Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: “British Women did not own properties, but Igbo Women could trade and own properties” - Author

Chimamanda spoke of her personal experiences and shared stories about the Igbo precolonial history and culture.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was the keynote speaker at the seventh annual International Igbo conference on Saturday, April 21, 2018, where she shared her keynote speech titled ‘Igbo ku Igbo’.

The award-winning author shared true life stories about the Igbo pre-colonial history at the conference which was themed "Memory, Culture and Community: Remembering the past, Imagining the future."

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Chimamanda spoke of her personal experiences and shared stories about the Igbo precolonial history and culture.

She emphasised on the preservation of the Igbo culture as well as the strength and dignity of Igbo women.

A major part of the writer's speech was about the Nigerian-British Women comparison.

She said, “British Women did not own properties. British women were in fact property themselves and were supposed to be at home protected and not seen as autonomous beings who could make decisions about their lives.

"Igbo women, on the other hand, were traders and they could own properties, this was understandably alarming to many of the British and I think it explains many changes that happened in Igbo land.

Chimamanda also spoke about the misinterpretation of the Igbo culture in Nollywood.

“A lot of their representations of Igbo culture are not only spectacularly inaccurate but really comical. So if there is anyone here who is involved in Nollywood, please go to the village and ask the real questions, or even just look at archives and see pictures of what people were like before.... I mean, there is no need for imagoo mmadu adi ka’mmanwu."

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Chimamanda wrapped up her session with, “We Igbo people need to create and recreate our history, this time, not in the service of colonialism but in the service of our dignity”.

Watch the full speech below.