Indigenous Igbo: The Colonization Of Nigeria

The Igbo are the second largest tribal group out of three hundred tribes located in southeastern Nigeria. They have a rich and diverse history that has included both good and bad times. Before the colonization of Nigeria, most Igbos practiced the indigenous Igbo religion. However, with the colonization of Nigeria came the spread of new religions such as Christianity and Islam. This lead to a religious divide of Igboland into three distinct religion groups today: indigenous Igbos, Igbo Christians, and Igbo Muslims. The divide inevitably came with conflict, and today, indigenous Igbos and Igbo Christians have an amicable relationship, but the same cannot be said about Igbo Muslims and indigenous Igbos.

The conflict between the Igbo tribal groups

Indigenous Igbos believe in three main entities: God, spirits, and ancestors (Arinze and Ogbu 4365). They believe in one all-knowing, supreme God, Chukwu. Chukwu is “an all-powerful, all-knowing divinity, the maker of the cosmos as well as all the minor gods that make up the Igbo pantheon” (Deities of the Igbo Religion 292). He is often thought of as the Sun, which the Igbos believe to be God’s “eye” on the Earth. (Deities of the Igbo Religion 292). Indigenous Igbos also believe in a female counterpart of Chukwu, Ala. Ala, whose name means “The Earth Mother”, represents the more feminine moon rather than the Sun. Chukwu is thought of as “The Creator” while Ala is “The Preserver” (Deities of the Igbo Religions 292). The other entities that are important in the Igbo religion are spirits and ancestors, which are types of spirts themselves. The spirits are beings that are thought to exist everywhere. There are also many different types of spirits, each being found in different places and having a different “job”.

A man named Garba Ohemev was the first Igbo convert to Islam in 1937. Since then, more and more people have begun converting, although the spread has been slower than that of Christianity (Insoll 348). Indigenous Igbos do not have a peaceful relationship with Igbo Muslims. Uchendu explains the nature of their relationship in his novel when he says, “For that majority that treats conversion to Islam with displeasure, their concern broadly rests on five points. The first is the fear...A second reason derives from lingering bitterness over the atrocities meted out to the Igbo...by Hausa soldiers of the Nigerian army. The third is the resentment arising from the possibility of Igboland losing is long held stand as a non-Muslim territory and its image as a land of "almost total Christianity"...The fourth point is the perceived marriage of convenience between Islam and violence...Lastly, there is a worry that religious balkanization...endangers Igbo interests and survival and might bring about the eclipse of Igbo culture by the imposition of Hausa norms” (Uchendu 80-81). As noted earlier, Islam’s belief system is quite different from that of the indigenous religion. Both are monotheistic religions, but indigenous Igbos believe in pillars such as forgiveness, sacrifice, and healing, while Igbo Muslims have