The Igbo giant strides against all odds
All ethnic groups in Nigeria had some clans who were suspected of cannibalism. I have no first hand knowledge of this. But Enugu, Ngwo, Abakaliki, some parts of Abia near Umuahia, and near Obowu in Imo State were similarly suspected. If it was so, it did not last long because the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), and the District Officers (DOs) and native administration soon put a stop to it, as they did among some Ijaws, like the Okrika, who were similarly suspected.
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The British Government had found that the “Indirect Rule” system did not work in the East, as it had done in the North and the West, mainly because the later had kingship institutions. Where these institutions existed, it was easy for the British to rule through the District Officer (DO) who passed on directives to the Obas, Chiefs, Bales, Emirs, etc. The DOs were the unseen hand that controlled the local administration. But because the Igbo did not have kingship or chieftaincy that ruled over a larger area, the British, in 1931, through the Warrant Chiefs Ordnance of that year, tried to establish territorial kingships or chieftaincies. Hence, the need to create “warrant chiefs” who were supposed to work like their counterparts in Yorubaland and Hausaland. However, it did not work.
The Igbo now claim that the acephalous nature of their people meant that they were genetically democratic. Therefore, their Age Grade System continued, even under the kingship dispensations. Thus, they continued to have the “Elders”, who worked with their “kings”; whilst the “Youths” continued to operate as the law enforcement personnel, until the modern policing system displaced them, and the Native Authority Police took over that task from the”Youths”. Some anthropologists and linguist have described the Igbo as autochthonous- so unique have their culture been that it must be indigenous.
The Founder of the Yoruba Dynasty was Oduduwa, who migrated from Egypt. The Hausa/Fulani claim they came from Arabian in the Middle East. The Igbo have a vague idea of being Jewish- one of the lost tribes of Israel. All stories of origins of different peoples round the world are folkloric and mythical. So, we cannot dismiss the Igbo claim of Jewishness out of hand. One thing is certain, the Igbo have a great deal of empathy for the Jews, who have been persecuted over the centuries, by Europe and Asia; the Igbo sublimate and claim that they too have been persecuted for centuries.
Just as the Jews have vanquished their oppressors, so the Igbo believe that they would triumph over all comers who persecute them.
The Igbo identify with Jewish success as an inevitability regardless of what obstacles may be thrown in their way. They are God’s chosen people. This is an extremely powerful tonic for the survival and great foundation for success. No other ethnic group in Nigeria is so armed for struggle of efficient development.
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