For the Love of Igbo and Igbo Culture

"Igbo Child in Finland" by Adebanji Alade

I recently recalled a conversation I had with a good friend of mine some years ago. I had expressed a desire to study Igbo (language, literature, culture, anything) at the university level but my friend immediately dismissed it as a "stupid" thought. "What? Are you crazy," he asked me in utter disbelief. He had not understood why people go to the university to study English language, much less French, he said. And there I was expressing an interest in Igbo language. I must be crazy, he concluded.

Thank goodness I'm as sane as they come. My sole insanity is my passion for a culture that I love so much--its language, its history, and its people. I remember an equally great passion and pride with which the likes of Nigeria's literary giant, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, and celebrity journalist, Bashorun Dele Momodu (who actually studied Yoruba in the university), speak of their Yoruba culture. I remember a similar fervor with which the 17th century English playwright, William Shakespeare wrote about English culture and by so doing preserved it for posterity in his plays. I remember a comparable enthusiasm that prompted a group of French men in 1883 to found Alliance Francaise "to promote French language and culture around the world." I remember all this and I wonder at my good friend's disdain for the study of his own culture.

Prof. Pat Okedinachi Utomi receives kola nut at the 2013
Ola Ndi Igbo ceremony in Lagos

Anyway, my passion for Igbo culture has only grown stronger over the years. It couldn't have been otherwise, for as an Igbo proverb says: Mma onye tu n'ukwu ka o ji ana n'aka (loosely, "It's the sword that a warrior sheathes on their waist that they pull out to greet other warriors"). One can only celebrate what they have and not that which they lack. Without the passion for my language and culture, I'll find it difficult to muster any passion for the Other's language and culture too.

Although, over the years, I have known of some fora (like the pioneering Society for Promoting Igbo Language & Culture--founded in 1949 by F.C. Ogbalu; Odenigbo Lectures--brainchild of Archbishop Obinna of Owerri; Aka Ikenga; and Igbo Language Academy) that articulate, celebrate, and promote Igbo language and culture, I was recently pleasantly surprised to learn of the newly established Center for Igbo Studies (CIS) at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN).

Whereas Imo State University and Abia State University have also established similar centers and other institutions of higher learning in Nigeria offer degrees and certificates in Igbo language and literature, UNN's CIS goes further to advance the study not only of the language but also of "Igbo history, culture, and allied disciplines..." It offers its services to "students, scholars and the public, through critical research, teaching, conferences, seminars, symposia, workshops... public lectures and any other form of public delivery" within the contemporary Nigerian and global context.

Explaining the rationale behind its establishment, the Center's director, Dr. Nwankwo. T. Nwaezeigwe, rightly observes that the Center's focus on study of Igbo experience, among other things, will provide an invaluable window into "the historical forces that have through the ages shaped what became the enigmatic Igbo personality, identity and characteristic enterprising spirit" both in Igboland and Igbo Diaspora.

I am doubly excited about the Center because it also shows particular interest in Nollywood and already sees the film industry as a future collaborator in advancing the Igbo cause. According to Dr. Nwaezeigwe,  "The dimension and pattern of the exposition of Igbo culture and values in the fast-growing Nollywood film industry will also be of great interest for the Centre. It is hoped that the Centre for Igbo Studies will in future develop a working relationship with the Igbo section of the film industry based on training, re-training and consultancy with the wider objective of turning Nollywood from being a mere entertainment industry, to being an ambassadorial platform for expressing and promoting Igbo culture, mind and values."
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PS: Some months after writing this post, I found out, again to my delight, about the Igbo Studies Association and the trove of its international conferences, publications, and activities on its website.

Meanwhile, here is a link to an engaging article on the evolution of the Association's journey.