Igbo (people)
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The Igbo are a group of people living in what is now Nigeria. Their language is also called Igbo. Both the people and the language were formerly known in English as Ibo; Igbo is now considered more correct.
Before the arrival of Europeans, the sense of a distinct cultural identity among the Igbo was much more diffuse, and the Europeans considered them among the more backward of Nigeria's ethnic groups. The Igbo did not have a centralized system of government, and lived in small, democratically organized autonomous communities. The arrival of the British in the 1870s, and increased encounter between the Igbo and other Nigerians led to a deepening sense of a distinct Igbo ethnic identity. The Igbo also proved remarkably decisive and enthusiastic in their embrace of Christianity and Western education. Under British colonial rule, the diversity within Nigeria's major ethnic groups slowly decreased and distinctions between the Igbo and other large ethnic groups, such as the Hausa and the Yoruba became sharper. In 1966, political troubles in Nigeria led to a pogrom in which tens of thousands of Igbo were murdered, especially in Northern Nigeria. As many as two million Igbo people fled from other parts of Nigeria, returning to their ancestral homes in the Eastern Region. The crisis reached an apex in May 1967 with the secession of the Igbo-dominated Eastern Region from Nigeria to form the Republic of Biafra, which lasted only until January 1970.
Author Chinua Achebe focuses on the culture in his best-selling novel, Things Fall Apart. Their language also relies heavily on the usage of idioms and metaphors in everyday speech.
The Igbo people received worldwide attention in the late 1960s due to the Biafra civil war. Despite being outnumbered ten to one by opposing forces, and in many instances being bombed by foreign powers, such as Egypt, allied with the central government of Nigeria, the Igbo people survived, faring well until a campaign of starvation weakened their ranks.
A disproportionate number of Nigeria's intellectuals and professionals are of Igbo descent, of note, Dr. Philip EmeagwaliPhilip (Emeka) Emeagwali - "Father of the internet" and Chinua Achebe - author of Things Fall Apart.