A VOICE FOR WOMEN - by Zipporah Nwachukwu

<h1>Igbo Woman have Always have A Voice </h1> I' m not interested in the issue going on between Igbo men and women. As far as am concerned, Igbo men are the most hyped men in the whole of Africa. I am of the opinion that Igbo men of old/yester years deserved the hype.  But not anymore.  The Igbo men of today are living on past glories of their fore fathers which they no longer deserve.  Without going into why they no longer deserve it, let me correct the fallacy I have been reading- that Igbo men gave Igbo women a voice.  It is untrue that Igbo men gave Igbo women a voice. Anyone who wrote that, even if you were 100 years (I inserted this to avoid any older person coming to tell me that they know better based on age) lacks knowledge of our history as Ndi-Igbo. Both the documented and undocumented history of Ndi-Igbo shows that, Igbo women have always had a voice. 1. Let us look at one of the oldest books, "Things Fall Apart", a novel by Chinua Achebe which explored the Igbo life before the missionaries. The most powerful individual spiritually in that book was Chielo.  Chielo was a woman. A priestess of agbala, oracle of the hills and the caves. She was one of the most powerful figures of the clan and no important decision can be made without her approval. The dreaded Okonkwo, feared her. No one challenged her authority. Chielo played an important role in guiding the clan. Chielo was the intermediary between the people of Umuofia and the gods. Chielo is the sole earthly authority. Everyone obeyed her.  In Elechi Amadi's, "The Concubine", the medicine man was Anyika, a male. Whereas The Concubine was published in 1966, Things Fall Apart was published earlier in 1958.  2. It is instructive to note that Ala is female. A goddess. Ala is the deity associated with the earth, fertility, and creativity. Ala is Infact the mother of all deities. Ala is responsible for upholding Igbo laws and customs, known as Omenala. In Igbo mythology, Ala, the earth goddess, is generally considered the most reverred deity. She is the most respected and revered deity in Igbo land. Amadioha is powerful but subordinate to Ala.  3. Ndi-Igbo are the only Nigerian tribe that has had a Female King. Her name was Ahebi Ugbabe and she was from Enugu-Ezike. Her mother was Ugbabe Ayibi, while her Father was, Anekwu Amehin. She was the only female king in British-Nigeria. Ugbabe ruled for 30 years and died in 1948. As a king, she held court cases. Women who were abused by their husbands escaped to Ugbabe’s palace, she then became their female husband and contracts eligible men to sleep with them but they all lived in her palace.  Ahebi Ugbabe married wives for herself by paying their bride price. She then looked for men who had intercourse with these wives but claimed the paternity of the children they bore.  Before she died in 1948, she performed her own burial in 1946. So when people, especially Igbo men scream as to why a woman should bear a king, I laugh at their ignorance because it happened in Igboland.  In the present day Anioma, we have a woman king called Omu of Anioma who can only marry a woman. The former Omu was Hrm Obi Martha Dunkwu while the current one is Hrm Omu Onyebuchi Okonkwo 4. Before the incursion of Christianity, the Igbo woman can never be said to be barren because she marries wives for her husband. We had the oldest form of adoption system in Africa.  There are numerous examples but this is getting long. Igbo men have Christianity to thank for how Igbo women turned out presently. It could have been "worse".

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