friendly towns.103 Similarly hinterland communities mounted toll booths not only to protect the Aro and other long-distance traders, but to protect themselves against sporadic Abam attacks. A. Latham and A. Hopkins’s studies indicate that Okonko and other title societies performed functions similar to those of Ekpe of the Ekoi and Efik-Ibibio of the Cross River basin. The title societies emerged among agricultural peoples who were responding to the demands of the overseas trade, and their operations lay in the hands of their local leaders.104 The Aro commercial supremacy lasted about 150 years, a period long enough for the Aro to be able to establish an Igbo mega state. But the Igbo mini states, reputed for their autonomy, resisted the Abam incursions fiercely and heroically to preserve their sovereignty. The impact of the Aro was not felt in all the nooks and crannies of the hinterland, and as Ottenberg correctly noted, there were many Igbo people who never heard about the Aro, even during the colonial period. Historically, neither the powerful mega states of Ile-Ife and Oyo nor the Benin Empire could integrate their entire ethnic nationalities into a single polity. Similarly, each one of the 14 Hausa states remained sovereign and autonomous until the Fulani Jihad of 1804–1841. Economic and Demographic Impact There are also divergent views on the economic and demographic impact of the slave trade, which cannot be discussed in detail in this study. Probably, the Aro and members of their trade network benefited from the slave trade, and its consumption culture, which changed the lifestyles of African brokers. But their benefits and lifestyles pale into insignificance in comparison with those of their contemporaries in the Western world involved in the TransAtlantic slave trade, including the rice and tobacco grandees of southern United States and the mercantile-industrial class of Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Nantes, and Amsterdam. The slave trade in the Igbo area stifled economic development and technological innovations. A majority of the people then remained relatively poor, especially as a result of Abam raids, which created a vicious circle of fear, insecurity, famine, and poverty. This vicious circle is helpful in understanding why some impoverished parents pawned themselves or their children to eke out a living.105 The Abam, and the devious methods that slave traders associated with them adopted in recruiting slaves, also contributed to the distinctive demographic patterns of slave exports from the Bight of Biafra. A case in point is Arondizuogu, the leading supplier of slaves to the Aro fairs in Bende. According to the account of its local historian, recorded by Isichei:

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There were three ways of capturing . . . slaves. One way of doing it was to go into a woman’s house whose husband [had] died and capture her and [her children]. Another way was that [a] brave [man] hid by the bush side so that any weaker person passing along might be seen by him and then he would jump out and capture the weaker person. The last way of capturing slaves was by capturing small boys and girls during heavy rain.106

Thus, unlike other regions of West Africa, the percentage of male (53.90 percent) and female (46.10 percent) slaves exported from the Bight of Biafra during the eighteenth century was almost equal.107 Lovejoy’s analysis of the age and sex distribution of the slaves exported from Africa between 1600 and 1800 is also important, because it shows that the average age of young males and females was about 14–30 years, while those of children was less than 14 years.108 If a majority of about 1.34 million Igbo people shipped to the New World were primarily young people and children, who constituted the “cream of the crop,” the economic and demographic impact of such a huge population loss are far reaching. K. O. Dike, a pioneer Nigerian historian, has deemphasized the demographic impact of the Aro trade network because of the high population density the Igbo area was able to sustain after the abolition of the slave trade. In his opinion: The belief that the bulk of the slaves handled in the Atlantic trade were captives from tribal wars or that kidnapping and raids were the normal methods of obtaining the human victims is now seen to be a half truth when applied to the tribes east of the Niger. The oracle directed by the Aros, was the medium through which the slaves exported from the Delta ports were largely recruited.109

Modern historiography does not support Dike’s views. In his recent account of the slave trade in the Abakaliki area, J.O. Ijoma opined that most of the slaves in the area were not exported through the Aro oracle, but “were the result of spoils of war, or had been purchased by the Aro [through their local agents].”110 The judicial process associated with the Aro oracle was a slow and difficult method of recruiting slaves, since it involved, for a majority of Igbo people, a tedious journey to Arochukwu, through winding and, at times, unsafe trade routes. Some people close to Aro traders were also aware of the fact that the decisions of the oracle were often manipulated by the Aro and their local agents to enrich themselves. Thus, like the Spanish inquisition against Jews, wealthy and prominent people in some communities were falsely accused of

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Table 5.2

Political Organization in Nigeria since the Late Stone Age Methods of Enslavement of Koelle’s Informants by Percentage of known Instances

Method of Enslavement

Northern zone

Southern zone

Taken in war Kidnapped Sold by relatives or superiors Sold to pay debts Judicial process Other reasons Totals

38 (10) 15 (4) 4 (1)

– 33 (5) 33 (5)

8 (2) 12 (3) 26 (6) 100 (26)

13 (2) 13 (2) 7 (1) 100 (15)

Treason and witchcraft, and challenged to prove their innocence by invoking Ibini ukpabi to support their denial of the charge. The wealth of the accused might be sufficient enough to secure a favorable verdict but financial losses might have been sustained in cleansing his name.111

In addition, E. Isichei’s work dealing with the nineteenth-century slave exports confirms that most of the slaves sold in the Igbo hinterland by then, amounting to about 60 percent of its total exports, were recruited by raids and kidnappings, while about 20 percent of the slaves were obtained through the judicial process and the remaining 20 percent by outright purchase.112 Her estimates are close to those of S. W. Koelle, who studied the linguistic and ethnic backgrounds of West African slaves whom the British navy captured and resettled in Sierra Leone during the nineteenth century.113 His study shows that about 53 percent of the slaves were obtained through warfare and kidnapping in the northern zone (Table 5.2). Although the total number of those enslaved during warfare in the southern zone remains unknown, 33 percent of the slaves in the zone were recruited by kidnapping. It is noteworthy that only about 12 percent and 13 percent of the slaves were procured by the judicial process in the northern and southern zones, respectively. The Igbo example confirms the postulations of Claude Meillassoux, who argued that social violence was interconnected with slavery in West Africa.114 The Rise of Igbo Kingmakers and Kings in Elem Kalabari, Bonny, and Opobo As in the Igbo hinterland, the establishment of the Aro trade network affected the demographic and political history of Eastern Ijo fishing villages during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It, for example, led to an unprecedented influx of Igbo slaves into the fishing villages, and incidentally, contributed

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to the important roles the slaves played in the transformation of the fishing villages into city/mega states. The examples of Elem Kalabari (New Calabar), Bonny, and Opobo are enlightening. G.I. Jones, E.J. Alagoa, and others have examined the structural changes Elem Kalabari fishing village underwent during the period it was transformed into a city-state.115 But as already noted, the Igbo had played a major role during the early history of Elem Kalabari, as evidenced by Kamalu, one of its priestly chiefs.116 Similarly, Igbo slaves sold during the Aro trade network, whom the Ekine society had integrated into Kalabari culture, constituted major agencies of change in the city-state. The Ekine society, which never existed in Bonny, Okrika, and other city-states due to their historical linkages with the Igbo, was an important institution for the enculturation of slaves into Kalabari culture.117 Ekine masquerades symbolizing water-sprits were displayed during important cultural festivals, and mastery of their drum languages, metaphors, and rituals was considered necessary for acquiring the rights of a citizen. Igbo slaves who were adopted as fictive kinsmen of their masters’ households and extended families (wari) and who had also mastered Ekine culture were seen as free citizens and accorded rights of citizenship comparable to those of the indigenous Ijo population.118 Although Ekine helped Igbo slaves to acquire the rights of citizenship, it did not guarantee them special economic and social privileges. Their ability to climb the social ladder was dependent on their individual achievements. Horton has examined the historical factors that led to the rise of Igbo slaves to prominence in Elem Kalabari society during the slave trade. According to him, when European traders arrived on the coast They made contacts with enterprising individuals in the community [and] gave them advances of trade goods [to enable] them to go up to the hinterland markets to bring back cargoes of slaves. With profits from the trade, these enterprising people started to buy slaves not only for sale at the mouth of the river, but also for incorporation into their own household. As the trading households grew larger, their heads gave promising slaves advances of goods to start trade on their own account.119

In addition to trade, the canoe house was a “naval force,” equipped to defend its cargo from the rival canoe houses. Weapons the canoe houses used changed during the eighteenth century, reflecting innovations in military science and technology in Europe. Thus, unlike the seventeenth century, when the weapons of the canoe houses comprised mainly shields and throwing spears,120 a typical canoe house in the eighteenth century was “armed with muskets and with a canon lashed to the thwarts at the bow and stern.”121

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Headship of a canoe house was similar to that of a corporate organization because it was based on competition and individual enterprise, different from the ascribed lineage system of the fishing village. Canoe houses rose or fell, and many grew larger than the others depending on the abilities of their leaders. The canoe house system then promoted the upward mobility of former Igbo slaves in the eastern delta. King Amakiri of Elem Kalabari Amakiri is celebrated as the most popular king of Elem Kalabari because of the measures he took to end the protracted crises his city-state was facing, including bloody civil strife among its heterogeneous population and the outbreaks of infections and fires that depopulated many wards. Because of his popularity, Ijo traditions have tended to see him as an indigene of Elem Kalabari, ignoring his Igbo ancestry. P. Talbot’s study affirms that Amakiri (Ama, “town,” Kiri, “place”) generally anglicized into Amachree, was [an Igbo] slave and adopted son of Kalagbaa. It was during his reign that Danish guns were introduced, and it was, no doubt, mostly through the possession of these new weapons that Amakiri became the greatest and most powerful king in this part of the world . . . [monopolizing] the entire trade with the tribes of the interior.122

Surely, Danish guns helped Amakiri to consolidate his power and conquer other eastern delta towns. But his rise to fame also lay in the competitive canoe house system of the delta and the close alliance he established with hinterland Igbo communities. Amakiri I, the founder of a dynasty named after him, had attained great heights in the competitive canoe house system of Elem Kalabari before he ascended the throne during the eighteenth century. He had more canoe houses than his rivals and dominated trade with the hinterland Igbo. Amakiri was a master of statecraft. He ended the civil war that had bedeviled the Elem Kalabari community and purchased a large number of slaves from the Igbo hinterland to repopulate the wards of his city-state that had been depopulated by the civil war and the outbreaks of fire. Amakiri was therefore able to increase the total number of its wards from 7 to 14.123 He manned his war canoes with reputed warriors and slaves of Igbo descent, including Orikadibia and Elebike, who fought gallantly against Okirika, Bonny, and other rival city-states.124 The victory Amakiri’s war canoes attained in battle helped to increase his fame, and by the time he passed away, he was said to have established the

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largest city-state in the eastern delta, incorporating Tombia, Abalama, and other islands into his sphere of influence. It is noteworthy that the Amakiri dynasty has continued to reign as the Amayanabo (king) of the Kalabari until the present time.125 Although Bonny also became a mega state during the eighteenth century, when it established its own canoe houses, its historical experience was different from that of Elem Kalabari. For example, unlike Elem Kalabari, Igbo slaves constituted the preponderant population of Bonny during its transformation into a mega state. In addition, some of the early rulers of Bonny, including Okpara Ndoli, trace their ancestry to the Ndoki-Ngwa axis.126 Bonny kings were therefore not exclusively of Ijo ancestry. Some were Igbo, or a mixture of Ijo and Igbo ancestry. Ndoki-Ngwa towns on the Lower Imo River constituted the commercial lifeline of Bonny, and its rulers are known to have established marriage alliances with the hinterland communities to strengthen the commercial ties between them. For example, King Asimini, who is said to have reigned during the genesis of the slave trade, gave his daughter Edimini in marriage to Apoli, the Ndoki ruler of Azuogu. Edimini, popularly known as Queen Kambasa, returned to Bonny with her husband to ascend the throne when her father passed away. She is said to have introduced one of the principal deities in Bonny, called Otuburu, from her matrimonial homeland. She also introduced another major deity, the Igbo goddess of fertility and war called Ananaba, probably from the Obegu-Ngwa area. The goddess was also used to ritually fortify warriors of the town before they went to war.127 Queen Kambasa herself was succeeded by her son Kamalu and their dynasty ruled Bonny until the death of the eleventh priestly king, Warri/Igbani, probably in the nineteenth century. In addition, King William Dappa Pepple (reigned 1836–1852), continued to adopt a similar policy of promoting strong ties with the hinterland, and his “first wife and queen was an Ibo woman from Ndoki area [whose] relatives had considerable influence in the communities which controlled . . . the oil markets.”128 An Era of Crises in the Eastern Delta: Problems of Elective and Hereditary Succession The nineteenth century was, however, a period of crises for the Igbo kings and kingmakers in the eastern delta and their canoe houses. Some of the leading chiefs came face-to-face with the contradictions of the canoe house system when they aspired to be kings and met the stiff opposition of traditionalists who invoked the principles of hereditary succession to the throne. Ironically, both in Elem Kalabari and Bonny, the most powerful canoe houses were headed by slaves of Igbo ancestry. The dynastic dispute among the

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Kalabari, for example, escalated into a civil war that led in 1883 to their migration from Elem Kalabri to the northern fringes of the delta, where they settled in Abonnema, Buguma (the abode of their king), Degema, and Bakana (1884).129 Similarly, Bonny was riven by a rivalry between its two most powerful canoe houses: the Manilla Pepple and Anna Pepple canoe houses, headed, respectively, by wealthy slaves of Igbo descent: Oko Jumbo and Jaja Anna Pepple. The rivalry, as in Elem Kalabari, precipitated a major civil war in 1867 and the intervention of the British Consul. But as will be discussed in the next chapter, the crisis in Bonny led to the banishment of King Jaja Anna Pepple of Opobo and the disruption of trade in Igbo towns located on the Lower Imo River. It also served as a signal of the unfolding, and perhaps unstoppable, colonial frontier that would engulf entire southeastern Nigeria during the early decades of the twentieth century.

CHAPTER 6

Abolition of the Slave Trade and the Geneses of Legitimate Commerce, Christianity, and the New Imperialism

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he nineteenth century was a turning point in African history in that it marked the abolition of the slave trade and the geneses of legitimate commerce and the “New Imperialism.” Historians are, however, contesting the historical linkages between the various themes and their impact on African societies. This chapter hopes to enrich the debate, showing how legitimate commerce and colonialism changed Igbo history before the Aro Expedition (1901–1902).

The Compatibility of the Slave Trade and Legitimate Commerce A detailed study of the abolitionist movement falls outside the scope of this book, although it is necessary to mention that the leaders of the movement were closely associated with the new ideas of “freedom and equality,” which had gained increasing popularity throughout the United States and Western Europe during the Industrial Revolution. In England, for example, its leaders comprised strange bedfellows such as the Enlightenment philosophers and Deists, who were advocates of scientific and rational thought, and the Evangelical Christians of various protestant churches, who believed in salvation and the amorality of slavery.1 The abolitionists waged a relentless campaign against the slave trade and its adverse moral and economic impact on the heathens of the “Dark Continent,” whom they hoped to save and uplift through the introduction of Christianity, Commerce, and Western civilization. Their campaign was particularly appealing to the industrialists and merchants of Liverpool and other cities, who hoped that the abolition of the slave trade

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would enable them to switch to legitimate commerce and obtain precious raw materials from West Africa, especially palm oil (used in manufacturing lubricants, candles, soaps) and palm kernels (exported from the 1860s for manufacturing margarine, cooking fats, and cattle feeds).2 The efforts of the abolitionists yielded fruitful results when the British government abolished the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1807 and also dispatched its naval squadron to the coastal waters of West Africa to intercept slave ships and resettle freed slaves in Sierra Leone. The abolitionists and their supporters, however, appear to have ignored the realities of the Trans-Atlantic economic system in predicting that the introduction of legitimate commerce would end the slave trade. As many historians have argued, the shift from the slave trade to legitimate commerce did not immediately end both the external and internal slave trades. D. Northrup, for example, estimates that the total number of slaves shipped yearly from the Bight of Biafra during 1801–1810 was about 11,000, but from 1820 to 1826, the total number rose from 15,000 to 20,000.3 In addition, D. Eltis’s study shows that the total number of slaves exported from the Bight of Biafra during 1821–1843 amounted to 227,000.4 Similarly, the export of palm oil from the same region to Liverpool rose from 3,000 to 8,000 tons within ten years (1819–1829) and 13,600 to over 40,000 tons from 1839 to the 1860s.5 The British navy was only partially successful initially in suppressing the external slave trade because many interlopers managed to escape, particularly to Brazil and Cuba, where plantation slavery continued to thrive. Estimates indicate that 3.30 million Africans slaves were transported across the Atlantic during the nineteenth century.6 Some interlopers, like Blanco of Cadiz in Spain, were therefore able to reap incredible profits because of the escalating costs of slaves in South America and other parts of the world. In the 1830s, Blanco was Known as the “Rothschild of slavery”—an allusion to the world’s richest banking family at the time. [He] reckoned that if he could save one vessel in three from capture he could make a profit. At his slave-holding camp on a group of islands of the Gallinas River in West Africa, he could keep 5,000 slaves at a time, guarded by lookout posts 100 feet high equipped with telescopes to warn of approaching British patrols. He permanently employed a lawyer, 5 accountants, 2 cashiers, and a harem of 50 beautiful African slave girls.7

The persistence of the British navy led to the abolition of the external slave trade in the Bight of Biafra in the 1840s. But the internal slave trade dominated by the Aro trade network continued because there was increasing demand for labor during legitimate commerce.

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Aro Trade Network: Gender of Slave Exports and Varying Adaptations to the Crisis of Legitimate Commerce The abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade created what A.G. Hopkins called “the crisis of adaptation” among members of the Aro trade network.8 The Aro and other major slave dealers of the Bights of Biafra and Benin are estimated to have lost about 85 percent of their slave export earnings as a result of the abolition of the slave trade.9 The efforts the Aro made to recoup the loss of their major source of income are helpful in explaining why Abam raids, kidnappings, and wars featured prominently in the history of some Igbo communities during legitimate commerce.10 But unlike the eighteenth century, when the percentages of males and females exported from the Bight of Biafra were almost equal, the ratio of males exported from the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries increased from 0.57 to 0.65 due to varying reasons.11 As will be discussed, some large-scale producers and traders of palm oil and kernel in Igboland used slave labor during legitimate commerce. In addition, the middlemen of the eastern delta city-states of Elem Kalabari and Bonny deployed their male Igbo slaves in canoe houses to buy palm produce for them from the hinterland. Slaves were also used in bulking palm produce and in transporting it to European supercargoes. Female Igbo slaves became more expensive to buy because of the growing demand for their services. Some were married to the middlemen, who used them as surrogate mothers to integrate male slaves into their households, while others ended up as mistresses, petty traders, and domestic servants.12 Okonko, Ozo, and other title holders who belonged to the Aro trade network continued to sell slaves, although they responded to the challenges of legitimate commerce in different ways. Some increased their wealth during the nineteenth century, especially those located in the palm oil belt. They also supplemented their incomes with toll collection during the depression of the 1880s–1890s, when commodity prices collapsed. Those who neither participated in the production and sale of palm oil and kernel, nor invested their wealth in other economic activities, slid into poverty. Although historians disagree on how its profits were shared, the palm produce trade also transformed the overall structure of wealth and power in Igbo society. An analysis of the volume of labor, credit facilities, and other inputs available to the various groups in the Bight of Biafra may be helpful in estimating their net surpluses and benefits. It is, however, important to mention that the Igbo were the leading producers of palm oil and kernel in the Biafran hinterland because of their location in the palm oil belt of West Africa. P. Lovejoy and D. Richardson’s study confirms that the Niger delta ports, which were connected with the palm oil belt of the Igbo area,

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emerged as the major exporters of palm oil in the African continent during the second half of the nineteenth century, supplying about 85 percent and 75 percent of all palm oil exports from the continent in the late 1820s and 1840s, respectively.13 Old Calabar, for example, dominated the palm oil trade until the 1840s and early 1850s when Bonny and New Calabar exported over 50 percent of the total oil shipped from West Africa.14 But their supremacy was undermined in the 1870s by Opobo, which gained an upper hand in the export of palm oil until the end of the nineteenth century. By 1883, for example, Opobo was exporting about 8,000 tons of palm oil annually. Its export figures remained the same in 1888, while those of Bonny, Old Calabar, and New Calabar were, respectively, 4, 000, 7,000, and 5,000 tons.15 Gender Issues, Slave Exports, and the Internal Slave Trade The large volume of palm oil and kernel the Igbo produced during legitimate commerce created the need for labor, changing the gender of slave exports from the hinterland. As already noted, more males than females were exported in the Igbo area during legitimate commerce. Although S. Koelle’s linguist inventory on West African slaves resettled by the British government in Sierra Leone does not raise gender issues, it gives some insights on the pattern of the internal slave trade in Igboland during the early decades of the nineteenth century.16 The inventory shows that most of the re-captives were from the densely populated areas of central and northern Igboland, which are located outside the palm belt zone. Both areas primarily provided the slaves who were sold to coastal regions. The palm belt zone does not appear to have sold many people into slavery. Instead, it probably imported slaves from the other zones for legitimate commerce and food production. It is true that the average rural family, comprising a man, his wife, and children, was the basic unit of economic activities during legitimate commerce. But as will be shown later, it is also equally true that some leading men and women engaged in the production, transportation, and marketing of palm produce used both male and female slaves to increase their output and wealth. They had more resources than the average family to purchase slaves, whose costs fluctuated over time, ranging in West Africa from £11.00 to £17.20 between 1821–1825 and 1826–1830 respectively.17 The slave trade has been aptly criticized for being predatory as well as dominated by warriors, kidnappers, and professional traders. Small-scale farmers hardly played any major role in the export economy of their societies during the eighteenth century. Similarly, during this period, families produced subsistence crops rather than export commodities. This situation changed in the nineteenth century because the production, transportation, and marketing of

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palm produce tended to reinforce the division of labor in families. For example, while men harvested the palm trees, their wives were responsible for carrying the fruits to their residence. The former shredded nuts from their clusters and pounded them after they had been boiled, whereas the latter and their daughters extracted oil from them. Women were assisted by their children of both sexes in the tedious and slow task of cracking the outer casing of palm kernel, ensuring that the nuts were not damaged.18 Estimates indicate that it is necessary to crack four hundred nuts to produce one pound of palm kernel.19 In addition, women played major roles in the transportation and marketing of palm produce at the beaches located in riverain towns. The Niger Igbo towns of Ossomari, Aboh, and Onitsha served as marketing centers for the Northwestern Igbo, while the palm produce from the Northern Igbo groups in Nsukka area was transported to Ogurugu and other towns linked to the Anambra-Niger Rivers. The Imo River was the major artery of trade linking the Ngwa, Ndoki, and Asa with the coastal middlemen of Bonny, Okrika, and Opobo, while other Southern Igbo groups in the Ikwerre-Etche axis were connected to Kalabari middlemen by the New Calabar River. The same river also linked the middlemen with the Sombreiro and Egenne-Orashi Rivers, which flows into the Oguta Lake, where the primary producers of Owerri, Isuama-Orlu, and Okigwe sold their palm oil and kernel.20 The beaches or exchange centers, however, were generally extremely far for most of the primary producers, and because of the long distances involved, women traveled in groups with a few men, who provided them with security. Some of the men were their husbands or slaves of the Ogaranya. After haggling with the palm produce traders, women were paid with iron bars, cowries, salt, stockfish, and other imported goods. They kept the proceeds from palm kernel for themselves and gave those from palm oil to their husbands.21 Legitimate Commerce and Social Stratification Although legitimate commerce enabled small-scale farmers or common people to participate in the international economic system, the benefits they derived from it appear to have been overemphasized by A.G. Hopkins and D. Northrup.22 The latter, for example, used his study of legitimate commerce to justify his contentious model that the Igbo lived in a lineage-based and stateless society, arguing that when palm oil became an important export commodity, oil palms passed from communal control to lineage or family control: This development was in clear accord with the over-all tendency of hinterland societies to seek a balanced distribution of wealth and power amongst the

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component parts as well as to avoid centralizing political and economic power.23

On the basis of his analysis, Northrup then concluded that the benefits of legitimate commerce in the hinterland were distributed in “an egalitarian way.”24 His idealistic views do not reflect objective reality. The introduction of legitimate commerce did not drastically change the land tenure system of the hinterland Igbo, although it brought some changes in the administration of palm trees. Each family head was entitled to harvest the palm trees located within and near his backyard (nkwu azu ulo), while all adult males participated, on a fixed day of a month, in the harvesting of their communal palm trees (iwu nkwu). In addition, women were allowed to harvest the communal and family palm trees once a year as “payment” for their weekly cleaning and weeding of the major roads of their community. Instead of decentralizing the political system, the commercialization of palm produce brought a more centralized and better administration of palm trees in Igbo society. Drawing on the Ngwa example, J.G.C. Allen maintained that when palm oil and kernel acquired greater commercial value New regulations were formulated by the village councils to control the taking of produce from communal trees in a community. The majority of palm trees in a village were now reserved for a community, no matter whether they are of natural growth or have been planted by an individual . . . and to prevent the deterioration of the trees through continuous cutting, a certain day is set apart generally once in 20 days, when every member of the community may cut as much produce as he desired.25

The production, transportation, and marketing of palm oil and kernel are labor-intensive economic activities. It is estimated that 300 pounds of palm fruit (25–30 clusters) are required to produce a 36-pound tin of semi-hard oil, and the labor required is about three to five person-days per tin.26 Granting small-scale farmers had access to infinite palm trees, their productive capacity would have been relatively low since they and their wives lacked the manpower for large-scale production of the export commodities. In addition, small-scale farmers experienced some transportation problems in marketing their palm produce. R. Law has estimated that the average headload of oil a person could carry was about five gallons (40–50lbs).27 As already noted, many hinterland people had to walk a long distance to the riverain communities to market their palm produce. Estimates of their long journey provided during the colonial period, when better roads were constructed, are insightful. For example, in 1916 the journey from Aba to Opobo and from

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Umuahia to Opobo was estimated to have lasted six–seven days and 20 days, respectively, while it took five–ten days to travel from Akwete to Owerrinta.28 Besides the transportation problems, small-scale farmers also incurred some expenses that reduced their profit margins, including the money they spent in buying food and paying tolls during their trips. Granting women were accompanied by their husbands, the quantity of palm produce both of them carried in their long journey amounted to 80–100 lbs. These problems intensified social stratification in Igbo communities, leading to the rise of wealthy and powerful men and women during legitimate commerce. A typical example is Ananaba of Obegu. Ananaba of Obegu Recognized as “King of the Ngwa” Unlike the small-scale producers, agnatic heads of lineage groups and heads of villages and village-groups and titled men of Okonko, Ozo, and other societies, and their wives, were among the leading producers and marketers of palm oil and kernel. The authority holders had usufructuary rights over the large ancestral land attached to their office, including its palm trees (ohia ofo ukwu). They also had large families and domestic servants and were entitled to tributes of free labor from their kinsmen on each orie day of the four-day Igbo week (oru orie).29 They were, therefore, able to produce palm oil and kernel in commercial quantities. A good example is Ananaba of Obegu, who had over 200 wives and other family members as well as slaves engaged in the production, transportation, and marketing of palm produce. He established close commercial ties with Akwete and its politico-mercantile elite as well as with the middlemen of Bonny and Opobo. His commercial and cultural influences in the delta are evidenced by the fact that Bonny’s fertility cult and war-god, which probably originated from his community, was named after him.30 Ananaba was certainly one of the richest and most influential hinterland palm produce merchants; hence, when the British first entered his impressive and large compound, they thought he was the dominant traditional authority holder of the Ngwa people. They, therefore, recognized him as “king of the Ngwa” in 1895.31 Wives of the Ogaranya as Leading Palm Produce Traders: The Ngwa and Ndoki Examples Although men like Ananaba acquired considerable wealth from the palm produce trade, women also became major palm produce traders and retailers of imported goods, especially those who were wives of leading authority holders and brokers of coastal middlemen. Among the most outstanding women

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traders in the Ngwa and Ndoki towns located on the Lower Imo River were Nwagalasi Oluikpe, Nwanyi Egbulefu, and Olujie Egbulefu of Eziukwu Aba and Egege Nwannenta, Mgba Nwabu, Nwogogo Nwosuagwu, and Nmaru Egbe of Akwete.32 Coastal middlemen granted credit facilities to the women to shorten their business turnaround and increase their profit margins, realizing the major roles women in general played in the production, transportation, and marketing of palm produce. After obtaining credit facilities from coastal middlemen at Ohambele, Akwete, Azumini, and other towns, their women agents traveled to nearby Ngwa communities to extend similar credit facilities to the wives of prominent authority holders and leaders of Obegu, Abala, and Aba. The palm produce from Obegu was dispatched to Akwete, while those purchased at Abala and Aba were transported through the Imo to Akwete or Azumini and Ohambele. The women palm produce traders were among the wealthiest and most powerful people in their communities. The wealthy women of Akwete, for example, were invited to the general meetings of the town to represent their fellow women and articulate their views before decisions were reached on important matters affecting them. In addition, the colonial administration was so impressed with the towering heights Eziukwu-Aba women palm produce traders had attained in their town that it slated them for appointment as Warrant Chiefs, but for the opposition of the authority holders and other influential men. It is noteworthy that colonial officers often invited the women to the Native Courts and relied on their opinions in arbitrating marital disputes, even though they were not members of the courts.33 Leading Palm Produce Traders of the Riverain Towns on the Lower Niger: Chiefs and Ozo Title Holders of Onitsha The palm produce trade also brought much wealth to Igbo towns on the Lower Niger, especially when European firms moved from the delta area to settle in Aboh, Ossomari, Obosi, Onitsha, and Oguta on the Orashi River. An account of an agent of the Church Missionary Society in 1871 not only described how the palm produce trade changed the tempo of commercial activities in Onitsha, but also provides rare insights into the enthusiasm chiefs and Ozo titled men of the town displayed in embracing the new commerce to increase their wealth: Those natives who before this time never touched palm oil with their fingers, especially the chiefs [and Ozo title holders] and whoever happened unknowingly to touch them with oil, should pay the fine of a goat for cleansing, are now

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not only on their clothing, and even their hairs and beard douched red . . . with palm oil, through their indescribable eagerness for measuring and receiving checks for their oil, having perceived that the poor amongst them are increasing in wealth.34

Women Palm Produce Traders of Onitsha, Oguta, and Ossomari and Their Female Slaves The growing scholarship on gender issues has enriched our knowledge of the important roles women played in the political economy of Niger Igbo and Oguta towns during the palm produce trade.35 Amongst the women was Naomi of Oguta, who married a rich slave dealer. She was said to be the first person to build a corrugated iron house in the town. Naomi joined her husband in selling slaves, acquiring considerable business experience and capital. Thus, when the internal slave trade was abolished during the 1840s, Naomi became the first woman in Oguta to trade in palm oil and kernel and retail imported goods. She had a large number of slave girls who served as the commercial life-wire of her “business empire.” Naomi acquired so much wealth that her lifestyle paralleled those of the wealthy and powerful men of Oguta. For example, she established a large compound, where her house was erected at the central location (obi) as the head of the kin group, while those of her female slaves, and sons and their wives, lay in the adjacent areas. Naomi also took pride in sitting on a wooden chair in her house “sipping neat whisky as men did.”36 Unlike Naomi, Omu Okwei (1872–1945) had a much more diverse family and business background, which enabled her to become the wealthiest and most powerful female merchant on the Lower Niger during legitimate commerce. Her father, Osuna Afubeho, was one of the sons of the king of Ossomari and a major riverain trader who owned war canoes manned by hundreds of slaves, while her maternal grandfather, Obi Ajie, a son of the king of Abo, was a representative of his father in military and foreign affairs. Okwei also enhanced her business connections in 1888 when she married Joseph Alagoa, a prominent brass trader on the Niger who later became the Amayanabo (king) of Nembe. Both of them often traveled from Atani to Onitsha, where he introduced her to his friends working with European firms. Their son, Francis Alagoa, ascended the throne when his father passed away. Okwei further enriched her business connections when she remarried in 1895 and settled at Onitsha with her husband, Opene of Aboh. Their son, Peter Opene, helped her to become an agent of his employer, the Niger Trading Company, which was one of the major foreign companies that purchased palm produce and marketed imported goods. She used her domestic servants

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to buy palm produce and promote her distributive trade in the hinterland. She also Acquired beautiful girls—mostly “adopted” children . . . brought them up and gave them out as mistresses . . . to influential [African and European] businessmen . . . [The mistresses] were of course expected to come back to Okwei’s household when the traders left Nigeria. Any children or property the women acquired during the association with the traders reverted to their original owner as they like slaves, could not own property.37

Okwei diversified the sources of her income by investing in money lending, real estate, and the transportation sectors, acquiring much wealth and fame, which climaxed in 1935 when she was crowned the Omu (Queen Mother) of Ossomari. Assessment: Flourishing Economic Base and Social Stratification among Communities Engaged in Legitimate Commerce The foregoing examples suggest that there were three major tiers of trade in Igboland during the palm produce trade. The first tier is associated with the primary producers of palm oil and kernel, who traveled to the second tier, located in the riverain markets “beaches” to exchange their commodities with tobacco, textiles, guns and gunpowder, and other imported goods. The beaches were the major centers for obtaining credit facilities and for transporting the palm produce by canoes to the third tier, located in the eastern delta and Old Calabar. The third tier served as the center for obtaining credit facilities from European traders and for storing, bulking, and shipping palm produce overseas.38 Lovejoy and Richardson have used the comparative prices of palm oil in Britain and the major ports of the Bight of Biafra to evaluate the income and wealth coastal middlemen acquired from the palm oil trade, which enabled them to switch from the slave trade to legitimate commerce.39 But the problem is complicated because trade was conducted primarily by barter, and the price of goods British traders used in buying palm oil fluctuated in the international market, and at times, inferior textiles, gin, and other commodities were used as a means of exchange. In addition, the official prices of oil in Liverpool did not necessarily determine the inputs and outputs of coastal traders and the long-term profits they made from the palm oil trade. For example, even though the prices of palm oil in London reached their peak between the 1850s and the early 1860s (£40–£50 per ton), they

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never regained their nineteenth-century highs due to competition from other vegetable oils and petroleum, and the global depression, excepting for a brief recovery in 1883–1884. 40 A solution to the thorny problems raised by computing the profits coastal middlemen and the hinterland Igbo derived from the palm produce trade may be found by examining the locations of their towns and the access they had to credit facilities. The credit system, which was often based on “trust,” or the degree of confidence lenders had on borrowers, played a crucial role in determining the prosperity of a town and the volume of trade it attracted.41 Since a majority of the primary producers of the hinterland did not have access to credit facilities, legitimate commerce contributed to sharpening the differences in wealth and power in Igbo society. European traders who gave credit facilities to coastal middlemen made turnover profits of 100 percent per trip during the 1850s–1860s.42 The middlemen of Old Calabar, Bonny, New Calabar, and Opobo acquired considerable wealth from legitimate commerce, as evidenced by the prosperity and relative flourishing economic bases associated with their towns. Next to them were the palm produce traders of Igbo towns on the Lower Imo River and Niger Rivers, including King Ananaba of Obegu and some Ndoki and Ngwa men and women, the Ozo title men and chiefs of Onitsha, and outstanding women traders like Naomi of Oguta and Omu Okwei of Ossomari. Historians have not fully addressed the monocultural economy of the Igbo and its sociopolitical impact during the global depression of the nineteenth century. European traders imported excessive quantities of iron bars, which they used as a major “trade currency” in purchasing palm produce, while the value of manilas, which served as the “native currency,” continued to rise.43 Although the fall in the exchange rate of the trade currency and the hyperinflation it created undermined the purchasing power of all social groups, large-scale producers and leading traders were better placed to absorb its economic shocks than small-scale producers. Similarly, the commercialization of palm produce also created many ecological and social problems, including the depletion of the soil, and food shortages, which worsened during the depression of the late nineteenth century. Large-scale producers and leading traders, who had more land and labor that they could divert to food production, were better placed to adapt to the economic crisis than small-scale farmers, who experienced poverty, hunger, and other economic deprivations. The pace of social changes intensified in the Igbo hinterland during British imperialism, leading to the emergence of different groups that would increasingly undermine the existing social order.

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From Legitimate Commerce to the Genesis of British Imperialism and the Annexation of Igboland (1901–1902) The next stage of legitimate commerce, coinciding with the period of “informal control,” ranges from the genesis of British imperialism in the 1830s to the annexation of Igboland (1901–1902). British imperialism, however, was an integral part of what Harrison Wright called “the New Imperialism,” which reached its peak in various regions of the world during the second half of the nineteenth century. Thus, within 30 years Europeans expanded their colonial empires by over ten million square miles and nearly one hundred and fifty million people, about a fifth of the world’s land mass and perhaps a tenth of its population at the time.44

Although European colonies were established in different regions of the world, including the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Africa, which was seen as “a ripen melon awaiting to be carved,”45 constituted “the biggest arena [of the New Imperialism], . . . and within the last two decades of the 19th century, seven European powers seized 10 million square miles of the [continent],”46 creating new nations with arbitrary boundaries. Britain, which had become the industrial giant and the most powerful nation in Europe, acquired the lion’s share of African colonies. Historians have offered varying reasons in explaining the roots of the New Imperialism, ranging from economic rivalries among European nations to technological innovations and the rise of nationalism and Social Darwinism.47 Although these explanations are plausible, we will concern ourselves with some of them to show how British economic interests and the advances in tropical medicine and military technology affected three broad periods of Igbo history. The first period (1830s–1870s) deals with the explorations of the major rivers of the hinterland and the establishment of the British Consular Office for the Bight of Biafra in Fernando Po in 1849. Consular Officers were initially concerned with the regulation of trade in the leading coastal ports, protection of the interests of British merchants, and arbitration of disputes between the merchants and coastal middlemen.48 They, however, began to interfere increasingly in the affairs of the Igbo hinterland both politically and militarily after their office was transferred from Fernando Po to the mainland of Old Calabar in 1872. The second period, which is contemporaneous with the depression of the 1880s–1890s, is associated with rule of the Royal Niger Company (RNC) on the Niger and the subsequent transfer of the territories it controlled to the existing Oil Rivers Protectorate.49 The RNC, as will be discussed, established “military rule” in the territories under its jurisdiction. The third period began with the

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expansion of Consular authority on the Lower Imo River in the 1890s, reaching its peak during the Aro Expedition (1901–1902), when the protectorate administration used modern weapons to colonize Igboland. During the first period, British explorers, traders, and missionaries penetrated Igboland through the three major river networks that connected it with the coastal region. The first and least important river in terms of the explorations was the Cross River, which attracted only the two expeditions of Captain Becroft and J.B. King in 1841 and 1842.50 Consequently, European factories and Christian Missions were not established in Cross River Igboland until the British annexation of the area during the early decades of the twentieth century.51 The Imo River constituted the second most important channel of transportation to Igboland. Some British traders had traveled from Bonny in 1850 to Ohambele, where they “saw about 200 canoes engaged in the oil trade.”52 W. E. Carew made a similar journey from Opobo to Ohambele and Akwete in 1866, while A.B. Harcourt gave vivid accounts of the commercial activities at Obegu during his trip to the Ndoki-Ngwa area in 1896.53 The propagation of Christianity on the Lower Imo River, however, began after the CMS had established churches in Bonny and Okrika in 1865 and 1878, respectively. The early converts, who primarily comprised slaves, spread the new religion in the Ndelli markets and other commercial centers, where they bought palm oil for their masters.54 Bonny middlemen and their local agents were, however, the propagators of Christian evangelism in the strategic commercial centers in the Ndoki-Ngwa axis during the second phase of British imperialism. Thus, when Crowther arrived in Ndokiland in 1888, he “found a vibrant Christian presence [in the area] . . . and consecrated the “chapels.” [He also] persuaded the chiefs . . . to grant land for the churches and schools, and Baptized many of the adherents.”55 Similarly, Bonny and Opobo traders (called Ubani) spread Christianity to Obegu, Azumini, Aba, and other towns, and European factories were also established in Akwete, Ohambele, and Azumini during the late nineteenth century. The NdokiNgwa axis also became strategic during the third phase of British imperialism because of the “Obegu massacre,” which as will be discussed, precipitated the British annexation of Igboland. The Niger was the most important channel of transportation to the Igbo hinterland during the first and second phases of British imperialism. But its exploration, as well as those of other rivers, was stiffly resisted by coastal kings and middlemen, who monopolized the hinterland trade and collected custom duties “comies” from British and other European traders. The middlemen maintained their monopoly by imposing some sanctions against European traders who ventured into the Igbo area. They also told scary stories, which created the impression that insecurity prevailed in the hinterland.56 For

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example, when some daring British traders visited Ohambele in 1850, Bonny middlemen cut off commercial relations with them to ensure that others would not follow their example.57 Major Leonard and his escorts also had a similar experience in 1896 when they wanted to travel from Opobo to Bende. Opobo middlemen and their European trading partners dissuaded them from making the trip, claiming that they “were [not] only jeopardizing [their] lives, [but] . . . would never get there.”58 But in spite of the obstacles British traders encountered in the coastal ports, they remained undaunted in finding a commercial gateway to the hinterland. Their earliest encounter with the Igbo began in 1830, when two brothers, John and Richard Lander, bravely traveled by canoe from Bussa on Niger to the delta, showing for the first time that the river “entered the Atlantic in the Bight of Biafra.”59 The discovery of the Landers aroused much curiosity in Europe, particularly among the mercantile class. Small wonder why Macgregor Laird, a leading Liverpool merchant and a pioneer steam shipbuilder, led two expeditions in 1832 and 1841, which provided better understanding of the Niger beyond its confluence on the Benue. In spite of their accomplishments, many members of the expeditions died, primarily from malaria fever. Thus, during the exploration of the Niger in 1832, only nine out of the 48 men who embarked on the trip survived, while the 1841 expedition lost 45 out of its 150 European members.60 British intrusion into the Igbo hinterland gained greater moment from the 1850s due to a variety of reasons, including the invention of quinine pills, which served as a prophylactic against malaria and yellow fever. Thus, unlike the previous expeditions, those headed by William Baike and sponsored by Macgregor Laird, sailed through the Niger in 1854 without any deaths.61 Hence, Laird not only intensified his efforts in the navigation of the Niger, but also launched the African steamship company, which greatly increased the volume of the Trans-Atlantic commerce. There was, therefore, an influx of Europeans firms on the coastal ports of the delta “Oil Rivers” that hoped to reap windfall profits from the palm oil trade, especially when the price of palm oil in London increased from £32.00 in 1842 to £40.00–£50.00 per ton between the 1850s and the early 1860s.62 The firms, however, fiercely competed with one another and with their African agents, to whom they had given excessive credit facilities. The Old Calabar example shows that the quantity of palm oil owed to the supercargoes in 1856 ranged between 9,000 and 10, 000 tons, whereas the annual production exported from the port was only 4,000 tons.63 The collapse of the trust system, and the violent trade war it engendered, called the “chopping of oil,” created a major crisis in the Oil Rivers.64 Liverpool merchants who championed the navigation of the Niger and other British traders then intensified the demand for their government

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to intervene in the crisis and support their quest to trade directly with the hinterland producers of palm oil and kernel. The government, which became increasingly interested in expanding its authority to the hinterland, granted their request and transferred the Consular Office from Fernando Po to Old Calabar in 1872. Missionaries and the Niger Expeditions (1841, 1854, and 1857): The CMS, the Creoles of Sierra Leone, and the Establishment of Trading Stations on the Niger and a Mission at Onitsha In addition to British merchants, the explorations of the Niger attracted other interest groups, especially the Church Missionary Society (CMS).65 The CMS had founded the Fourah Bay College in 1827 to provide Christian education to freed African slaves, called “creoles/krios,” who had settled in Sierra Leone from England, Nova Scotia, Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean. The creoles also comprised West African slaves whom the British navy recaptured in the nineteenth century and settled in Sierra Leone, including Ajayi Crowther, a Yoruba ex-slave and founding student of Fourah Bay College, who became the first indigenous Bishop in tropical Africa and the leader of the CMS mission on the Niger. The CMS was then better situated than other Christian missions in Europe to play a major role in the explorations of the Niger and the pioneering of the missionary enterprise because it had a pool of skilled manpower, who served as its African agency in spreading the gospel and Western civilization into Igboland and other parts of West Africa.66 Thus, during the Niger expedition of 1841, the CMS was represented by J. F. Schon, a German missionary, and Ajayi Crowther, while Simon Jonas of Sierra Leone, a liberated slave of Igbo descent, acted as an interpreter. The expedition made some fruitful contacts at the Niger Igbo town of Aboh, whose King Obi Ossai was said to be receptive to its evangelical and commercial overtures, especially after he had listened to Simon Jonas, who preached the gospel in Igbo and displayed unusual skills in writing and reading and in mastering other amazing secrets of the “white man.”67 Similarly, the Niger expedition of 1854 was headed by William Baikie, a Royal Navy doctor, who acted as a representative of Macgregor Laird while Crowther led the CMS team. The expedition visited the major Igbo towns on the Niger, such as Aboh, Ossomari, and Onitsha, and achieved its primary goals. Hence, Baikie concluded that “we have satisfied ourselves of the general desire of the natives to receive instruction, and to admit teachers, and their wish to trade with us.”68 The accomplishments of the expeditions reached their peak in 1857 when Baikie, who once more represented M. Laird, and Crowther and his creole

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team of Igbo ancestry sailed to the Niger.69 The arrival of the expeditionary team at Onitsha on July 26, 1857, was propitious because the Obi (king) of the town and his chiefs were at war with the neighboring communities of Obosi, Ogidi, and others. They, therefore, warmly welcomed the idea of implanting commerce and Christianity in their town.70 Baikie established trading stations at Onitsha and Aboh, and a Consular Office at Lokoja, which represented British political interests on the Niger from 1857 to 1861.71 Baikie’s expeditions changed the history of the Niger Igbo, and his fame spread to various parts of Igboland, where his name was adopted as a generic concept for the “white man” (Beke). A major event in Onitsha history, however, occurred on July 31, 1857, when the CMS founded the first Christian Mission in Igboland, which later became the headquarters of the Niger Mission. Onitsha, therefore, served as a springboard for the evangelization of other communities on the Niger: the Ossomari (1873), Asaba (1874), Aboh and Obosi (1883), and Allenso (1887).72 The head of the new church was John Taylor, a Sierra Leonean of Igbo parentage and former pastor of the Bathurst Church in Freetown.73 CMS Church and School at Onitsha: The Emergence of a Generation of Christians and Literate Elite The CMS laid the foundation for the emergence of a generation of Christians and “literate elite,” who would change the political and cultural landscape of Igboland after its annexation. Taylor established a primary school at Onitsha on November 15, 1858, that attracted some young boys and girls; they were taught basic skills in Christian Religious Knowledge, Music, English, Arithmetic, and Geography.74 In addition, during Taylor’s (leadership 1857– 1870), it is estimated that the Christian congregation numbered about 200 people, although some simply came to church out of curiosity.75 The congregation was also bedeviled by eclectism, which has remained a major feature of Christianity in Africa until the present time. In addition, many of the converts were the Osu (cult slaves), and slaves ransomed at Onitsha from Igbo, Nupe, Bida and Igala slave dealers, while some others belonged to the lowstatus groups whom Chinua Achebe described as “the Efulefu.”76 But not all fit into this category, such as Christopher Mba, an influential person who became well-to-do because he served as a broker for the new church, or John Okosi, a privileged member of the royal family and a bastion of the church in Onitsha. Okosi, however, embodied the cultural conflicts some of the converts faced, since he later renounced his church membership and reverted to traditional religion to regain his social status and prestige in the community.77

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But the monopoly of the CMS ended with the establishment of Catholic Missions during the second phase of British imperialism. The Second Phase of British Imperialism: The CMS, the Catholic Missions, and the Global Depression (1880s–1890s): The Era of Company Rule The second phase of British imperialism was a period of intense changes in Igbo history. The CMS competed for spheres of influence with two new Catholic Missions from France: the Holy Ghost Fathers, who founded a church at Onitsha in 1885, using it as their headquarters for propagating catholic evangelism on the Lower Niger, and the Society of African Missions, which settled at Asaba in 1888 and established many missions in western Igboland.78 The Catholic Missions, however, encountered problems similar to those the CMS had experienced in spreading Christian evangelism in Igboland. Their early converts included slaves, orphans and poor people, along with some more privileged people who were seen as “mixers,” combining the teachings of the new religion with their traditional African customs.79 It is noteworthy to mention that the Holy Ghost Fathers, received a temporary grant from the Vatican for charitable works, and the building of “freedom villages” similar to European monasteries, which were meant to provide Christian education to new converts, who would serve as ambassadors of Catholicism in the interior. This project was, however, abandoned due to lack of funds, and the only freedom village in the Igbo hinterland was established at Aguleri in 1891 when Joseph Idigo, a wealthy trader and titled man of the community, converted to Catholicism.80 Furthermore, the Christian Missions, particularly the CMS, faced new challenges during the second phase of the New Imperialism, which coincided with the global economic depression. The factional disputes that bedeviled the CMS during the second phase of British imperialism have been discussed by many scholars; hence, they will not be repeated here.81 Although Crowther waded into the dispute between John Taylor and his subordinate clergymen and reported that the Onitsha crisis had been resolved, his relationship with the CMS authorities worsened during the economic depression of the 1880s–1890s, when Social Darwinism gained greater momentum among British missionaries and merchants. Crowther was then accused of mismanaging the Niger Mission and was therefore no longer recognized as the head of the Mission. In addition, the Sierra Leonean pioneers of the Mission were replaced with British clergymen.82 Similarly, when Crowther passed away in 1891, he was succeeded by a British clergyman. The humiliation of Crowther and other

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African clergymen led to the formation of African churches, which developed their own indigenous prayers, hymns, and rituals.83 Similar measures were taken against Sierra Leoneans employed by British firms, who either lost their jobs or were demoted to lower ranks. Sir George Taubman Goldie epitomized the spirit of the new era of mercantilism and Social Darwinism that was sweeping across West Africa during the global depression. He amalgamated British firms trading on the Lower Niger in 1879, forming the United African Company (UAC).84 The monopolistic policies of the UAC, however, impoverished the local palm produce traders, who began to pillage its factories. The UAC then appealed to the Consular Office for military intervention to protect the lives and property of British firms trading on the Niger. Acting Consul Eaton led the military operation that bombarded Onitsha in 1879 from a gunboat equipped with a Gatling and rocket launchers.85 Similar attacks were later launched against Aboh and other towns. Goldie reorganized the UAC and changed its name in 1882 to the National African Company (NAC) due to the intrusions of the French on the Niger and in Dahomey and the Germans in Cameroons. He then used his company to undermine the commercial interests of rival foreign firms, undercutting their sales by 24 percent.86 Goldie further changed the name of the NAC to the Royal Niger Company (RNC) and applied to the British government for a royal charter that would enable him to administer the Niger region. The charter was granted in 1886, and he used the RNC to establish a paramilitary commercial empire on the Niger and the coastal communities. The RNC headquarters at Asaba was manned by an elaborate bureaucracy that enabled Goldie to continue his monopolistic policies, including an agent general and head of the administration, a High Court of Justice, and a standing army numbering about 421 soldiers in 1889. It is noteworthy that, excepting five European military officers, the rest of the soldiers the RNC used in subduing the towns under its jurisdiction were recruited from the “civilized” parts of West Africa comprising the Gold Coast and the Hausa and Yoruba areas.87 Goldie signed 83 phony protectorate treaties with the rulers of the delta and the Lower and Upper Niger, who, he claimed, had ceded their sovereignty and territories to his company and promised “not to have any intercourse with any [other] strangers or [Europeans] except through [his company].”88 The British government then used the treaties signed by the RNC and its Consular Officers to affirm its claims over the Niger District during the Berlin Conference (1884–1885), which led to the partition and colonization of Africa by the major European powers. The RNC’s monopoly and the deteriorating terms of trade for hinterland producers and traders and coastal middlemen alienated many communities,

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which began to destroy its factories. The company blockaded Onitsha in 1885 and relocated its installations to Obosi, which was sacked in 1889 for destroying them. Asaba also revolted and nearly half of the town was razed in 1888. A similar measure was taken against three villages Aguleri accused of destroying the company’s factory.89 The RNC subdued Oguta with canon fire in 1891, and also waged a ruthless war against Akassa in 1895, mounting blockades against the middlemen of the Nembe-Brass and Kalabari axis.90 The RNC’s monopoly and militarism led to a storm of protests from both foreign and African traders on the Niger. Nine leading British companies, which had formed the African Association in 1889, petitioned the Foreign Office about their economic plight and the bankruptcy looming before them. Kalabari rulers and middlemen dispatched a similar petition to Consul Hewett. But before forwarding their petition to the Foreign Office on December 26, 1888, the Consul attached his own memo questioning the legality of the RNC’s treaties. He then concluded in the memo that Kalabari merchants have “prescriptive rights” to trade freely in the markets located in the Orashi and Egenne Rivers.91 His successor, Consul Johnson, also assailed the RNC in his own memos, arguing that the interests of the natives “have never been served by a corporation of traders.”92 The petitions and memos convinced the Foreign Office in 1889 to appoint a commission of inquiry headed by Major Claude M. MacDonald to investigate the activities of the RNC and make recommendations about extending the Crown colony to the areas that were under the jurisdiction of the company. On the basis of the recommendations of the commission, the Foreign Office stripped the company of its political and administrative powers over the Niger region it controlled and merged the region with the Oil Rivers Protectorate (ORP), renamed Niger Coast Protectorate in 1893. MacDonald was appointed the first Consul General of the ORP in 1891, and the company’s charter was abrogated in 1899. The ORP had its own staff, army, and budget, and McDonald was assisted by Vice-Consuls posted to other towns outside Calabar. But before MacDonald acceded to his office, Consular Officers of the ORP had pursued a vigorous policy of inland penetration and free trade, which would lead to the demise of King Jaja of Opobo and the annexation of Igbo towns on the Lower Imo River. The Dawn of Colonial Rule: King Jaja of Opobo and the British Annexation of Igbo Towns on the Lower Imo River Jaja of Opobo was the victim of the New Imperialism, which began in the delta during the early phase of the global depression. His biography and epical accomplishments have been examined by others.93 Consequently, we shall concern ourselves with a brief review of his background and the significant

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roles he played in Igbo history before the Aro Expedition (1901–1902). Jaja, named Mbanaso by his family, was kidnapped from his village in Amaigbo area when he was 12 years old and sold to an Akwete slave dealer.94 He was later resold by the slave dealer to Iganipughuma Allison, a Bonny middleman, who could neither comprehend nor cope with the psychological distress and “stubbornness” of his slave boy. Allison therefore decided to present Jaja as a gift to his friend Chief Madu of the Anna Pepple House, a leading trader of Igbo descent, who he hoped would take better care of the slave boy.95 Jaja served in one of Chief Madu’s canoe houses, which he dispatched to the Lower Imo River to buy palm produce for him. He worked assiduously to establish his own canoe houses and acquired considerable wealth. Jaja’s growing power culminated in his election as the Head of the Anna Pepple House in 1863. Richard Burton of the British Consul predicted the consequences of Jaja’s election with some degree of accuracy when he stated that Jaja . . . is young, healthy and powerful, and not less ambitious, energetic and decided. He is the most influential man and the greatest trader on the River, and £50, 000.00, it is said, may annually pass through his hands. He lives much with Europeans, and he rides rough shode over young hands coming into Bonny. In a short time he will either be shot or he will beat down all his rivals.96

Jaja became the Head of the Anna Pepple House during a momentous period in Bonny history: when the death of King Pepple in 1866 led to a sharp rivalry between his own House and that of Oko Jumbo, a fellow ex-slave of Igbo ancestry who headed the ruling Mannilla Pepple House. Oko Jumbo, an advocate of hereditary succession to the throne, backed his protégé George Pepple, the son of the former king, thereby blocking Jaja’s efforts to accede to the throne. The factional disputes led to the Bonny civil war and the capitulation of Jaja and his supporters and their movement to the Andoni area, where they founded the city-state of Opobo in a strategic place that connected Bonny with hinterland Igbo and Qua markets. Jaja was crowned the King of Opobo on October 13, 1869.97 The Rise and fall of Jaja (r.1869–1887) and the Annexation of Igbo Hinterland Towns on the Lower Imo River Jaja faced many challenges after relocating to Opobo. Some European firms that had smaller vessels moved to Opobo to engage in its lucrative palm produce trade, while ten British supercargoes (which stayed in Bonny because of their heavy installations) experienced huge economic losses estimated at

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£100,000.00 from September 1869 to May 1870. Bonny faced a similar plight after losing its hinterland markets, and therefore, continued to wage a war against Opobo.98 Consul Livingstone was concerned about the Opobo-Bonny war, especially the threat it posed to the lives and property of British traders and the palm produce trade. His futile efforts in settling the dispute led to the intervention of the British government, which dispatched Commodore J. Commerell and five warships to Bonny to coerce both sides to reach an agreement. They signed a peace treaty on January 4, 1873, which among other things recognized Jaja as the king of the sovereign state of Opobo.99 Bonny declined after losing the middleman role it had played in the eastern delta for over three centuries. Jaja’s success brought much fame to him in the delta and the hinterland Igbo markets. He acquired enormous wealth from his monopoly of the hinterland trade during the late nineteenth century when Opobo became the leading exporter of palm produce in West Africa. Jaja was reputed during that period to be one of the wealthiest rulers of southern Nigeria.100 But Jaja reached the peak of his fame when Consular Officers, who were goaded by British firms and missionaries, adopted a more vigorous policy of laissez-faire and the annexation of the Igbo hinterland. Jaja’s monopoly then presented the major obstacle to the imposition of Pax Britannica on the Lower Imo River and other parts of Igboland. The task of removing Jaja was undertaken by Acting Consul H. Johnson, who appealed to him to abolish comies (custom duties) and allow European firms to trade in the hinterland markets. When Jaja refused, claiming that the Protectorate treaties he had signed in 1885 guaranteed his sovereign rights over Opobo and its markets, the Acting Consul lured him to a peace parley in a gunboat in September 1887, promising him safe conduct. But the Acting Consul never kept his promise. Instead, he arrested Jaja and deported him to Accra in the Gold Coast, where he was tried and found guilty of undermining the Consul’s efforts to promote free trade and justice. Jaja was later exiled in St. Vincent’s Island in the West Indies, but he died in 1891 while returning home after the British government had pardoned him.101 As will be discussed in the next chapter, the banishment of Jaja enabled the British Consul and firms to penetrate into the major Igbo hinterland markets on the Lower Imo River, where they encountered fierce resistance.

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CHAPTER 7

Developments in Igboland from the 1890s to the 1970s

T

he changes that have been occurring in Igbo society since the genesis of British imperialism gained greater momentum after the Aro Expedition (1901–1902), when the colonial frontier expanded to encompass entire southeastern Nigeria. This chapter is divided into three major periods, which will show how the three arms of British imperialism and their local agents affected Igbo history since annexation. The first period (1890s–1918) deals with the establishment of British authority in Igbo towns on the Lower Imo River after the banishment of Jaja of Opobo, the annexation and administration of entire Igboland, and other themes, until the end of the First World War (1914–1918). The second period examines the sequence of events that led to the Igbo Women’s War (1929), while the third period discusses the political and administrative changes of the 1930s–1970s, showing how they helped in empowering the literate elite and other interest groups. The first period began when Sir Ralph Moor was appointed in 1896 to succeed Claude MacDonald as Consul General of the Niger Coast Protectorate. Moor continued the aggressive policy of inland penetration of the Lower Imo River hinterland after the banishment of Jaja of Opobo. As already noted, the CMS had established churches in the 1880s on the Imo River towns of Akwete, Ohambele, and Azumini. The annexation of these towns and others that constituted the Akwete Sub-District is important in understanding the nature of British imperialism in the hinterland and the major events that precipitated the Aro Expedition. The banishment of Jaja alienated the politico-mercantile rulers of Akwete, Ohambele, Azumini, and other Lower Imo River towns who had established close commercial ties with him before and after the founding of Opobo in 1869. The rulers had become affluent as a result of the middleman role they played between the primary producers of palm oil and kernel and leading

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coastal traders like Jaja. The commercial ties between them and Jaja were consolidated through bonds of intermarriage and common religious festivals. Thus, when some of the towns celebrated their annual festivals honoring their ancestors, Jaja enthusiastically dispatched his decorated war canoes to grace the occasion and renew the ties of “kinship” and friendship that existed between him and his Igbo brethren.1 These complex webs of social ties, including ritual covenants, informed Jaja’s decision to transfer his assets to the Lower Imo River during his dispute with Consul Johnson, although he was unable to do so before his exile.2 It is, then, not surprising that when British firms attempted to establish factories on the Lower Imo River to buy palm produce directly from the primary producers, they encountered stiff opposition in the leading commercial centers. Vice-Consul Cairns Armstrong therefore decided to close down the factories and punish the offending communities. Akwete, for example, was invaded in 1892, and its ruler (Onye nwe Ali, priest of the earth-goddess) and the leading chiefs and traders were said to have signed a Protectorate treaty that, among other things, guaranteed free trade and the right of “citizens of all countries” to build houses and factories in their community.3 In 1896 Akwete became a Sub-District of the Opobo District headed by Major A.G. Leonard, and it served as a springboard for expanding the colonial frontier to the neighboring Ukwa (Asa and Ndoki) and Ngwa communities. The Akwete Sub-District and British Intrusion in Ukwa and Ngwa Areas: The Carrot and Stick Approach Although Consular Officers who championed the expansion of the British Empire used military power to achieve their goals, they also adopted diplomatic and peaceful methods before launching full-scale military invasions of the Igbo hinterland during the Aro Expedition. In the Ukwa and Ngwa areas, for example, Consular Officers of the Akwete Sub-District visited communities, especially those that were accessible through the trade routes, including Obegu, Abala, and Aba to appeal to their sacred authority holders to sign the Protectorate treaties. Those who were hesitant to do so were given gifts or “dashes,” and over a dozen treaties were concluded from 1895 to 1898.4 By then, Sir Ralph Moor and his Consular Officers had intensified their propaganda campaign against the Aro, whom they assumed were the only obstacle to the onward march of commerce and civilization to the hinterland. Consular Officers therefore began to adopt more hostile views of the Aro in the Akwete Sub-District and other parts of Igboland under their jurisdiction. Consular Officers used the treaty system and relations between some communities and the Aro to classify towns into two categories. Those whose

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authority holders agreed to sign the treaties were labeled “friendly towns,” while those who refused to do so were seen as allies of the Aro and called “unfriendly towns.” A. E. Afigbo has aptly noted that a similar typology was adopted in other places in differentiating between Igbo towns during the Aro Expedition.5 But besides the subjective typologies, there are many reasons why some towns in the Akwete Sub-District “signed” the Protectorate treaties. Akwete town had already experienced the iron fist of the British Empire and its politico-mercantile rulers had learned the futility of resisting the Consul’s authority. In addition, the rulers had long-standing commercial disputes with the Aro, whom they had excluded from trading directly with coastal middlemen. They used the Okonko society to ensure that Aro traders complied with their decision. The alliance of the rulers with the colonial government was, then, meant to strengthen them against Aro intrusions in their commercial area of influence. Similarly, Ananaba, the Ezeala of Obegu, “signed” the Protectorate treaty to protect his political and commercial interests. The Obegu market, which he ritually controlled, was a major commercial nexus of the hinterland, attracting numerous traders, including the Aro. A. B. Harcourt, who visited Obegu in 1896, gave an account of its “extremely large and important market” held every four days. According to him: People coming from immense distances [attend the market]. Palm oil, kernels, yams, goats, dogs, fowls and metal work, such as bracelets and rings, made from copper and brass, are sold; these latter articles are . . . brought by Aroh [Aro] people who come from the interior. Thousands of people attend this market every time.6

Ananaba was a close political and commercial ally of Akwete and Opobo middlemen, and he supplied about 25 percent of the total palm produce sold at Akwete. The experiences of his trading partners might have convinced him to ally with the government during a period of growing tensions with Aro traders. His alliance paid off, because he was appointed “the King of the Ngwa” in 1895. Although the treaty system and “dashes” continued to be used, they were increasingly discontinued in the Akwete Sub-District from 1897, when a military detachment was established at Azumini. But many of the traditional authority holders who “endorsed” the treaties without understanding their legal import began to protest against the clauses that deprived them and their Amala (Village Council) of the sovereign rights they had exercised over their communities. Some of the authority holders were severely punished, and one of them, Chief Nwachukwu of Umuiku, was dethroned and

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banished to Opobo in August 1901 for “his stubbornness” and violations of the Protectorate treaty.7 The second category of “unfriendly towns” coincided with communities headed by authority holders who were said to be allies of the Aro. British military and colonial officers spent much time in learning about the Aro and their trade network before the Aro Expedition. One of the last major trips meant to gather more information on the Aro was undertaken in 1896 by Major A. G. Leonard, who traveled from Opobo to Bende, a major slave market of the Aro that he thought was the “Juju town” and “the center of the most powerful Fetish in that part of Africa.”8 It is noteworthy that during his trip, Leonard was hosted by the authority holders of the “friendly towns” of the Akwete Sub-District, who also provided accommodation to him, including King Ananaba of Obegu and Chief Uruakpa of Aba. It is also significant that Leonard bore a gift of “fifty loads of dashes” of tobacco, cloth, beads, and other goods that he called “the necessary talisman” for facilitating his journey.9 He distributed the gifts to chiefs of the Akwete Sub-District and other places who helped him in traveling to Bende. At Aba, Leonard was visited by two Aro traders whom he called “spies,” and their encounter with him clearly portrays the British and Aro images of each other before the Aro Expedition. According to Leonard, while at Aba Two [Aro] men pushed themselves in the hut [where he was staying]. Both were well made and powerful, one of them being in a native costume, the other wearing a coat, and a hat, which he never attempted to remove. The strut and swagger of this latter braggart were too comical for words, and irresistibly ludicrous, and he walked in as if the whole place, ourselves included, belonged to him. He announced in broken English that he was an “Aro man” and a “God boy.” Motioning them to seat on the box, I told the interpreter to tell the Aros . . . that before I could talk to them, the man with the hat on must remove it; to this he replied that he was as good, and would not take his hat off for any white man, saying in broken English, and with an air of giving satisfaction, as he looked at me, “Me be ‘God boy’. You be white man; me be ‘God boy’.” “You may be a ‘God boy’ ”, I replied, “but we white men are ‘gods’ we make you Aro boys”; then jumping up, I continued, “and if you don’t remove your hat out of this hut you go.”10

Although the Aro man reluctantly removed his hat, Aro traders unsuccessfully tried to sabotage Leonard’s journey to Bende. Leonard’s journey helped in reinforcing the negative images of the Aro, and their oracle, which had been propagated in official circles for over a decade. Consular Officers in the Akwete Sub-District then began to take measures to contain the “pernicious influences” of the Aro without taking the interests of the local people

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into consideration. A typical example is the town of Ogwe and its famous market, which attracted Asa, Ndoki, Ngwa, and Aro traders. But Consul H. James declared in May 1901 that “the Ogwe market . . . is closed to all cargo from markets within government control.” He then ordered the authority holder of Ogwe, Chief Adiele, to expel the Aro from his town or face the consequences.11 The Aro withdrew from Ogwe to the friendly town of Umugo. Many people who, however, neither knew nor cared about the Consul’s instructions continued to attend the Ogwe market. The Assistant District Commissioner (ADC) was dispatched on November 10, 1901, to Ihie (one of the offending towns) to enforce the ban. The ADC announced during his meeting with the Village Council that a fine of 2,000 manilas had been imposed on the town for violating the Consul’s instructions on the Ogwe market. The Village Council, which hardly realized that it had lost its sovereignty, held a brief consultation among its members and informed the ADC that they had decided to impose a fine of 400 manilas on the Consular Office for failing to inform them about its decisions on the Ogwe market. The ADC was so outraged by the impudence of the Village Council that he increased their fine to 4,000 manilas. But the fine was never paid because on November 21, 1901, when it was due, Ihe, Ogwe, Umugo, and other “enemy towns” joined the Abam in invading Obegu.12

The Obegu Massacre (November 25, 1901): Prelude to the Aro Expedition J. C. Anene has argued that the “Obegu massacre” was caused by King Ananaba’s refusal to pay the debts he owed the Aro.13 His argument, however, ignores Obegu’s relations with Akwete, Bonny, and Opobo before annexation. The trade amongst the Igbo, and between them and coastal middlemen, was primarily based on the credit system and the Aro had not redeemed their debts to Opobo middlemen and others before and during annexation.14 Afigbo’s study indicates that some Aro traders alienated their debtors because of their unscrupulous business practices, including the high interest rates they charged on their loans. In addition, the Aro had targeted before the expedition, various communities for attack in both the Igbo and Efik-Ibibio areas they accused of collaborating with the colonial administration. Thus, in the Upper Cross River area, for example, the Aro in 1898 used their Ikwo allies to raid the Okwurude, who had signed a protectorate treaty with Consular Officers. They also incited some communities in Ibibioland against British intrusions, and early in 1901, Abam warriors beheaded many

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members of the Idiong title society who were deployed to keep the trade routes between Azumini and Inam open for free trade.15 The Abam invasion of Obegu, then, falls into the general pattern of Aro response to towns they accused of being allies of the government. It is important to mention that Okori Torti, the Aro trader who hired the Abam to attack Obegu, was alienated by Akwete rulers, who had imposed a fine of 8,000 manilas on him for trading directly with coastal middlemen. Before the invasion of Obegu, Torti had planned to attack Akwete, but he changed his mind after realizing that the British had reinforced the town. Torti and his allies then diverted their warriors to Obegu, an ally of Akwete and the colonial government.16 As already noted, the invasion of Obegu was accomplished by warriors from some of the “unfriendly towns” in the Akwete Sub-District, and others from Abam and Edda. Ohaffia warriors refused to participate in the invasion, saying that Obegu was amongst their friendly towns. A total of about 1,200–1,500 warriors invaded Obegu on November 25, 1901. The invasion, called the “Obegu massacre” in official circles, was a chilling incident and a terrible disaster. The town lay in ruins and about 400–500 people were killed; many houses, including the government guest house, were razed. The colonial administration arrested and tried those who masterminded the massacre. Okori Torti and his major accomplice, a chief of Akanu-Ngwa village, were hanged, while 14 chiefs of Ogwe community were sentenced to five years imprisonment.17 The administration later embarked on the “Aro Expedition,” which brought the unconquered areas of the Igbo and Efik-Ibibio hinterland under its jurisdiction. The Colonial Government, Missionaries, European Firms, and the Aro Expedition (November 28, 1901–March 1902) and Its Goals Although Ralph Moor had planned to launch the Aro Expedition in December 1900, the Colonial Office denied his request due to a variety of reasons, including the problem of mobilizing soldiers and funds needed to execute a military invasion of such a magnitude. The Obegu massacre, which was seen as a direct affront to the colonial government, precipitated the expedition. Moor gave much publicity to the expedition, attracting the enthusiastic support of missionaries and European firms. The CMS, RCM, and Presbyterians provided chaplains to accompany the soldiers.18 Moor also spelled out the goals of the expedition to his military and political officers who would be engaged in the operations. They were, for example, required to abolish the slave trade and destroy the fetish of the Aros (called “Long Juju”), which was seen as a source of the slave trade, superstition, and opposition to the establishment of government. The officers were also mandated to

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open up the Igbo country, located between the Cross River and the Niger, to civilization and trade and ensure that the natives were induced to engage in legitimate commerce. Moor further instructed them to replace native currencies of brass rods and slaves with British currency and coinages and to establish a free labor market that would lead to the end of slavery.19 Col. Montanaro of the British Royal Artillery was appointed the Commander of Aro Field Force of about 3,538 troops comprising 74 British officers and 3,464 African soldiers and carriers mostly from northern Nigeria, Lagos, and parts of southern Nigeria.20 Although four military columns were established at Oguta, Akwete, Unwana, and Itu, G.I. Jones has noted that the military invasions were primarily targeted against what later became Aba, Bende, Ikot-Ekpene, Opobo, and Uyo Divisions, containing a total population of about one million people.21 Military patrols were also launched against Igbo communities that continued to resist British intrusions after the expedition, including Ahiara Mbaise (1905), Ezza (1905, 1906, and the 1920s), and others.22 Some historians have wondered why the British military expedition succeeded in conquering Igboland in spite of the resistance it encountered in many communities. They have argued that Igbo resistance was naturally flawed because each mini state fought and defended itself without the support of its neighbors.23 This argument ignores the fact that some Western Igbo communities that used the Ekumeku society to form a common military alliance against the invaders were also defeated.24 The failure of Igbo resistance stems primarily from the modern weapons used by the expeditionary forces and their superior military strategy, which helped the British to establish a global empire linking Africa, China, India, and other parts of the world. British soldiers were armed with rifles, machine guns, and Maxim guns, while Igbo warriors used outdated “cap guns, Dane guns and machetes.”25 However, the resistance of the Igbo mini states was protracted, lasting longer than those of the mega states of western and northern Nigeria, whose rulers capitulated once their capitals were sacked. The military incursions caused untold hardships, paralleling in some degrees to those of the Nigeria-Biafra War (1967–1970), especially in the Ibibio area and southern Igboland, where the fiercest battles of the expedition were waged. Ironically, as E. Isichei opined: The Igbo who bore . . . the brunt [of the campaign]—the southern Ngwa and [Ikwerre]—were those who had already come into contact with Europe, both indirectly, in their role as oil suppliers, and directly through earlier campaigns.26

Ngwa communities involved included the “unfriendly towns” in the Akwete Sub-District, which as already noted, were accused of violating the ban placed

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on the Ogwe market, and those near Aba, such as Ohuru, Umuocham, and Abayi, which resisted the invaders. The ruthless military campaigns waged against them were characterized By the destruction of property, by the destroyed villages and the looted yam barns, and especially by the destruction of guns. Twenty-five thousand rifles and cap guns were collected and destroyed during the campaign.27

Although the number of Igbo people who died during the expedition is unknown, the military incursions also created major refugee problems. For example, displaced people from Owerri, Nteje, Nri, and Achalla were reported to have fled, seeking refuge in nearby towns and other places.28 The expedition faced some bottlenecks in establishing the British system of indirect rule in the hinterland. A.E. Afigbo, H. Gailey, and others have examined the problems of indirect rule in Igboland, showing how the Warrant Chiefs, court clerks, interpreters, and messengers abused their offices during colonialism.29 This study does not intend to repeat these problems, which also existed in varying degrees in Yorubaland and other parts of southern Nigeria.30 Instead, the study will briefly discuss the diverse backgrounds of the Warrant Chiefs to question some of the existing views that claim that the new chiefs lacked traditional legitimacy and were all “rogues and common rascals.”31 The concluding section hopes to take the complexities of the colonial situation into consideration in discussing the roles Warrant Chiefs played in Igbo history during periods of intense social changes that culminated in the crises of 1914–1915 and 1929 (Image 7.1). Appointment and Varying Backgrounds of the Warrant Chiefs Existing works tend to lump the Warrant Chiefs together, without realizing that all of them were not nonentities. Some were heads of Igbo communities on the Lower Niger and Imo Rivers and their tributaries (variously called Obi, Igwe, Ezeala) that had been incorporated into the British protectorate before the Aro Expedition. Although we do not have a comprehensive list of authority holders and lineage heads who were appointed Warrant Chiefs during and after the expedition, F. Ekechi’s study of the membership of the Owerri Native Court Area affirms that Those who were granted warrants in the early years of British rule were not necessarily scoundrels or riffraff or opportunistic and ambitious men. Rather, they seem to have been men who had traditional legitimacy.32

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Warrant Chief at the Mbari Center, Owerri

The situation was, however, different in many communities that were either invaded or had terrifying images of the invaders. For example, before the arrival of Colonel A.F. Montanaro’s fourth column in Arochukwu on December 24, 1901, most of its inhabitants had fled, including the titled

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men, the Priestly-Chief (Eze Aro), and other free men (Amadi). This fact enabled people of servile origins (Ohu), who did not flee, to take advantage of the absence of the Amadi and present their leaders to the invaders as the chiefs of the town. Their nominees were then appointed members of the native court.33 The expedition also had other significant effects on the Aro in that it ended their trade network and Abam raids were frozen, especially when colonial rule was fully established in the hinterland. But the Okonko and Ozo title societies, which belonged to the trade network, adapted to the challenges of the colonial situation. They attracted new and powerful members, including some Warrant Chiefs. As will be discussed, authority holders in the Ngwa area used the Okonko to resist the forces of modernism that were undermining their traditional institutions during colonialism. Unlike Arochukwu, a different category of people served as Warrant Chiefs in parts of northern Ngwaland that were not invaded by the expeditionary forces. The authority holders and Amala (Village Council) of Owerrinta and Amaekpu, for example, were concerned about rumors spreading in their communities that gave chilling accounts of the destruction of towns in Akwete Sub-District. They therefore sent their warriors to Akwete, mandating them to bring the invaders to their towns for peaceful negotiations. But when the warriors arrived and delivered their messages to the Consular Officer, he thought that they were the authority holders and appointed them the Warrant Chiefs of their communities.34 Similarly, the authority holders of the Okigwe-Obowo area were frightened by the stories they had heard about the British, whom they associated with the slave trade and the banishment of King Jaja of Opobo. Those selected as Warrant Chiefs of Okigwe town and the Umuariam-Obowo community were, respectively, the domestic servant of a town crier and a social misfit who escaped and returned home from Azumini where he had been sold into slavery.35 In addition, even though the expeditionary forces arrived in Ovungwu community in northern Ngwaland when the Amala was holding a meeting, their elders thought that it would be risky to present their traditional authority holder to armed men. They, then, decided to nominate Ochonu as their Warrant Chief because he was a stranger in their midst and a more dispensable person, who had taken refuge in his maternal village of Obienkwensu-Ovungwu after committing homicide in his community.36 There were cases where people who collaborated with the expeditionary forces were appointed Warrant Chiefs. Typical examples include Udensi Okereke, who was a stranger in Ihiala. He was appointed the Warrant Chief of the town for helping the expeditionary forces to disarm its warriors.37 In

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addition, De Orji of Umueleghele in Omoba area met the expeditionary forces at Akwete, where he was on a hunting expedition with other young men. De Orji took them to Omoba, and for his assistance, he was appointed the Warrant Chief of the town.38 Similarly, Ahebi Ugbabe, who accompanied the British military patrol in invading Enugu-Ezike in 1909, was appointed a member of the Enugu-Ezike Native Court created in 1918. Ugbabe’s appointment is unique because she was the only woman who served as a Warrant Chief in southeastern Nigeria.39 The foregoing examples show that the Warrant Chiefs were a heterogeneous group of people. Heads of Igbo communities who had acquired some experience in governance were probably able to negotiate the colonial situation better than others. Some of them, like Igwe Amobi of Ogidi, Chukwuani of Udi, Ezeala Ananaba of Obegu, Njemanze of Owerri, and Egbukole of Egbu, are still remembered for attracting churches and schools to their communities.40 The tyrannical and greedy images of Onyeama Eke of Enugu and others have beclouded the evaluation of a majority of Warrants who lacked traditional legitimacy and administrative experience. It is likely that some of them were agents of modernization in their communities. The Warrant Chiefs were, however, responsible to the British politico-military administration that appointed them and deposed those who failed to carry out their official duties. The new chiefs then faced complex and daunting challenges in the emerging colonial world of Igbo people. The Warrant Chiefs, Traditional Authority Holders, Women, and the Genesis of New Conflicts in Igbo Society The Warrant Chiefs became the center of controversy when the colonial government issued the Native Courts Proclamation (1901), recognizing them as the sole native authorities in their communities. They sat in the native courts to arbitrate disputes and also served as the executive organs of the government, responsible for recruiting forced labor and carrying out other tasks. Although District Commissioners (DCs) were expected to supervise the courts, they found it difficult to carry out this responsibility due to their busy schedule and transportation and communication problems. The functions the Warrant Chiefs began to perform, especially in communities where some of them ignored the existing native authorities, intensified tensions in society. In addition, excepting the Nsukka Native Court, women were left out of the new political dispensation. These developments and the various measures taken by the colonial government, European firms, and missionaries compounded the problems of the Warrant Chiefs, who, as the local

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agents of the government, were naturally held responsible for turning Igbo society upside down.

The Colonial Government, European Firms, and Missionaries during the Development of Roads and Transportation Systems The colonial government, after appointing the Warrant Chiefs, embarked on modernizing the infrastructure, which it hoped would enable the natives to appreciate the benefits of Pax Britannica. It issued the Roads and Creeks Proclamation (1903), which authorized DCs (Image 7.2) to demand forced labor from the Warrant Chiefs for the construction of roads and the clearing of creeks and major waterways.41 The government continued its policy of modernization when it mobilized forced labor to construct the eastern rail line (1913–1916), which connected Igbo towns from Port Harcourt to Enugu with the western line at Kaduna in 1926. The roads and rail

Image 7.2 District Officer “Nawadisi” (Initially called District Commissioner) at the Mbari Center, Owerri

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lines, however, were an administrative imperative because they replaced the existing winding pathways and facilitated the deployment of military patrols to “rebellious” communities. The roads and rail lines also linked the various administrative capitals and helped DCs to travel and discharge their duties in the Districts. The modernization program also linked European firms and their agents with the primary producers of the hinterland and provided them with better and faster means of exporting palm oil and kernel overseas. Various European firms, therefore, established trading posts at Ogwe, Aba, Nbawsi, Omoba, Umuahia, Uzuakoli, and other railway towns, where their local agents purchased palm produce that was railed to Port Harcourt.42 The waterways were dominated by coastal middlemen, who traveled by canoes to European firms, carrying the palm produce they purchased from their local agents at the trading centers on the Niger and Imo Rivers and their tributaries.43 The primary producers, including women, agents of European firms, and coastal middlemen dominated trade on the newly built roads, which connected them with their local markets, the railway, and riverine towns. The development of roads and rail lines ultimately contributed to the end of the middleman system, although Kalabari middlemen continued to trade at Oguta until the 1940s.44 Women were also handicapped, especially in longdistance trade, because only a few of them could afford to buy bicycles or pay the cost of transporting their produce by trains and lorries in the 1920s. Their plight, as will be examined later, worsened during the global depression. Like European firms, Christian Missions enthusiastically embraced the modernization program since it led to what a Nigeria historian sensationally captioned as “the collapse of ‘Pagandom’ in Igboland.”45 The Missions were solidly behind the bombardments of Igbo oracles during and after the expedition, including the Ibiniukpabi of the Aro (1901 and 1912), Igwekala of Umunoha (1902), and Agbala of Awka (1904), which they regarded as rival centers of religious power in the hinterland. F. Ekechi and O. Kalu have studied the history of the Christian Missions in Igboland, including the CMS, Roman Catholic Mission (RCM), Methodists, Presbyterians, SeventhDay Adventists, and other protestant sects, showing how they used the rivers, roads, and railways to propagate Christian evangelism during colonialism.46 The rapid spread of the Missions among the Igbo parallels those of other nonliterate peoples of the world, who lacked “holy books” embodying their ethical values and cosmology. This fact helps to explain why Christianity did not attract many converts in the Islamic and Hindu worlds. The Missions, however, had two contradictory effects in Igboland. They were, on the one hand, welcomed in many communities because their schools helped to educate young people, who were employed as church agents and catechists, clerks of European firms, the native courts, and the colonial civil service. The

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Missions, on the other hand, were resented because they were a major cause of social dislocations, and as will be discussed, some of their fanatic members went to excesses in waging crusades against traditional institutions of power and authority. The Igbo also faced a similar dilemma during the modernization program, which put them under intense pressure, leading to the revolts of 1903–1915. The Warrant Chiefs, Forced Labor, and the Revolts of 1903–1915 Although the modernization program brought some benefits to the Igbo, they were alienated by the incessant demands for forced labor and the brutality meted out against communities that failed to contribute manpower for porterage and building roads, railways, and government guest houses. A typical example is the Owerri District during the administration of DC H.M. Douglas (1903–1906). Dougals was reputed to have built a total of over 200 miles of roads in his District, and a major street in Owerri town was named after him as “a road builder.” But the DC also gained notoriety and was called “Black Douglas” because of the ruthless manner in which he dealt with communities that failed to respond to his endless demand for forced labor. Their Warrant Chiefs were openly assaulted and deposed, while the authority holders and elders of other communities that lacked Warrant Chiefs were arrested and jailed in Owerri, where some of them died.47 The DC also sent military patrols to subdue communities that refused to participate in forced labor, including Obinze and Mbutu Okahia (1903) and Eziama near Okpuala (1904).48 The demand for forced labor reached its peak during the construction of the eastern rail line. Warrant Chiefs of southeastern Nigeria recruited a total of 60,526 men from July 1 to September 30, 1915, to work in Port Harcourt, Aba, Enugu, and other towns.49 Passes were issued to laborers who had completed their tasks. Those who attempted to escape were arrested by the police at checkpoints and fined. Forced labor and other abuses of the Warrant Chief system were the major causes of the protests that occurred in Igboland during 1914–1915. People thought that it was time to terminate the authority of the Warrant Chiefs since it was rumored that the British would soon be evacuating from Nigeria. The rumor gained more credence and publicity when British soldiers were withdrawn from their barracks to fight the Germans in Cameroons and the native courts remained unsupervised because the administrative staff was pruned down to reduce the costs of running the protectorate during the war. The rumor sparked off revolts against the Warrant Chiefs in Oguta, Elele, Bende, and Okigwe. The protests in Udi Division were more protracted and destructive. The Akegbe of Udi Division, for example, held their ground

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against the DC’s punitive expedition for nearly five weeks, forcing the Acting Lieutenant Governor to send a reinforcement of soldiers from Lokoja armed with rifles and machines to crush the rebellion.50 Similarly, in Aba Division punitive expeditions were launched against towns that discontinued supplying forced labor to their Warrant Chiefs, including Obete and Abala, where 150 natives were killed.51 Violence also broke out in Obikabia near Okpuala-Ngwa, where the natives flouted the authority of their Warrant Chief, leading to a punitive expedition against the town lasting from February 4 to 14, 1914. Houses, yams, and domestic animals were destroyed, and their principal warrior, called Nwatu, was arrested, tortured, and banished to Opobo. A similar revolt occurred in Azumini, where the native court was shut down because armed men had threatened to set it ablaze.52 The government was primarily concerned with crushing the revolts to assert its authority over the natives. It therefore continued to demand forced labor from the Warrant Chiefs until the Women’s War (Ogu Umunwanyi) of 1929, which aroused a more widespread revolt against the system of indirect rule. Women complained during Ogu Umunwanyi that they were overworked because of forced labor, which deprived them of the services of their husbands during the farming season and the production of palm oil and kernel. As will be discussed, women were also adversely affected by the shortage of labor and other problems created by the expansion of Christian Missions and the emerging urban centers. Rivalry between Christian Missions and Authority Holders The problems of the Warrant Chiefs were escalated by the fast tempo of social change in the 1920s, when Christian Missions had spread to most parts of Igboland. Achebe has examined the rivalry between them and the custodians of the old order in Onitsha area in his novel, showing how it led to the tragic death of Okonkwo.53 A similar conflict occurred with greater intensity in the palm oil belt of southern Igboland. The conflict in this area was accentuated by the Garrick Braide’s iconoclastic movement, which spread from the town of Bakana in the eastern delta to the hinterland during 1916–1939. The movement led to the destruction of ancient places of worship and religious symbols in many places.54 The situation in Aba Division, for example, worsened when the Niger Delta Pastorate (NDP) and other Christian Missions, which had forbidden their members from offering sacrifices to their ancestors and gods, launched a crusade against traditional religious institutions, destroying sacred shrines and Okonko houses. The authority holders who collaborated with the Warrant Chiefs used the masked men of Okonko to fight back, leading

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to a violent clash between them and the fanatic Christians and the burning of churches. The authority holders also applied economic sanctions against some of the fanatic Christian young men involved in the sacrilegious acts. They were forbidden to farm in their lineage lands or harvest the communal oil palm trees and also fined for refusing to carry out forced labor on Sundays.55 Thus, many young men fled to Aba in search of new economic opportunities and religious freedom. Although the sanctions were effective, traditional authority holders were dismayed by the desacralization of laws, which forbade those who committed sacrileges from cleansing the earth to restore the ritual equilibrium in their society. They, then, blamed the Warrant Chiefs and the native court system for the calamities and other problems of the colonial period.56 The conflict between the traditional authority holders and Okonko on the one hand and the NDP on the other was a major source of concern for the colonial government. The Lieutenant Governor of Eastern Provinces, the Resident of Owerri Province, and District Officer of Aba Division had to tour the affected areas in the Ngwa-Umuahia axis and hold a peace meeting at Aba with both sides on December 16, 1920. Although they cautioned the NDP authorities against the excesses of their members, the Okonko-church dispute continued to rage until the outbreak of the Women’s War.57 In addition to the fanatic Christian young men who took refuge in Aba, the town attracted civil servants, clerks, and agents of European firms, teachers, traders, artisans, laborers, prostitutes, and other people. These new immigrants increased its population, and by 1921 Aba was emerging as a leading cosmopolitan center, as evidenced by its mixed population comprising 29 Europeans; 50 “Native Foreigners,” including the Yoruba, and Sierra Leoneans from Lagos; and 325 northerners.58 A similar rural-urban migration was taking place in varying degrees at Owerri, Onitsha, and other administrative centers and in railway-administrative towns like Port Harcourt and Enugu. The emerging urban centers increased the shortage of labor in the rural areas, which affected the workload of women and their families. The literate elite of the urban areas, including clerks and others engaged in the new economic sector, who were no longer tied closely to the soil, gradually developed new ideas and values, which became, over time, different from those of their conservative authority holders and elders. The ideological cleavage between them, which affected the women, was in many ways a continuation of the Okonko-church dispute, since many of the women leaders were wives of the traditional authority holders and Okonko members.59 Women were particularly concerned about the social and economic problems raised by urbanization and the Warrant Chief system. Even before the

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Women’s War, a millenarian movement meant to purify society of prostitution and other evils and restore its traditional moral order had spread to Okigwe, Bende, Ikot Ekpene, and Uyo Divisions and other parts of the hinterland where women revolted.60 Women, then, saw themselves as the embodiment of the productive forces of the earth-goddess (Ala), and the defenders of the moral taboos of the goddess against vices and other sacrilegious acts that upset the ritual equilibrium of their society and caused infertility, sudden death, and other calamities. T. O. Echewa, in his novel I Saw the Sky Catch Fire, has examined a similar theme among Owerrinta women, who played a leading role in escalating the Women’s War, showing their moral outrage against the new forces of change.61 The women had shortly before Ogu Umnwanyi marched to Aba to capture and purify a young married woman from their community who had escaped to the town to practice prostitution, surmounting the obstacles they encountered from the police and the local administration.62 As will be examined later, when they returned to Aba, their protests would take on a more violent form; hence, the Women’s War was captioned in official circles as “The Aba Women’s Riot.” The Immediate Causes of the Women’s War: Hyperinflation, Census, and Taxation The Women’s War was also caused by the global depression and the mercantilist policies adopted by European firms, which manipulated the costs of commodities to increase their profit margins. For example, the Niger Company and the African Eastern Trade Corporation merged in 1929 to form the United African Company (UAC), dominating Nigeria’s export-import trade.63 Coastal middlemen in Oguta and other riverain markets responded to the economic crisis by buying produce directly from the primary producers, alienating both their local and European agents. As for the primary producers, their plight worsened, especially from December 28, 1928, to December 29, 1929, when the prices of palm oil and kernel at Aba, for example, fell from 17 percent to 21 percent, respectively, while the duty on imported goods like tobacco, cigarettes, and grey baft that women retailed in their local markets rose to 33 percent, 33 percent, and 100 percent, respectively.64 The deteriorating terms of trade contributed to the impoverishment of women and their families. The Women’s War was then sparked off by a rumor claiming that women would be taxed during a period of hyperinflation. The Women’s War started in Oloko in the Bende Division, where the government had taken a census of the men in 1926, without indicating that the figures would be used in taxing them in 1928. The government issued in 1929 a similar directive to the former DC’s called District Officers (DOs)

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asking them to conduct a census of both men and women and to obtain estimates of their incomes. The first Warrant Chief to carry out the directive of his DO was Okugo of Oloko in Bende Division, who asked a teacher to take a census of his people. Once women heard about the census they started to protest, believing that they would be taxed. Oloko women dispatched palm fronds to other women in Bende Division, and within a short period, thousands of protestors arrived at Okugo’s compound to “sit on the Warrant Chiefs,” dancing and chanting war songs and making life miserable for him. The women then called for his resignation and imprisonment for assaulting some of them. The DO, fearing that the situation might get out of control (especially as the protests spread to Umuhia town, where government offices and European factories were located), acceded to their demands. He deposed Okugo and jailed him for two years.65 Although the Women’s War spread to many parts of the palm oil belt of southeastern Nigeria, it was Owerrinta women who took their protests to Aba. Their protests began after the enumerator of their Warrant Chief knocked down a pregnant woman during a scuffle, leading to the termination of her pregnancy. The news of her assault spread like wildfire—outraging women, who regarded the incident as an “act of abomination.” They then massed in the compound of Chief Njoku, their Warrant Chief and later razed the Owerrinta Native Court; during their encounter with policemen, two of them were killed and their leader, Ugbala, was arrested and detained at Aba prison.66 Owerrinta women, who reasoned that these incidents were an affront to womanhood, decided to summon a general assembly of all Ngwa women at Eke Akpara market on December 11, 1929, to recount their horrifying and sad experiences. The meeting, which is reported to have attracted about 10,000 women, including those from nearby Igbo communities, resolved that they should march to Aba and air their grievances to the DO. But when the women arrived at factory road in Aba, a British medical officer driving on the same road accidentally injured two women, who eventually died. This incident aroused so much anger among the protestors that they became violent, destroying the native court building, European factories, and other establishments. They also raided the prison to release their leader. Although the number of women who died at Aba remains unknown, Echewa’s oral accounts indicate that over 100 women were killed by soldiers and policemen.67 The sad experiences and frustrations of Owerrinta women during colonialism, and their nostalgic views of the pre-contact era, led to their demand that All white men should [return] to their country so that the land in this area might remain as it was many years ago before the advent of the white man.68

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It was from Aba that the Women’s War spread to Ikot Ekpene and Abak Divisions in Calabar Province, where it became more violent and deadly. At Utu-Etim-Ekpo, where on December 14 government buildings were set ablaze and a factory was looted, 18 women were killed and 19 wounded. Similarly, at Ikot Abasi near Opobo, 31 women and a man were killed, while 31 others were wounded.69 Consequences of the Women’s War: Overview of Chieftaincy in Igboland from the 1930s to the 1950s The British government mobilized civil and military officers to suppress the “riots,” and District Officers were mandated to impose fines in the disaffected areas as compensation for damages to property and as deterrent against future disturbances. On January 2, 1930, the government also appointed a commission of inquiry to investigate the causes of the disturbances in Calabar Province. The commission submitted its report on January 27, 1930, but due to the report’s narrow scope, the government appointed a second commission of inquiry on February 7, 1930, to cover both Calabar and Owerri Provinces and to make recommendations about future administrative reforms that would strengthen the system of indirect rule in southeastern Nigeria. The commission began its meetings at Aba on March 10, 1930, and submitted its report on July 21, 1930. The report, which did not accede to most of the demands of the women, was accepted by the government.70 The report, however, maintained that the protests stemmed from the economic slump, the abuses of the Warrant Chiefs, and the untraditional methods used in appointing them, claiming that By Ibo custom, every town has a head usually known as Onye Ezeala [Priest of the earth-goddess], but except in Okigwe and to some extent Ahoada, these native heads have been ignored as central Authorities . . . in Aba Division . . . almost every town has its Onye Ezeala who is recognized by the whole community, and it seems a retrograde step to ignore the central authority in favor of a large number of minor authorities.71

The government decided to abolish the Warrant Chief system and fashion a new policy of indirect rule, hoping that traditional authority holders would be represented in the Native Administration it established in the 1930s. From Massed Benches (Eze Bari) to the Literate Elite Although the government took many steps to involve authority holders in the Native Administration, its efforts were unsuccessful for diverse reasons. The

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power of the authority holders was weakened by the misrule of the Warrant Chiefs and the rapid pace of economic and social changes that had occurred in the hinterland since its annexation. Hence, in many communities the authority holders were simply seen as religious heads of their mini states, lacking political power. In addition, many authority holders found it difficult to reconcile their politico-religious roles with the mundane world of colonialism, where they would serve as “messengers of the white man.” A similar reason was adduced by the Eze Nri Obalike, when he grudgingly accepted to serve as a Warrant Chief of Awka Native Court in 1904. During his first appearance in court, “the whole assembly rose and . . . [fled]” because of the common belief that he was a spirit, who should not be seen in public by ordinary people. It is noteworthy that Obalike relinquished his post and never sat in the native court after that incident.72 Small wonder why the native courts of the 1930s were packed with so many usurpers who claimed to be the authority holders of their communities that they were called “Eze Bari/ Barighiri” (lit. everybody is a chief/king), a euphemism for mob rule. The Eze Bari included former Warrant Chiefs, Okonko and Ozo titled men, the literate elite, and other influential men. The government found the massed benches dysfunctional and decided to replace them with the “Best Man Policy” of the 1940s–1950s.73 The Literate Elite, the “Best Man Policy,” and the Introduction of Local Government Councils (1940s–1950s) The literate elite, comprising retired civil and public servants and others who had graduated from mission and government schools up to primary and high school levels, became an important force in Igbo politics after the collapse of the Eze Bari system. The elite had assailed the Eze Bari system, claiming that because of their skills in literacy and their ability to speak the English language, they had better knowledge of the white man and were therefore the “best men” (Eze okacha nma) to run the colonial bureaucracy. Some of them maintained that they were the de facto rulers of Igbo mini states, arguing that “Igbo enwe Eze” (lit. the Igbo do not have chiefs/kings). In light of their protests and the shortcomings of the Eze Bari system, the government introduced the Best Man Policy of the 1940s, which marked the genesis of elective local government councils. The interests of the elite were fully protected when the criteria for contesting local government elections included literacy and a candidate’s ability to speak English. The elite were therefore able to dominate local government councils, native and clan authorities, and other administrative organs established during the 1940s–1950s.74

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Eastern Regional Government and the Crisis of Chieftaincy in Igboland (1950s–1960s) The eastern regional government, headed by Nnamdi Azikiwe and other members of the educated elite, was concerned about the crisis the chieftaincy institution was facing in Igboland. There were claims and counter claims, and as in the past, the literate elite renewed their slogan claiming that “Igbo enwe Eze.” To resolve the puzzle and maintain the same pace with the northern and western regions, which had established their Regional Houses of Chiefs in 1957, the eastern regional government appointed G.I. Jones, an anthropologist versed in Igbo history and culture, the chairman of a commission of inquiry to advise it on the status of chiefs in the region. But some strings were attached to the mandate given to the commission, which were meant to protect the interests of both the literate and educated elites in that it was required in making its recommendations to pay special attention to how to “integrate traditional institutions into a modern, Western-style political and judicial system.”75 Jones was aware of the Herculean task given to his commission, especially since it came during a period when traditional institutions had been undermined by colonialism. His commission differentiated between two types of political authorities that existed in Igboland: the de jure rulers or the sacred authority holders, whose power and influence were waning, and the de facto rulers or the literate elite, who dominated the various arms of the colonial government in their communities. Jones ruled in favor of the latter and recommended that chiefs be divided into three categories: first class chiefs would be members of the Regional House of Chiefs, while those in the second and third categories should serve at the County and Local Government levels, respectively. The government approved the recommendations of the commission and recognized chiefs, who would be paid salaries at the various tiers of government they were serving. Jones’s recommendations helped in defining the chieftaincy institution in Igboland until the Nigerian civil war (1967–1970).76 The next major changes were made in 1975, when the military government of the East Central State appointed A.E. Afigbo the chairman of a committee to advise it “on choice, presentation, use and role of traditional rulers.”77 Afigbo’s committee realized that due to the changes traditional rulership had undergone during the colonial period, it would be a futile task to reestablish the pre-twentieth-century politico-religious institutions of Igbo society or to assign duties to the authority holders. Its recommendations favored the “Igbo enwe Eze” camp because it called for the creation of Autonomous Communities, which would elect

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their traditional rulers and present them to the government for official recognition. The recommendations were adopted by the Igbo states of Anambra and Imo, as well as others created later, such as Abia and Enugu (1991) and Ebonyi (1996), leading to the emergence of traditional rulers of varying backgrounds, including wealthy businessmen, retired public servants, descendants of former Warrant Chiefs, and many others.

CHAPTER 8

Conclusion

This book has attempted to present an overview of Igbo history from the Late Stone Age to modern times. It began with discussing the ecological background of the Igbo and the antiquity and complexity of their cultural history as evidenced by their traditions of origins and migrations and the classifications of Forde and Jones. The book also delved into methodological problems, calling attention to the limitations of the existing synchronic studies and the contributions the diachronic approach has made in advancing our knowledge of the African past, including the history of the so-called stateless societies. To further illustrate the fruitfulness of the diachronic approach, its variables were identified and applied in explaining the broad changes that occurred in Igbo history over time. Thus, for example, when the early inhabitants of Igboland shifted from foraging to agriculture, their politico-religious organization changed from a stateless system to mini states, which acquired increasing complexity during the Iron Age, culminating in the development of the Igbo-Ukwu mega state during the ninth-tenth centuries. The sacred spaces and the hierarchy of authorities that existed in Iron Age agrarian Igbo society, as well as its cosmology centered on the earth-goddess (Ala/Ana), were further used to affirm the politico-religious accomplishments of Igbo mini states and the interconnectedness of religious and political power in the forest region of Nigeria and other parts of the world. Igbo history and politico-religious organizations were also compared with those of the Efik-Ibibio, Eastern Ijo fishing villages, the Yoruba, Benin, and Igala to show that they shared some common cultures and lived primarily in mini states before the Trans-Saharan and Trans-Atlantic trades. Case studies were used to examine when and how some of the mini states were transformed into mega states. The case studies provided further insights on the theories of state formation, which constitute contentious issues in African historiography. The intergroup relations that existed between the Igbo and neighboring

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mega states during the slave trade were also discussed, to illuminate the changes Igbo politico-religious organizations underwent before the beginning of the Aro trade network. More far-reaching changes occurred in Igbo history during the Aro trade network (seventeenth-nineteenth centuries), leading to the spread of social violence, dislocations of communities, and the enslavement of many people. The increasing roles some members of the Aro trade network began to play in the politico-religious affairs of the “Igbo world” were also discussed. Igbo communities naturally resisted Aro intrusions, especially the Abam slave raids. It is then argued in this book that the Aro would have failed to integrate the entire Igboland into a single political entity not only because of the fierce resistance they encountered in many places but due to logistical and other technical problems. Igbo history underwent further changes during legitimate commerce and the New Imperialism. Legitimate commerce transformed gender roles and empowered leading palm produce traders, while the New Imperialism laid the foundation for the colonization of Igboland and the emergence of Warrant Chiefs, the literate and educated elite and others, who have been described as the “de facto rulers” of their communities since the late nineteenth century. Historically, it is difficult to sustain the existing synchronic typologies, which assume that the Igbo lived in a “kinship and stateless society.” In fact, the only people who might correctly belong to the stateless category, in that they lack a government, are foragers and some semisedentary nomads. As this book has shown, the Igbo began to live in mini states with the genesis of agriculture, and some of communities on the Lower Niger and its tributaries that engaged in international trade evolved into mega states. Communities on the Lower Imo River and other places have continued to maintain their traditional hereditary political system headed by their Eze Ala/ Onye nwe-Ali (priest of the earth-goddess), including Akwete, Ohambele, Azumini, Obegu, and Isiokpo. The emergence of kings and kingmakers of Igbo descent in the eastern delta further affirms that the Igbo are not averse to mega states and the features of “aristocratic systems,” including chieftaincy titles. A recent study indicates that title-taking is more popular among the Igbo than many other Nigerian peoples.1 In addition, traditional Igbo political systems have never been static. For example, Afigbo has noted that Igbo political systems underwent seven major changes during the colonial period.2 Some Igbo mini states headed by their authority holders have disintegrated. A typical example is Asaba, whose history has been studied by E. Isichei. The town was ruled by one Eze (King) in the past, but by 1879, the number of Eze title holders “had increased from

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about 200 to about 500.”3 A similar fragmentation of authority occurred among the Ngwa, who used the symbol of the earth-goddess (Ala) to establish an elaborate politico-religious organization that transcended the village-group level. Attesting to the “clan organization” of the Ngwa, J.S. Coleman opined that Even though the village-group has been the highest level of recognized common authority [among the Igbo], there [have] been times when consciousness of a wider unity existed or could be awakened. Many clans are not necessarily localized but cut across large sections of Iboland. [Their members] are . . . aware of belonging to a group higher than the extended family or village-group. The Ngwa clan . . . is a case in point.4

Any one who now visits Okpuala-Ngwa, the politico-religious center of the Ngwa, will be shocked to learn about its decline and “cultural death.” There were 28 village-groups, in Ngwaland during the colonial period. But by 1998, their number had risen to over 150 “autonomous communities” each one “headed” by a “traditional ruler” (Eze).5 Similar problems exist in Owaelu, the cultural capital of the Oratta-Owerri clan, and other places. Synchronic studies of Igbo society ignore these changes and simply fit the Igbo example into their models. It is, then, difficult to establish a typology that would fully portray the complex changes Igbo political systems have undergone since the Late Stone Age. Existing typologies are distortions, which simply capture an aspect of the historical experiences of Igbo people.

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Notes

Chapter 1 1. Victor C. Uchendu, The Igbo of Southeast Nigeria (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965), 1–2. Uchendu’s work excludes the location and the landmass of the Western Igbo, although their population is included in the total Igbo population. 2. Thurstan Shaw, Nigeria: Its Archeology and Early History (London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1978), 17. 3. James N. Amankulor, “Ekpe Festival as a Religious Ritual, Dance and Drama,” Ikenga: International Journal of African Studies, 1.2 (1972), 37–47. 4. For example, see Adiele Afigbo, Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture (Ibadan: University Press Ltd. in association with Oxford University Press, 1981), 1–30, “Igboland Before the 19th Century,” in Obaro Ikime (ed.), Groundwork of Nigerian History (Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books (Nigeria) PLC, 1980), 73–83, and “Igbo Genesis,” in Toyin Falola (ed.), Igbo History and Society: Essays of Adiele Afigbo (Trenton: Africa World Press, 2005), 137–51; Uchendu (1965) 3, Gwilym I. Jones, The Background of Eastern Nigerian History Volume III, Tribal Distribution, HARAFlex Books, FF/3, Ethnographic Series (New Haven: Human Relations Area Files, Inc., 1988), 342–406, Elizabeth Isichei, A History of the Igbo People (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1976), 3–15, and John N. Oriji, Traditions of Igbo Origin: A Study of Pre-Colonial Population Movements in Africa (New York: Peter Lang, 1994). 5. Mervin Jeffreys (1946), 5, cited by Daryll C. Forde and Gwilym I. Jones, The Ibo and Ibibio-Speaking Peoples of South-Eastern Nigeria (London: International African Institute, 1950), 9; Chieka Ifemesia, Traditional Humane Living Among the Igbo: An Historical Perspective (Enugu: Fourth Dimension Press, 1979), 5. 6. M. Onwuejeogwu, “An Outline of the Dawn of Igbo Civilization in the Igbo Culture Area,” Odinani: The Journal of Odinani Museum, 1.1 (1972), 4. 7. Afigbo (1981), 6–8, and (1980), 75–79. He also supports the view that NriAwka, Orlu, and Owerri axis are among the core areas of Igbo dispersion. See also Uchendu (1961), 3, Isichei (1976), 6, and Oriji (1994), 27–28.

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8. Adiele Afigbo, “The Place of Amaigbo in Igbo Traditions of Origin and Migration,” in Toyin Falola (2005), 586–603. Afigbo noted that Nri, Amigbo, and Arochukwu are among the leading centers of Igbo civilization, although he claimed that the nomenclature “Igbo” was applied to Igbo people when they settled in their homeland from the Niger Benue-Confluence, and hence, Amaigbo was a center of their settlement and migration and not the place of their origin. For my analysis of the primacy of Amaigbo in Igbo cultural history, see Oriji (1994), 1–5. 9. C.J. Pleass, Intelligence Report on Ibeku Clan, Nigerian National Archives, Enugu (undated), 1. 10. Gwilym Iwan Jones, The Trading States of the Oil Rivers: A Study of Political Developments in Eastern Nigeria (London: Oxford University Press, 1964), 30. 11. Forde and Jones (1950), 10, and P. Amuary Talbot and H. Mulhall, The Physical Anthropology of Southern Nigeria (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1965), 5. 12. For the traditions of origins of Isu and other towns of the Agbaja (Ana-Edo) clan see Oriji (1994), 49. Nnewi claims to be the senior town, but the Nri affirm that Isu is the first son of Ikenga, the progenitor of the clan. Other towns of the clan are Oraifite and Ichi. For the settlement of the Isuama-Orlu at Onitsha, see Richard N. Henderson, The King in Everyman, Evolutionary Trends in Onitsha Society and Culture (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1972), 76. 13. Oriji (1984), 77–78. For example, the senior ward of Ibusa is said to have been founded by one Umuejei from Isu (Isuama). 14. Oriji (1984), 5. 15. William B. Baikie, “Summary of an Exploring Trip up the Rivers Kwora and Chadda,” Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 25 (1855), 111. 16. Paul Edwards (ed.), The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African Written By Himself, in 1789 (Long Grove: Waveland Press, Inc. 1996). Names of many ancient Igbo settlements are prefixed or suffixed with the concept “Igbo” including, Igbo-uzo in western Igboland anglicized as Ibuzo; Igbo-Ukwu in Nri area, and Obi-Igbo (Obigbo) in Rivers State. For Vincent Carretta’s views about Equiano’s place of birth, see, “Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa? New Light on Eighteenth-Century Question of Identity,” Slavery and Abolition, 20.3 (December, 1999), 96–105. Carreta noted on pages 104–05, endnote 2 that in spite of the issues he raised about Equiano, “the surviving documentary evidence shows that Equiano’s outstanding ability to remember details from his early life . . . are indisputable.” For his book on Equiano see Equiano, the African: Biography of a Self-Made Man (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2005). For responses to Carretta’s views on Equiano’s place of birth see, Paul Lovejoy, “Autobiography and Memory,” Slavery and Abolition, 27.3 (December 2006), 317–47, and Catherine O. Acholonu-Olumba, The Igbo Roots of Olaudah Equiano (Revisited with Reply to Vincent Carretta) (Abuja: Afa Publications, 2007). 17. Oriji (1994), 22–24. For the immigration of refugees who fled to Igboland during the Fulani Jihad, see Kenneth O. Dike, Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta:

Notes

18.

19. 20.

21. 22.

23. 24. 25.

26. 27. 28.

29.

30.

31. 32. 33.

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An Introduction to the Economic and Political History of Nigeria (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1956), 27. Christopher Ehert, “Bantu Expansions: Re-envisioning a Central Problem of Early African History,” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 34.1 (2001), 5–40 and Patrick Manning, “Homo sapiens Populates the Earth: A Provisional Synthesis, Privileging Linguistic Evidence,” Journal of World History, 17.2 (2006), 115–56. Roland Oliver and B. Fagan, Africa in the Iron Age (London: Cambridge University Press, 1975), 64. For example, F. Alaezi, Ibos: Hebrew Exiles (Aba: Onzy publications Ltd, 1999), P. Nwadinigwe, The Origin of Igbo (Amabia: Lumos Nigeria Ltd., 1999) and Nwankwo Nwaezeigwe, The Igbo and their Nri Neighbors (Enugu: Snaap Press Ltd, 2007), 30–46. Oriji (1994), 27–31, Afigbo (1981), 1–30, Ifemesia (1979), 21–22 and Uchendu (1965), 3. Adiele Afigbo “The Age of Innocence: The Igbo and their Neighbors,” Ahiajoku Lecture, Igbo Language Center, Owerri, 1981, 1–28 http://ahiajoku/.igbonet. com. Accessed June 23, 2008. For information on Achadu, see Chapter 3, and Onwuejeogwu (1972), 27–28. Uchendu (1965), 4. Proceedings Before the Commission of Inquiry into the Disturbances in the Calabar and Owerri Provinces Gazette Extraordinary, Lagos, 10 (February 7, 1930), 8–9. Forde and Jones (1950), 28–37. See also Henderson (1972), 247–381. Herbert Cole, Mbari: Art and Life among the Owerri Igbo (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1982), 1–127. Ibid., 37–44. For more information on Ngwa migrations to Diobu and Bonny see John N. Oriji, Ngwa History: A Study of Social and Economic Changes in IgboMini States in Time Perspective (New York:Peter Lang, 1988), 21–22. Forde and Jones (1950), 51–56. For a recent discussion of the Aro mega state see, A. Nwauwa, “Hypotheses of State Formation and the Evolution of Kingship (Ezeship) Tradition in Igboland: A Socio-Political Anatomy of the Origin of the Aro Kingdom,” International Journal of African Studies, 6.2 (2007), 171–95. Simon Ottenberg, Double Descent in an African Society: The Afikpo Village-Group (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1968), Leadership and Authority in an African Society: The Afikpo Village-Group (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1971) and Gwilym Iwam Jones, The Background of Eastern Nigerian History, vol. iii, Tribal Distribution (2), Hraflex Books, FF1/3, Ethnography Series (New Haven: Human Area Files, Inc, 1988), 392–406. Forde and Jones (1950), 59–60. Ibid., 45–51. For the Oguta example see Flora Nwapa, The Lake Goddess (Trenton: Africa World Press Inc., 2006) and Sabine Jell-Bahlsen, The Water Goddess in Igbo Cosmology: Ogbuide of Oguta Lake (Trenton: Africa World Press, 2008).

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34. Adiele E. Afibgo, An Outline of Igbo History (Owerri: RADA, 1986), 9–13, and M. Onwuejeogwu (1972), 15–39 and Evolutionary Trends in the History of the Development of the Igbo Civilization in the Culture Theatre of Igboland in Southern Nigeria (Owerri: Government Printer, 1987). 35. Victor C. Uchendu, “Ezi na Ulo: The extended Family in Igbo Civilization,” the 1995 Ahiajoku Lecture, Igbo Language Center, Owerri, 1–57 http://ahiajoku.igboet.co/1995. Accessed June 13, 2006. 36. Ibid., 25–26. See also Ottenberg (1968), 176–265 and Philip Nsugbe, Ohaffia: A Matrilineal Ibo People (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974). Uchendu criticized Nsugbe for not realizing that inheritance among the Ohaffia is based on patrilineal and matrilineal principles. 37. Ibid., 18–19 and 25. For the roles the Omu and Umuada played in the administration of their communities, see Ikenna Nzimiro, Studies in Igbo Political Systems: Chieftaincy and Politics in Four Niger States (Berkley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1972), 55–56 and 83, Kamena Okonjo, “Women’s Political Participation in Nigeria,” in F. Steady (ed.), The Black Woman Cross-Culturally (Cambridge, Mass: Schenkam Publication, 1981), 97–103, and Gloria Chuku, Igbo Women and Economic Transformation in Southeastern Nigeria, 1900–1960 (Routledge: New York, 2005), 19–22. 38. Uchendu (1995), 18–19. 39. Charles Kegley and Eugene Wittikopf, World Politics: Trend and Transformation (New York: Wadworth, 2003), 10–15. 40. Margaret Green, Igbo Village Affairs (London: Thomas Nelson, 1947), 139–46 and M. Perham, Native Administration in Nigeria (London: Oxford University Press, 1957). 41. M. Chamberlain, The Scramble for Africa (New York: Longman Group), 4. 42. Robert F. Stevenson, Population and Political Systems in Tropical Africa (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968), 192–93. Some Igbo scholars have expressed a similar view, arguing that the institution of chieftaincy in Igboland dates back to ancient times, see E. Amucheazi, C. Ogbuagu and J. Oleru, Moving Nigeria to Greatness: Some Thoughts (Umuahia: A Publication of the National Orientation Agency, Abia State, 2007), 240–52. 43. Ottenberg (1971), xv. 44. Jones (1964), 5. 45. Susan Keech McIntosh (ed.), Beyond Chiefdoms: Pathways to Complexity in Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 2–3. 46. P. Coutsoukis, “The Igbo a Stateless People?,” Nigeria: The Library of Congress Country Studies http://workmall.com/wfb2001/Nigeria/Nigeria-historythe-igbo-a-stateless-society.html.Accessed February 28, 2008. 47. Robin Horton, “Stateless Societies in the History of West Africa,” in Joseph F. Ajayi and Michael Crowther (eds.), History of West Africa, 1 (New York: Longman, 1972), 78–119 and David Northrup, Trade without Rulers: PreColonial Economic Developments in Southeastern Nigeria (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978), 155–88.

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48. Horton (1972), 86–97. 49. Jan Vansina, Paths in the Rainforests: Toward a History of Political Tradition in Equatorial Africa (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2004), 4. 50. Elechukwu Njaka, Igbo Political Culture (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1974), 50–67. He gave some insights on traditional Igbo cosmology, but his descriptions of the normative values of the Igbo are problematic. 51. Ifemesia (1979), 53. He noted other concepts in Igbo language associated with Eze, including, “Eze tilu iwu” (the King/Chief has enacted a law), Eze-Ani/Eze Ajani (King, Chief/High Priest the land), and “Ikpe ama Eze” (the King/Chief cannot be found guilty, meaning that his office is sacrosanct, and hence he is infallible). 52. Cyril A. Onwumechili, “Igbo Enwe Eze: The Igbo have no Kings,” The 2000 Ahiajoku Lecture, Igbo Language Center, Owerri 1–26. The Anambra group led by Onwuejeogwu, which protested against the lecture, formed “The Front for the Defense of Igbo Heritage” in 2001 to organize lectures to counter the claim. Although the concept of Eze was traditionally applied to heads of mini and mega states, yet in the competitive and dynamic Igbo society, the title is conferred to individuals who had distinguished themselves in various areas of human endeavor. As an example, distinguished yam and cocoyam farmers are respectively called Eze-ji (king/chief of yams) and Eze-ede (king/chief of cocoyams) while members of Okonko society are known as Eze Okonko (king/chief of Okonko). 53. Adiele Afigbo, “Igbo Enwe Eze: Beyond Onwumechili and Onwuejeogwu,” in Toyin Falola (2005), 478. 54. Ibid., 15–16. 55. George Balandier, Political Anthropology (New York: Vintage Books, 1972), 78. 56. For insightful studies of sacred spaces see Michael Sheridan and Celia Nyameru (eds.), African Sacred Groves: Ecological Dynamics and Social Change (Oxford: James Curry, 2008), and Raymond Asombang, “Sacred Centers and Urbanization in West Africa,” in McIntosh (1999), 80–87. 57. Ibid., 101. 58. Gwilym I. Jones, “Chieftaincy in the Former Eastern Region of Nigeria” in Michael Crowther and Obaro Ikime (eds.), West African Chiefs: Their Status Under Colonial Rule and Independence (New York and Ile-Ife: Africana Publishing Corporation, 1970), 312, and Ogbu Kalu, “Under the Eyes of the Gods,” Remarks on 1998 Ahiajioku Lecture, Owerri, 27–41. 59. W.R.G. Horton, “The Ohu System of Slavery in a Northern Igbo VillageGroup,” Journal of the International African Institute, 24.4 (October 1954), 324. 60. R.W. Harms, “The Wars of August: Diagonal Narrative in African History,” American Historical Review, 88.4 (1983), 809–34. See also William A. Green, History, Historians, and the Dynamics of Change (Westport: Praeger, 1993), and Sylvia Thrup “Diachronic Methods in Comparative Politics,” in Robert Holt and John Turner (eds.), The Methodology of Comparative Research (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Center for Comparative Studies in Technological Development and Social Change, 1970), 343–58.

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61. Brian Fagan, World Prehistory: A Brief Introduction (Upper Saddle River: Pearson/ Prentice Hall, 2005), 16. 62. John E. Philip (ed.), Writing African History (Rochester: The University of Rochester Press, 2005) and Toyin Falola and Christian Jennings (eds.), Sources and Methods in African History: Spoken, Written, Unearthed (Rochester: The University of Rochester Press, 2003). 63. Thurstan Shaw, Igbo-Ukwu: An Account of Archeological Discoveries vols. I and II (London: Faber and Faber, 1970), and Nigeria: Its Archeology and Early History (London: Thames and Hudson, 1978). E.E. Okafor, “New Evidence of IronSmelting from Southeastern Nigeria,” in Thurstan Shaw, P. Sinclair et al. (eds.), The Archeology of Africa (New York: Routledge, 1993), 432–48, and Akinwumi Ogundiran, “Chronology, Material Culture, and Pathways to the Cultural History of Yoruba-Edo Region, 500 b.c.–a.d. 1800,” in Falola and Jennings (2003), 33–79. 64. Ogundiran (2003), 33–79. 65. Their pioneering works include, Afigbo, Ropes of Sand; Isichei, A History of the Igbo People; Jones, The Trading States of the Oil Rivers; M. Onwuejeogwu, An Igbo Civilization: Nri Kingdom and Hegemony (London: Ethnographica Ltd, 1981) and Henderson, The King in Every Man. 66. For Zik’s account of the history of UNN, see Zik, A Selection from the Speeches of Nnamdi Azikiwe (London: Cambridge University Press, 1961), 280–300. Zik’s book that most influenced me as an undergraduate student is entitled, Renascent Africa (London: Frank Cass, 1968), in which he used ancient African history and culture to espouse his ideas of African nationalism. 67. John N. Oriji, “Development of Oracular Trade Amongst the Ngwa-Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria,” Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, xviii (1980), 35–52. 68. John N. Oriji, “Transformations in Ngwa Society,” Ikenga: International Journal of African Studies, 4.2 (1980), 23–39. 69. John N. Oriji, “The Ngwa-Igbo Clan of Southeastern Nigeria: An Oral History Overview,” Oral History Review, 9 (1981), 65–84, and “A Study of the Structure of the Ngwa-Igbo Society of Southeastern Nigeria,” Bulletin d’Institute Fundamental d’Afrique Noire (IFON), University of Dakar, Senegal, 1–2 (1982), 138–62. 70. John N. Oriji, “A Re-Assessment of the Organization and Benefits of the Slave and Palm Produce Trade amongst the Ngwa Igbo,” Canadian Journal of African Studies, 16.3 (1982), 523–48. 71. Forde and Jones (1950) and Onwuejeogwu “An Outline of the Dawn of Igbo Civilization in the Igbo Culture Area,” op. cit. 72. Isichei, A History of Igbo People, op. cit., 3. 73. John N. Oriji, “Political Authority in Igboland: An Overview,” Odu: Journal of West African Studies, 29 (1986), 73–79 and “The Slave Trade, Warfare and Aro Expansion in the Igbo Hinterland,” Geneve-Afrique, xxiv.2 (1986), 102–17. 74. Oriji (1998) and Traditions of Igbo Origin, op. cit.

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75. John N. Oriji, “Sacred Authority in Igbo Society,” Archives des Sciences Sociales des Religions, Paris, 68 (1989), 109–19, “Igbo Women from 1929–1960,” West African Review, 2.1 (Aug. 2000), 1–11, and “Igboland, Slavery and Drums of War and Heroism,” in Sylviane Diouf (ed.), Fighting Back: West African Strategies against the Slave Trade (Athens: Ohio University Press 2003), 121–31. 76. “Destrotyer of Shrines in Obosi,” Nation, February 21, 2009, 3. 77. “The Slaughter of the Gods of Ezinihitte,” Nation, September 21, 2008, 2–6. 78. I witnessed some of the excesses of Utu in Nigeria in 2007, and the government of Abia State banned the “Utu movement” in 2008, after it had committed incredible havoc and atrocities in many communities. 79. Adiele Afigbo’s reaction to the “Slaughter of the Gods of the Gods of Ezinihitte,” [email protected]. 80. John N. Oriji, “The Ivory Tower and its Descent to the Dark Ages: A Study of Cultism in Nigerian Universities,” Lincoln Journal of Social and Political Thought, 3.2 (2005), 51–57, and “The End of Sacred Authority and the Genesis of Amorality in Igbo Society,” Dialectical Anthropology, 31 (2007), 263–88. I was awarded a State Faculty Support Grant (1996–1997), to study “The Ethnic Dimensions in American and Nigerian History,” and during my field trips, cultism was a major problem in the universities I visited, including the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the Universities of Uyo and Port Harcourt. 81. Gwilym I. Jones, “Time and Oral Tradition with Special Reference to Eastern Nigeria,” Journal of African History, 6 (1965), 153–60, Jones drew his examples mainly from the Ijo area, but his chronology is relevant to Igbo history. See also Gwilym I. Jones, The Background of Eastern Nigeria History vol. I, Oral Traditions, Hraflex Books, FF1/3 Ethnographic Series and Oriji (1994), 10–11. For more discussions on oral traditions, see D. Jones, “The Problems of African Chronology,” Journal of African History, 11 (1970), 161–71; David Henige, The Chronology of Oral Traditions: Quest for a Chimera (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972); J. Vansina, Oral Tradition: A Study in Historical Methodology, translated by H. Wright (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1961) and R.W. Harms, J. Miller et al. (eds.), African Historical Essays in Honor of Jan Vansina: Paths toward the Past (Atlanta: The African Studies Association Press, 1994). 82. Thurstan Shaw, “Prehistory,” in Obaro Ikime (ed.), Groundwork of Nigerian History (Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books, 1980), 25–53, and Augustin Holl, “Western Africa: The Prehistoric Sequence,” in Joseph O. Vogel (ed.), Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa (Walnut Creek: Altamira Press, a Division of Sage Publications, Inc, 1997), 305–12. See also David Phillipson, African Archeology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985). 83. Donald Hartle, “Archeology in Eastern Nigeria,” Nigeria Magazine, 93 (1967), 134–43, and “Radiocarbon Dates,” West African Archeological Newsletter, 9 (1968), 73. 84. Ogundiran, op. cit., 33–79. 85. Onwuejeogwu, An Igbo Civilization, op. cit. and “Nri Kingdom and Hegemony A.D. 994 to Present,” An Outline of Igbo Civilization (Onitsha: Tabansi Press,

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87. 88. 89.

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1980). Although Nzimiro’s micro study (1972) focuses on the mega states of the Niger Igbo, it is a valuable source for studying Igbo history during the expansion of the Benin Empire from the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries. Fred Anozie’s excavations at Ugwuele have been discussed by P. Allworth-Jones, “The Earliest Human Settlement in West Africa and the Sahara,” in Bassey Andah and A. Okpoko (eds.), Foundations of Civilization in Tropical Africa, Special Book Issue of West African Journal of Archeology, 17 (1987), 97–99. Hand axes constitute about 80 percent of the tools found at Ugwuele, although the artifacts were not carbon dated, Anozie suggests that the hand axes were manufactured about 200,000–250,000 years ago. Holl (1977), 307. Ibid. Shaw (1978), 15.

Chapter 2 1. Archeologists, linguists and others are still debating over the period when foraging cultures shifted to cultivation in Africa. Some have based their chronology on the migrations of the Bantu whose homeland lies in southeastern Nigeria. The first wave of Bantu migrations occurred during foraging (5000–4000 b.c.e.) while the second migrations took place between the Late Stone Age to the Iron Age (1500–500 b.c.e.). In addition, the Igbo language and others which belong to the Kwa subphyla probably separated from the Niger-Congo phyla during the foraging era about 10,000 years ago (8000 b.c.). For these debates see Patrick Manning, Migration in World History (New York: Routledge, 2005), and “Homo Sapiens Populates the Earth: A Provisional Synthesis, Privileging Linguistic Evidence,” Journal of World History, 16.3 (2005), 270–91 and James Webb Jr., “Malaria and the Peopling of Early Tropical Africa,” Journal of World History, 16.3 (2005) 270–91. Hartle(1967), 136, discussed his excavation at the University of Nigeria Agricultural Farm in Nsukka, which shows that the occupants of the area associated with pottery shards, were probably combing foraging and cultivation between 2555 b.c. and 1460 b.c. a combination of linguistic and archeological evidences have then been used to determine the foraging period in Igbo history (8,000 b.c.–2555 b.c.). 2. Ibid., Manning (2005), 116–20, and Webb Jr. (2005), 271 and 287. See also Ehret 34.1 (2001), 5–40 and Erik Gilbert and Jonathan Reynolds, Africa in World History: From Prehistory to the Present (Upper Saddle: Pearson Education, Inc., 2008), 48–52. Before these scholars and others began to shed some light on the Bantu migrations, existing historiography associated the migrations exclusively with the Iron Age of West Africa (500 b.c-200 a.d.). For example see Colin McEvedy, The Penguin Atlas of African History, (London: Penguin Group, 1995), 34–35 and Robert July, A History of the African People (Prospect Heights: Waveland Press, 1998), 132–39.

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3. Mervin Jeffreys, “The Umundri Tradition of Origin,” African Studies, 15.3 (1956), 122–25, Afigbo (1981), 31–48, Onwuejeogwu (1980), 9–10 and Nwaezeigwe (2007), 71–77. 4. John Osuala, The Original History of Aba Township (Aba: Monarch publications, 2005), 28–31. The founders of Aba migrated from Amaku-Nvosi in Isiala-Ngwa to Okpokoro Ugwu Aba, (the present location of the National Museum) and from Umungalu-Nvosi in Isiala-Ngwa to Eziukwu Aba. See also Oriji (1994), 168–69 and (1998), 21. 5. Manning (2006), 135. 6. Fagan (2005), 79. 7. Rudi Volti, Society and Technological Change (New York: St Martin’s Press, 1992), 108. 8. Shaw (1978), 37. 9. Ibid. 10. Susan Kent (ed.), Gender in African History (London: Altamira Press, A Division of Sage Publications, Inc. 1998), 1–21, has used examples from some cultures to dispute the dominant roles archeologists assigned to men in foraging societies. There, is however, no evidence to show that women were involved in Igbo society in hunting elephants, lions, and other carnivores, and they did not climb and harvest palm trees, and tap raffia/ palm wine trees. It then appears that as in the agrarian period, there was in Igbo society, a division of labor and roles along gender lines. 11. Volti (1992), 109. For insightful studies of foraging cultures in Africa and other regions of the world, see Gilbert and Reynolds (2008), 23–27 and Craig Lockard, Societies, Networks, and Transitions: A Global History (Boston: Houghton and Mufflin, 2008), 24–30. 12. Robert Smith, Kingdoms of the Yoruba (London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1969) 17. 13. Webb Jr. (2005), 270–91. 14. Appropedia, “Original Root Crops 37,” wiki http//www.appropedia.org/ Rootcrops. Accessed June 29, 2008. 15. Webb Jr. (2005), 8 and Sinclair, Shaw and Andah (1993), 1–31. 16. Fagan (2005), 127–28. 17. A.G. Hopkins, An Economic History of West Africa (London: Longman, 1975), 18. 18. Vansina (2004), 61. 19. Ibid., Vansina noted that plantains spread from Southeast Asia or India to the Nile valley, and eastern Africa, and West Africa. His diffusionist theory is unilinear, but if it is correct, plantains and some species of cocoyams and other Southeast Asian crops were cultivated in the Igbo area around the eleventh century. 20. Shaw (1978), 33. 21. Oriji (1994), 31–33. 22. Hartle (1967), 139.

196 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35.

36.

37.

38. 39. 40. 41.

42. 43.

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Shaw (1978), 82. Ogundiran (2003), 38. Ibid., 38. Ibid., 39. Ibid., 41. Okafor (1993), 432–48. Ibid. Hartle (1967), 138. See Oriji (1988), 12–23 and (1994), 146–91. Jones (1963), 30. Ibid. Gwilym Jones, “Ibo Land Tenure,” Africa, xix.4 (1949), 311. Mervin Jeffreys, “Ibo Warfare,” Man, 56 (1956), 77–78, has examined the weapons and equipment used in traditional warfare, including wooden spears, swords, and shields. Oral traditions of the Igbo provide much evidence on land disputes which were often a major cause of conflicts and population movements in many communities. See Oriji (1994), 31–34. Thurstan Shaw, “The Significance of Igbo-Ukwu and Future Archeological Research in Southeastern Nigeria,” Ikenga: International Journal of African Studies, 1.1 (1972), 3. The discussion of Igbo agriculture focuses primarily on the staple crops to question the Nri myth that the crops were introduced in Igboland by Eri. D.G. Coursey, Yams: An Account of Nature, Origins, Cultivation and Utilization of the Useful Members of the Dioscoreacae (London: Longmans, 1967), 198. Ibid. J.D. Elder, African Survivals in the New World (London: Karia Press, 1988), 29–30. Uchendu (1965), 25–26 and (1995), 28–29. He maintained that a man needs to have at least 400 yams in his barn to be Ezeji. On the antiquity of the yam title in the Igbo area, see M. A. Onwuejeogwu, “A Short History of the Odinani Museum,” The Journal of the Odinani Museum, Nri, 1.1 (1972), 20. Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 2000), 12–18. T. Shaw, as already noted, maintains that the gender division of labor among the Igbo and other Nigerian societies began during foraging. For more recent studies of this theme see Uchendu (1965), 24–25 and Chuku (2005), 29–41. Much has been written about gender division of labor in African societies. For example see, Jeanne Henn, “Women in the Rural Economy: Past Present and Future” in Margaret Hay and Sharon Sticher (eds.), African Women South of the Sahara (London: Longman, 1989) 1–21 and Niara Sudarkasa, “The Status of Women in Indigenous African Societies” in Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, Sharon Harley and Andrea Rushing (eds.), Women in Africa and the African Diaspora (Washington

Notes

44.

45.

46.

47.

48. 49. 50. 51. 52.

53.

54. 55.

56. 57. 58. 59.

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D.C.: Howard University Press, 1989) 25–41. There are a few exceptions in Igbo society regarding the roles women played in agriculture. In Nsukka area for example, women were primarily engaged in trade and other economic activities while their husbands performed most of the activities involved in farming from the clearing of the bush to the planting and harvesting of crops. Oriji (1994), 6 and Chuku (2005), 36. For the introduction of Asian crops in the Igboland see, Bede Okigbo, “Cassava-dependent Culture in Southern Nigeria,” Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 2.4. (October, 1980) United Nations University Press. http://www.unu.edu/unupress/food/8F024e/8F024E00.hmt# Contents. For an insightful study of the roles blacksmiths played in Igbo and other West African societies, see A. Okpoko, “Early Metal Using Communities in West Africa,” op. cit., 205–27. Oriji (1994), 102. Nkwere history is associated with the Aro expansion which began during the seventeenth century (see Chapter 5). The Nkwere are then not among the pioneer Iron Age blacksmiths of Igboland. A. Marshall, Intelligence Report on the Omuma Clan (1934), EP. 1096A (SE1/85/5426), 4. Marshall stated that the Amuzu Ngwa blacksmiths were invited by the original settlers called Ofe, “to carry out some blacksmith work.” Afigbo (1981), 21–22, and “Igboland Before the 19th Century,” op. cit., 76–77. Shaw (1978), 84. Okafor (1993), 432–48. Ibid. R. Stapledon, Intelligence Report on Mbansa Group, Awka Division, 1933, Nigerian National Archives, Enugu, Op. 1464 Onprov/8/4769. See also P. Anagbuogu, “Awka in Pre-Colonial Era,” B.A. Project, History Department, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 5. Nancy Neaher, Bronzes of Southern Nigeria and Igbo Metal Traditions, Ph.D dissertation in History, Stanford University, Standford, 1976, 33–99, 127–69, and “Awka Who Travel: Itinerant Metalsmiths of Southern Nigeria,” Journal of the International African Institute, 49.4 (1979) 352–66. Onwuka Njoku, A History of Iron Technology in Igboland, c 1542–1900, Ph.D dissertation in History, Dalhousie University, Halifax, 1986, 58–87 and 231–313. Ibid. Onwuejeogwu (1980), 9–10. As an anthropologist, he was commissioned by the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, to study the cultural and historical significance of T. Shaw’s excavations at Igbo-Ukwu. David Northrup (1978), 155. Forde and Jones (1950), 1. Ukwu Ukwu, “The Development of Trade and Marketing in Iboland,” Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 3.4 (1977), 649. J.G.C. Allen, Intelligence Report on the Ngwa Clan vol I, Nigerian National Archives, Enugu, 1933, 21.

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60. P. Brummett, R. Edgar et al. “Feudalism,” Civilizations Past and Present (New York: Longman, 2002), 27. 61. Achebe (2000), 19–25. 62. Arthur Glyn Leonard, The Lower Niger and its Tribes (London: Macmillan, 1968), 343. 63. P. Amuary Talbot, Southern Nigeria 1 (London: Frank Cass, 1923), 43. 64. Ifemesia (1979), 34–35. 65. Austin Shelton, Nsukka-Igala Borderland: Religion and Social Control in Indigenous African Colonialism (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1971), 49. 66. W.R.G. Horton, “God, Man and Land in a Northern Ibo Village-Group” Journal of the African Institute, Vol. 26, No. 1 (Jan., 1956) 23. 67. Ibid., 23–24. 68. V.H. Moult, Intelligence Report on Oguta Native Court Area (1932), 15, EP. 7021 no 68. 69. The author interviewed the authority holders and other elders of Owaelu, Okpuala-Ngwa, and Isiopko the respective cultural centers of the Oratta-Owerri, Ngwa and Ikwerre “Clans,” between May and August, 1994. For Mbari and the roles of the earth-goddess in Uratta-Owerri cosmology, see Cole (1982), 57–58, and Elizabeth Isichei, The Religious Traditions of Africa (Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2004), 232. For more work on Mbari see John Okparocha, Mbari: Art as Sacrifice (Ibadan: Daystar Press, 1976). Mbari constitutes the foremost artistic work produced in Igboland before the Igbo-Ukwu excavations. P. Amaury Talbot, Tribes of the Niger Delta: Their Religions and Customs (New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1967), 276. Talbot praised the creativity of Mbari artists, saying that “the skill in modeling shown by the Ibo of [the Owerri] Division is [unparalleled] by any other, apart from the Bini brass and ivory work.” 70. Moult, Intelligence Report on Oguta Native Court Area (1932), 1–2. 71. Allen (1933), 21. 72. A copy of the history of Isiokpo was given to the author by the nt Traditional Ruler of the town. 73. Jones (1970), 312. 74. Ogbu Kalu, “Precarious Vision: The African Perception of his World” in O. Kalu (ed.), Readings in African Humanities: African Cultural development (Enugu: Fourth Dimension Press, 1978), 43. For studies of Igbo cosmology see Francis A. Arinze, Sacrifice in Igbo Religion (Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1970), and Kalu Ogbaa, Gods, Oracles and Divination (Trenton: African World Press, 1992). 75. Uchendu (1965), 40. 76. In some Igbo communities where hereditary traditional rulership has survived, their Traditional Rulers still bear the title, “Onye nwe ala” or “Ezeala” for example, Isiokpo, Ohambele, Akwete, Obegu, and Egbema.

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77. Allen, (1933), vol. 1. The head of the senior ward performed the dual roles of the Okpara of his lineage group, and the Ezeala of his mini state. 78. Charles Meek, Law and Authority in a Nigerian Tribe: A Study of Indirect Rule (London: Oxford University Press, 1937), 25. 79. M. Gluckman, The Ideas of Barotse Jurisprudence (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1972), 208. 80. Achebe (2000), 85–88. 81. Meek (1937), 30–31. 82. Oriji (1994), 33–34. Examples of Igbo communities that migrated due to political conflicts include the Umuchima clan, the Owerri of the Oratta clan, Umuawaka of Emii, the Obosi and many others. 83. For a detailed discussion of sacred authority in Igboland, see Oriji, “Sacred Authority in Igbo Society,” op. cit. 113–123 and “The End of Sacred Authority and the Genesis of Amorality and Disorder in Igbo Mini States,” op. cit. 263–88. 84. P. Amaury Talbot, Tribes of the Niger Delta: Their Religions and Customs (New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1967), 77. 85. Oriji (1994), 33. 86. M.O. Ene, “Rethinking the Osu Concept,” 1–11, [email protected] 9/12/2006. 87. Sylvia Leith-Ross, “Notes on the Osu sytem among the Ibo of Owerri Province, Nigeria,” Africa, 2.x (1973), 211. 88. Kamena Okonjo, “Women’s Political Participation in Nigeria,” in Nancy J. Hafkin and Edna G. Bay (eds.), Women in Africa: Studies in Social and Economic Change (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1976), 98. 89. Chuku (2005), 22. 90. Michaeal Olisa, “Political Culture and Stability in Igbo Society” The Conch, 3.2 (1971), 21–22. For a recent study of the roles Umuada played in governance see Chuku (2005), 21–22. Cole (1982), 10, has noted that in the Owerri area, “women who are married and moved away (Mgboto), are called back [on ceremonial occasions] to their fathers villages where they wield a power usually denied their sex.” 91. Chuku (2005), 22 and Okonjo (1981), 98. 92. Uchendu (1965), 41–45. See also Cole (1982), 10. He also noted that “village meetings [were dominated] by lineage ofo-holders, elders, and other powerful men . . . The essence of these meetings is dispute through oratory; their inevitable conclusion is compromise.” 93. For example, I interviewed some of the Ezeala in their sacred “Ala houses” during my field work in 1975 at Okpuala-Ngwa (the cultural center of Ngwa people), Okpuala-Obizi (the cultural center of Ovokwu in Isiala Ngwa), Okpuala-Obizi (the cultural center of Obizi in Mbaise), and Owaelu (the cultural center of the Oratta clan of Owerri). 94. Ibid., See also Allen (1933), 23–24, and my micro study of the taboos and rituals associated with the Ezeala in Oriji (2007), 272–73.

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95. Onwuejeogwu (1972), 14. For more information on the rituals of office of Eze Nri see Henderson (1972), 63. 96. Uchendu (1965), 40, Ifemesia (1979), 69 and Oriji (2007), 272–73. See also Allen (1933), vol. I, and A. Leeming, “Assessment Report, Aba Division (1929),” Abadist 1/71360 No. Ow. 7095, Nigerian National Archives, Enugu. 97. Uchendu (1965), 40. 98. Oriji, “Political Authority in Igbo Society,” 76 and (2007), 272. It is noteworthy that heads of Houses and Villages in Equatorial Africa received similar tributes; see J. Vansina (2004), 78. 99. Cole (1982), 10, has noted this aspect of what he called “the democratic and communal character of [Igbo] village social life and political organization . . . [arguing that] prestige is achieved . . . with the cooperation and support of a man’s lineage. For his superior status to be validated, he must in turn share its benefits,” Uchendu (1965) (34–38), distinguished between the traditional and modern ways of “getting up.” Although he did not specifically mention the authority holders, there is little doubt that in traditional Igbo society, they helped young men “in getting up” by providing them resources including land for cultivation and building their houses. 100. Victor C. Uchendu, “Ezi na Ulo: The Extended Family in Igbo Civilization” his 1995 Ahajioku Lecture published in his memory in Dialectical Anthropology, 31.1–3 (2007), 203. 101. Onwuejeogwu (1980), 46–47 and Afigbo (1981), 46. 102. Afigbo (1981), 41. 103. Onwuejeogwu (1980), 11–12. Nwaezeigwe (2007), 157, maintains that up till the present time, the leading court officials of Eze Nri are from the Umudiana community. See also Chapter 3. 104. Afigbo (1981), 43. 105. Jones (1963), 5. 106. Jeffreys (1956), 121–22. 107. Afigbo (1981), 51. 108. E. Okafor, cited by A. Okpoko, “Early Metal using Communities in West Africa,” 222. 109. Onwuejeogwu (1972), 6–7. 110. “World-Timeless-Igbo-Ukwu Culture of Nigeria,” htp//www.worldtimes.org. uk/world/africa/central-west. See also Alice Apley, “Igbo-Ukwu (ca. 9th century,” in Timeline of Art History, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art http//www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ igbo/hd igbo.htm (October 2001). She described the hundreds of ritual vessels and regalia castings of bronze as “among the most inventive and technically accomplished bronzes ever made.” 111. R. Dick-Read, “The Bronzes of Igbo-Ukwu” www.phnatnomvoyagers.com/ bronzes. He provided valuable information on the isotope tests conducted by T. Shaw; Paul Craddock, a metal expert at the British Museum; a Canadian, and three Nigerian archeologists.

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112. John Iliffe, Africans: The History of a Continent (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 50.

Chapter 3 1. John S. Boston, The Igala Kingdom (Ibadan: Oxford University Press, 1968), 8. 2. Talbot, Tribes of the Niger Delta: Their Religions and Customs op. cit. 103, and E.J. Alagoa, “Peoples of the Cross River Valley and Eastern Niger Delta,” in Obaro Ikeme (ed.), Groundwork of Nigerian History op. cit., 56–72. Alagoa recorded a tradition that claims that the Efik immigrated to Calabar from Ibom in Arochukwu area. It is likely that the immigrants comprised Ibibio people who were displaced during the formation of the Aro mega state in the seventeenth century. 3. Forde and Jones (1967), 71–73, and Talbot (1967), 102–03. 4. Forde and Jones (1967), 78. 5. Ibid., 71–74. 6. Hartle (1967), 138. 7. The population densities of the borderline communities were probably low, and consequently, it took some time before they began to clash over land and other resources. 8. A. Nwulu, a lineage head and an Ofo-holder was said to be the oldest man in Abala when I interviewed him on November, 25, 1971. See Oriji, Traditions of Igbo Origin op. cit., 164. 9. Gwilym Iwan Jones, The Backgound of Eastern Nigeria History, Vol. II. Tribal Distribution (1). HRAFlex Books, FF1/3, Ethnography Series (New Haven: Human Relations Area Files, 1988), 316. 10. Gwilym Iwan Jones, The Background of Eastern Nigeria History, Vol. III. Tribal Distribution (2). HRAFlex Books, FF1/3, Ethnography Series (New Haven: 1988), 449. Information on the Akirika villages located on both the Azumini and Ibibio axis was given to me by Eze Onyenkwere Okwandu, the Traditional Ruler of Onicha Ngwa. He was interviewed in Los Angeles on May 31, 2009. 11. Jones (1988), Vol. II, 334. 12. Forde and Jones (1967), 68 and 82–83. 13. Ibid., 83. Jones (1988), Vol. III, 434 and 455 noted that the total population of the Otoro clan and the Northern Otoro was 166,900, whereas that of Ibeme was 10,700. 14. Eze Onyenkwere Okwandu of Onicha Ngwa, op. cit. estimates that the noman’s land, which also exists in his community, is over 15 miles long and 5 miles wide. 15. Jones (1988), Vol. III, 441. 16. Allen (1933), Vol. III, 6.

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17. John Oriji, “Dibia: An Historical Analysis of the Priests, Healers and Diviners of Igbo Society,” Lincoln Journal of Social and Political Thought, 4.2 (2007), 89–99. 18. Allen (1933), Vol. III, 6. 19. In spite of the drastic measures taken by the Federal Government, the relations between the Ibeme and Otoro remain uneasy. There are similar problems in the Onicha Ngwa and Annang-Ibibio borderland. The borderland areas are among the leading manufacturers of arms and ammunitions in Nigeria, including hand guns, double barreled guns, and explosives. 20. Robin Horton, The Gods as Guests: An Aspect of Kalabari Religious Life (Lagos: Nigeria Magazine, 1987), 7. See also Alagoa (1972), 123–60, and (1980), 68. 21. Dike (1956), 19–46. 22. Jones (1964), 29–30. See 110–11 for his critique of Dike’s analysis of the oral traditions of Bonny. 23. Alagoa (1972), 14–21, and 123–24, and (1980), 68–72. 24. Oriji (1994), 170–74. 25. For the Mein tradition, see Alagoa (1972), 62–68. Although Alagoa noted the shortcomings of the Mein tradition associated with origins of the Western and Eastern Ijo, he applied it (pp. 135–16) in discussing the origins of the Kalabari, citing on page 136 footnote 1, an informant, one Dagogo Dibia, Head of the Jack Rich House of Buguma, who claimed that “the Endeme of Obu-Amafa [the Kalabari settlement in Ikwerre area] were Ijo from ‘Benin side.’ ” For more information on Alagoa’s work on the Ijo cultural base of the eastern Niger delta institutions see his publication entitled “The Development of Institutions in the States of the Delta,” Journal of African History, XII.2 (1971), 269–78. 26. Nkparom Ejituwu, “Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis: Niger Delta Historiography in Time Perspective,” in Chima Korieh and Femi Kalopi (eds.), The Aftermath of Slavery: Transitions and Transformations in Southeastern Nigeria (Trenton: Africa World Press, Inc. 2007), 207–27. Ejituwu (page 220) noted that the archeological studies sponsored by E.J. Alagoa, were carried out by Fred Anozie, Nwana Nzewunwa, and A. Derefeka. 27. Jones (1988), Vol. I, 31. 28. Alagoa (1972), 136. 29. Horton (1969), 7. 30. Alagoa (1972), 137–38. It is noteworthy that Alagoa dismissed the popular view that the Ibibio had settled in Elem Kalabari before the Ijo moved and settled there from Amafa. 31. Jones (1964), 31. Agbaniye Ejike dominated the slave trade during the reign of Kamalu. 32. Talbot (1967), 91. 33. Ibid., 20. 34. Leonard (1968), 22–23, Talbot (1967), 238, H. Crow, Memoirs of the Late Captain Crow of Liverpool (London: Frank Cass 1970), 228, J. Adams, Remarks on the Country Extending from Cape Palmas to the River Congo (London: G. and

Notes

35. 36.

37. 38. 39.

40. 41. 42. 43.

44.

45.

46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56.

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W.B. Whittaker, 1823), 131–32, T. Hutchinson, Impressions of Western Africa, (London: Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts, 1858), 103 and Comte CN de Cardi, “Juju Laws and Customs in the Niger Delta,” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 29.2 (1899), 51–64. Alagoa (1972), 151–52. Jones, Vol. I (1988), 32. Umuagbayi in Ndoki area is an offshoot of an Ngwa village north of Aba township, bearing the same name. Bonny informants therefore traced their ancestry to the Umuagbayi communities in the Ngwa-Ndoki axis. C.T. Ennals, “Intelligence Report on the Ndoki Clan” (1934), Nigerian National Archives, Enugu CSE 1/85/5128 No. 10298. Ibid., 229. E.J. Alagoa and A. Fombo, A Chronicle of Grand Bonny (Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1972), 4–5. They admitted that the Igbo were among the early settlers of Bonny, but not its founders. For the korongbo society, see Alagoa (1972), 142. Ennals (1934), 216. Pachecho Pereira, Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis, Translated by George H.T. Kimble (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1937), 132. For example, E.J. Alagoa, in “Long Distance Trade and the State in the Niger Delta,” Journal of African History, 2.3 (1970), 319–29, claims that the traders were from the Central and Western Ijo areas, while Jones (1963), 34, noted that they might be traders from Obu Amafo (the former Kalabari settlement in Ikwerre axis). Ogundiran (2003), 43–46. For the dispersion of Yoruba Igbo farmers from IleIfe, see also Robert Smith, Kingdoms of the Yoruba (Norwich: Fletcher and Sons, Ltd, 1976), 20–21. Don Ohadike, “Igbo-Benin Wars,” in Toyin Falola and Robin Law (eds.), Warfare and Diplomacy in Precolonial Nigeria: Essays in Honor of Robert Smith (Wisconsin-Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992), 171. Ibid. Oriji (1994), 78. R.E. Bradbury, The Benin Kingdom and the Edo-Speaking Peoples of SouthWestern Nigeria (London: Stone & Cox Ltd., 1964), 15–17 and 31–34. Ibid., 34. Jacob Egharevba, A History of Benin (Ibadan: University of Ibadan Press, 1968), 11. Boston (1968), 83–85, and 100–02. Ibid., 148–52. John S. Boston, Ikenga Figures among the North-West Igbo and the Igala (Lagos: Federal Department of Antiquities, 1977), 2–3. Neaher (1976), 121–22, and Njoku (1986), 273–74. Boston (1977), 87. Miles Clifford and Richard Palmer, “A Nigerian Chiefdom,” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 66 (July-December, 1936), 394–98.

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57. Ibid., 397. Traditions give varying accounts of Achadu, the hunter. Some claim that he was an Aro slave. But Clifford and Plamer, 396–97 dispute his servile origin, saying that he was probably an Aro hunter who was “found wandering in the bush and was brought to Ebele Ejanu in the belief that he was a runaway slave.” 58. Ibid., 396–97. 59. Boston (1968), 19. 60. Ibid., 17. 61. Ibid., 90. 62. For a major work on cowries see Jan Hogendorn and Marion Johnson, The Shell Money of the Slave Trade (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986). The book covered different regions of the world, including West Africa, 68–79. 63. Shaw (1980), 47. 64. Henderson (1972), 76. 65. Isichei, A History of the Igbo People, op. cit. 54–55. 66. Nzimiro (1972), 24. 67. Nwaezeigwe, The Igbo and their Nri Neighbors op. cit., 76. 68. M.A.Onwuejeogwu, “Evolutionary Trends in the History of the Igbo Civilization in Culture theatre of Igboland in Southeastern Nigeria,” 1987 Ahajioku Lecture, Owerri. Imo State, 7. 69. Boston (1968), 92. 70. Nwaezeigwe (2007), 109–15. 71. Ibid., 110. The tree used in manufacturing Ofo is said to be indigenous in Umudiana villages. 72. Ibid., 113. 73. Onwuejeogwu (1987), 87. 74. Mervin David Jeffreys, “The Divine Umundri King,” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 8.3 (1935), 349. He also discussed the roles the Umudiana played during the ritual death and resurrection of the Eze Nri. See also Onwuejeogwu (1987), 87. 75. Mervin David Jeffreys, “The Umundri Tradition of Origin,” African Studies, 15 (1956), 129. 76. Nwaezeigwe (2007), 156. 77. Afigbo (1981), 31–68. 78. Henderson (1972), 58–63. 79. Eze Nri, Nri Enwelana II, Obidiegwu Onyeso “The Nri Kingdom,” (A Manuscript dated Feb. 21, 2004), 1. 80. Smith (1969), 17–35, Basil Davidson with F.K. Buah, A History of West Africa 1000–1800 (Harlow Esex: 1965), 118–19, and John Pemberton III and Funso S. Afolayan Yoruba Sacred Kingship: A Power Like that of the Gods (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996), 1–3. 81. Bradbury (1964), 19–20. 82. Egharevba (1968), 1. 83. Clifford and Palmer (1936), 395.

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84. Shaw (1978), 9. 85. Ibid. 86. Jeffreys (1935), 351–54, and “Additional Steps in the Umundri Coronation Ceremony,” Journal of the International African Institute, 9.3 (July, 1935), 403–06. He compared the features of sacred kingship in Umundri, Jukun, the Igala, Yoruba and Bini, saying that they have a common source. Similarly, two other colonial officers, Clifford and Palmer (1936), 393, traced the origins of sacred kingship among the Igala to the “Hametic or Barbar leaven in the Sudan and West Africa.” 87. A. Smith, “The Early States of the Central Sudan,” in J.A. Ajayi and A. Crowder (eds.), History of Africa (New York: Longmans Group, 1972), 196. 88. J. Atande, “Historical Evolution of Traditional Rulers and Institutions in Nigeria up to c. 1900,” A paper delivered during a Conference on the Role of Traditional Rulers in the Governance of Nigeria, Institute of African Studies, Ibadan University, 1988, 6. For the transformation of the mini states into mega states see also Toyin Falola, The History of Nigeria (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1999), 17–38. 89. Paul Lovejoy, Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 55. 90. Leonard (1968), 34–35. 91. Mervin David Jeffreys E.P 8766 Nigerian National Archives, Enugu, Awka Division, Intelligence Report para.7 cited by Afigbo (1981), 74. 92. P. Amuary Talbot, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, Vol. IV (London: Oxford University Press, 1926), 82. 93. Cited by Afigbo (1981), 50, Anthropological Research, see Report on Aguku by Jeffreys. 94. Nwaezeigwe (2007), 270. 95. Michael J.C. Echeruo, “A Matter of Identity,” 1979 Ahiajoku Lecture, 7–8, Owerri, Imo State. 96. Afigbo (1981), 34. 97. Henderson (1972), 62–63. 98. Ibid and Nwaezeigwe (2007), 56. 99. George T. Crane and Abla Amawi (eds.), The Theoretical Evolution of International Political Economy: A Reader (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977), 244–52. 100. Henderson (1972), 68. 101. For example, Ile-Ife and Oyo respectively claim to be the cultural and political centers of the Yoruba. There are many Yoruba mini states that do not associate themselves with the two rival centers of power. Similarly, there has been a sharp dabate on the cultural primacy of Ile-Ife over Benin City. For some of these debates see, Mobolaji Aluko, “Cultural Wars and National Identity,” May 19, 2004 http://www.dawodu.com/aluko89.htm. Accessed April 18, 2007. 102. Onwuejeogwu (1981), 22. Onoja Oboni of Igala was incorporated into the Nri myth because of the economic and political influences he had in the

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Anambra Valley and the Northwestern Nsukka axis during the slave trade. He was certainly not a descendant of Eri, see Chapter 4. 103. Onwuejeogwu (1981), 22–23. 104. Onwuejeogwu (1980), 33.

Chapter 4 1. Alan Ryder, “The Benin Kingdom,” in Obaro Ikime (ed.), Groundwork of Nigerian History, op. cit., 113, and “A Reconsideration of Ife-Benin Relationship,” Journal of African History, 6.1 (1965), 35. 2. Bradbury (1964), 21–22. He correctly noted that the boundaries of the Benin Empire changed over time. 3. Egharevba (1968), on page 13 for example, describes Oba Ozolua as “a great magician . . . and warrior” who conquered many communities without mentioning the weapons his army used, although he noted on page 29 that guns were first used in Benin City during the reign of Esigie in the sixteenth century. 4. Ibid., 15–16. This imagery of “the civilizing culture” of the Benin Empire, and “the barbaric culture” of others is evidenced by Egharevba’s description of an event involving “two ferocious cannibals” known as Osa and Osuan [who] are said to have come from Iboland to Benin City during Ewuare’s reign. They were forbidden by the Oba to practice cannibalism, and were placed in charge of the royal god, Osa of Ora, and Osuan of Uwen. It is, however, likely that the Igbo people involved were seasoned medicine men and diviners, but once they arrived in Benin City, they had to be “civilized,” before major official roles were assigned to them. 5. Ohadike (1992), 17. He used the example of Benin-Ubulu-Ukwu war (1795), to justify his view. The war is said to have been caused by the murder of a Bini woman in which a prominent chief of Ubulu-Ukwu was implicated. There is, however, no evidence to show that the rulers of Benin sought a peaceful solution to the problem before going to war. Their expansionist and militaristic policies, often motivated by material gains, precluded other options of solving problems. 6. G.T. Stride and Caroline Ifeka, Peoples and Empires of West Africa: West Africa in History (New York: Afrcan Publishing Corporation, 1971), 315–16. 7. Ibid., 313. 8. Ibid., 303–07. 9. Bradbury (1964), 42. 10. Robert Smith, Warfare and Diplomacy in Pre-Colonial West Africa (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1989), 4. 11. Egharevba (1968), 23. 12. Alan Ryder, Benin and the Europeans (New York: Humanities Press, 1969), 52. 13. Ibid., 24, 26, and Smith (1989), 80. 14. Ryder (1969), 24, 26. 15. Kevin Shillington, History of Africa (New York: St. Martin’s Press), 171. 16. Ryder (1969), 54–56.

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17. The location of the Five Rivers is not known with certainty. But based on Portuguese references Ryder (1969), 58, located them between the Benin River (Rio Fermoso) and the Nina Creek. 18. Ryder (1969), 35. Based on Pachecho Pereira’s accounts, he argues that the Ijo, the Itsekiri, and the Edo of Benin obtained slaves from their own communities, and the “Opuu” (Igbo) of the hinterland. 19. Ibid., 34–37. He also stated on page 59, footnotes 2 & 3 that the vicar of Sao Tome was given six slaves yearly for his subsistence and the maintenance of the church of Santa Maria, and another six slaves for the maintenance of the island’s hospital. Ryder also pointed out on page 36 that some of the slaves exported overseas were sold in Lisbon’s slave market, where the Portuguese and other European aristocrats purchased them to serve as their domestic servants. A survey of Lisbon’s population in 1554 indicates that out of its total population of about 100,000 people, 9,500 were Moorish and African slaves. 20. Ibid., 52. 21. Egharevba (1968), 25 noted that John Affonso d’ Aveiro, a Portuguese explorer, visited Benin City for the first time between 1485 and 1486, and also claimed that he first introduced guns into “the country.” It is then likely that he introduced guns in Benin City during the reign of Esigie, a pro-Portuguese Oba. 22. Egharevba (1968), 26–27. 23. Ryder (1969), 49. 24. Egharevba (1968), 29 noted that during Esigie’s reign, Onitsha people migrated from the Benin Empire to the Niger River. 25. Ibid., 28. 26. Ohadike (1992), 171. Ohadike did not discuss the background of the soldiers from the satellite communities. Their chiefs were, however, obliged to aid the Obas when they were at war. It is then likely that some of the chiefs sent their slaves and other less privileged people to fight for the Obas when the need arose. 27. The harems of the Obas see Egharevba (1968), 1–2 and 17–19. 28. Isichei (1976), 76. 29. Onwuejeogwu (1972), 38. For the Ijo migrations from the Benin Empire, see Alagoa (1972), 14–21 and 123–24. 30. Egharevba (1968), 13. 31. Ohadike (1992), 169. 32. The displacement and movement of the Igbo from the Benin Empire continued after the reign of the two Obas. 33. The location of “Ado na Idu” which was destroyed during Benin incursions remains unknown. Henderson (1972), 46 has argued that it was probably located in the area between the Igbo-Benin borderland, Ado being a generic name applied to the Western Igbo, while Idu refers to Benin City. 34. Ryder (1969), 12. 35. Nzimiro (1972), 11. 36. Leonard (1968), 35. 37. Basden (966), 121.

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38. Henderson (1972), 78, and Oriji (1994), 82–83. 39. Nzimiro (1972), 14–15. 40. The fact that Ahoada traditions associate Ewuare with the emigration of the Igbo from the Benin Empire provides further evidence that the population movements occurred over time. Eze Chukwuemeka Idozu, a Traditional Ruler of Ahoada, was one of my informants on the history of the town. He was interviewed on July 11, 1985. For the traditions of the Umuezeala village, see J. Mbadiegwu, Some Aspects of the History of Egbuoma, B.A. Project, Department of History, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 1985, 9–12. 41. V. Anyaduba, “The Origin of Onitsha,” History 101, Department of History, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 1987, 2. 42. Nzimiro (1972), 8–9. 43. Henderson (1972), 66. 44. Nzimiro (1972), 15. 45. Ibid., 15–16. Ukpo Awa is still revered as a sacred place in Oguta history. 46. Stella Okeke, Chieftaincy Institution in Oraifite, 1900–1986, B.A. Project, Department of History, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 3–9. 47. Ibid., 53–54. 48. Ibid., 54. 49. Ibid., 54–55. 50. Oriji (1994), 52–53. The Ubulu-Ukwu fled during the Benin invasion of their town in 1795. 51. M. Njoku, History of My Town (Ohaffia), History 121, Department of History, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 1982, 1–3, and Nsugbe (1974), 15–18 have provided more information on the origins of Ohaffia. 52. Njoku (1982), 3 and Oriji (1994), 148–50. 53. It is noteworthy that Forde and Jones (1950), 54, affirmed that all the towns in “Ohaffia-Abam . . . claim to have been derived from Ibeku,” although they did not specifically account for the origins of the Mben and the towns associated with them. A variant of the tradition claims that the Mben originated from Umunede in western Igboland. 54. Henderson (1972), 44. 55. Egharevba (1968), 31. 56. Ohadike (1992), 172. 57. Okonjo (1976), 98–99. 58. Chuku (2005), 19–20, and Nzimiro (1972), 55. For a case study of the Omu in Ossomari see Omu Okwei Chapter 6. 59. Ryder (1969), 21. 60. William Allen and T. Thompson, A Narrative of the Expedition sent by Her Majesty’ Government to the River Niger in 1841 under the Command of Captain H.D. Trotter, R.N. Vol. 1 (London: Richard Bentley, 1968), 236. See also K. Nwachukwu-Ogedengbe, “Slavery in 19th Century Aboh,” in S. Miers and I. Kopytoff (eds.), Slavery in Africa: Historical and Anthropological Perspectives (Madison: Wisconsin University Press, 1977), 142.

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61. Nzimiro (1972), 37–39. 62. The Ozo title society, the Ikenga cult, and the ancestral symbol of authority (Ofo) are among the major politico-religious features of the Niger Igbo states. 63. Afigbo (1981), 102. 64. Onwuejeogwu (1981), 22. 65. Charles Meek, An Ethnographic Report on the Peoples of Nsukka Division (Lagos: Government Printer, 1903), 3. 66. Boston (1968), 49. 67. Ibid. 68. Donald Hartle, “Archeology in Eastern Nigeria,” op. cit., 136. 69. Henderson (1972), 87–88. 70. Ibid., 89. 71. Shelton (1971), 23. 72. Afigbo (1981), 104. 73. Isichei (1976), 91–92 and Afigbo (1981), 107–08. 74. Meek (1937), 1. 75. Basil Davidson, Black Mother: The Years of the African Slave Trade (Boston: Atlantic- Little, Brown Brooks, 1961), 33–40. 76. Oriji (1986), 105. 77. Ryder (1969), 35. 78. Dapper’s Description de l’Afrique cited by G.I. Jones (1964), 37.

Chapter 5 1. For the genesis of the Aro and their trade network during the second half of the seventeenth century, see Felicia Ekejiuba, “The Aro Trade System in the 19th Century,” Ikenga: International Journal of African Studies, 1.1 (1972), 11–26, and Ukwu (1967), 651. See also Kenneth Dike and Felicia Ekejiuba, The Aros of South-eastern Nigeria, 1650–1980: A Study of Socio-economic Formation and Transformation in Nigeria (Ibadan: Ibadan University Press Ltd., 1990). 2. Jones, “The Myth of the Aro and the Aro Expedition,” Vol. 1 (1988), 121 and 129. He noted that during the Aro Expedition (1901–902), the British erroneously believed that the Aro had a high command based in Arochukwu that directed their ritual and military activities. 3. For example, Adiele Afigbo, “Trade and Trade Routes in Nineteenth Century Nsukka,” in Toyin Falola (ed.), Igbo History and Culture: The Essays of Adiele Afigbo (Trenton: African World Press Inc. 2005), 533–67. Afigbo noted that Nuskka people and their Northern Igala and Idoma neighbors had traded with each other for many centuries before the genesis of the Aro trade network. For the pre-Aro trade in Ngwa area see Oriji (1982), 523–48, and (1983), 311–28, and for Igboland, see Ukwu (1967), 647–62. It is noteworthy that during the Aro trade network, many Igbo people versed in long-distance trade sold their slaves directly to the riverain traders on the Lower Imo and Niger Rivers. For example, Jaja of Opobo was sold to an Akwete trader by an Amaigbo man who

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4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

10.

11.

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had kidnapped him, before the former resold him to a Bonny middleman. Many Ngwa, Asa, Ndoki, Owerri, and other communities located near the riverain towns also traded directly with coastal middlemen. Simon Ottenberg, Farmers and Townspeople in a Changing Nigeria: Abakaliki during Colonial Times (1905–1960) (Ibadan: Spectrum Books, 2005), 27. James Roark, Michael Johnson et al., The American Promise: A History of the United States Vol.1: to 1877 (Boston: Bedford Books, 1998), 102–108. Ibid. Philip Curtin, The Tropical Atlantic in the Age of the Slave Trade (Washington D.C.: American Historical Association, 1991), 30. Lovejoy (1988), 48. David Eltis and David Richardson, “West Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade: New Evidence of Long-Run Trends” in David Eltis and David Richardson (eds.), Routes to Slavery: Direction, Ethnicity and Mortality (London: Frank Cass, 1997), 21. Douglas Chambers, “My Own Nation: Igbo Exiles in Diaspora,” in Eltis and Richardson, op. cit., 75. For a statistical study of the Virginian slave exports from Africa see Walter Michinton, Celia King and Peter Waite, Virginia Slave-Trade Statistics 1698–1775 (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1984). The problem of determining slaves of Igbo origin is difficult to resolve since European slave traders generically applied the concept “Igbo” to slaves they exported from the Bight of Biafra, even though the slaves might belong to the Ijo, Ibibio, Igala, and other ethnic nationalities. As an illustration, during the nineteenth century, those who were labeled Igbo slaves, constituting about 5 percent–25 percent of the total slave exports, were Nupe, Kankanda, and Hausa peoples. David Eltis and David Richardson, “The Numbers Game and Routes to Slavery,” in Eltis and Richardson op. cit., 11, have rightly noted that the “concept of ethnicity [during the slave trade], was more pliable than has sometimes been assumed.” Scholars therefore disagree on their estimates of Igbo slave exports. For example, Inikori, Lovejoy, and Chambers have given different estimates of the total number of Igbo slaves exported during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade—33.30 percent, 60 percent, and 80 percent respectively. See Joseph Inikori, “The Sources of Supply for the Atlantic Slave Exports from the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Bonny (Biafra),” Sierge Daget (ed.), De la Traite a l’Esclavage: Acts du Colloque International sur la Traite des Noirs, 3 vols. (Nantes, 1988), II, 355. Northrup (1978), 60–62 and Chambers (1997), 75. For Captain Adam’s estimates of Igbo slave exports from Bonny, see Isichei (1973), 46. Earlier estimates by Philip Curtin, who introduced in 1969 the quantitative method in studying the slave trade, have been revised by many scholars. For Curtin’s work see Philip Curtin, The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1969). For some of the revisions of his estimates see David Eltis and David Richardson, “The Numbers Game and Slavery”

Notes

12.

13. 14.

15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.

22. 23. 24. 25. 26.

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in Eltis and Richardson (1997), 1–15, Paul Lovejoy, “The Volume of the Atlantic Slave Trade: A Synthesis,” Journal of African History, 23 (1982), 478–81 and Joseph Inikori, “Measuring the Atlantic Slave Trade: A Rejoinder,” Journal of African History, XVII.4 (1976), 607–27. Some historians, like M.A. Gomez, Exchanging our Country Marks: The Transformation of African Identities in the Colonial and Antebellum South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998), 100–08, are critical of the quantitative method, arguing that it desensitizes the monumental moral and psychological issues raised by the slave trade. They have called for a return to the biographical studies of slaves that portray their historical experiences, such as those of O. Equiano, Fredrick Douglass and others. See Chapter 4, and Victor Uchendu, “Slaves and Slavery in Igboland,” in S. Miers and I. Kopytoff (eds.), Slavery in Africa: Historical and Anthropological Perspectives (Madison: Wisconsin University Press, 1977), 121–32. Uchendu also noted that domestic slaves existed in Igboland during the nineteenth century. Uchendu (1977), 126–27. Rhea Mandulo, “Georgia on my Mind,” Essence, March 1993, 144 and147, and L.B. Goodheart, R.D. Brown et al. Slavery in American Society (Lexington: D. C. Heath, 1993), 50. Joseph Inikori, “The Import of Firearms to West Africa, 1750–1807: A Quantitative Analysis,” Journal of African History, xviii.3 (1977), 344–48. Paul Edwards (ed.), Equiano’s Travels op. cit., 6. Gwilym Jones, “Olaudah Equiano of the Niger Ibo,” in Philip Curtin (ed.), Africa Remembered (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967), 65–66. Kingsley Ozurumba Mbadiwe, British and Axis in Africa (New York: Wendel Malliet and Company, 1942), 40. Falconbridge cited by Latham (1973), 23, and Crow (1970), 232. Ottenberg (2005), 27. Appolos Nwauwa (2007), 171–95. For a detailed study of the Aro and the evolution of their chiefdom see Afigbo, Ropes of Sand, op. cit., 187–237, and Jones Vol. I (1988), 122–23. Jones noted that out of the 19 villages of Arochukwu, seven claim descent from Oke Nachi, the Igbo doctor’s son; six from Ankpa warriors; and five from the Igbo settler. He further stated that there are two villages “of mixed Igbo, one of mixed Igbo and Akpa, and one of mixed Igbo and Ibibio origin.” Nwauwa (2007), 182. See Chapter 2 for a detailed study of Igbo cosmology. Simon Ottenberg, “Ibo Oracles and Intergroup Relations” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, XIX.3 (1958), 304. Ottenberg (2005), 28. In some places, the local agents of the Aro oracle were not necessarily the Aro but natives of the area engaged in trade. The Aro are landlubbers, and according to the legends of the Kalabari recorded by G.I. Jones (1964), 134, King Owerri

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27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34.

35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48.

49. 50. 51.

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Daba is associated with the introduction of the Aro oracle in his community. Jones also noted on page 152 that chief Iyala (Yellow) of Kalabari had to take an oath before the Aro oracle to clear him of witchcraft accusations. Ibid., 29. Isichei (1976), 59. She derived this information from CO.520/14, Moor, Memorandum concerning the Aro Expedition, f.355. Jones (1963), 19–23. Latham (1973), 35–36. He stated that European traders first mentioned Ekpe in their sources in the 1870s. For the organization of the Aro troupes, see Ekejiuba 1.1 (1972), 11–26. According to her, each troupe was allocated a specific area to trade. Oriji (1982), 532 and (1983), 316. Talbot Vol. III (1926), 756–82. My informants include, Kanu Gogo, president of Okonko society, Ngwa-Ukwu village-group, and H. Ama, priest of the earth deity (Ezeala) and war-god (IkeOha) of Obikabia. Similarly, Akwadu Emetara, chief-priest of the earth deity of the Ntigha village-group stated that taboos were passed against the establishment of Okonko in his community. They were interviewed on January 4, 1976. See also Oriji (1982), 531 footnote 33, and (1983), 316 footnotes 12 and 13. Allen vol. I (1933), 41. Ibid. Oriji (1982), 532–33, (1983), 315–17 and (1986), 79. Major A.G. Leonard, “Notes of a Journey to Bende,” Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society, 14 (1898), 197. Ekejiuba, “The Aro Trade System in the 19th Century,” Ikenga: International Journal of African Studies, vol. II (1972), 26. Jones (1963), 96, Stevenson (1968), 199 and Thomas Hutchinson, Ten Years Wanderings among the Ethiopians (London: Hurst and Blackett, 1861), 172. Northrup (1978), 155. Ibid., 182. Ibid. The initiation fees are derived from the Ngwa example. See Allen, “Intelligence Report om the Ngwa Clan,” Vol. I (1933), 76–78 and Oriji (1998), 47. Ekejiuba (1972), 26. See Oriji (1983), 18, footnote 18. Achebe (2000), 8–9. Information obtained during an interview with Chief Stanley of Akwete on 7/10/84. Abner Cohen, “Cultural Strategies in the Organization of Trading Diasporas,” C. Meillasoux (ed.), The Development of Indigenous Trade and Markets in West Africa, (London: Oxford University Press, 1971), 267. N. Uka, “A Note on the Abam Wariors of Igboland,” Ikenga: International Journal of African Studies, 1.2 (1972), 78. Ibid., 78–79. Paul Edwards (ed.), Equiano’s Travels, op. cit., 6.

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52. For the establishment of Nkalunta as the first Aro trading colony, see Nwauwa (2007), 182. 53. Isichei (1976), 85. 54. For the Abam invasions of Igbere see E. Ukaegbu, History of Igbere (Aba: Span Publshing Company, 1972), 13 and Oriji (2003), 126. 55. See Chapter 2. 56. For a detailed study of Igbo cosmology see Chapter 2. 57. For the influence of Igwe-ka-Ala in the Igbo area, including the the founding of the Nenwe community of Awgu by a priestess of the oracle see Oriji, Traditions of Igbo Origin, op. cit., 61 and (1986), 105. 58. Isichei (1976), 90. 59. Information on the expulsion of the Aro from Mbieri and Egbu respectively was obtained from Eze H.M Aguta, the Traditional Ruler of the town interviewed February 26, 1981 and F. Orisakwe, a headmaster interviewed at Egbu on July 7, 1980. See also Oriji (2003), 127. 60. Adiele Afigbo, “Trade and Trade Routes in the 19th Century Nsukka,” op. cit. 544. 61. Allen Vol 2 (1933), 80–81. For a detailed study of the Abam invasion of Umuajuaju see Oriji (1981), 42–44, and (2003), 128–29. 62. Ibid. 63. Oriji (1998), 43–45, and (2003), 128. 64. Ibid. 65. Ekechi (1989), 2. 66. Leonard (1898), 190. 67. Ekejiuba (1972), 26. 68. The authority holders of the towns hoped to protect their self-interests by allowing the Aro to settle in their communities. Oguta for example, was largely a mini state surrounded by hostile neighbors during the settlement of immigrants from the Benin Empire between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Aro attracted more traders to the town, and they and Kalabari middlemen provided the weapons it used in conquering its neighbors. Oguta was then transformed into a mega state during the eighteen and nineteenth centuries. The authority holders of Ahoada and Isiokpo towns probably hoped to derive similar benefits, although their oral traditions suggest that the Aro were allowed to settle and establish the shrine of their oracle in the outskirts of the communities, where it would not threaten their central Earth-goddess (Ala). My interviewees include Eze Chukwuemeka Idozu, the Traditional Ruler of Ahoada town, interviewed on 11/4/84, and Chief Wobodo Amadi of Isiokpo, a local historian interviewed on 11/7/84. 69. Details of the Aro Expedition are discussed in Chapter 7. 70. Basden (1966), 209. 71. Isichei (1976), 85. 72. For the alliance between the Ogaranya including Ozo titled men and the Aro see Isichei (1977), 102–17.

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73. For the initiation of the Eze Anyinya titled men and their involvement in trade see Adiele Afigbo, Trade and Trade Routes in Nineteenth Century Nsukka,” op. cit. 537–38 and Ottenberg (2005), 20. 74. Ottenberg (2005), 28. He also inidicated on page 56 that the Ezza fought the British with cap guns which they probably purchased from Aro traders. Isichei (1976), 87–90, has offered some insights on the militarism of the Ezza, and reasons for their territorial expansion. 75. Isichei (1977), 84 and Shelton (1971), 19–23. 76. W. Horton, “The Ohu System of Slavery in a Northern Igbo Village-Group,” Africa, 24 (1954), 311–18. 77. Shelton (1971), 19–23. 78. Isichei (1976), 105. 79. Ibid., 76. 80. Ibid., 59–60. 81. Oriji (1994), 51. 82. Henderson (1972), 500–01. 83. John Alutu, Nnewi History (Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishers, 1985), 5. 84. Henderson (1972), 502. See also 92–93. 85. Isichei (1977), 84. 86. Gwilymn Jones, Intelligence Report on the Northern and Southern Isu Groups of the Isu Clan in Orlu District, Milgov.13/1/27 (1935), 10, Nigerian National Archives, Enugu. 87. Northrup (1978), 131–32 and Ottenberg (1958), 302. 88. Northrup (1978), 132. 89. Isichei (1977), 61, noted that in the 1890s, about six slave troupes from Arondizuogu compring about 100–200 slaves each were sold at the monthly fairs in Bende. 90. Onwuejeogwu (1972), 50. 91. Onwuejeogwu (1980), 28 and (1972), 17. 92. Onwuejeogwu (1980), 28. 93. John Oriji, “Ethical Ideals of Peace and the Concept of War in Igbo Society” in Toyin Falola and R. Law (eds.), Warfare and Diplomacy in Pre-Colonial Nigeria (Madison: African Studies Program, University of Wisconsin, 1992), 176–84, and (2003), 125. 94. Neaher (1976), 81–82 and (1979), 365. 95. Isichei (1976), 85. 96. Oriji (2005), 125. 97. Isichei (1976), 86. 98. Ottenberg (1958), 294–313. 99. Mbadiwe (1942), 37–38. J. Akuma-Kalu Njoku, “Igbo Slaves and the Transformation of the Niger Delta” in Korieh and Kolapo (2007), 146, shared a similar view although he was primarily concerned with the roles of the Aro oracle and Abam warriors. 100. Dike and Ekejiuba (1990), discussed what they called the “Aro state” in Chapter 3.

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101. Jones Vol. 1 (1988), 121. See also Stevenson (1968), 188–227. 102. Martin Klein, “The Slave Trade and Decentralized Societies,” Journal of African History, 42 (2001), 63. 103. Isichei (1976), 82–83. 104. Latham (1973), 37–38, and Hopkins (1973), 108. 105. Paul Lovejoy and David Richardson, “The Business of Slaving: Pawnship in Western Africa, c. 1600–1800,” Journal of African History, 42 (2001), 67–89. Their work deals largely with some of the coastal mega states of West Africa, although it is helpful in making some inferences about pawnship in the hinterland region. 106. Isichei (1976), 61. 107. Lovejoy (1989), 382. 108. Lovejoy (1988), 64. 109. Dike (1956), 40. 110. J.O. Ijoma cited by Ottenberg (2005), 29. 111. Ottenberg (2005), 30. 112. Isichei (1977), 45–47. 113. Koelle’s estimates were derived from Northrup (1978), 80. For Koelle’s work, see S.W. Koelle, Polyglotta Africa (London: Church Mission, 1854). The northern zone of the Biafran hinterland stretches from the Benue valley to the Cameroon grassland, while the southern zone encompasses Igboland, the Ibibio and Cross River areas, and coastal Cameroons. 114. Claude Meillassoux (ed.), The Development of Indigenous Trade and Markets in West Africa, (London: Oxford University Press, 1971), 54–55. 115. Jones (1964), 162–87, and Alagoa (1972), 134–41. 116. See chapters 3 and 4. 117. Ekine did not exist in Bonny and Okrika because of their historical ties with the Igbo which began before the slave trade, although the Igbo constituted the preponderant population of the two city states during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. 118. Jones (1964), 67–68. He noted that Ekine is also called Sekiapu (lit. dancers). See also Horton (1969), 43 and 53–54. He stated on page 48 that once a slave has been assimilated into his master’s household, calling him a slave publicly “was a heinous crime.” 119. Horton (1969), 46. 120. For a review of the voyages of Barbot and Dapper, see Jones (1964), 44–47. 121. Jones (1964), 47. 122. Talbot, Tribes of the Niger Delta (1967), 6. 123. Jones (1964), 136–37. 124. Ibid.,138. In addition to Orikadibia and Elebike, other Igbo warriors from the West India groups of canoe houses who fought against Bonny included Osiagu, Eleru and members of their canoe houses, while the captain of Amakiri’s war canoe was an Igbo called Nwananaku. Alagoa (1972), 153–57 also recorded the roots of the Bonny- Kalabari wars, and the myths associated with them.

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125. Jones (1964), 24–25, Talbot, vol. I, op, cit., 238–75. 126. For the early history of Bonny, see chapters 3 and 4. 127. Jones (964), 70–71. For Ngwa-Ndoki and Bonny history before and during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade see Oriji (1994), 170–74 and (1998), 23–24, and Chambers (1997), 78–79. 128. Jones (1964), 119. 129. For the history of Elem Kalabari and Bonny city states during the era of political crises see Jones (1964), 107–87, For the Bonny and Elem Kalabari crises respectively see Dike (1956), 128–65 and Wariboko (2007), 17–40.

Chapter 6 1. J.F. Ade Ajayi, Christian Missions in Nigeria, 1841–1891: The Making of a New Elite (Evanston: Northwestern Press, 1965), 7–19. He noted on page 8 that other evangelicals comprised the Methodists, the Presbyterians of Edinburgh, and the Baptists from the Southern Convention, U.S.A. The Society of African Missions from Lyon, France, consituted the Evangelicals of the Catholic Church. 2. For legitimate commerce, and uses of palm oil and kernel, see Robin Law, “The Transition from the Slave Trade to Legitimate Commerce,” Studies in the World History of Slavery Abolition and Emancipation, 1.1 (1996), 1–13. 3. David Northrup, “The Compatibility of the Slave and Palm Oil Trades in the Bight of Biafra,” Journal of African History, 17.3 (1976), 354–64 and, “Nineteenth-Century and Economic Growth in Southeastern Nigeria,” International Journal of African Historical Studies, 12.1 (1979), 1–16. 4. David Eltis, “The Export of Slaves from Africa, 1821–1843,” Journal of Economic History, 37.2 (1977), 429. 5. Northrup (1979), 358–59. 6. Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, The World: A History (Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2010), 827. 7. Ibid. 8. A.G. Hopkins, “Economic Imperialism in West Africa: Lagos, 1880–1892,” Economic History Review, 21 (1968), 580–606. 9. Paul Lovejoy and David Richardson, “The Initial ‘crisis’ of Adaptation: The impact of the British Abolition on the Atlantic Slave Trade in West Africa” in Robin Law (ed.), From Slave Trade to ‘Legitimate Commerce’: The Commercial Transition in Nineteenth-Century West Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 41. 10. Exceptions are the Oguta-Aro settlers who traded in palm produce at Oguta. 11. Lovejoy and Richardson (1995), 39. 12. Horton (1969), 48. He noted that the heads of the canoe houses took large number of wives to have enough women who would serve as surrogate mothers of their young slaves.

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13. Lovejoy and Richardson (1995), 49. The Ibibio were also among the major producers of the palm oil sold to the middlemen of Old Calabar, Bonny and Opobo. 14. Ibid. 15. Waibinte Wariboko, “New Calabar Middlemen, Her Majesty’s Consuls, and British Traders in the Niger Delta During the Era of the New Imperialism,” in Korie and Kalapo (2007), 20–21. He noted that Consul Hewett’s estimates show that in 1888, New Calabar was exporting 2000 tons of oil annually. 16. Information on Koelle’s work is contained in Curtin (1969), 163–203. Koelle interviewed only about 10 percent of the recaptives. The Yoruba and Igbo totaling about 7,114 and 1,231 people respectively were the largest number of recaptives. 17. Lovejoy and Richardson (1995), 35. The figures represent the “real prices” Europeans paid for buying slaves in West Africa. The Igbo paid lower prices, for those kidnapped, pawns, and young girls whom the wealthy married from poor and economically distressed families. 18. J. Eno Usoro, The Nigerian Oil Palm Industry: Government Policy and Export Production, 1906–1965 (Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1974), 9–10, and Oriji (1982), 540. 19. Isichei (1973), 69. 20. Wariboko (2007), 20 and Felix Ekechi, “Aspects of Palm Oil Trade at Oguta (Eastern Nigeria) (1900–1950),” African Economic History, 10 (1981), 35–65. 21. Oriji (1983), 322. 22. Northrup (1978), 188 and Hopkins (1973), 125–26. 23. Northrup (1978), 187. 24. Ibid., 188. 25. J.G.C. Allen, “Ngwa Customs” cited by L.T. Chubb, Ibo Land Tenure (Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1961), 4. 26. Northrup (1974), 186. 27. Robin Law “Introduction,” in Robin Law (1994), 10. 28. Martin (1988), 49. 29. See Chapter 2. 30. This inference is made from G.I. Jones’ work, The Trading States of the Oil Rivers, op. cit., 70–71. He stated that two major deities of Bonny, Otuburu and Ananaba originated from the Ndoki-Igbo area. 31. Oriji (1998), 68. 32. Oriji (1982), 542. 33. Oriji (1998), 68 and Chuku (2005), 183. 34. CMS:CA3/034, W.G. Romaine, Annual Letter, 23 October 1871, quoted by Felix Ekechi, Missionary Enterprise and Rivalry in Igboland (London: Frank Cass and Company Limited, 1972), 49. 35. For other leading women traders of Onitsha and Oguta see Chuku (2005), 183–202. 36. Chuku (2005). 181–82.

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37. Felicia Ekejiuba, “Omu Okwei: the merchant queen of Ossomari,” Nigeria Magazine, 90 (1960), 215, also published by the same author in Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, IV (1967), 633–46. 38. Toyin Falola, The History of Nigeria (West Port, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1999), 46, has noted that salt, iron, textiles and spirits constituted 75 percent of the total goods imported to Nigeria during the nineteenth century. 39. Lovejoy and Richardson (1995), 47–48. 40. Latham (1973), 68–69. 41. For a case study of the credit system, and the varying degrees of prosperity it brought to Bonny and Old Calabar, see Paul Lovejoy and David Richardson in “This Horrid Hole: Royal Authority, Commerce and Credit at Bonny, 1690– 1840,” Journal of African History, 45 (2004), 363–92. 42. Martin Lynn, “The West African Palm Oil Trade in the Nineteenth Century and the ‘Crisis of Adaptation’ ” in Robin Law (ed.), (1995), 67 and Latham (1973), 71. 43. Jones (1964), 92–94. 44. Harrison Wright, “Introduction,” Harrison Wright (ed.), The New Imperialism: An Analysis of Late 19th-Century Expansion (Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 1961), vii. 45. Crawford Young, “The Heritage of Colonialism” in John Harbeson and Donald Rothchild (eds.), Africa in World Politics (Boulder: Westview Press, 2009), 19. 46. Fernandez-Armesto (2010), 850. 47. For example, see Wright (1961), vii–xiii, Gilbert and Reynolds (2004), 238–57 and Fernandez-Armesto (2010), 846–73. 48. Jones (1964), 78–79. A court of equity was established in the major delta ports to arbitrate disputes between European traders and the middlemen. 49. Joseph Anene, Southern Nigeria in Transition 1885–1906 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1966), 69–109 described the period as the era of “paper protectorate.” 50. Captain Becroft and J.B. King, “Details of Explorations of the Old Calabar River in 1841 and 1842,” Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 14 (1844), 260–83. 51. Ogbu Kalu, The Embattled Gods: Christianization of Igboland, 1841–1991 (Trenton: African World Press, 2003), 213–41. 52. “A Journey to Ndoki, 1850 by Hope M. Waddell,” quoted by Elizabeth Isichei, Igbo Worlds: An Anthology of Oral Histories and Historical Descriptions (Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1978), 209. 53. Ibid., 209 and 211. 54. Isichei (1973), 88–89. 55. Kalu (2003), 142. 56. Jones (1964), 95 noted that during the nineteenth century, comey amounted to £75.00 per 300-ton vessel at Old Calabar and £400.00 per 400-ton vessel in Bonny. 57. Isichei (1973), 89. 58. Leonard, “Notes of a Journey to Bende,” op. cit., 190.

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59. Dike (1956), 18. The Landers had traveled inland from Badagry until they arrived at Bussa on the Niger, where they obtained a canoe to explore the Niger, see Isichei (1973), 90. 60. Ajayi (1965), 12. Erik Gilbert and Jonathan Reynolds, Africa in World History from Prehistory to Present (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008), 240–41 and Fernandez-Armesto (2010), 851 noted that malaria fever was the major cause of morbidity and mortality among the explorers. 61. Gilbert and Reynolds (2005), 240–41. 62. Lynn (1995), 65–67. 63. Consul Hutchinson quoted by Jones (1964), 96. 64. For the trade wars, see Dike (1956), 108–27, and K.K. Nair, “Trade in Southern Nigeria from 1860 to the 1870s: Expansion or Stagnation?,” Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 6.4 (1973), 429. 65. The expeditions attracted scientists, geographers, adventurers and many other people. 66. Shillington (2005), 240, and Isichei (1973), 89–93. 67. Kalu (2003), 81, Ekechi (1972), 3, and Ajayi (1965), 25–52. Ajayi noted that the CMS established its first Mission in Nigeria at Badagry in 1841. 68. William Balfour Baikie, “Brief Summary of an Exploring Trip up the Rivers Kwora and Chadda (or Benue) in 1854,” Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society, 25 (1855), 109. 69. Kalu (2003), 82 and Ekechi (1972), 4–5 have noted that the Creoles of Igbo ancestry formed the Igbo Association to promote Christianity and Western education in their ancestral homeland as their Yoruba counterparts had done with the Yoruba Mission founded in 1841. 70. Ekechi (1972), 7. 71. Isichei (1973), 90. 72. Ibid., 96, Kalu (2003), Ekechi (1972), 45. 73. Ibid., 92. 74. Ekechi (1972), 23–24. 50 pupils were enrolled in the school in 1864, while the total enrolment for the night school meant to enable adults to read the bible was 70 people. 75. Kalu (2003), 84. 76. Ekechi (1972), 12. For the Efulefu, see Achebe (2000), 110. 77. Kalu (2003), 84, indicated that Okosi later converted to Catholicism. 78. Isichei (1973), 147–48. 79. Ibid., 150–51. 80. Kalu (2003), 90, pointed out that the freedom village attracted slaves, orphans, lepers and other underprivileged people. Isichei (1973), 152 described them as “poor and cast off creatures.” 81. For example, see Ajayi (1965), 223–57, and E.A. Ayandele, The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria, 1842–1941: A Political and Social Analysis (London: Longman, Green and Co. Ltd., 1966), 205–80. 82. Ajayi (1965), 233–72, has given a more detailed account of the events that led to the demise of the Niger Mission. It is noteworthy that Crowther and other

220

83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90.

91. 92. 93.

94. 95.

96. 97. 98. 99. 100.

101.

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Notes

African missionaries accused European traders of undermining their efforts in promoting Christianity by failing to observe Sunday as a holy day, taking African mistresses, and engaging in other unethical activities. Similarly, the Managing Director of West African Company, whose ships provided free transportation to CMS missionaries, leveled accusations of impropriety against some African clergymen. Ibid., 272–73, Kalu (2003), 86–87, Isichei (1973), 94 and Ekechi (1972), 59–69. Isichei (1973), 109. Ibid., 100 and Dike (1956), 207. Falola (1999), 49. Isichei (1973), 115. Wariboko (2007), 23. Isichei (1973), 116–21. Wariboko (2007), 31–37, E.J. Alagoa, The Small Brave City-State: A History of Nembe-Brass in the Niger Delta (Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1964), 91–116, and H. Gallaway, “The Rising of the Brassmen,” Journal of African Society, XXXIV (1935), 144–62. Wariboko (2007), 26. Ibid. Sylvanus Cookey, King Jaja of the Niger Delta: His Life and Times 1829–1889 (New York: Nok Publishers Limited, 1974), Elizbeth Isichei, History of Nigeria (New York: Longman, 1983), 230–33, and Dike (1956), 182–202. Jaja was born in the village of Umuduruoha in Amaigbo-Orlu area. He was called Jaja by Europeans. But his full name in Opobo was Jubo Jubogha, while the Igbo of the Lower Imo River called him Jojo Ubani. Information obtained from Chief F. Stanley of Akwete on 7/10/84. Ibid., See also Isichei (1983), 231 and Dike (1956), 183. Jaja, like Olauda Equiano was probably undergoing intense psychological distress after he was forcefully detached from his family and friends. Consul Burton quoted by Dike (1956), 184. Dike (1956), 182–90. Ibid., 190 and 195. European firms allied with each faction, suppling weapons to their allies. Ibid., 195–96. Isichei (1983), 232. Jaja sent two of his sons overseas to study in Scotland, and also established a school at Opobo headed by Emma White, an African American. Isichei (1983), 232–33 and (1973), 74, and Falola (1999), 57.

Chapter 7 1. Isichei (1973), 125. 2. Ibid. 3. C.T. Ennals, Intelligence Report on Ndoki Clan, op. cit.

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4. Abadist. 1/28/1 No. 94, Portion of Palava-Akwete District (1899–1903), Nigerian National Archives, Enugu. 5. Adiele Afigbo, “The Aro Expedition of 1901–1902: An Episode in the British Occupation of Iboland,” in Falola (2005), 331. 6. A report of Harcourt’s trip is contained in Elizabeth Isichei, Igbo Worlds: An Anthology of Oral Histories and Historical Descriptions (London: Macmillan Educational Ltd, 1978), 211. 7. Abadist. 1/28/1 No. 94, Portion of Palava-Akwete District (1899–1903), op. cit. 8. Leonard, “Notes of A Journey to Bende,” op. cit., 190. 9. Ibid., 191–92. 10. Ibid. 11. Abadist. 1/28/1 No. 94, Portion of Palava-Akwete District (1899–1903), op. cit. 12. Ibid., and J.E.N. Nwaguru, Aba and British Rule: The Evolution and Administrative Developments of the Old Aba Division of Igboland, 1896–1960 (Enugu: Santana Press, 1973), 46–47. 13. Joseph C. Anene, Southern Nigeria in Transition, 1885–1906 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1966), 228–29. 14. Abadist. 1/28/1 No. 94, Portion of Palava-Akwete District (1899–1903), op. cit. Opobo middlemen protested against the annexation of hinterland towns in their meeting with Ralph Moor on May 27, 1899, fearing that Aro traders might default in paying the credit facilities they granted them. 15. Afigbo (2005), 332–23. 16. Anene (1966), 228. Eze S. Ananaba, the Traditional Ruler of Obegu gave the author a detailed account of the Obegu massacre during an interview he had with him in his palace on September 8, 2008. 17. Jones Vol. I (1988), 120. 18. Felix Ekechi, Missionary Enterprise and Rivalry in Igboland, 1857–1914 (London: Frank Cass, 1972), 122. 19. Jones Vol. I (1988), 130 and Afigbo (2005), 330–31. The replacement of traditional currencies was a difficult goal to achieve until the government began to confiscate manilas during a campaign it called “Operation Manila” (1948–1949). See Chuku (2005), 170 and Birgit Muller, “Commodities as Currencies: The Integration of Overseas Trade into the Internal Trading Structure of the Igbo of South-East Nigeria,” Cahiers d’Etudes Africaines, 25.97 (1985), 57–77. 20. Isichei (1973), 132. 21. Jones (1988), 132. 22. Felix Ekechi, Tradition and Transformation in Eastern Nigeria: A Sociopolitical History of Owerri and its Hinterland 1902–1947 (Kent: The Kent State University Press, 1989), 22–27. He discussed the events which led to the punitive expedition against Ahiara after the death of Dr. Stewart. For the military patrols against the Ezza, see Ottenberg (2005), 53–54. 23. For example, see Isichei (1973), 139. 24. Afigbo (2005), 342–31, Isichei (1973), 141. See also Don Ohadike, The Ekumeku Movement: Western Igbo Resistance to the British Conquest of Nigeria, 1883–1914 (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1991).

222 25. 26. 27. 28. 29.

30.

31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39.

40.

41.

42.

43. 44.

45.

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Notes

Ottenberg (2005), 56. Isichei (1973), 12. Ibid., 133. Ekechi (1972), 124. Adiele Afigbo, The Warrant Chiefs: Indirect Rule in South-Eastern Nigeria, 1891–1929 (London: Longman Group Ltd., 1972) and Harry Gailey, The Road to Aba: A Study of British Administrative Policy in Eastern Nigeria (New York: New York University Press, 1970). For the Yoruba Examples see Olufemi Vaughan, Nigerian Chiefs: Traditional Power in Modern Politics, 1890s–1990s (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2000), 22–57, and Toyin Falola, The History of Nigeria (West Port: Greenwood Press, 1999), 70–74. Toyin argued that Yoruba rulers (Obas), wielded arbitrary powers during indirect rule, and many of them abused their offices. Tax riots also broke out in Yorubaland during the period. Corruption and other social problems are still haunting modern Nigeria. Afigbo (2005), 487. Ekechi (1989), 14. Afigbo (1981), 195–98. Oriji (1998), 75. Afigbo (1972), 70–73. Oriji (1998), 75. Afigbo (1972), 70–73. Oriji (1998), 75. Nwando Achebe, Farmers, Traders, Warriors and Kings: Female Power and Authority in Northern Igboland, 1900–1960 (Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2005), 205–15. Walter Amobi was probably not a lineage head. But he was among the first literate persons in his community. Amobi served as a court interpreter before he was appointed a Warrant Chief in 1906. He was reputed to be a leading patron of the CMS in Ogidi. Similarly, Egbukole of Egbu attracted the CMS to his village, and his house was used as a place of worship until a church building was erected in the town. See Eze Felix Egbukole, Ezeship in Igboland: 100 Years of Egbukole Dynasty (Owerri: publisher not indicated, 2002), 19–26. Onwuka Njoku, “The Development of Roads and Road Transport in Southeastern Nigeria, 1903–1939,” Journal of African Studies, 5.4 (1978), 471–97 and Chuku (2005). 152. Susan George, Palm Oil and Protest: An Economic History of the Ngwa Region, Southeastern Nigeria, 1800–1980 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 92–93. Oriji (1983), 311–28, Ekechi (1981), 35–65 and Chuku (2005), 152–54. Wariboko, “New Calabar Middlemen . . . ” op. cit. 35 and Anthony Nwabughuogu, “From Wealthy Entrepreneurs to Petty Traders: The Decline of the African Middleman in Eastern Nigeria, 1900–1950,” The Journal of African History, 23.3 (1982), 365–79. E.A. Ayandele, Nigerian Historical Studies (London: Frank Cass, 1979), 167.

Notes 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59.

60.

61. 62. 63.

64. 65.

66. 67. 68. 69. 70.

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Ekechi (1972), 128–204 and Kalu (2003), 113–241. Ekechi (1989), 19–20. Ibid., 36. Riv. Prof. 8/3/469 No, OW1036/15, Report on Owerri Province for the Quarter Ending September, 30, 1915, Nigerian National Archives, Enugu. Isichei (1976), 133–36. Ibid., 134. Oriji (1998), 77–78. Nwatu was appointed a Warrant Chief in 1920. Achebe (2000), 101–48. Kalu (2003), 143–49. Abadist1/12/54 No. 54/20, Inspection Notes of the Lieutenant Governor, Eastern Provinces, Nigerian National Archives, Enugu, and Oriji (1988), 79–80. For the overall impact of the descralization of laws in Igbo society see Oriji 31 (2007), 263–88. Ibid. Martin (1998), 93. For a study of the backgrounds of the women who led the protests see, John Oriji, “Igbo Women from 1929–1960,” West African Review (2000), 1–11. www.africaresource.com/war/vol2.1/oriji.html accessed April 17, 2003. Chuku (2005), 214–19 and John Oriji, “The Igbo Women’s War,” Thomas Benjamin (ed.), Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450 (Detroit: Gale Group Inc./Macmillan, 2007), 569–71. T.O. Echewa, I Saw the Sky Catch Fire (New York: the Penguin Group, 1993). Ibid., 43–86. Ekechi (1981), 39, noted that in 1940, the UAC controlled about 50 percent and 41.31 percent of West African and Nigeria’s total trade respectively. See also Martin (1998), 111–12. Abadist.1/2/3 No. C53/1930, Report of the Aba Commission of Inquiry, Nigerian National Archives, Enugu. Gailey (1970), 108–13, Judith V. Allen, “ ‘Sitting on a Man’: Colonialism and the Lost Political Institutions of Igbo Women,” Canadian Journal of African Studies, 6.2 (1972), 165–81 and Caroline Ifeka-Moller, “Female Militancy and Colonial Revolt: The Women’s War of 1929, Shirley Ardner (ed.), Perceiving Women (New York: Wiley, 1975), 127, 154. Echewa (1993), 87–122. Ibid., 209, Allen 6.2 (1972), 174 and Oriji, “The Igbo Women’s War,” op. cit., 570. Sylvia Leith-Ross, African Women: A Study of the Igbo of Nigeria (London: Rutledge and Kegan Paul, 1939), 38. Report of Aba Commission of Inquiry (Lagos: Government Printer, 1930), 280–83. The government abolished the warrant chief system, and reassured the women that they would not be taxed. But it did not address the social and economic problems the women raised, and only two women in Nguru Mbaise and Umuakpo Okpala Native Courts were appointed Native Court members after the protests.

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71. 72. 73. 74.

Report on Aba Commission of Inquiry, op. cit., 31. Northcote Thomas cited by Onwuejeogwu (1981), 178. Afigbo (2005), 488–89 and Oriji (2007), 278–80. Ibid., see also Axel Harnet-Sievers, “Igbo ‘Traditional Rulers’: Chieftaincy and the State in Southeastern Nigeria” (1998), 1–19, http://www2.huberlin.de/orient/igbo/igbochef.htm. Accessed June 8, 2006. 75. Ibid., 5. 76. Gwilym Jones, Report of the Position, Status and Influence of Chiefs and Natural Rulers in the Eastern Region of Nigeria (Enugu: Government Printer, 1957) and “Chieftaincy in the Former Eastern Region of Nigeria” in Michael Crowder and Obaro Ikime (eds.), West African Chiefs: Their Changing Status under Colonial Rule and Independence (Ile-Ife: University of Ife Press, 1970), 312–24. 77. Afigbo (2005), 490–91. See also Anambra/Imo States of Nigeria, Government White Paper on the Report of the Committee on Chieftaincy Matters (Enugu: Government Printer, 1975), 1–14.

Chapter 8 1. See Uche Nwora on Igbo titles, “Nke Onye Chiri ya Zaa,” Chicken Bones: A Journal for Literary & Artistic African-American Themes (Feb. 2008), 1–7. 2. Adiele Afigbo, “Igbo Enwe Eze: Beyond Onwumechili and Onwuejeogwu,” in Falola (2005), 477–98. 3. Elizabeth Isichei, “Historical Change in an Ibo Polity: Asaba to 1885,” The Journal of African History, 10.3 (1969), 421–38. 4. James Coleman, Nigeria: Background to Nationalism (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1958), 30. 5. The “elective system” has led to many abuses. See Chinua Achebe, The Trouble with Nigeria (Enugu: Fourth Dimension Press, 1983), 48, Ebere Nwaubani, “Chieftaincy among the Igbo: A Guest at the Center-Stage,” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 27.2 (1994), 347–71 and Oriji, The End of Sacred Authority . . . op. cit., 263–88.

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Index

Aba, 144, 146, 164, 167–8, 173, 178–9 division, 64 origins, 3 Abakaliki, 10 Abam raids, 126 Aro slave trade in the area, 107–8 copper mines, 59 Abala, 146, 175 Abam (Abam, Edda and Ohaffia), 85, 112, 119 their raids and the resistance they encountered in Igboland, 119–34 Abiriba, 10, 41, 121 Aboh, 11, 102, 106, 143, 146, 153, 154 migrations from the Benin Empire, 95 Abolitionists, 139, 140 Achalla, 168 Achebe, C., 40, 43, 51, 118 Adams, C., 108–9 Ado na Idu, 93–4 Afigbo, A., 5, 8, 11, 17, 19, 25, 58, 78, 83, 103, 105, 163, 165, 168, 181, 184 Afikpo, 10, 11, 126 Ezi-Ukpa rock shelter, 35 African Iron Age, 2 Agbaja, 37, 53 Agbala oracle, 8 Agbor, 11 Aguleri, 57, 76, 77, 157 Ahoada, 11, 93, 125, 179 Akaeze, 10, 11

Akasa, 157 Akri, 96 Akwete, 125, 146, 158, 184 Sub-District, 162, 163 Ala/Ani (Earth-Goddess), 4, 38, 49, 52–4, 56, 77, 112, 162 Alaezi, 48, 53 significance in Igbo cosmology, 45–6 taboos, 50–1 Alagoa, E.J., 66, 67, 135 Allen, J.G.C., 47, 65, 115, 144 Allenso, 154 Amaigbo earth-goddess of, 6 traditions of Igbo origin, 5 Amaise, 123 Amakiri, king of Elem Kalabari, his Igbo ancestry and accomplishments, 136–7 Amala (Village Council), 11, 12, 35, 48, 50, 52–3, 55–6, 112, 163, 165, 170 Amasa, 123 Amaseri, 10 Amaube blacksmiths, see Nsukka Amavo, 123 Andoni, 99 Anozie, Frank, 28 Aro Expedition (1901–1902), 125, 139, 150, 158, 161, 165, 167–8, 170 location of Arochukwu, 110, 126 Oracle, 8, 10, 107, 113–114, 131, 133

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Aro—continued propagation of Ekpe society, see Okonko/Ekpe society their warriors, see Abam (Abam, Edda and Ohaffia) Trade network, 2, 8, 107–38 war with the Ibibio, 111 Arondizuogu, 69, 119, 128, 131, 132 Asa, 22, 114 Asaba (Ahaba), 6, 75, 100, 104, 157, 184 Atande, J., 81 Awka, blacksmiths, 9, 36, 57, 73, 85–6 other occupational specialists of the town, 41 Azikiwe, Nnamdi, 21, 85 Azumini, 161, 163–4, 175, 184 relations with the Ibibio, 64 Baikie, William establishment of factories at Aboh and Onitsha, and a consular office at Lokoja, 154 exploration of the Niger, 152, 153 Balandier, George, 18 Bantu migrations, 31 Basden, George, 94 Bende, 119, 152, 164, 174 Aro fairs in, 132 Division, 177 relations with the Ibibio, 64 Benin its location, 81 its participation in the slave trade, 88, 90, 92 Kingdom, 7, 132 Oba Esigie, 90–1, 94 Oba Ewuare, 89, 93 Oba Ozolua, 90, 93 Obas of, 59, 88 origins of its mega state, 79–80, 87–8 relations with the Igbo, 72, 87–103 weapons of war, 89 Blanco of Cadiz in Spain, 140

Bonny, 8, 10, 107, 117, 120, 125, 135, 142, 145, 149, 158–9, 165 history, 69–70 Boston, John, 62, 73–4, 104 Boult, V. H., 47 Bradbury, Robert, 72 British consular office for the Bight of Biafra, 150 consuls, 157–9 Pax Britannica, 159, 172 Royal African Company and trade with the Bight of Biafra, 108 imperialism in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa, 150–159, 162, 168 Canoe House/system, 135–6, 137 roles of Igbo slaves, 141 Catholic Missions, 155, 166, 173 Chamberlain, Muriel, 14 Chambers, Douglas, 108 Christian evangelism, 24 on the Lower Imo River, 151, 173, 176 on the Lower Niger, 151, 153–6 Chukwu (High God) in Igbo cosmology, 45, 48–9, 57 Church Missionary Society (CMS), 146, 173 Bishop Ajayi Crowther and the crisis in the CMS, 155–6 establishment of churches in Bonny and Okrika, 150 founding of the Fourah Bay college, 153 and at Onitsha, 153–4 Coleman, James, 185 Crow, Hugh, 111 Dane guns (flint locks), 124, 136, 167 Dapper, Olfert, 106 Dibia (traditional healers and diviners), 4, 50–2, 54, 58 Dike, Kenneth, 66, 133

Index Diobo (Ndi Obia), 10 District Commissioner/Officer, 171, 174–6, 178 functions, 171–2 Echeruo, Michael, 83 Echewa, Obinkara, 177–8 Edo (Bini) area, 2, 19 Efik-Ibibio, 2, 62, 132 relations with the Igbo, 63–6 Egbema, 11 Egbu, 171 Egbuoma, 95–6 Egharevba, Jacob, 72, 80, 88, 94, 99 Egypt, 34, 79, 80 Ekechi, Felix, 168, 173 Ekejiuba, Felicia, 116–17, 125 Ekine society, 135 Ekpe society, see Okonko/Ekpe society Ekumeku society, 126, 167 Eltis, David, 108, 140 Ennals, C.T., 69, 70 Enugu/Elugu, 4, 9, 171, 174, 176 construction of eastern rail line, 172, 182 Enugu-Ezike, 171 Equiano, Oluadah, 7, 110, 119 Etche, 123 Umuru-Etche, 52 Etiti, 114 European Missionaries, 171–2 firms and factories, 172–4 impact, 172–3 Ezeala (Priest of the earth-goddess), 9, 12, 35, 36, 75, 106, 171, 179, 184 politico-religious roles, 43–4, 50–1 taboos and rewards of office, 55–6 Eze bari, 179–80 Eze ede, 17, 40, 54 Ezeji/Duruji, 9, 17, 50–1, 56, 117 Eziama-Nvosi, 20 Ezinihitte (Mbaise), 10 Ezza, 12, 167 Fagan, Brian, 19, 34 Falola, Toyin, 19

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Fernando Po, 150, 153 Forced labor, 171, 174, 175 Forde, Daryll, 5, 9, 11, 42, 63, 183 Gailey, Harry, 168 Garrick Braide Movement, 25, 175 Gold Coast, 90, 159 Goldie, Taubman, 156 monopoly of trade on the Niger, 156–7 Green, Margret, 13 Harms, Richard, 18 Hartle, Donald, 19, 27, 35, 36, 104 Hausa, 75 states, 132 Hebrew, see Jews Henderson, Richard, 19, 75, 78, 84 Holl, Augustine, 27 Homo erectus, 28 Hopkins, Anthony, 34, 132, 143 Horton, Robin, 15, 66, 68, 135 Horton, W. R. G., 18, 46 Ibeku, 5, 114 Ibeme, 63 meaning of Ngboko, 65 their taboos after Abam invasion, 123 Ibibio, 7, 165 area, 167 meaning of Nmogho, 65 relations with the Igbo, see Efik-Ibibio Ibusa (Igbuzo), 6, 100 Idah, 73–4, 80, 92 Ifemesia, Chieka, 5, 16, 44 Igala, 2, 8, 88, 95, 183 influences in Igbo-Ukwu, see Igbo-Ukwu kingdom, 7, 59, 62, 125 king makers (Igala mela), 8 relations with the Igbo, 73–5, 103–5 Igbo called “Opuu”, 91 chronological problems of their history, 26–9 classification of their culture and sociopolitical organization, 9–11

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Index

Igbo—continued controversy over their classification as a stateless people, 13–18 the diachronic approach and the study of Igbo mini and mega states, 14–20, 31–3, 35–8, 40–59, 61–86, 87–106, 113–19, 125–34, 168–75, 179–82, 183–6 economy and society, 2–4 “Heebo/Igbo yams”, 38, 39 history during colonialism, 150–9, 162–8 “Ibo Landing”, 109 invention of agriculture and iron technology amongst them, 35–6, 38–42, 57–9, 61 its causes and consequences, 176–9 kings and king makers in Elem Kalabari, Bonny and Opobo, 134–7 location, 3 meanings of the concept “Eboe/Igbo”, 7, 105 origins, 5–8 State Union, 6 their neighbors, 62 Women’s War, 9, 13, 73, 161, 175, 176 Igbo-Ukwu and decline, 82–6 Igala influences in, 76–9 its evolution, 56–60 mega state, 2, 38, 183 myths of origin, 79 ritual control of trade, 44 trade with the Arab-Indian world, 7, 59 Igwekala oracle, 8, 10, 85, 105, 122 its bombardment, 173 Ihembosi, 97, 101 Ihiala, 101, 170 impact of immigrants from the Benin Empire, 97 Ihie (near Aba), 69, 165

Ijo, 93, 112, 114 city-states, 2, 59 Eastern Ijo-Igbo relations, 66–71, 105–6 Ika, 11 Ikenga cult, 7, 25, 73, 103 Ikwerre, 84, 167 dialect, 9 Ikwerre-Etche, 10, 114, 143 Kalabri settlement at Amafa, 67 Ikwo, 10 Illah, 75, 95 Ile-Ife, 36, 79, 83–4, 87 flight of the” Igbo”, 71–2 location of its mega state, 81 Iliffe, John, 60 Inikori, Joseph, 109 Isichei, Elizabeth, 5, 19, 23, 116, 122, 126–7, 132, 134, 167, 184 Isiokpo, 47, 184 Israel, lost tribes of, 7, 79 Isuama, 33, 118 origins and migrations 5–7 Itu, 167 Izzi, 10 Jeffreys, M.D., 5, 77, 80, 82 Jews, 7 Jones, Gwilym, 5, 6, 9– 11, 14, 18–19, 26, 37, 42, 58, 63–4, 66, 69, 110, 114, 116, 131, 135, 167, 181, 183 Jukun Empire, 80 Kalabari, 7, 8 Elem Kalabari settlement, 68, 135, 138 middlemen, 143, 157, 173 relations with the Igbo, 66–9 trade with the Igbo, 105, 122 Kalu, Ogbu, 18, 173 Kamanu (god of rain, lightening and thunder), its spatial location in Igbo cosmology, 43, 45, 48 its functions, 49, 52 Kano, 81 kings of Igbo ancestry, 137, 138

Index Klein, Martin, 131 Koelle, Sigismund, 142 methods of enslavement of his informants (Table 5, 2), 134 Kwale, 11 Kwa sub language phylum, 61–2, 81 Lagos, 90, 167, 176 Laird, Macgregor, 152–4 Lander, John and Richard, 152 Latham, A. G., 114, 132 Law, Robin, 144, 184 Legitimate commerce, 139–50 Leith-Ross, Sylvia, 53 Leonard, Arthur, 44, 82, 116, 125, 162 trip to Bende, 152, 164 Liverpool merchants, 117, 132, 148, 152 Malaria fever, 32, 152 Manning, Patrick, 31 Mbadiwe, Kingsley, 110, 130 Mbaise, 22, 25, 41, 123 Mbano, 41 Mbari, see Oratta-Owerri Meek, Charles, 134 Meillassoux, Claude, 134 Ndienu, 120, 128 Ndikelionwu, 127 Ndoki, 22, 143, 151 Ndoki-Ngwa, 137, 143, 149 relations with the Ibibio, 64, 114 Ndoni, 98 Near, Nancy, 41, 73 Ngboko-Amiri, 124 Ngboko Ohanze, 124 Ngwa, 10, 25, 47, 143, 149, 162, 185 Amuzu-Ngwa blacksmiths, 41 association with Aro traders, 114, 124 history, 12 Ohuhu-Ngwa, 5, 9, 10 their migrations, 36–7 Warrant Chiefs, 170–1 Ngwa-Obi, 118 Ngwa-Ukwu, 116

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245

Nike, 46, 125–6 settlement pattern, 127 Njaka, Elechukwu, 16 Njikoka, 52 Njoku/Ahajioku (god of yams), 38, 43, 49, 55 as an organ of law application, 52 spatial location in Igbo cosmology, 43 Njoku, Onwuka, 41, 73 Nkporo, 10 Nnewi, 127–8 Nnobi, 128 Nok Complex, 5, 36, 61 Northrup, David, 15, 42, 140, 143–4 Nri as ritual specialists, 8–9 alliance against the Abam, 129–30 Eze Nri and their taboos of office, 55, 57 myths of invention of agriculture, 42, 56, 76 as part of the Isuama-Orlu complex, 6 roles of the Umudiana, 57, 59, 76–8, 168 Nsibidi, 115 Nsirimo, 22, 114 Nsukka, 9, 171 the Aku of Nsukka, 122 association of their blacksmiths with those of Agwu-Udi complex, 36, 41, 58, 59 slave raids of Onoja Oboni, 103–5, 127 university of Nigeria, 21 Nteje, 168 Ntigha, 115 Ntigha-Uzo/Okporo Ahaba, 123, 131 Nwaezeigwe, Nwankwo, 76, 83 Nzimiro, Ikenna, 12, 75, 102 Obeagwa, 97 Obegu, 125, 131, 165, 184 its market, 163 King Ananaba of, 145, 149, 171 “Obegu massacre”, 165–6

246

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Index

Oboni, Onoja, slave raids, 103–5 Onoja Oboni oracle, 8, 78 Obosi, 25, 84, 128, 146, 154 Odinani clan, 72 Ofo ala (symbol of authority of the priest of the earth-deity), 13, 15, 55, 131 Ofo (ancestral symbol of authority), 11, 24, 49–51, 55 Ogaranya, 126–7, 131, 143 Ogidi, 154, 171 Ogundiran, Akinwumi, 19, 27 Ogurugu, 104, 143 Oguta, 11, 47, 69, 125, 143, 146–7, 149, 157 middlemen, 177 Ogwashi-Ukwu, 52, 84 Ogwe, 173 market, 165, 168 Ohadike, Don, 88, 99 Ohaffia, 10, 11, 25, 121, 131 settlement of emigrants from the Benin Empire, 98–9 Ohambele, 69, 146, 151, 161, 184 Ohanso, 69 Ohuhu, 22 Ohuhu-Ngwa, see Ngwa Ohuhu-Umuahia, 121 Ohuru, 168 Ojukwu deity, 25 Okafor, E.E., 19, 58 Okigwe, 130, 174, 177, 179 Abam raids in the area, 128 its Warrant Chiefs, 171 nuclear zone of Igbo migration, and its Isuama autochthones, 5 Okonjo, Kamena, 12, 53, 100 Okonko/Ekpe society, 8–10, 12, 17, 76, 114, 121, 125–6, 131, 141, 163, 180 as an arm of the Aro trade network, 112–19 rivalry with authority holders, 115 rivalry with the Niger Delta Pastorate, 175–6

Okpara/Okpala, 17, 35 functions, 49–51, 53 rewards of office, 55–6 spatial location of his house, 48 taboos of office, 55 Okpoha, 10, 11 Okpuala, 114, 123, 174 Okpuala-Ngwa, 47, 175, 185 Okrika, 70, 135 middlemen, 143 Old Umuahia, 114 Oloko, 177–8 Olokoro, 114 Omoku, 96 Omu, 12, 54 selection and functions, 100–1, 107 Onicha Ugbo, 100 Onitsha, 8, 9, 84, 104, 128, 143, 146, 149, 157, 176 emigration from the Benin Empire, 93–95 for the establishment of a church and school in the town, see Church Missionary Society (CMS) settlement of the emigrants, 96–7 Onwuejeogwu, Angulu, 5, 11, 16, 19, 23, 27, 42, 55, 59, 83–5 Onwumechili, Cyril, 16–18 Opi, 36 Opobo, 107, 115, 120, 125, 138, 142, 144–5, 151, 164, 175 Jaja’s relations with authority holders of lower Imo River towns, 162 King Jaja of, 157–9, 162, 170, 171 middlemen, 143, 165 Opobo District/Division, 162, 167 Oraifite, 97, 128 Oratta-Owerri, 47, 82, 185 Oriji, Erugo, 20 Orlu, 114 area, 52 invention of agriculture and iron technology, 33 Isuama-Orlu and occupational specialization, 9–10

Index marketing of palm produce, 143 a nuclear zone of Igbo migration, 5, 6 Ossomari, 100, 102, 106, 125, 143, 146, 153–4 Omu Okwei of, 147–8, 149 Osu, 17, 52, 53, 56, 105, 109 Otanchara, 128 Otisi, (priest of fertility cult), 10 Ottenberg, Simon, 10, 11, 107, 111–12, 130, 132 Owerri, 123, 143, 169, 171–2 dialect, 82 District, 174 Mbari figurines, 47 Native Court Area, 168 Oratta of Owerri, 10 Province, 176, 179 Owerrinta, 123, 170, 177–8 Oyo, 80–1, 87, 92 Ozo title society, 12, 17, 58, 82, 103, 117, 126, 131, 141, 146, 149, 170, 180 Ozubulu, 97 Ozuzu, 85, 105, 122 Palm oil and kernel, why they were exported, 139–40 estimate of palm oil exports from Niger Delta ports during the second half of the 19th century, 140 major palm produce traders of Igboland, 145–8 production, transportation and marketing of, 142–4 Pereira, Pachecho, 71 Perham, Margery, 13 Philips, John, 19 Port Harcourt, 172–4 Portuguese, 89–92, 106, 116 Roman Catholic Mission, see Catholic Missions Royal Niger Company, 150 Ryder, Alan, 87–8, 90–1, 101, 106

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247

Shaw, Thurstan, 19, 27, 32, 34, 38, 41, 75, 78, 80, 83 Shelton, Austin, 105 Smith, Robert, 89 Social Darwinism, 150, 155, 156 Talbot, Percy, 6, 44, 68, 82, 115 Trans-Atlantic slave trade, 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, 27, 44, 61–2, 66, 75, 81, 87–8, 103, 122, 139–40, 183–4 British export of arms and ammunitions to West Africa (1750–1807), Table, 1, 5, 109 estimates of slaves exported from the Bight of Biafra to the New World from the 17th –19th centuries, 108–9 Igbo resistance to slavery, 124–5, 129–30 impact of the slave trade in Igboland, 130–4 its abolition, 130–4 Ubakala, 114 Ubulu-Ukwu, 92 Uburu, 108, 126 Uchendu, Victor, 5, 9, 11, 109 Udi, 4, 36, 41, 59 division, 174 Ugwuele-Uturu, 28 Ujalli, 28 Ukwa (Asa and Ndoki), 10, 124, 162 Ukwu, Ukwu, 42 Umuada/Umuokpu, 12 functions, 53–4 Umuagbayi, 69–71 Umuahia, 10, 36, 41, 173, 178 Nwankwo site in Bende, Umuahia, 36 Umuchu, 131 Umudiana, see Nri

248

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Index

Umudioka, 59 Umugo, 69, 165 Umunoha, 122 Umuocham, 168 Umuokpara, 5 Uzuakoli, 5, 173 Vansina, Jan, 26, 34

Warrant Chiefs, 168–72, 174–76, 182 Weber Jr., James, 34 Yams, 4, 34 for their domestication, see Igbo Yoruba, 176, 183 kingdoms, 7, 36 mini states, 35–6