by Nwabu Nnebe
The Igbo people are the smallest group of the three main linguistic groups living in
Nigeria today (Hausa-Fulani, and Yoruba groups being the other two).
The Igbo live in the South-Eastern portion of extremely
diverse Nigeria that is the home to
470
separately spoken languages. As in much of Africa, however, a
few groups are dominant with the Hausa-Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba groups
accounting for over 60 percent of the population and 80 percent with the
addition of other prominent groups such as Edo, Ibibio (pronounced I-bib-yo),
Ijaw, Kanuri, Nupe (pronounced Nupé), and Tiv (pronounced Ti-vi).
The South-Eastern area of the country is itself home to many of these
groups (such as the Edo, Efik, Ijo, Ibibio), as well as home to
numerous others located near or on the Cameroon border that have yet
to be fully classified. Within each group there is a rich history of
language, customs and culture.
Available archaelogical evidence has shown that Igbo
civilization dates back to well over 4500 years ago when it
separated from a common body of languages known as
Niger-Congo.
Many historical books suggest that the people known as the Igbos may have migrated
into modern-day Igboland from areas further north and this thesis
is apparently corroborated by ancient Nri stories which claim affinity
with such northern groups as the Igala located in Benue state. At the
same time, other traditions also exist within Igboland that point to other
sources of origin or ancestry, such as the tradition held in Western
Igboland whose people trace their ancestry to the famous ancient state
of Benin (pronounced Bi-ni), located in the mid-western region of
the country. Furhermore, other historical accounts exist within the Arochukwu
and Ngwa peoples of Southern Igboland that raise alternate theories of origin.
What is certain is that the people referred to as the Igbo today number an
estimated 14.6 million in their traditional states of Abia
(2.7 million), Anambra
(3.3 million), Imo (2.9 million),
Ebonyi (1.6million)
and Enugu
(3.8 million). However, there are probably around an extra 3-4
million living all across the country, particularly in
neighbouring states such as Benue
, Cross-River,
Delta,
, Edo and Rivers,
as well as in major cities such as Abuja, Benin, Ibadan (pronounced Ib-a-don), Jos,
Kaduna, Kano, Lagos and Port Harcourt. In addition, a similar number
is estimated to live in other countries throughout Africa and
other parts of the world. All this suggests an Igbo-speaking
population totalling approximately 19-20 million - a number
larger than many modern nations.