₦airaland Forum

Ihuomadinihu:
Mercy Johnson is an Ebira. Sometime ago,she said her native name was Ozioma which is an Igbo name. Since Ozioma is not a mainsteam Ebira word or name,it's not wrong to say Ebiras probably adopted or borrowed certain Igbo words arising from their interactions with Igbo people.

Radoillo:
Ozioma would appear to be a pretty common Ebira name, with a completely different meaning from the Igbo Ozioma.

HugoChavezJr:
Igbos have more in common with Idomas. Even Igalas have more in common with Igbos than Igbirra.

bigfrancis21:
Could you list out common similarities between Igbo and Igala?

HugoChavezJr:
Market days and some words they share in common. I don't know Igbira culture too well, but it seems to lean towards the North Central.

bigfrancis21:
Yea, the Edo and Idoma also use the 4 Igbo market days as well. Funny enough, the usage of the Igbo 4 market days by other tribes is not something that is commonly heard.

I guess the Nri civilization really spread out its tentacles amongst all 3 groups - Idoma, Igala and Edo/Bini.

HugoChavezJr:
So you're insinuating that Nri influenced Benin and not the other way around?

bigfrancis21:
Yes, in terms of the market days. In the past, tribes often tended to borrow elements from neighbouring tribes. It was no big deal. The function of Nri priests during the heydays was more of a spiritual role. Just as the role of the Levite tribe of the 12 tribes of Israel was that of a spiritual role. Nri priests were known to travel to other places to perform religious rites. I remember reading somewhere, not too sure of, that Nri priests were often invited to the Bini palace during coronation of new kings. In effect, the Nri, most likely, spread the 4 Igbo market days as we know them today to other areas of Igboland and to neighbouring tribe such as Idoma, Igala, Bini etc. It comes as no surprise given that these tribes are surrounding Igboland and some Igbo influence may have probably worn off on them.

aribisala0:
What evidence do you have for this . The geographical location of Iboland does not support this theory. There is no evidence that even the Ibo "civilization" started at NRI that is just fantasy
If you study the history of languages you will know you cannot deduce anything from current forms AT ALL. Slave trade and raids were very common in what is now Nigeria .Also Nigeria has perhaps the largest number of ethnic groups in Africa in a relatively small space . What seems more sensible is that many groups split off from an unknown source.
If you search for it you will even find linguistic similarities between Yoruba and Ibo. To the put any interpretive value on such is just presumptuous
The underlying assumption you make is that if today an ethnic group is bigger and shares similarities with a smaller one the smaller one must be derived from the larger. That is a fallacy as it could be the other way round.
Language is not always the best place to look. There are many other things to look at. Ethnically the English and Germans have the same root and their language did. England was colonized by the Romans and this changed a lot .
It all depends on how far back one wants to look. Many of the light skinned people of North Africa are today identified as "Arabs" This was not the case 1000 years ago

Nri priests invited to Benin is Fantasy !! You did not read that anywhere. There is no evidence anywhere for that kind of depth to Ibo spirituality which is really relatively primitive compared to the Edos

bigfrancis21:
If you read my post well, I clearly made it obvious when I said Igbo elements of Nri were borrowed by neighbouring tribes such as Bini, Igala, Idoma etc. Never did I say that these tribes were derived from Igbo. Tribes can cohabit side by side for years and adopt elements or customs from one another. No doubt, these 3 aforementioned tribes all use the 4 Igbo market days, these 4 Igbo market days being said to be of the Nri civilization spread to the rest of Igboland and beyond. Nri priests were known to travel far and wide to perform religious roles and this is likely the avenue by which the product of their civilization - the 4 Igbo market days, got to these neighbouring tribes.

You were probably right, the Igbo civilization did not start at Nri and is probably much older than Nri civilization. Carbon dating performed in the Nsukka axis of Northern Igboland date the Igbo civilizaton to around 2500BC. Nri is only but a part of Igboland, other areas may have been formed earlier, albeit Nri held a huge influence.

aribisala0:
You say 4 Igbo market days what makes them Igbo How do we know Igbos did not borrow them? Nri Priests know to travel far and wide? KNOWN how? by whom? How far? How wide? What evidence do you have for this? What evidence is there that there was anything like Igbo or Edo in 2500 BC ? The fact that there were people in Nsukka does not mean they were Igbo people or indeed that any of their descendants are around today. After all Jews were kicked out of Israel for centuries. You make too many assertions and assumptions without evidence. Even among modern Igbos there is no evidence that they share common ancestors what they share is customs and languages even Achebe said as much . It is very conceivable that you had hundreds of groups in Iboland and their languages and identity replaced by a bigger and more dominant culture this does not imply common ancestry just like how after 100 years of living together there is now such a thing as a "NIGERIAN" accent.

What do mean by NRI civilization? What are its ingredients because this is just made up stuff?
Can you give us a few named individuals
How did they bury their dead
How did they marry
Did they circumcise their men? Their women.? You are just guessing

bigfrancis21:
Lol. The evidence is all there against your attempts to belittle Nri and its civilization. Loads of academic evidence are out there. Do some simple research for yourself before responding to my post.

bigfrancis21:
Lol. The evidence is all there against your attempts to belittle Nri and its civilization. Loads of academic evidence are out there. Do some simple research for yourself before responding to my post.

aribisala0:
There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER.

The textbook of History for WAEC was written by Onwubiko why did he forget to mention NRI

The truth is this is all made up fiction. Next to nothing is documented or known or even recounted as oral history prior to independence so where do these "MEMORIES" suddenly emerge from

aribisala0:
Actually there is NO EVIDENCE . There is only one scholar known to have published anything noteworthy an Onwuejogwu or something like that .All we have is the fiction that your folk concocted on Wikipedia with no citations. Is it not interesting that there is No history textbook of credilibility that mentions Nri. The last time I checked the word NRI did not appear in the WAEC Syllabus . This is particularly interesting as the major textbook I read when I studied history was written by an Ibo. In an attemmpt to appear consequential this fiction was concocted and posted on Wikipedia. Provide one source from the British before independence to back up the nonsense written on Wikipedia

bigfrancis21:
I would expect that if you choose to rebut my original post, then you come up with evidence supporting your point of view. Moreover, you sound like you have issues with not just Nri but the entire Igbo ethnic group as well. Well, my original point still stands. The Nri 4 market days are still today being used by neighbouring tribes - by itself evidence of earlier ethnic group contact long time ago.

Likewise, Igbos living at the fringes of the Igbo territories with these tribes have adopted one or two influences from these tribes.

aribisala0:
Always resort to sentiment> Predictable. There is no where in the logical world where evidence is presented to refute a claim. Rather it is for the claimant to provide evidence to substantiate their claim .
That has been the way since the first university opened its doors
I assume you have spent some time in one?

ei incumbit probatio qui dicit non qui negat

the burden of the proof lies upon him who affirms, not him who denies"

It is for YOU to prove anything you say about NRI

bigfrancis21:
Well, my earlier point still stands. So far you couldn't come up with evidence whatsoever disproving my point other than what you feel. If you don't agree with it, it's your opinion. I am not here to win an 'internet debate' with you whatsoever. I'll reiterate my point again that the 4 Igbo market days being used by the 3 aforementioned neighbouring tribes are most likely due to borrowed Nri influence on these areas.

aribisala0:
Anyone can claim that there are Ibo tribes on the moon that is their entitlement but of course that remains as fantasy without substantiation

bigfrancis21:
Once there is proof for this fantasy of yours, then it is possible.

aribisala0:
You are funny one minute you are championing the Eboes are Jews next minute it is 4 market day Eboes

bigfrancis21:
Lol. What do Jews have to do with the discourse at hand? Loll

aribisala0:
I am just highlighting the confusion in your mind. Have you changed your view about your Jewish roots which you championed so vociferously not so long ago? Now it is 4 day Ibo market. What Next ,the son of Abraham he wanted to sacrifice was Isioma and not Isaac?

bigfrancis21:
Lol. Just few hours ago you were attacking my post about Nri and now you're bringing up Jewish roots as if it has anything to do with the topic at hand.

Lol. I see you have no point and haven't made any so far. I'm waiting for your next extraneous punchline.

aribisala0:
You are repeating yourself, are you ashamed of your past >

I invited you to substantiate your claims about Nri.You have failed miserably to do so and I can only take that as an admission that your claims are baseless and false and that matter is closed. I also wish to highlight to the public that you are a fickle ,wishy washy individual who jumps from one fad to the other. You spent several hours on Nairaland

https://www.nairaland.com/1849842/those-still-doubting-igbo-jewish/1


trying to prove Eboes are Jews but Jews do not have 4 day weeks or market days. They have a Sabbath so have you abandoned the claim to Jewry too?

NRI THE FOCUS OF IGBO CULTURE, HISTORY AND CIVILIZATION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

One of the greatest advocacies that emerged from thirty-five years of studying Igbo culture is the conviction that Igbo culture needs to be re-focused in space and time as it was between AD 900 to 1911. The late Rt. Honorable Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was one of the earliest Igbo elites to be convinced about this need. When on Wednesday, 29th March 1956, as the Premier of Eastern Nigeria, he moved the second reading of a Bill entitled “The Recognition of Chiefs Law 1957.” He said amongst others:-

“Thirty years ago, Dr. P. Amoury Talbot gave a lot of reliable information about the Aro theocracy and the spiritual potentates of Agukwu Nri whose civil supremacy was acknowledged in Awka and Udi Divisions and which was a holy city that was comparable to lle-Ife in its hey day.

From this remarkable ethnographer, we gleaned authoritative data about kings and chiefs who exercised spiritual and temporal power throughout the Eastern Nigeria just as their opposite numbers did in the North and West.

..It is remarkable that while the Ooni if Ife was recognized as the spiritual head of the Yoruba-speaking people; and the Sultan of Sokoto was highly respected among Muslims of the North, the role of the Eze Nri was not only minimized but was officially ignored.

…Therefore, the present government cannot be blamed for snubbing the chiefs of the East..”

‘'…The saving grace is that we are now engaged in the Herculean task of restoring the prestige and dignity of our chiefs, wherever such tradition exists, and we hope that we shall be given a fair chance to find a satisfactory solution”.

Zik was an Anthropologist by training and knew the implications of every word he spoke on this matter of chiefs and kings of the East.

In supporting Dr. P. Amoury Talbot, Zik was giving a cultural focus to Ndigbo. Dr. P. Amoury Talbot was a learned scholar of Igbo culture who wrote several remarkable books on Igbo in the twenties: The peoples of Southern Nigeria Volumes 1 & V. In his book he emphasized what he saw, heard and read about the centrality of Igbo culture located at Nri town before the British and missionaries destroyed it in August 1911.

Certainly Ndigbo require a reconstruction of their past to move forward. But that reconstruction must be based on solid facts derived from sustainable research and not on various bogus claims by charlatans in Igbo history who now seem to out-number the experts.

*If Zik in 1956-57 was unable to restore the Igbo focus/center, if Professor Afigbo’s committee in 1976 was unable to do so too, we in 2002 have no excuse to fail having gone through the harrowing experiences of lack of cultural center/focus imposed on the Igbo by the British since 1911 and thereafter by Igbo politicians; making it impossible for Ndigbo to have a clearing house for conflicts and their resolutions, on account of the devaluation of Igbo value system by modern forces and factors.

The compelling evidence derived from our research on the Igbo is that Nri and Eze Nri historically and unchallengeably constitute the center/citadel of Igbo culture, history and civilization; the destruction done by British colonialism and imperialism in August 1911 and the benign neglect and parochialism of Igbo politicians since 1957, notwithstanding.

2.0 ANALYSIS OF THE EVIDENC

2.1 Evidence From The Young and Some Westernized Elites:

Some young Igbo and some westernized Igbo elites say that they have neither heard of nor seen or even known of Nri. This is understandable because many in this category cannot state their genealogy up to three generations. This group suffers from “cultural hiatus”. According to Chinua Achebe’s Things fall Apart in a pathetic way for this category of Ndigbo: "They do not even know the name of their Umunna". They simply will say “ I am from Awka”. They cannot even speak their dialect of the national Igbo language spoken by over fifty million Igbo and even by some non-Igbo like Hausa, Yoruba or Efik living in the Igbo culture area. This category do not know much of Igbo land, yet some of them will shout loudest about their knowledge of Igbo history, culture and civilization.

We have come across hundreds of such Igbo personalities in and outside Igbo land. This has not enough knowledge of Igbo to tell us either of the Igbo in general or Nri in particular. They need to be re-socialized in Igbo culture history.

On the other hand, there are groups of Igbo westernized elites who have adequate knowledge of Igbo culture but are propelled by narrow, parochial vision of their own community as the center of Igbo culture. And there are, yet another group knowledgeable and broadminded enough to see the facts that their own community is only an atom in the Igbo culture. This group knows that Nri is the center of the culture solar system of Igbo from time immemorial or between AD 900 and 1911, and even to the present. This category is well socialized in Igbo culture-history.

2.2 Evidence from the Traditional Igbo Elites

This category of traditional elite has interesting remarks to make about Nri. We hereby state clearly how they assess Nri.

The Nri are head of the earth force, isi ana.

The Nri believe in God, the Creator – Chukwu Okike and Chukwu gave them more powers; hence they were able to bring the Igbo together (Chikoba Ndi-Igbo).

The Nri have wisdom and knowledge (amamife na mmuta) and are great in mystic (ndi na fu mmuo).

The Nri crown kings (chi eze) and make Alusi priests (chi eze Alusi), and ordain the earth priests (chi eze ana).

The Nri are people who break kolanuts (wa oji) when Igbos are in gatherings.

The Nri are non-violent and peaceful (ha buro ndi ike, ha bu ndi udo)

The Nri people are owners of Nri town through which the Igbo dead go to the spirit land, ana mmuo.

The Nri have ichi marks on their face and carry otonsi. Because of this they are not killed or molested in any part of Igboland

The Nri establish the markets (do ahia), and make peace (do udo) in Igbo land.

The Eze Nri is king of Nri. His agents with ichi marks on their faces and the aka -Nri and ada- Nri (dwarfs) work for him.

The Eze Nri interprets changes and enacts what is custom (Odinani) abomination (alu) and taboo (nso) for all Igbo.

Some will derisively concede, “Okwali alu ka ndi Nri nakpu.” Is it not only cleansing of abomination that Nri people do? The utter naivety of this bland concession can only be appreciated when one temembers that cleansing of abomination is tantamount to ablution. In all organized religion the only humans that can intercede between God and man is superior to man. Christianity is the biggest organized religion in the world with over 2billion followers out of the world’s 6billion population. With over 38,000 denominations, Roman Catholicism is the most popular with over 1.1billion adherents. The Pope is the only one who has ablution rights which he dispenses all over the world through his bishops and priests.

The Eze Nri is Eze Ora (for all Igbo) and all Igbo groups obeyed him in the past.

The Eze Nri is a mystical Eze. He fasts and makes himself holy (nso) for the good of Nri and Ndigbo

Eze Nri controls fertility (omumu)

Eze Nri controls yam and crop fertility through ifejioku and gives yam medicine (ogwu ji), to Ndigbo

Eze Nri controls erosion, heat, rain, insects like yam beetles (ebe), and locust (igwulube).

Eze Nri receives tribute (ife nru) and payments from Nri and Ndigbo.

Eze Nri controls the Igbo calendar by counting the year (Iguaro).

It is clear that this class of Igbo see Nri like the proverbial big elephant described by the seven blind men. Each person describes Nri or Eze Nri according to his or her individual perception.

2.3 Evidence from archaeology and anthropology AD 900- present:

In order to understand the role of Eze Nri and Nri people in Igbo land among Ndigbo, let us start with evidence from archaeology dated AD 900 and AD 1500 through Olaudah Equiano’s work of 1775 and documents of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and finally through the works of researchers mostly anthropologists between 1912 and 1980.

(i) Archaeology of Igbo Ukwu, dated AD 900 by Carbon- 14, by Prof. T. Shaw- University of Ibadan-Archeologist. (British)

From 1959 to 1960 and in 1964, Professor Thurstan Shaw conducted an archaeological excavation at Igbo-Ukwu, Eastern Nigeria, near the town of Oreri, on land formerly belonging to Oreri which was an Nri settlement. The report was published in two volumes and called Igbo-Ukwu objects according to archaeological system of naming sites.

The quantity and quality of the bronzes, iron objects, pottery and beads indicate that the users as well as the makers of these objects had developed a complex system of organization based on king ship. From the outset, it was obvious that certain symbolic motifs depicted on the Igbo-Ukwu objects such as the elaborate facial marks called ichi on the bronze pendant heads and the cords around the ankles of the figures of man and woman depicted on the cylindrical bronze objects are all at present associated with the ozo titled men who are regarded as the leaders and political elite of Ndigbo towns and villages. The objects were dated by carbon- 14 AD 900. Every object excavated has a similar extant object, suggesting continuity (Shaw, 1971, vols 1 & 11).

A simple photographic identification test of the objects made at Igbo Ukwu, Oreri, Nri and Awka among elders, show Nri elders scoring highest in suggesting the functions, structures and history of the objects used, in the test (Onwuejeogwu, 1974, 1975, 1981).

Archaeology of Ezira, Dated AD 15th Century by carbon-14 by Professor H. Hartle (United State of America)

Professor Hartle excavated at Ezira twenty-five miles east of Igbo-Ukwu and fifteen miles east of Nri and recovered bronze objects including anklets, bracelets, bells, etc and some pottery similar to Igbo-Ukwu objects. They were dated late 15th century A.D. and this date synchronizes with the latest date from the Igbo-Ukwu site (Hartle, 1972).

The ichi marks on these objects were conspicuous as Ezira area was under the Nri sphere of influence. Onwuejeogwu saw and identified these objects in the museum of the Department of Archaeology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, before their disappearance during the Nigerian Civil War 1967-1970.

(ii) Archaeological Surface Findings by M.A. Onwuejeogwu (1966-1990)

Professor Onwuejeogwu collected surface findings from homes in Nri and afar and exhibited them in a museum established in 1972. The findings of bronze, textile, pottery, status staff and wooden sculptural materials with ichi marks are similar, in essential details, to the findings of both Igbo-ukwu and Ezira excavations. The surface findings covered a very wide area between Nsukka and Owa and between Aguleri and Owerri. These findings are evidence of a pan-igbo characteristics of the Nri complexes and traits. Over one hundred Nri towns have been located all over this Igbo culture area. It is clear the Nri people spread this culture far and wide as supported by the people’s oral tradition. It is pan-Igbo phenomenon in space and ideological scope.

[b]2.4 Documentary Evidence (1746 to Present)

Since 1746 to now, almost a period of two hundred and fifty-four years, documentary evidence have been gradually emerging, informing us about the nature of Nri system and the nature of their personality. Here, we shall attempt a presentation of highlights of these evidences as known at present:

(i) The earliest indirect reference to Nri culture was given by OlaOudah Equiano in 1789. Equiano was a literate Igbo slave who wrote his own life history in a volume called The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Euiano. In this book, Equiano described the facial marks on the faces of the rulers of his town thus:

“Those Embrenche, or chief men, decided disputes and punished crimes, for which purposes they always assembled together”.
His description of the facial marks shows that embrenche refers to the Igbo word mgburu ichi, which means “those with ichi marks on their faces’. Ichi marks are still found among Nri men born before 1920 and also on the faces of some elders of areas once under Nri influence. Ichi is an important title in Nri sphere of influence conferred on Ndigbo by Nri agents. It is definitely clear that Equiano was an Igbo under Nri influence. Attempts have been made to locate Equiano’s village-group by analyzing the context and content of his work. One placed it at Iseke Orlu (Achalonu, 1989); the other at Usaka near Umuahia (Onyema, 1991). Whichever be the location, it falls in the area of Nri sphere of influence. For Equiano to remember clearly the mgburu ichi ceremony of his village at the age of eleven, indicated the strong impression it made on his young mind. This had helped us to interpret the ichi marks on the bronzes dated AD 900 and 15th century, described above. It has further given us a clue to the extent of Nri sphere of influence in the late 18th century and the influence ichi has on the psyche of Igbo people.

(ii) The next important documentary evidence comes from the writing of Captain John Adam 1823 who was the captain of a slave-ship that frequented the Bights of Benin and Biafra in the early nineteenth century. Writing in 1823, he had this to say about Igbo slaves:

‘A class Igbos called Breeche, and whom many erroneously considered to be a distinct nation, masters of slave ship have always had a strong aversion to purchase because the impression made on their minds by their degraded situation was rendered more galling and permanent from the exalted rank which they occupied in their own country and which was thought to have very unfavourable influence on their ship-mate and country men in misfortune”.

This record also holds that:

“Breche” in the Heebo language signifies gentlemen or the oldest son of one, and who is not allowed to perform in his own country any manual office. He inherits, at his fathers’ death, all his slaves and had the absolute control over the wives and children whom he has left behind him. Before attaining the age of manhood his forehead is scarified and the skin brought down from the hair to the eyebrows so as to form a line of indurated skin from one temple to the other. This peculiar mark is distinctive of his rank.”

It is clear that on the coast, many Nri men were brought in as slaves. This situation brought Nri and Aro at conflict, which they attempted to resolve diplomatically. The slavers thought these Igbo men were a distinct class of Igbo, because of the ichi marks and their constant instigation of other Igbo slaves to revolt even by suicide. This is an important document for Ndigbo.
[/b]
(iii) W. B. Baikie in his book, Narrative of an Exploring Voyage up the River Kwara (Niger and Benue 1845), says:

“I inquired particularly after a supposed district or tribe mentioned by Clark and some other writers as Ichi or Bretsh, refers to certain individuals who are marked by numerous cuttings on the forehead.”

It is clear that Baikie was trying to locate a town whose inhabitants have ichi marks on their face. But was unable. He did not know that the men whom he met with such marks came from Nri town. This eluded him but the fame of men with ichi was behind the motive of his search. This fame was a result of the role Nri slaves played among Igbo slaves on the coast of Biafra instigating Igbo slaves to revolt.

(iv) Next is the work and findings of Major A. G. Leonard (1890)-1906), a Cambridge scholar of comparative religion who worked for ten years among the people of the lower Niger. He published his work in1906. In this book, The Lower Niger and Its tribes, he produced a map of the area and located Nri town accurately, thereby solving the problem that eluded W.B. Baikie. Leonard went further to discuss the function of Eze Nri and the Igbo towns that still paid tribute to Eze Nri. On the function of Nri people in Igbo land, he wrote:

“Nri or “Nshi- evidently the same place, but a different pronunciation of it is a town, which is situated about forty miles to the east, i.e. behind Onitsha… the inhabitants of this particular town are known as “king makers”, in other words, they possess the sole prerogative of conferring the title of royalty in all the Ibo country… they also, it appears, enjoy the privilege of walking untouched and unharmed through any portion of the same… so the Nri family, for the same scared reason, are not only the progenitor but also the priests of the whole Ibo race, as such, high priest, taking precedence over all other fraternities, priestly, social and political.”

All that Leonard wrote was correct. His exactness is indeed confirmed by Northcote W. Thomas and Rev. Father Duhaze and others that followed.

Northcote W. Thomas (1910-1913), the government anthropologist who published his work in 1913, confirmed Leonard’s account on Nri.

In his book Anthropological Report on the Igbo Speaking Peoples of Nigeria, Part I, he wrote:

‘The Eze Nri, or King of Nri town otherwise known as Aguku, is a somewhat striking figure…

He is the spiritual potentate over a large extent of the Ibo country, and so great is the awe which he inspires that recently, when, probably for the first time in history, an Eze Nri entered the native court of Awka while a sitting was going on, the whole assembly rose and prepared to flee.”

This incident took placed in 1911. The fact is that Eze Nri in the past was not seen but heard. The British planned to desecrate him and therefore forced him to attend the native court of Awka to demonstrate to the Igbo the power of the white man. The reactions of the Igbo was that of great awe. It was one of those tactics used by the British in their imperialist process.

Northcote Thomas compiled a list of the Eze Nri from Ifikwuanim and Nri Namoke to the then living Eze Nri Obalike. He went into some details describing the succession, death and coronation of each Eze Nri as observed for the good and harmony of the state and Igbo people. The ichi mark and its significance were also discussed. He added that in the case of the son of Eze Nri: “the operation has to be performed fourteen days after birth”. Who is the son of Eze Nri? They are all male sons of Nri town. This is a point Thomas missed. On page 137, he demonstrated that the Nri believe that ichi mark was tied up with the myth of how Chukwu, the creator, gave yam to Nri to distribute to Ndigbo, and this was done through the ichi marks and sacrifices of Eze Nri’s first son and daughter.

The king then resolved to go and fetch yam from cuku ; cuku then made a bargain with the king that he was to mark his son with the ichi marks…

The myth was also fully recorded by both M.D.W. Jeffrey (1936) and Onwuejeogwu (1972 and 1989) who analyzed its significance in Nri ritual and political economy. The myth of Nri was like the present bible story to the Igbo. They believe it and regarded it as coming from Chukwu Okike through the Nri. Chukwu Okike is the creator of everything.

(v) Rev. Father Duhaze: Before 1910 missionaries had started to visit the interior of Igbo land. One of the first places visited was Nri, because any where they visited they were directed to see Eze Nri. According to Rev. Father Duhaze’s record of 1906 which was quoted by Jordan in the book, Bishop Shanahan of Southern Nigeria, the following was recorded about Nri:

“The very first town visited in the deep interior was that of Nri, the headquarters of juju and voodoo and pagan priesthood for the whole Igbo tribe. This was a genuine attack on Satan in his citadel, for Nri represented the heart of Igbo paganism”.

On the influence of Nri, Duhaze wrote:

“The religious influence of Nri… once extended over the whole Ibo country. The Nri’s were the high priests of the idols and from their hands the chiefs loved to receive the insignia of office. They regulate even the building of huts for fetishes… the arrival of the king were preceded by the ringing of bells and by a storm of clapping”.

Let us forget the religious bias of this record. The Eze Nri Obalike received the missionaries in a friendly way. Duhaze and Vogler reported to Shanahan and Father Jordan remarked:

“The reports they brought back thrilled him immensely, for although the king of Nri and the chief of two or three nearby towns absolutely refused to allow any interference with pagan rites, they professed themselves quite pleased at the idea of the children ‘learning book’, and they even admitted that it would be good for them to learn what the father had to teach them about God.”

Nri has kept an oral tradition of the dialogue between the Rev. Father Duhaze and Eze Nri Obalike i

One point which Rev. Father Jordan made in his work is the title system. He wrote:

“Each town had a whole list of titles which every free-born man was allowed to take, provided he could pay the initiation fees… the higher the title the nearer one approached to Maw, or spirit; indeed the basis of respect for titled men lay in their association with maw. For that reason, the taking of the top title (the ozo was the highest taken in many towns) was accomplished by a big sacrifice- generally of a horse or cow… The senior ozo man, if possess of initiative and personality, was easily acknowledged as chief.”

(vi) Iwekanuno (1924) wrote a fine work on Obosi in Igbo language which was later translated into English. The title is: The History of Obosi and of Ibo Land in Brief. This book is important because it was by an Igbo man of Obosi in Igbo language in 1924 when Ndigbo were still slumbering in deep illiteracy and when the search for truth was innocent of political and economic gains. He had deep insight into what Nri stood for in Igbo history. He told us a history of how a hot-headed Obosi warrior, Onukegu, killed Nwokuku, an Nri man in December 1852. Immediately the family of the hot-headed warrior brought him out for judgment and executed him in order to appease the Eze Nri. On cross-checking the incident in Nri, Nri tradition holds that Obosi sent a delegation to Eze Nri and dissociated themselves from the act and made reparation by marrying a wife for the murdered Nri father to bear children in place of the murdered man. Nwokuku family now in Nri holds that the killers performed all the rituals of purifications associated with the killing. Nri men were regarded as sacred and must not be killed. To kill any, was abomination that would call down the rage of Eze Nri, demanding purification and reparation. Obosi, which is near Onitsha, is about twenty miles to Nri as the crow flies. The marriage of a wife for a murdered person by the family of the murderer whereby the woman bears children for the dead man is common in Africa, called ghost marriage by anthropologists and it is one way of showing repentance, making peace and stopping vendetta among families and communities when a murder takes place between allies.

The vendetta from Nri would have been the pronouncement of anathema on the whole of Obosi town in general and the murderer’s family in particular. Such an anathema was considered more dangerous than war because an anathema visits several generations and in some cases may end in the extinction of the lineage or lineages or town. The Obosi people acted wisely and the matter ended in friendly forgiveness. It has to be noted that if an Obosi man killed an Onitsha or Nkpor or Umuoji man at the same period, these steps were not taken. The two towns would simply fight it out until Nri sends a peace mission to intervene.

The special treatment of Nri by Obosi in the case described by Iwekanuno was the common feature between Nri and towns all over Igbo land. This is attested to by the fact that Nri genealogies show, some lineages arising from ghost marriages of the type decsirbed here. This has been identified by Prof Onwuejeogwu in his work (1982). The Obosi case here was how Nri diplomatic immunity was sustained all over Igbo land. In the past, Igbo land was a difficult place to travel freely without being killed. Only an Nri man had the free passage and maintaining such a free passage involved a type of diplomatic relationship. Are diplomatic relationships not political? This question is left for those who doubt the strength Nri used in organizing its kingdom and hegemony. This work of an Obosi man reveals to us without doubts, the temperament of Nri people and their personality rating in Igbo land. Indeed, Obosi town was considered as one of the most powerful and outstanding towns East of Nri noted for killing and ritual cannibalism which polluted their strength. They were feared by their neighbours such as Ogidi, Oba, Nkpor who also practised ritual cannibalism and killings in the past as a mark of valor. They were always at political loggerhead with Nri. To punish them Nri decided to establish the mighty Nkwo market, the present Onitsha market at Onitsha before the arrival of the white man. The position of Onitsha on the River Niger may be another geographical factor. Rev. Father Jordan made it clear that Nri controlled the location and building of shrine - huts all over Igbo land and this fact was real and verifiable. Shrines are regarded as ‘dangerous’. Only Nri people could build and consecrate them. It is like the handling of atomic energy in modern times. Only those who can handle it do. Nri was the controller of these invisible mystical forces in Igbo land and since the Igbo believe in them, Nri held sway and ascendancy until otherwise, when the missionary came and introduced the gospel of the Old and New Testament which is monotheistic as far as the belief in One God, the Creator, and the belief in the existence of angels, saints, and Lucifer are concerned.

(vii) In 1934 the PhD thesis of M.D.W. Jeffrey was made available. Jeffrey was a British District Officer turned anthropologist. He was so interested in the Nri ritual economy that he studied the Oreri system and investigated many problems related to Nri activity in Igbo land. He demonstrated that Nri and Oreri are Igbo kingdoms organized in a theocratic form with a liberal divine kingship. He demonstrated that they held sway over a large portion of Igbo land sustained by trade, industry and ritual services. He described the ritual of ichi marks and the immunity Nri had all over Igbo land. Though he was not able to explain how the political structure was able to sustain itself in the absence of a military system that relies on violence and compulsion.

(viii) Then comes an important work by the present Cardinal Arinze, F, who in his work: Sacrifice in Igbo Religion 1970 made it abundantly clear that Nri is the center of Igbo religion. Other versions are ramifications from Nri. Hence there is Nri acceptability all over Igbo land.

(ix) Ethnographic Evidence: Nri oral tradition genealogical structure and anthropological findings by M.A. ONwuejeogwu (1966-2000)

A collection of Nri oral traditions and the construction of Nri genealogical structure undertaken by Onwuejeogwu in his attempt to solve the problem of time in Nri is revealing. The result published in a book titled the Principles of Ethnogenachronology: Dating Nri Igbo Oral Tradition, 1997, demonstrates that Nri genealogical time ranges from AD 904 to the present. The reign of each Eze Nri has been located and the history demonstrates an impressive Igbo Kingdom, hegemony and civilization, which were dominated with the building of Igbo leadership and elite around the ozo/eze/duru/obi title complex. The Nri title is the epitome of all titles. The ozo/eze/duru/obi title which are one and the same in spite of the names used, is each a microcosm of Nri title. Eze Nri is “first, above equals” in the democratic theocracy established by Nri people among Ndigbo in the Igbo culture area for a period one thousand years or more. It is therefore incomprehensible for any enlightened person to say that Ndigbo have no king (Onwuejeogwu, 2001) or that Ndigbo have no cultural focus.

Onwuejeogwu’s researches on Nri and other Ndi Igbo spanned between 1966 and 1999, and his findings on Nri are clear and unequivocal being validated by the works of other scholars who worked after him. They have validated his 1972 and 1981 publications up to 99.99%. The scholars write on it and teach it in colleges and universities in Africa, Europe, and USA. And what do they write and teach? The summary of what they write and teach is detailed in Onwuejeogwu’s book: An Igbo Civilization: Nri Kingdom and Hegemony published in 1981. Here is a summary from it:

Long before the foundation of Onitsha Kingdom around 1700, long before the rise of Arochukwu in 1650 and long before the establishment of Aboh and Oguta Kingdoms between 1700 and 1750, Nri Kingdom and its hegemonic influence had been established and felt in a large portion of Igbo land from around AD 800 to 1910. This finding makes ludicrous of the cliché: Igbo enwe Eze. Let us get it clear, historically, sociologically and linguistically: 'Igbo nwe eze ora eri ndudugandu', meaning, Igbo have democratic kings, generations ago.

The “ezeship” was centered at Nri. Nri has a kingdom and held sway over its theocratic hegemony. [b]One of the astonishing features of Nri hegemony was its emphasis on peace, UDO. UDO NRI as it is called, was given a ritual sanction, democratically controlled by EZE NRI and propagated by Nri ritualists and diplomats who were agents and officials of Eze Nri. Nri officials, under Igbo diplomatic immunity symbolized in the ichi marks on their faces and the otonsi- spear which they bore, moved from one Igbo settlement to another, stopped internecine wars and intra-ethnic fighting by ritual sanctions, installed harmony through the ozo/eze title system, settled intra and inter village disputes, cleansed abominations against the mother earth-ana, enacted new or abrogated old codes of conduct relating to tradition and custom odinana, promoted fertility and health of all living beings, intervened between man and the supernatural, collected fines and tithes for Eze Nri, installed the shrines of the four market days- Eke, Oye, Afor and Nkwo, regulated the Igbo lunar calendar by “counting” the year “Iguaro”, regulated the agricultural cycle which devolved around yam and “ifejioku” and spread the ideology of peace. Nri kingdom and hegemony were built on the ideology of peace-culture.During the period AD 900 and 1911 many Nri officials and agents had established settlements and kingdoms far and wide in Igbo land; for example, between 1,000 and 1,500, Nri kingdoms were established at Oreri- Ichida and later, at Nnewi, followed by the founding of Oraifite. By 1,400 AD, the Owa, Ute and Abavo kingdoms of Nri extraction had been established in the Western flank of the Igbo culture area near Agbor. By 1,500 the Ogboli clans had spread into the present site of Onitsha, Nsukka, Nkwere, Ogwashi-uku, Ibusa, Iselleku, and Ubulu-Uku. These Ogboli clans gave rise to secondry Nri lineages migrating to Atuma, Akwukwu Igbo and Abala, Asaba, Illah, Nshiagu and Ichi. Other Nri settlements established during the various reigns of Eze-Nri were in areas around Orlu, Ihiala, Isu-ama, Isu-Njaba, Nsukka, and parts of Southern Igbo like Okigwe, Mbaitolu and Mbaise, where the duru title exists as the Southern Igbo version of ozo title.
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bigfrancis21:
Lol. Well, below is evidence to support my earlier point. The onus is on you to come up with counter evidence to my point, other than your emotional feelings which I am sure are immaterial to the discourse at hand.