Author | Lightnews

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 24

Robert D. Jackson's The Twenty Years War (1975) noted how Igbo people accepted European innovations & education on their terms. Rather than seeing it as proof of superiority, they viewed them as practical tools that could be acquired & mastered.

This reveals an Igbo worldview.

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Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 24

This shows that not only labourers were enslaved, even men of status and spiritual duty from the Nri civilisation were taken and renamed “Breeches” by those who didn’t understand their world.

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 24

They were sons of great men, marked with honour, now caught in chains.

As seen in the excerpt from Captain Crow, such men were called “Brechés” by Europeans, mishearing or adapting local titles, mistakenly thinking it meant “gentleman” like hidalgo in Spanish.

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Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 24

This 1793 runaway slave notice from Jamaica describes an “Eboe” (Igbo) man with “Bruchee cut”—likely the sacred Ichi mark of titled Nri men.

Europeans called such people “Brechés,” mistaking their noble status for mere titles like “gentleman.” These were not ordinary captives.

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Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 24

According to A. E. Afigbo in Southeastern Nigeria in the Nineteenth Century, well-to-do Igbo people did not eat akpụ (cassava) before the 20th century, largely due to its unpleasant smell. Its consumption is a relatively recent development.

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 24

“Chief Okeke,” photographed by Northcote Thomas in Agukwu Nri around 1911.

This image appears to be part of the same series as those taken of Eze Nri Obalike in March 1911.

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 24

The Spanish vessel Manuel Ortez was also seized for engaging in the slave trade.

— The New York Times Archives

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 24

WEST COAST OF AFRICA

By late March, mail from various West African ports had arrived in England. Trade along the rivers was sluggish, especially at Bonny, due to conflict with the Eboe (Igbo), who had defeated the Bonny people.
— April 24, 1862

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Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 24

Igbo ‘runaways’ listed in an 1826 page of The Royal Gazette, a 19th-century Jamaican newspaper. Born in Igbo land, they were taken to the West Indies and escaped slavery before being recaptured.

Source: University of Southampton.

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 24

Linguists such as John McWhorter have highlighted the significant influence of the Igbo language on Caribbean Creole English, so much so that the Igbo pronoun unu has remained largely unchanged.

Image credit: Ukpuru.

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 22

An 1850s European Christian account from The Monthly Christian Spectator refers to the “Eboes”—a term used for the Igbo people—as part of its description of the “dark races” of the West Indies (1851–1859, p. 371).

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Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 22

The dancers in this video are wearing Isi Ojongo, a traditional wig style. The footage is from the 2016 Igu Aro Festival in Enugwu Ukwu, covered by Goge Africa.

This shows that Isi Ojongo is still in use today, although in this video, the women are wearing it over another wig.

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 22

Another styles of Ojongo wig adorned with ornaments. This hairstyle was popular among Igbo women in the 18th-19th century.

Credit: Thomas Basden

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 21

The advertisement explains the brutal system of colonial slavery, where enslavers publicly sought the return of freedom-seekers through paid notices.

The high number of Igbo listed suggests a significant Igbo presence in Jamaica & their active resistance to enslavement.
ozikoro.com/documenting-...

ozikoro.com

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 21

Runaway slave notice from 18th-century Jamaica offering rewards for the capture of escaped enslaved people.

This is part of a compilation of 18th-century advertisements seeking the return of enslaved people that fled captivity. Over 100 Igbo (Eboe) individuals are listed.

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Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 21

The ojongo crested hairstyle (Isi Ojongo), popular among Igbo women until the mid-20th century.

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 21

An airport worker tends to a young refugee upon arrival at Santa Isabel Airport on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, as part of the Airlift operation assisting Biafrans escaping the Nigeria-Biafra War (1967–1970).

Photo: Max Vaterlaus / ICRC.

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 21

Biafran students take part in a protest rally at Speaker’s Corner, Hyde Park, London, in 1968, condemning Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s covert support for the Nigerian military’s assault and blockade against Biafra.

Photo: Evening Standard / Stringer.

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 21

Biafran students take part in a protest rally at Speaker’s Corner, Hyde Park, London, in 1968, condemning Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s covert support for the Nigerian military’s assault and blockade against Biafra.

Photo: Evening Standard / Stringer.

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 20

Mgbeke being a traditional Igbo name for women, often tied to the eke market days.

To continue reading, go to the link below.

ozikoro.com/traces-of-ig...

Traces of Igbo Names from the Slave Ships ~ Ozi Ikòrò

The Atlantic slave trade, despite its vast erasure of African identities, left behind fragments like names that offer glimpses into the lives of the people stolen from their homelands. Some of these n...

ozikoro.com

Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 20

seized the ship. Tragically, many “liberated” Africans died shortly after arrival due to harsh conditions.

Also recorded is Eguay, a 12-year-old whose name has been identified as Igwe, a royal title in Igbo culture meaning “sky” or “king.” A 22-year-old named Imbakay, likely Mgbeke, is also listed-

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Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 20

Many of these people were Igbo, their names painstakingly identified by researchers and descendants.

Among them was 11-year-old Amacca (likely Amaka), and 18-year-old Uchando (identified as Uchendu), transported from Bonny but “liberated” in Freetown, Sierra Leone, after British Royal Navy forces-

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Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 20

individuals who were intercepted by anti-slavery patrols before reaching the Americas.

The African Origins project (african-origins.org) compiles names of African people recorded during the transatlantic slave trade, including those aboard ships intercepted by anti-slavery patrols.

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Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 20

Traces of Igbo Names from the Slave Ships

The Atlantic slave trade, despite its vast erasure of African identities, left behind fragments like names that offer glimpses into the lives of the people stolen from their homelands. Some of these names preserved in historical records belonged to Igbo-

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Ozi Ikoro @oziikoro.bsky.social · Jun 20

Biafran protesters march across Westminster Bridge in London, August 1967, demonstrating against the British Government and oil companies for their support of the Nigerian Federal Government's war against Biafra's secession.

Photo credit: Rolls Press/Popperfoto.