The post-war era in Nigeria and the resilience of Igbo communal system
Abstract
The Igbo people survived a civil war that raged between 1967 and 1970 and that devastated
their land and reduced their population because of more than three million deaths. They
were confronted with the challenges of beginning life afresh from scratch with almost
nothing. Since then, they have allegedly been marginalised on a continuous basis by the
Nigerian government. This notwithstanding the people with their communal spirit, which
saw them through the civil war, have continued to cement their survival resolve in the
post-war era. The aim of this article was to study the Igbo communal system as the bedrock
of Igbo progress, especially in the past 50 years and recommends it as the basic principle
of Igbo survival in Nigeria. It considers Igbo communal spirit as a veritable panacea
against the recent agitations for secession by the people as that would guarantee Igbo
people an ample space to operate in Nigeria. The methodology used in this article is a
qualitative phenomenological method. This was carried out by interviewing some members
of Igbo society, observing and interpreting events in Igbo society and as documented in
literatures. It was found that Igbo people have really done well for themselves despite the
seeming marginalisation by sticking to their resilient spirit. This study concluded that
instead of seeking for independence from Nigeria, the Igbo people need to be mindful of
their resilient communal spirit and reinforce it in all spheres of life. This would make them
more relevant in the country’s affairs than they are currently.