Change a Life 2 Change the World!
100 things every Igbo child should know before adulthood
Know the meaning of your Igbo name — and the story behind it.
Understand your clan (umunna) and village (ama/obodo).
Know your lineage (ndị nne na nna gi) on both your mother’s and father’s sides.
Understand the importance of the extended family (ndị ikwu na ibe).
Learn your family's totem, symbols, or ancestral traits.
Be able to introduce yourself traditionally: name, village, town, LGA, and state.
Know the Igbo greeting customs, including kneeling, prostrating, or respectful handshakes.
Understand your role within the family hierarchy.
Learn your family’s oral history — migration, accomplishments, or challenges.
Know what it means to be Nwaafọ Igbo (a true Igbo child).
Understand the importance of respect for elders and community.
Know how to give and receive blessings from elders.
Know your Igbo market day of birth (Eke, Orie, Afo, Nkwo).
Understand the significance of twins (ejima) in Igbo culture.
Learn about child naming ceremonies (ịkọ aha nwa) and their meanings.
Understand the roles of first sons (ọkpara) and first daughters (ada).
Know the importance of family compound (ụlọ nna) in rites and decisions.
Know the symbolic role of kolanut (ọjị) in greetings and rituals.
Understand the concept of 'ihe ukwu' (the big things) like land, children, and legacy.
Know that your name, honor, and roots are inseparable.
Know that the Igbo people are one of the oldest ethnic groups in Africa.
Learn about Nri Kingdom — a theocratic and ancient Igbo spiritual center.
Understand the Igbo-Ukwu archaeological site and its advanced bronze artistry (9th century CE).
Learn that Igbos had a decentralized society — no kings, but elders and councils.
Know about the Gerontocracy and age-grade systems.
Understand how decisions were made by consensus, not force.
Know that Igbos were famous traders, farmers, blacksmiths, and artists.
Learn about ịgba boyi — the apprenticeship system.
Understand how Igbos handled law and justice through elders and community meetings.
Learn the Igbo proverb: “He who brings kola brings life.”
Know that Igbo women held spiritual and political authority.
Study Umuada — the council of married daughters.
Learn about Arochukwu and its spiritual and commercial importance.
Know that many Igbo communities had priests, diviners, and healers who guided society.
Understand that land (ala) is sacred and never owned by individuals, but held in trust.
Learn about Igbo cosmology, including concepts of Chi, Okike, and Ndichie.
Know that Igbo worldview is deeply spiritual, ethical, and communal.
Study Ozo title taking — a sacred initiation for elders and leaders.
Understand that freedom, dignity, and justice were core values of Igbo life.
Know that Igbo democracy influenced African liberation movements.
Know that Chi is your personal spiritual guardian or destiny twin.
Learn how your Chi aligns with your purpose in life.
Understand Ala (Earth Goddess) — the most revered deity in Igbo cosmology.
Learn about Amadioha (god of thunder and justice).
Study Ọfọ as a sacred symbol of truth and justice.
Know about the four Igbo market days and their spiritual meaning.
Understand the roles of dibia (diviner/healer) and ọkpulụlù ọmụmụ (midwife).
Learn Igbo rituals for birth, initiation, marriage, and burial.
Understand the importance of ancestral veneration — honoring the dead (Ndichie).
Know the prayer traditions and libations (ịkpọ mmụọ).
Study the Igbo lunar calendar and ritual cycles.
Learn the value of symbolic items: palm fronds, chalk, clay, cowries.
Know that spirituality is not superstition — it is wisdom and guidance.
Understand that dreams, visions, and intuition are part of ancestral communication.
Learn how to approach sacred groves, shrines, and altars with respect.
Know how to perform basic ancestral invocations.
Understand the ethics of restitution, confession, and reconciliation in Igbo thought.
Learn that Ọfọ na Ogu represents justice and righteousness.
Study Igbo sayings like "Onye kwe, Chi ya ekwe" — If one agrees, their destiny agrees.
Know that to be spiritual is to live in alignment with truth and ancestral law.
Know about Igbo resistance to British colonization.
Learn about the Aba Women’s War of 1929 — a feminist, anti-colonial movement.
Understand the role of warrant chiefs and how they disrupted Igbo governance.
Know that Igbos were among the most targeted during the slave trade.
Learn about Igbo Landing — mass resistance by enslaved Igbo in Georgia (USA).
Understand how Igbo spirituality was preserved in the Americas.
Study the lives of diaspora descendants who maintained Igbo identity.
Learn about the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970) and the Biafran struggle.
Understand the causes, devastation, and global silence around Biafra.
Know that Igbos have rebuilt, resisted, and risen from every injustice.
Learn about Chinua Achebe, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, and other leaders.
Study how colonial education and Christianity altered Igbo worldview.
Know the meaning and importance of self-reliance (igwebuike).
Learn how Igbo proverbs hold political and spiritual knowledge.
Study the Igbo contributions to independence and nation-building.
Know that cultural revival is an act of resistance.
Learn how Igbo diaspora communities are reconnecting globally.
Understand that language loss is identity loss — speak and preserve Igbo.
Study how Igbo people have succeeded globally despite systemic barriers.
Know that you carry the spirit of survivors, warriors, and visionaries.
Know that Igbos are part of a global African family.
Learn about Afro-Caribbean religions (e.g., Vodou, Santería) that retain Igbo elements.
Understand the Igbo role in shaping African-American, Cuban, Brazilian, and Jamaican identities.
Know that Yams, kola, masquerade (mmanwu), and drumming are cultural exports.
Celebrate New Yam Festival (Ịri ji ọhụrụ) — the harvest and gratitude ceremony.
Learn how to lead and serve with truth, humility, and wisdom.
Understand the importance of education and self-mastery.
Know how to return home — physically or spiritually.
Be proud to wear Igbo clothes: isi agu, George wrappers, red caps, beads.
Learn how to build a family with strong moral, spiritual, and cultural roots.
Practice sharing, hospitality, and justice — core Igbo values.
Know the Igbo contributions to music, film, literature, medicine, and science.
Understand your role in preserving language, land, and legacy.
Learn that being Igbo is both a blessing and responsibility.
Be ready to mentor younger generations.
Support community building, development, and cultural institutions.
Speak with dignity, act with courage, walk in wisdom.
Study Igbo philosophers, artists, scholars, and healers.
Remember that you are the living answer to ancestral prayers.
Know that Igbo amaka — Igbo is beautiful — and so are you.