The Igbo people are an ethnic group in Nigeria. They are primarily found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. A sizable Igbo population is also found in Delta and Rivers States. Ethnic Igbo populations are found in Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea, as migrants as well as outside Africa. There has been much speculation about the origins of the Igbo people, which are largely unknown. Geographically, the Igbo homeland is divided into two unequal sections by the Niger River—an eastern and a western section. The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa.
Ifẹ̀ is an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria, founded in the 6th century. The city is located in present-day Osun State. Ifẹ̀ is about 218 kilometers northeast of Lagos with a population of over 500,000 people, which is the highest in Osun State according to population census of 2006.
Onitsha is a city on the eastern bank of the Niger River, in Anambra State, Nigeria. A metropolitan city, Onitsha is known for its river port and as an economic hub for commerce, industry, and education. It is one of the largest metropolitan area in Nigeria with a fast growing population. It hosts the Onitsha Main Market, the largest market in Africa in terms of geographical size and volume of goods. Onitsha and neighboring Asaba on the western bank of the Niger River form a continuous metropolitan area.
Illah is a small town located on the bank of the River Niger, in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State of Nigeria. It is situated on a table-land, some twenty-five kilometres north of Asaba, the State capital. Illah is one of the Ibo-speaking towns in Delta State, whose people belong to the Western Igbo Ethnic group who are often referred to as Anioma people or Delta Igbos.
The culture of Nigeria is shaped by Nigeria's multiple ethnic groups. The country has 527 languages, seven of which are extinct. Nigeria also has over 1,150 dialects and ethnic groups. The three largest ethnic groups are the Hausas that are predominantly in the north, the Yorubas who predominate in the southwest, and the Igbos in the southeast. There are many other ethnic groups with sizeable populations across the different parts of the country. The Kanuri people are located in the northeast part of Nigeria, the Tiv people of north central and the Efik-Ibibio are in the south South. The Bini people are most frequent in the region between Yorubaland and Igboland.
Asaba is the capital of Delta State, Nigeria. A rapidly growing city, it is located at the western bank of the Niger River, in the Oshimili South Local Government Area. Asaba had a population of 149,603 as at the 2006 census, and a fast growing metropolitan population of over half a million people.
Igboland, also known as Southeastern Nigeria, is the indigenous homeland of the Igbo people. It is a cultural and common linguistic region in southern Nigeria. Geographically, it is divided into two sections by the lower Niger River: an Eastern and a Western one. Its population is characterised by the diverse Igbo culture and the speakers of equally diverse Igbo languages.
The Aniomapeople are a predominantly Igboid ethnolingustic group and nationality located in present day Delta State, Nigeria. They encompass and are native to the communities which span across the 9 northeastern Local Government Areas of Delta State. Politically, the Anioma occupy the Delta North Senatorial District where they are the majority group. Today, the senatorial district consists of the Enuani (Oshimili/Aniocha), and Ukwuani/Ndokwa and Ika geographical and linguistic zones of Delta State.
There are over 525 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The official language and most widely spoken lingua franca is English, which was the language of Colonial Nigeria. Nigerian Pidgin – an English-based creole – is spoken by over 60 million people.
Abagana is a town in Nigeria. It is the headquarters of Njikoka Local Government Area Anambra State and lies approximately 20 kilometers from Onitsha along the old Enugu-Onitsha Trunk A Road that divides the town into two halves.
The Kingdom of Nri was a medieval polity located in what is now Nigeria. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a significant part of what is known today as Igboland prior to expansion, and was administered by a priest-king called an Eze Nri. The Eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Nri people, a subgroup of the Igbo-speaking people, and possessed divine authority in religious matters.
Igbuzo is an Igbo community in Delta State, Nigeria, founded c. 1450. The community is in Oshimili North. It has an estimated population of 566,310 people in 2009. The people speak the Enuani dialect of the Igbo language family. The name of the community is more commonly and officially known and written as Ibusa. The movements forming the process of Ibusa can be linked to the first and second waves of the movement of Igbo migrants into the West Bank of the Niger River. The first adventure was led by Edini from Nshi (Nri) and the second of the two waves of migrations was led by Umejei from Isu resulting in the formation of Igbuzo.
Enuani is an Igbo dialect spoken in Nigeria by the Anioma people of Delta State, Onitsha, Obosi and Ogbaru in Anambra State, Mgbidi in Imo State, Ndoni in Rivers State and some parts of Ibaji in Delta state. Enuani is tonal like the rest of Anioma dialects and is particularly related to the standard Igbo pronunciation in many regards. The Enuani dialect is the dominant Anioma dialect in Delta State.
The Ekumeku Movement consisted of a series of uprisings against the rising power of the Royal Niger Company of the British Empire by Anioma people in present-day Delta State. The British penetration of Nigeria met with various forms of resistance throughout the country. In the south, the British had to fight many wars, in particular the wars against the Aro of Eastern Igboland in 1901–1902, and from 1883 to 1914, the Anioma in Western Igboland.
The Ogba is an igboid group in Rivers state. The Ogba people speak Ogba, a dialect of Igbo language. The Ogbas reside in a local government called Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni in Rivers state Nigeria. The Ogba language has three dialects namely; Usomini, Igburu, Egi dialect. The Ogba kingdom is made up of three clans which includes; Egi, Igburu, Usomini clans, and its largest urban town is Omoku. Ogba people speak two dialects of the Ogba languages, the Egi and Igburu. Eligbo and Ukporomini are two Ogba communities in Ahaoda East Local Government Area, while Itu II in Emohua LGA also speaks Ogba language.
Aniocha North is a Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria, with its headquarters in Issele Ukwu. It comprises the Igbo subgroup of Anioma and towns. The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) permanent orientation camp for Delta state is located at Issele Ukwu town.
Awka-Etiti, historically known as Awka-Diedo ; later mentioned as Awka-Nkakwu (Okankaku) by colonial authors, is an affluent town comprising seven villages in Idemili South local government area of Anambra state, Nigeria. The seven villages of Awka-Etiti in order of age established are: Nkolofia, Umunocha, Ejighinandu, Iruowelle, Umudunu, Nnaba and Ogunzele.
The Bronze Head from Ife, or Ife Head, is one of eighteen copper alloy sculptures that were unearthed in 1938 at Ife in Nigeria, the religious and former royal centre of the Yoruba people. It is believed to represent a king. It was probably made in the twelveth-thirteenth century C.E. The realism and sophisticated craftsmanship of the objects challenged the offensive and patronising Western conceptions of African art. The naturalistic features of the Ife heads are unique and the stylistic similarities of these works "suggest that they were made by an individual artist or in a single workshop."
Ogwashi Ukwu, sometimes spelt as Ogwashi-Uku, is an Igbo town in Delta State, Nigeria. Located west of the state capital Asaba, it is the headquarters for the Local Government Area, Aniocha South. The population of Ogwashi-Ukwu is about 50,234.. However, its number has increased vastly and keeps increasing. It is an Anioma region of Delta State which is home to the Igbo-speaking people of Delta State. Its natives are the Enuani (Igbo) people, who are predominantly farmers and fishers. The villages in Ogwashi-Ukwu include Ikelike, Umu Dei, Azungwu, Agidiase, Agidiehe, Ogbe Akwu, Ishekpe, Ogbe Onicha, Ogbe Ubu, Ogbe Ani and Umu-okwe.
The Ofala Festival is an annual ceremony practiced by Igbo people, particularly the indigenes of Onitsha, Umueri, Umuoji and other neighboring communities such as Aguleri, Nnewi and Ukpo in Dunukofia Local Government Area. It serves as a rites of renewal of the king or Igwe or Obi and it is similar to the Igue festival in Benin and the Ine, Osi or Ogbanigbe Festival in many mid-West Igbo communities of Nigeria. The term ofala, is derived from two Igbo words - ọfọ and ala. The festival is celebrated within two days mostly in October by the Obi and is a customary obligation that must be performed every couple of years without fail.
