Title:
Author: G.E.K Ofomata
Published: August 2004
ISBN: 5810088
Pages: 702
Cover: PaperBack
Price: £30
CONTENT SUMMARY
Why “A Survey Of The Igbo Nation”?
The realization that no comprehensive volume exists on the Igbo Nation led to earlier thoughts that have crystallized into this publication. Several volumes exist on aspects of various specialized disciplines on the Igbo Nation but, so far, no such volume presents a comprehensive view on this vital segment of Nigeria.
We also recognized the need to update our knowledge of, and correct the misconceptions about Igbo people and their culture. This is because a lot of things have been written and said about the Igbo by people who do not have adequate information on the Igbo Nation, and who routinely transpose on Igbo norms alien to Igboland and proceed to judge them by such norms. For example, Igbo society is one of those societies, which, until recently, had received insufficient attention from scholars, and consequently had been grossly misrepresented. To some, the society was “acephalous” and “stateless”; “it was, at best, an exercise in ‘ordered anarchy’ or excessive democracy”. By stateless societies are usually meant “those societies which lack centralized authority, administrative machinery and constituted judicial institutions” – in short, which lack government and in which there are no sharp divisions of rank, status and wealth. This definition is definitely not Igbo society of the past nor of the present! Indeed, it is wrong to describe any society as “stateless” on the basis that it structures do not conform to a particular type.
It soon became clear that, in order to supply the “missing links” and fill the gap in our information about the Igbos and the Igbo Nation, the priorities of Igboland and Igbo people had to be determined from within – by the Igbos themselves. This is logical as it is only proper that Igbos tell their own story as a contribution to existing information and knowledge on contemporary society.
Accordingly, we embarked on a Survey Of The Igbo Nation Project in 1980 and had hoped to bring it to an end much earlier, but this had not been possible. But we remain grateful to Almighty God that this 24-year old journey has finally come to an end. The volume contains a detailed and coordinated account of the various aspects of the history, geography, social and economic life of Igbos and Igboland of Nigeria. Each of the 41 chapters in the book was written by an expert in the field, and the materials have been arranged so skillfully that what emerges is a coherent study of continuity and change typical of this part of Nigeria, change which has led to visible transformations in the way of life of a people who, while retaining the essential elements in their tradition, are receptive of such innovations as make for progress in their social and economic life.
The statement that no people can map their future in this world without a solid knowledge of their past (i.e. where they are coming from) is a compelling truism. Thus, the fundamental mission of A Survey Of The Igbo Nation can be viewed as bringing together a comprehensive body of informed knowledge about the Igbo based on what Ndigbo think and know about themselves. The achievement of this mission can, no doubt, be a powerful instrument necessary for the future development of Ndigbo. In particular, Igbo children wherever they find themselves in this globe cannot truly maximize their potential in the Nigerian, World or whatever context without a sound comprehensive knowledge of themselves. Therefore, this book should be seen as a necessary tool in the arsenal of intellectual weaponry required for nurturing every Igbo child wherever he or she finds himself or herself to attain the fullest potential possible. Without doubt, this publication has stirred the embers of scholarly curiosity, which, if ignited and nurtured could form the basis of a gigantic project on an epic scale that could light up our path into the documentation of the Igbo Civilisation for posterity. The example, which A Survey Of The Igbo Nation furnishes as a model or a framework of that project represents a significant head start of that journey of a thousand miles which, as the famous Chinese proverb tells us, must start with one step.
The publication of the book is timely! It will fill an existing vacuum and certainly meet the yearnings of various categories of people who have sought in vain to have at their disposal such a detailed and multi-disciplinary volume on Igboland. The importance of the volume is further heightened by the fact that all the 37 contributors are Igbos – telling their own story, and telling it as it is.
Students and teachers, at all levels, will find the book useful; so will businessmen, tourists and those in the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy, who have a duty to understand the make up of the component parts of a varied country in which they live and work. Aiding the understanding of what to many is still a mysterious part of an extensive country are 139 maps and diagrams, 93 plates and an extensive bibliography of material for further reading.
Table of Content
- 1. Introduction
- Part 1
- 2. Archaeology of Igboland (The early prehistory) 13
- 3. Archaeology of Igboland (The later prehistory) 24
- 4. Historical Perspective 39
- Part 11
- The Igbo Environment
- 5. Geology 56
- 6. Climate and Vegetation 73
- 7. Relief, Drainage and Landforms 83
- 8. Soils and soil Erosion 99
- 9. Early Peopling and Cultural Diversity 117
- 10. Population 131
- 11. Settlement Patterns and Problems of change 146
- 12. The Dynamics of Rural Development 167
- 13. Urban life and Urban Development 178
- 14. Community Development and Social Welfare 195
- 15. Igbo Traditional Socio-Political System 218
- 16. Politics and Administration in the Igbo Traditional Society 234
- 17. Politics and Pressure Groups in the Igbo
- Political System 241
- Part 111
- Arts and Culture of Igboland
- 18. The Language and Dialects of Igbo 252
- 19. Igbo Architecture 272
- 20. Art in the Culture of Igboland 300
- 21. Igbo Traditional Religious System 350
- 22. Fundamental of Igbo Musical Culture 367
- 23. Minstrelsy in Igboland 386
- 24. The Art of Dramatic Art 399
- 25. Philosophy 413
- 26. The Heroic Age of the Ohafia Igbo 425
- 27. Igbo Concepts and Beliefs about Land: Its Classification and tenurial Systems 450
- PART IV
- Resources of Igboland and their Development
- 28. Farm Impliments of Igboland 461
- 29. Igbo Agriculture 482
- 30. Animal Production 500
- 31. Local Industries and Crafts 514
- 32. Manufacturing Industries 525
- 33. Trade and Transport 543
- 34. Educational Facilities 563
- 35. Health Facilities 576
- 36. Igbo Ethnomedicine 583
- 37. ABO Blood Group Distribution among the Igbo of Omambala and Imo States 606
- 38. Tourist Resources of Igboland 618
- 39. The Igbo in Contemporary Nigeria 628
- 40. The Natural Resources of Igboland: The geographical Dimension in Contemporary Nigeria 644
- 41. Bibliography
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