The Igbo Intellectual Tradition (PDF)

Jude C. Aguwa, Mercy College, USA

Philip C. Aka, Chicago State University, USA

Gloria Chuku, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA

Raphael Chijioke Njoku, University of Louisville, USA

Christine Ohale, Chicago State University, USA

John Oriji, California Polytechnic State University, USA

'This collection of biographical studies highlights the monumental contributions made by Igbo individuals to Nigerian and African politics, literature, history, and society. While the figures are fascinating on their own, they also point collectively to an intellectual tradition concerned with relating the local to wider currents and developments a process as relevant today as it was a century ago.' - Lisa A. Lindsay, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, USA

'This collection of essays, edited by the well-known scholar of the empowerment of African women, Professor Gloria Chuku, consists of eleven biographies of well-known Igbos from Nigeria. It includes the intellectual contributions of Oluadah Equiano, the politicians Nnamdi Azikiwe and Mbonu Ojike, the historians Kenneth Onwuka Dike and Adiele Afigbo, the novelists Chinua Achebe and Flora Nwapa, and the economist Pius Okigbo, among others. In each case we are shown how they dealt with problems from the pressures of colonialism and western culture in regards to their Igbo and Nigerian backgrounds. The collection reveals the presence of a younger generation of very bright Igbo scholars who authored the chapters, indicating that a strong Igbo intellectual tradition continues in their writing. This is a very useful pulling together of major historical figures in Igbo discourse, allowing for contrasts and comparisons of their lives, and showing that the Igbo contribution to African development has been considerable.' - Simon Ottenberg, Emeritus Professor, University of Washington, USA