Igbo pre colonial system
The Igbo people are ethnic group from Nigeria, known from their rich cultural heritage. In pre colonial
times, the Igbo society was organized into small, self governing villages. They had a decentralized
political system, with each village having its own leader or council. The Igbo were known for their
agricultural practices, trading networks, and artistic traditional including intricate wood carving and
masquerades. It was a fascinating time of vibrant culture and traditions.
Hence, the Igbo people are an ethnic group from Nigeria, pacifically from the south east region. Before
the arrival of European colonies powers, the Igbo society was organized into autonomous village, each
with it own governances structure led by a council of elders or traditional ruler. The Igbo were primarily
agrarian, cultivating crops such as yam, cassava and palm produce. They had a thriving trade network,
both within their communities and with neighboring ethnic groups. The Igbo also had a rich neighboring
ethnic groups. The Igbo also had a rich cultural heritage, with a strong emphasis on oral tradition,
storytelling, and artistic expressions like masquerades and wood carvings. it was a time of vibrant
community life and cultural practices.
Pre colonial life
Pre colonial Igbo political organization was based on semi autonomous communities, devoid of kings or
governing chiefs. With the exception of town such as Onitsha which had kings called obis, and place like
Nri and Arochukwu, which had priest kings known as Ezes, most village governments were ruled solely
by an assembly of the common people. Igbo secret societies also had a ceremonial script called Nsibidi,
Igbo had a calendar in which a week has four days. A month has seven weeks and thirteen months a
year. the last month had an extra day. They also had mathematics called Okwe and Mkpisi and a saving
and loan banks system called Isusu. They settled law matters by oath taking to a god. If that person died
in a certain amount of time, he was guilty if not, he was free to go but if guilty, that person could face
exile or servitude to a diety.
Igbo language
Igbo has a number of dialects, distinguished by accent or orthography but almost universally mutally
intelligeble, including the idemili Igbo dialect (the version used in Chinua Achebe's epic novel, things fall
apart), Owerri, Ngwu, Umuahia, Nnewi, Onitsha, Awka, Abriba, Arochukwu, Nsukka, Mbasie, Ohafia,
Wawa and Okigwe.
Igbo is mainly a spoken and colloquial language today, and not much Igbo literature exits, in many urban
areas, Nigeria pidgin. English often replaces Igbo infact, many Igbo today do not use the Igbo language,
but instead use local dialects of pidgin English.
The igbo people are an ethnic group native to the present-day south-central and southeastern Nigeria.
Geographically, the Igbo homeland is divided into two unequal sections by the Niger River– an eastern
(which is the larger of the two) and a western section. The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic
groups in Africa.
The Igbo language is divided into numerous regional dialects, and somewhat mutually
intelligible with the larger “Igboid” cluster. In rural Nigeria, Igbo people work mostly as craftsmen,
farmers and traders. The Igbos are also highly urbanized, with some of the largest metropolitan areas,
cities and towns in Igboland being Onitsha, Enugu, Aba, Owerri, Orlu, Okigwe, Port- Harcourt, Asaba,
Awka, Nsukka, etc.
Before British colonial rule in the 20th century, the Igbo were a politically fragmented
group, with a number of centralized chiefdoms such as Nri, Arochukwu, Agborand Onitsha. Frederick
Lugard introduced the Eze system of “Warrant Chiefs”. Unaffected by the Fulani War and the resulting
spread of Islam in Nigeria in the 19th century, they became overwhelmingly Christian under
colonization. Traditional Igbo political organization was based on a quasi- democratic republican system
of government. In tight knit communities, this system guaranteed its citizens equality, as opposed to a
feudalist system with a king ruling over subjects.
With the exception of a few notable Igbo towns such as Onitsha, which had kings called Obi,
and places like the Nri Kingdom and Arochukwu, which had priest kings; Igbo communities and area
governments were overwhelmingly ruled solely by a republican consultative assembly of the common
people. Communities were usually governed and administered by a council of elders.
Igbo Pre-Colonial Political System
As a result of the existence of many political institutions in Igbo land,
there was no centralization of power among the Igbo. Instead, political institutions were performing
similar or different functions. There were no traditional rulers in the form of Kings (as among the Yoruba
and Hausa-Fulani) and so no hereditary claims to traditional stools. In this setting, there was never an
Igbo Kingdom or Empire. The largest political unit was the village.
The various institutions that exercised governmental power included family heads, the council of elders
or the ofo title holders, the age-grades, the ozo title holders as well as the lineage heads. The Igbo pre-
colonial political system was described by many scholars as an ‘acephalous political system‘ which can
be translated as ‘a leaderless or chiefless political system’.
Each family head in the village held the ‘Ofo‘ title and altogether formed the council of elders. Among
the council of elders, one was recognized as the most senior to others. He was the ‘Okpara‘. Another
level in the Igbo political administration were the ‘Ozo‘ title holders. This expensive title was conferred
on wealthy and influential men in the community who after getting the title become recognized and
could then preside over meetings with the village elders.
