Igbo Online – Level 1

The Igbo (pronounced EE-bo) are the second largest group of people living in southern Nigeria. Although they live in scattered groups of villages, they all speak one language, despite their social and cultural diversity.

The high and low tones of their musical language is mirrored in their love of wind and string instruments, such as the ugene (clay whistle) and ubaw-akwala (triangular wooden guitar). This fits with a culture built around cosmology, with Ala or Ana (the earth goddess) at the center.

Did you know? The Igbos had, and still have, a “savings and loans” system called “Isusu” which means “small small”.