COLONIAL REORGANISATIONS AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS IN AFRICA: PERSPECTIVES FROM MBANO IGBOLAND, SOUTHEAST NIGERIA, 1906 TO 1960

Abstract

Colonial incursion into Africa and indeed Igboland brought with it numerous implications on the political, social, and economic relations of the people. In most parts, it imposed new names and loyalties on the society. The original political cum economic structures were reorganized. The introduction of the Western systems challenged and in fact, disrupted the free flow of relations between people and their communities. Western education and the introduction of new infrastructure caused noticeable shifts in the nature and dynamics of relations extant among the people. Some original names of communities were changed or anglicized or adjusted with controversies and or otherwise. These changes had divergent implications on the nature of relations prevalent in most communities. The old Mbasaa, made up of seven clans was re-organized into different communities and political alignments which ‘Mbano’ is one of the new creations that resulted from colonial reorganisations. This paper discusses the impact of colonial reorganisations on Mbano society with regards to aspects of relations between the people and their proximate neighbours. It adopts the orthodox historical method of narrative and analyses. It adopts the qualitative method of writing history. Primary and secondary sources were used in the study, however, majority of the sources were from the primary sources.