




































1 

 

In Search of Solution:  Images of Insecurity and Their 

Traditional Management System in Selected Igbo Novels 

 

Edith Ngozi Onukawa  

Abia State University, Uturu 

onukawangozi@gmail.com; 

ngozi.onukawa@abiastateuniversity.edu.ng 

 

Abstract     
Insecurity is a major global challenge, and Nigeria has had its share 

of it. Current discussions are aimed at providing a better 

understanding of the drivers of insecurity as well as possible 

solutions or ways of mitigating it from a range of perspectives 

including language, culture and literature. Literature not only 

mirrors societal challenges such as insecurity which is a fall out of 

social vices but also offers insights on ways to their traditional 

management system. This study, therefore, examines images of 

insecurity and the traditional approaches to the management 

system. More specifically, the study analyzes some Igbo novels with 

the images of insecurity in order to identify some social vices which 

harbor images of insecurity and their traditional management 

systems. The study reports on data collected via primary and 

secondary sources. The study adopts the content analysis method to 

analyze the collected data from the selected Igbo novels. The 

findings of the study include the following traditional management 

system such as mediation by elders, equal human rights, oath taking, 

establishment of indigenous security outfit, empowerment of the 

youths, communal bond application, use of cultural symbol, among 

others. The study advances that more researches on the 

management system of insecurity challenges in Nigeria should be 

carried out. 

mailto:onukawangozi@gmail.com
mailto:ngozi.onukawa@abiastateuniversity.edu.ng


In Search of Solution - Onukawa 

 

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Keywords: insecurity, traditional management system, Igbo novels. 

 

1. Introduction  

All over the world, insecurity which is a fall out of social vices have 

been on the rise and Africa as a whole of which Nigeria is an integral 

part of it is not left out of this issue ravaging the globe. Insecurity 

threatens the unity of Nigeria, and has resulted in deaths of innocent 

citizens and foreigners alike, farmers, government officials, 

students, market women, security personnel and people from 

different works of life. In Nigeria, this situation on ground has 

crippled a lot of socio-political and economic activities. This 

manifests in form of various crimes such as armed robbery attacks, 

incessant kidnappings, assassinations, ritual killings, ethnic clashes 

and other high-risk attacks to human life.  

Nigerian government on its own part has put in efforts to 

curb this societal menace but all efforts put together have not yielded 

the much-desired results which is protection of lives and properties 

of citizens. Extant studies focus on providing a better understanding 

of the causes of insecurity and how best to proffer lasting solutions 

through varied perspectives of which language, literature and 

culture are inclusive.  

This study focuses on literature as huge insights can be 

drawn from traditional management system of insecurity, which is 

a fall out of social vices.  This is because literature mirrors the 

society. Insecurity, being an age-long societal menace is represented 

and or portrayed in different literary works expressed in some 

indigenous languages and culture. This is a way of providing a 

bottom-up management strategy, and advance discussions on 

images of insecurity particularly in Igbo cultural milieu. 

 

 



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1.1 Objective of the Study  

The objectives of this study are as follows: 

1. To examine images of insecurity in the selected Igbo novels  

2. To examine the traditional approaches suitable for the 

management system of these images of insecurity as 

represented in the selected Igbo novels  

2. Traditional Systems, Literature and Insecurity: A 

Conceptual Analysis  
Traditional systems refer to tradition-based method of customs or 

belief systems running from generation to generation to manage 

issues. In the Vanguard Newspaper of 17 August, 2021, Dapo 

Akinrefon, writes with the caption “Insecurity can easily be tackled 

through traditional methods”, the views of Iba Gani Adams, the 

Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba land on the best way to handle 

insecurity challenges ravaging our country, Nigeria and with 

particular reference to the Yoruba people. Adams boldly advocates 

that it is possible to adopt traditional methods to handle insecurity 

challenges in Nigeria and with particular reference to the Southwest 

region. He made this assertion during the Ifa Festival at Alagbole, 

Ogun State. He reiterates that until Nigerians and Yoruba people 

redirect their steps to the basic principles of “our being, we cannot 

make any meaningful progress as a race”. He further states that Ifa 

divination is consulted in event of any important individual or 

collective decision is to be made. His position is that any race that 

fails to hold on to its culture, traditions and heritages cannot make 

success. Our cultural heritage should be our binding force and not 

religion and politics. 

Security simply means safety to the average man or woman 

in the street or protection from harm and risky situations (Onifade 

(2013). For Onukawa (2012), security is a basic psychological need 



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for human beings. The Igbo place high premium on security and do 

everything possible to ensure their security anywhere. Avoidance of 

dangerous situations considered to be free from negative vibes in 

Igbo traditional ethics is most paramount to them.   Insecurity is the 

opposite of security. To Achumba (2013), insecurity means lack of 

safety or existence of danger; hazard; uncertainty; lack of trust; 

doubtful; inadequately guarded or protected; lack of stability; 

disturbed; lack of protection and unsafe. 

The importance of Literature in every given society cannot 

be over-emphasized. It is a very useful mirror through which 

humans and the society are viewed. It consists of three genres, 

namely: the ignored in spicing our oral and written discourse. 

According to Nwabueze (2004:6), cited in Eze (2014), “Indifference 

to literature is the bane of societies like Nigeria. Any society that 

abhors literature is incapable of humanistic thinking and cultural 

behaviours”. Notable scholars have given their view on what should 

consist as Igbo literature. To some scholars like Emenyeọnụ (1978), 

Igbo literature consists of literature written about the life and times 

of the Igbo people in Igbo language and English language by Igbo 

scholars. To him, Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and other literary 

works of life about Igbo world view and belief system are classified 

as Igbo written literature. Whereas to scholars like Ugonna, 

Madụka, Emenanjọ and Onyekaọnwụ, what determines Igbo 

literature is the language in which the imaginary ideas are presented. 

Therefore, Igbo novels, the focus of this study are literature written 

in Igbo language by Igbo authors for the Igbo people.  The first Igbo 

novel, written in Igbo language by an Igbo author, Pita Nwana, in 

1933, an award-winning masterpiece that ushered in Igbo written 

fiction, is Omenuko, a biographical novel about a legend, Igwegbe 

Ọdụm, who hails from Arọndizuọgụ in the present-day Imo State, 

Nigeria. After this remarkable outing, other authors followed suit 



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with various themes not only in fiction but also in drama and poetry 

to get us to the level we are in at the moment. 

2.1 Context of the Study 
The issue of insecurity is on the increase in Nigeria and this has 

attracted the interest of different scholars from different 

perspectives. Some studies have focused on insecurity in Nigeria. 

Some of such studies include Onifade, Imhonopi & Urim (2013), 

Osawe (2015), Okonkwo, Onuigbo, Eme & Ekekwe (2019), Zubairu 

(2020). Onifade et al (2013) carried out research entitled 

“Addressing the Insecurity Challenges in Nigeria: The Imperative 

of Moral Values and Virtue Ethics”. The objective of the study is to 

focus on the need to revive moral values and virtues within the 

socio-economic, political, religious and educational institutions in 

the country. They are of the view that Nigerian leaders, politicians 

and all citizens must be forced to embrace moral values and virtues 

in all their conduct to enable them live by example and avoid heating 

up the polity capable of inciting violence which tends to disrupt 

peace and unity of purpose. The findings among other things include 

that the Nigerian political leaders should clamp down on their quest 

for power by all means for no citizen’s blood worth being spilt just 

to gain power. The observation is that the security challenges in 

Nigeria throws a very big moral challenge to all and sundry to 

imbibe the quality of high moral standards which places high 

premium on the lives of the citizenry thereby enhances equity, unity, 

justice and fair play in Nigeria.  Osawe (2015) carries out the study 

on the “Increase in Wave of Violent Crime and Insecurity: A Threat 

to Socio-Economic Development in Nigeria”. Within the framework 

of deprivation theory, the paper critically examines the issue of high 

rate of violent crimes in Nigeria, its implication on socio-economic 

development. To him, the government should do all within her 

powers to ameliorate the rate of unemployment of the youths in the 



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country in order to curb the rise in crime rate. Okonkwo et al (2019) 

examine the recent security challenges in Nigeria via the: 

“Traditional Rulers and Community Policing in Nigeria: Challenges 

and Prospects”. They emphasize on the involvement of traditional 

rulers in community policing which seems to increase in tempo with 

the emergence of every new Inspector General of Police, all points 

to a rising appreciation of the place of traditional institutions in the 

search for peace and order. Zubairu (2020) researches on the “Rising 

Insecurity in Nigeria: Causes and Solutions”. The study reiterates 

the high level of insecurity issues in Nigeria and tries to proffer 

solutions for its eradication. The findings reveal that causes of rising 

insecurity in Nigeria include: the menace of unemployment and 

poverty, elite exploitation of ethnicity and religious differences, 

corruption, weak security apparatus, porous border, marginalization 

and inequality in the country, bad governance and poor leadership. 

The study concludes that solution to the issue of insecurity in 

Nigeria range from opposing the aforementioned causes of 

insecurity.    

In the studies reviewed, the scholars delved into the issue of 

insecurity challenges from different perspectives. One scholar 

approached it from the angle of moral values and virtue ethics, the 

others looked at it from the causes and solutions effect, high rate of 

crime effect and the involvement of traditional institutions 

especially the traditional rulers as the custodians of the people’s 

culture and tradition. These studies are different from the present 

study in the sense that it discusses solution to insecurity challenges 

being sought through literature by identifying images of insecurity 

and the traditional approaches to the management with reference to 

selected Igbo novels.   

 

3. Methodology 



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This study uses qualitative research approach and the thematic 

method of analysis of data. The technique of content analysis is used 

to analyze these data. The primary source of data is from the selected 

Igbo novels- Mmiri Ọkụ E Ji Egbu Mbe and Ụkpana Okpoko Buuru 

by Ubesie, T. U. The study focuses on images of insecurity as seen 

in the two literary texts while the secondary sources were derived 

from other library materials and the Internet. At the end, images of 

insecurity challenges were identified through thematic approach 

from each of the texts as well as some traditional approaches to the 

management system of insecurity. After careful scrutiny of the texts, 

the expressions indicating the existence of images of insecurity 

challenges were identified just as the experience in Nigeria broadly 

and in Igbo land and culture of today. 

 

4. Synopsis of the Selected Igbo Novels 

In this section, a summary of the selected literary texts were 

presented starting with the first novel, Mmiri Ọkụ Ji Egbu Mbe 

(1974). 

 

4.1 ‘Mmiri Ọkụ E Ji Egbu Mbe’ 

Ubesie’s novel Mmiri Ọkụ E Ji Egbu Mbe (1974) is a fiction which 

centers on Enyi, an orphan, whose parents-(Ụzọdịmma and 

Chinyere) death was as a result of the feud between Chinyere 

(Ụzọdịmma’s wife) and Okafọ’s wife whose name was not 

mentioned. Out of hatred, jealousy, and unestablished facts 

concerning his son, Enyi’s (health issues, Ụzọdịmma took laws into 

his hands to end Okafọ’s life. Justice took it course and Ụzọdịmma 

was sentenced to death by hanging. Shortly after, Chinyere, Enyi’s 

mother out of stomach ache, joined her husband leaving Enyi, their 

only surviving son at the mercy of his uncle, Ebuzo and his wife, 

Nneka, as foster parents, as custom demands. Enyi’s stay with them 



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brought untold deprivation and hardship to him at a very tender age 

which made him to flee from their home to start a wild kind of life 

in the society.  

Enyi’s abode becomes classroom block, and market places 

which exposes him to meet and join bad gang in the society. His 

nefarious activities gradually move from pickpocketing to armed 

banditry. His escapades took him to various cities like Enugu, 

Ndiabia and Zengu. The robbery attack at Maazi Anagbọgụ’s house 

landed some of his gang members in prison while he, Enyi escapes 

due to ill-health resulting to his being hospitalized. While waiting 

for his gang members to serve out their prison term, Enyi relocates 

to his home town to become a terror to them. His people, being tired 

of his terrorizing activities, made him the chief security officer. He 

met his waterloo after the robbery attack at the bank at Zengu. 

Through the help of Chukwudi, the young man Enyi was nurturing 

to be a member of his gang, Enyi was caught, tried at the law court 

and sentenced to five (5) years jail term. At the end of his 

imprisonment, he travels back to his home town as a rich man to 

squander the remains of his ill-gotten wealth. Not too long, his state 

of bankruptcy makes him to have a rethink about his personality to 

face reality. He decides to venture into farming to maximize his 

God-given potentials and with the help of his community; Enyi 

becomes a successful farmer and a figure to reckon with amongst 

his people. 

 

4.2 ‘Ụkpana Okpoko Buuru’ 

Ubesie’s Ụkpana Okpoko Buuru (1975) is a fiction about a town, 

Ifite-Amaeke which is characterized by insecurity challenges such 

as: armed robbery activities, drug addicts, bad Leadership, 

kidnapping, assassinations and ritual killings. The perpetrators of 

these criminal activities branded themselves ‘Ndi Odogwu”.  They 



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have no respect for constituted authority or anyone who dares to 

caution them to desist from these criminal activities. That was why 

they threw caution to the wind and defiled the advice of their king 

to stop dragging the name of their town to the mud instead they left 

their town, Ifite-Amaeke and encamped in the bush to form their 

own town named Ifite Ukwu from where they re-strategized to de-

throne Obi Udeaja, the king of Ifite- Amaeke and crowned one of 

their members, Okoye as the new Obi, who will always give them 

his maximum support. The god of the land, (Ọgba) warned them 

against using snake bite as a cover up whenever any of them is 

wounded during robbery attacks at their neighbouring towns-

Ụmụafa and Agbagwu, but the warning fell on deaf ears until Ọgba 

decided to be killing them truly by snake bites.  

After, a robbery attack at Obi Okoye’s, palace, they saw it as an 

abomination and summoned the entire town to a meeting. They give 

special title to their members who successfully returns from robbery 

adventure severally without being caught. It was during Maazi 

Ezekwe’s title giving ceremony in which Maazi Obijiọfọ, an upright 

and out-spoken man, who was asked to bless the kola nut for the 

occasion condemned in unequivocal terms the various atrocities 

previously committed in their town. This his boldness to openly 

challenge the activities of ‘Ndi Odogwu’ marks the beginning of a 

new way of life for Maazị Ezekwe and a very strong relationship 

ties with Maazị Obijiọfọ and at the same time the beginning of his 

(Obijiọfọ’s) travails in the hands of ‘Ndi Odogwu’   

‘Ndi Odogwu’s first robbery attack on Maazị Obijiọfọ’s 

house with the intention to kill him was foiled by Maazi Ezekwe’s 

prompt information before hand, the outcome of which remains an 

unforgettable nightmare to ‘Ndi Odogwu for a long time. After this 

incident, Obijiọfọ left Ifite Amaeke to Ụmụarọ with his entire family 

where he was tracked down and killed by ‘Ndi Odogwu during a 



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hunting episode with his sons but with an instruction to his sons-

Jideọfọ and Obiọra in case of any eventuality to bury him with his 

gun. On their return to Ifite-Amaeke, Jideọfọ and Obiọra faced a lot 

of armed robbery, kidnapping and assassination attacks in the hands 

of ‘Ndi Odogwu’ until they (Jideọfọ and Obiọra) come to terms to 

deal decisively with them to broker permanent peaceful co-

existence. 

However, ‘Ndi Odogwu’ of Ifite-Amaeke vows never to stop 

their notorious lifestyle. This time, they kidnapped Kasie, an only 

child of his mother Mgbafọ, from Ụmụikenga, their neighbors and 

used his skin to beautify their musical instrument, Edere regardless 

of the warnings from one of them, Maazị Ọnyịa to desist from such 

dastardly act capable of culminating into chaotic situation. War 

broke out between Ifite-Amaeke and Ụmụikenga but not without 

Obijiọfọ’s transfiguration to warn his sons about the impending 

danger, instructing them to flee from Ifite-Amaeke and Ọgba’s 

warning, too.  ‘Ndi Odogwu of Ifite-Amaeke together with their war 

lord, Meenihu were completely wiped out from the face of the earth. 

After the war, a new Ifite-Amaeke emerged and is called, Amaeke, 

ably led by Jideọfọ and his brother, Obiọra.      

     

5. Images of Insecurity in the Selected Igbo Novels 

In this section, the various images of insecurity challenges in the 

selected novels were identified: 

 Mmiri Ọkụ E Ji Egbu Mbe  
In Ubesie’s Mmiri Ọkụ E Ji Egbu Mbe, the following images of 

insecurity were identified: 

 Hatred, quarrel and unestablished accusations abound 

(Ụzọdịmma and Okafọ). 

 Inhuman treatment and denial of the basics of life (Nneka). 



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 Pickpocketing, stealing and armed robbery in the society 

(Enyi & his gang). 

 Corruption tendencies in the society (Ndụka’s case). 

 Trapping a culprit through a closest associate (Enyi & 

Chukwudị). 

 

Ụkpana Okpoko Buuru 
In Ubesie’s Ụkpana Okpoko Buuru, the following images of 

insecurity challenges were observed: 

 Many criminal activities such as: armed robbery, 

kidnapping, assassination, ritual killing, drug addiction (all 

perpetrated by ‘Ndi Odogwu’ of Ifite Amaeke). 

 Disobedience to constituted authorities at all levels (Obi 

Udeaja, elders, Ọgba, the god of the land by ‘Ndi Odogwu’) 

 Bad leadership fuels corruption (Obi Okoye instituted by 

‘Ndi Odogwu’). 

 No place like home. Home is the best (Jideọfọ & Obiọra). 

 War wipes off a nation. Peace is better than war. (Ifite 

Amaeke & Ụmụikenga 

 

5.1 Traditional Management System 
From the forgoing, it is an indisputable fact that literature is the 

mirror with which people and the society are viewed. Contemporary 

societal events have been predicted by fictional writers before such 

events come into physical manifestation. Insecurity challenges are 

one of such situations already in place from the time past. This study 

identifies the traditional approaches to manage them whenever the 

need arises. Just as insecurity challenges do not occur in vacuum 

without human agents propelling it, traditional approaches to the 

management of insecurity in the land cannot be achieved without 

the involvement of human beings as agents for accomplishment.  



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Some of the traditional approaches to the management of 

insecurity challenges present in the selected Igbo novels include: 

mediation by elders, equal treatment, oath taking, empowerment of 

the youths into agricultural ventures, establishment of traditional 

security outfit, good leadership, communal bonding (Ịgba Ndụ), use 

of traditional symbols (Ọmụ Nkwụ), sound of the drum (Ikoro) 

banishing or ostracizing the immoral persons amongst us, etc. and 

human agents designated for their accomplishments are parents and 

foster parents, family and friends, elders, age grades, traditional 

rulers, entire members of the community and government. Let us 

take a quick look at them one after the other.      

 

5.1.1 Mediation by Elders 

In our traditional Igbo culture, it is not in our character to allow two 

warring parties to destroy themselves without intervention. Our 

people say, okenye anaghị anọ n’ụlọ, ewu amụọ n’ọgbụ (an elder 

does not stay at home and watch the goat delivers in thither). If 

elders were able to mediate into the situation between the two 

families at the appropriate time, Ụzọdịmma would not have taken 

laws into his hands to end Okafọ’s life abruptly. All avenues for 

finding out the truth and settle the matter amicably were not fully 

explored so as to sanction the erring party to serve as a deterrent to 

others for future occurrences. War is an evil wind that blows no one 

any good. The war between Ifite-Amaeke and Ụmụikenga 

completely closed up the generation of ‘Ndi Odogwu’ of Ifite-

Amaeke because they bluntly refused to listen to the advice of well-

meaning elders in their town and the warnings from their god, Ọgba. 

The ‘Ndi Odogwu’ of Ifite-Amaeke became the proverbial Ụkpana 

(Grasshopper) who refuses to adhere to the instructions to go into 

hiding while Okpoko (another stronger insect) is around the corner, 

hence, it, Ụkpana (Grasshopper) ended up as food for the Okpo 



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(another stronger insect), While the family of Jideọfọ and Obiọra, 

the sons of late Maazị Obijiọfọ who adhered to the advice of their 

father were ushered into a new town of Amaeke. Truth, our people 

say is life. We should endeavor to live in peace no matter what it 

will cost us. If this traditional approach is applied in the management 

of the insecurity challenges identified here, things would have 

turned out better for the benefit of all concerned. 

5.1.2 Equal Treatment 

Children are special gifts from God and as such should be handled 

with extreme care. Parents or foster parents are the first agents of 

socialization of a child, therefore, bear the responsibility to see that 

the children God has placed in their care will not derail early in life 

as to negatively affect the society at large. When we bring up these 

children in love and provide them with the basic amenities of life 

such as shelter, food and education, they grow up to become 

blessings to the society they belong rather than being a curse. In 

Mmiri Ọkụ E Ji Egbu Mbe, Nneka, Enyi’s uncle’s wife threw 

caution to the winds by the way she was maltreating Enyi, the 

orphan. She constantly denied Enyi of good nourishing food simply 

because he, Enyi was not her biological son and this forced Enyi out 

of the house to become a social misfit. The Igbo people say, e buru 

nwa n’afọ ọ bụrụ sọ nke onye, mgbe a mụrụ ya amụ ọ bụrụ nwa ụwa 

niile (when a child is in the womb, it belongs to one person, but 

when born, it belongs to the society). Again, otu onye anaghị azụ 

nwa (child upbringing is a collective responsibility). We therefore, 

advocate for equal treatment for every child irrespective of any 

biological accident of birth. In Ụkpana Okpoko Buuru, Maazị 

Obijiọfọ brought up his two sons- Jideọfọ and Obiọra as tradition 

demands and they were able to maintain the led down precepts even 

after the demise of their father. Such good moral upbringing will go 



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a long way to curb these insecurity challenges which is a fall out of 

social vices. A child that is not well brought up grows up to become 

a social miscreant terrorizing the society at large. 

5.1.3 Oath Taking 

The traditional rulers are said to be the custodians of our customs 

and traditions. Whenever there is an issue in contention between 

individuals or entire community of jurisdiction, a means must be 

devised to find out the truth and one of such means is by oath taking. 

Oath taking is a vital traditional approach to the management of 

insecurity in Igbo land. This approach came into play in the life of 

Enyi and Obijiọfọ’s sons-Jideọfọ and Obiọra to ascertain the truth 

about a robbery incident. Enyi was found guilty of the offence while 

the oath exonerated Jideọfọ who took the oath on behalf of his 

brother, Obiọra and the entire family. They use to say that, Agbụrụ 

otu onye na-aṅ ụrụ iyi maara onwe ha (a kindred where one person 

can take an oath on behalf of others are truly trustworthy).    

5.2 Establishment of Traditional Security Outfit 

Another traditional approach to the management of insecurity in 

Igbo land and culture is the establishment of an indigenous vigilante 

security outfit to take charge of the safety of the community. 

Oftentimes, the vigilante group is constituted by those people with 

questionable character because the Igbo do say that Nkịta anaghị ata 

ọkpụkpọ a nyawara ya n’olu (The dog does not chew the bone 

hanged on its neck). This means that one is expected to safeguard 

tenaciously whatever is entrusted in one’s care. It is an abomination 

to go contrary to the expected societal norm because it is meant for 

preservation. The perpetrators of these dastardly criminal acts are 

already known to the members of the community. Hand them over 

the security watch over the land with enough incentives and watch 



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sanity return to the land speedily. In Mmiri Ọkụ E Ji Egbu Mbe, 

Udenze, implored this method to track down Enyi by making him 

the head of the local security outfit in his home community of 

Ndiabia at some point and his people enjoyed some respite within 

this period before he joined his gang again at Enugu. This is a very 

good traditional approach to curb the menace of insecurity 

challenges in our contemporary society. Community policing, 

Vigilante or any other indigenous security outfit formed at the local 

level will go a long way in ensuring a firm control of our insecurity 

challenges. Anyone found guilty faces banishment or being 

ostracized from the community. At times, jungle justice is applied 

on very extreme cases.    

5.3 Empowerment of the Youths:  
Age grade system has been an age-long social institution practiced 

in every society of which Igbo land is not an exception. They are 

fully involved in our traditional education activities and can also be 

a very useful tool for traditional approach to the management of 

insecurity challenges in our land. As the saying goes that ‘an idle 

mind is the devil’s workshop’, and that the youths of today are our 

hope and future leaders of tomorrow, engaging the youths in every 

society with meaningful means of livelihood should be paramount 

to the society where they belong. Everybody must not go to school 

in pursuit of white-collar jobs which is no longer within reach except 

for the privileged political class and well to do who have the 

connections. Unemployment is the root cause of poverty which 

gives birth to evil tendencies because the living must take good care 

of themselves. The youths must be gainfully employed at the local, 

state and federal levels to enable them to take care of their basic 

needs which is their fundamental human right. 



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‘Ndi Odogwu’ of Ifite-Amaeke do not believe in suffering 

before pleasure, therefore, failed to put to use their youthful strength 

by engaging in agricultural activities for the benefit of all. To them, 

armed robbery is the quickest and easiest means of being wealthy. 

They are likened to the youths of our present dispensation who 

engage in Yahoo ventures, ritual killings and kidnapping for ransom 

to earn a living. People in Diaspora are even afraid of coming home 

for fear of hoodlums spread everywhere. Jideọfọ and Obiọra his 

brother proves that there is no place like home. Enyi ventured into 

farming later in his life and realized how he misused his potential 

youthful life. Traditionally, the Igbo people are predominately 

farmers but we abandoned it in pursuit of white-collar jobs. Our 

large expanse of lands are wasting away and being used as hide outs 

for criminals as well as the so called herdsmen attacking innocent 

lives and properties to perfect their kidnapping activities. ‘Ndi 

Odogwu’ of Ifite-Amaeke is not left out in this type of lifestyle. Our 

youths should be engaged in serious agricultural activities to earn a 

living instead of involving themselves in youthful exuberance of 

get-rich-quick syndrome very likely to cut short their lives. 

Association with people of same interest is a motivating factor to 

watch one another’s back to dictate the culprit in the case of any 

eventuality. Enyi’s association with Chukwudi no doubt paved way 

for his arrest, trial and subsequent sentence to five (5) years 

imprisonment.   

 

5.4 Good Leadership 
Our traditional rulers are said to be the custodians of our customs 

and traditions; therefore, efforts should be made in the careful 

selection of the right persons. Good leadership enhances peace and 

orderliness while bad leadership is a serious threat to peace and 

unity. We know our local routes and can easily block intruders as 



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17 

 

well as deal mercilessly with them if they try to escape. Obi Udeaja 

of Ifite-Amaeke is an example of a good leader who was not allowed 

to complete his reign but was rather forced into exile while Obi 

Okoye is a clear example of a bad leader who supports as well as 

fuels the anarchy in the land. Such leaders are not supposed to lead 

the people. Peradventure such bad leaders do exists, the people will 

pass a vote of no confidence on them and they will be automatically 

dethroned. 

 

5.5 Communal Bond (Ịgba Ndụ) 
In the Igbo culture, we live a communal life that there is the belief 

system that we are one in a community and are not supposed to think 

evil against one another. But peradventure we harm one another 

purposefully or inadvertently through words of mouth and actions 

involving shed of blood, we have disorganized the cosmic nature of 

the universe and as such demands a sort of communal bonding 

amongst the parties involved to forestall future adverse effect and 

for peace to reign. In Ụkpana Okpoko Buuru, ‘Ndi Odogwu’ of Ifite-

Amaeke terrorized Maazị Obijiọfọ through armed robbery attacks 

and eventually ended up his life. They did not stop at that but also 

terrorized his children, Jideọfọ and Obiọra and their families greatly 

through armed robbery attacks, kidnapping and assassination. After 

the last incident of kidnapping and killing one of their daughters, the 

duo decided to fight to finish. When the heat from the reprisal 

attacks become too hot for ‘Ndi Odogwu and their families, they 

solicited for peace, hence the communal bonding for peaceful 

coexistence devoid of all forms of attacks.   

     

5.6 Use of Cultural Symbol   



In Search of Solution - Onukawa 

 

18 

 

In Ifite-Amaeke town, and the entire Igbo land in reality, the tender 

palm frond (ọmụ nkwụ) is a   revered cultural symbol. It is a symbol 

of peace as well as a warning sign to keep off someone’s property. 

Any unauthorized intrusion is a violation of the rights of the 

individual owner or the community at large. Any enemy attack from 

wherever the tender palm frond (ọmụ nkwụ) crosses will meet very 

strong opposition. In the event of the war that broke out between 

Ifite-Amaeke and Ụmụikenga, due to the killing of Kasie and the 

subsequent quarrel at the Agụ river, the chief priest of their god, 

Ọgba warned them of imminent war while they were celebrating 

their Nnekeeji festival, and left them with the instruction to cross the 

tender palm frond (Ọmụ Nkwụ) in the land as seen in the following 

excerpt:  

     Mgbe ha na oriri na-eme, onye afa Ọgba bịara sị ha gechie 

ọmụ n’obodo, na agha na-abịa.    Ha bidoro rụwa ụka. Ihe 

ndi Amaeke niile ji egechi ọmụ ma agha na-abịa bụ na ha 

nwere okwukwe na ndi agha si ebe e kechiri ọmụ bata, na ala 

obodo ga-eso lụsa ha ọgụ. 

            As they were deeply engrossed with their celebrations, 

Ọgba’s chief priest came and told them to cross the tender 

palm frond (Ọmụ Nkwụ) in the land, for war is approaching. 

Argument ensued between them. The Amaeke people do 

cross the tender palm frond (Ọmụ Nkwụ) in the event of war 

outbreak because they have the belief that if their attackers 

enter the land through such route, it is assumed that the entire 

land will join forces to fight for them. 

The sudden sound of gun shots in the land awakens the Ifite-Amaeke 

people from slumber to reality but their saving grace was that the 

Ifite-Ụnọ people already carried out Ọgba’s directive. This 

automatically gave them victory over the Ụmụikenga people as 



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19 

 

Maazị Ọnyịa later explained to them as the reason behind their 

defeat.      

 

5.6.1 Sound of the Drum 

The Ikoro, (a traditional wooden gong) is another highly revered 

symbol in Igbo land that people of the community are compelled to 

gather at its emergency sound especially in the night as it portends 

life or death situation that demands urgent attention. By this sound 

of the Ikoro as advised by Maazị Ọnyịa, the Ifite-Amaeke people, 

highly populated by ‘Ndi Odogwu thought that the representative of 

Ọgba, their god is summoning them for a meeting at that ungodly 

hour of the night to discuss further actions about the war between 

them and Ụmụikenga, responded accordingly, but unknown to them, 

they have been ambushed by their enemies.   

                    

6. Conclusion   

In this study, efforts have been made to substantiate the fact that 

insecurity is an ill wind that blows no one any good. It has been in 

existence over the years and has resulted to loss of lives and 

properties. People and the society do not exist in vacuum. Just as 

other cultures all over the world do have their literature which 

mirrors the happenings around them, the Igbo people are not left out. 

The Igbo written literature has recorded the existence of images of 

insecurity challenges also prevalent in the present-day society. Since 

government alone cannot curb the menace associated with these 

high-risk societal ills posing a serious threat to peaceful coexistence, 

efforts should be made to adopt the traditional approaches 

represented in the selected novels as x-rayed by this study. The study 

also advances that more researches be carried out from other 

perspectives in finding lasting solution to the management of 

insecurity in Nigeria as a whole. The time to act is now. 



In Search of Solution - Onukawa 

 

20 

 

 

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