Nigeria Through My Eyes – Where the Igbo Language Is Spoken 🔔

Before I take you to Awka and Nawgu, there is one thing that needs to be explained. 

What is Igbo Land? 

Igbo Land is a cultural and historical term for the southeastern region of Nigeria where the Igbo ethnic group traditionally lives. It is not an official state nor an administrative unit. It is a region of identity.

Geographically, it mainly includes the states of Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia. This is where the Igbo language is spoken, where families have their ancestral homes, and where traditions that shape an entire life - from birth to death, are still strongly upheld.

For an Igbo man, origin is not just information on a birth certificate. It is a commitment – and for an Igbo family, a house is not just a building. It is a place to return to.

And this is exactly where I am taking you today.

To southeastern Nigeria.
To places that are not tourist attractions, but personal stories.
To a land where language is not just speech, but a way of thinking. 

Southeastern Nigeria is not just a region. It is a place of origin. A place you return to, no matter where you live.
This is where the Igbo language is spoken.

And this is where traditions are honored that can sometimes be difficult for a European to fully understand. 

A house as a duty 

In Igbo culture, a man has one essential rule - he must have a house in his native village.

It does not matter if he has lived for thirty years in Lagos, London or Prague. It does not matter where he built his career.

His place is where he comes from.

Traditionally, men are buried at their house in their native village. With slight exaggeration, it is said that if a man does not have a house, his body ends up in the bush. I laughed when I first heard that. My husband did not.

He meant it very seriously.

And that was the moment I realized that "having a house back home" is not about property. It is about identity, respect for ancestors, and the certainty that even in death you know where you belong. 

Awka - our second (third?) home 

Our second home is Awka, the capital of Anambra State. We have a house there with a garden. Well… more of a paved garden. But it is a place we feel deeply connected to. It is the place where sometime around 2016 I was jumping with excitement on the concrete foundation, thrilled that we would finally have our own "Home, sweet home."

It is only twenty minutes by car from Nawgu, where our children's grandparents live – and where their grandfather holds the traditional role of local king.

In Awka, you can feel city life, though not as chaotic as Lagos. Outdoor markets, small shops, but also large supermarkets. They are more expensive and therefore less frequently visited. You can find Snickers, Twix, Persil, Budvar beer and Hellmann's mayonnaise – which tastes completely different from ours. Perhaps more preservatives to survive the unbearable heat. In any case, it cannot compare to the Czech one.

But reality is different from what photos may suggest. When we are there, we have armed security. Not only do you pay them, you must also provide food and accommodation. That is what the so-called BQ – Boy's Quarters – is for. A small house behind the main building. A kitchenette, bathroom, room, air conditioning. In big cities it is a luxury – in smaller towns and villages, almost a standard part of every house.

It is a different world. And yet it is ours.

Nawgu - a place where everyone knows each other 

Nawgu has a different energy.

A small market. A few shops with limited, often repetitive goods. Churches. Smaller schools. People who know each other by name and by story.

Here you feel community in its purest form. 

Abakaliki - a different kind of caution 

Abakaliki – the capital of Ebonyi State, where a specific Igbo dialect - Ebonyi Igbo is spoken. It is perceived as less safe than Anambra. It is not about one particular place on the map - more about reputation and people's experiences.

My husband never wanted to go out after dark there. He checked more carefully whether the car was locked. He looked around more.

The southeast is not homogeneous. Each state has a different atmosphere, a different level of safety, a different reality. 

Father Ofuluozor and our first journey to Calabar 

In 2009, my husband's maternal uncle, Father Ofuluozor, took us to Calabar for the first time.

The capital of the beautiful Cross River State, which differs with even greener and more fertile nature than Anambra or Ebonyi. Geographically, it is no longer an Igbo area like Anambra or Ebonyi. Cross River has its own ethnic groups and cultural specifics, which you can already feel on the road from Abakaliki to Calabar. The main local language is Efik, but the official language - as throughout Nigeria - is English.

A priest. A kind man. Every time I see him, I cry 😀 Not loudly, but tears push into my eyes. We do not see each other often, and usually he disappears as quickly as he appears.

At that time, he had already been the director of St Augustine's Seminary College for 25 years.

First, we stayed overnight at the school in Abakaliki. A modest room. A small bed. There were three of us – John was three years old. We had to put a mattress on the floor. The windows did not seal properly – they had glass louvers through which almost anything could pass. And something did. Oversized insects from the beautiful yet wild nature behind the school walls.

Then he took us "on a trip." To Calabar.

The journey takes about five hours, and some sections resemble a tank track. We drove in two cars. Father took his old Peugeot, and we followed behind him.

We arrived one day after the end of the Calabar Festival. Unexpected silence. Calm. And a city where history splashes in every direction.

We visited the Slave History Museum. First back then. The second time in 2018, when we returned with two boys - Christian had joined our family. 

Drill Ranch - a touch of the wild 

In Calabar, there is a place called Drill Ranch (Pandrillus). A project long run by Americans that rescues chimpanzees and other primates whose parents were killed by poachers.

Little John was allowed to stroke a three-month-old baby chimpanzee that was hanging on the back of one of the caregivers. A moment you remember forever - and we still have the photos.

If you have enough financial resources, you can also join them on a trek into the mountains near the Cameroon border, where it is possible to observe gorillas in the wild.

Nigeria is vast. And over the years, we have traveled to many more places than I could ever list in one article.

There were other cities. Other villages. Other journeys that were not always comfortable, but always real - Ojoto, Onitsha, Ogidi, Asaba, Enugu, Amawbia, Warri, Benin City and more.

But Anambra, Awka, Nawgu, Abakaliki and Calabar are the places that carry a personal imprint for me.

Southeastern Nigeria taught me respect for tradition. For ancestors. For the understanding that some things are not a matter of choice, but of identity.

And even though we live between two continents, some places remain in you forever.