Among the Ibos of Nigeria

The responsibility for the appearance of this book does not altogether fall upon my shoulders. The suggestion to issue a more detailed account of the Ibo people sprang from a magazine article. What is hereinafter written is the result.

There is no necessity to inform the author that he is sadly lacking in style and diction and all the other marks of literary excellence. He is fully alive to his short-comings, and in the following pages will be found faulty sentences, loose constructions, and words and phrases that will grate harshly on the cultivated ear.

Literature is not my profession. I have simply striven to set forth in a plain way some of the things which the plain man may see and hear in Nigeria. The book has one recommendation: it is based on actual experience. There are probably errors which will need rectification. It would be sheer presumption to expect otherwise, for the longer one lives amongst West African natives, the more one is convinced that it is a practical impossibility for the European to comprehend fully the subtleties of the native character. Some white men claim to have done this, but my experience leads me to think that the claim can rarely, if ever, be substantiated with definite assurance. The depths may be sounded at times, but only by accident, and on most of such occasions the inquirer does not recognise that he has actually tapped the inner consciousness of the native. Let not this be thought strange, for the black man himself does not know his own mind. He does the most extraordinary things, and cannot explain why he does them. He is not controlled by logic: he is the victim of circumstance, and his policy is very largely one of drift. The will of the tribe or family, expressed or implied, permeates his whole being, and is the deciding factor in every ​detail of his life. It is a sort of intangible freemasonry; the essence of the primary instincts of the people. Men constantly act contrary to their better judgment, and, at times, even wrongly, because they firmly believe they have no alternative : they dare not oppose the wishes of their people. Consequently though there may be inde­pendent thought, there is seldom independent action, probably never where other members of the tribe or family are involved, however remotely. A further result, and one which must always be borne in mind by the foreign in­quirer into primitive customs, is that the ideas of the native are indefinite. He has no fixed thoughts. He is under the influence of an atmosphere which emanates from the whole tribe. This subliminal consciousness, by which all his movements are controlled, becomes practically a sixth sense. It is inexpressible in words but, nevertheless, extremely powerful in action.

Knowing, therefore, from experience the great difficulty of fathoming the depths of the native mind, and having endeavoured to traverse some of the intricacies of native thought, I am bound to confess that I feel, after seventeen years, more puzzled over many things than I did after the same number of weeks in the country. I believe my experience is not unique. Old coasters have often expressed themselves to the same effect. Hence in putting into print the following pages I do so with no little diffidence. Though I have sifted the information as thoroughly as possible, yet I should still consider it highly presumptuous to think that no statement stands in need of revision. What is herein offered may, at least, form the basis for further and more complete investigation in the future.

There is one important problem with which I have not dealt specifically, namely, the Liquor Traffic, though the evils connected with it are mentioned incidentally in more than one chapter. The omission of the subject generally is deliberate. In some quarters it is a matter of controversy. We are, however, convinced that it is solely on economic grounds that this blot upon our national escutcheon is allowed to remain. Since the Commission appointed to inquire into the traffic issued its report, the ​attention of medical and other officials has been more particularly drawn to the question, and signs are not wanting which indicate a growing feeling in favour of total prohibition.

At the moment of writing the trade was more or less at a standstill owing to the European War. The German firms were arbitrarily prevented from shipping supplies to the coast. Revenue from the importation of Hamburg spirits, consequently, automatically ceased for the time being. May we not hope that the trade thus temporarily restricted may be abandoned? Never in the history of West Africa has there been such a favourable opportunity for suppress­ing a form of trade which, though defended for purposes of revenue and commerce, cannot be morally justified.

The result of my observations is offered for what it is worth. It is the outcome of an honest attempt to ascertain some of the salient features of the life and customs of the Ibos. On essential things I have, for the most part, sought simply to put into readable English what I have learned from the natives themselves, as originally written or related by them. If its publication serves to arouse a sense of interest towards the Ibo speaking people, the labour spent will not have been in vain.

To any contemplating residence in the Ibo country, particularly those likely to be associated with native affairs, I would recommend a careful study of Levitical Law. In many ways the affinity between Native Law and the Mosaic System is remarkable. For comparative work the student will do well to peruse John Warneck's The Living Forces of the Gospel,^[1] especially Part I of the book. I have been greatly struck with the resemblances of Ibo to the Battak^[2] customs described in this work. For general purposes I have found British Nigeria,^[3] by Lieut.-Col. A. F. Lockyer-Ferryman, and Fetishism in West Africa,^[4] by the Rev. Dr. R. H. Nassau, very profitable books.

​In addition to many native friends, too numerous to mention by name, my thanks are due to the following: Captain R. M. Heron, for the use of his monograph on Native Titles (Chap. XXIV), in the preliminary investiga­tion of which we were associated; to the intensely in­teresting journals compiled by the late Rev. Dr. James F. Schön, the Rev. Samuel Adjai Crowther (afterwards first Bishop of the Niger), and the Rev. J. C. Taylor during the expeditions of 1841, 1854 and 1857. Also to Dr. Eugene Stock for permitting me to make copious extracts from his monumental work, the History of the Church Missionary Society (Chap. XXIX).

I further record my sincere gratitude to the late Mrs. Herbert Crosfield and Mrs. C. H. Williams, for their practical assistance and counsel. I count myself fortunate to have had the benefit of their generous help in reading the MS., and for their many useful suggestions.

What is offered is not to be accepted necessarily as the views of the Society of which I have the privilege of being a member, nor those of my fellow-missionaries. The former sent me to the Niger; with some of the latter I have en­joyed many profitable discussions on Nigerian problems—missionary and otherwise—but I am alone responsible for every word and opinion expressed, except in those in­ stances where direct quotations have been made from other writers.