THE INTERGROUP RELATIONS IN PRE-COLONIAL, COLONIAL AND POST-COLONIAL EASTERN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE.
INTRODUCTION.
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY.
      As an area of study, intergroup relations appears to be one of the recent themes in African historiography.1 Intergroup relations has been rationalised by behavioural scientists like M. Sherif and C. W. Sherif, from the social psychology perspective.
      According to one of such insights put forward, intergroup relations has been conceptualised  as;
               "states of friendship or hospitality, cooperation or competition,
                domination or subordination, alliance or enmity, peace or war
                between two or more groups and their respective members"2
They both view a group as a social unit consisting of a number of individuals who stand in role and status relationships to one another and who possesses a set of values or norms of their own to regulate their behaviour towards each other in matters affecting them.
      Another theoretical formation on intergroup relations, is that by A. E. Afigbo in his analysis of The Igbos and Their Neighbours. According to him;
               "intergroup relations presupposes contacts and interaction
                between groups each of which has an identity, to make some
                some impute into the relations, each of which has some scope
               and area of autonomous action"3
      From the above definition therefore, an important phenomenon of intergroup relations is that it entails contact and interaction between two or more groups. An implication of this is that intergroup relations is the logical consequence of contact between people in which case it deals with human beings and is therefore a social phenomenon. In emphasizing this point, Lohor, (1998) observed that intergroup relations;
                "...refers to the interactions which takes place between
                members of different groups and societies who come
                in contact with one another. It pertains to the symbolical
                or face-to-face interaction between different societies..."4
      Therefore, intergroup relations reflect human actions which are also part of the process of existence channeled towards economic, political and social development.
      The Eastern Region was one of Nigeria's federal divisions, dating back originally from the division of the colony of Southern Nigeria in 1954. Its first capital was Calabar and later Enugu, and the second was Umuahia. The dominant ethnic groups in this region (Eastern Nigeria) are the Igbo people; others include Calabar, Ibibio, Efik, Ijaw e.t.c. This region was officially divided in 1967 into three new states; the East-Central State, Rivers State and Southern Eastern States.The region now harbours states like Imo, Enugu, Anambra, Abia e.t.c in present day Nigeria.
      According to A. E. Afigbo,
               "it is difficult to reconstruct the early history of a pre-literate
                and acephalous people. Those who seek to do so can easily
                fall victim to either wild romanticism or sterile scepticism"5
      Thus the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria are widely known for its acephalous system of government that it practised long before colonial imposition. Therefore, before the coming of the Europeans, the people and groups of Eastern Nigeria had co-existed and sufficiently interacted with one another. These interactions occurred in multifarious ways (peacefully and violently)
      This work examines the phenomenon of intergroup relations in pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial Eastern Nigeria using Imo State as a case-study. Historically, the Ibo people of Eastern Nigeria had achieved a high level of integration and administration with high societal values long before colonial European conquest. Their pattern of intergroup relations includes trade, migration, marriages, cultural exchange, festivals and socio-economic relations. Typical examples of intergroup relations in this region (Eastern Nigeria) include Opi and Nike, Ugbawka and Amurri, Awo-Omamma and Amirri, amongst others.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
      This research work is expected to add to the existing body of knowledge on intergroup relations in Eastern Nigeria. Thus it intends doing this by discussing the patterns and ways by which the people and groups of Eastern Nigeria related with each other in the conduct of their activities. Thus by so doing, this research work aims at enriching existing literature on the subject matter as well as reveal in the process of discussion, the impact of intergroup relations in the region and on its people and groups.
      The objective of this work most notably is to illuminate the fact that the people and groups of Eastern Nigeria had their own culture, administrative system and mode of relating between and amongst themselves long before the advent of colonialism. Its objective is also to explore the effects of colonialism on the groups and peoples of this region through the discussion of colonial intergroup relations in Eastern Nigeria.
      The research work also aims at showing or attesting to the fact that the people and groups of Eastern Nigeria still had their own culture, administrative system and mode of relation between and amongst themselves even after the advent of colonialism. Its objective is also to explore the effects of colonialism on the groups and peoples of this region through the discussion of intergroup relations among the Imo People in Eastern Nigeria.
SCOPE OF STUDY
      The scope of study as regards this research work coves basically intergroup relations in pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial Eastern Nigeria. The pattern of intergroup relations in pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial Eastern Nigeria. The pattern of intergroup relations in this region and during these said periods shall be analysed with particular note to the colonial period upon which the basis of this research work is founded.
METHODOLOGY
      This research work shall be heavily drawn from secondary sources which includes textbooks, journals, articles and also from the internet. The research work also makes use of primary sources which includes oral interviews. However, the methodological approach to this work will be historical and social, thus making this research work both qualitative and quantitative as it will benefit from existing literatures on the subject upon which this research work is largely based.
LITERATURE REVIEW
      The review of existing literature relevant to this research work is very necessary because without their review, this research work cannot be sufficiently considered to be an intellectual or academic piece. Therefore the invaluable materials consulted for this research work include;
      The Igbos and Their Neighbour ; Intergroup Relations in South Eastern Nigeria History. A book by A.E. Afigbo and published in 1980 in Ibadan by Heinemann Education books. This book talked on the Igbo groups and people of Eastern Nigeria, revealing the socio-cultural interactions between them and South Eastern Nigeria. This socio-cultural interaction cuts across a multifarious range of cultural and social activities. A.E. Afigbo in his book also conceptualised the phenomenon known as intergroup relations in which he defines it as presupposing contact and interaction between groups each of which has an individual identity to make some impute into their relations.6
    Egbefo Dawood Omolumen's article, Aspects of Intergroup Relations in 21st Century Nigeria: Emblem of Ethnicity, Religious Fundamentalism and National Security Crisis 2000-2014, published in International Journals of Arts and Humanities (IJAH), Vol.4, No.1 2015. This article made known that intergroup relations as an area of study appear to be one of the recent themes in African historiography. it also went ahead to make some conceptual classifications on the subject of intergroup relations.7
    In their book entitled Social Psychology, published in Oklahoma by Oklahoma university in 1969, Sherif M. and Sherif C.W. Leds talked about intergroup relations from the perspective of social psychology. This book thus broadens one's understanding of intergroup relations beyond the historical perspective thereby adding some sort of flavour to this research work.8
    C.C. Ifemesia in his work The Peoples of West Africa Around 1800 divulged that a wider-layer of similarity in symbols and rituals exist among the West African people. He further contended that diversities result from adaptation to peculiar environment.9 Therefore, it should be noted that peculiarity of culture indicates aspects of cultural conflicts.
AUTHORITIES OF INTEGROUP RELATIONS
    This authority refers to people who have in one way or the other distinguished themselves in history and within the context of intergroup relations as a theme in African historiography. Among these notable personalities include Obaro Ikime, Adiele Eberechukwu Afigbo, Kenneth Dike, etc.
    One very prominent individual in Nigeria and indeed African history is the renowned historian himself Professor Obaro Ikime, he is a relevant authority in intergroup relations especially in South-Eastern Nigerian History. He is a native of Isoko, Delta State and went to Warri College, now Government College Ughelli. His craving or unveiling the deep secrets of human history led him to study Itsekiri-Urhobo relations which bagged him his PhD degree. He taught history at the University of Ibadan from 1964-1990 between which period he served as both head of History Department and Dean of Arts. He was the director of the Institute of African Studies as well as the president of the Historical Society of Nigeria.
    One major work of Obaro Ikime is Groundwork of Nigerian History which he edited. This works talks about every part of pre-colonial Nigeria and how they interrelated between and among themselves. Other works by him include, "History, the Historian and the Nation", "The Fall of Nigeria: the British Conquest"; Government in pre-colonial Africa, etc.10
    Adiele Eberechukwu Afigbo(Nov. 22, 1937- March 9, 2009) was a Nigerian historian known for the history and historiography of Africa, particularly Igbo history and the history of South Eastern Nigeria. Some of the themes emphasized by him include Pre-Colonial and Colonial History, Inter-group Relations, the Aro and the slave trade, the Art and Science of History in Africa, and Nation-building.
    He was birthed at Ihube, Okigwe, in present day Imo State. His formal education began in 1994 at Methodist Central School, Ihube. He went to St. Augustine's (SMS) Grammar School, Nkwerre, Orlu in present day Imo State with an Okigwe Native Administration Scholarship won in a competitive examination. He studied History at University College, Ibadan(then an affiliate of University of London), with scholarship from the government of Eastern Nigeria. There he encountered notables scholars like J. D. Omer Cooper, J. C. Anene, J. F.Ade Ajayi and K. O. Dike. There were also some of his colleagues like Obaro Ikime and Philip Igbafe who not only read History with him but also went on to become the pioneers of the 'made in Nigeria PhD' at the Infant University of Ibadan. A. E. Afigbo did not only graduate at the top of his class, but also upon graduation became the first person to receive a doctorate degree from a Nigerian university.11
      A.E. Afigbo was a Historian of Africa, Nigeria, South Eastern Nigeria and a historian of the Igbo. He was a political, economic and social historian as well as historian of Historiography. One of his works include; Myth ,History and Society, one of the three volumes of his essays edited by Toyin Falola is devoted to theorising on the sources of History in Africa, on the place and purpose of African history and other related issues.12
      Afigbo broke away from the action-reaction thesis that ruled the new African historiography when he joined the history profession. He did so by emphasizing his works are based on the reconstructionist history, the study of peoples and cultures in their own right.13
      Kenneth Dike was an African historian noted for setting uop the Nigerian National Archives and or serving as roving ambassador for Biafra during Eastern Nigeria's bid for seccession.14
      Born December 17, 1917 in Awka (East Central)Nigeria. He attended Dennis Memorial Grammar School in nearby Onitsha and went on later to Achimota College in Ghana and then Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone. He received his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Durham, England, his M.A degree was from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland and he earned his PhD in history from the University of London.15
      As both, historian and leader of the University of Ibadan's post-graduate school in   Nigeria, Dike is said to have "Nigerianized Nigerian History"(Michael Crowder). Perhaps Dike's best known book is Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta 1830-1890 (1956). In this work, Dike examined the "detailed process by which the existing native administration were gradually supplanted by British consular power and the Crown Colony administration".16
     In 1953, his Report on the Preservation and Administration of Historical Records in Nigerian National Archives which he later served as director. In this same documentation and preservation vein, Dike served for a time and also Chair of the Nigerian Antiquities Commission. Then in 1957 A Hundred Years of British Rule of Nigeria appeared.
      Dike from 1960-1966 was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, prior to which he was the director of the Institute of African Studies at Ibadan in addition to being the Director of the National Archives. He resigned as Vice-Chancellor in December 1966 at the beginning of the Nigerian Civil War to become Biafra's roving ambassador. Since he was an Igbo and Easterner, his role as head of university in Western Nigeria was untenable.17 He died in an Enugu hospital in October 26, 1983 at the age of 65. 
CHAPTERIZATION
      This work consists of five chapters, all structured out to give a clear insight and understanding of intergroup relations in Eastern Nigeria during the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial era.
      Chapter One; Introduction: This introduces us to the subject of intergroup relations as regards definition and conceptualisation. It also introduces us to intergroup relations in Eastern Nigeria. It deals with sub-topics like, Aims and Objectives, Methodology, Scope of Study, Literature Review, Authorities of Intergroup Relations e.t.c.
      Chapter Two; Intergroup Relations in Pre-Colonial Eastern Nigeria: This chapter discusses intergroup relations on pre-colonial Eastern Nigeria using Opi and Nike groups from present-day Enugu State as case-studies.
      Chapter Three; Intergroup Relations In Colonial Eastern Nigeria. In this chapter, Ugbawka and Amurri communities is used to analyse the nature and pattern of intergroup relations in colonial Eastern Nigeria.
      Chapter Four; Intergroup Relations among Imo People: This chapter gives an account of the background of Imo State and also discusses intergroup relations among Imo People using Awo-Omamma and Amirri groups. 
Chapter Five; Conclusion: This final chapter gives an overview of intergroup relations in Eastern Nigeria and thus bringing this piece of research work to a conclusion.
ENDNOTES
Egbefo Dawood Omolumen, Aspects of Intergroup Relations in 21st Century Nigeria;    Emblem of Ethnicity, Religious Fundamentalism and National Security Crisis 2000-2004, International Journal of Arts and Humanities(IJAH), Vol. 4, No. 1, 2015. p. 67.
Sherif M. and Sherif C. W. (eds.), Social Psychology (Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma, 1969), p.2
Afigbo A.E, The Igbo and  Thier Neighbours; Intergroup Relations in South Eastern Nigeria History, (Ibadan; Heinemann Education Books 1980), p.1
Lohor S. A,The Chadic Politics of Jos, Plateau and The Chadic Politics of Jos, Plateau and Their Neighbours; A Study of Intergroup Relations Among Jos, Plateau.
Afigbo A. E., Igboland Before 1800 in Groundwork of Nigerian History, Obaro Ikime (ed.) (Ibadan: HEBN Publishers Plc, 1980), p. 73
Afigbo A.E; The Igbo and Thier Neighbours; Intergroup Relations in South Eastern Nigeria History, p.1
Egbefo Dawood Omolumen, Aspects of Intergroup Relations in 21st Century Nigeria; Emblem of Ethnicity, Religious Fundamentalism and National Security Crisis 2000-2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2015. p. 67.
Sherif M. and Sherif C. W. (eds.), Social Psychology (Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma, 1969), p.2