Nigeria: Culture and Customs

Nigeria: Culture and Customs

Created by:

Andrew Tolly

Talon Davis

Corie Melaugh

Foods and Festivals!

Mmuo Festival

Masks and Masquerades known in Igbo language as "Mmanwu na Mmuo"

Mmuo are the spirits of the dead persons of a town. These spirits are classified into good & evil ones. The good spirits are placed in a hierarchy as follows: the spirit of ALL Ozo titled men, which are regarded as the Collective Royal Ancestors called Ndi Ndushi, these are great ancestors.

(http://www.oraifite.com/masks-and-masquerades)

http://www.ecs.umass.edu/ece/wireless/people/awduche/images/agbogbo_mmuo.jpeg

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sIPDp48bZEA


“’Look at this,’ Papa-Nnukwu said. ‘This is a woman spirit, and the women mmuo are harmless…’ The mmuo he pointed to was small; its carved wooden face had angular, pretty features and rouged lips.” Pg. 85

http://www.oraifite.com/images/masks-dancers-afia-olu.jpg

http://www.clarku.edu/~jborgatt/igbo9.jpg

For the children lucky enough to afford it, their parents would take them off to a private Catholic school. Others attended a local public school. Catholic schools were extremely strict and required a uniform be worn. When it came to play time after school was let out, however shorts became the standard issue clothing.

“I was at my study desk when Mama came into my room, my school uniforms piled on the crook of her arm.” pg 19

“Obiora took off a dark pair of sunglasses and slipped them in the pockets of his shoes as they came in.” pg 116

http://www.globalgateway.org/images/Will%20young%20people%20african%20schoolkids.JPGhttp://www.natcf.org/minpics/Nigerian%20children.jpg

Rice is grown locally and imported. It is very popular everywhere as it canbe easily prepared and consumed with soup and vegetables. Like the otherstaples, it is put to various uses, for example, rice porridge and rice tuwo, asort of dumpling. Jollof rice, a combination of rice and sauce, is the mostpopular ceremonial meal.

Falola, Toyin. Culture & Customs of Nigeria.Westport, CT, USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated, 2000. p 100.http://site.ebrary.com/lib/dulaneybrowne/Doc?id=10017928&ppg=132

Copyright © 2000. Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

http://www.shebafoods.com/images/jollofbg.jpg

“’Let me see if my jollof rice is burning!’ Aunty Ifeoma dashed into

the kitchen.” pg 114

Rice

Fruits are abundant, notably oranges, pineapples, papayas, bananas, guavas,and sugar cane. By and large, they are eaten raw and as snacks, not asfruit juices.



http://www.wingettphotography.com/Summer2004/Antigua/images/Banana_Tree_2543.jpg

http://murphysplacedallas.com/images/Edikanikon_Fufu(Pounded%20Yam).jpg

The soup (also called stew or sauce), with or without vegetables, goes with many meals that include rice, yam, and a host of carbohydrates such as eba, fufu, and iyan. Most people drink water with their meals instead of other beverages,although it is becoming more common to see the urban elite eat a heavylunch or dinner with a bottle of cold beer or soda.



“A ball of fu fu slipped from my fingers into the soup.” pg 13

“The soup was thick with chunks of boiled beef and dried fish and dark

green onugbu leaves.” pg 12

http://www.okafordavid.com/music/nkwa_group/idighi_ajo_njo.mp3


Akara

(Blackeyed Pea Cakes)

2 cups dried blackeyed peas1 medium onion

1/2 tsp. red pepper or Tabasco to taste1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. saltOil to deep fry

Soak peas 30 minutes or longer, then rub briskly to remove skins (Some people don’t remove the skins, but all Nigerian cooks would). Grind peas in blender with just enough water for the blender to operate smoothly. Grind onion and pepper.

Add to the pea mixture with egg and seasoning. Mix thoroughly and drop by teaspoon into hot oil. Fry until golden. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Tastes best while hot. Makes an excellent hors

d’oevres or side with meal.

Submitted by Lou Daniel

http://www.wfeca.net/clfonline/May04/recipe.html

Suya

Some other traditional favorite foods mentioned

in the book include Akara,

Yams and Suya.Yams

http://food.oregonstate.edu/images/fruitveg/yam/yam3.jpg

http://photocom.gozaru.jp/gallery2004/pages/011suya.html

http://youtube.com/watch?v=%20XvNEiIJ8S3Y&mode=related&search=

Literature and Language

Effects of Literacy “Let me play with the whiteman’s ways. Let me work with the

blackman’s brains” -Denis Osadebey, 1951

-The Arrival of the English Language and Western Education in Nigeria in the past half century has led to its exploitation by the writers of the country.

-Said exploitation, while not necessarily negative, has given Nigerians, and all Africans for that matter, a voice in a world that they rapidly fell out of sorts with, given their lack of technological and political progress.

-In an interesting contrast to the overt Christianity expressed throughout the book, the presence of Islam throughout Nigeria has promoted a great deal of writing, and enterprises in education.


Literacy (cont.)

Developments among the Igbo parallel that among the Yoruba, although with a somewhat slower beginning.

Efforts to create an acceptable written form of the Igbo language began in the second half of the nineteenth century,but it was not until 1933 that the first major work, Omenuko, was published.

Written by Pita Nwana, the book dominated the market for almost thirty years and was widely read as a morality story.

In the 1960s, the Varsity Press at Onitsha released Leopold Bell-Gam’s Ije Odumodu Jere and D. N. Achara’s Ala Bingo, both important works, but not as successful as Omenuko.


Igbo In-depth Igbo is one of the four official languages of Nigeria and is a

member of the Niger-Congo family of languages. It is spoken by about 18 million people in Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.

G. C. A. Oldendorp, a German missionary, was the first person to produce a book containing material written in Igbo, which

consisted of a few words and phrases. There are numerous Igbo dialects. The standard written form of

Igbo is based on the Owerri and Umuahia dialects and has been in use since 1962.

It is a tonal language, based both on normal speaking and varying pitch levels, both high and low.

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/igbo.htm

Modern Igbo History The British colonizers withdrew from Nigerian territory in 1960, after arbitrarily

imposing national boundaries that pushed together three large and numerous smaller ethnic groups, each with its own ancient customs, traditions, languages and clannish loyalties.

There followed an outmigration of Igbo from the crowded southeast into the more sparsely populated Muslim north. Generally, the Igbo had embraced western education while the northerners (Hausa-Fulani) had resisted it.

Following the Biafrin War (1967-70), amongst competing factions of Nigerian citizens and government bodies, the Igbo in the North (already hated by rival tribe members) relocated back to the southeast portion of Nigeria.

The sorry post-war conditions in Nigeria led to a significant diaspora that continues to this day.

1961: A committee, with the help of the Society for Promoting Igbo Language and Culture (SPILC), established a new orthography for the Igbo language, ending a 32 year controversy.

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00fwp/igbo/whoare.html

History (cont.) 1961: A committee, with the help of the Society for Promoting Igbo Language and

Culture (SPILC), established a new orthography for the Igbo language, ending a 32 year controversy.

1968: Two significant Igbo reference texts are published: Igbo, a Learner’s Manual and Igbo, a Learner’s Dictionary, both meant for U.S. Peace Corps members coming to provide aid in Igboland.

1972: The SPILC establishes a Standardization Committee meant to continually change and monitor the various dialects spoken throughout Igboland, attempting the nearly impossible task or creating uniformity.

1974-78: Various universities in Igboland establish departments devoted entirely to the studies of Igbo Language and Culture.

1999: Prominent Igbo speaker Chinua Achebe denounces the SPILC’s attempts at standardization, saying it is representative of the oppressive rule of the British who once controlled their land.

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00fwp/igbo/whoare.html

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.





http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu/jmccall/jones/misc.html

Igbo Bands

Igbo MusicUdu - Pottery DrumIgba - Cylinder DrumEkwe or Ufie - Slit-DrumOgene - GongsOja - Flute







Traditional Igbo Instruments

http://www.umunna.org/instruments.htm?userid=Givesmart&userip=66.210.186.171&useragent=Mozilla%2f5.0+(Macintosh%3b+U%3b+Intel+Mac+OS+X%3b+en)+AppleWebKit%2f419+(KHTML%2c+like+Gecko)+Safari%2f419.3

Igba

Oja




Ogene - Gongs

One of the most important metal instruments used by the Igbo

Used to be made of Bronze, now made of any common metal available.

It is played by hitting the rim with a stick to produce different tones.



http://mainearts.maine.gov/news/publications/wc_booklet/discovery.shtml

Igbo Drumming



http://www.answers.com/topic/udu-1

This is what a common Udu looks like.It is played by placing one hand over the open hole in the side and hitting the body with the other hand.

Traditional Igbo Instrumentthat is used today in

Modern Western Culture

Ekwe - Slit Drum




This is made by hollowing out atree stump into two chambers thatare connected by a slit in the drum.

It is played by banging on it withsticks

Ufie - Slit Drum







http://www.hamillgallery.com/DRUMS/DrumsMisc/AnimalDrum01.html

Court Music

The more traditional Igbo continue to use Royal traditionssuch as using the Ufie, or slit drum, to wake the Chief, call him to meals, and communicate important village

happenings to him.

http://www.nigeria-planet.com/Nigerian-Music.html

Igbo Dancing and Music



Modern Recordings







www.amazon.com/music

http://www.nlnshop.com/artist/ollie_gee.html

Ollie GeeOliver Okolo, High Life

Reggae King#1 selling CD in Nigeria International Hit:

“Daddy Moh”QuickTime™ and a

TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Modern Igbo Duo:

RESONANCE

Music Video

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XvNEiIJ8S3Y&mode=related&search=

Bibliography Adichie, Chimamanda N. Purple Hibiscus. 1st ed. New York: Anchor Books, 2003. 9-116.

"Akara." Current Light Flashes. 2001. 24 Apr. 2007 West Florida Electric Cooperative. <http://www.wfeca.net/clfonline/May04/recipe.html>.

"Antigua Vacation." 2004. Wingett Photography. 24 Apr. 2007 <http://www.wingettphotography.com/Summer2004/Antigua/images/Banana_Tree_2543.jpg>.

Borgatti, Jean M. "JEAN M. BORGATTI." Clark University. 2007. 24 Apr. 2007 <http://www.clarku.edu/~jborgatt/igbo9.jpg>.

"Igbo." Ethnologue. 22 Apr. 2007 <http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ibo>.

"Igbo." Omniglot. 20 Apr. 2007 <http://www.omniglot.com/writing/igbo.htm>.

"Index of /ece/wireless/people/awduche/images." www.ecs.umass.edu. 24 Apr. 2007 <http://www.ecs.umass.edu/ece/wireless/people/awduche/images?D=D>.

"Index of /Img." 2001. 24 Apr. 2007 <http://food.oregonstate.edu/images/fruitveg/yam/yam3.jpg>.

Falola, Toyin. Culture & Customs of Nigeria. Westport, CT, USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated, 2000. p 100. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/dulaneybrowne/Doc?id=10017928&ppg=132


Bibliography, (cont.) Falola, Toyin. Culture & Customs of Nigeria. Westport, CT, USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated, 2000. p 97. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/dulaneybrowne/Doc?id=10017928&ppg=129


"Masks and Masquerades of Oraifite Igbo Land." Oraifite. 2007. SamSCO Networks Limited. 24 Apr. 2007 <http://www.oraifite.com/images/masks-dancers-afia-olu.jpg>.

"Masks and Masquerades of Oraifite Igbo Land." Oraifite. 2007. SamSCO Networks Limited. 24 Apr. 2007 <http://www.oraifite.com/masks-and-masquerades>.

"Murphy's Place Dallas." 24 Apr. 2007 <http://murphysplacedallas.com/images/Edikanikon_Fufu(Pounded%20Yam).jpg>.

PhotoCom. 28 Oct. 2004. 24 Apr. 2007 <http://photocom.gozaru.jp/gallery2004/pages/011suya.html>.

"Pictures." National Community Foundation. 24 Apr. 2007 <http://www.natcf.org/minpics/Nigerian%20children.jpg>.

"Reuters." Yahoo! News. 24 Apr. 2007 <http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20070419/i/r1167656309.jpg>.

Sheba Foods. 24 Apr. 2007 <http://www.shebafoods.com/images/jollofbg.jpg>.

"Who are the Igbo?" About the Igbo Language. 2003. 23 Apr. 2007 <http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00fwp/igbo/whoare.html>.

"Young People's Zone." Global Gateway. 2007. 24 Apr. 2007 <http://www.globalgateway.org/images/Will%20young%20people%20african%20schoolkids.JPG>.

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Nigeria: Culture and Customs

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