The urban fabric of Igbo architecture in South-eastern Nigeria in the 1990s

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore the extent to which local building traditions have been retained within modern urban housing development in primarily Igbo-speaking areas of South-eastern Nigeria in the 1990s. Its premise is that there are vestiges of tradition which remain part of the urban fabric in most southern Nigerian towns. It is thought that these traditions can, and should, be developed further to ensure that there is a positive integration of the old with the new, in the physical form, aesthetics and theoretical interpretation of urban design. Also as a development model, this integration approach has considerable relevance to other aspects of Nigerian urban life where there is the need for the accommodation of various cultures and social backgrounds. Relevant material, including documented data, will be used to discuss the premises and theories put forward. Central to the main theme is the argument for a re-ordering of architectural design and urban planning in southern Nigeria to better accommodate the more traditional or cultural features of life as the illustrations shown will highlight. The paper focuses specifically on the Igbo-speaking area of South-eastern Nigeria. The development of its housing fabric has varied distinctly from that of Northern and South-western Nigeria, which both have the effects of Islamic influence and, in the latter region, Brazilian and European influence, on local culture to be considered. Both these regions have had more urbanised and cosmopolitan cultural indigenous development patterns than the south-east. The text occasionally, however, draws architectural comparisons with these Nigerian regions and other developing areas. It would seem that ‘Igboland’ escaped these influences mainly due to its geographical location in the hinterland of South-eastern Nigeria. Islam did not penetrate as far down from North-eastern Nigeria to the south-east as it had done from North-western Nigeria to the south-west. This was partly due to the more tropical humid terrain which was detrimental to horses and mounted warfare and the way in which religious wars or Jihads were traditionally fought. Also, the acephalous societal organisation of the Igbos, when contrasted with the more hierarchical Northern Hausa and Western Yoruba societies, were less predisposed to convert voluntarily from native individualised worship to a more structured heirarchic monotheistic religion. Being away from the Atlantic coast of Nigeria meant that European influence took longer to affect hinterland Igbo lifestyles. It also meant that the area had few settlements of repatriated and freed African slaves who had made their way back to Nigeria from America and Brazil. Called Saros and Agudas respectively, these returnees brought with them new cultural styles and established residential settlements which were influential in the development of coastal towns such as Lagos and Calabar. Similarly, missionary and government enterprise reached the Igbo hinterland much later than the coast, thus Christianity and its cultural influence was felt much later in this area. The text occasionally, however, draws architectural comparisons with other Nigerian regions and other developing countries.