CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN OHAFIA, 1901-1960; A STUDY IN THE IMPACT OF COLONIAL RULE AND MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE ON A CROSS RIVER IGBO COMMUNITY

CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN OHAFIA, 1901-1960; A STUDY IN THE IMPACT OF COLONIAL RULE AND MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE ON A CROSS RIVER IGBO COMMUNITY

Abstract:

This thesis investigates, from the point of view of Ohafia clan, the contentions questioN of the extent to which indigenous Igbo society changed under the pressure of colonial and missionary establishments. It has a total of six chapters including the conclusion. Chapter one is an invocation of the Marxian mode of production concept for a portrait of Ohafia socio-economic formation on the eve of British intrusion. This is intended as a basis for gaugirg the extent of social change and continuity that occurred over the colorial period. Chapter two examines British efforts at political and administrative control of Ohafia through the novelty of native courts and a revolutionary system of justice. This is shown to have introduced far-reaching changes in Ohafia society especially as the new code of behaviour was antithetical to such customs as warfare and human sacrifice Igbo reaction and political predeliction, however, obliged the British to engage in interminable local government; reforms which in the end still failed to completely transform or replace indigenous oontrol systems. In the same way the activities and impact of christian missionaries are examined ir chapter three. Missionaries were deeply convinced that Ohafia customs were ‘barbaric’ and deserved to be jettisoned. Their schools became a powerful instrument of campaign against Ohafia customs. Missionaries sowed a seed of far-reaching transformation in Ohafia, particularly as they converted individuals in the community and prepared the children for carreers which radically departed from the traditional ones. But, as long as these converts remained in Ohafia, they found themselves in a socio-cultural milieu where christian ethics alone was inadequate. They therefore continued to lean on the discredited Ohafia culture for support even without knowing it. In chapter four, we bring out the impact of the school more clearly. Colonialism had closed such avenues for achievement as warfare and slave raid and replaced them with education. By 1940 several people had recorded various achievements in western education. It was from this time that a new elite, armed with education ard salaries, emerged to eclipse the traditional elite of warriors and yam barons and to begin to influence and direct Ohafia society towards a western-oriented path of modernity. Meanwhile, the colonial pax had solved the security problem of Igboland and drawn Ohafia people irto the burgeoning produce trade. But the participation of the Ohafia people was highly limited, since they lacked the resources reeded in the colonial economy, Yet, the flooding of their markets with superior manufactures, the extirpation of traditional currencies, and the monetisation of their economy helped to integrate the pre-capitalist Ohafia economy with the advanced capitalism of the west. Ohafia people had to migrate to urban centres in various parts of Nigeria and ever beyond to be able to benefit from the colonial economy. This army of migrants were also harbingers of social change. By our terminal date, far-reaching changes had been introduced into Ohafia society. But this had not destroyed the essence of Ohafia society.

CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN OHAFIA, 1901-1960; A STUDY IN THE IMPACT OF COLONIAL RULE AND MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE ON A CROSS RIVER IGBO COMMUNITY