Clan System in Igboland: The Traditional Imperatives
Table of Contents What is a Clan? Clan System in Igboland Umunna-Umuada Structure In the article, Nigeria's Diversity and the South-East/South-South Peripheral Inclusions: Biafra's raison d'etre, Igbo people, and territory were briefly discussed as embodied in the notional term, Biafra. I will refer readers to that article if they want to find out more about Igboland and its territories. In this article, my main concern is to discuss the clan system in Igboland as a long-established and commanding phenomenon. What is a Clan? Before moving any further, it will be relevant to give a few understandings of what clan means. What is a clan? According to R.N Sharma, “clan is a collection of ‘unilateral’ families whose members believe themselves to be the common descendants of a real or mythical ancestor.” Then Majumdar and Madan defined clan as: a combination of a few lineages and descents that may be ultimately traced to a mythical ancestor, who may be a human or