The Importance Of Igbo In West Africa

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The Word “Igbo,” in the Compendium of the World’s Languages, represents both a race and their Language which remains an inseparable part of Africa, especially West Africa, and should be understood as such in this project. Igbo as language is usually assigned to the Kwa group of Languages of Niger-congo, though certain affinities with the Bantu language and Efik have been pointed out. Central Igbo is of a compromise standard based from Onitsha and Owerri to Calabar. Its codification was recognized (officially) in 1932 when Peter Nwanna‘s story- Omenuko, won a price in a competition run by the International African Institute. Unfortunately, the early Missionaries, due to the difficulty of pronouncing the diphthong “gb” pronounced, wrote and …show more content…

In any case, Augustine Echema pointed this error out stressing the reality to be: “Igbo” for the language and “Ndigbo” for the people , and Ngozi C. Adichie corrected it in her recent …show more content…

On the other hand, “Igbo” as a People could be categorized into five zones: 1.Northern Igbo (Igbo Ukwu, Onitsha, Udi, Enugu, Nsukka, Arondizuogu, Ihiala, Akokwa and Nri Awka); 2.Western Igbo (Ogwasi Ukwu, Asaba, Agbo, Kwali, Ulah and Aboh); 3. Southern Igbo (Umuahia; Ibeku,Ahudah, Okigwe, Orlu, Aba Ngwa, Owerri, Owerinta, Mbaise and Mbano); 4.Eastern Igbo(Ifikpo, Arochukwu, Abam, Abiriba, Ohafia, Ihechiowa, Ututu and Bende); 5.North-Eastern Igbo(Agukwu, Abakaliki, Ezza, Uburu and Okpesi). The archeological benchmark of Ndigbo was discovered in Igbo Ukwu with the bronze pot, king’s spoon among others, excavated by the University of Archeology Ibadan led by Thurstan Shaw, began in 1938 and ended in 1959 with the age-leading-machine dating its longevity to 9th Century BC . It is in relation to this historical tradition that Nwabueze said that there was a time when every Igbo community including the Riverline, irrespective of the fact that they today call Umuokoro as Rumokoro, were united and were proud of the union. Be that as it may, Igbo share their boundaries with the following: Idoma Tribe to the North; Ijaw and Ogoni tribes to the South; Ibibio to the East with Bini and Warri Tribes to the

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