RelationshipTALK: Relationship in Igboland

 

.....with Anurika Chiemeka.

Hi people, it's my pleasure to start this new year with you in our very own “Magazine Ndi Igbo,” THE ORIENTAL. We shall be x-raying all the relationship types especially as it regards our Igbo culture. IGBO-AMAKA!

What is a Relationship? A relationship is the way in which two or more people or groups regard and behave towards each other. 

Now, who are these Igbos? The Igbo are the second largest group of people in Southern Nigeria. They are socially and culturally diverse, consisting of many subgroups. Although they live in scattered groups of villages, they speak one language. The Igbo have no common traditional story of their origins.

Historians have proposed two major theories of Igbo origin. One claims the existence of a core area, or “nuclear Igboland.” The other claims that the Igbo are the descendants from waves of immigrants from the North and West who arrived in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. Three of these are the Nri, Nzam, and Anam.

Having known this, we are going to see their relationships. Two criteria shape interpersonal relationship and gender. Respect is given to males, and to older persons. By now we know it is no longer news that the Igbo place a very high value on the male child. Children are always required to give first greeting to their elders.

Social status is based on wealth regardless of occupation. The Igbo distinguished between Ogbenye onu-ntu (the poor), Odogwu (the moderately prosperous) and Ogaranya (the rich).

In every family in Igbo land, we have the Ogaranya ( the very affluent) especially in Anambra State, where their men are mostly very successful businessmen, some importing commodities of all types, and some into manufacturing like Innoson and Ibeto amongst others.

Yet, these affluent are not without broken relationships and newly built relationships, especially amongst immediate family members. In as much as I do not want to generalize but “Igbo afuro onwe ha n’anya,” (The Igbo do not love themselves).

In a family where one or more persons are successful, it's often very difficult not to see greed setting in. I know of a family where the son even though not very successful as at then took the pains of catering for his sibling’s education, general upkeep and even the upkeep of their aged parents too, (though that is his legal responsibility).

Mr. Okonkwo, (not real names) spared nothing in ensuring that his siblings and parents get the very best without minding any inconvenience they caused him, all in the hope that whatever happens to him or to his business tomorrow, his family got his back. Eventually, Eke one of Mr. Okonkwo’s younger brother got a job with an oil company. Eke did not just pick a fight with his elder brother who saw him through school, he also divided his family into sects, pro-Eke and pro-Okonkwo. 

                                                                                          .....to be continued next edition.....