8/13/2019 Ethnographic Differences Between The Yorubas and The Igbos

1/3

Both the Yoruba and Igbo tribes are indigenous to the Southern part of the West African country,

Nigeria. Nigeria, a country with over 200 distinct ethnic groups and close to 1000 languages within its

borders embodies a diversity that is unparalleled worldwide. While the wisdom of the agglomeration of

a people so diverse has been in debate (one Civil war, countless ethnic clashes and a less numerable

amount of individual complaints) since independence, the people nevertheless remain together. Of the

three major groups in Nigeria, no other groups are at more variance than these two. Some surmise thatthis incongruence is a deficit from the Civil War and unforgivable wounds, others believe that this

resentment delves much deeper than this.

As a people, the Yoruba embody the group of south western Nigerian and Southern Benin Republic

extraction who spread from Nigeria to Togo, Sierra Leone, Cuba, Brazil as well as Trinidad and Tobago.

They share the tonal Niger-Congo Language, classified in the Edekiri Languages (along with the Igala).

They have a population of over 35 million people, making them one of the largest ethnic groups in

Africa.

Yoruba culture consists of folk/cultural philosophy, religion and folktales. They are embodied in Ifa-Ife

Divination, known as the tripartite Book of Enlightenment in Yorubaland and in Diaspora.

Yoruba cultural thought is a witness of two epochs. The first epoch is an epoch-making history in

mythology and cosmology. This is also an epoch-making history in the oral culture during which time

Oduduwa was the head and a pre-eminent diviner. He pondered the visible and invisible worlds,

reminiscing about cosmogony, cosmology, and the mythological creatures in the visible and invisible

worlds. The second epoch is the epoch of metaphysical discourse. This commenced in the 19th century

when the land became a literate land through the diligence and pragmatism of Dr. Bishop Ajayi

Crowther, the first African Anglican Bishop.

Yoruba thought is mainly narrative in form, explicating and pointing to the knowledge of things,

affecting the corporeal and the spiritual universe and its wellness. Yoruba people have hundreds of

aphorisms, folktales, and lore, and they believe that any lore that widens people's horizons and presentsfood for thought is the beginning of a philosophy.

Although religion is often first in Yoruba culture, nonetheless, it is the thought of man that actually leads

spiritual consciousness (ori) to the creation and the practice of religion. Thus thought is antecedent to

religion.

The Yoruba people believe in the existence of Olodumare (also Olorun) the King of the sky who is

worshipped through his emissaries, the lesser gods from Ogun, to Sango to Orunmila. They believe that

through their sacrifices and proper behavior to their fellow men, the journey through this can be a

relatively pain-free existence.

Whereas, the Igbo people are a politically fragmented but ethnically homogenous group of originallyfarmers and fisher men who settled to the west and east of the Niger in the 16th century. Some oral

tradition traces their origins to the migration of certain ancestors away from the Benin Kingdom. Their

language is of the Igboid class in the Niger-Volta grouping. At 20 million people, they are also one of the

largest African ethnic groups.

8/13/2019 Ethnographic Differences Between The Yorubas and The Igbos

2/3

When confronted with the Igbo culture, the first thing an outsider remembers is the barbaric twin-killing

of the days of yore or the segregation of the Osu people. But this is a misnomer and betrays the richness

of culture that these people possess.

Traditional Igbo political organization was based on a quasi-democratic republican system of

government. In tight knit communities, this system guaranteed its citizens equality, as opposed to a

feudalist system with a king ruling over subjects.This government system was witnessed by the

Portuguese who first arrived and met with the Igbo people in the 15th century. With the exception of a

few notable Igbo towns such as Onitsha, which had kings called Obi, and places like the Nri Kingdom and

Arochukwu, which had priest kings; Igbo communities and area governments were overwhelmingly

ruled solely by a republican consultative assembly of the common people. Communities were usually

governed and administered by a council of elders.

Although title holders were respected because of their accomplishments and capabilities, they were

never revered as kings, but often performed special functions given to them by such assemblies. This

way of governing was immensely different from most other communities of Western Africa, and only

shared by the Ewe of Ghana. Umunna are a form of patrilineage maintained by the Igbo. Law starts with

the Umunna which is a male line of descent from a founding ancestor (who the line is sometimes named

after) with groups of compounds containing closely related families headed by the eldest male member.

The Umunna can be seen as the most important pillar of Igbo society

Now, the Igbos are predominantly Christians for how deeply the colonialists penetrated their social and

religious consciousness. In pre-colonial times, their religion and custom, Odinani, held sway. In Igbo

mythology, Chukwu (the great spirit) created the world and its contents. To them, the world had four

complex but interwoven parts: Uwa, the world; supernatural forces or deities called Alusi; Mmuo, which

are spirits; and creation, known as Okike.

Chukwu is the supreme deity in Odinani as he is the creator in their pantheon and the Igbo people

believe that all things come from him and that everything on earth, heaven and the rest of the spiritualworld is under his control. Alusi, were minor deities that are worshiped and served in Odinani.

The creation myth of the Nri people of Igbo land speaks of Eri as a "sky being" sent by Chukwu (God). He

has been characterized as having first given societal order to the people of Anambra. Nri and Aguleri are

said to be a part of the Umueri clan; a cluster of Igbo village groups which traces its origins to a sky being

called Eri.

As a people, they believe in reincarnation. People are believed to reincarnate into families that they

were part of while alive. Before a relative dies, it is said that the soon to be deceased relative sometimes

give clues of who they will reincarnate as in the family. Once a child is born, he or she is believed to give

signs of who they have reincarnated from. This can be through behavior, physical traits and statements

by the child.

The Igbo have a unique form of apprenticeship in which either a male family member or a community

member will spend time (usually in their teens to their adulthood) with another family, when they work

for them. After the time spent with the family, the head of the host household, who is usually the older

man who brought the apprentice into his household, will establish the apprentice by either setting up a

business for him or giving money or tools by which to make a living.

8/13/2019 Ethnographic Differences Between The Yorubas and The Igbos

3/3

The first major congruency that the Igbo and Yoruba peoples possess is their religious beliefs. Both

tribes have a central God figure (usu. The God of the Sky) who can only be reached/worshipped through

his emissaries, lesser gods who the people can offer sacrifices to. Their masquerade traditions are also

very similar. In that, the Masquerades societies are secret cults into which initiates perform coming of

age rites to become members. In certain circles, it is even observed that a few of the Masquerade

figures are similar in morphology and design. Their reincarnation beliefs are another solid point ofcongruency. Both cultures believe in the cyclicity of our presence on the earth. And that we have lived

lives before now, and will be reborn.

The Igbo have a saying, Ndigbo enwero Eze, meaning that the Igbo People do not have a King. Their non-

centralized governance of their own people is a unique characteristic as it is. Whereas, the Yoruba

people subscribe to the more common feudal form of people leadership; with the Oba ruling over the

people in his jurisdiction.

There are subtle differences in certain contexts. Respect, being one of them. While both cultures require

a certain level of respect from children toward elders. The Yoruba are more demanding of it, in its

totality. Whereas, the Igbo allow a certain amount of autonomy and voice to each individual of the

community, even the young. Marriage is another point of subtle difference, in that while they both

require a bride price for the head of the bride. The Igbo require even more of an investment from the

grooms family as a quantification of the value of the bride to them. With the Yoruba, the bride price is

but a titular formality.

TYPE YOUR CONCLUSION YOURSELF, I AM TIRED