Study Notes: Major Culture Areas of Nigeria

Theoretical Foundations of Culture and Culture Areas

Culture is defined as the complex whole of knowledge, beliefs, laws, and habits acquired by humans as members of society. Sir Edward Burnett Tylor proposed leading definitions in $1871$, while Ward Goodenough characterized it as an organization of mental models for interpreting the world. Culture is fundamentally integrated, dynamic, shared among a group, and learned rather than biological. It is categorized into material culture (artefacts like tools, technology, and structures) and non-material culture (mentifacts like values, political systems, and knowledge). The "Culture Area" concept, developed by Clark Wissler and others, identifies geographical zones where different cultures share similar traits due to environmental adaptation. Wissler identified nine traits including language, religion, and property, while Professor Onwuejeogwu modified these for the Nigerian context to include social organization and economy. Authorities count approximately $374$ cultural groupings in Nigeria, representing over one-third of Africa's total cultures.

Cultures of the Niger Delta Region

This region includes minority ethnic groups such as the Ijaw, Isoko, Urhobo, and Itsekiri. Located in mangrove and fresh water zones, these cultures rely on fishing, the cultivation of root crops, and historical roles as middlemen in trade. Politically, they are characterized by a democratic-republican spirit and local autonomy, organized into village groups or clans such as the $22$ Urhobo clans. Religiously, they believe in a supreme God ($Oghene$, $Tamara$, or $Oriste$) and numerous water deities like $Olokun$, with prominent religious movements like the $Igbe$ groups. A significant feature is the high political power of women, evidenced by mass anti-taxation movements in $1927/1928$ and $1986$. Artistic contributions include canoe making, salt production, and musical forms like $udje$ and $egbada$.

Cultures of the Rain Forest Region

This zone includes the Yoruba, Igbo, and Edoid groups like the Bini and Esan. Social and political structures range from village democracies in Igboland to centralized monarchical states in Yorubaland and Benin. The Igbo basic unit is the village, where administration is led by the $Okpara$ (oldest male) and councils like the $ama\,ala$. Yoruba political life centers on the town, where the authority of the $Oba$ or $Baale$ is moderated by bodies like the $Oyomesi$ or $Iwarefa$. These cultures possess sophisticated traditions in metallurgy (Ife, Benin, and Igbo-Ukwu) and a common belief in a supreme but distant God ($Olodumare$, $Osanobua$, or $Chukwu$) mediated by lesser deities ($orisa$ or $alusi$) and ancestors.

Cultures of the Guinea Savanna Region

The Guinea Savanna, or Middle Belt, contains upwards of $70\,\%$ of Nigeria's ethnic diversity, including the Tiv, Gwari, and Nupe. Many groups are small, with some states like Adamawa, Nasarawa, Plateau, and Taraba alone housing half of the nation's cultures. Historically, these areas favored decentralized village democracies over large empires, though some like the Igala and Nupe developed monarchies. The primary economy is farming within the West African yam belt, utilizing community-based land tenure systems. The region is notable for high religious tolerance between Islam and Christianity and maintains deep historical roots, with artefacts from the Nok culture dating back $2500$ years.

Cultures of the Sudan Savanna Region

Dominant groups include the Hausa and the Fulani. Hausa society is structured into city-states with a strict hierarchy: the ruling classes ($Sarakuna$ and $Masu\,Sarauta$) and commoners ($talakawa$). Their political process operates through personal patron-client networks. The Hausa economy is built on farming, industry, and extensive trans-saharan trade. The Fulani consist of two categories: the pastoral, nomadic $Bororo$ and the settled $Fulani\,Gidan$, the latter of which became a powerful ruling class following the $19^{th}$ century Jihad. This Jihad, led by the Fulani elite, unified the Hausa states into the Sokoto caliphate and deeply integrated Islamic law ($Sharia$) into the socio-political structure.