The Igbo of Southeast Nigeria
...o history with Europe began in the fifteenth century with the arrival of the Portugese followed by the Dutch and England. At first, their interactions were primarily that of the slave trade. As the Age of Imperialism moved in, however, Europe, especially England, began taking an interest in the rich natural resources in Nigeria, in particular petroleum, palm oil, tin and gold. In 1884, as a result of the Berlin West Africa Conference in which Africa was carved up among the European powers, the different areas in which the Yuroban, Hausas, and Igbo people inhabited were amaglated into the single country, Nigeria. This conference also set up indirect rule by the British over Nigeria meaning that native leaders could rule but the people had to pay taxes. For the first time in Igbo history the people had to pay taxes and also had a chief to answer to. Needless to say, the chiefs were given little to no respect by the Igbo people. All over Nigeria and the rest of Africa, opposition to colonization was rising. A notable uprising was the rebellion of mostly Igbo women in the Aba area in 1929 when rumors circulate that the woman were going to be taxed. This is just one example of the revolutionary attitude that is apart of the Igbo culture. After witnessing the bloody separation of the French from its colonies in Africa, the British decided to attempt to separate peacefully from Nigeria. In reality, the smooth transition the British promised was just a disguise for neocolonialism. The British still had some control over them because of economic pressures. The British also used “divide and rule” tactics with the people of Nigeria. On the whole, the interactions between the British and Nigeria proved to be especially detrimental to the Igbo’s. On October 1, 1960, Nigeria was granted independence from England. However, the British influence was still affecting the politics there because the “divide and rule” tactics had just began to take hold of the people of Nigeria. The British had always used the differing ethnicities as a way to separate and control the people of Nigeria. Now, even though they were independent, hostilities between the groups grew over how the country was to be divided among them and how Nigeria would be ruled. In 1966, and Igbo leader by the name of Ironsi came into power. His actions quickly resulted in a military coup. In the end, thousands of Igbo’s were massacred. Gowon came into power after the coup and attempted to push the Igbo people to second class citizens by removing them from the profitable coasts and oil fields they had been apart of when the area was divided in 1960. This action resulted in the Igbo declaring themselves a soverign nation called Biafra. The civil war that ensued because of their attempted separation lasted about four years. Just as quickly as the war began, it ended, with the quiet defeat of the Igbo in 1970. Although imperialism affected the Igbo people in negative ways, it did add strength to the Igbo personality. Even though they are one of the most dispersed people in the diaspora, they are among the most unified. Their complex language is one reason they remain unified. Igbo, which is derived from the Kwa languages of Western Africa, is so complex it is regarded as one of the hardest languages to learn and it is not spoken anywhere else in the world. Also, their unity is perhaps due to less emphasis on love of country in the physical sense. The Igbo are sai...