Our homes, we say is our abode. In Igbo, we say “ebe onye bi ka ọ na awachi”(where you live is your comfort). We do everything possible to feel comfortable in our homes. We have a lot of household items, some in large quantities, others in small quantities. In this lesson, we will learn the Igbo names of these items, Igbo noun formation and classification.

Food and food preparation is an essential part of Igbo culture. In some cases, an Igbo host offers special food to his guest as a sign of warm welcome. There are some foods that are particular to the Igbos, and are prepared in a particular way. Other foods are prepared and served on special occasions. Among the Igbos, the most common meals are “fufu” and “ofe”. Fufu is prepared from cassava and eaten with any kind of soup. If an Igbo person eats any other food for dinner that is not fufu, he will say that he has not eaten and is still waiting for his food. Other common foods includes yam, plantain, cocoyam, maize, etc and occasionally rice. They eat a lot of vegetables grown in their farms and gardens. Most Igbos are hunters and fishermen, so their foods also includes meat and fish. In Igbo land, the food habits have changed as a result of their contacts with the western world. A lot of Igbo restaurants now serve western foods as well as the traditional foods. In this unit, we will take a look at the different types of Igbo foods and how some are prepared.

Nnianim (Introduction) There are two types of families among the Akans. These are the nuclear family (na-ne-agya abusua) and the extended family (abusuasanten). The nuclear family is made up of the mother, father and children. This family type is an adaptation from the western culture. This type of family is more recognized and take precedent over the extended family among educated and city dwellers perhaps due to economic constraints. The extended family is what comes to mind of any Akan at the mention of the word “family”. The extended family still plays a dominant role among the Akans especially in the rural areas as a result of the desire to keep particular lineages. Most Akans, with the exception of the Akuapims practice matrilineal inheritance. All children belong to their mother’s family (clan). An important feature of the extended family is that children do not inherit their father but uncles and aunts in the case of women. The Akans believe that a human being is formed from the blood of the mother and the spirit of the father. The child inherits courage, talents and wisdom from the father. The father and other members of the nuclear family do not belong to the same extended family. There are eight clans (extended families) in the Akan community. These are Asona, Agona, Aduana, ɔyoko, Asenee, Biretuo, koɔna and Asakyiri. Each clan is headed by a family head known as abusua pinyin who is both the spiritual and physical representative. Members of the same family are believed to trace their lineage to one ancestor. Members of the same clan do not marry each other; it is a taboo. Though there has been constitutional intervention (PNDC Law) to give children and mothers the right to inherit their father’s property, the matrilineal system still prevails. There is always close ties between the members of the extended family and the nuclear family. The Akans do not have a vocabulary for cousins but brothers and sisters. The Akans value mother-brother and mother-children relationships.