Igbodiaries

▶

▶ 1.2K ❤ 0 💬 0

In Onitsha, the Onowu Iyasele is the traditional Prime Minister and the senior chief next in authority to the Obi. The title comes first among the six Ndichie Ume, the top tier of Onitsha's chiefs. The other five are Ajie Ukadiugwu, Odu Osodi, Onya Ozoma, Ogene Onira and Owelle Osowa. Two further colleges, the Ndichie Okwa and the Ndichie Okwareze, bring the total to 52 positions. According to Ime Obi Onitsha, when the ruling Obi dies, the Onowu Iyasele takes charge until a new Obi is enthroned. The Iyase title also appears in Asaba, where the Iyasele is the customary Prime Minister, and in the Kingdom of Benin, where the Iyase served as prime minister in the Oba's court. Ime Obi Onitsha records that the Onitsha people migrated from the old Benin Empire. #igbodiaries #igboculture #igbohistory #onowu

▶

▶ 1.7K ❤ 64 💬 0

Igbo women painted flowing black designs on bodies and on the walls of homes and shrines, using dye from the Uli plant. It was traditionally a women's art, though men were sometimes adorned with it too. No two designs were the same, because every artist drew from her own hand. Today, modern Nigerian artists, women and men, are still drawing from it. Have you ever seen Uli up close, on a wall or on skin? #igbodiaries #igboculture #uli

▶

▶ 9.9K ❤ 0 💬 0

In 1968, Biafra was cut off. Port Harcourt had fallen, the borders were closed, and hunger was spreading fast. 💔 One place stayed open: the Uli Airstrip, codenamed "Annabelle." It was a stretch of road in Ihiala, Anambra, widened and flattened into a runway. There was no control tower and almost no lighting. Pilots flew in at night, often blind, and landed on a strip the size of a road. Crews unloaded food, medicine and supplies in minutes, then took off again before the bombers arrived. ✈️ Church and relief groups flew thousands of sorties into Uli. Many people credit those flights with keeping Biafra alive through the worst of the starvation. When the war ended in January 1970, Ojukwu flew out of Uli too. Today, the strip that saved so many lives is mostly forgotten. 🕯️ Did you grow up hearing about Uli? #igbodiaries #igbohistory #biafranwar