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Culture and Igbo business practices

By Uche Nworah (uchenworah@yahoo.com )

The Igbos of South East Nigeria, otherwise known as Ndigbo remains one of

Nigeria‟s major and most enterprising ethnic groups accountin g for about 18% ofNigeria‟s estimated 1 50 million population. The website nationsencyclopedia.comgives the breakdown of the make-up of the other ethnic groups as follows; TheHausa, 21%;Yoruba, 21%; Fulani, 12%; Ijaw, 10%; Kanuri, 4.1%; Ibibio, 3.6%; Tiv,2.5%; and others, 18.7%. These classifications may not be accurate as argued bysome commentators, for example the website onlinenigeria.com has published a listof what it describes as 371 identifiable tribes in Nigeria with a statement that some ofthese tribes are present in more than one state in Nigeria. This may then suggestthat contrary to popular belief that only about 250 ethnic languages are spoken inNigeria; the number may well then be close to 400, including tribes not captured inthe onlinenigeria.com list.

Certain behaviours (social, cultural, economic and political) are known to be peculiarto each of the component ethnic groups in Nigeria, while some identifiable behaviourmay be common to some or all of the groups as a result of long years of inter-ethnicco-habitations, associations, exchanges and marriages, certain behaviours haveremained unique to each of the groups. Of particular interest to this writer are theIgbo ethnic group and the fascinating aspect of their culture known as „self-help andself-enterprise ‟. This has become both an ideology and a mantra amongst Ndigbo .Referred to as „ Igba Mbo ’ , Ndigbo would readily refer to any true Igbo son with acounter ideology as „ efulefu ‟.

Perhaps other aspects of Igbo culture are worth discussing here, to enable a properunderstanding of the Igbo race. Ndigbo are very traditional people, there is a strongpull towards preserving inherited ethos and values (also known as omenani orodinani ). This manifests in the continued celebration and sustenance of culturalfestivals and feasts such as Mmanwu or masquerade festivals in many towns andvillages. Some other communities have more pronounced festivals such as the Imo Awka festival by Awka people of Anambra state, the Ikeji festival by Arondizuogupeople of Imo state, the Ana Enugwu festival by the Enugwu-Ukwu people ofAnambra state etc. According to the Eze of Enugwu-Ukwu, and Igwe of Umunri,HRH Igwe Ralph O. Ekpeh; “such festivals help to foster peace in the communities

and are also ways of preserving our cultural heritage ”.Ndigbo are known to be deeply religious, while majority may have converted toChristianity, there are still many following Igbo traditional religion which many refer toas idol worship. These people still observe the traditional pouring of libation as amark of honour to the gods and late ancestors. The sacrificing of animals and thesprinkling of their blood on carved idols known as Alusi or Okpesi etc. Ndigbo stillobserve traditional marriage rites such as Ime ego (bride price), Igba nkwu (alsoknown as „wine carrying‟).

The kola nut still remains a significant aspect of Igbo culture; these are eaten at

every formal gathering and during family and social visits. As Ndigbo would say, „He

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who brings kola brings l ife‟. At such gatherings, only titled men are allowed to blessand break the kola nut, usually the eldest person present unless he decides todesignate the role to another. The designee in beginning will justify his rights tobreak the kola nut using the I gbo proverb that says „ Oku agunyelu nwata, adiro ere gbu ya (A child will not be scarred by the flames put on his palm by elders‟. Titles

and title taking are still propagated in Igbo communities. In Igbo land, people areknown and greeted mainly by their titles rather than by their given names henceNdigbo will say – Nke onye chiri, ya zaa (let each person answer and live to his title).As Chinua Achebe writes in the novel Things Fall Apart , „proverbs are the palm oilwith which words are eaten‟, i t is common for Ndigbo , particularly titled and elderlymen to speak using proverbs.

While some may argue that the culture of respect for elders is waning especially as aresult of the swagger life style of nouveau rich Igbo men and women, respect forelders is still very much observed by many in line with the admonition by one ofNdigbo’s most revered sons, the late Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Owelle ofOnitsha and Nigeria‟s first President who had cautioned that “those that do notrespect greatness, will never live to be great ”.

Amongst the Igbos are also to be observed strong bonds of kinship and brotherhoodas evidenced in the maintenance of cultural groups, town unions and communitydevelopment associations (CDAs) in distant lands where Ndigbo reside. Perhaps thismay be a way of fostering the „ Umunna’, ‘Igwebuike’ and ‘Nwanne di na mba’ philosophy (unity and strength in togetherness). Though Ndigbo may be widelytravelled, they do have a strong home coming mentality. Many towns where Ndigbo sojourn in the diaspora usually feel their absence during the festive periods ofChristmas when they all go home to their various villages to celebrate with familyand friends. Perhaps this is in fulfilment of the Igbo proverb that „Aku luo uno, okwuo ebe osi’ (a call to take one‟s wealth home for use in developmental projects).Communities such as Enugwu- Ukwu observe a mandatory „mass return‟ every 3years. This according to Jude Ekwunife, the President – General of Enugwu-UkwuCommunity Development Union (ECDU) is “a chance for our people to take stock,get to know each other again and of course receive the blessings of our ancestorsfor the coming yea r‟s challenges” .

Some negative aspects have also been observed about Igbo culture, these havenow been massively exploited by non- Igbos in Nigeria‟s political terrain to create a

divide and rule situation that has led to Ndigbo’s perennial search for vibrantleadership. Many argue that Ndigbo love money but I will argue rather that this is justa mis-interpretation of the highly ambitious and competitive spirit of the Igbo manwhich finds credence in the almost spiritual understanding that „Onye ruo, ya r ie’ . Bytheir nature, Ndigbo are very hardworking and enterprising. This also finds credencein the bibl ical quote that „ b e i n g l a z y w i l l m a k e y o u p o o r , b u t h a r dw o r k w i l l m a k e y o u r i c h ‟. ( P R O V E R B S 1 0 : 4 )

Another is the saying, propagated by Ndigbo themselv es that „ Igbo enwe Eze’ . Thisbelief that Ndigbo have no central leader is far from the truth as it at the same timecontradicts the Igbo belief that ‘Onye fee eze, Eze eru ya’ (Give honour to the

deserving and you shall also be honoured). These prejudices, real and imagined

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may have unwittingly made Ndigbo objects of envy and fear by their Nigerianbrothers. In his 1985 Ahiajoku lecture , Prof. Ben Nwabueze argues that Ndigbo mustadmit that; “as a people, we excite fear, resentment and hatred in other Nigerians. Ina multi-ethnic society such as Nigeria is, that is a terrible position for any of itsgroups to be in. He argues further that “so intense indeed is the fear, resentment and

hatred of the Igbos in Nigeria that no Igbo man, however good his credentials, noteven Zik, the widely acknowledged father of Nigerian nationalism, can today expectto command nationwide acceptance as a leader in the government and politics of thecountry. His every action and utterance will be misunderstood and misrepresented.He will be hounded from pillar to post, until he is got rid of, which will be sooner thanlater. In present-day Nigeria, no Igbo man can last as head of the federalgovernment ”.

Though we are now in 2011, Prof. Nwabueze ‟s 1985 postulations still ring true asrecent political developments in Nigeria suggest that Ndigbo may have finally lost outin the power equation in Nigeria, with the people of the Niger Delta region (SouthSouth) increasingly edging them out to become the 3 rd most influential ethnic groupin Nigeria to be reckoned with politically after the Hausas and Yorubas. The peopleof the Niger Delta have found sympathy amongst Nigerians and the internationalcommunity due to the long years of neglect and environmental degradation theysuffered at the hands of the Nigerian government and by oil companies operating inthe region. Their case was also emboldened by the regrettable Ken Saro Wiwamurder. Perhaps to force the issue, their people decided to take their faith into theirhands forming and funding many militant organisations which has finally gotten theworld‟s attention .

As the world gradually converges in cyberspace, opportunities that were previouslyunimaginable have thus become available in both business and other aspects ofhuman endeavours. There are improved possibilities for creating new partnerships,exploring new frontiers in trade and finance and the exchange of culture and ideas. Itis thus only a people or group equipped and empowered with the necessary tools inthe new knowledge economy that can take advantage of the new emergingopportunities.

It is therefore worth analysing further the competitiveness of Ndigbo’s prevalentbusiness practices in an increasingly networked and globalised world. OlanrewajuAkinpelu Olutayo in his paper, The Igbo Entrepreneur in the political economy of

Nigeria (African Study Monographs, 20(3): 147-174, September 1999) writes that“the Igbo, when compared to the other major ethnic groups in Nigeria, are in theforefront of entrepreneurial activities, especially in the informal sector”. Ndigbopredominantly undertake their entrepreneurial activities outside of the Igbo states.Dike (1956: 28) adduces such diasporan business lifestyle to land hunger. “( Igbo)pressing against limited land resources had, of necessity, to seek other avenues oflivelihood outside the tribal boundaries, Dike writes.

Ndigbo have always relied on self-help and self-enterprise in their businessendeavours. This perhaps may have been as a result of the victim mentality createdby the losses they suffered during the Nigeria-Biafra civil war. Olanrewaju Akinpelu

Olutayo also writes that “One major and unique trait of the Igbo entrepreneur is the

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courage, perseverance, and determination with which they carry on in spite of thebad experiences and losses during the Nigerian civil war from 1967 to 1970”. This in-group survivalist thinking may have served Ndigbo right in post-civil war Nigeriawhen the exigencies of the time required that one only trusted people of his race,irrespective of the fact that some, called „sabos‟ (saboteurs) may have play ed into

the hands of the enemy during the war for selfish reasons thereby contributing to thedestruction of the Igbo race.

The post-war era witnessed many successes especially amongst Igbo business menwho despite the trauma and losses still managed to build large enterprises relying onself-help. Chief Augustine Ilodibe was easily Nigeria‟s biggest transporter with hisEkene Dili Chukwu transport business. There were others that built large scalecontracting and construction enterprises such as Chief R.O. Nkwocha, Chief D.ONkwonta and Chief F.G.N Okoye, all from Enugwu-Ukwu. Others thrived in industryand real estate such as Chief John Anyaehie, Chief Nnana Kalu, Chief FerdinandAnaghara, Sir Louis Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Chief Onwuka Kalu. Those thatfocused on commerce (import and export) thrived as well, such as Chief G.EChikeluba and his partners at the GMO Group. The times are different now.Unfortunately, most of these worthy pioneering Igbo sons have all passed on. Sadly,the estates and business empires they left behind have also crumpled thus begginganswers to the questions of what went wrong, and why despite the Ivy league MBAdegrees their children possess, they could not salvage the businesses or even growthem further as are the cases with family owned businesses in America and in otherparts of the world.

It is my view that Ndigbo should learn their lessons from some of these experiences.The world over, many businesses which began as family businesses such as Ford,Daimler Benz etc have since become publicly owned enterprises. When newshareholders and investors are allowed to come in, they bring in new ideas andcapital thus enhancing further the chances of survival.

Most Igbo owned businesses perpetually battle with succession planning. Thepractice is usually to transfer control to the eldest male child who may be the leastcompetent. The other siblings are sometimes sidelined and they then move on toother things. This results in mismanagement and eventual demise of thesebusinesses. My view is that day to day management does not necessarily have toreside in the hands of family members. If Igbo businesses are to survive in the long

term, it is important that such businesses look outside the family and hireprofessionals to run the business. These matters should be settled in the wills of thefounders and family patriarchs before they pass on to avoid long drawn litigations aswe are currently experiencing in the cases of some prominent Igbo families. ThePolygamous lifestyles lived by the patriarchs also compound the problem. In casesof sudden death, the tendency is always for each surviving wife and her children togo after any part of the late patriarch ‟s business they could access. In the end, thecomplete business unit is shared out amongst the children, and with each sidedistrusting the other, any ideas of business collaboration are not entertained with theresultant consequence that the businesses as individual units rather than compositewholes are not sustainable over the long term.

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Some of these businesses have also been negatively affected by environmentalfactors. For instance those that launched inter - state transport businesses havesince seen their investments depreciate in so short a time due to the adverse effectsof wear and tear on the vehicular assets as a result of the poor conditions of Nigerianroads. Those that went into industrialisation have been affected by the power

situation, lack of raw materials, import and export complexities and other governmentpolicies. They have also not been helped by cheap imports from China and othercountries. The businesses built on imports and exports have suffered at the hands offluctuating exchange rates and unfavourable government policies.

The lessons here for Ndigbo are for them to aim to diversify into other areas and notto build one-channel/one-income enterprises. Bobo Obidigbo Nkwonta argueshowever that Ndigbo should backpedal from their business sojourning ways andthink more of investing in their homelands. “Experiences of the past should havetaught us to think home, especially looking at the abandoned property issue in PortHarcourt that occurred after the Nigeria/Biafra war”, Nkwonta warns. Scanning theenvironment will also help in pointing the way to global business trends andopportunities. If the illiterate ones cannot do this, such information should beprovided by the state governments and respective states ‟ chambers of commerce .The information could also be shared through the channels of town unions etc.Perhaps Ndigbo should pick cues from Prof. Barth Nnaji, a worthy Igbo son who hasexcelled in scholarship and innovation as against the traditional bricks and mortarsbusiness endeavours of Ndigbo .

Ndigbo should also endeavour to learn to swim against the tide, by refusing to beguided by the herd mentality which sees Ndigbo competing against one another byengaging in similar and related businesses. It is such that if for instance a neighbourimports candle and makes some money, his neighbours though without anyknowledge and competence of candle importation then abandon whatever it wasthey were dealing in and now focus on candle importation. Suddenly everyonebegins to import candles, the supply outstrips demand and the prices crash, andthen a change in government policy comes and everyone is back to square one. It iscommon for certain Igbo communities to be renowned by particular trades andbusinesses. Agulu people in Anambra state are known for bread making, such thatthey were adulated by a popular Highlife music singer who sang that „ Ewe ruga

Agulu, Igbo ebulu onu’ (Ndigbo will starve without Agulu people). Awka people areknown for blacksmithing, Abiriba people are known for importing Okirika (used

clothes) while Nando people in Anambra state are known for retailing pharmaceuticaldrugs. This approach or what Rohit Deshpande calls the provenance paradox in hisHarvard Business Review essay (2010, p.25) can be limiting and counterproductive.

Illiteracy may need to be tackled amongst today‟s Igbo entrepreneurs. Whereas thepioneering and successful businessmen of the past could be excused due to thestate of education during their time, the Igbo businessman today cannot be forgivenfor failing to empower himself using education and other freely available informationand knowledge on the internet. The rush to go to Idumota or Alaba market to beginapprenticeship or to get a shop without at least completing secondary education willcome back to hunt Ndigbo . This is because while our contemporaries are equipping

themselves with knowledge to face the future, our folks are more interested in

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chasing peanuts at the markets. Those with knowledge today will be the millionairesof the future. It is not surprising that only a few Igbos are major players incontemporary Nigerian business landscape especially in the lucrativetelecommunications, oil, power and gas sectors.

Critically, the concept of „ Igba boyi ‟ or trade apprenticeship should be fundamentallyreviewed. This ingenious scheme sees a young man being attached to a businessmentor over a period of 4-6 years as may have been agreed by both families. Thebusiness mentor or „ oga‟ undertakes the responsibility to teach the „b oyi‟ therudiments of the trade; he takes care of his well being, housing, accommodation,clothing, healthcare over th e period. The „b oyi‟ on his part undertakes to serve his„oga ‟ diligently. At the end of the agreed period, the „ oga‟ settles the „b oyi‟ with anamount that will enable him to begin his own trade. However, this scheme has beensubjected to various abuses b y both the „ oga‟ and „ bo yi‟. Some „ogas ‟have beenknown to abuse their „b oyis‟ treating them like domestic slaves. Some perpetuatequarrels with their „b oyis‟ as they near their „freedom‟ by concocting stories of theft,insubordination etc against them so that they won‟t settle the „boyi‟ as agreed. Ontheir parts, some „b oyis‟ are known to have stolen from their „ ogas‟, shown acts of disloyalty and even sometimes contributed to major financial setbacks for their„ogas ‟. Because this scheme is semi-formal relying on existing family ties andrelationships, there are not usually written terms of engagement. Each of the partiesinterprets the relationship as they deem right. In the context of today‟s world, there istherefore a strong argument for the formalisation of these types of apprenticeships toprevent abuse so that the relationships can add more value to the lives of both the„ogas‟ and the „ bo yis‟. Such arrangements should guarantee the „b oyis‟ some form of education even while they are „serv ing their o gas‟. There may be a need to reviewthe tenure as some have been known to last up to 10 years.

On the part of the Nigerian government, perhaps it may help to design some kind ofenterprise curriculum for such schemes and for the apprentices to be formallyenrolled in the books of relevant government agencies and institutions so that oncompleting their apprenticeship, they get some kind of credit hours or certification.This is because while their mates may be studying theoretical aspects of Business inthe universities, the apprentices are actually undergoing practical training andacquiring needed skills in customer service, accounting and finance, businessmanagement, stock keeping and logistics etc. Others receive practical training andgain much needed experience in trades such as plumbing, furniture, hair styling and

so on. This could also be reviewed to make the „ ogas‟ receive some kind of supportfrom the government for gi ving the opportunities to the „ boyis‟, something that shouldactually be gove rnment‟s responsibility. These kinds of support may include but notlimited to access to business funding, information etc.

As we seek knowledge, Ndigbo must also seek collaborative partnerships fromwithin and outside. The „Kill We Nwachukwu‟ era where businesses go it alone isover. We should begin to tap into the opportunities for SME funding and IndustrialTraining Fund (ITF) support which abound. We should also begin to set upmentorship schemes from among our people. We should re-direct our search forheroes and role models from both the living and dead. In this regard, I think of Rt .

(Hon) Chief Dr . Nnamdi Azikiwe (Owelle Onitsha), Chief Dr. K. Ozumba Mbadiwe

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(Agadagbachiriuzo Arondizuogu), Dr Michael Iheonukara Okpara (“M. I. Power”),Chief Dr. Sam Onunaka Mbakwe (Dee Sam), Eze (Dr.) Akanu Ibiam (EzeogoUwana), Maazi Mbonu Ojike, Chief (Dr.) Nwafor Orizu, Dr. Alvan Ikoku, Chief Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme (Ide Orumba), Dr. Ben Nwabueze, DimChukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu (Ikemba Nnewi, Dikedioramma Ndigbo), Chief

Ralph Uwazuruike, Chief Emeka Anyaoku and many others we can learn from.

Nworah is the author of The Long Harmattan Season.