The Clash Between Nigerian Culture and Western Ideas and Traditions

The British took Nigeria as a colony around 1885 and into the early part of the 1900s. In 1914, Northern and Southern Nigeria were brought together to create one single entity known as Nigeria. The British created a legislative council in 1922. The council started off mainly Britains but slowly began to incorporate Western educated Africans. In 1947, the Britains established a new form of government in Nigeria based on a system of three regions. The regions were Eastern (Ibo), Western(Yoruba), and Northern(Hausa and Fulani). They did this to try to help the regional and religious problems that had been created in Nigeria, and to make it easier for all of the different ethnic groups to co exist. The next change to this set up came in 1951 with the input of a ministerial government, and finally ended with independence in 1954.

The independent government was not, however, completely self-governing. Because the different groups all had different interests, the British implemented different strategies to make all of the regions happy. These compromises included a federal government that was to work with smaller regional governments. The federal government would be responsible for defense, the police force, the terms of national trade, custom duties, finance and banking. Healthcare, agriculture, education and economic development were the responsibility of the separate regional branches. On October 1,1960, Nigeria finally gained independence.(Source A)

In the novel, Achebe portrays the confrontation between Western ideas and Nigerian tribal traditions. Some examples of this include Obi and his siblings were not allowed to eat at other people's houses when they were little because their food had been sacrificed to the gods, and the were not allowed to eat anything sacrificed to the gods because they were Catholic. Obi's father had told the children that the food was "heathen" food, which Obi felt he should share with one of the house owners. The food issue was also apparent at Obi's homecoming. The rest of the village wanted to bring in kola nuts, but Obi's father refused to have them in his house if they were to be a sacrifice to idols. Instead the kola nut was offered to the gods, but with a Catholic service. While this seamed to be a tease, it was really meant to be more of a blending of the two religions.

The fact that Clara and Obi weren't allowed to marry was another example. Even though Obi's family were Catholic and didn't recognize classes and such, because Clara was an osu, they were not allowed to marry. Osu was the name given to the people who were cast out by their communities and went to live with and serve the gods. From then on them and anyone who came after them were excluded from the community. This included not being allowed to marry. If someone married into the family they would also become and osu as would their children and children's children and so on. Obi's mother even went so far as to tell Obi that if he committed this terrible act while she was still alive, she would kill herself and the fault would be on him.

When Obi goes back to visit Umuofia, he thinks to himself that the British should "come see men and women and children who [know] how to live, whose joy of life had not yet been killed by those who claimed to teach other nations how to live." While Obi may have thought that his village had a large advantage over the British, it was his village who was struggling and fighting to become part of the Africa the British had set up. They have scraped together every penny they had to send Obi to England in hopes to get one of their own into the senior service. Although in this example Obi's thoughts were on the Nigerian traditions that were still held together in his village and the great power and pride that were held in them, his village's thoughts were focused on becoming part of the Western encouraged part of the country. The Umuofian Progressive Union pressures Obi all of the time to uphold the old traditions of Umuofia, but they also tell him to fit in with the Britains he works with and for. They want him to act like a person in his position should act but also like his siblings and kinsman who do not hold the same office. The ultimate battle between Western ideas and Nigerian tribal traditions are the roles that the Umuofian Progressive Union and Obi's boss, Mr. Green, play in his everyday life. Mr. Green is always telling him certain things cost so much and he must talk to certain people, do certain things and act certain ways. On the other hand, Obi's kinsmen in the union are telling him the same things, just different ways