INTRODUCTION
Proverbs are used frequently by Igbo people to enrich conversation and to make their points with very few words. Igbo people live in the South Eastern part of Nigeria and across the River Niger to the West. Despite the myriad of dialects of the Igbo language, most of the proverbs in this collection are shared by Igbo communities far and wide.
Traditionally, Igbo people are ruled by a parliament of elders who meet frequently to discuss matters ranging from warfare to trial and punishment. During such meetings, proverbs come up very frequently for inspiration, morale boosting and justification of community action.
Proverbs are also used during negotiations for marriage, payment of dowries and settlement of disputes. On personal grounds, knowledge of proverbs can provide the necessary wisdom for action or inaction, relationship, courage and reconciliation between friends.
Readers will find some of the proverbs vulgar. Despite the offensive nature of such proverbs they are still used by elders even in the presence of young adults as long such proverbs are the only ones capable of making a particular point indisputable.
Women are excluded in most traditional Igbo meetings. Most of the proverbs featured here are used mainly by men. It is worth noting that when women meet, they make use of proverbs as much as the men folk irrespective of whether such proverbs are vulgar or not.
With the growth of Pentecostal Christianity and the emergence of a revolutionary born again culture in Nigeria, the use of proverbs in Igbo land would have been expected to be on the decline. The use of proverbs has not been threatened by pious Christians as much as by the decline in the population of Igbo people willing to pass on the culture to their children. In some cases, pious Christians who wish to hang unto the traditional proverbs without being vulgar adapt them when speaking in public. For instance instead of saying that one vagina kills the penis the person would say that One thing kills the thing and the point would be understandable to all present.
Enjoy the proverbs and make the most of the wisdom, humor and laughter the proverbs are bound to provoke.
Uzoma C. Azuonye
Kaduna Nigeria 2013